time he took Viola to his bed, he had asked her to serve the table right in front of me.
There was, of course, the small fact that, back when the deed was done, I had no clue he or his world even existed and he still had no clue mine did, so he was right in his weird questioning if he had actually injured me. He had not, I had just grown into my place in this world and I forgot that it actually wasn’t my place.
But still, Frey rubbing my nose in his dalliance and the mean-spirited way he did it, well… that was not nice.
And that was what was holding me back from doing anything at all.
Because that hurt. A lot.
Too much.
I’d ascended the stairs and was moving down the hall toward my rooms thinking that what sucked the most was that I missed him.
A lot.
Too much.
Logically, in the recesses of my head, I recognized this distance was probably good. Although I enjoyed spending time with the Frey I’d come to know and would have definitely enjoyed spending more time with him doing more things with him, specifically some of the things we could have been doing, the smart thing to do was keep a distance and I’d been getting in too deep.
Illogically and in the forefront of my mind, I wanted what we had back.
And that, too, was a lot.
Too much.
My girls were fun to be with, they laughed often and Sjofn was right, it was very clear they were trustworthy and they had been immensely helpful. I had a great time with them. I was enjoying spending time with Mother and discovering Fyngaard. I definitely liked learning more about this world because it was all very strange but very cool. Being a princess in a Palace, I’d learned, pretty much rocked. And I was making inroads with Father, which pleased me immensely.
But on Valentine’s line of happiness, I was no longer anywhere near bliss. I was no longer smack dab in the middle of happiness either.
I was definitely at the lower end, hovering around contentment.
And I was there, I knew, because I didn’t have Frey.
I opened my door and stopped before entering when I saw Mother in the armchair across the room, her legs crossed, her long fingernails scratching Penelope’s ruff. A Penelope who was lying on my mother’s thigh with her eyes closed, purring.
Hmm. This was unusual. If Queen Aurora wanted to spend time with me, she sent a servant to tell me she wished my attendance.
I wondered why she was there and I worried the reason was not good.
Her eyes came to me and she greeted, “Hello, my Sjofn.”
I took her in. Her face was blank thus gave no clues.
Damn. From past experience with her, I did not know if this was good or bad. She’d been warmer to me but I’d also learned from my girls that Queen Aurora could be moody, her expectations were high and those expectations were significantly elevated when it came to her daughter. Who knew what I could do to make her minimal warmth disappear and the frost return? It could be anything.
Therefore, I decided to tread cautiously.
I closed the door and moved into the room, replying, “Hello, Mother.”
She stopped scratching Penelope and motioned with a graceful sweep of her hand to the bed.
“Sit with me, daughter.”
I nodded and went to the bed, sitting on the side. Penelope opened her eyes slowly, took me in then jumped down, waddled across the floor, hunkered in preparation to shift her massive bulk from floor to bed then she jumped up to the bed where she waddled to me and settled with her booty to the duvet but paws and chest on my thigh and I started scratching her ruff.
Penelope knew who her Momma was and I knew this because she purred, “Mrrrr, hullo, Mummy.”
“Hullo, baby,” I whispered to my cat, she purred louder then I looked to Queen Aurora.
She looked down at Penelope then up at me and her lips tipped up slightly. It wasn’t the first time I thought she was a lot like Valentine, except without the edge of creepy and weird.
“The dressmakers have already arrived with your gown but I’ve asked them to wait for a few minutes so I could visit with you,” Mother announced.
I took in a short preparatory breath and nodded. But I didn’t say anything. I wanted to see what she had to say.
She didn’t delay and when she spoke it was soft and almost gentle.
“I needed to discuss with you something that has been troubling me.”
I tipped my head to the side to encourage her to go on but spoke no words.
She took this in and continued, “I cannot imagine, Sjofn, that you would think it escapes me or your Father that there seems to be…” she hesitated, studying me closely, “distance between you and The Drakkar.”
Ho boy.
I was afraid it was something like this. And I was afraid something like this was something that would herald the return of the frost.
I bit my lip and nodded my head slightly to agree with her observation without saying anything and thus giving anything away.
She read my agreement and took in a slight, delicate breath.
Then she said, “This troubles me for it seems very…” she hesitated, “odd. Especially coming so close on the heels of your return, a return upon which, immediately, The Drakkar demanded your Father and my attendance to inform us that he was infinitely disturbed at the attempt on your life and we were to do everything in our power to keep you safe. Something,” she rushed slightly to say, “we would do, obviously, since you are our beloved Sjofn.”
I kept my eyes firm on her and didn’t speak mostly because I didn’t know what to say nor did I know what to feel at what she’d said about Frey.
I didn’t need to say anything. Queen Aurora was not near done.
“This disturbed him, as I am guessing with your detachment from your new husband you may not understand, because in the short time you were with him, he made it very clear that he’d come to care about you.”
I felt my heart clench at the same time my breath started escalating.
She kept talking. “It would seem, the way he spoke of you, he’d come to do this deeply. Perhaps,” she paused and continued to study me, “even more deeply than he understands. Definitely,” another pause, “more deeply than it would appear you understand.”
I kept silent and this was mainly because I’d started semi-panting and I was thinking I might be in the early stages of cardiac arrest.
“He called you sweet,” she whispered, her eyes intense on my face which I knew had grown pale at these words, words I liked, words that meant the world to me. “He said you had a strong spirit. He said everything you say, he finds interesting. He told us he enjoys your humor and your smiles.”
I swallowed, shocked these words could even come out of Frey’s mouth, even if he did feel that way, as well as stunned and experiencing the weird sensation of being both heartbroken and immensely pleased that he actually did. Then, as all this hit me, I pressed my lips together as my throat started to clog.
Mother kept going. “And he shared with us that he had vowed to you to keep you safe from harm and while doing this, he told us if anything were to befall you, he would unleash the dragons as vengeance.”
I blinked, not in confusion, but in total shock.
Queen Aurora didn’t miss it, as I was guessing she didn’t miss much, and she nodded.
“Yes, my dear, that is what he said. The Drakkar promised to unleash the dragons, beasts that have not flown across this land for well over a millennia. Beasts that could cause damage and havoc the likes of which cannot be borne. Beasts that are not called upon except to defend our frost-covered land or to utilize their awesome power as service to our people. Your husband made it clear that we were to make it clear to anyone
