16. Hnefatafl
Hnefatafl
T he stone floor was icy beneath my hands and legs. Though a fire crackled merrily in the hearth, its heat did not reach the frost surrounding my heart. A sob tore from my throat, echoing painfully in my ears.
Asvoria… The Shadow floundered, trying in vain to comfort me.
How can I make this choice? If I do what I must, I risk losing Lukas. I just… I don’t understand.
Deep breaths, young one, she intoned softly. The only way to understand is to ask him if your love is truly at stake here.
But Freya Anja said ? —
I have heard many a Flosser’s predictions in my day. They are not set in stone, Asvoria. She circled in my mind peacefully, prompting me to match my breathing to her rhythm. After a few moments, I was able to sit up fully and take a long breath. There now, she continued, that’s better.
A knock came at the door. Quickly, I stood up, wiping the remaining tears away and smoothing down the wrinkles in my skirt. “Who is it?” I called.
The door opened a fraction. “Is everything alright, my lady?”
Wonderful. Just what I needed.
“I’m fine, thank you,” I called back to Trygg, forcing as much neutrality as I could into those four words.
The door swung open further, and he peeked his head into the room, scanning it quickly before his penetrating gaze landed on me. “You don’t sound fine,” was all he said before stepping through the door.
Gods damn this dragon.
Seems the Nighteater forgot a dose of common sense when he made this one, the Shadow quipped.
I bit back a sigh. “Talon Trygg,” I began tersely, “this is most inappropriate.”
“What is?” he asked, leaning against the wall next to the partially open door.
I tried to look past him but couldn’t see anything around his broad form. After listening for a moment, I guessed Corbyn was either being extremely quiet, or he wasn't anywhere nearby.
“Where is Talon Arlbright?”
“Finishing his supper, I expect,” the prince replied with a dismissive shrug of his shoulders.
“Well, if he were here, he would explain to you?—”
“Perhaps you could do it.”
I blinked several times, grappling with the anger bubbling in my chest. After what Anja told me, all I wanted was to be alone.
“Do what?” I asked clasping my hands almost to the point of pain.
“Explain it to me,” he answered. “That was one thing Arlbright missed on his little tour today. Why you don’t, ah… What’s the word? Fraternize? No, that’s not quite right. Mmm…” He stroked his angular, stubbled jaw, eyes raised to the ceiling like he was deep in thought.
“Talon Trygg?—”
“Associate!” he exclaimed with a snap of his fingers, looking back at me. “Why you don’t associate with your Talons casually. Never got around to that one, but it’s been bothering me.”
A scoff threatened to escape through my gritted teeth, but the Shadow willed some composure into me. The tasteless noise morphed into a sigh.
“I’ll thank you to stop interrupting me when I’m speaking, Talon Trygg.” I took a few steps toward him. The darkthread trembled.
“Apologies, my lady,” he said with a rakish grin. “I grew up with four brothers. Jumping in the cracks was the only way to get a word in edgewise.”
I paused a moment as his explanation wiped away a bit of my exasperation. “I see. I cannot relate, unfortunately.”
“Mmm, only child, eh?”
“No, I’m not.” The admission was out of me before I could stop it. He gave me a questioning gaze, tilting his head to the side. “I had a brother,” I continued, unable to take it back now. “He died when he was a baby.”
It was not something I ever spoke of. The memories were too painful to bear, especially now that Mother was gone too. I’d only been eight years old, but I still remembered how she wept. Speaking about that trauma dragged out an ugly side of me, one I had no desire to give any control.
So why in the gods’ names had I so freely admitted it to this dragon?
“I’m sorry,” he said, drawing me out of the memories. “That can’t have been easy.” There was such sincerity in his voice, it almost made me forget my earlier suspicions.
“No, it wasn’t,” I muttered.
“You have my deepest sympathies.”
Something twinged in my chest, but it wasn’t the darkthread this time. The way his emotions constantly shifted was like speaking to two different men. His arrogant smirk was gone, replaced with a look of such genuine empathy it nearly stole my breath away.
“You are quite strange, Talon Trygg.” I raised a hand to my mouth, stifling a gasp.
I hadn’t meant to say it—had only intended to think it to myself. Gods, why did I open my damn mouth?
He looked taken aback, dark brows raised high over his stormy eyes. But I thought I glimpsed the ghost of a smile. “Well then…”
“Forgive me,” I breathed, hand still covering the lower half of my face, “I didn’t mean—” A rush of blood warmed my cheeks, both at my own embarrassment and the weight of his gaze on me.
