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   "To your unused chambers. Come along."

   Her thighs needed some convincing to press together, but after a half dozen steps, she wasn't wobbling nearly as badly as she anticipated.

   Her chambers were empty, but Tynir went to the wardrobe and opened it with the attitude of someone waiting for a booby trap.

   He selected one of her Hickom gowns and the matching wrap. "Shall I send for Narila?"

   "Are you willing to help?" She threw off the tunic and grabbed for the black gown he was holding.

   "Yes."

   "Then come over here and wrap me tight, but not strangling. I will hold my sleeves." She posed with her sleeves and he took up the challenge. After two false starts, he did a respectable job of wrapping her from hip to breast in silver fabric.

   "I forgot my shoes again." Her cheeks turned pink.

   He reached into the wardrobe again and withdrew black boots that she didn't recognize. "These are for you. You didn't seem to have any cold-weather gear, so I had these brought in."

   "Thank you, Tynir."

   "Have a seat and give me your feet." He smiled at his rhyme and waited until she complied. The boots laced tight and hugged her calves perfectly.

   Tynir trailed his fingers from the top edge of the boot to her inner thigh when he finished lacing them and she smacked his hands. "Morgarn and disaster…remember?"

   He sighed and pulled his fingers back when they were less than an inch from the juncture of her thighs. He lifted her to her feet and ushered her to the door. They walked the halls in matching colours. The wolf part of her who had already mated for life was howling in triumph, while the elemental within was flaring wildly.

   Gel was surprised to see them, "My lord, what may I get for you?"

   "A cloak for my lady and we will be gone."

   The housekeeper gave Mishka a quick look and the young woman made a run for a dark hall. She returned in moments with a cloak of deep black velvet lined with silver fur.

   "My lord, Mari has gone missing."

   Tynir looked to Gel, "I am aware of it. She was responsible for Fehniel's sudden exit before dawn."

   "So, my lady didn't run?"

   Fen's mouth opened in shock. "You thought I ran?"

   Pink darkened his cheeks. "I could not come up with a better explanation."

   "What about the gas that she used to kidnap me?"

   "It isn't something that we can smell. After you contacted me, I found the ampoule, but before that moment, there were a few hours of a tantrum, I will admit."

   She looked at his embarrassed face and realized that he had been frantic and furious that she had left him in the middle of the night. Their first time together.

   "We will discuss your temper at a later date, Tynir. I can and will travel to visit my friends." She settled the cloak around her shoulders and she pulled the hood down to cover her smirk.

   Fen walked into the crisp morning air and within five minutes, they were in the air flying over the patchwork of Jotunheim.

   Thosnas's home loomed in the distance with all the grace of a Hickom cathedral. The vast windows and spiralling towers brought a smile to her lips. "Lovely architecture."

   "He is proud of it. It was built by an ancestor nine hundred years ago and the maintenance is detailed."

   There were three other skimmers on the landing pad. Tynir put them down right next to the others. He helped her step down and took her hand to lead her into the home of the most powerful man on the planet.

   "Tynir, I will be in communication with my friends. Don't spook Mari by standing out. We want her to go insane when she finds out I am not freezing to death in that cell."

   When his jaw flexed, she realized that she should not have mentioned the last part. This was going to get ugly.

Chapter Six

   
Fen, oh thank the stars, yes. She has mentioned it to Morgarn,
but to bring it up before the council, she needed to be here for
Thosnas's judgement day.

   
Is Jin around?

   
Yes, but she is off to the side with her family and Ragnar. She will
wait until you signal before stepping forward.

   
You told her what happened?

   
Yes, and she is less than pleased.

   Fen couldn't help her smile.
You can tell her that it is her fault for
falling for the fire giant. She started this whole ball rolling.

   Sol laughed and they cut the connection.

   "Why are you smiling?" Tynir's voice was warm in her ear.

   "A conversation with Sol. She will wait for my grand entrance before starting some shit."

   He grinned back. "May I join in?"

   "Oh, darling. I would be disappointed if you didn't." She held his hand tightly and they moved through the crowd of giants until they were in a quiet alcove. From this vantage point, they could see everything and yet be relatively unseen themselves.

   The pain in her ass who had tried to buy her bar out from under her took his seat against the north wall of the great hall. An official stood next to him and blew a horn.

   The sound rang out and those who came for judgement organized themselves.

   Fen narrowed her eyes at Mari and pulled her own hood down further. Mari would bolt if she was discovered and Fen didn't want that to happen.

   She looked up and admired the swords in the ceiling. The positioning was unusual and it made her ask, "Are those swords up on the walls recent?"

   Tynir looked around. "Yes, they were not here the last time I spoke to my grandfather."

   "When was that?"

   "A few weeks ago. While we were plotting and scheming to get you down here."

   The horn blasted out again and the first person with a dispute came forward—a mountain giant who had lost some sheep to a frost giant.

   Mari was third applying for judgement. She strode forward with arrogance and faced Thosnas. "My lord, I demand that your grandson Morgarn be removed from consideration of succession."

   The old giant leaned forward and crooked a brow at her. "Demand?"

   "Yes, it is unseemly for him to be wed to an off-worlder and for his children to be inheritors of your lands." Mari was bristling with icy indignation.

   "Morgarn, what do you think of this?" Thosnas beckoned and his grandson, the mountain giant, stepped forward with his new bride at his side.

   "I think that this is yet another attempt to disrupt the plans that you and the council have put into play regarding succession and involvement with the Alliance."

