by Lucy Roy
Freya felt her face flush, so she ducked her head as she curtsied for him. “Your Majesty, it’s wonderful to see you. I apologize for my delayed arrival.”
Salazar pointed a slender finger at Byrric. “If she were anyone but your daughter, I’d have her flogged in the city square for her disobedience.”
“Now, Father, after the commander’s display during Combat, I think she’s been sufficiently chastised.” Aerelius appeared at his father’s side, a glass tumbler of amber liquor in his hand. He looked to be on the verge of laughter as he greeted her. “Lady Balthana.”
Freya gave the prince a small nod. “Your Highness.”
“So, who’s hungry?” Lazarus said, dispelling the awkward silence that hung in the air. “I think we should eat.”
“Excellent idea,” Orin Calliwell replied, rubbing his hands together. “I’m quite famished, myself.”
The amount of food the palace’s kitchen had provided would have fed half of Watoria, Freya thought, as servants brought out dish after fragrant dish. The dining table that had looked so vast when she arrived now seemed to buckle under the weight of the dishes laden with food from all over Lindoroth.
As much as Freya wanted to restrict herself to one plate, she allowed Lea to talk her into trying a bit of everything.
“Trust me, it will be worth the bellyache later,” she whispered. “Kallan was quite smart when he made these outfits so flexible.”
Freya smiled and put a hand on her stomach, suddenly thankful for the loose, flowing fabric of her dress.
“Are you enjoying the food, Freya?” Perida asked from Lea’s other side.
“Oh, it’s fantastic,” Freya gushed. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a meal like this.” She looked down the table to Ordona, who sat at the end opposite her husband. “Do you still employ the same kitchen staff?”
Ordona smiled knowingly. “We do, so if you’re planning on sneaking to the kitchens for treats, you’ll find yourself in luck. Maghda has already been informed of your return.”
Freya laughed at the mention of the cantankerous witch who’d been ruling the kitchens on the lower level of the palace for more than a century. “I couldn’t possibly fit any more.” She set her napkin beside her plate and glanced at the clock above the mantel, hoping the king and queen would dismiss them so she could get up and walk off some of what she’d eaten.
“Now, Salazar, did I hear correctly that a Jotunn was spotted in Iladel last week?” Rischa Cailen asked, dashing her hopes.
Freya didn’t miss the odd look the queen gave her husband.
“Yes, an emissary for Empress Lessia paid a visit to discuss a potential trade agreement,” Salazar replied, stuffing a bit of bread in his mouth. He chewed and swallowed, then continued. “He’ll be returning in two weeks for further discussion.”
“How are relations with Jotunheim?” Orin asked. “One of my border scouts has reported a bit of skirmishing in the northwestern region of Caelora. Lessia up to her old tricks again?”
“The lower creatures of Jotunheim continue to test our patience in some areas due to their own internal squabbles that tend to spill into our lands,” Salazar said. He dabbed at his chin with a white napkin and looked at Freya. “Draugs and the like. Freya here has had to take down more than one of them, hasn’t she?”
“I have,” she said with a nod. “They like to slip in through the waterways.”
“That’s what they had you doing in Watoria?” Alyndra stared at her, aghast. “Salazar, really.”
Freya exchanged a look with Aer, who appeared to be holding back a grin.
“Waste of good talent not to use her, isn’t it?” Orin said. “If Lessia insists on allowing them through, using our best assets to dispatch them should be a given.”
“Precisely,” Salazar said, sending Alyndra a sharp look. “Byrric and Cina didn’t train her up to sit around and do nothing, after all.”
“I’m certain the marshals were quite fortunate to have her,” Rischa Cailen said.
“And she, them,” Byrric added, spearing another slice of roasted beef.
I’m right here, she wanted to say.
“Indeed,” Salazar murmured before turning back to the governor. “Despite that, Caelora, as always, has done well maintaining the security of our lands.”
Laz’s father gave a small nod. “Your confidence in my border security means more than you know.”
“Is there anything you have need of from us?” Ordona asked.
