Chapter 16 Freija #2
“So, Hans, tell me a bit about yourself. I’m sure you’ve changed since we last saw each other.”
“What would you like to know?”
“Favorite book? Favorite season? Favorite meal? What intrigues you? Those sorts of things.”
“Well, I am a fan of literature.” He peered down at me. “I heard you are a voracious reader too.”
I smiled. “I am. Though I tend to stick to books about nature.” Philosophy and theoretical subjects had always bored me. They were too like the reports I read for our council meetings, and most evenings I wanted to set all that aside and find something more intriguing and calming to read.
“My current favorites are out of England and Italy. I’ve even been studying Latin so I can read more original works and fewer translations.”
That was… well, admirable. My smile felt a little less forced.
“You may also have noticed that I like to cook.”
“I did see that.”
A bashful smile tilted his lips. “Bread is my current focus. I’ve been testing out different types of grain and flours. My new guard was even able to source a flour blend from the continent.”
“So, you like to test different recipes?” I asked.
Ragnhild gave an exaggerated yawn up ahead, which I ignored. She might not find this interesting, but a kernel of delight grew within me. Perhaps Hans and I might get along after all?
“Like a scientist?” I added.
“Exactly.” Hans beamed and pushed aside a branch, letting me pass unhindered. “I find great joy in testing theories and seeing what I can create. It’s also nice when the results are delicious.”
I stared at him from a new perspective. “That’s exactly how I feel about my garden.”
“Your garden?”
“Mm-hmm.” I lifted my skirts as we hopped over a tiny burbling stream. “On the top of the mountain. Perhaps I could show you while you’re here.”
He rested his hand on his chest. “I’d be honored.”
I smiled again, though, this one felt more genuine than the last and less like a forced mask. Maybe, just maybe, this wouldn’t be too bad? Perhaps I’d been too hasty in passing judgment?
“Almost there,” Ragnhild announced from up ahead, her cape flapping behind her like a flag.
I heard it then. A constant thundering roar. A moment later, the trees thinned and branches were pushed aside to find the jagged ravine that the waterfall called home.
Glittering ribbons of water crested over the mountainside far above our heads, while mist streamed up the cliff edges, slickening the surrounding rocks and moss.
I took in a deep breath and unfastened my cloak.
The cool air swept across my heated skin as I tilted my face toward the sky.
The sun’s rays barely touched this little spot, but it was enough to grant us all a spectacular view.
Setting aside my cloak on a nearby boulder, I wandered over to where Ragnhild and Hans stood a safe distance from the edge, marveling at the powerful water and the rainbows dancing in the spray.
Hans loosened his collar. “Simply marvelous.”
“One of about seven here at the end of the fjord.” Ragnhild stretched her arms in front of her as if she were considering scaling the sheer rockface the water fell across. “We’ve got ten more farther inland. All of them feed into the fjord here.”
“Do you have a lot of waterfalls near Almstad, Hans?” I asked.
“None this beautiful,” he said and peered down at me with a warm and endearing look that made my skin tingle.
I turned back to the waterfall, hoping he couldn’t see the mix of emotions on my face.
Hans slid his palm across the center of my back, and a branch snapped in the forest, stirring a flock of birds.
“What was that?” Hans retracted his hand and spun, his eyes wide. “You mentioned bears. Have you had bear sightings recently?”
I peered into the dense forest, seeing nothing untoward or alarming. The odds of it being a bear were low. But… there were other things that lurked in these woods. What if this particular creature had silver hair and eyes that heated when our chests brushed?
Biting my lip, I shook my head. “Probably just a tree swaying in the wind.”
Hans didn’t look too sure, but nodded and scooted closer to the cliff to get a better look at the sharp drop. Meanwhile Ragnhild already sat on the crag, legs dangling over the edge as if it wasn’t deadly.
“Ragnhild, really?”
She beamed over her shoulder, her twin braids whipping around her. “Some of us dare to be spontaneous, Freija.”
I crossed my arms and raised a brow. “And you like to laugh in the face of danger unlike the rest of us who actually have some sense of self-preservation.”
“No, you just like following the rules.” She hopped back to her feet and strolled over. “At least most of them.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.” She sidled up beside me and looked back at Hans who had wandered toward the base of the waterfall. There was a secret tunnel back there. One that had been sealed up long ago.
“What is this Hans doing here?”
I hadn’t had a chance to get her caught up on the latest events. With a sigh, I mumbled, “This is the Council and my parents being adamant that I find a husband.”
Her eyebrows hit her hairline.
“It gets worse.”
“Couldn’t possibly.”
“The Council and Father also refused any research travel.”
“What about my letter?” she asked.
“Got it, but that isn’t going to be possible now. Not with them putting their foot down.”
She narrowed her eyes and turned back to where Hans stood admiring the view. “Hmmm. Let me put some backup options in place for you just in case. Now, back to Mr. Hans.”
“Yes?”
“Let me question him.”
“Now?”
She nodded. “Say you need a private moment to relieve yourself or something so I can get a sense of his intentions.”
“That is appreciated”—I brushed my hands across my skirts—“but not necessary.”
“I respectfully disagree.” Then she shoved me toward the tree line and yelled, “Freija needs a moment of privacy. Looks like it’s just the two of us, Hans.”
I stumbled and almost tripped over my own feet before bumping against a thick pine.
Hans jammed his hands in his pockets and his cheeks pinked like he understood what was happening. “Oh, all right.”
