Chapter 44
Lyra
As promised, Auki and Gunter took to the sharp switchbacks before the sun rose, returning to Dravenmoor to report back to the queen.
We lingered, packing supplies and readying to face Stonegate.
Emi grinned at something Yrsa said in passing before the princess went to load one of the horses with a pouch of bread from Gammal.
“You’re speaking.” I nudged her with my shoulder.
Emi’s cheeks flushed. “We spoke all night. I told her everything about Roark. I spoke of Virki. Gods, how did I not see his involvement? He was the one who alerted the úlfur to what Nivek had done.”
“No one wants to believe the same person who is supposed to protect them could betray them.”
“Yrsa told me how painful it was these last weeks, believing I cared nothing for her. She believed I was lying about everything.” Emi paused, a giddy sort of smile playing over her lips. “I told her of the soul bond.”
My brows lifted. “And? Does she feel it too?”
“She simply told me she thought that was what love felt like.”
“Will you ever seal it?” The trouble was, Yrsa and Thane were still betrothed. They would be expected to have young ones together.
From the lore of sealed bonds, to betray the heart, mind, or body of one’s bond, it could corrupt the tether, much like her father’s.
Emi sighed. “I don’t know if we can. Nothing has changed. She is still a princess, and I am not. We always knew the truth of it. And Thane is as wonderful about it as ever. I think seeing you and Roark has shown the prince how devastatingly deep the bonds can go. For now, I am at ease once again.”
“Good, Nightlark. Stay that way.”
Emi snickered and gathered another mat, striding over to Yrsa.
“I told you my terms, Highness.” In front of the great hall, the Lawspeaker argued with Thane.
“I’m not certain you understand the gravity of what we face. This sod is one of your folk, and he plans to claim every throne, every craft.”
The Lawspeaker folded his arms over his chest. “From what I’ve been told about this power, I suggest you see to it that he does not take off your arm.”
Thane looked affronted. “I cannot agree to this trade when you do not offer details of the deal. For all I know, you could be leading me into a position where I sell off my own fingers.”
The man’s head fell back in a rough laugh. “Ah, Prince of the Jorvans, you are a strange soul. I assure you it could prove equally beneficial for us both.”
When the Unfettered Lawspeaker stalked away, Thane approached, a deep frown carved on his face.
His typically trimmed beard had grown more stubbled and darker since we’d reunited.
His hair was not neatly braided, and he’d taken a liking to the pelt mantles of the Unfettered.
With a wrap of bear fur around his shoulders, he appeared a little ferocious.
“What was all that?” I asked.
“My failed attempts at negotiating with allies. Have you seen these people throw spears? Gods, it’s incredible. We could use them.”
Roark tugged a strap on one of the fur mats tightly. And will they not stand against Fadey?
Thane’s jaw worked. “Their Lawspeaker will provide his forces if I agree to aid him with some sort of trade trouble in the Unfettered seaside village. For all I know, he plans to indenture my service as some fishmonger, and I fear I would be forced to leave Jorvandal to the whims of fishing season.”
Roark grinned, shook his head, but did not encourage Thane to make any promises in a tentative alliance. We did not know these lands, nor customs, well, and Thane was wise to err on the side of caution.
Are you ready? Roark asked the prince.
Thane’s eyes hardened. “I’ve been ready all night. Yrsa and I gathered all we brought. Do you have enough?”
Roark tossed a leather pouch filled with Draven copper between his hands.
“I follow you, brother.” Thane flourished one hand and kept a pace behind the Draven prince.
Unfettered Folk lined the path that wound to the back of the township. Gammal waited at the end of the path in front of Brokk’s longhouse. There, a long table, draped in a black cloth with stitched runes, was positioned at the gate.
Brokk sat on one side, smug and clad in a fine lavender top with a strange hat threaded in rich blue and green on the edges. Behind him, Jordis and Sindri stood, hands clasped, heads down.
“Still wish to pay the debt?”
Roark did not lift a hand to speak. He tossed the coins on the table. Thane dropped his offerings next, but then leaned in and sniffed. “You reek of the greed that haunts our lands now. Pity.”
Brokk scoffed and unlaced the pouches. “Yet you live in a palace with servants much the same, Prince. Do you think somewhere, someone does not care about them?”
Thane’s lip curled. “I do not mistreat those who serve me.”