“No, Your Majesty, although the offer is much appreciated.”
“Why the sudden interest in trade, anyway?” Orin asked.
“There’s always been interest,” Salazar replied. “Every now and then, Lessia pushes a bit harder, tries to approach from a different angle, but until she manages to control the dregs of her lands, they’ll have to make do with the agreements already in place.”
“You don’t want to increase trade with them?” Freya asked curiously. Jotunheim was well-known for their stone and metalwork, and their leather was second only to that of Allanor.
“They’re hoping to use us to further their trade relations with the humans,” Rischa explained as he dished up a second helping of steamed carrots. “Now that new rulers have arisen in Dystone, Empress Lessia hopes to get her claws in.”
“Perhaps becoming less of a tyrant would make other nations more open to working with her, as well,” Orin muttered, taking a swig of wine. “She treats her citizens like chattel. It’s no wonder—”
“I think it’s time for a subject change,” the queen cut in. “Freya, dear, how do you like Aldridge so far?” Leaning forward a bit in her seat, she smiled at Lea, Aerelius, Laz, and Collin. “I’m quite thrilled you all have become such good friends.”
Freya smiled and set down her fork. “It’s wonderful. I can’t thank you and King Salazar enough for allowing me to attend.”
Salazar laughed, seamlessly shifting with the change in conversation. “Your kind of skills should be honed, not wasted!”
“Oh, you should have seen her in Combat on our first day,” Aerelius said, taking a small sip of mead, his eyes dancing as he caught her gaze over the rim of the glass. “She was quite vicious.”
Freya sent him a sweet smile. “I was simply doing as Officer Ristheld instructed.”
Salazar let out a hum of amusement. “Indeed. Byrric told me you two put on quite a show. I suppose that will teach you not to underestimate your opponents, Aerelius.”
“And, if I’m not mistaken, you were the one who wanted to use our full powers,” Freya said, sending the prince a bright smile. “Now next time you challenge me, you won’t be caught off guard.”
“By things like venomous feathers at my throat?” Aer said dryly. “You could’ve killed me, you know.”
“It wasn’t a venomous feather. I’m not a complete fool.” Freya dared a look at the monarchs to see how they were reacting. Ordona appeared curious, where Salazar appeared amused.
Byrric cleared his throat and sent her a sharp look.
“Oh, did Freya tell you we both found dresses for the ball?” Lea exclaimed. “We’re going to look so lovely!”
Bless her, Freya thought. Lea’s ability to divert a conversation on a dime was coming in quite handy.
“That’s wonderful, girls!” Lady Calliwell said.
Lazarus groaned. “Gods above, if I have to hear about these dresses one more time…”
“And you two?” Lady Cailen asked, shifting her attention to Lazarus and Collin.
“Lazarus and I both had fittings with our shoppers last week,” Collin assured her with a smile. “You’ve got nothing to worry about, my lady.”
Lazarus’ mother gave him a grateful smile. “I don’t know what we’d do without you, Collin.”
“Perhaps teach our son to keep himself in line instead of relying on others?” Lazarus’ father grumbled.
“Shush, Rischa,” Lady Cailen hissed.
Queen Ordona looked at the
m all fondly. “Well I think it’s wonderful that the children have all grown so fond of one another. Now, let’s say we have some dessert?”
Chapter 15
After a dessert of chocolate mousse topped with fresh lindberries and cream, Queen Ordona insisted Freya, Lea, Lazarus, Collin, and Aerelius spend some quality time together while their parents retired to the drawing room.
“They always do this,” Collin said as they made their way down the hall toward the gardens. “Shuffle us off so they can drink the night away without ‘setting a bad example for the children.’”
“I’m sure one of these days our parents will realize we’re not actually children anymore,” Lea replied. She elbowed Aerelius, who was walking beside her. “Except Aer, of course. He’ll never grow up.”
“I believe you’re referring to your other, far less handsome cousin,” he said with a smirk.
