Fantasyland 01 Wildest Dreams (62 page)

“Perhaps you should petition to be his
advisor, dear Frey, rather than Phobin,” Franka suggested on a
distastefully catty curve of her lips making her implication
clear.

And with that, Drakkar was done and
therefore demanded, “Let us dispense with this play and talk
straight. Do you know that Broderick is plotting against
Seoafin?”

Franka shook her head but responded, “I know
that Hernod Grieg, prior to his recent untimely demise, traded
exclusively with Middleland. I know he was there almost more than
he was here though I don’t know who he consorted with when he was
but one can guess. And I know that his final words were ‘Unite
Lunwyn’ which could have been called true or could have been a
final attempt to cast suspicion off those who truly are behind the
schemes to do away with the princess who will birth our future
king.”

“So you’re piecing this together through
conjecture?” Drakkar asked and Franka shook her head again.

“The story of Circe and Baldur’s departure
is true. The information that a valuable asset held by Phobin was
purloined is also true as is the fact they are both angry about it.
The rest, indeed, my dear cousin,” she inclined her head, “is, as
you say, conjecture.”

He studied his cousin then his mother.

It was conjecture but good conjecture and
important information. If Broderick were to wish to move on his
father, now would be the time. And if he would wish to gain
momentum for this campaign, and earn the loyalty of those who
wished to see Middleland reunited with Lunwyn, time would be of the
essence. Without Finnie, Lunwyn would eventually fall in
Broderick’s hands and that would be far sooner if he only needed to
await the death of Atticus, not both brothers if he were to move on
his father’s throne now. It would only be a matter of course, and
one which would be supported by many in both countries, enough for
them to be moved to pick up arms, for Broderick to move against
Atticus, securing both thrones, reuniting Lunwyn and with Finnie
out of the way, doing so without direct competition for rule. Hell,
half of the Houses of Lunwyn would bear arms to unite it again with
Middleland.

Bloody
hell.

Not to mention, Phobin might not be clever
but Broderick was no fool. He would piece together Drakkar and his
men being in Middleland at the time the adela bough was stolen and
this would only add fuel to their fire.

Bloody hell.

He pulled in a breath in an effort to
prepare to say something he meant but didn’t wish to say and let it
out, muttering, “Although conjecture, I am grateful for your time
and the information you shared.”

Valeria’s brows went up and without
hesitation she enquired, “Grateful enough that, upon return from
delivering Lunwyn’s waters through the Northlands, you’d share the
profits of a galleon? Say…” she hesitated, “half?”

Drakkar stared at his mother. Then he asked
back, “So, you’re here for coin and not your concern about your
daughter-in-law, a woman your firstborn son has come to care for
deeply who also happens to be your Winter Princess and the future
mother to your king?”

“Well, Frey, if you put it like that it
sounds positively dire,” Franka murmured through a small smile.

“I apologize. I didn’t mean it to sound
dire. I meant it to sound disbelieving and snide,” Drakkar replied
and Franka’s smile got bigger so she pulled in her lips and bit
them to hide it, an effort that didn’t succeed just as she
intended.

His mother’s already hard eyes grew harder.
“I see, my son, you do not change.”

“
I am a Drakkar,” he retorted. “This cannot
be a surprise, especially considering the fact that you have
exposed you have not changed as well as you expect payment
at all
much less the amount you do for
aiding my efforts to do something as crucial, not only for our
country but to my happiness, as keeping my wife alive.”

Valeria opened her mouth to speak but Aurora
got there before her. “I see there are family issues here that are
unlikely, even with a great deal of discourse, to be resolved at
that present time.” Drakkar and Valeria looked to their queen as
she went on. “Drakkar has expressed his gratitude verbally. I would
like to express mine too and you will both receive a gift selected
personally by your queen delivered to Valeria’s home on the morrow.
You can rest assured, although not the worth of half the profits of
a galleon filled with Lunwynian waters, you will not be
disappointed as my gift will indicate just how grateful I feel
that, for whatever reasons, you have come forward to aid my
daughter, my country’s princess and the mother of our future
king.”

