Chapter 4
D?RR
My voice rolled like thunder through the room, making even my queen jump slightly, her head whipping around to check my face. Her arm tightened around mine and she leaned against me, silently offering comfort and support, which only made my jaws clench harder.
:You’re my alpha,: she assured in our bond. :No one will ever take your place.:
:Forgive me, my queen. That is not my concern.
: Outwardly, I took a deep breath and forced my shoulders to relax.
At least I’d shifted back to the human form, so I hadn’t scored the floor with my talons.
“Lokken, I formally ask you to provide any needful advice that will aid in our queen’s protection.
Do not hesitate to inform me. I am our queen’s alpha by her will alone, and I’m not of this world.
There are many things I simply don’t understand. ”
Tension bled out of the other Blood. “I didn’t want you to think I was trying to challenge your authority, alpha. Of course, I will eagerly do anything to ensure our queen’s safety.”
“What do you suggest?” Helayna asked, still leaning against me.
“Until the blood circle’s in place, your chambers must be secure at all times. We should have guards outside the house, patrolling the grounds and looking for anything out of place. It’d be best to go in pairs.”
Relief flowed through me as well. Instinctually, I’d been on edge since we left the safety of her last nest. No, before, when the sunfires had attacked and she’d almost drained herself trying to save her home.
Nothing felt safe now, especially without even a blood circle generally capable of keeping anything out.
“One dark alfar, one Aima, on guard at all times. That way we won’t be entirely incapacitated during the daylight hours. ”
Lokken nodded. “Even once the blood circle is established, it’ll be best to continue regular patrols, though the threat should be greatly reduced.
There are creatures called thralls that sometimes prey on our queens, and of course, some queens think nothing of sending a Blood into another queen’s nest to kill as many as possible, sometimes even the queen herself.
I’ve heard legends of entire nests being exterminated by a single knight. ”
“Goddess below,” Myrk growled. “How do we tell the difference between a new Blood she’s Called, and someone who may wish her harm?”
“I’ll know,” Helayna assured us. “I’ll do regular checks now so we know when to expect a new Blood is coming.”
“You and me, buddy.” Gunnarr slapped Svar on the back with a wide grin. “Let’s go guard some shit.”
Svar hesitated, looking at our queen. “Since it’s night, am I allowed to shift with the humans around?”
“I don’t see why not. Clara said they were used to serving in a queen’s House, so they’ve seen all manner of Blood before.”
Darkness exploded out of him with a flap of black wings and a powerful body. He clashed his teeth together and dived up the stairs, using his limbs to scale the walls. :They’ve not seen the likes of me before.:
Gunnarr shifted to his white bear, letting out a plaintive grumble as he lumbered up the stairs. :No fair. I’m always going to be stuck on the ground while you zip around overhead like a fucking bat.:
“I would also post a Blood at the top of the stairs,” Lokken continued.
“If we have greater numbers, then another guard at the bottom. You, alpha, will of course be her last defense, though if possible, you should have two or three Blood with you to ensure she has plenty of blood to fuel any defensive attack.”
“So two outside, two on the stairs, and two or three plus Dorr.” She blew out a sigh though her lips quirked with amusement. “That’s a lot of Blood, Lokken.”
“Not at all, my queen. Ideally, you’ll have at least ten. Probably more if you’re as strong as I suspect.”
Her head tipped slightly, her eyes closing as if she looked inside herself. “I don’t think I’m as strong as you think. Certainly not compared to Karmen.”
“I have no idea who she may be, my queen, but the force of your Call knocked the wind out of me. I dropped to one knee behind the podium and gripped the wood so hard it broke into pieces around me.”
“You were close—”
Lokken shook his head. “As your consiliarius noted from the beginning, House Skathi is known for our frost giants. Jotnar are notoriously hard to Call as Blood. You would have been able to Call me even if I’d been at home, a major feat indicating depth and power you haven’t begun to tap yet.”
I nodded in agreement. “You Called me out of a sleep that had lasted over a thousand years.”
“I don’t feel strong, though.” She rested her head against me, her heart heavy with failure and regret, which made me want to pound this entire island into rubble. “I could barely keep the cabin from catching fire and burning up around us. If help hadn’t arrived—”
I couldn’t bear such self-recrimination in my queen. Turning toward her, I dropped to my knees and waited.
