Chapter 11 Myrk
MYRK
This wasn’t a competition. I had no expectations of ascending toward Dorr’s position as alpha or undercutting him—or any of the other Blood, for that matter.
But I now carried the pride of being the one who’d broken in our queen’s wings. Even though Dorr didn’t exactly approve of the manner in which I’d taught her.
He waited until the two Aima Blood went to the kitchen before speaking of it. “You took needless risk with her life.”
I didn’t shrug aside his concerns—but tipped my head slightly in acknowledgement. “I knew she could do it.”
His gaze lingered on Svar, still heavily unconscious from his encounter. “Our queen can do anything.”
Even conquer the unconquerable.
Svar had been drawn to the rings long before I ever found my way to them. I hadn’t understood the appeal and made my disdain clear to them both. With our queen’s bond deepening our connection, I now understood all too well.
Taste. Hunger. These were very real needs for me now.
Unfortunately, those needs had awoken for Svar in the Darkness of Hel.
I’d felt his despair before she managed to subdue his alfar.
His very real fear of ever touching her in our true form battling his darker urges spawned from those countless victories.
He’d survived the only way he knew how—and then feared his survival would be his undoing. Because to be forced from our queen’s side now, after knowing her love and tenderness…
Intolerable.
Especially in the emptiness of infinite Darkness.
“She may look less favorably on me now the truth of his past has been revealed,” Dorr said. “Would you rather I ask Lokken to be alpha instead of you?”
Startled, I could only stare at him with my mouth gaping open. “You’re the alpha.”
He stared down at our sleeping queen in his arms, his face twisting with agony. “Only at her behest.”
“Which is all you need.”
“An alpha can’t be weaker than another in the group.”
Now he was starting to anger me, which was not easy to do.
I might be vocal about minor irritations, but I never allowed true rage to overwhelm me because it’d be extremely difficult for me to claw or fly my way out again.
“There’s a reason I don’t like to be reminded of my full name.
No one in their right mind would claim the Black Mountain is weak. ”
“The Black Mountain fell into the Endless Slough.”
Fighting the urge to shift my arm into a sword and stir up the essence in his gut, I settled for a heavy hammer and gave him a few solid whacks in the back.
“You jumped into the Slough to save our brother. You did what needed to be done to reach him despite the Eternal Slough flowing all around him. I sure as fuck didn’t risk myself to fetch him from the rings, but you went without hesitation.
That’s the kind of alpha any queen needs. ”
The ice man entered the bedchamber carrying a bundle of fresh linens.
Since Dorr still held our sleeping queen, I started to help Lokken roll Svar off the bed.
But as soon as I touched him, Svar leaped up out of the bed like Karmen’s blood sizzled on his backside.
Whipping his head from side to side, he crouched, panting, searching until his gaze fell on our queen curled against Dorr’s chest.
Svar’s crystalline eyes clouded over with thick oily essence that streamed down his face.
“She’s injured. Goddess below, I knew it.
” Baring his teeth, he leaped at me, burning his claws in my midsection.
He bit my shoulder to the bone and tried to shake me off my feet. :Why the fuck didn’t you stop me?:
“She’s fine, you fool.” I clubbed him on the head with my hammer fist, even though that clashed his teeth together and he bit a hunk out of me.
“Nice of you to think I could have stopped the Endless Slough singlehandedly. Which only validates my argument with our alpha. Only he could have truly stopped you outside of Helayna herself.” I shook him off and grimaced at the black dripping down my arm and chest. “At least make yourself useful and help Lokken. I don’t want to foul the fresh linens before we even get them on the bed. ”
Instead of moving toward the bed, Svar hesitantly stepped nearer to our alpha. He stretched out his trembling hand toward our queen but didn’t dare touch her. “She’s unharmed?”
“After she subdued you, she shifted into a dark alfar like us,” I said. “She gained even more power.” I couldn’t help the edge of glee creeping into my tone. “I took her flying.”
Now it was his turn to gape. “She’s like us? How?”
“How are we here on this side of the tree? The same magic.”
“Our queen is mighty indeed.” Lokken made quick work of the first layer of bedding. “Which we should discuss. All of us, at some point, though I don’t think anyone’ll be able to lure Gunnarr from the table for at least an hour or two.”
:I can hear you just fine,: the bear said in our bonds. :I guess that’s why you hear me so clearly. What’s up?:
“You’re not Aima,” Lokken began, a hesitant look fleeting across his face. “I mean no disrespect, and I don’t mean this as any sort of challenge to your authority, alpha. But she’s extremely powerful. I spoke truly when I said she’s strong enough to be a Triune queen.”
Dorr carefully laid our queen into the bed, and they tucked her in beneath another soft blanket. Then they moved back to me and Svar in front of the fireplace, keeping our voices low so we didn’t disturb her.
“I don’t know what the Triune is,” Dorr said. “Though I agree she’s a formidable queen. I knew the moment we heard her call from inside Jormungandr she would rock Yggdrasil’s branches with her might.”
“The Triune is a group of queens who rules all Aima,” Lokken replied.
“They represent the goddesses, and if I’m not mistaken, even speak for the Great Mother of All.
They’re usually the oldest, most powerful queens who have slowly consolidated their power base to make a claim to join the Triune.
