What they knew was that Enger was a malcontent, this starting at his displeasure of losing some land as penance from his liege lord for a string of petty crimes. This was appealed to the king and the king held his liege lord’s ruling. Because of this, Enger had no love for the crown but he also had no money.
What he did have was an association with a network of men who considered they had been wronged by Atticus in some way.
What they did not know was who was financing Enger. Until now.
Hernod Grieg was a merchant who traded out of Sudvic, as Drakkar did. Drakkar knew of him, had met him and didn’t like him. Grieg didn’t consider himself wronged by the crown in so much as he disliked paying taxes to it for he preferred his coin in his coffers.
Why he would participate in a treasonous plot, Drakkar did not know. But both Quincy and Balthazar were already riding to Sudvic to find out.
With Viola out of the room, Atticus pulled himself together and not for the first time Drakkar thought this was one characteristic every king should have that Atticus of the House of Wilde did not.
He didn’t have the stomach for the dirty work of politics.
It was a weakness.
“I’ve heard of this Grieg,” Atticus stated.
“And what do you know?” Drakkar asked.
“Not much,” Atticus shook his head. “He’s a merchant in Sudvic. He attended the Solar Hunt last year, invited by a member of a House but he did not go to the Gales. I met him very briefly. I can’t even say for certain I recall what he looked like,” Atticus answered.
“Which House?” Drakkar pushed.
Atticus shook his head again. “That, as well, I can’t recall.
Drakkar studied his king then he whispered, “Try.”
Atticus held his eyes then replied, “Ravenscroft or Lazarus, maybe Sinclair or Njord but saying any at this juncture is slander for, indeed, Drakkar, this meeting was insignificant and I truly cannot recall.”
Drakkar’s eyes went to Annar who was standing, hands on hips, in the corner. “Get to Ravenscroft, Lazarus, Njord and Sinclair. They’re all here. I’ll need to speak to them before I go.”
Annar lifted a chin and left the room.
Drakkar looked to Aurora.
“And you?” he queried.
“I’ve never heard of him before,” she replied instantly, her eyes blank but active, though not, Drakkar sensed, from an attempt to hide something.
Drakkar turned his head to Franka. “And you?”
She lifted a fluttering hand to her wide, garish expanse of cleavage. “Me?” she drawled.
Drakkar turned his whole body to face his cousin.
Then he said softly, “I know you fancy yourself a cat who isn’t content unless she’s got herself a mouse to play with but do not mistake me for a mouse, Franka. A mouse cannot yank a cat’s throat out with his fist.”
He knew she knew his threat was not idle when she lost some color in her face.
“What do you know of Hernod Grieg?” Drakkar pressed.
“I live in Fleuridia, Frey, as you know. And even there, I don’t consort with merchants,” she said her last with disdain and not a small amount of folly for she was speaking to one.
Drakkar moved to stand two feet in front of her.
“You called the maid to you, Franka, I noted it. There were two glasses of champagne on that tray, I noted that too. You took your glass first,” Drakkar remarked.”
“It’s touching to see how much attention you pay your new bride, Drakkar,” she purred.
Frey didn’t allow his expression to change but he lifted his hand and touched his index finger lightly on her throat, watching her body tense as she pulled in a breath.
“You cannot forget mere seconds ago, Franka, when I told you I was no mouse,” he whispered, she looked deep in his eyes, read them correctly and swallowed.
Drakkar dropped his hand.
Franka she spoke.
“I cannot say I recall how the tray was offered, Frey, but I simply took the glass closest to me. And your unfortunate wench,” she waved a hand low to where Viola had been lying, “left quickly therefore did not wait to see if her endeavors were successful. What I can say was that the girl was hovering, that I noted prior to arriving at your fair princess. But that is all I can say.”
“Is it possible for you to assure me in a way that would actually convince me you’ve had no hand in tonight’s events?” Drakkar asked and Franka’s eyes narrowed.