Both women, with nothing for it, shut their
mouths and inclined their heads to Aurora.

Yes, it was now certain. Drakkar quite liked
his mother-in-law.

“Now,” Aurora began while standing, forcing
both women to stand too, “my daughter soon will be home. She and
Frey leave on the morrow and she and I have plans this afternoon to
go skating in Ulfr Park. I’m keen to spend as much time with her as
I can before I again lose her and Frey to their adventures so…” she
trailed off, extending her hand to the door and Valeria and Franka
took the hint and started moving that way.

Drakkar stayed where he was as Aurora guided
them to and through the door then deposited them in a hovering
servant’s hands with murmured words of farewell that he was not
about to offer before moving back into the room, closing the door
and coming directly to him.

And he knew he had her trust when she
dropped her mask long enough to snap, “I am sorry if you find this
offensive, my new son, but your family is repugnant.”

Drakkar bit back laughter before he replied,
“I don’t, Aurora, find that the least offensive for it is
unfortunately true.”

Her eyes held his, he saw hers light as her
lips twitched then she regained control of her features and spoke
on.

“Franka knows of the adela branch,” she
noted.

“
This is not surprising. As I told you and
Atticus,
The
Finnie
was detected,
Baldur forced a confrontation and Broderick clearly put two and two
together but either he, or more likely Phobin, was not smart enough
to keep his mouth shut about it.”

Aurora nodded then she said softly, “I see
their point, though it is stolen from Lunwyn and known to be sought
after so they had to know, if they didn’t guard it closely, it
would be detected and returned to its rightful land.” Her eyes on
him grew intense. “But, Drakkar, I’ve known Broderick since he was
born. He has far more of his mother in him than he does his father.
He adores Finnie. He always has. I can’t imagine, even for power
and coin –”

Drakkar cut her off. “He was soft with her
during our conversation with him and her father and this appeared
genuine.” Aurora nodded but Drakkar went on. “He was soft with her,
Aurora, but I noted as did a number of my men that Phobin couldn’t
take his eyes off her and we both know he was not admiring her
beauty.” Aurora eyes flashed quickly before she nodded again. “And
Phobin, it is told, has Broderick spellbound. He shows Prince
Broderick one face, others an entirely different one.”

Aurora nodded again and whispered, “We
should look into Phobin.”

Drakkar returned her nod and replied, “I
will send a message to Balthazar.” Then he noted, “However, we may
not need to concern ourselves with this. If Ludlum and especially
Noctorno hear that Middleland is vulnerable –”

Aurora interrupted him. “Word from Bellebryn
is that Noctorno has reconciled with his wife.”

Drakkar couldn’t stop his blink at this news
for he knew Tor, very well, they were friends, he held him in high
regard and Drakkar knew Tor detested his wife regardless of the
fact she was destined for him, it was written in the sky at each of
their births by the She-God of their land. They’d been married for
some time, Drakkar was even at their wedding, and Tor’s wife was
exceptionally beautiful but visibly cold and nothing about her
manner would be something that attracted Tor. They had spent just
enough time together to consummate the union and lived separate
lives since with Tor not keen to change that.

“We were, as you may not have known,” Aurora
continued, “scheduled to journey to Hawkvale for Prince Noctorno’s
brother’s wedding but we had to cancel due to the situation with
Finnie and then the imminent executions. We have heard since that,
for reasons I do not know, that wedding has been postponed but in
the meantime, Noctorno has reconciled with his wife and installed
her in his castle in Bellebryn.”

“Interesting,” Drakkar muttered.

“Indeed,” Aurora replied. “And it is known
he is actively working on siring an heir to Bellebryn and
Hawkvale.”

Drakkar grinned and Aurora’s lips again
twitched.

Then Drakkar’s grin faded and he asked, “Is
it known if he is happy?”

She shook her head but said, “It is known
that Princess Cora is much changed and she is the talk of Bellebryn
and Hawkvale, enough for that talk to make it here. They are
calling her Cora, the Gracious.”

Drakkar found that difficult to believe. She
had been known as Cora, the Exquisite for her beauty. During his
brief meeting with her at her wedding to his friend, however, she
was far from gracious.

