Fantasyland 01 Wildest Dreams (69 page)

To get you up to date – Lunwyn was at war
and if that wasn’t bad enough, one faction was at war with
itself.

With the fall of Broderick, the
conspirators, which did indeed include the heads of Houses of both
nations, were fighting amongst themselves as to who would take the
throne of the united land at the same time fighting against my men
who were intent to regain control of the throne in order to keep it
and Lunwyn safe until Frey and my child could assume his rule.

My notable Houses included Ravenscroft,
Lazarus, Sinclair, Drakkar and Ulfr. The outside faction’s of note
included Njord, Roar, Andreas and Viggo. These were of Lunwyn and
didn’t include the Middlelandian crew, all of the heads I had met
at the Gales (and all of them had feigned respect and friendliness
while they were plotting my and/or my husband’s deaths) and all of
whom felt their head should now assume the “throne of the united
Lunwyn”.

The good news was, with Baldur still in
Korwahk with a good deal of the country’s soldiers, the Middleland
Houses were weak and the Lunwyn Houses were not the most powerful
of the northern land. The other good news was, the infighting was
causing disarray and skirmishes against my men were diminishing as
they skirmished against each other. The further good news was, when
rescued and taken from the highly fortified castle of the House of
Roar that Broderick had chosen as his stronghold in Lunwyn, Lavinia
and Valentine had regained their magic which they were using for
healing as well as protection, cloaking of our troops and gathering
(or “sensing”) information about our enemy. And the last good news
was Oleg, Lund, Ruben, Max and Skylar had emerged unscathed from
the attack on Frey’s lodge. Stephan was wounded superficially and
had already recovered enough to join the rest of us. And Bess and
Jocelyn had also not been wounded.

The bad news was Orion, Gunner, Annar and
Thad had all taken arrows as had Esther and Alyssa. In rating the
news, Orion, Gunner, Annar and Esther also had relatively
superficial wounds and it was reported they would eventually
recover, though it would take longer than Stephan so I was
considering this good-
ish
news. The definitely bad news was that Alyssa had sustained
critical injuries and, I was informed, Thad had moved to protect
Jocelyn (and succeeded in this) and also sustained multiple
injuries of which not one but two were critical. When Stephan
arrived, he explained that Bess and Jocelyn were staying behind to
assist the physicians, healers and witches in Kellshorn who were
seeing to them as well as taking care of Skylar but it did not look
good for either Thad or Alyssa.

Further, Ruben informed me, unbeknownst to
me but another indication my husband would do all he could for my
safety, Frey had hired a woman named Agnes, the witch I met the
first night I arrived, and charged her with protecting me with her
magic. This failed and the attack on Frey’s lodge could go ahead
because Broderick’s men found her and killed her thus her
protection magic died with her. Therefore the woman with the
cranberry cloak who could jump from the second story of a building
and had a face lined in a way where I knew she laughed much through
her life was also no longer of this world.

Although my mind often moved to what
occurred in the prince’s quarters and the blood on my hands and my
heart turned over at the memories as my mouth filled with saliva
when these memories reminded me I was a woman capable of those
actions, receiving all this news made this phenomenon much less
distressing.

The other bad news was that Aurora remained
captive in the stronghold of Njord and the witch that wielded the
sacred relics and magical implements had not been found by soldiers
or through Lavinia trying to sense her. Although now that they were
no longer in Broderick’s clutch and she no longer had hold over
Lavinia and Valentine, her being at large was not a good thing for
my side or the other who, spies informed us, were also scurrying to
find her so they could attempt to control her.

And last, the wildcard news was that Kell
had disappeared. No one knew where he was, no word, no sighting. He
had gone to Sudvic to prepare for Frey’s fleet to leave but he had
not been seen or heard from since the rebellion started and
Balthazar and Quincy had both ridden to Sudvic and various other
places in search of him. Balthazar had returned two days ago with
zero information and Quincy just that morning with the same.