“Now why, my brawny, handsome cousin, would I, Franka Drakkar of the House of Drakkar, poison our beautiful Winter Princess when she’d just been telling me how happy she was with you, and all your nuptial activities, activities which would seat a Drakkar on the throne of Lunwyn for the first time in seven hundred and fifty years?” Franka asked back.
“Why does a Drakkar do anything?” Drakkar returned.
“Indeed,” she replied, slightly inclining her head to accede the point, “however, this Drakkar quite likes the idea of the House being restored to its former glory. So this Drakkar would do naught to stop that from happening. Further this Drakkar would not be so stupid as to stand next to her victim whilst she was being poisoned. And lastly, this Drakkar, unfortunately, has to rely on her House to keep herself in her apartments in Fleuridia that she greatly enjoys, her Fleuridian gowns she also enjoys and if she would participate in such foolhardiness, other Drakkars, of which there are many, my cousin, including you, who wish to see our House again rule Lunwyn, would not be too happy if she were to scheme against that future event. Therefore, this Drakkar is not likely to do something so foolhardy as to lose her the lifestyle she enjoys, not to mention,” she paused and held his eyes, “a throat she likes perfectly well right where it is.”
Drakkar returned her gaze and also sensed she was not hiding anything.
“This is good,” Drakkar said quietly, “But I suggest you guard that throat, Franka.”
“I always do,” she returned smoothly.
Drakkar wasn’t finished. “And, if you enjoy your lifestyle, as you advance through Lunwyn or Fleuridia in your constant play, you’ll be certain to inform me should you hear anything I may wish to learn.”
Her face grew smug before she asked, “Are you suggesting you can sway my brother into severing my funds?”
When the gods dispensed attributes between Franka and her brother Kristian, unfortunately, Franka received more than her fair share of them including looks and wits. That said, Kristian, being the male child, inherited their dead father’s fortune so he held the family purse.
Nevertheless, Kristian was Franka’s favorite mouse and she played with him often.
“I’m not suggesting anything, Franka. If I discover you know something you didn’t share, Kristian will be given his own choice about the state of his throat. He may be a puppet on your strings, cousin, but one thing I’m certain he was born with and that is a sense of self-preservation.” Her mouth got tight but Drakkar wasn’t finished. “And something else he has born, a son who would inherit his purse should something befall him, a son whose age would mean his mother would control his funds for some years. In your vicious play, have you been clever enough to spare his wife?”
He knew the answer to that as well because she lost her poise and glared at her cousin.
Then, instead of answering his question, she asked sharply, “Am I free to leave or will I be treated to some of the same I witnessed your man meting out to that poor woman?”
“That poor woman was a traitor and nearly murdered my wife, Franka, so she’s lucky to leave here breathing, if not fully intact. But you will not be treated to the same for you would enjoy it,” Drakkar retorted.
Her glare melted away, her eyes heated and she smiled languorously at the thought.
“Too true,” she murmured.
Drakkar stared at his cousin with disgust wondering if he did actually have Drakkar blood in his veins or if he was a changeling.
“You may leave,” he
muttered, dismissing her by turning away and back to Atticus and Aurora who both had been watching.
Atticus again didn’t hide his reaction to Franka and stared after her with distaste as she exited. Aurora didn’t move her eyes from Drakkar.
Max walked in and Drakkar’s looked to his man.
“The princess,” Max said and Drakkar lifted his chin.
“Find Thad, send him to her. Have him tell her she needs to change. Then have Tyr brought around. Finnie and I leave for Sudvic tonight,” Drakkar commanded, Max nodded and left.
“Tonight?” Aurora asked and Drakkar looked at her.
“Immediately after I speak with Ravenscroft, Njord, Sinclair and Lazarus,” Drakkar answered.
“But it’s late, it’s night –” Aurora started.
“She’s slept on Tyr with me before, she can do it again,” Drakkar returned.
“She must be in a state,” Atticus put in and turned to Aurora. “We’ll be away to her now, see to it she’s all right and –”
“You’ll get nowhere near my wife,” Drakkar cut in to say and both Atticus and Aurora looked to him.
