38. The Mist Thief
Chapter 38
“He seems to be an amiable fae, My Lady.” One of the maids of the palace grinned and finished adding a silver chain to my braided hair.
“He is.” I peered out the bubbled glass window where Jonas was laughing with the stablemaster as he arranged supplies onto two charges. Dorsan was there preparing a handful of palace guards who would accompany us to the Night Market and St?rnskott. I looked back at the woman. “Although, he’ll tell you he isn’t a fae, he’s an alver. Their magic impacts the body and mind.”
She dipped her chin, grin still in place. “If you don’t mind me saying, you seem . . . peaceful around the prince.”
Peaceful. Another way for her to insinuate happiness without being too bold to assume.
I dabbed my lips in a touch of pink stain, a smile in the corner of my mouth. “I am. I’m fortunate to have such a match when so many arrangements prove to be unhappy.”
Before my vows, I rarely spoke to any chambermaids. It was not out of my desire they kept quiet, but most dared not cross Cara or they feared me.
One day here and already Jonas’s easy interactions with me had stirred the elven palace. When we were caught laughing or snickering in whispers to each other, odd looks came at first, but little by little trepidation cracked.
More servants added a smile when they greeted me, some looked at me with a new curiosity. Others, like this woman, even engaged in conversation.
“He’s not terrible to look at if you don’t mind me saying either, My Lady.” Her eyes gleamed in a laugh.
I bit down on my lower lip. “No, he’s not.”
“That’s enough, Madeline.” Cara clapped her hands. “I will finish with the princess.”
Madeline’s face paled, but Cara’s word was fiercer than mine, and she dipped her chin, practically fleeing the room.
Cara took up a thin cloak and hastily added it to my shoulders, face pinched.
“Something to say, Cara?” I tilted my head. “What have I done to be disappointing now?”
“That, for one.” She huffed and placed her hands on her hips. “Speaking like you’ve no manners at all. I don’t know what’s gotten into you, My Lady.”
I shrugged one shoulder, tying the cloak at the base of my throat. “In alver lands, I am encouraged to voice my thoughts.”
“Yes, well, I understand they might be a little wilder of folk?—”
“My favorite quality in them.”
Cara pinched her lips. “I have worries for you, is all. So many turns you were in my care to guide and shape into an honorable lady, and I do not know what to think of this boldness. You were always such a meek girl.”
Inside, I knew Cara’s condescension wasn’t truly a distaste for me. She, too, was raised to believe a royal elven lady ought to behave a certain way. But she did not understand the lands of the fae, nor the alver clans. Somewhere in her remarks was a fear that if I did not watch myself, they might turn me out, harm me, or worse.
I let my hand fall to her arm. “Cara, I wore many masks to comply here. Jonas has simply asked me to remove them. From the first nights in Klockglas, I was asked to speak freely, to be honest with him. He would prefer to know me, not the etiquette of me, so that is what I am doing. It hasn’t made him indifferent to me, I assure you it has brought us closer.”
Cara blinked, her hands wringing together. “You know from my missive that I don’t . . . I don’t want you to be returned to the Ljosalfar, Skadinia.”
My face softened. The woman rarely spoke fears of her heart. “I won’t. I am vowed to Jonas, and plan to remain vowed to him well into the Otherworld.”
“I realize it is treasonous of me to speak poorly of Prince Arion, but after what he did here, after how he allowed that numbness to take you, well, I do not wish to see such a thing again.”
Arion watched me fall into my affinity, shouted at me to not let the coldness take me, yet kept forcing my hand to do cruel acts on his behalf, all to keep my bespelled grandfather safe.
“It’s not treasonous,” I said softly. “I think much the same about the Ljosalfar prince.” I offered Cara a small smile. “The alver folk do not fear my affinity. They’ve been teaching me a great deal how to control it so it does not overtake me.”
She blew out a breath, the last of her hidden affection for me breaking through. “Good. That is good, My Lady. Oh, I nearly forgot.” The woman reached into the pocket of the smock she kept over her dress and removed a parchment tied in a ribbon. “The king wanted you to have this. An heirloom of the royal house of the Dokkalfar clans.”
Warmth bloomed in my chest as I unwrapped the silver chain. In the center was a circular charm with golden sparking stones. The stones were rare and difficult to mine. When they knocked together vibrant sparks glimmered like starlight.
