Chapter 20 Freija
Freija
Two more days passed following my lengthy new daily routine: training with Halvar, meetings with the Council, and brief library sessions before dinner with Hans.
With the amount of time spent courting, I’d barely had any moments to catch up on my research project.
Not that the Council were going to let me travel far beyond the mountain to gather information.
A bitterness still rang through me at their and Father’s dismissal.
After another companionable meal with Hans today, I headed back to my room, washed, and dressed for bed. As I pulled on my delicate night shift, a knock sounded at the door.
I strode across the room and peered into the hallway only to find a shadow lurking against the wall to my left.
“Halvar.” I blinked. “What are you doing here? Where is my night guard?”
He pushed off the wall and moved in front of me. His gaze raked over my night gown, and heat skated across my skin in its wake. I placed my arm over my breasts as they started to peak.
“The guard?” I asked again.
“I gave him the night off,” he said, towering over me.
A shudder ran down my spine and Halvar’s eyes narrowed. Why did this man have such an effect on me? It was as if I were a flower on a cold day and he were the sun—a blanket that would warm and protect me while allowing me to grow.
He shoved something between us, drawing me from my thoughts. “These were delivered for you.”
Two small parcels were placed into my free hand. Both were the size of books. One wrapped in a thick gray wool cloth that reminded me of the uniforms our soldiers wore, and the other in a burlap.
“Umm, thank you.”
“Good night, princess.”
“Good night, soldier.”
A low rumble sounded from Halvar’s chest as he leaned back against the wall and a smile tilted my lips in response. I shut the door and ambled back toward my bed, setting the beige gift on my bedside table and opening the one wrapped in gray material.
Untwining the string, the fabric fluttered to the floor and a gasp slipped from me.
Another book. This one was bound in a supple green leather with faint debossed letters.
The Gardeners Labyrinth. It was beautiful.
I brushed my hand across the cover and thumbed through the pages, catching glimpses of drawings and diagrams, each one more detailed than the next.
The first letter of every chapter was a piece of art, swirly vines and leaves ornamenting it.
I smiled and set it aside. Hans was so kind and generous. Timid, certainly, but this plus the other book he’d gifted me were marvelous additions to my collection and such thoughtful presents.
Picking up the other parcel, I untied the twine. The fabric wrapped around what appeared to be a box was a simple beige and unadorned with any pattern. It looked like the sacks of grain I’d seen the humans carry off their boats in the village. Inside was, indeed, a simple wooden box.
I carefully removed the lid and—
Inside sat the bloody tip of a fae ear in a gruesome bed of dried blood.
My stomach roiled as I threw it away from me and screamed.
The door crashed open, smacking against the wall. Halvar darted inside, scanned for threats, then hauled me into his arms. “What happened?”
My entire body trembled as I pointed to the piece of ear on the floor.
He scanned the room before letting go of me and stomped to where the box had skittered across the floor.
He grabbed it and slammed it over the body part, hiding it from view.
But there was nothing that could ever erase what I’d just seen.
What had been delivered directly to me. Most likely as a threat.
My heart pounded against my ribs, and I swallowed down bile.
Whoever had been sending kidnapping threats had been able to smuggle that into the mountain. Not only was it a warning, but it must have been a test. A test to see how close they could get. To see if they could further breach the mountain’s safeguards and reach me.
Well, they had.
“Princess? Princess, look at me.” Halvar bent in front of me and brought us face to face.
Somewhere out there was a fae missing part of their ear. Or perhaps they were already dead and didn’t have to live with the pain and anguish of losing a piece of themselves.
“Freija.” A hand gingerly tugged at my elbow, releasing my arms from the bind I’d created across my stomach. As if holding myself together might protect me from what was happening.
Halvar rose and stepped into me, bringing his hand to my cheek and tilting my face upward. “Everything is fine. You are safe. Take a deep breath for me.”
I nodded and sucked in as much air as I could. My body shuddered like it was too much and my exhale peppered Halvar’s shirt.
His broad hand landed on my back, smoothing circles over the tension that had settled there.
Another ragged breath in and out didn’t help as the shuddering continued.
“Keep breathing for me.”
Each lungful of air slowed my racing mind and pulse, bringing them back down to normal after the nasty surprise. The haze of shock slowly dissipated, and my surroundings came back into focus. I was in Halvar’s strong arms.
It felt good. Like this was a beautiful garden I could rest in, a book I could devour, or a perfectly crafted piece of policy that would help hundreds of fae.
Halvar’s hold was everything all at once, and I didn’t want to leave.
I snuggled into him, and his arms tightened around me, the shoulder of my nightgown slipping down my arm.
My gaze locked with his. Those sky-blue eyes filled with concern, the crinkles at the corners more pronounced, his forehead etched with lines.
If I reached up, I could smooth them with my finger.