For her head to rise. For her eyes to meet mine. For her heart to lighten.
It took a few moments, but she did finally look into my eyes.
“With only three dark alfar Blood, who are entirely incapacitated by the light of the sun, you stood alone against a multitude of burning solar creatures. The Triune queen who came to help could barely hold them off despite her mighty Aima Blood, who were unaffected by the light of day. I don’t fully understand what Triune means, my queen, but if you’d had more Blood to aid you, I’m confident you could have done the same as her.
Only Karmen could deal with the sunfires, because she is their queen.
Of course they responded to her will immediately, as we will respond to yours without question. ”
Her eyes gleamed with all the darkness of Hel, her power swelling inside her, washing away the lingering traces of doubt. “My darkness, how I love you.”
I started to bow to her, fully intending to press my face to the floor before her. Overwhelmed by her love for a creature like me.
She cupped my cheeks, stilling me immediately. I was still in my human shape, but I could feel my essence expanding inside me like a dark storm. Ready for her Call. Eager to rush to her aid, whether she needed the monster, or only its blood.
“The ice man has a point, my queen.” Myrk followed the other two Blood up the stairs, pulling the bottom door behind him. “Call if you need me.”
Longing echoed in his bond, but he left without hesitation to take position at the top of the stairs. Her breath blew out softly. “More Blood seems impossible to manage.”
I searched her face, listening to her bond for any concern or worry. “We all long for you, my queen, but we won’t cause any disruption or harbor ill will. He understands your need to spend time with each of your newest Blood so you’re comfortable with them too.”
She pressed a tender kiss to my lips. “I know. I’m teasing for the most part, but I do want to be as fair as possible. Trying to keep everyone happy—”
“Only you must be happy, my queen. All else will resolve itself as long as you are well.”
HELAYNA
I leaned against Dorr, soaking in his strength and unfailing confidence in my ability.
Shaken by Lokken’s implication that I could be a Triune-level queen, I tried to assess my own power.
Even before Karmen had taken the sunfire soldiers as Blood, I’d sensed impossible depths inside her.
Looking inside her power had been like gazing out into the infinite universe, trying to find an end to the cold emptiness.
When I looked inside myself, my power flowed like a dark, swift river, so deep it appeared to be silent and still, until something flowed past.
I didn’t look too closely, not after my vision of the shore of death. If something floated along the river, it would be a dead body.
“Not a river,” Lokken whispered hoarsely, his voice shaking. I turned as he dropped to his knees, mirroring my alpha. “You’re as deep as Yggdrasil’s roots, as wide as Her branches across all the worlds. You will be called to the Triune, my queen. They need you to save the World Tree.”
“When we escaped Hvergelmir, I saw it. Many of its branches are already dead.”
He shook his head, snagging my hand to lift my palm to his lips. “Not dead. Sleeping, like a tree in winter loses its leaves. When it’s time, those branches will bud once more, watered by you.”
“Hel’s daughter, from which all rivers flow,” Dorr said. “There’s a reason we found you in Hvergelmir, named for the wellspring watering Yggdrasil’s roots.”
Lokken’s lips burned against my skin, as hot as his hands. Would his entire body be so hot? It seemed so strange to think my frost giant was so warm he was almost uncomfortable to touch.
His light blue-gray eyes blazed with heat as well. Never had such a cold color burned so hotly.
Dorr made a low growling sound that took me a moment to identify as a deep chuckle. “I relish the opportunity to observe how an Aima Blood pleasures our queen.”
“No more than I relish the opportunity to see how dark alfar worship her.”
I cupped the back of Lokken’s neck with one hand and curled my other arm around Dorr’s neck. “Not as much as I will revel being caught between the hottest ice and the darkest night.”
They swept me up between them, moving toward the bed in easy tandem despite Lokken’s recent addition.
It’d been easy to have Dorr and one of my other Blood touch me at the same time.
They’d known each other for thousands of years.
Granted, they’d slept a great deal of that time, but they’d been warriors together.
They knew each other, how they’d move or what they’d say or think in any situation.