   Mari was staring at him in shock. Apparently, this was not the answer she had been expecting. "Lord Thosnas, your grandson earlier promised to withdraw his bid for succession."

   Morgarn put his arm around Solial and winked down at his wife. "I promised to withdraw if you released Fehniel from her ice prison. What you could not know at that point was that there was no way you could. She was already back with my cousin in good health."

   That was their cue. Tynir led her through the crowd and they stopped in front of Mari. A few other giants in the crowd quickly ran for the nearest exit.

   "How? There was no way out of that room." The horror on her face was genuine.

   "I can understand your confusion." Fen released the catch on her cloak and passed it to a servant nearby. Her body language must have communicated to Tynir, because he took a step back.

   She held her hands out at her sides and brought fireballs into being. While the near members of the crowd were stunned, Fen shifted her face into a wolf's and snapped the air inches from Mari. With a light smile playing around her mouth, she returned her body to normal.

   Thosnas started applauding. "Fire and a shifter. My grandson is a lucky man."

   Guards moved to grab Mari and Fen rounded on Thosnas. "You, sir, are the most manipulative, weasely, sneaky giant that the gods ever created. Did it ever occur to you just to ask?"

   The patriarch of the giants was leaning back, away from her fire.

   "Do you know how hard it was for us to start that bar on Raven's Rest? How difficult it was to build up steady clientele?"

   Sol was watching her with wide eyes. Jin appeared and was just as surprised as the other elemental.

   Thosnas was blinking, but smiling. "I had heard that you were the most level-headed of the three and I think I now know why. You are all business, aren't you?"

   "I save my fire for what matters. Friends, family, business and love." She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her new grandfather-in-law. She was quite sure that her father had already signed the papers, so setting her new family straight was going to be her first step.

   "Good. The giants here will need someone knowledgeable when they begin off-planet trade."

   Fen blinked. "Are you serious?"

   "We found out that our planet is sentient and slowly waking, but we have a psi-enhancing mineral here and we need someone to broker it. Djihntalia would be an excellent front person with Ragnar to assist, Solial is an amazing enforcer loyal to Morgarn and you are a calculating woman who has the support of a very honourable man. We need only gain control of the space station above to use as a base of distribution and the giants will once again enter the Alliance with heads held high." Thosnas was smiling as all of his schemes and machinations were coming to fruition in front of his eyes.

   Sol, Jin and Fen looked at each other and had a silent communication. When imperceptible nods came from her two friends, Fen turned back to Thosnas. "We need to speak privately. The mates, the ladies and you."

   "I believe that I need to finish the immediate matter first." He looked past Fen to the woman who had kidnapped her, flanked by guards. "Mari, I reject your petition to have Morgarn struck from the succession. I find you guilty of kidnapping and am holding you for sentencing and questioning for others who share your thoughts on these fine ladies of impeccable families."

   "My lord, no! They are all blends of other species."

   "And they are now members of my family." His voice boomed and Mari flinched at the wave of sound and blast of air that came with it.

   That power surprised Fehniel. She whispered to Tynir, "What kind of giant is Thosnas?"

   "A storm giant. The last of his kind. He married my grandmother and they began a family of daughters that astonished those around them." He smiled and put his arm around her tightly wrapped waist.

   Mari was shaking as she was taken out of the audience hall.

   "I almost feel sorry for her."

   "Don't. If you hadn't escaped or been able to call me, you might be dead by now." His harsh tone reminded her of the danger she had been in.

   "Fair point." She wrapped her own arm around his waist and squeezed him to remind him she was safe.

   Thosnas asked, "Is there anything urgent that needs to be addressed today?"

   The crowd shook their heads.

   "Good, now let me go and talk with my family."

   A giant woman of elder years but with a twinkle in her eyes greeted them as they followed Thosnas to a private garden in the centre of his home.

   "Fehniel, this is my grandmother, Khasna. Grandmother, my chosen, Princess Fehniel of Hickom."

   The woman eyed her warily. "You are the fire elemental."

   "Yes, madam."

   "Tynir is frost."

   "I am aware of that, madam." She waited patiently, the woman was going somewhere with this.

   "Isn't that a little contradictory when you come together?"

   "Only if we are not careful, madam. Your grandson and I are very big on self-control."

   "He has a temper."

   "I have noticed that as well, but usually in defence of others. He

may feel it, but he won't use it to hurt the ones he cares about." Even when he had been torturing her, he had been careful and only her stiff muscles resulted.

   Tynir was standing next to her, waiting for Khasna's verdict. "Give me a hug, granddaughter. It is a relief to welcome you to the family."

   Tynir let out a gust of air as Fen hugged his grandmother. She kept her internal snickers to herself.

   When the familial introduction was over, Thosnas snaked an arm around his wife and asked Fen, "So, what is it that you needed to discuss with me?"

   "You will not be able to purchase the space station."

   Jin and Sol stepped forward and close to her.

   "Why not?"

   "Because the owners won't sell it."

   Thosnas looked confused. "How could you possibly know that?"

   "Because it is owned by the Gaia Group. It was a silent takeover and only the management knows that the station has changed hands."

   He looked angry and irritated. The men stood protectively next to their ladies and Fen felt Tynir wrap his arm around her and braced for his grandfather's temper.

   "Who is the Gaia Group? I have never heard of them."

   Fen, Sol and Jin looked at each other for a moment. "We are."

   Thunder boomed in the distance. "What?"

   The girls were shoved back and the men stepped forward to face their grandfather. It took him ten minutes to calm down, but he finally did.