The Viking Queen's Men

by Holley Trent

  “Wait—can we rewind here?” Tess asked. “I think I’m holding up admirably given the circumstances, but there’s only so much disbelief I can suspend all at once. Just today, I’ve been reunited with family I didn’t know I had, told that I have some tenuous association to Vikings—did I hear that correctly, Harvey? I was doped up at the moment.”

  He grunted. “That was correct.”

  “Okay. I’ve also been informed I may have some undefined power, and now you’re bandying around the word queen as if it were just a nickname. As much as I like the idea of being something greater than a cocktail waitress, I’m not sure if I’m qualified to be anyone’s ruler.”

  “No, Nadia, it doesn’t bother me,” her grandmother said, ignoring Tess’s distress. There was an edge to her voice that warned Tess that whatever the Afótama queen was supposed to be, the current one took no shit. In fact, everyone in the vehicle except Joe shrank a bit in their seats.

  If only Tess could command that sort of respect. No one took her seriously.

  Her grandmother said nothing more until they’d approached the gate of a sprawling subdivision bearing a sign that read Norseton. The driver waved at the gate attendant who peered into the truck, gave his regards to the queen, and lifted the barrier.

  “Just because you’ve always been in my company doesn’t mean you know everything there is to know about what being queen means.” Her voice was quiet, but tone pointed. “There are things none of you are meant to know and that I have not seen fit to share with you. Keep that in mind the next time you want to question my action or inaction regarding certain matters.”

  “Yes, Nan,” Nadia said.

  Had she been Tess, those two words would have come out sounding tart. Nadia could concede without abasing herself, but maybe she’d had more practice at compliance. When she backed down, she knew how to back down completely, whether she liked it or not.

  Am I going to have to learn to do the same? If so, I might as well pack it up now.

  The driver steered the SUV into the four-stall garage of a large modern style home. Mansion, even. Compared to the smaller abodes in the vicinity, it stood out like a capital building. Made of adobe and massive panels of glass, it seemed almost museum-like in its three-story grandeur.

  Her grandmother must have guessed the reason for her confusion, because she leaned forward and squeezed Tess’s shoulder. “Living quarters take up a small portion of the building. The rest is for Afótama business. For instance, the Thing meets here on occasion.”

  “Thing? That’s entirely unspecific.”

  She laughed and shifted to the right side of the seat toward the door as the vehicle cleared out. “That’s what it’s called. A Thing. It’s what we call our assembly. It’s a very old form of governing. I’ll explain everything in due time. It’s not my intention to be coy. There’s just too much to explain all at once.”

  Harvey helped Tess down and slung his arm around her shoulders, guiding her through the garage and up into a dimly lit hallway after the others.

  Her grandmother said, “I live here, and so will you. Nadia moved in last week to prepare for your arrival. The rest have their own residences here in the community.”

  Tess looked up at Harvey. “Even you?”

  “Mm-hmm. I’m only here about half the time, though. I spend the rest of my time in hotel rooms. I’m away on business a lot.”

  “A-afo—”

  “Afótama?”

  “Yes. Afótama business?”

  “No, not Afótama business. Like, business-business. With the consulting firm.”

  They climbed up a narrow stairwell that must have been deep inside the building because there were no windows to be found.

  “I keep offering him a job, but he won’t take it,” her grandmother said. “I guess he doesn’t want to feel like he’s on the dole, but he should know by now I’d make him earn every penny.”

  They came up into a massive office tastefully decorated in tan and dark blue. Again, there were no windows, though the framed art, showing vignettes of outdoor scenes, and the large monitor streaming in security images from around the building minimized the closed-in feel.

  Tess looked around and realized they’d lost the driver and the guy with the gun somewhere.

  “Do you need me for anything else tonight, Mom?” her uncle asked.

  “No, Joey. Go on home. Tell Marnie not to rush over in the morning. I know she’s excited, but I imagine Contessa will sleep in.”

