Chapter 1 Freija #2
She nodded. “The guard I spoke to, the one whom your mother had words with about letting me into the mountain”—I hummed in the affirmative.
He’d been helpful over the years, and granting Ragnhild access to the fjell had stopped her sneaking in at all hours to borrow my books—“he saw them return. Saw the beast with his own eyes. Said he was as tall as a giant, muscles large enough to crush a man, and eyes so sharp they could pierce rock.”
I rolled my bottom lip between my teeth.
I’d heard Halvar was a behemoth of a man, one to be feared too.
Apparently, he was wholly adept at killing people, had even fought alongside Vikings, pretending to be one to keep an eye on the humans’ movements up and down the coastline of what was now Norway.
Ragnhild cleared her throat, drawing my attention back to her.
“Yes?”
“He’d be a good suitor.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me.
I huffed. “Then you have him.”
She waved her hand as if swatting away a swarm of flies. “Not my type. Too much manhood.”
“I don’t need manhood in my life. You know what happened last time.”
It had been one disaster of a relationship after another.
All they wanted was the position and power that came with marrying the crown princess.
The last one had even proposed at my father’s birthday celebrations in front of a crowd.
I’d had to whisk Edvard out of the great room and feign overwhelm before rejecting him in a quiet hallway.
He may have been a good match politically, but I didn’t exactly enjoy spending time with the man.
I shook off the rancid memory and turned back to my friend. “It’s been a hundred years since the last debacle. I have more important things to focus on than a love life.”
A snort ripped from her.
“I do and so do you,” I replied. “If we’re to be effective leaders for our fae factions, we must do everything we can to prepare.”
She grumbled and rubbed her hands across her face. “I hate that you’re right.”
I tipped a shoulder.
“But—”
Oh, here we go.
“—that shouldn’t stop you from living your life. Nobody’s perfect and we’re allowed to live.”
Unfortunately, I wasn’t perfect. Never had been.
Being the first daughter of King Erik and Queen Astrid meant I was the heir to the fae of the fjell, a faction of people who resided within the mountains throughout the Nordic countries.
I had obligations, responsibilities, burdens that had been set on my shoulders as a child that I’d carried with me for almost two hundred years.
And that pressure never abated. I saw how people looked at me, heard the whispers.
Would she be a good Queen? Would she be as good as her father? Could a woman rule effectively?
Then there was my childhood riddled with lessons where approval depended on perfection. When homework had mistakes, or questions were answered incorrectly, I had to stay inside while my younger sister, Nora, could go off and play even if she’d failed half of the responses.
“Get out of that perfectionist mind of yours,” Ragnhild said with a tap to the top of my head. “Do you really think being perfect will lead to happiness?”
Yes, and if I made the perfect proposal perhaps the Council would actually take me seriously.
“I, for one, think that sounds like a miserable way to live,” she continued. “Anyway, come, walk back down the mountainside with me. I need to return home and so do you.”
I peered over the treetops and down the fjord. Gentle rays of sunshine skimmed over the tree-covered mountains, saying goodbye to the world for the day. Wouldn’t be long now before the creatures of the night loped over logs and dashed around the forests.
Plucking up my basket, I asked, “What was the other item of news? You said there were two?”
“Ah, yes. Almost forgot.” She hooked her arm through my free one. “Your mother asked for you to attend a last-minute dinner this evening in the Council’s chambers. Something about a welcome back feast for the returning soldiers.”
My eyebrows hit my hairline, and I tugged on her arm. “You didn’t think you should mention that as soon as you got here?”
She shrugged. “There were more important things to discuss.”
“I can’t believe you.” I strode for the trees and dragged her with me. The sun was near setting. Knowing my luck, I was probably already late. “You really have an awful knack for doing what suits you best.”
Her free hand patted my shoulder. “Do you regret being stuck with me for the rest of your life?”
“We’d make an awful couple.”
“We really would,” she replied. “Good thing we’re going to be Queens instead. We can set our armies upon one another when we have tiffs.”
“So much for that alliance.”
“It was great while it lasted. What a shame that I will have to destroy you when we separate.”
It was my turn to roll my eyes. She’d be an excellent leader one day, but she had a bad habit of poking bears, both metaphorically and otherwise.
Now, I just had to be less of a beast at dinner and put on my best princess face.
Traversing back down the mountain from my hidden garden near the top peaks, Ragnhild and I wove our way along the well-trodden trail toward the crossing in the woods where we’d go our separate ways. The intersecting paths came into view, moss littering the edges of the surroundings tree roots.
“Enjoy your dinner,” Ragnhild said with a wave.
“Here’s hoping I’m not ridiculously late, thanks to you.”
I pulled out the golden timepiece—a gift from my father—from my satchel and gasped. If they were convening supper at the usual hour, then I had minutes to spare before I was late, and that would not do.