Freya laughed. “Does that mean you’re not still braiding dead snakes into girls’ hair?”
Lea looked up at him in horror. “You didn’t!”
Aer shrugged. “We were barely seven. And while tempting, I set that pastime aside long ago.”
“Was this in your ‘boys tease girls because they like them’ phase?” Lazarus asked. He took a swig from the bottle of mead he’d swiped from the dinner table before they left. “That lasted quite some time, if I recall.”
Aer danced his fingers along Freya’s shoulder. “Who says it ended?”
Freya rolled her eyes and swatted his hand away. “Idiot,” she muttered.
The five of them came to a wide stone archway that opened onto a path that wound through the largest of the castle’s gardens. The area was carpeted with soft grass and stone beds bursting with flowers, with lush greenery dotted all around. Night-blooming varieties had opened their petals wide, soaking in the moonlight as pixies fluttered about sucking nectar from the sweeter blooms.
“Oh, it looks just as I remember!” Freya exclaimed, smiling at Lea. “There’s a fountain just beyond those hedges, correct? Down the path?”
Lea tucked her arm through Freya’s. “Yes, let’s go see if the cinderfish have started nipping at the pixies yet.”
The two of them led the group past a tall row of hedges and down a path that cut through a small grove of red-leafed jewel fruit trees before coming upon the fountain that Freya had loved to play around as a girl. Great care had been taken to carve fish, aquatic plants, ships, and merfolk into the stone. Pixies lounged about on the green lily pads that floated on the surface of the mirror-like water, their voices quiet and melodic as they conversed with one another. Every now and then a wide-mouthed cinderfish would poke its head above water, only to be slapped down by one of its would-be prey.
“You’d think they’d find a better place to congregate,” Collin muttered as they made their way toward a covered pergola outfitted with wrought iron furniture with cushions the color of spring leaves. He took a seat on a wide, coral-hued couch. “Eventually one is bound to get caught.”
Lazarus sat down, stretching his legs along the length of the couch and leaning back against Collin, resting his head on his shoulder. Lea sat down in a wide chair beside them, leaving Freya and the prince to claim the remaining sofa.
“They do,” Aerelius replied, taking a pull from his own bottle. “At least twice a week, we find a dead fish or two out here.” He offered the bottle to Freya, who took it.
Freya took a long sip of mead, considering. “Why not just find new fish? I hear pixies get along famously with dawnfish.”
Aerelius gestured toward the end of the pool where gentle streams of water flowed from the hands of three stone mermaids. “There’s a small channel that flows from this pool into the next, and that one is connected to the lake. The cinderfish come in through there.”
Freya smiled at the gently rippling water and took another sip of mead before handing the bottle back to the prince. “Everyone gets their secret passages then, don’t they?”
“Speaking of…” Lea turned in her seat, her face eager as she looked at Freya. “I still want to see the tunnel system in the palace.”
“Why am I not the one you’re asking?” Aerelius said. “I do live here, after all.”
“Yes, but I trust Freya not to scare me into a heart attack while we’re in there.” Lea arched a pointed brow at her cousin. “You wouldn’t last five minutes.”
“She’s not wrong,” Lazarus said, sending Aerelius an apologetic look.
The prince huffed in annoyance. “Freya doesn’t know all of the passageways.”
“I don’t?” Freya sent him a questioning look.
“In your absence, Lady Balthana, I continued our exciting pastime and found a number of other passageways and chambers.” He sipped, smiling smugly. “So, no, you don’t.”
Freya clenched her teeth at his tone, a bit annoyed at the hurt she felt at his words. Yes, hunting for new passageways had been their thing. Freya and Aerelius had been left to their own devices quite often as children, and as their friendship grew, so did their determination to find all of the castle’s secrets, knowing how valuable they could be. For the last two summers Freya spent in Iladel, they walked the halls and grounds on the hunt for concealed openings and hidden staircases, some days finding as many as three or four passages or chambers they hadn’t known existed, other times, finding none for days on end.