  As if she could sleep.

  “Then I’ll say goodnight, too.” Jody stood in front of her and gave her gentle chuck on the chin. Then, he stood there, considering her for a moment.

  It drove Tess to distraction the way his pale eyes assessed her face and his lips twitched at the corners.

  “What?” she asked.

  He laughed. “We’re huggers. Do you mind?”

  “Oh.” Her mouth formed the word yes, because she did mind. But, he’d asked. And he seemed to need it. He’d known her, remembered her for all those years. Of course he’d want to touch her. She waved him over, and he wrapped her in a tight bear hug that picked her up a foot off the ground. He rocked her to and fro a few beats. “Hi, sister.”

  “Hey, yourself.”

  “See you tomorrow. I apologize in advance for everything that’ll happen.”

  “Want to fill me in? I wish someone would.”

  “Not gonna be me. Sorry.” He rocked her some more.

  She would have kicked him in the shin for that, but the hug wasn’t so awful that she wanted to be put down just yet. She’d never been welcomed anywhere before.

  Their grandmother grunted, and Jody put Tess down.

  “Not gonna blow smoke up her ass, Nan. Sorry.” He made his leave, waving at her.

  She waved back.

  Tess expected Harvey to follow right after him, but he kept his place at her side, and put his hand on her waist. She was glad he was there, because whether this woman was her grandmother or not, Tess wasn’t ready to be left in a room alone with her.

  She didn’t know what these people wanted from her. For all she knew, she could have been slated to be their next ritual sacrifice. Unbalanced people killed the people they supposedly loved all the damn time. She saw it in the Daily Mail.

  Her grandmother’s gaze locked on his hand at Tess’s waist. “Well, well. Are you stating your intentions regarding my granddaughter, Mr. Lang?”

  Tess furrowed her brow. Lang, not Smith.

  “I swear I hadn’t planned it, but I couldn’t not touch her. After I did…”

  Her grandmother put up her hands. “I know. Can’t really shut it down now.”

  Tess raised a hand as if to summon the teacher. “Excuse me. I don’t know anything at all. Care to fill me in?”

  They both ignored her.

  “Do you know what that means?” her grandmother asked him. She leaned her bottom against the desk’s edge and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “I’m prepared for any challenges, but I read the history. I don’t expect there’ll be any, but if there are, I’ll fight.”

  “Wait.” Tess squirmed out from his grip and put herself between him and the queen. “I feel like there’s a lot going on here that directly affects me, and yet I have no say in it.”

  “I promised I’d explain things before bed,” her grandmother said, “and I keep my promises.”

  Tess turned to her, and her grandmother pushed away from the desk.

  She walked until she was within arm’s reach of Tess, and laid a hand on her shoulder. “You’ll get your crash course tonight. No one will make you stay here if you don’t wish to. You can opt to leave, though I will do everything in my power to make you want to stay. My heart is broken, Contessa, when my grandchildren are scattered. When you’re not where you’re born to be, which is amongst your kin. Afótama don’t do lonely. We don’t isolate ourselves. Our compulsion is to draw together. I think you’ll start to feel that if you give
things some time to click.”

  Tess shook her head. “Hold on, now. I do lonely just fine, so maybe you have the wrong girl after all. And what is it that you’re wanting me to do?”

  “You’ll know what to do, child. It’s intuitive for the queen. You’ll understand when it’s your turn.”

  “That’s a total non-answer.”

  Her grandmother turned her hands over, palms up, and shrugged.

  “Okay, if you don’t want to answer that, how about this one. Why is this so pressing? Why now?”

  What she wanted to ask was Why’d you leave me out there for so long? but changed mid-stream. She’d already lost it once in front of a group of strangers. She wasn’t going to break down again tonight if she could help it.

  “Simple. We didn’t know where you were until very recently. You were lost to us, just like Mr. Lang. My turn should have been up years ago. With your mother gone, there was no one to step in except Nadia, but she would be like an oval peg stuffed into a round hole. There’d be gaps.”

