Fantasyland 01 Wildest Dreams (36 page)

When I could, I whispered, “Hi,” and he
blinked.

Then he moved to me, leaned in, grabbed my
hand, tucked it in his elbow and muttered, “We’re late, we mustn’t
delay.”

I felt the air in the room change and could
almost swear I heard the whoosh of five balloons of deflated
excitement whizzing around the room like they’d just been struck by
a pin.

“Right,” I whispered as Frey led me swiftly
to the door and then I turned my head and aimed a smile at my
girls. “Thanks ladies, see you in the morning before we go.”

“Right, Finnie, see you,” Alyssa called,
looking almost, but not quite, as disappointed as I felt.

“Have fun,” Esther called.

“I will,” I assured her.

Jocelyn and Bess both waved, Jocelyn’s
disappointed eyes on me, Bess’s on Frey.

Then out the door we went and Frey moved us
quickly down the hall toward the stairs.

We were headed to the third floor.

The Palace was enormous, the first floor
filled with official function rooms in one wing such as drawing
rooms, a study, a formal dining room, a formal morning room and the
like and in the other wing, places where family gathered such as a
less formal dining room, a billiards room, a library and a
conservatory. The first floor also had the kitchens and laundry.
The second floor was filled with living space for family and
guests, bedrooms, dressing rooms, personal sitting rooms, sewing
rooms and such. The fourth floor held the servants’ quarters.

But the third floor was where the function
rooms were and there were only three. The middle where the stairs
led was a huge hall, down the center of which were five, large,
gleaming dark wood tables which, for the party, would hold massive
displays of blooms from the Palace’s greenhouses (there were four
gargantuan greenhouses where the Palace gardeners grew everything
from flowers and plants to adorn the house, to vegetables and
fruits forced to grow out of season in order to feed its occupants
and guests – they even had apple, pear, plum and peach trees in
one, lime, lemon, grapefruit and orange in another and tangles of
blackberry and raspberry vines in yet another).

Off the function hall to one side was a
ballroom that was a wide open space lined with chairs intermixed
with small tables with a rise for an orchestra at one end. Off the
hall to the other side was a long open gallery that had walls
covered with portraits of past kings and queens of Lunwyn but
mostly Winter Princes or Princesses, in other words, those who
inhabited the Palace prior to assuming the throne, and their wives
or husbands and children.

This was where we were heading now and I saw
two liveried footmen wearing deep red sweaters, dark brown leather
shorts, high boots, brown mantles at a slant across their backs and
brown leather gloves standing at the landing from the second to
third floor guiding people up and down and cutting off access to
the living quarters.

As I saw the brilliant colored gowns and
curious faces peeking around the footmen toward Frey and myself, I
looked away and up at my husband to see his jaw was hard.

Then I stared at his jaw, realizing
something had pissed him off.

Shit. He was angry about the wait.

Shit! I didn’t want to go to the Gales with
a pissed off Frey. I didn’t want to go anywhere with a pissed off
Frey.

So before we made it to the footmen, I
pulled back slightly on his elbow and slowed my step. He looked
down at me, brows drawn and I saw on Frey’s scale of one to ten of
how angry he could be, he was resting, my guess, at around a
two.

This was good.

“Can I have a second?” I asked softly, he
stopped us, looked to the stairs then back at me before he turned
toward me.

“Finnie, the Gales started nearly two hours
ago,” he reminded me.

“I know but…” I moved closer to him and
tipped my head back further, “I just wanted to apologize before we
got there for being late and making you wait and –”

I stopped talking when his hand lifted and
curled around my neck and his expression instantly changed to show
that my apology made him totally drop off the angry scale.

Phew. This was also good.

Then he stated, “Wee one, it was
me
who made us late, why
are
you
apologizing?”

“You seem angry,” I told him.

“I’m not angry about waiting,” he told
me.

“Are you angry at all?” I asked.

“No,” Frey answered, I peered closer at him
and saw this was true.