Ragnhild gave him her back and made a shooing motion toward me.
She was ridiculous. I loved her with every fiber of my being, but by the ancestors was she stubborn and troublesome. It was a good thing she was so caring. It balanced her out. I needed to remember to tell her that more often.
Without further fanfare, I traipsed into the woods and went to look for interesting plant specimens.
This high up above the fjord the dense pines acted as a shield from the elements, offering perfect growing conditions for flora that liked the damp and cool temperatures.
It made for a tremendous tapestry of greens and grays.
From the moss-covered boulders to the broad-fingered ferns, the whole scene sparked a sense of joy in my heart.
I crouched beside a cluster of tiny flowers. Delicate blue petals descended from a green stem. They reminded me of the bells that hung in separate buildings beside the grand wooden churches the humans had started building around the area.
A tingle skittered across my shoulders and my skin pebbled.
Oh no.
I was being watched. I was sure of it. But by what? I got to my feet, moved my hand to the blade at my hip, and took a few steps backward toward a tree—
Something grabbed me, locking my arms to my waist.
I yelped, and a hand clapped over my mouth.
“Careful, princess.” The whispered words sent a shiver down my spine as the smell of oak mixed with the damp pine scent that perpetually lingered in these woods.
Wriggling, I peered over my shoulder to see who my captor was before I attempted to stab them in the thigh. What I found had all plans of violence fizzling away. “Halvar,” I mumbled against his palm.
He retracted his hand but kept his arms around me, holding me against his body.
“What happened to giving me privacy?”
“As if I was going to let you out of my sight.”
“So shouting distance was never an option?”
He shook his head.
“You have to let me out of your sight from time to time, though. At night to sleep. Meetings and such. Privacy for me and Hans—”
“Do you like him?” he asked, his voice as taut as the muscles banded around my middle.
“I’m getting to know him again as an adult.”
Halvar let out a harrumph that sounded alarmingly dissatisfied. Perhaps even jealous. Was Halvar Haraldson jealous? Was that even possible?
No, I couldn’t think like that.
“You don’t approve?” I asked, getting the subject back on track before I started asking about any suspected jealousy. “He was in your approval pile.”
Another grumble reverberated against my back.
I tried to turn, but Halvar only tightened his hold.
“Just be careful around him,” he said.
My body tensed like an animal caught in a hunter’s sights. “You don’t trust him?”
“I don’t trust anyone around you.”
“I know him about as well as I know you.”
He brushed his thumb across the edge of my jaw, and my breath stuttered. “You and I both know that’s not true.”
He was right. Halvar and I had a growing intimate knowledge of each other. One that sparked something deep within my core and had my wayward thoughts circling back to that training session and how good it had felt to have him beneath me.
“Yet you haven’t given me the chance to ask you about your personal life.” My voice sounded breathy like I’d run up the mountainside.
“I do not have one.”
“You and I both know that’s not true.”
A whisper of a breath skittered across my cheek. “No books. Spring. Elk. You.”
“What?”
“The answers to your questions,” he replied.
He had been listening? Had he heard everything during our trek up here?
But… Me. He’d said me. Could he possibly feel the same way I did when he was close?
Parts of him definitely had been excited about me the other night during training and the way he’d almost kissed me would allude to him feeling something toward me, but this…
this answer was different. It was more than just physical.
I wriggled once more and he released me, allowing me to face him. “You find me interesting?”
“You fascinate me.” His gaze remained locked with mine. Unyielding. “Just as much as you annoy me, princess.”
My eyes rolled before I could stop them. The way he’d said that last word was more of a nickname than a title. I bit my bottom lip between my teeth, and the lump in Halvar’s throat bobbed.
“I…” I shouldn’t be saying this. But I couldn’t stop myself. “I find you rather fascinating too.”
The air between us stilled as if the truth had stopped the world from spinning.
“Do you now?” His voice was as smooth as the velvet robe in my armoire.
My lungs refused to work, rendering me incapable of breath.
This was dangerous territory. So far out of bounds of the rules I’d followed my entire life.
Rules that had been put in place to protect me, the mountain, and the fae of the fjell.
Or so I’d been told. Yet, the pulsing energy between us and the way those blue eyes heated had me reaching out and wondering.
Maybe those rules shouldn’t have been put in place? Maybe they should be broken?
“Freija!” Ragnhild’s voice rang through the trees. “Freija, did you forget about us?”
My eyes widened, and I dropped my hand before it could touch him. Yes. Yes, I did.
That seemed to be a recurring theme around Halvar. The rest of the world disappeared when he was near.
Which, in this situation, was abhorrently rude of me. I had guests.
“Go,” he said as if he could read my mind.
“Won’t you join us?”
He shook his head and straightened. All softness in him vanished, replaced with his usual stoic facade. “Let me assess him from afar.”
“Do you really think that’s necessary?” I looked toward where I’d left Hans with Ragnhild before turning back to Halvar. “He doesn’t seem like the type to harm people, and he was never cruel as a child.”
“Anyone can hurt you with the right leverage, knowledge, and motivation.”
That sounded far too weighted, but also like wisdom I should cling to. Mentally tucking that information away, I brushed my hands over my sleeves and set my shoulders. “Well, I’m going to head back and enjoy the view.”
Halvar just stared at me.
I sauntered back through the trees and could have sworn I heard a grumbled, “Me too.”