“So, I suppose the answer to your question
is, yes,” Aurora carried on. “It is said he is greatly taken with
her… finally.”

Drakkar nodded.

Aurora kept speaking. “It is also known
that
you
are actively
working on siring an heir.”

Drakkar’s grin came back but Aurora simply
regarded him closely.

“Is there aught to report with that?” she
asked.

“Not yet but soon, my queen, I hope Finnie
and I will have good news.”

Her eyes softened and her lips tipped up
before she shared on a whisper, “I watch her with your boy, Skylar.
She will make a good mother, my new son.”

“Yes,” Drakkar stated, “she will.”

She lifted a hand and touched his arm
lightly before dropping it and saying softly, “I await your good
news.”

“And I look forward to imparting it,”
Drakkar returned softly and at that, the door flew open and Finnie
rushed in, cheeks flushed, eyes bright, smile firm on her face.

She skidded to a halt several steps in,
shared her smile with both of them then her eyes fixed on her
mother and she cried, “Let’s… go…
skating!
”

Bloody hell, his bride hadn’t even taken off
her cloak from riding obstacles on her new horse and she was ready
to go off on her next escapade.

He studied her bright eyes and pink
cheeks, thinking,
By the gods, I love this woman.

Then he crossed his arms on his chest and
stated, “Before you’re off to break your ankle, wife, your husband
will take a kiss.”

She moved to him swiftly, replying, “I’m not
going to break my ankle, Frey.”

“Sprain it then,” he returned as she made it
to him, curled her fingers around his forearm and leaned her body
into his.

“Not that either,” she retorted.

“Gods, don’t give yourself delirium by
falling on your head,” he implored and she giggled and got up on
her toes.

“I’ll not be doing that either. I’m a good
skater,” she informed him.

“And you’ve done this before?” he asked.

“Yes, twice, with my parents when I was
young,” she answered.

“You’re not young anymore, Finnie,” he
pointed out.

“Well, I’m not gray, blind, crippled and
doddering, either,” she shot back and he grinned.

Then he murmured, “Kiss,” and bent his head
to hers to assist her. She accepted his offer, pressing her mouth
to his and opening hers before they touched tongues and when they
did, Drakkar not only tasted her, he felt the beauty of her taste
right down to his blood.

He lifted his head and whispered, “Have fun,
wee one.”

She smiled up at him and whispered back, “I
will, handsome husband. I always do.”

Yes, that was his wee Finnie, she always
did.

Then she squeezed his arm, turned to her
mother, wrapped her hands around her mother’s arm and guided her
out of the room, their heads bent together.

Frey looked to Gunner, Max and Thad as they
stood just outside the door and jerked his chin to them. They
nodded and followed Finnie and Aurora.

Then he pulled in a deep breath, let it out
and went to find Ruben who would procure a trusted messenger and
send off to Balthazar with this latest news and further
instruction.

The Glow of the Adela Tree

“Wee one, wake,” I heard Frey whisper in my
ear, his big hand warm on my hip, my eyes slowly opened and I saw
darkness cut with only weak candlelight.

I rolled to my back to see he was out of bed
but sitting on the side of it fully clothed and I felt my body go
instantly tight.

“What’s wrong?” I whispered.

“Nothing, my love,” his hand, now at my
belly, pressed lightly, “I’ve a message from the Elves. I thought
you’d wish to accompany me.”

I stared at him only a second before I was
out of bed faster than lightning.

I was rummaging through the wardrobe when I
heard Frey say, “I’ll take this as a yes.”

“Totally,” I told the wardrobe then felt his
hands at my hips, his lips touch my shoulder and then they came to
my ear.

“I’ll saddle Tyr and bring him ‘round front.
I’ll meet you there when you’re ready.”

I nodded at the wardrobe and pulled out a
cream woolen dress.

Frey left the room. I dressed as fast as I
could considering how many clothes I needed to wear and how
difficult the underwear was to strap on. Then I pulled on a cream
wool cloak with a curly-furred collar, a cream knit cap that fit
snug and bunched all my hair out at the sides and cream leather
gloves and dashed out into the hall.