“I beg your pardon?” Atticus asked softly.
“I’m certain you heard me,” Drakkar replied.
“But…” Atticus began, faltered, his eyes uncomprehending then he finished incredulously, “by the gods, why?”
“Because Finnie was nearly poisoned tonight,” Drakkar explained shortly.
“We know, we were both there,” Atticus shot back. “And our daughter was there too. She saw that woman collapse, I saw her face right after it happened. She was in a state. You can’t toss her up on a horse and –”
Drakkar cut him off. “I can and this is what I’m going to do, Atticus.”
Atticus opened his mouth to protest but Aurora got there before him.
“Drakkar, I understand your wish to be away but my husband and I would like a moment with our daughter to ascertain that she is well after the events of tonight.”
“And your daughter is in another world and has no idea that her selfish actions have put my Finnie in such peril,” Drakkar retorted and was mildly surprised to see Aurora rear slightly back.
Then he was far more than mildly surprised to hear her whisper, “That peril, Drakkar, came at the hands of a woman you tossed aside.”
This was exactly what he didn’t need and precisely what he was attempting not to think about.
Therefore Drakkar clenched his teeth before he returned, “A woman who was paid by a conspirator.”
“A woman who was open to payment because she’d been bedded by you, she liked it, she wanted it to repeat when you returned and you gave her hope by requesting she attend the table where your new wife sat. Then you dashed those hopes because you were enjoying yourself elsewhere,” Aurora shot back. “I know women, Drakkar, being one, and that woman acted out of jealousy.”
Drakkar felt his temper fray as her words made the guilt he’d been controlling rise and he leaned slightly toward his queen before he replied, “That may be but she also acted out the paid request of a conspirator I can assure you I have not bedded.”
“I think you understand my point,” she said softly.
“No, actually, I think I’d like you to make it more clear,” Drakkar retorted also softly but his was deadly.
Aurora crossed her arms on her chest and bravely ignored his tone. “Atticus told me your man kept him from our daughter.”
“Again, she is not your daughter,” Drakkar gritted through his teeth and Aurora’s back went straight.
“No, you are right. And, perhaps, not being in my head, or Atticus’s, you cannot know that we have found you were right about something else. So as you stand there, certain in nothing but the fact that no one can be trusted, I’ll explain something important to you before you whisk our daughter into the night,” Aurora stated, Drakkar crossed his arms on his chest and scowled at her.
She lifted her chin and continued.
“You were right, we grieve the loss of our Sjofn but we have both come to know why you came to care about Finnie in such a short time.”
Drakkar’s body got tight but she wasn’t finished.
“As for me,” she said quietly, “I would give my crown to see my daughter again. She vexed me, everyone knows, but I loved her straight to my soul and I’d hand over my crown without that first thought for the chance to see her again. What I wouldn’t do is harm Finnie.” She pulled in a breath and kept her eyes on Drakkar likely so she would not see her husband’s response to her next words. “It pains me to say but Finnie is the daughter I didn’t have. My husband, I am pleased to know, had the daughter he wanted, one who enjoyed his pursuits. For thirty years, I did not have that but for the last two weeks, I did.”
With years borne of practice, Drakkar managed to keep his reaction in check and didn’t show his surprise.
Queen Aurora would likely not have seen it. She was focused on her message and kept speaking.
“As you have said, my Sjofn is not here and I do not go a day without thinking dozens of times of what she has done. I think of what she’s done to my king and my country but I also think of me. She left me behind, Drakkar, and her father. And it does not escape either of us that your Finnie, our Finnie, did the exact opposite. She did not escape her parents. She risked a great deal to find them again. And you are not a parent yet so you cannot know but I will tell you, knowing the difference of their two motives twists a knife already imbedded deep even deeper. At the same time, knowing Finnie and seeing her joy at being with those who remind her of the parents she loved soothes a considerable balm over that wound.”
