We made it to the Keep (me, with my lips parted in shock at its beauty, Frey, probably not noticing it) and Frey led Tyr around the fountain as his men on their horses positioned themselves around the drive. It was then I stopped looking at the Keep and instead saw Mother and Father emerging from the double doors followed by my girls.
My heart squeezed and my mouth smiled huge.
Frey stopped Tyr and dismounted. Reaching up to grab hold of my waist, he pulled me down and the minute my feet touched the ground I dashed up the icy steps which were not, by the way, ice, I just didn’t know what they were.
Two steps down from my parents, I dropped into a full on curtsy and waited to hear my father mutter, “Rise, daughter,” then I shot to my feet, ran up the last two steps and threw my arms around him.
On impact, he rocked back on a foot and I knew he was surprised because he hesitated before his arms closed around me. But when they did, they did it tight.
“Missed you,” I whispered into his neck, holding on just as tight.
“And I you, my Finnie,” he whispered back on a light squeeze.
Then, still whispering, I told him, “I got a bulls-eye.”
His body stilled for a moment then he pulled back slightly, I did too and I looked up in his surprised but delighted eyes and felt my belly warm.
“Indeed?” he asked.
I nodded then leaned in and said quietly, “From thirty feet.” His eyes widened and I grinned then went on, “I only got the one but I’m definitely better. I can’t wait to show you.”
I saw a shadow pass over his face before he hid it, I felt a corresponding shadow pass through my mind but he quickly said, “And I cannot wait to see, daughter.”
Before I could ask after the shadow, I heard “Finnie,” and turned my head to Mother who was watching us with an expressionless face but soft eyes.
I moved from Atticus’s arms to Aurora’s as I heard the murmured greetings between Frey and Father.
Mother’s hug was not as tight but it was just as warm. I couldn’t say how she pulled that off; I could just say that she did.
“From what I could tell riding in,” I whispered in her ear, “we’ve got tons of shopping to do.”
Her arms went from around me but she didn’t let me go. Holding my biceps in a firm grip, she caught my eyes, her lips tipped up and her fingers squeezed.
“There is much I wish to show you,” she said softly. “And I look forward to doing it.”
I grinned at her, her lips tipped up more then her eyes flitted to Atticus and Frey and I saw a shadow pass over her face too as she let me go and I moved out of the way for Frey to lean in and touch her cheek with his bearded lips.
“We must go in, get you warm,” Father muttered, Mother nodded and they wasted no time turning and heading up the steps. And when I say wasted no time, I mean they looked to be hurrying.
Frey slid an arm along my shoulders and guided me up the steps. I glanced at his profile and saw his gaze was locked on the king and queen’s backs and I knew he, too, thought something was up. Then I looked away as we alighted the top of the steps because Jocelyn, Bess, Alyssa and Esther were all standing to the side of the two, tall double doors and they were all grinning at me.
I smiled back, gave them a low wave and whispered, “Hey ladies,” as we approached and their grins got broader. Then they dropped down in curtsies as we walked passed.
We made it through the double doors which were closed by a footman against the cold the minute my girls swept through. Then I took a look around and tried not to react to the beauty of the inside of Rimee Keep which impossibly rivaled the outside.
There was no dark wood here. There was no darkness at all. There were tons of windows through which the sun shone through. The walls and floors of the inside were made of the same frosted stone that strangely and magnificently glittered but inside there were carvings of pine boughs and cones in the stone, these could be seen around arched beams and at the casements of the windows. The vast slabs of stone that made up the floors were cut with thick pile carpets in mellow, muted colors all of which had a low sheen that I knew meant they were made of silk. Many of the walls were covered in enormous, intricate tapestries depicting mountain scenes or views of Snowdon or the Keep. The furniture was not heavy and dark like at the Palace but it was lacquered in an eggshell white, dripping carved lacework looking elegant and refined. And there was a wide stone staircase with a muted carpet runner and a carved stone balustrade, all of it curving up the side of a circular turret that rose right in the middle of the Keep.
I didn’t get a chance to take much in, however, for Atticus and Aurora were walking swiftly through the vast entry hall that seemed to sweep the Keep from side to side (and I was right about the front doors, the ceiling was at least three stories tall and vaulted with carved arches and latticework that were extraordinary, even at a glance). At the end of the hall, my parents turned and walked through another set of double doors.
Frey and I followed and then we were in a massive, elegant sitting room decorated in whites, creams and the palest of pale yellows. There was a fireplace with an elaborately carved exterior that was so big that I could lie inside with arms stretched over my head and toes pointed and my fingertips nor toes would touch the walls and I could surely stand in it without my head brushing the top. An enormous fire roared there as well as three space heaters having been dotted around the room, these made of iron, like the ones in Frey’s cabin on The Finnie, except they were enameled in cream, they were bigger and they were far more ornate. Between the heaters and the fireplace the entire room was cozy warm.
People entered with us and Mother and Father’s cloaks were taken by servants and Jocelyn and Bess had followed me to take my wool cloak, hat and gloves. The gentleman who took Atticus’s cloak waited beside Frey as he unstrapped the one he didn’t need to ward off the chill and handed it to the man.
“Coffee, please, and cakes,” Mother ordered, her servant nodded then she went on, “Close the door as you leave.”
I looked from a grinning Jocelyn and Bess who heard this, their smiles faltered and then they started to back out of the room and turned my eyes to Atticus and Aurora who both appeared tense. Then I looked up at Frey who I felt had tensed at my side. Then I felt his hand in the small of my back propelling me toward the two sweep- lined, graceful sofas upholstered in pale yellow damask that faced each other but ran perpendicular to the fireplace and were separated by a low, gleaming eggshell lacquered oval table.
“Is something amiss?” Frey asked quietly after we heard the doors close.
“Please, sit,” Father muttered and I looked back up to Frey who was studying my father.
Then he guided me to a sofa and we sat close together, Frey’s arm around my shoulders pulling me even closer and tucking me to his side. I leaned into him as he sat back and crossed one booted ankle on the other knee and Mother and Father sank into the sofa opposite us. But even close to my husband’s solid warmth, my parents’ behavior was beginning to freak me out.
“You’re anxious, Atticus,” Frey stated the obvious, “and your unease is causing the same in my bride. Tell us what’s happening.”
“You made haste from Sudvic,” Father replied strangely and Frey nodded.
“Indeed,” he confirmed. “We docked just late yesterday afternoon and rode swiftly, spending the night in Dalehavre and leaving early. Finnie was keen to see her parents.”
Father’s eyes moved to me so he could give me a warm smile before they went back to Frey, the warmth fled and he studied him a moment before he said, “We received word only this morning from the messenger you sent ahead that you were to arrive in Snowdon imminently. As you have actually arrived, I can see our return messenger did not meet you.”
Frey’s body got tighter when he returned, “We took the forest trails; they’re swifter.”
This was true. Frey, I was getting, didn’t bother with roads. He was not a man to waste time that didn’t need to be wasted and, unless there were sleighs involved, he always took the more direct routes. And our journey didn’t involve sleighs. Frey and my belongings would follow and likely not arrive for hours if not take until the next morning. Though, Kell had charge of the sleighs so, I figured, that man on land, anything went.
“This is unfortunate,” Aurora murmured.
I felt Frey’s impatience mount and my anxiety increased.
“Perhaps we can dispense with the mystery and you can explain why,” Frey suggested in his way where it