  Tess felt her brow furrow at the metaphor. She understood the imagery, but not the context.

  Her grandmother sighed and put her forehead against Tess’s and closed her eyes. “Listen, child. I’m tired. I’m not as efficient as I used to be. We need a clean conduit.”

  “Look, I’m sorry. I don’t understand you. I always have problems understanding.”

  “That’s not your fault. You’re wired that way. The fog will lift soon enough. I can explain until I’m blue in the face, but this is something you’ll understand as the pieces come together. In the meantime, I’ll tell you what you need to know about this place. Mr. Lang, could you excuse us, please? Some of this isn’t meant for you to hear.”

  “Of course.” He bowed, and cast a look at Tess that could have incinerated her panties.

  What the hell was that?

  He looked at her like she already belonged to him—like in ten minutes he’d staked a claim.

  And for some reason, she couldn’t muster up any indignation about it.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Harvey clasped his hand over his yawn, barely managing to keep his eyelids up as he reclined on Tess’s would-be bed. He didn’t know for certain that she’d welcome his intrusion into what would undoubtedly become her inner sanctum, but he was betting she’d want to see a familiar face.

  His integration into the Afótama community had been an easy one because he’d always had an understanding that there was something different about him. He reckoned that most people couldn’t hear each other’s thoughts as clear as words being spoken aloud. He’d thought he was insane as a child, and told no one about his odd proclivity, especially since he couldn’t hear everyone.

  It was hit or miss with regular folks. Some he could hear, and the thoughts of others were blessedly shut off to him. Growing up in foster care, and constantly grasping at stability was hard enough, so he kept his mouth shut, lest he get shipped off to the next place.

  When it was his turn to be found—when Muriel had sent Joe and Jody out to find “the stolen”—he’d cried with relief. He’d heard them in his head as they’d approached him at a coffee shop near where he worked in downtown Charlotte. Not only could he hear them, but they could also hear each other. They’d talked back and forth, and they noticed that he noticed.

  Although far from normal, his life made so much more sense now than it had before they made that coffee shop introduction.

  He wasn’t a freak, though he was still an orphan.

  Like Tess, his parents were dead.

  Tess. His Tess, the queen of them all. He could hardly believe it, and with Tess being Tess, knew she wasn’t going to easily adjust. Muriel had said that Afótama didn’t like being solitary, but Tess always had been.

  He worried she’d run from them.

  From him.

  One side of the double doors swung open, and Tess stepped into the nearly dark room, sighing. She closed the door and put her forehead against it.

  He knew he should leave her to her thoughts so she could process it all, but he couldn’t. He’d meant what he said to Muriel about his intentions. If Tess would have him, he’d be her consort. Her lover, eventually.

  He’d also meant it when he said he hadn’t planned on claiming her. There were plenty of men who’d been born into this world who could guide her so much better than he could, for they already knew the strictures and politics. He’d be the blind leading the blind, and thus was willing to get out of the way for someone more deserving.

  But then he saw her.

  After all those years, he still wanted her, and it wasn’t because she would be queen. He couldn’t give a shit about the power, and if she were anything like Muriel, she’d be fearsome when she came into it. He didn’t care about status and the wealth she’d inherit.

  All he cared about was Tess, and the thought of seeing her hand in some other man’s and her affection belonging to someone else made him want to bellow and rage. She wouldn’t be allowed to remain unattached for long. As future queen, and a woman of a certain age, she was vulnerable while unmated. At least, that’s what everyone said. Afótama paired off while young, because having a mate bond made their mental shields stronger. It sounded like fairy tale shit, but it was really just a matter of hormones.

  “Fuck,” Tess whispered against the door, and she banged her forehead against it a few times.

  “Tess, I’m here,” he said softly so as not to scare her. “On the bed.”

  She ran to him, tears streaming down her face, and he welcomed her into his arms.

