Fantasyland 01 Wildest Dreams (38 page)

Frey’s eyes didn’t leave mine when he
replied, “She should. Where your mother acts first for her husband,
then her family then her realm, my mother acts first for herself.
Then she acts on every opportunity presented to behave with malice
or cruelty. Next, if it serves her purpose, for the House of
Drakkar. But never does she act for the good of her sons, her
husband or Lunwyn.”

Yep, I didn’t like either of them and
especially not Valeria Drakkar.

“Malice and cruelty?” I prompted, still
treading cautiously.

He sighed, looked over my head then looked
back down at me.

“Malice and cruelty,” he affirmed.

I got up on my toes, Frey dipped closer and
when he did, I whispered, “She knows about my archery
practice.”

He nodded. “This is not a surprise. She has
spies and this is what she wants you to know. This, my wee Finnie,
is what she does. It’s doubtful she’s generous enough with any of
them to pay for anything she could use, for she’s as stingy as she
is heartless, unless, of course, it’s coin used for another gown or
necklace for herself. However, she wanted you to know this in hopes
you’d worry about the information she held, planting it in your
mind so it could fester as you wondered at her intent and the
extent of her knowledge.”

Wow.

Wow.

I hated this, like, a lot. So much, it felt
like acid at the back of my throat.

And I didn’t hate it for me. I hated it for
Frey.

And I hated it so much I couldn’t stop
myself from pressing closer, lifting a hand to wrap around the side
of his neck and asking softly, “Where on earth did you come from,
baby?”

Frey’s brows drew together and he asked
softly back, “Pardon?”

My thumb stroked his jaw before I whispered,
“My handsome husband is gentle, thoughtful and kind. He laughs and
smiles easily and he makes me feel safe. I was with your folks for
about five minutes and they were so far from any of that, it is not
funny. So,” I squeezed his neck, “where did you come from?”

I belatedly noticed that my gentle,
thoughtful, kind husband was staring down at me with that fiery
look in his eyes, the same look he had after I gave him his spun
glass dragon. And looking at it, his fire melted my heart, a heart
that was already far from frozen.

Before I could say anything, not that I
hadn’t already said too much, his arms about me tightened and his
face dipped super close to mine when he said quietly, “I do not
know, my wee Finnie, where I came from but I’m beginning to know
why I’m here.”

And that was when stupid, stupid, stupidly,
I asked, “And why are you here, honey?”

“I don’t need to say aloud what I know you
also are beginning to understand, wee one,” he answered and I
pressed my lips together because he was not wrong and I was still
not going there. His eyes held mine as his mouth murmured, “She
waits for me at windows and buys me dragons. There are reasons we
walk this earth, I’m coming to realize mine.”

“Frey,” I whispered and said no more. I
couldn’t. I was too moved and I felt strangely like I was standing
in quicksand, sinking fast.

The problem was, I had no will whatsoever to
find a vine and pull myself out.

His head dipped further and he pressed his
lips hard to mine.

Then he broke his sweet touch and moved back
an inch to say, “My grandmother.”

My head tipped to the side. “Your
grandmother?”

“If there is anything gentle and kind in me,
my love, she put it there. My father’s mother had a light shining
from her soul.” His lips tipped up and he continued, “Because of
that, you remind me in some ways of her. But she lived in a den of
vipers and knew how to take care of herself, moving cautiously
ahead while keeping an eye to her back lest someone be preparing to
bury a dagger in it. Even so, with those she cared about, she
displayed great humor, generosity and thoughtfulness.”

I studied him and it hit me he’d said she’d
died when he was thirteen.

Therefore I asked, “So, when she passed, is
that why you left your family and never went back?”

His lips tipped up further to a grin.
“Someone has been talking,” he guessed.

I grinned back and relaxed deeper into him,
my hand sliding down to rest on his chest. “Four someones, to be
precise, and they had one avid listener.”

He chuckled then confirmed, “Yes, wee one,
when she died, living amongst them became too much to bear. So I
left and never went back.”

“What was her name?” I asked.

“Eugenie,” he answered.