“Well, it’s a shame my father insisted I remain in Watoria all this time,” she said, accepting the bottle back from Aer.
“Insisted?” Aerelius laughed. “From what I hear, you quite enjoyed your life there. Working for the marshals, correct?” He shook his head. “That’s a bit beneath your station, don’t you think?”
Lea threw the cork from her bottle at him. “You shut your mouth Aerelius Harridan! That’s noble work and you know it!”
Freya sent him a challenging look. “Why, pray tell, would helping keep my city safe be considered beneath me?”
Aerelius held her stare for several tense moments. “Considering your obligations here in Iladel, I would have expected a less hazardous occupation.”
Lazarus scoffed. “That sounds to me like you’re questioning the commander’s judgement, cousin. He’s the one who allowed her to do it, after all.”
“With the king’s permission, I might add,” Freya said.
Aerelius sent Laz a sharp look. “The king offered her an invitation to Aldridge when she was just a child and agreements were made to send her. Living anywhere but Iladel was a foolish choice.”
“I’ll be sure to let my father know how highly you think of his decision-making skills,” Freya said dryly. “And please stop talking about me as though I’m not right beside you.”
“Children, let’s not fight,” Collin murmured. He’d leaned his head back against the couch and was staring up at the night sky. “It’s such a lovely evening.”
“Agreed,” Lea said with a nod. “We’re all here now, so we should focus on moving forward. And besides, it’s not like any of us were raised here,” she added. “Lazarus, Collin, and I weren’t required to move when we received our invitations, and we were just a few years older than Freya was when we got them.”
“Your circumstances were a bit different, wouldn’t you agree?” Aerelius replied.
“There’s nothing to be done for it now, anyway,” Freya told him, turning to avoid the stare that felt like it was singeing her skin. “So please, just drop it.”
She didn’t like to admit that, despite her father allowing her to grow on her own and become her own person before shuffling her back to the capital, she did feel a bit lost at times. The students at Aldridge were what she expected, but also different. Even though she’d never been terribly close with her fellow students in Watoria, she’d grown used to the supportiveness of those who she’d gone through primary and secondary school with. The same comfort from that supportiveness seemed to be lacking in large quantities here. Lea, Lazarus, and Collin were proving to be wonderful friends
, and she knew she and Aerelius would get back to where they’d been sooner or later. Yet the sense of camaraderie she’d been hoping to find among the rest of the student body simply didn’t exist.
She slid a glance at her old friend, trying not to make it obvious that she shared a bit of the hurt he was feeling. With as close as they’d been and as much as they’d shared, being separated from him had been difficult, despite the friendships she, and she assumed he as well, had formed in the interim. Each summer and at every winter solstice, they’d been inseparable, a fact both of their parents were both thankful for and wary of, considering their minds tended to travel along the same mischievous channels at times.
“Sil for your thoughts?” he said quietly when he noticed her staring.
She gave him a tight smile. “I’m just… happy to be back, is all.”
His expression softened a little, leaving behind only a hint of his normal mirth. “Well, threats of physical harm aside, it’s nice to have you back.” He nudged her chin with his knuckle, then held his hand out in question, forcing her lips to curve into a smile. “I’ve missed you, Valkyrie.”
Something loosened in her chest at his words, a tightness she hadn’t realized had been lingering there since she’d first arrived at Aldridge, making room for the warmth his words brought on. With a smile, she took his hand and let him lace their fingers together. “I suppose I’ve missed you too, highness.”
Chapter 16
The start of Freya’s second week at Aldridge was wildly different than her first. Once the initial surprise of her identity had waned, students began to approach her more, initiating contact instead of whispering and staring from afar. Lords and Ladies from all over Lindoroth slowly began to warm up to her, some going so far as to invite her to join them for meals. Some appeared intent on befriending her due to her connections to the palace, but fortunately, those seemed to be fewer than Lea had first insinuated. While she hadn’t accepted any of the invitations to join others for meals, she’d made it a point to ensure she sparred with others outside of her own group or make small talk with her fellow classmates in class.
