Chapter 40 Freija
Freija
The boat bumped against the shoreline, sand scraping at the bottom of the hull and bringing us to a stop. Ragnhild leaped into the vessel and swallowed me in a hug. The smell of pine needles wrapped around us along with the feeling of home.
“Thank the fucking ancestors, you’re alive,” Ragnhild said.
“No thanks to you,” Halvar grumbled as he sauntered past with our packs.
She scoffed. “Keep snarling like that and perhaps we can find a place for you with our shifters.”
Another grumble. That one was definitely a swear word.
Ragnhild set her hands on my shoulders and held me at arm’s length. “All in one piece?”
“All in one piece,” I said.
“Good… Your Majesty.” She removed her hands and bobbed into a haphazard curtsy. “I’m so sorry, Freija.”
A tiny wave of emotion threatened to wash over me. I straightened my shoulders and I tried to hold back the tears, but they spilled out over my cheeks like silent waterfalls. “It was going to happen one day.”
“But that day came sooner than any of us expected.”
I nodded. She understood. More than anyone else among the Nordic Fae, Ragnhild understood.
“Come!” Halvar said from the rocky beach. “Let’s go.”
I wiped away my tears, and we carefully clambered out of the boat, Halvar extending his hand to help me. His touch was soft yet firm as he guided me out of the vessel.
Huffing and panting sounded from the tree line and we all turned toward the noise. Three large wolves appeared, their snouts dipped, brown eyes locked on us.
“Those better be yours, Ragnhild,” Halvar groused, one hand tightening around mine, the other reaching for his sword.
“They are,” my friend replied. “They saw you coming down the fjord and alerted me. I sent one of them up to the mountain’s entrance to fetch more of your soldiers.”
Halvar loosened his grip, letting go of both me and the need for his weapons. A look of surprise and appreciation crossed his features.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Ragnhild snorted. “I may have sent you on Henrik’s ship, but I too am trained on security measures.”
I bit back a smile. The two of them were so stubborn.
A branch snapped somewhere in the distance and my muscles tensed. Ragnhild and the wolves spun on the spot, creating a circle around us, while Halvar reached over his shoulders and pulled out his axe.
“There are still people out to hurt you,” Halvar said, eyes scanning the thick trunks before us. “We need to get you inside. Now.”
“Agreed,” Ragnhild muttered, crafting a small bow and arrow with her own Forest Fae powers.
I nodded. “Let’s get to the mountain.”
On Ragnhild’s piercing whistle, the lead wolf moved and we all ran after, Ragnhild and Halvar sandwiching me between them on the rock- and log-strewn mountainside.
Up and up we climbed. Lungs heaving and breaths sawing in and out, I lifted my skirts to avoid tripping and falling.
“When did you find out?” I asked Ragnhild. “What do you know?”
She pushed aside branches with her magic as if requesting them to let us pass unencumbered.
“Only that it was illness that took him. They were able to keep it a secret for a day, but there were murmurings among your soldiers”—Halvar grumbled—“and word spread to us. This morning we received an official letter from your mother.”
Mother. She must have been equally devastated.
“There have been no movements from King Balder in the fjord?” I asked. The man could never be fully trusted, and neither could Veigar of the Fire Fae, but he at least lived half an ocean away.
“None. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if a letter had been sent to him too.”
That was good at least. “There’s more you need to know,” I panted.
“What now?”
“We were attacked—”
“Several times,” Halvar grumbled as Ragnhild gasped.
“—and the last attacker mentioned the culprit behind the threats might be part of the mountain’s leadership.”
Ragnhild snorted. “I never did like that council of yours. Bastards.”
“It might not be the Council, it could be military leadership. The Forest Fae who attacked me never specified.”
“They better not be one of mine,” Halvar growled, and I got the sense that if they were, they wouldn’t be among the living for very long.
“We will find out, but I want you to be careful,” I said to Ragnhild.
“Duly noted,” she replied. “And the same goes to you. Beast-man, you’d better keep an eye on her for me.”
He rumbled an affirmative, which seemed to satisfy my friend based on her thumbs-up motion.
The wolves bounded over a fallen tree, but we clambered over as best we could.
Moss and detritus stuck to my skirts, but that was of little bother right now.
We needed to get back without running into trouble.
Halvar was right—there were still unknown forces out to hurt or kidnap me for ransom and we knew they’d infiltrated the mountain. We had to move quickly and carefully.
Up ahead the main entrance to the mountain finally came into view.
What was usually a miraged mountainside that any human could walk past without noticing anything out of the usual was now heavily guarded.
Five Fjell soldiers peered out into the woods.
Their eyes widened when they spotted the wolves, hands raising weapons, until they noticed who the canines were accompanied by.
“Weapons down,” I ordered, my voice dancing through the divide.
The soldiers hesitated for a moment, brows creasing.
“You heard her,” Halvar said behind me.
At that everyone lowered their weapons and someone came running through the mirage. It was Mikkel, one of Halvar’s commanders. His chest rose and fell rapidly as his gaze landed on his general. “Sir. Ma’am. We’ve secured the tunnel to the throne room.”
“Is the rest of the fjell not secured?” I asked.
“You are our priority right now.”
“Everyone inside that mountain will always be your priority,” I replied, the training I’d received all these years kicking in. “Whether I am among them or not. Do you understand?”
He swallowed hard but nodded and motioned for us to enter.
We strode inside, Ragnhild falling into step beside me, while Halvar remained at my back watching over me and the soldiers who flanked us.
No one dared question my friend’s presence.
And I was glad they didn’t. With all the tension and stress and grief running through my body, I wanted her close by… Halvar too.
Footsteps cracked against stone, echoing around us. The gray tunnel walls soon transitioned to the pale blue quartz of the throne, and the archway to the room itself came into view.
I sucked in a breath, and Ragnhild placed her hand on my elbow, drawing me and the surrounding guards to a stop. “Everything changes now, but you are ready for it.”
I peered over at her. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. You’re already doing an excellent job.”
“I’ve done nothing so far.”
“We can debate that at length another time.” She shook her head and gave me a gentle smile. “I’m going back to the forest, but remember: No fear. No relenting. No remorse.”
She was right. And she’d been saying that since we were teenagers. The words buoyed me as I faced the entrance to the throne room and stepped inside.
No fear. No relenting. No remorse.