Valentine, with her magic back in her
control, could have returned home but surprisingly she didn’t. She
also didn’t share why she didn’t and, although she worked with me,
Lavinia, the physicians and healers who saw to our wounded and she
did this with her usual calm, cool composure that bordered on
indifference, I knew she felt remorse for meddling between Frey and
me.

I would need to discuss this with her and
let her off the hook. I just had not had the time and on the
infrequent occasion I did, she was not exactly approachable.

She shouldn’t have done what she did, this
was true but it was me who said the things I said so that was on
me. It was on me that the final words Frey heard from me were
shrieked accusations and the absolute last thing he ever heard from
my mouth was me telling him he didn’t love me.

That was on me.

All of it on me.

These were my thoughts as I walked through
the busy camp of tents staked into the melting snow and men moved
passed me, dipping their chins or giving me a shallow bow, horses
rode passed and I lifted my chin to others standing by fires or
exiting tents.

I made my way thus to Apollo’s tent and
entered it.

Inside I saw all the heads of my noted
Houses including Eirik, Frey’s father who was flanked by his two
surviving sons, Calder and Garik, both men I had met, both men who
looked too much like Frey (though not nearly as handsome) therefore
setting eyes on them even for a moment wounded my soul and
therefore both men I avoided. Because of this, I did not know them
very well but what I did know was they were not repugnant like
their father, malicious like their mother or wicked like their
cousin. But even so, since they were Drakkars, I remained wary.

My eyes went directly to Apollo and my feet
went to him too for he dipped his head to a chair indicating I
should sit.

In that tent, the only one I completely
trusted was Apollo. This was because I knew Frey had trusted him
because Frey had told me about him, he told me he liked his cousin,
he respected him and I’d learned since from Apollo that sentiment
was returned. Also, I knew, if I birthed a daughter, the rest of
them would easily be at each other’s throats to control Lunwyn just
as our enemy was but I understood innately, rather than Apollo
telling me, that if Frey and I had boy
or
girl, Apollo would always have my back.

And I also trusted Apollo because he looked
at me with a look that I knew was mirrored in my eyes. Frey had
told me he had lost his wife but, the minute I met Apollo, I read
in his eyes that he had loved her, he had not recovered and I knew,
reading the look in his eyes, he never would.

Ever.

I nodded to him as I moved across the tent,
sat in the chair and looked around.

Calder, Frey’s brother, spoke first. “My
Winter Princess, Apollo tells us you are still keen that we engage
in a rescue effort to recover Queen Aurora.”

“I am,” I answered and I wasn’t the only
one. Norfolk Ravenscroft and Olwen Lazarus, my mother’s cousin and
brother respectively, I knew felt the same.

“Would it not be a better use of our
resources to focus our energy on crushing the rebellion?” Eirik
Drakkar asked as he would. I had learned Frey’s father didn’t mind
sending his men into battle although he himself got nowhere near
it.

“I am no general,” I answered, schooling my
tone to sound respectful. “I simply expressed my wishes to Apollo.
I leave the war business to you.”

At this point, Walter Sinclair put in, “Our
scouts have not found the witch and I will repeat, I feel we should
prioritize this mission. If she has the power to bind our Lavinia
and Lavinia tells me her foreign companion’s magic rivals her own,
we would be remiss not to seize this witch and claim her
instruments for our own.”

“You could send Balthazar and Quincy,” I
suggested. “They are both returned and my husband…” I faltered
because, suddenly and against my will, my throat filled making my
voice husky then I forced myself to rally, recover and I finished
swiftly, “told me they are very skilled.”

“They are,” Apollo added, his voice soft.
“Frey told me the same.”

“Then dispatch them instantly,” Eirik
ordered pompously.

“You forget, Father, that we still
skirmish,” Garik stated. “We need every blade we can get and these
men of Frey’s are not only skilled at finding things, they are
equally skilled with steel.”

“
Yes, this is true, Garik,” Olwen Lazarus
agreed. “But if we had these instruments
and
two extremely powerful witches, it might be they
could use them to crush the rebellion with no more blood shed on
either side.”

“No more blood, yes, no more loss of life,
no,” Apollo stated quietly, everyone looked to him and I
braced.