I don’t know much more about how the choices are made or the hierarchy among queens, but I raise this as a concern because there’s at least one open seat on the main Triune. ”
“We met a Triune queen,” I said. “Though she seemed very young to me.”
Lokken’s eyes flared. “Really? What was her name, do you recall?”
“Shara Isador.”
“Isador. Hmmm.” Lokken frowned, shaking his head. “I’ve not heard of that house. I know the names Queen Marne Ceresa of Rome and the queen known only as the Dauphine, formerly from France. There’s another darker Triune, but I can’t recall its name.”
“Triskeles?” Svar asked. “I’m sure the Isador Blood introduced his queen thusly.”
Lokken shook his head. “I’ve not heard of Triskeles before. The consiliarius will be able to explain much better than I anyway. But she’s not Blood. She won’t know what it means to us for our queen to rise to the Triune.”
My tone sharpened. “What will it mean for us?”
“The more powerful a queen is, the more Blood she needs to sustain her power. It’s very likely that Gunnarr’s the first of many new Blood she may Call.”
:Plus her Call was extremely powerful,: Gunnarr added. :Nearly capsized my canoe when I felt it slam into me. A Call like that could raise the dead.:
“More Blood won’t be a problem.” I started to shrug off the man’s concern but Dorr remained silent, his bond a heavy cold weight in my head growing grimmer by the moment. “Even more powerful Blood. Older Blood. It doesn’t matter. She loves you. She loves us.”
“But things will change,” Lokken said softly.
“An alpha must manage the others. It’s a heavy responsibility.
” I growled a low curse at him, and he raised his hands soothingly.
“Again, I mean no disrespect. I wouldn’t want the responsibility myself.
I just wanted to be sure you knew what might be coming. ”
Dorr sighed out a long rumbling sigh. “We enjoy every moment we have. Especially while our numbers are so low. For it may change at any moment.”
“Exactly,” Lokken replied. “And if there’s anything Gunnarr or I can do to make the transition easier as more Blood come, please do not hesitate to call on us. We can be the buffer between you and other Aima until they understand your nature.”
“What if she Calls more dark alfar?” Svar whispered. “Is that possible? Could they hear her Call on the other side of Yggdrasil?”
“I would have heard it,” Dorr admitted with a shake of his head. “Though many others did not even while she was in Hvergelmir. I would think if any other of our kind were meant to respond to the Call, they would have risen then.”
“Unless they were on this side of the tree,” Lokken said.
I snorted. “No dark alfar exist outside of Hel.”
“You do.”
“Only because she brought us here,” I retorted, lowering my voice when the others shushed me. “No other dark alfar exist in Miegarer.”
“That we know of,” Svar warned. “It’s certainly possible, though they’d be hampered by stone during the daylight hours. Are there any large stone gargoyle-like statues we should attempt to awaken?”
“I’ve seen countless stone gargoyles on buildings,” Lokken admitted.
“Even in Minneapolis, the American Swedish Institute’s mansion has gargoyles on its roof.
Of course in Europe there are many castles and buildings as far back as the twelfth century with gargoyles, many of which still exist today. ”
“See?” Svar retorted in a low whisper, making me roll my eyes at him. “It’s possible.”
“I admit I find it more preferable to have dark alfar join us rather than Aima,” Dorr said.
“Though I mean no disrespect to you either, Lokken. We’re simply not used to your ways.
Having others like us would be easier. We didn’t even know we needed to eat food until the Isador Blood gave us a lesson in pizza. ”
:Duuuuude,: Gunnarr gasped. :No way. I fucking love pizza. You’d never eaten any before? That’s a crime, my friend. A true crime.:
:Go back to stuffing your face,: I growled.
:Trust me, I am,: Gunnarr replied, not offended in the slightest. :Don’t worry. I can think and eat at the same time.:
:But you can’t fuck and talk,: I replied.
:Well, not the first time, granted. But now I’m sure I’ll be much more competent in that department, assuming she even wants to invite me again. That’s something to consider, right? If there are more Blood, our time in her bed will certainly be limited.:
All of us scowled now.
:If someone can open the door, I’m bringing a tray from the kitchen.:
Svar was closest, so he went to open the heavy metal door. We all followed, though Dorr remained standing in the doorway to her chamber so he could easily check on her while she slept.
Lokken laughed. “Goddess, are you really going to be able to eat all of that?”
“It’s not all for me,” Gunnarr protested as he set the massive tray down on a low table in front of the soft looking long chair with many cushions. “Pàtair insisted I bring some down for everyone. It’s common for Blood to need food at all hours of the day and night.”
“There’s also a well-stocked closet just outside the queen’s chamber with dozens of sheet sets and blankets,” Lokken added. “Plus baskets for the soiled linens.”
I couldn’t help but let out a sour grunt. “There’s not much hope in saving human cloth from dark alfar essence.”
The man shrugged, arms loaded with bedding. “Everything else has been set up with impeccable detail for our queen. I’m sure the laundry staff are just as loyal as Clara and Pàtair. If not, the bear can snack on them.”
Gunnarr looked up from a chocolate cake he held in both hands, icing smeared on his face. “I’ve got plenty of snacks, but I’ll see what I can do. I’m sure I can put them somewhere.”