Cara helped fasten the chain. “Fit for a future queen. This marks your ascension, My Lady.”
I touched the charm, watching the gentle flashes of light shine. It was the first move that I was Eldirard’s heir.
Cara cleared her throat and brushed the hem of my skirt. “Now, you’ll be certain to keep your manners in the market, yes? Show your prince the same.”
And like that, the old Cara returned.
I hid the few eye rolls, assured her we wouldn’t become the downfall of Natthaven, and was finally allowed to abandon the bedchamber.
Grandfather insisted he was embroiled in negotiations in a new trade with King Gerard, so he would not join us to the market. It was familiar. Rarely did my grandfather and I spend leisure time together but for reading or a few meals.
The doors to the palace were open, letting in the pale sunlight and heat of the morning.
Before I stepped into the front drive, a broad figure filled the frame of the entrance. My heart dropped into the pit of my belly.
“Cian.”
His eyes gleamed with unsettling malice, like he won a battle I didn’t realize we’d been fighting. Cian had his hair tied behind his neck, and a new bronze medal pinned to his guard’s cloak.
“Princess.” He drew closer, a curl to his lip. “I hoped I might see you at some point during your return.”
“Strange, I hoped for the opposite.”
For a moment he looked taken back, a little stunned, but arrogance bled through soon enough. “You’ve grown some claws in these few weeks.”
“They’ve always been there, my husband merely encourages me to use them. Stand aside, he is waiting for me.”
The forgotten fear throttled my lungs like a vice, freezing breath, when Cian curled his grip around my arm. “Does he know about you? What you’ve done? Tell me, Princess, does he know about us?”
Apprehension prickled over my scalp. Simple words and the peace I managed to claim with Jonas Eriksson teetered on the edge of destruction.
“Does he not realize what a risk it is to sleep next to you?” Cian chuckled and traced the point of my ear. “I could offer your husband the same thing I offered Prince Arion. Don’t you miss our lessons?”
“Get off me.” I tried to yank my arm free of his hand.
Cian only tightened his grip. “You miss them because you know, Skadinia, you know what you are.”
“You will remove your hands from the princess, Cian.”
A cracked breath of relief sliced between my teeth. Dorsan stalked into the hall, and Cian released me at once. Higher in ranks, Dorsan could level Cian in warrior discipline.
“Forgive me.” Cian pressed a hand to his heart in respect. “I was merely greeting our lady.”
Dorsan stepped between us, ire in his eyes sharp as a broken blade. “Our Lady is vowed and your nearness is inappropriate. Take heed, I have witnessed the alver clans these last weeks, as powerful as you think you are, offending the prince and his house will be the last thing you want to do.”
“Of course.” Cian bowed again. “No offense meant. I will keep a proper distance in the future.”
Dorsan gestured at me to leave the hall all while keeping his focus on Cian. “See that you do.”
I did not wait for the end of their words and bolted into the sunlight.
“Wife!” Jonas raised his hands at the sight of me. “I’ve had the most intriguing conversation with Barclay, here. I had no idea your horses were trained to walk on such narrow forest paths and tread through swamp lan—oof.”
Jonas grunted when I nearly leapt into his arms, squeezing his neck tightly.
“Skadi.” He held me close. “What’s wrong?”
I pulled back and kissed him. A few gasps at the sudden show of affection filtered through the servants around us.
Jonas’s eyes were coated in a passionate glaze when I pulled away.
“I’m not complaining, Fire, but what was that for?”
“No reason,” I said, voice soft. “Merely glad my vows were to you, Nightmare.”
“Good hells, woman.” He yanked my hips, fitting them against the hard planes of his body. “If you’d rather spend the days in our chamber, all you had to do was say so.”
I snorted and pecked his lips. “I plan to do a great deal of all that, but I do want to show you some of Natthaven. You are now an heir here, after all. In fact, I am only the heir apparent because of you.”
“Is it only the bloodline?” Jonas asked. “If you were born of Eldirard’s house would you require a vow?”
“Not unless I desired one. Queens can rule among the elven folk if they are born of the royal house.”
“I don’t like it. I am not even elven, yet because I was born to a king and queen I have more claim than you on your throne.”
“It does not matter to me, not since it is you. I have a voice with you, right?”