“I wish I’d known her,” I whispered.

“As do I,” Frey concurred.

I kept going. “I’m sorry your family sucks,
baby.”

He chuckled again but concurred with that
too. “I am as well, my wee Finnie.”

I stared up at a magnificent man who was
magnificent against some pretty big odds.

And as I did, I knew I had two choices,
struggle against the quicksand only to have it slurp me up to bury
me straight to the throat or move the fuck on and have some fun,
fun which would undoubtedly suck me deeper anyway but, again, I
wasn’t all fired up to save myself from going down.

I picked door number two.

And to do it, I tilted my head to the side
and smiled brightly at my husband before I asked, “Wanna
dance?”

His eyes roamed my face before they locked
on my mouth. Still looking there, he answered, “Absolutely.”

Then he bent and kissed my nose yet again
before he let me go and led me to the dance floor.

He did this holding my hand.

I let him do it and I did it smiling.

* * * * *

Nearly every eye in the room watched The
Drakkar lead his princess to the dance.

As they had been watching The Drakkar and
his Winter Princess in their intimate, cozy huddle from the moment
they entered the ballroom.

And as many had watched from horses, windows
or fire drums as that afternoon, the Winter Princess burst forth
from her Palace to meet her imposing husband with a bright smile
and that imposing husband had smiled back then gave his new wife a
gentle touch, soft words and, finally, a light kiss.

And as The Drakkar whirled, twirled and
lifted his new bride through the next four dances, all the while he
smiled warmly at her or laughed out loud at something she said or
at an unusual inexpert stumble in her step (which always made her
laugh out loud too, through the smiles she was returning to her
husband, of course), they kept watching.

* * * * *

“Please, my princess, the next dance,” the
young man begged but I smiled and shook my head, trying to recall
the name he gave me but unable to do so since so many were swimming
in my head.

I’d been dancing flat out for what felt
like hours and I loved doing it. It was a freaking
blast.
But the dances in Lunwyn were
mostly energetic (there were a few slow ones and all of those I’d
danced with Frey) and they were complicated with a lot of lifts
that included the man lifting you straight up into the air or
whirling you at his side while you held your legs out like a
ballerina leaping across the stage, not to mention the footwork,
twirls, bobs and dips.

It was a blast but it was exhausting and I
needed a drink.

When I processed his dejected look, I
relented, slightly. “Just a wee rest, the next song after this,
we’ll dance, I promise.”

He grinned and bowed smartly before he
straightened and stated, “I’ll be there to take your hand the
moment the orchestra delivers its first note.”

“Wonderful,” I murmured on a small smile and
he moved away.

I did too and I did it while scanning the
room. I marked Frey across the vast expanse, standing with a
formally attired (and hot looking) Thad and Max. His eyes were on
me and I smiled, watched his mouth get soft then he turned his
attention back to his men. I kept scanning and saw Aurora dancing
with a very fat man who was having trouble lifting her but she
didn’t give the slightest indication she feared he was going to
drop her to the ground. I kept up my scan and saw Atticus laughing
with two men, one in a royal blue shirt, one in a moss green one, a
woman wearing the same green at his side. I’d danced twice with my
father of this world and I could say two things, one, he was a
great dancer and two, I’d never forget either.

I also noted, as I had since we left
Houllebec, that Frey’s men were very visible and very close. Orion,
Gunner and Lund were all not five feet away from me in different
huddles of people and Annar and Stephan were not much further.

I found a pocket of space in a corner and
dragged my carcass to it while I stopped scanning for the familiar
people who made me feel rooted and safe and started scanning for a
maid who could get me some much needed champagne.

Therefore, I had my head turned away when I
heard a feminine purr from beside me.

“She wears the blood.” My head jerked around
to see an extortionately beautiful, dark-haired, blue-eyed woman
standing beside me who was taller than me by at least three inches
and she was wearing a blood red gown that made my cleavage look
demure (and mine was nowhere near demure but, honest to God, I saw
the edges of the aureoles of her nipples peeping through hers).
“This pleases me,” she finished and my eyes snapped from her
shocking décolletage to her face.