  Her heaving sobs against his chest broke his heart, and he didn’t even know what was wrong. Seeing her—a woman who as a matter of course never cried—weep and moan rocked him to his very core. He wanted to fix whatever was wrong.

  Hurt whomever had wronged her.

  “What’s wrong, sweetheart? Did someone offend you? Nadia maybe?”

  It was probable. Nadia didn’t hash her words. She was a damned good friend to have, but she wasn’t a patient woman when it came to duty. She knew her duties, and assumed that everyone else knew theirs and was competent in doing them.

  She was unmated for a reason.

  “No, I haven’t seen Nadia since we got here,” Tess said between sniffles. “My grandmother—she…”

  “What?”

  “She told me what I’m supposed to be and what I’m supposed to do, and I told her I’d try.”

  “That’s wonderful news, so what’s bothering you?”

  “I was fine until I realized that everything I do from here on out will be in front of an audience. People are waiting for me to fail, and I don’t even know what I’m doing. I’ve got a new name and family all of a sudden, and all these people want to hug me, and I…” Her voice careened to an incomprehensible pitch.

  Shit.

  He couldn’t even lie and tell her that it wouldn’t be that bad because he didn’t know. It was true that from here on out, she’d be carefully watched. She’d be living life under a microscope and having every decision she made questioned and intensely scrutinized. She was expected to be one part monarch, one part politician, and one part Mother Teresa. She would fail on occasion. Everyone failed. But, like Muriel, she’d have to be able to assure them all that in spite of the missteps, everything would be okay.

  Muriel was so maternal and had such a big heart that she kept their grumbling to a minimum. They could all feel her warmth and strength, though on some days, they also felt the frayed edges. She was trying too hard to hold it together, but being the conduit wasn’t supposed to be her job anymore. Hers was a job meant for a queen to do for twenty-five years at the most, and she’d been doing two jobs in that period.

  “I’ll help you all I can, Tess.” He lifted the bottom of her shirt and pressed his palm to the small of her back. That bit of warmth from skin to skin contact calmed him the way it did for all their people, but he couldn’t say if did the same for Tess.

  She wasn
’t online. He didn’t know when she’d be online, if ever. Maybe the connection was something that would happen automatically when she took over her grandmother’s role.

  “Means a lot that you’d offer,” she said, still sniffling. “Did you know about the ball, the big party?”

  “Yeah, the people expect you to have a coming out since you’ve been missing for so long. They want a chance to meet you. Touch you.”

  The touch was important. They’d all want a chance to make that small connection, because once two of their kind touched, they became a part of each other’s mind-to-mind network. They’d always be able to reach out to you. It was like programming numbers one by one into a cell phone. At first, Tess would ride on her grandmother’s network, but the connections wouldn’t be as strong as if she’d made her own.

  “The ball is all set to go forward pending the results of a DNA test,” Tess said with a catch in her throat. “She said the people insisted on the test, and that if she could get away with it, she’d forego it. She seems to be very confident of what the results will be.”

  “And don’t you? I think you already know how they’ll turn out.”

  “There’s wishful thinking, and then there’s optimism. I think I fall into the first category.”

  “Which part are you wishing for?”

  “The family part. Can you believe it? Brothers and an uncle and a grandmother? That’s a huge family in my book.”

  “It is. I’m on my own.”

  She pulled away from him and dragged her sleeve across her eyes. “No.”

  Typical Tess, forgetting to feel sorry for herself because she thought someone else needed the pity more. He nodded. “Just me. That’s why I was so easy to abduct. I was living with an elderly great aunt, and I got stolen when she took me to get a checkup. The nurse took me out to weigh me, is what she thought, and then I didn’t get taken back to her.”

  “Unbelievable.” She sniffled. “My grandmother says finding out why we were taken and who took us will be one of my jobs. There’s a long list of kids who are still missing, and people still call her for updates. Even the ones who don’t live here.”