Jonas kissed me again, ignoring the second wave of gasps. “Always. In fact, perhaps I ought to start calling you My Queen now.”
I accepted his hand to use as a boost onto one of the prepared horses. On the other side of the horse, Dorsan handed me the reins.
“Thank you, Dorsan.” I spoke with meaning, one I hoped he understood.
He offered a curt nod. “Always, My Lady.”
I turned back to Jonas. “Don’t call me Queen. I prefer Fire.”
The prince clambered on the stallion beside me, but leaned closer, speaking only for me. “I hope you have a scheme or two in your head on how we’ll slip away from our entourage here. The idea of an audience while I shout that name in a more compromising position doesn’t sit right with me.”
My head fell back with a laugh. “Your mother would be ashamed to hear you speak.”
“Wife, come now. You’ve met my mother and know she is partly to blame.”
Despite its name, the Night Market was vibrant. Tucked in a wide clearing in the center of the wood, the market was littered in canopies of rich blue and gold and silver shaped tents and carts.
Jesters pranced about night after night, juggling pomes and knives, and bursting into tunes that encouraged spontaneous dancing.
Jonas was captivated by the owlery. Grand birds with wingspans nearly as wide as my arms perched on thick pegs in a domed tower. I laughed when four of the creatures flew to him instead, settling on his head and shoulders.
“Owls are rare in the fae realms, but my mother loves them,” he told me. “I always tried to whittle them for her, since they’re seen as good omens.”
“Frigg told me of your woodworking talent.”
Jonas laughed and paused at a cart with gold bangles and polished stone necklaces. “I doubt Frigg used the word talent. I tried. My daj is actually quite good with building things. He told me when he and Maj were still two unseen orphans, he wanted to apprentice with a carpenter near the docks.”
“The king and queen are orphans?”
“They are.”
“But she had her brothers, yes?” Bard and Queen Malin seemed close, and I knew their eldest brother was the consort to the Night Folk King’s sister, their children shared cousins between the Ever Queen and the alver princes.
Jonas lifted one of the gold bangles, inspecting it. “Their family history is torn up through endless wars for the alver throne. My uncles were there, but no one knew they were truly related. Honestly, my uncles are my mother’s cousins, but they all claim each other as siblings. My parents were littles who slept in a hayloft, working for their keep until life tossed them into the streets where it was thieve or die.”
He selected four more bracelets, handing the shopkeeper some elven coin Grandfather left for us to use.
“But if they discovered she was the heir, then they must know their family line.” I hooked my arm through his as we walked on.
“They do now. Whether Daj wants to admit it or not, he truly is from a noble bloodline. Sander and I are both named after our grandfathers who both died in old alver wars.” Jonas flashed me a grin. “As I told you, your desires to help the littles in the realms will be well received.”
We wove through the shops, pausing to purchase items here and there: a white iron knife for Sander, Von, and Prince Aleksi from the Night Folk realms, some silks for Tova and Junius, new pig skin leather from elven hogs that could take properties from foliage—healing or poisons—and add it to whatever was placed in the skin. Jonas planned to gift them to Niklas.
The bangles were for his mother and the women he saw as sisters: Frigg, Livia, and Princess Mira.
“Think Bloodsinger would accept a gift?” He looked at a gold sphere used to gauge dangerous sea storms.
“I think Erik Bloodsinger pretends none of you matter to him save for the Ever Queen, but I saw his concern for you when we came here. I think he would grumble about it, then you would see it on his ship for every voyage.”
Jonas laughed and pressed a kiss to my head. “You have him figured out, Fire.” He looked to the shopkeeper. “I’ll take it.”
Later, when only a blood red sliver of sunlight still burned on the horizon, we made our way back to the wood. Elven guards kept in line behind Dorsan. Doubtless they were not keen to spend St?rnskott on duty with a princess they feared. In truth, I was not keen to spend St?rnskott with them.
Jonas wanted a scheme. I planned to give him one. “Dorsan. I think the prince would like to see the Underfalls.”
Dorsan’s features pinched and he looked to the sky. “Showers will begin soon. Do you not wish to go to the watch point, My Lady?”
“The path takes us straight through.”
“But it is quite narrow, and we have the horses.”
“I thought we could take it on foot, and you lead our charges to the watch point.”
Dorsan gave me a look that hinted I was not fooling anyone. “You would be alone for a time.”
