Chapter 5 Freija
Freija
This whole thing was utterly ridiculous.
A farce of the highest degree. I didn’t need some minder, a shadow monitoring my every move.
There were plenty of soldiers around the mountain and surrounding area guarding the fjell and its residents, myself included in that tally.
If I truly needed a guard who would lay down their life for me while flaying any aggressor, I’d pick Ragnhild.
She was a menace with an arrow, swift, and opted for lethal aggression when crossed.
And for my family to keep those threats a secret, hide information from me… Why? Why would my father do that? Maybe I’d done something wrong? Maybe I’d missed something?
I pulled the pins out of my hair and tossed them onto my dressing table. The small pieces of copper bounced off a stack of books and skittered to the floor.
A steaming bath sat in the far-left corner of my room, near the magicked hearth. Warmth radiated from the two, beckoning me. Letting out a sigh, I gave in to the call and shucked off my dress and undergarments.
Without a slip of clothing on, I crossed the room and dipped a toe into the bath.
The hot water stung but I ignored the smarting and sank in to my shoulders.
The heat settled into my muscles like a healing balm, and another sigh left me as I tilted my head against the back of the wooden tub.
Today had been more eventful than anticipated.
Shocking, even. And I needed to rid myself of the tension that tightened my limbs.
I ducked my head under and came back up, rivulets of water cascading down my face. Grabbing the bar of lavender soap set aside by my attendant, Alva, I got to work washing off the day, scrubbing hard enough to ease the ache in my shoulders.
Shocking was an understatement, really. I couldn’t fathom why father would keep something like that from me. Perhaps to protect my peace. But as I was the heir, he normally told me everything. And yet… was that true? Or was there more he was hiding from me?
I returned the soap to its stool, rinsed off, and leaned back against the edge of the tub, resting my head on the rim and staring up at the ceiling.
No, I had to trust that he’d done it with my best interest at heart and if there was anything else—
The door to my room swung open, bumping against the stone wall. Muscles and a brooding stare filled the doorway.
A screech slipped from my lips, and I covered my breasts with my arms. “Do you not know how to knock?”
He’d changed. Gone was the tight uniform he’d worn at dinner, replaced with a plain black shirt that hugged his obnoxiously broad shoulders, and a pair of black trousers.
My heart hammered against my ribs.
Steam floated off the water.
His eyes dipped for a split second, and I curled my knees up to shield my body from view.
He coughed, cheeks pinking, and averted his gaze. “We need to talk.”
“Can’t it wait?” The last person I wanted to see right now was him. Especially while naked.
A low rumble was his reply
Impatient man.
He slammed the door shut and sauntered over the stone floor. Brushing a finger across my bookshelf, he tapped each spine as if they needed counting. “You read?”
“Of course.” While it had been required of me for my role, I also found it relaxing and educational. There was so much to learn about the natural world, and books were the easiest and safest way to do so.
Halvar grunted and moved to my nightstand, eyeing the arrangement of heather I had sitting in a jar of soil.
It needed replanting outside, and I had every intention of taking it to a spot down the mountainside and to the east where it would get the right amount of sunlight and have plenty of room to spread across the rocky terrain.
“It’s heather,” I said as his gaze shifted from the plant to the bed beside it.
“I know what heather looks like.” He turned away from my bed, keeping his eyes anywhere but the bath I occupied, and strolled to my dresser—the mirror partially blocked by more stacks of books and a tiara my mother had given me, but I’d yet to find a home for.
The way he inspected the room felt invasive, like he was inspecting me too and deciding whether or not I was worthy.
“Why did you barge into my rooms?”
He cleared his throat. “We need to discuss your security and how this is going to work.”
“Perhaps we could discuss it in the morning?” Preferably when I wasn’t naked in a bath of rapidly cooling water.
His back remained firmly in place, shielding his facial expressions from me. He shook his head. “Tomorrow we train.”
“For what?”
“How to protect yourself.”
I sighed. “I’ve already been through self-defense training decades ago. I do not need another round of that.”
“You haven’t trained with me,” he grunted.
True.
“Training with me will better prepare you for any threats and may help you one day when you become Queen.”
I bit my lip. “What do you know about these threats against my life?” Father had clearly told him more than he’d told me. Enough to get the Head Guard back to Skolvik.
“Come to training tomorrow and I will tell you.”
I wasn’t sure I liked this man. Hanging knowledge in front of me like fishing bait was a cruel tactic. “Or you could write me a report and present it to me here in my chambers after lunch,” I countered.
Another grumble.
“Is this what I can expect of your service? I make a request and you grumble and fail to acquiesce?”
He snorted, the sound akin to a laugh but not jovial enough. “Is that what I can expect from you, princess?”
“How dare—” I began to rise from the tub, water sloshing over the sides, and quickly sat back down before I revealed myself to him.
My skin pebbled and my nipples peaked as I used my arms to shield my breasts once more.
“Let’s agree to listen to each other’s requests and take them under consideration. Yes?”
His shoulders rose and fell. “If that’s how you want to do this.”
I didn’t want to do this, but I didn’t have a choice. “It is.”
The water was turning tepid and my fingers were beginning to prune. I’d be shivering soon.
“Don’t turn around,” I said. “I need to get out.”
The muscles in his back flexed and he curled his hands into fists.
A tremor of excitement ran through me and my toes scrunched. No one had ever dared to barge into my chambers, especially while I was bathing, and then stayed. None had wanted to take the risk. Yet, here he was invading my personal space like he belonged here.
With a shake of my head, I rose from the tub, grabbed the towel off the floor and wrapped it around my dripping body, clutching it against my chest. Halvar stood with his back to me, unmoving in front of my dresser. I scanned the room for my nightgown…
Damn. Why did Alva have to leave it on my bed for me?
She did so every night, but tonight that was ten steps closer to a man I didn’t want to stand beside while undressed. Especially not a man as tall and formidable as Halvar.
I darted toward my bed.
One step.
Five steps.
Almost there.
My right foot slid out from underneath me, and I flailed.
A hand shot out and latched around my wrist, steadying me. Every muscle in my body tensed, and my gaze flicked to my savior.
“Perhaps you do need a guard?” Halvar grumbled, staring down at me. Those piercing sky-blue eyes carved straight through to my very core.
Heat ignited from my toes to my cheeks, no doubt turning them a blazing shade of pink. “I certainly do not.”
He released his hold and a breath streamed from his nose as his jaw tightened.
“I’d much rather your efforts went into protecting all the residents of the mountain.”
“My soldiers do that,” he replied.
“Perhaps you could join them.”
He huffed.
We stood there at an impasse, tension bouncing back and forth in the small space between our chests. The lump in Halvar’s throat bobbed, but he didn’t move. Neither did I. He was in my chambers after all. He’d been the one to storm in here without even knocking.
Another rumble shook his chest. “I will see you in the training cave tomorrow morning after first light.”
Before I could respond, he spun on his heels and stormed toward the door. He flexed his right hand, the one that had touched me, caught me.
“Fine. I will attend your training session tomorrow,” I replied, submitting to the inevitable.
Halvar seemed like the kind of man who didn’t take no for an answer, and I had no interest in being dragged through the tunnels to the sparring mat.
If I went somewhere, I went of my own volition.
Plus, if I stayed in his good graces, perhaps he would be more amenable to my research projects and potential travel.
The Council might like him being at my side for any long distance venture too.
“And we can discuss the potential for further lessons after tomorrow’s assessment,” I added.
Halvar’s steps faltered for a second, then he yanked open the door and slammed it shut behind him, leaving me alone once more.