Oh shit.

She was clearly of the House of Drakkar and
I saw my mistake immediately. I should have gone to Frey or Father.
Princess Sjofn probably knew her and she was a Drakkar. This meant
I had to tread carefully because the usual field of landmines
around me just tripled.

I checked myself from sending a panicked
look to Frey or Father which would expose too much and swiftly
pulled myself together.

“Hello,” I thought it safe to say.

She turned to me and leaned her long elegant
neck in to touch her cheek to mine before moving back.

“We’ve not met,” she purred and I felt
relief flood through me at this news, “I’m Frey’s cousin,
Franka.”

“Lovely to meet you, Franka,” I said softly,
she smiled lazily and I felt the relief disappear as I took in her
smile which was not only lazy but weirdly sexual.

Oh shit.

“
Lovely to meet you too, my Winter
Princess.” She kept purring then her eyes dropped to my cleavage
and her look at mine was
way
different than the way I looked at hers.

Oh
shit
.

Okay, I had to be polite, have a short
conversation, not say anything stupid and then get the fuck out of
there.

God, I hoped this song didn’t last very long
so my eager dance partner would show up and quick.

“Are you enjoying the Gales?” I asked and
watched her lip slightly curl up as her eyes moved from my chest to
my face.

“I spend as much time as possible in
Fleuridia,” she informed me, “where they understand the exacting
standards of elegance and panache so…” she hesitated then concluded
scornfully, “no.”

I decided not to reply mostly because she
was being rude and I was a princess so I didn’t think returning her
rudeness, which was what I wanted to do, would be appropriate.

“However, seeing as my dear cousin Frey has
bound himself to our lovely princess, I couldn’t stay away.” She
leaned slightly into me and informed me, “Rumors of your beauty run
wide, Princess Sjofn, even down in Fleuridia they speak of it.”

“That’s nice,” I muttered, leaning slightly
back to make a point, she caught it and moved away.

“Though, her interest in swordplay and the
hunt and penchant for wearing breeches is also spoken of quite
widely.” Her eyes swept me slowly before she concluded, “I see Frey
put an end to that.”

“Not exactly,” I looked away, “although I
will say he’s introduced me to more enjoyable pastimes.”

I looked back at her when she laughed with
obvious delight, the sound beautiful, even enthralling, and
strangely terrifying.

Then she murmured, looking under her lashes
at me, “She enjoys connubial bliss.”

I studied her and knew without any doubt she
was playing with me.

And that was when I decided that being a
princess sometimes could be set aside. Especially with people I
knew my husband did not care for (in the slightest) and I doubted
my parents did either.

So I stated, “Actually, what
she
enjoys is keeping private
matters
private.
”

“You brought it up,” she informed me
smoothly.

“Actually, no, you read into what I said,” I
returned.

“Was my reading wrong?” she asked.

No, it wasn’t. What she was wrong about was
continuing to talk about it when I asked her not to do so. And
after what Valeria and Eirik had treated Frey and I to I’d suddenly
had enough of the Drakkars.

So I turned to her and said, “If you’re
curious about your cousin, which would be repulsive but…” I
hesitated, “to each their own, then yes, I
greatly
enjoy connubial bliss, frequently and
vigorously.
”

I knew my mistake at falling to her level
when she smiled with sheer pleasure.

Damn, I’d given her exactly what she
wanted.

Then she turned her head, her eyes moving as
if she was looking for something, she found it and tipped up her
chin.

“Champagne,” she muttered, her eyes still
aimed elsewhere, I looked where they were aimed and my stomach
clutched when I saw Viola nodding her head then moving swiftly
toward us with a tray holding two champagne glasses. “We’ll toast
your marriage,” Franka suggested.

I did not want to toast my marriage with
Franka Drakkar and I did not want to be confronted with Viola, who
had not, since that first night, attended our table. What she did,
I didn’t know. I didn’t let her go because it wasn’t her fault Frey
had enjoyed her. Unlike me (in both worlds), she had to earn a
living. But I did have a quiet word with Jocelyn, who had one with
the housekeeper, and I saw Viola no more.