But my hands had latched onto his biceps as if he were a piece of wreckage keeping me from drowning in the fjord.
“I’m all right,” I whispered.
He nodded.
This felt… This feeling bubbling up inside me… The fluttering and tingling sensation that blended with a warmth that reminded me of how I felt whenever I stepped into my garden or came back to the mountain after a hike… It was…
Air stilled in my lungs.
It was care and emotions. Feelings.
I was falling for Halvar.
He continued watching as I battled with the emotions roiling within me. Could he hear my thoughts as they screamed at me? Could he see my emotions on my face? Did he feel this effervescent something that floated around us?
“Halvar,” I whispered into the rose-sized gap between our faces.
“I won’t let anything happen to you.” He backed me toward the bed post and rested his free hand against it as if needing the extra support for both of us.
My heart stopped beating. Maybe he could feel this? Maybe I wasn’t alone in these desires that coursed through me every time he entered a room.
“Do you promise?” I whispered.
He rested his forehead against mine. “Until the ancestors call us home, princess.”
I couldn’t stop myself. I melted in his arms and decided to be brave, pressing my mouth to his.
He stilled, those soft and warm lips not moving for a heartbeat and then…
It was like I’d unleashed a tidal wave. He was everywhere all at once.
His mouth claimed mine as he cupped the back of my head with his large, calloused hand.
He tilted my head to one side, changing the angle, and deepened the kiss.
I let out a moan as his tongue slid along the seam of my lips. The moment gave him an opening that he took and he pressed into my mouth. Claiming. Devouring. Destroying me for any other man.
A sensation I never wanted to forget, never wanted to stop.
My toes curled and my fingers dug deeper into the muscles on his arms.
“Halvar,” I murmured.
His chest shook against me. “Say that again.”
I pulled back enough to see the heat in his eyes. “What?”
“I like it when you say my name, remember?”
I do.
Brushing my hands up his chest and into his hair, I brought his mouth a breath away from mine and whispered, “Halvar.”
The sound that came from him was like a bear claiming its mate, and he surged against me, shifting us until the bed bumped against my thighs.
With a gentleness I didn’t know he possessed, he rested me atop the sheets and leaned over me.
He trailed his fingers across my cheek and traced the outline of my swollen lips.
“Beautiful,” he muttered.
My heart expanded, filling like it never had before.
I pressed my mouth to his again, and he dropped to his forearms, resting them on either side of me. Passion and possession filled every kiss, every touch, every breath that we struggled to catch.
“Why are you guarding my door at night?” I asked, taking a moment to fill my lungs.
He brushed his nose along the column of my neck, breathing me in. “Don’t ask that question.”
“Why, Halvar?”
“Because I don’t want to voice the answer.”
My body trembled, and I pulled him closer to me. Our lips pressed against one another again, claiming that desire that lingered between us every time we were in each other’s presence. I could stay like this all night. Relish the warmth of his—
A knock sounded against the door, and Halvar launched off me.
I let out a gasp. The door. We’d forgotten about the open door.
Halvar put himself between me and the opening, while I pulled the disturbed covers around me and peered past him.
One of the commanders, Mikkel, stood in the doorway, looking unsure of where to cast his gaze, his fists twitching at his sides. “Sir.”
“What’s wrong?” Halvar growled and straightened the hem of his shirt.
“A commotion was heard down the hall and—”
“Someone sent the princess a body part.”
Mikkel’s eyes widened. “That was why you were…”
“Whatever you saw here, Commander, does not leave this room. Is that understood?”
Mikkel gave a slow nod, and a feeling of guilt and embarrassment settled over me at being caught in such a precarious position with my guard.
I’d broken the rules. However good it had felt.
We’d been caught. Halvar could very well lose his job for this.
After centuries as the Head Guard and General for the Fjell Fae…
But he took that risk too. He knew what the consequences were for crossing that line with me.
And yet… What on earth had I done?
Halvar strode across the room and picked up the threatening gift. Returning to the perplexed soldier, he said, “Send me four soldiers. We need to report this to the King.”
“Yes, sir.” Mikkel looked to me and a flush crossed his cheeks.
“Not a word,” Halvar said, probably having spotted the rosiness in his commander. “You merely saw a guard checking on his charge.”
“You were checking on the princess’s well-being.”
“Exactly.”
I didn’t have words to say. Nothing could possibly help in this situation. All I could do was stare at the two men in the doorway.
“Princess Freija.” Halvar spun and faced me. Gone was the man I’d just had in my arms. He’d been replaced with the legendary general who’d kill anything in his path. “Please let the soldiers know if you need anything. We will take this to the king immediately.”
Nodding, I pulled the covers tighter against my body. “Thank you.”
With that, the two men closed the door and left.
I was alone again.
Just me, the contents of my room, and a jumble of feelings.
I pressed my fingers to my lips. “What have I done?”