“And we are often alone in Klockglas,” I insisted. “Besides, as everyone seems to agree, we’re both a little wild.”
Jonas’s eyes sparked with a familiar heat. “I stand with my wife’s decision. Wherever she plans to take me, I wish to go.”
Dorsan sighed. “As you wish, My Lady.”
We passed over the reins to our horses and I took hold of Jonas’s hand, leading him through a thick tangle of dark oaks until we came to a web of pathways—some were platforms draped with ropes in the trees, others cut across the bubble and steam of cooling swamplands.
“Tree houses.” Jonas tilted his head back, gazing into the boulder thick limbs of the treetops.
Twinkling lights from small windows gave up the endless rows of huts and sod rooftops built into the trees.
“Treetop folk,” I said. “This was where I was born. They hunt birds and use affinities to summon medicinal properties from forest herbs. These Dokkalfar know how to survive and how to speak to the magic of this isle.”
“They are you.” Jonas took hold of my hand. “That’s what you mean. These people would see you as you.”
I swallowed thickly. “I wish you weren’t so perceptive at times, Nightmare.”
He kissed my palm, and kept pace with me when the pathways tilted to rocky roads along a peak.
The spray of a nearby waterfall dampened my cheeks, sweet night air filled each breath. The road to the Underfalls was steep and jagged, but Jonas was a skilled climber. Perhaps better than me. He never slipped on loose rocks, or grunted if we hit a challenging ledge.
Jonas moved like a shadow, a man who could be seen or unseen as he desired.
A narrow cavity split into the mountainside. We were forced to turn to the side to squeeze through until the fissure widened into a bulbous cavern.
“Gods.” Jonas took it in, lips parted.
The cavern had natural cracks and holes in the stone walls. On all sides streams of the falls spilled over the top of the cave. Some dripped inside, creating small pools, but most thrashed in violence over our heads, creating an illusion that we were encased in the waterfall.
With the sunset nearly finished, and the moon rising, the water shimmered like a thousand crystals. Blue and vibrant, there was a sort of magic in each drop.
“The Underfalls.” I spun around, letting the spray mist my cheeks. “Not many folk enjoy the trek here, so I would come here to read, or simply listen to the falls.”
“This is amazing, Fire.”
“This isn’t my favorite part.” I took his hand and led him deeper into the cavern until a giant oak split the rock. An arched opening in the trunk revealed its hollowness. I spun around, walking backward into the open tree trunk. “How are you at climbing trees?”
“A wonder.”
“Don’t know why I expected a different response.”
“Me neither. I would think you’d realize by now, I am wondrous at most things.”
I rolled my eyes and turned into the opening. The trunk was thick enough four men could stand shoulder to shoulder inside, and over the turns, I had fashioned small pegs into rungs along the sides. It made for an easier climb, but the damn air always left them slick with water.
At the top, Jonas leveraged out of the narrow opening, his broad shoulders proving trickier than my body. He scooted backward over the crooked floorboards. “What is this place?”
A few satin cushions filled one corner, some stacked books in another. There were quilts and furs, a few ropes that would lower makeshift shades or pop open a flap in the top, to let in the night sky.
“It’s mine.” A wash of nerves settled like stones in my belly. I’d never brought anyone here before. In truth, I wasn’t certain anyone at the palace knew of it.
“Yours?”
“When I ran after my parents died, I found this tree. Far enough elven guards would not come, but not so far I wouldn’t be able to forage or slip back to the market. There was an old couple—deep forest elves—who helped me lay the floor as a girl, and the rigging.” I tugged on one rope. “They said they didn’t care for me, but I found furs, knit gloves, and bread when frost seasons came.”
Jonas took in the space with a new sort of reverence. “This is where you lived?”
I hugged my middle and looked around the tree house. “Yes. Even after I was crowned, I came here when I missed my mother and father, or when I felt too frightening for the palace.”
“Why do folk fear you, Skadi?” He drew closer. “The king made you his, what is so fearsome about your affinity when you do not use it to harm your people? Your familial bonds do not allow it.”
The truth was too horrid, too wretched.
I ran my thumb over his knuckles. “I think most of my people believe since my affinity is different and powerful, it cannot be trusted. In turn, I cannot be trusted and must be held at a distance.”
Jonas shook his head. “They shouldn’t fear your strength.”