Still, I could have sworn I saw it
earlier.

Therefore, I informed him, “You looked angry
a second ago.”

“I wasn’t angry,” he replied.

Well, he was something and, by the by, he
hadn’t commented on my fabulous dress and that was
not
Frey. Three days ago, when I’d
walked up to him talking with Thad and Oleg while wearing a silvery
white wool gown that was sweet, but wasn’t close to my best, he’d
told me right in front of his men that I looked lovely then he’d
swiftly finished his talk with the guys, took me to our rooms and
took it off me.

Therefore, I stated, “You were
something
.”

He sighed then said, “Finnie, we must –”

My eyes narrowed on his, which I could see,
just barely, but I could see were hiding something and I leaned
closer, cutting him off as it hit me. “You’re hiding
something.”

“Finnie –”

“What?”

“Fin –”

I put a hand on his chest, got up on the
toes of my red satin, jet-beaded-pointed-toed slippers and asked,
“What’s upset you, Frey?”

He kept hold of my eyes. Then he dipped his
face closer to me.

Then he said, “You wear the colors of
Drakkar.”

I blinked. Then I asked, “What?”

He didn’t repeat himself. Instead he
replied, “I was wrong when I told you I didn’t have a favorite
color. My favorite colors are
your
colors.” I blinked as my heart skipped a beat and Frey
continued, “I prefer you in your whites, your silvers, your grays
and definitely your blues.” I stared, thinking he really paid
attention at the same time my belly got really warm at his words
then he kept talking. “What I do not like to see you in is the red
of Drakkar.”

My belly grew instantly cold, I rolled back
to the soles of my feet, surprised and, I had to admit,
dejected.

“I wore this for you,” I whispered. “Mother
said –”

His hand at my neck squeezed lightly and he
whispered back, “I know, wee one and I appreciate the gesture. But
that does not change the fact that I dislike you in the color of my
House.”

Oh God.

Of course not. Why was I so stupid? I knew
he had nothing to do with his House. I should never have listened
to Mother.

I turned my eyes away and muttered, “Hells
bells, I screwed up.”

“Finnie, look at me, love,” he called with
another squeeze of his hand and my eyes went to his. “I do not
associate with my House.”

I nodded and admitted, “I know, I heard.
That’s how I screwed up.” I leaned further into him. “I’m so sorry,
Frey.”

He shook his head. “Don’t be sorry. Your
gesture is touching and your mother knows what she’s doing. This
does not mean I like it.”

I blinked and asked, “My mother knows what
she’s doing?”

He nodded and then imparted information on
me that made my lungs seize.

“There will be members of my House up there.
My parents, assuredly. My cousin Franka, considering the level and
nature of her curiosity, almost definitely. Perhaps even my
brothers though I have not heard word they’re attending.”

The news of his cousin was alarming, the
news of his brothers also, but I was frozen at news of his
parents.

“Your parents are upstairs?” I breathed.

“Undoubtedly,” he confirmed.

“Your parents are upstairs,” I repeated on a
breath.

“Finnie –”

I pulled away from his hand at my neck,
grabbed it and tugged him five feet back down the hall. Then I
stood with my back to the landing and hissed, “Why didn’t you tell
me?”

God. His parents. I would soon be meeting
Frey’s parents!

God!

I looked freaking great but I wasn’t ready
for
this.

“Finnie –”

I interrupted him. “You can’t… you can’t
just… just…
spring
this on a
girl five minutes before she meets your parents!”

His hands, both of them this time, curled
around my neck and he bent so his face was close when he said
gently, “Wee one, calm down.”

“Calm is not an option, Frey,” I told him,
panic clear in my voice. “Your parents are upstairs!”

“They are,” he confirmed again.

“And your cousin!” I went on.

“Finnie, my love –”

“
And, possibly,
your brothers!
” Now I was working myself up into a
state.