Apollo of the House of Ulfr was exceedingly
gentle with me in a way that hurt since it reminded me of Frey. He
was also exceedingly handsome in a way that also reminded me of
Frey with his thick dark hair, big, muscular body and commanding
presence (although his eyes were a stunning, pure, jade green).

However, in sitting in these meetings, which
Apollo demanded I be included in, I had learned he might be gentle
with me but he was not a gentle man.

Not at all.

“Apollo,” Norfolk Ravenscroft said low and
Apollo leveled his eyes on the older man.

“They hang, all of them,” he declared.

“
These
are
heads of Houses,” Eirik put in. “Their actions were to
unite Lunwyn and we should –”

Apollo turned suddenly burning eyes on
Frey’s father and his deep voice was terse when he clipped, “They
plotted to murder your daughter-in-law, kidnapped and imprisoned
her. They killed your king. They hold your queen captive. And sir,
might I remind you,
they murdered your son.
”

I tried to fight it but, at his words, I
couldn’t stop myself from dipping my chin and staring at the rough
carpets covering the snow under the tent.

Apollo went on, “He was Our Frey. He was
Our Drakkar. The adelas are charred. The elves will never return.
The dragons cannot aid us in our plight and will not wake unless
Finnie births A Drakkar from Frey’s seed and even if she does, this
will take years. And I hope I do not have to remind you of the
lives already lost. The heads of those Houses are responsible for
this,
all
of it, and
they… will…
swing.
”

Olwen Lazarus and Norfolk Ravenscroft
immediately nodded. It took Walter Sinclair three seconds to agree
(I counted). But Eirik Drakkar, who, with every encounter I
disliked more and who had lost more than anyone in that tent except
me, glared at Apollo for long moments before he finally jerked up
his chin.

But what surprised me was when Calder
Drakkar muttered, “I claim hangman.”

Then I was again surprised when Garik
returned on his own mutter, “No, brother, I kick the lever.”

“There will be enough that you both can
share,” Apollo declared then he ordered them, “Go to Balthazar and
Quincy. Dispatch them to find the witch, scout the situation and
give them leave to commence with capture if they feel it is safe or
return if we need to send an outfit.” He turned his eyes to
Ravenscroft. “The number of Frey’s Raiders is diminished and those
left will remain here for the princess’s protection but you have
skilled Raiders amongst your troops. Chose those most stealthy to
go forth and secure our queen. She, like our princess, grieves and
it is our duty to see to it she grieves amongst those who can offer
her comfort, not alone and captive in an enemy camp.”

“Hear, hear,” Olwen Lazarus murmured, my
eyes moved to him, I smiled and upon receiving it, my (kind of)
uncle smiled back.

Apollo swept his eyes through the group and
stated quietly, “Let us not delay,” which I was learning was his
way of suggesting people do what he said when he said it and
telling them he was not pleased when they didn’t.

Something else that reminded me of Frey.

Therefore the men in the tent didn’t
hesitate further but filed out, Garik and Calder doing so after
nodding to me and I smiled at them, pleased at their show of
loyalty for their brother and Lunwyn and saddened he’d never know
they’d shown it. Eirik, as usual, didn’t look at me which didn’t
bother me, I didn’t like his eyes on me anyway. Ravenscroft,
Sinclair and Lazarus stopped to mutter polite words to me before
taking their leave.

I watched the flaps of the tent swing closed
behind Olwen then I stood, looked into Apollo’s remarkable (it had
to be said because they truly were) green eyes and whispered, “I
should get back to the wounded.”

He crossed his arms on his chest and studied
me. Then he said softly, “Finnie, we’ve not had a skirmish in days.
Their wounds are healing and not one of them requires your constant
attention.”

“They bled for my son,” I reminded him.

“They bled for Lunwyn,” he corrected me.

I pressed my lips together and nodded
because he was right.

He continued to study me. Then he pulled a
breath in through his nose, closed his eyes and turned his head to
the side and when he did this, I studied him for this was unusual
for Apollo. He rarely showed emotion and the only emotion I’d ever
seen him show was gentleness to me.