Chapter Two
Sven
Sven held up his hand to make everyone stop talking. His eye twitched from the pain developing behind his eyes, and his teeth ground together in frustration.
“Enough!”
Lars, head of the Royal Guard, turned to the others and mimicked the action. No one dared cross both of them and soon the room was silent. With a deep breath, Sven waited a moment before speaking.
“I am your king. I should not have to sit here and listen to you argue like petty children. Is this not my kingdom?”
Several heads nodded in agreement. Lars gave a curt nod and shifted his weight.
“Then I expect the courtesy of the respect that I deserve and not all of this bickering that I’m hearing.” His voice was quiet and clipped. Anyone who knew him understood that when he was angry, it meant more than if he yelled.
Lars turned and pointed to the ornate double doors. “You men are dismissed. I will call you when I need you back at the castle.”
Lars, however, was not about to back down.
He waited until the doors closed behind the last man before spinning back to Sven.
“You are not safe stepping foot outside this castle alone. Not today. Especially not now.” His voice was sharp and commanding.
It echoed against the vaulted ceilings of the meeting chamber, a room designed for governmental functions or military briefings, not personal arguments.
But for today, the entire variety of matters blended together almost as well as oil in water.
Dragon King Sven Aftervadee stood with his jaw tight and his hands clenched behind his back as if handcuffed.
The desire for a physical altercation almost overwhelmed him, but he knew he had to use constraint.
Lars was his most trusted guard, but now he glared at him like a man tired of being protected.
Sven almost felt bad that Lars was in his current position.
They had been friends since childhood, so the man had more leeway than anyone else.
“I’m not under siege,” Sven said with a warning heat beneath his words. “I’m going to the airport. To pick up my brother. That’s all.”
“That’s not all, and you know it.” Lars stepped forward almost as if in challenge. “Your brother is returning after two years incommunicado. You are the sitting monarch of the Iskara Northlands.”
“We have no reason to think that Erik’s absence has been for nefarious reasons.”
“We have no basis to think that it wasn’t. We have no idea where he’s been. And the palace has received four separate threats in the last several weeks.”
“None of which have amounted to anything,” Sven snapped.
“Yet.”
Silence thudded between them like an immovable object.
Lars’s voice dropped, quiet but no less firm. “I’ve been with you since your father died. We were friends moons before that. I’ve seen you learn how to carry your new role and how to best serve the crown. But this, Sven; this is not strength. This is recklessness tangled in stubbornness.”
Sven’s jaw tightened. “It’s not reckless. It’s family.”
Lars’s expression didn’t change. But Sven caught the flicker of something in his eyes. Annoyance, maybe. Or pity. He hated both.
“I was simply saying that your safety is at issue with the Skelvarns–” Lars’s voice trailed off when met with a raised hand again.
Sven knew that his guard, and friend, was not comfortable with the current state of affairs and was only looking out for the best interests of the crown, but he also knew that if anyone would support him, it would be his number one commander.
His frustration notched down a level. “We have had no trouble from the Skelvarns in some time regardless of your intel, and I think that if I want to go greet my brother at the airport, I have the right to do so.”
Lars met his eyes. “But Sire,” his back stiffened as he went back to being formal, “the threat was validated, and we just want to be certain that you are safe.”
“The threat was validated weeks ago and what has happened since?” Sven paused. “Nothing. Not a word, not an act of violence. Magnus is not known for his patience.”
The Skelvarns. A modern day renegade group of dragons hungry for power and chaos with no real motives or intent other than an age old fight.
They worked outside the laws of the kingdom and felt that the royal family should be ousted.
Just speaking of the enemy of the crown made Sven’s skin crawl.
They were like a plague with no cure or an infestation with no remedy.
The Skelvarns had been a thorn in the side of Stagholt’s royal empire for generations.
Magnus had taken over the helm of the terrorist group from his father shortly after Sven had taken over the title of King when his own father became ill.
The fact that they had been close friends during their schooling years had dropped into obscurity as life gave them vastly different positions which took them in opposite directions.