“It’s alright,” he chuckled. “Certainly not the first time I’ve heard that. Nor will it be the last, I wager.”
That same something as before stirred again, snaking warmth down my chest. I meant what I said, but he certainly was intriguing. None of the dragons I’d ever met before were anything like him.
There was no stoic silence, as I’d always received from Corbyn.
Grantis was never outright rude, but he’d always been gruff.
Quick to dismiss me and others in the name of doing his job.
But Trygg… He was different. And perhaps it stemmed from my desire to find out why he had a pull on my power, but I wanted to learn more about him.
An invisible line stretched between us. One that marked where I could not— would not—cross. But curiosity lit like a match, and my hesitation disappeared.
As long as I stayed on my side of the line, everything would be fine. In theory.
“Would you care to sit down?” I asked, motioning to the chairs in front of the hearth. “I’m curious about your life in Ilfa Esari.”
The Shadow quivered. Are you certain this is wise?
It’s an opportunity to learn more about him, and perhaps determine why the darkthread is acting up. Now shush.
“Interesting,” he rumbled, that far-too-familiar smile coming back to his face. He pushed off the wall, taking a few steps toward me. “But you still haven’t answered my question, Your Majesty.”
I tilted my head at him, feigning confusion. “Why don’t the Erling queens associate casually with their Talons?”
“That’s the one.” His smile widened, sparking dangerously in his eyes. He was poking the bear to get some kind of reaction. He wanted to play the game—to dance in a battle of wits and wills.
And I was more than happy to oblige. A thought that made me only a little nervous.
“I can’t speak for any of them,” I said, shrugging, “but perhaps it’s time for a change. Would you indulge me?” My mouth curled into a teasing smile.
He huffed out a raspy laugh, looking me up and down in the briefest of glances. “Glady, my lady.”
Gods, that look had my skin heating slightly. I rolled my shoulders to try and rid myself of the uncomfortable sensation, but a tingle stayed behind.
He crossed the room in a few long strides and took a seat. I glided over to the hearth and took up the chair across from him, folding my hands in my lap.
“So…” I began, hesitating. I didn’t have a plan here. This was a shot in the dark at needling some information out of him. My bravado was fading quickly, leaving only a cold shudder in its wake.
“So.”
He propped a leg up on his knee, resting his elbow on the arm of the chair as the beginnings of a smirk toyed at his lips.
The fire reflected off his iridescent armor, sending a dazzling rainbow of color across the two of us.
Light danced in his eyes. I’d wager many a young she-dragon had gotten lost in those eyes before, charmed by his annoyingly handsome face and playful demeanor.
A tempting snare, one that I made sure to sidestep.
Clearing my throat, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Your… Lesser Highness? What’s that all about?”
I’d never heard the title before. Not that I’d had much cause to deal with the royal family of AEldin in the past. The few relations we had with their military were contained to the Skymasters, their equivalent to our Thanes. I’d only ever heard the king’s name a handful of times before.
“Ah, I wondered when you’d ask. I am my father’s second son, younger brother to His Greater Highness Prince Axel of House Dyvur, Heir to the Burning Seat of Ilfa Esari, Lord of all Shifters.”
“That’s a mouthful,” I remarked, swallowing down a laugh.
“Mmm, and he never misses an opportunity to remind you of it.” Trygg’s voice hardened as he spoke of his brother.
He rolled his shoulders, looking over toward the fire.
“There’s three ‘Lowest Highnesses’ behind me,” he continued.
“The triplets: Magnus, Mattias, and Martein. Right pains in my ass, those three—fond of slipping snakes in your boots when you aren’t looking. ”
This time, I did not conceal my laugh. “They are quite young then?”
The prince looked at me knowingly. “By a dragon’s standards, yes. You humans might equate them to adolescents.”
“And you are…?” I didn’t even know why I’d asked, but I’d already opened the floodgates. That damned curiosity prickled at my mind, making me unable to tear my gaze away. I shifted in my chair, trying to occupy my energies elsewhere for the moment.
He noticed how I squirmed. The sheer delight in his eyes was a dead giveaway. “Of an age with Your Majesty, I reckon,” he replied, running a hand over his jaw. “Maybe a little older. It’s not an exact exchange.”
“Really?” I found myself leaning forward in my chair. “How long do you dragons live anyways?”
“As long as we don’t die. The oldest dragons are the members of the Council. And the oldest of them is Vaelria Longtail. She’s somewhere around forty spans.”
“Spans?” Another unfamiliar term. I’d never read or heard any of this. Had no one bothered to talk to them before?