The prince spoke with such venom that for a moment, Brokk’s superiority faltered. The man cleared his throat and turned his attention to the coins. After what felt like endless moments, he rummaged through the offerings, inspecting the coin, the silver, and the bangles from Yrsa.
When Brokk closed the pouches again, Roark opened one palm in question.
“What say you, Brokk?” Gammal asked. She spoke to the man with a bite of disgust. The way most of the Unfettered clan avoided Brokk’s side of the table, it did not take much to guess that they did not favor the man.
Brokk rose, smoothing his tunic. “We have an agreement. Though out of respect for visiting royalty, I have many items you may wish to trade for this amount instead. I understand you feel some sort of debt to the boy’s father, but how will he know if you do not fulfill it? He is dead.”
Roark’s fist clenched under the table, but his smirk did not fade.
“No? Suit yourself.” Brokk went to Jordis. He brushed his knuckles down her cheek. “Farewell, Jordis. The sight of your body will be missed. Your mouth will not.”
Roark knocked his knuckles on the table. Do not touch what I have rightfully purchased.
Brokk held up his palms in surrender when Thane repeated the warning. “Apologies. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I shall be counting my new royal coin.”
The barter was nothing but a conquest for Brokk. A man who took pleasure in the humiliation of others. What did it matter? Relief, heady and bright, gleamed in Jordis’s eyes. She embraced Sindri, holding the boy’s face and kissing his brow.
Then she went to Roark and Thane. “I will never know how to repay you.”
“You have allies in two kingdoms…well, we must dethrone my mother first.” Thane sighed with a touch of theatrics. “It is bound to be messy business. But if I keep my arm and my head, you will have allies in two kingdoms.”
“Three.” Yrsa frowned at the prince. “Do we not have a claim in Myrda?”
“Forgive me.” Thane dipped his chin. “It would seem you have the protection of all kingdoms. Again, if our bones are not harvested for a rather villainous melder.”
Sindri laughed softly. Even Jordis grinned, slow and cautious, like she was not entirely certain how it was done anymore.
Roark stood from the table and lifted my palm, his fingers brushing lightly over the surface. Will you see that their belongings are loaded? We should be off soon.
“Where are you going?”
Roark grinned. There’s one more thing I must do before we leave.
Trepidation stacked in my chest. I’d seen that look in my husband’s eyes before, something callous, a little merciless. He left no room for questions before stalking away down the road.
I led Jordis toward the charges, allowing Sindri to tell me all he’d learned of the creatures since working in Brokk’s stables.
Now that the chains were removed from his life, the boy chattered a great deal.
He had a deep fascination with the fara wolves.
Kyrre approached the boy, ears flat at first, but soon enough, the pup nuzzled the boy’s hand and panted in delight when Sindri found Kyrre’s favorite place on his neck to be scratched.
“He likes you.” I chuckled.
Sindri knelt next to Kyrre’s belly, using both his hands to scratch the wolf. “I have heard tales of the great wolves of my father’s clan. Did he have one?”
“I don’t think so. Not every Draven bonds to a fara, but it seems that Kyrre senses the connection to you and your uncle. I expect he will guard you as fiercely as he guards me and Roark.”
Sindri hesitated. “Will they…accept me, my lady?”
I let out a sigh and knelt by the boy. “My bond with your uncle was meant to be forbidden, much like Nivek believed with your mother. But most have accepted me. I know it is…frightening, but you are the firstborn of the heir of Dravenmoor. You are the blood of the clan, and your folk will stand with you.”
I peered over my shoulder to the place where Gammal stood in a huddle with Keela and some watchmen. She beamed at me, like she could hear every word spoken.
“Your folk will stand with you, Sindri,” I repeated. “On both sides of the Night Ledges.”
The boy had unruly hair that waved around his ears. He dressed like the Unfettered, with fur hems and bright stitching. The toes of his leather shoes curled slightly. But the ferociousness of the brilliant Draven eyes and spirit burned in his features.
“I have always felt close to my father,” he said. “Even though I do not remember him. Sometimes, well, sometimes I speak to him. I like to think he can hear me.”
“He has been close to you. I’ve seen it, the bond he holds to you, how you are in his thoughts even in Salur.”
Sindri twisted one finger in his ear, scratching an itch. “I want to make him proud. I’ve tried to stand for my mother, protect her, but I don’t know how to enter a royal house, Lady. I don’t know how to be part of a royal house.”
“Then it is a good thing you and your mother will not be alone. We will be at your side.” I squeezed his shoulder once, then stood to finish gathering our supplies.