Sven wasn’t even sure either of them knew why they were sworn enemies as soon as they reached adulthood. Up until then, neither had cared that they were from different factions of dragon law. The feud had been going on for so many generations that the reasons behind it were murky at best.
Lars shifted his weight again but didn’t speak. His body language did all of the talking for him.
Sven knew he was being obstinate and felt slightly guilty about it, but at the moment, he hated the royal protocol more. “You think the crown means I’m not allowed to want to see my brother again?”
“I think the moment you put on that crown,” Lars replied while staring straight into his eyes, “your personal wants stopped coming first.” He hesitated. “Have you forgotten that Lady Alitta will be arriving soon for the ritual?”
He snorted. “The ritual. With a woman whom I can barely stand to be in the same room with. If it weren’t for her family, she wouldn’t even be a contender to produce an heir.” He glared at Lars. “But I guess powerful families are the only thing that matter.”
“It’s your obligation, Sven. You agreed to the terms when you took the crown from your father.”
The words weren’t meant to be malicious but they landed like a punch to the gut.
Sven turned away and walked to the tall window at the far end of the hall.
Beyond the thick glass, the city of Stagholt spread out as far as he could see.
The mountains loomed high and ominous, effectively cutting the city off from the rest of the land.
To the east he could just see the tower at the airport where Erik’s flight would arrive.
Where Sven planned to be when it landed. Alone.
Not with a convoy of black vehicles with snipers on rooftops and guards swarming the terminals.
Not as a king.
As a brother. A brother who needed answers.
“Alitta will arrive whether I go to the airport or not. Besides, I’m picking him up today and thankfully we still have a few days before she’s supposed to be here.” He leaned a hand against the cold stone frame of the window and exhaled. “Erik hasn’t been home in two years.”
“I know.”
“He left because of the court. Because our father pushed him out, made him expendable.”
Lars didn’t respond. Everyone knew the story of Erik’s departure. And disappearance.
Until their father died and Sven took the throne and sent for him.
“I want him to know this palace is different now,” Sven said. “That I am different.”
“And you think arriving alone, without protection, proves that?” Lars’s voice was a mix of frustration and incredulous. “You’re the most powerful man in the kingdom. That makes you the most vulnerable.”
Sven turned back toward him. “Erik asked that his return not be a public event. You’ve heard the wild rumors about his whereabouts and what he’s been doing.
Who he’s been associating with. He doesn’t want reporters descending on him like a bunch of vultures before he even steps foot back in his home. ”
Lars’s brow furrowed. “And do we know what he’s been up to all this time?
How do we know the rumors aren’t based on some version of fact?
” He held up his hands as Sven straightened his back.
“I’m not saying that he’s guilty of anything.
But my job is to protect you, and you don’t even know what his story is. ”
“I trust him. Period.”
The simplicity of the statement caught Lars off guard.
Sven stepped closer and lowered his voice. “This kingdom is paranoid. My father did nothing to change that. But I won’t have it. I won’t treat my brother like a threat just because I wear this damn crown.”
“You think that’s how I see him?” Lars asked quietly.
“I think that’s how everyone sees him,” Sven shot back. “And that’s exactly why I need to be the one waiting for him. Alone.” He planned on getting answers but he was not going to admit his doubts to anyone. “You trained me for worse than airport terminals.”
Lars looked at him long and hard. “I trained you to defend yourself. Not to walk into traps with your head held high because your heart told you it would be fine.”
“If it makes you feel better, you can follow me.” Sven hated the concession but knew he had to be fair. “No visible presence and only you. At a distance. And you don’t interfere unless you’re certain.” He paused. “And I drive my own car.”
It was the rare moment of solitude that he craved.
Between royal duties and guards, he never had a minute to himself.
His mother was still in mourning over the loss of his father, even though it had been more than a year, and spent most of her time in her castle apartment.
Sven visited her and often wondered if she was simply enjoying the sought after alone time.
The only other full time resident was his grandmother who was ill and required round-the-clock nursing and multiple visits from her grandson.