Drakkar held her eyes, heard her words, knew they were not false but sensed she was not quite finished.
He was not wrong.
Aurora continued. “I cannot say at this moment that I would drink that poison for her or give my crown for her return as I would my own daughter. I can say that I would do nothing to harm her and, to those who already have tried, I do not recoil that they find justice.”
She inclined her head to where Viola had lain to make her point but didn’t take her eyes from Drakkar.
She also didn’t stop talking.
But she said her next quietly with astonishing emotion trembling in her voice and her eyes were not blank, they were alight with passion.
“You soon talk to the heads of the two Houses whose blood flows in my veins. I am a Ravenscroft, I am a Lazarus and those two Houses, if they are anything, they are Lunwynians. They would no sooner betray their king, their country, their niece,” she leaned forward, “or me than they would fly to a dragon’s cave and invite his fire.” She straightened again and kept speaking quietly. “You are The Drakkar, The Frey and Finnie is your destiny. Legend tells that all the Houses were touched by the elves that have frosted our country to such beauty yet have provided abundance and they did so that the Houses would lead Lunwyn to prosperity. The Frey and The Drakkar have been born in one man, which means the gods have called upon you and our cherished elves leave their realm at long last to serve you. Although the heads of those Houses do not hold the knowledge of Finnie being your destiny, they, like me, would do nothing to stand in the way of the decisions you make, the commands you give or the actions you take for Lunwyn because you have been chosen by the gods and Finnie has been chosen by them for you. And with respect, I ask you to remember that, Drakkar, in your fire to avenge what’s happened tonight under your nose, a glass delivered to your new bride by the hand of a woman who warmed your bed, when you speak to them.”
“Aurora, my beloved,” Atticus whispered, reaching out and clutching his wife’s hand in concern at her show of insolence.
But Aurora held his gaze, not looking at her husband and Drakkar noted her chest rising and falling with her emotion.
He’d seen that before more than once.
“I’ve noted,” he said softly, “many occasions that Finnie remind me of you. She has your grace in her bearing and, I d
idn’t know it until now, but she also has your passion of emotion.” Atticus sucked in a hopeful breath as his wife visibly worked to calm herself. “The elves told me the twins of the two worlds are different people and this is true of your daughter and Finnie. It is strange and fantastical you share these attributes with Finnie as if you passed them down through your womb, but it is nevertheless true.”
The king and queen remained silent.
Drakkar finished. “It pleases me to know as this plot unfolds and uncovers Lunwynians behind it, that Finnie can trust her parents.”
Atticus’s shoulders slumped with visible relief.
Aurora lifted her chin and asked instantly, “Does this mean we can see her prior to you both being away into the cold, dark night?”
Drakkar nearly smiled at her motherly dramatics.
She was going to miss his Finnie and she was worried about her.
However, he did not smile.
Instead he looked to Lund who had been standing quiet, shoulders to the wall and ordered, “Take them to Finnie.”
Lund nodded and moved but when they were at the door, Drakkar called out, “One thing.” They stopped and looked back at him. “I’ll remind you we’re uncovering Lunwynians at every turn.”
“I’ll see to it my best men –” Atticus started but Drakkar interrupted him.
“That’s precisely what you won’t do. I’ve chosen the men I trust and right now Finnie has them, me, the both of you and, if my instincts are correct, her maidservants. You, as I, will treat anyone else as suspect,” his eyes moved to Aurora, “even the heads of Houses who were heretofore above suspicion. You will do this until I am assured of their loyalty and you have my leave to trust them. Is that understood?”
“Understood, Drakkar,” Atticus muttered.
Aurora paused only a moment before she lifted her chin.
“Bid farewell to your daughter,” Drakkar murmured and they moved without hesitation behind Lund.
Drakkar stared at the door as it closed behind them, leaving him alone in the room.
An image of the woman spewing blood projected on the wood and this transformed into an image of Finnie doing the same. It was an image so heinous he closed his eyes to shut it out.
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