Chapter 31
After days of packing and preparing, Linnea still could not confidently say she was ready to return to the Blomvin manor.
Her lack of self-assurance had nothing to do with the items she was bringing—it had to do with the fact that she would be returning to the place where she was mercilessly tortured for so many years.
Linnea read over the letter she planned to leave for Asta once more, making sure it clearly stated where she would be going and what she would be doing.
The final sentence begged Asta to not come after her.
If Asta made it back home, Linnea did not want Asta worrying.
All they had to do was go to Linnea’s old manor and look for the artifacts Queen Else had written about in her journal.
It would be quick, and then she could return home.
It wasn’t exactly reassuring that Niklas could only find one mention of the Blomvin manor scribbled into a margin, but Linnea would do anything to help Asta after how many years her cousin had looked after her.
If Queen Else had left something behind, it would be in the manor.
Queen Else and Linnea’s mother had inherited the estate from their father when he passed, so the two sisters had lived there together their whole lives until Else married King Botmar and moved to the capitol.
Linnea’s mother had lived alone in the manor since Linnea left years ago, since her father passed away when Linnea was young.
The day Linnea’s uncle Botmar had come to rescue her was in most ways, the best day of Linnea’s life, but in some ways, the worst. Of course, she was eternally grateful for her uncle’s interference. However, he had arrived a few hours too late.
That day had been particularly cold, an unforgiving frost settling over the land.
Linnea’s mother had instructed the servants to stoke the fires as hot as they could go, then dismiss themselves to their quarters to stay warm and she would ring for them as needed.
It had been suspiciously kind of her mother to allow the servants to worry about warming their own rooms, but Linnea had a habit of holding out hope that maybe redemption was not lost on her mother.
She had been wrong.
She remembered settling on the sofa with tea and a book, then her memory went completely blank until she had awoken.
Linnea will never forget how it felt to wake up to the scent of burning hair, only to realize it was her own.
Linnea had jostled herself awake enough to try to put the flames out, only to find that she was shackled to an iron anchor in front of the grand fireplace.
She hadn’t been standing in the flames, but somehow, her hair had caught fire and she couldn’t use her arms to put it out.
Linnea had frantically searched for a way to put out the flames, and her stomach had dropped when she saw the steaming bucket of water placed directly in front of the fireplace. It was one of her mother’s games.
Linnea had dunked her head into the scalding water, burning her scalp but extinguishing the flames.
She’d let out a strangled scream, her scalp stinging as if lava had been poured on top of her.
She’d tried to be grateful that her chain was long enough for her to dip her head into the water, but it had all been meticulously planned by her mother.
It had not been a coincidence that the only thing Linnea could reach was a bucket of boiling water.
Once she had settled her mind a bit, she was able to think clearly enough to figure out the next part of her mother’s plan. The shackles around her wrists were becoming uncomfortably warm, bordering hot. And they would only get hotter had she remained chained in front of the fireplace.
“Linnea?”
She broke from her trance, no longer thinking about the worst day of her mother’s abuse. She didn’t want to recount what had happened next and she was thankful for Niklas’s interruption.
“I’m ready. I was only reading over my letter to Asta again.” Linnea smiled softly, but knew she was fooling no one.
Halsten entered Asta’s suite and grabbed one of the bags from the floor. “Good morning, Little Flame. We’ve acquired one more traveler.”
Linnea’s eyebrows furrowed curiously until she saw Liva enter the room. The female guard grabbed the other bag Linnea had packed, her glowing purple eyes boring into Linnea’s.
Liva sighed. “Yes, I’m a sea dragon. No, I’m not going to hurt you. Now, can we get a move on?”
Liva was known for being the “down to business” type, so Linnea was not shocked that this was her approach at confirming the news.
To Linnea’s surprise, she felt a great deal of comfort knowing the sea dragon would be coming on the journey with them.
Aside from the sea beast, she would have Halsten and Gyrial to protect her.
Halsten was human, but he was substantially stronger than the average man due to his daily exercising.
And Gyrial was a fae, which meant he was stronger than ten Halstens put together.
Even knowing this, Linnea was still uneasy.
What if they got separated and her mother locked her away where they couldn’t find her?
What if, somehow, her mother got to them, too?
Her mother was the sneering face she saw in every nightmare, never able to get away from what was done to her.
But her worst nightmare would be her new friends enduring exactly the same.
A hand clamped over Linnea’s, stopping her from rubbing the scar on her wrist, which she hadn’t even realized she was doing.
She followed the path of the arm leading to a broad shoulder, up a strong neck and to Halsten’s face.
His warm brown eyes stared deeply into hers, searching her for something she couldn’t quite put a finger on.
Halsten used his grasp on her hand to pull Linnea closer to him until she had to crane her neck back to look up into his face.
He placed his other hand on her cheek and whispered, “Nothing will happen to you, Linnea. We may be going with a fae and a sea dragon, but if your mother tries anything, I’ll be the one she has to worry about. Do you understand?”
Once again, Halsten’s tone was firm with her but not in a way that frightened her. Linnea could never be afraid of Halsten.
Linnea shook her head, then took a step back, feeling like all the air had been sucked from her lungs being that close to Halsten. His warm scent lingered on her, a mix of cinnamon and apples. He smelled like home.
Home was not the manor Linnea was returning to.
Home was this castle, and her cousin, and her uncle who had rescued her, and the servants she had befriended, and the people standing in this room with her.
Home was the produce market on the main road every Sunday.
Home was Dyri rubbing his wet, sandy body all over her dress after he had a fun day swimming in the ocean. Home was also Halsten.
Everyone made their way to the stables and loaded up their saddle bags, mounting their horses and departing for Blomvin Manor.