“Fin –”

“
Why didn’t you tell me?” I semi-shrieked,
the words coming out slightly shrill, slightly loud and definitely
panicked therefore Frey let me go but grabbed my hand and pulled me
back down the hall another five feet. Then he stopped and resumed
our positions, this time turning me so
his
back to the stairwell.

“I didn’t tell you, my wee Finnie, for this
exact reason. I knew you’d react this way. You care, you want to
make a good impression, you twist yourself into knots to make your
father proud of you, you sit with your mother while she embroiders
when I know you’d rather be anywhere but there, doing something,
meeting people, gaming, shopping, eating, chatting. Now, you’re
anxious and I’d rather you be anxious for the second it takes you
to control your emotions and move forward being charming the moment
you meet them then tell you days ago so you could work yourself up
and spend your days in this state.”

I glared at him as it hit me this was kind
of nice and definitely thoughtful.

“You know, it’s annoying when you’re
thoughtful and I’m geared up to be pissed at you,” I snapped, the
unsettled look went out of Frey’s eyes and he grinned.

Then he bent closer and touched his lips to
my nose and moved back.

That was also thoughtful because it was
soothing and sweet.

Damn the man.

Then he said, “Since you now know, I’ll
brief you further.”

“That’d be nice, Frey,” I said on a sigh,
trying to keep up the glare and failing.

He grinned again, totally seeing I was
failing at my endeavors to remain pissed and his hands dropped from
my neck to rest at my waist.

Then his face got serious and I braced.

“
If you know I have nothing to do with my
House then you likely know I do not care for my parents. Therefore,
I do not care what they think of you. I know how
I
think of you and their thoughts
matter nothing to me.”

Well, this was good.

“Okay,” I replied.

His fingers gave me a squeeze and he went
on. “But the House of Drakkar holds wealth and wealth means power.
Their influence has dwindled over the years but money can buy
nearly anything. Your mother arranging that you wear their colors
is a statement that says that, upon our marriage, it was not simply
me accepted into the House of Wilde, but you also entered the House
of Drakkar. She is saying you are one of them. She is attempting to
make that point clear.”

I felt my brows knit and I asked, “Why would
she do that?”

“
Because she wishes to build an alliance.
Power is power no matter who wields it. The members of the House of
Drakkar spend a great deal of time and effort fighting amongst
themselves but the way they are, that does not mean they do not
have plenty of time to devote to engaging in hostility to others.
You wearing the colors of my House is not only an homage to my
House, it is also publicly stating to
all
Houses that you are now a Drakkar. It is a clever
ploy. She is reminding them that Drakkars have a member of their
House, no matter how distant he is with his brethren, who will
eventually be father to the next king of Lunwyn. With you wearing
their colors, your mother is also reminding them that his bride, a
Wilde and now a Drakkar, will be the mother of our future king and
should be treated with the respect she deserves for
all
those reasons.”

I stared up at him in mild surprise and
asked, “They wouldn’t treat me with respect?”

“My wee one,” Frey said gently, “with my
family, there is no telling what they will do.”

Hmm.

Well, the good news was, Mother wasn’t
stupid, though I’d already pretty much sussed that.

“As clever as it was of your mother and as
fetching as that dress is on you, I still don’t like you wearing
Drakkar red,” he muttered, his eyes having moved down to my
middle.

“Frey, honey,” I called and his gaze moved
back to mine, “I’m sorry it bothers you so I suggest you don’t
think of me wearing this color and instead,” I leaned into him,
smiled and whispered, “think of taking it off later.”

Frey’s arms wrapped around my back and he
bent his neck deep to reply low through his own smile, “This is an
excellent idea.”

I pressed into him; he got my hint and
touched his mouth to mine. Though, clearly he didn’t read the hint
correctly because it was only a touch and not more.

When he lifted his head, he sighed and
murmured, “Let us face the Gales.”

“Okay,” I murmured back, he smiled again,
let me go, grabbed my hand and led me back to the staircase.

We moved up the stairs and as we did I
caught eyes and gave smiles and when Frey caught eyes, he gave chin
lifts.