“Can you blame them? I can take anything, Jonas.” My palm rubbed against his chest. “In fact, I can feel the magic of the oath you took, as though my affinity is reaching for the power. It was why you entered this alliance, true?”
Jonas swallowed. “I do feel compelled to protect the lands because of the magic of that oath, but I think there was a part of me that did not want you to be used by Arion.”
I kissed the hinge of his jaw. “I can take it. You do not need to be compelled, you can fight simply from the loyalty you have in your heart.”
“It is a powerful magic.”
“And it holds no chance against my affinity.” My palm flattened on his chest, the damp of my power coiled around my fingers. A burn was there, deep in his heart, a remnant of fierce magic.
Once, I thought he took the oath to do anything to protect the sea and earth fae because he craved glory, now I knew it was because of the beautiful heart in his chest.
“No.” Jonas took hold of my wrist, his brow dropping to mine. “No leave it. I don’t need it to fight for people I love, but . . . it brought me to you. For that, I will always want it.”
Bleeding hells. I kissed his lips gently, pulling back my affinity when my hand dropped.
“The same as I do not fear the magic of the oath in my blood,” he whispered. “I do not fear yours.”
My insides coiled, hard and taut. “You have not seen how unstable my affinity can be when it overpowers me. I have trained tirelessly to never cause harm, but there is always a fear that it will not be enough.”
“I’m not afraid of you, Skadi. I am in awe of you.”
I clenched my eyes shut. “I think if you knew everything, you would not feel the same.”
His fingertips brushed the side of my neck. “I might’ve once been frivolous with heartfelt things, but I know nothing would change what I feel about you, Wife.”
The touch of his lips on the slope of my neck raced my pulse, but slowed my fears. Like my own magic, his touch swallowed them up, tossing them into the Nothing the longer he touched me, the more he kissed me.
Jonas slowly lifted my skirt up my legs. “How long until the guards send out a search for us?”
“I never intended to go to the watch point with so many others,” I said through a rough rasp when his fingers curled around the inside of my thigh. “You wanted a scheme to be alone, this was my scheme.”
Jonas paused, his fingers viciously close to my center. In the next breath, he drove into me with two fingertips, stealing my breath. “Woman, you are made for me.”
My body quaked under his touch. Jonas covered my mouth with his palm when I cried out his name. “The last thing I want is this place filled with guards, thinking I’m killing you. Scream all you want in the palace.”
We tumbled to the floor, clothes shredded in a frenzy. I pinned him beneath me, thighs on either side of his hips, and kissed the tender lines of his inked symbols.
Jonas let his eyes close, he gave up control, and allowed me to devour him. He let out a rough gasp when I aligned his cock to my core. I sank over him, agonizingly slow. Brow strained, he dug his fingertips into my hips, shifting with me every time I bucked on his length.
It was a stunning sight.
I took my time, adjusting to the fullness of him.
His verdant eyes locked with mine, reflected starlight burst in a green prism. One hand abandoned my waist and slid up the divots of my ribs until he palmed the whole of one breast.
I bowed my spine, pushing into his palm. Jonas pinched and tugged at my nipple, then fell into his own frenzy. He sat upright and took the other side between his lips, sucking and licking until the peak hardened.
I cried out his name when he rolled the tip between his teeth while his fingers worked the other. I rocked against him, gasping when he bucked his body, striking a new depth.
Heat pooled low in my belly.
My head fell back, his name cascading over my tongue again and again; my body shuddered through my release. Jonas locked on my features, watching my face soften. He held my hips in place and rolled his body against my center until he went taut as he spilled into me.
Spent and breathless, Jonas tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “We didn’t feel there was a choice at the beginning, Skadi. But every day since, you’ve become the best choice I will ever make. I will never stop choosing you.”
I kissed him, deep, needy.
Flashes of white spilled over the small room. I looked up at the open flap in the top. “St?rnskott’s beginning.”
Jonas grunted—still sensitive from release—when I rolled off him, but settled the moment I curled into his side.
Overhead, endless showers of glistening silver cascaded across the sky, like an army of fiery ribbons falling toward the sea.
I tilted my gaze, watching him. There was a reverent sort of awe in his eyes as he took in the falling stars brightening the elven sky one after the other.
He chose me, and gods, I would never choose anyone else but him.