Chapter 2
Drak
We marched alongside one another, following the maze of stone until we reached the armory hidden beneath Mara’s Keep.
A draft pressed icy air against our backs, and even this deep into the castle, the storm made itself known.
Another bolt of lightning must have struck the surface because the ground rippled with the following thunder.
Though the rain and wind came from the gods, I actually liked storms. They matched the rage within me.
Rage that only heightened at the thought of Lux’s rejection.
I swallowed a sigh and glanced at Axel. He’d been silent the entire way, letting me stew, and only when we descended the staircase did his voice mingle with the echo of our footsteps against stone.
“My king, you need to look at the marriage through Lux’s eyes,” he said. He had always known how I felt, ever since I was a young boy sneaking through the halls of this castle. A home that belonged to a king who hated my existence as much as he was obsessed with my mother.
I released a forceful sigh and yanked a sword off the mount on the wall. The entire armory was clad with wooden mounts and iron hangers drilled into the stone. Swords, axes, and crossbows decorated the walls. Surrounded by deadly weapons, this was where a vampire king belonged.
Narrowing my eyes on him, I unsheathed the sword. “Nobody else is here, Axel. Why are you addressing me formally?”
“There have been enough traitors infiltrating this castle that I will continue to call you my king at every turn in case they are near.”
Fine. It was clear to me that spies were probably lurking in Mara’s Keep, but I had been optimistic that the armory, at the very least, maintained the same level of seclusion as the throne room.
At least there Axel kept guards posted outside.
The curve of his thick hair bounced as he nodded toward the narrow stairs that led up and out of this stony hole.
“We must remind our enemies that you are sovereign and will remain their king.”
“You’re not wrong.” I smirked. “But Lux doesn’t let them lurk around here for long.”
“I’m aware, my king. I’ve witnessed her skill in their destruction enough times to recognize that she is the true huntress.”
I flinched. The gods’ huntress. She belonged to them, not me.
Axel drew his own sword and positioned himself in the center of the sparring space to duel. I met him at the opposite end.
I didn’t love sparring with an older human because if I hurt him after all these years of loyalty, I wouldn’t forgive myself.
But Axel was the only human who remembered the older ways of fighting.
He was the only one, human or vampire, who cared to keep the tradition of dueling and sword fighting alive beyond the executioners.
Executioners he trained under King Roderic’s command because that lazy asshole never wanted to lift a finger.
As much as I hated the former king, I was grateful that he brought Axel into the castle and into my life. Now he was a part of Mara’s Keep, with his slate eyes and cloak the color of the walls.
My gaze flicked from the blade to Axel’s face, defined by decades of living in Mara’s Keep with a short-cropped beard of the same salt that dusted his once pepper-dark hair.
He was somewhere in his fifties based on the fact that he looked twenty when he first came into my life as a boy.
He never admitted his age to anyone, not even me.
Since he almost never saw the sun, he aged slowly for a human and it was impossible to guess how old he truly was.
Serving vampire kings had a few bonuses.
“Aren’t you going to remove your cloak?” I asked.
His only response was to lift his weapon in an invitation to spar. If he wanted to trip on the fur, fine. I matched his ready, and steel clashed against steel, but the fight only brought me back to watching Lux battle another traitor.
Eventually, the gods would twist her mind so far that she wouldn’t survive another duel.
As much as I hated rushing her the same way Odin was, we had to do something—fast. We had to get Silver here, and then take down the vampires, because a fake marriage was better than forging through the wasteland with a vampire army at our heels and madness gutting Lux’s mind.
“If Lux wants safety, then why can’t she see my plan is the safest option?” I voiced my thoughts. Talking this out with Axel better clear my mind, because fighting wasn’t working.
He said nothing and dodged my blade with ease. I swung again and almost tripped over my own damn feet. Before I could react, he pinned me, forcing me to shove him off.
“Listen, son,” he said. “You never lied to her, but you did manipulate her.”
“For her own good.” I slashed at his hip, but he whirled away with all the grace of a lithe swordsman.
“She’s rather skilled at addressing her own needs, my king.”
“She needs my protection.” We charged at one another, striking blades, not caring that this riddled our practice swords with nicks and scratches.
“She needs to know she’s protected from you.”
“Damnit, Axel!” Anger unfurled through me.
With vampiric speed, I bolted forward, disarming him in a single blink.
Frustration flared in my muscles as I shoved him back, back, back.
I almost had him pinned against the wall when his brows lifted, and I immediately regretted disrespecting the only man I truly respected.
Using my skills as an undead was never part of our sparring.
That was the whole point of this: to keep my skills as a swordsman, since I wouldn’t be a vampire forever.
I let my sword drop to my side, and pinched the bridge of my nose.
Turning, I strode away from him and back to the center of the sparring circle.
“You’re right. She needs to feel safe with me, but all she cares about is leaving for Yggdrasil, and she has no idea what it will be like to face an entire army of vampires.
I know every single one of Silver’s soldiers personally. ”
“So do I, and though your plan to lure Silver here is solid—”
“You agree she’ll fall for it, right?”
He closed his eyes and gave me only the slightest nod.
“I agree. Silver’s need for control has remained predictable ever since she became a young woman, blinding her to the obvious sometimes.
But whether it will work is not Lux’s issue with the proposal.
” I frowned. As much as I didn’t want to hear it, Axel was always right.
Just like when he told me not to bring Silver back from Drukna Sea.
“Lux’s entire life and her entire world are fraught with danger and lies, and secrets. She wants safety.”
“And I’m trying to give her that.”
“Forgive me, my king, but you’re one of many who have threatened that. Even if she didn’t understand why at the time.”
I sighed, and paced the length of the sword at Axel’s feet. “Let’s go again.” I nodded for him to approach and pick it up.
He didn’t move.
“Axel,” I prodded. “Fight me.”
“You, as in King Drakkar? Or the fanged version of the man I know?”
My lips twitched. As much as I wanted to fume at him, I’d requested that he call me out on this. I wasn’t supposed to move in a blur, but thoughtfully, building muscle memory the way an ancient warrior would, instead of relying on my vampire powers.
Once I became a god, I’d no longer have the speed or the strength of an undead.
Odin’s skills were different, more powerful in their own right, but different, and would require months of understanding and learning.
In the interim, I’d have to get used to being like a human king again. More vulnerable, mortal.
I pushed out a breath. “Me. Fight me.”
“Good,” he nodded as he strode to the sparring circle. Instead of picking up the sword, he waved for me to attack him barehanded.
The crazy bastard.
I lunged forward, my blade angled to pin him at his throat, but he spun to dodge me, letting his cloak billow out as I thrust it at him.
Snatching fur and fabric, he whipped the cloak into his hold and wrapped it around my weapon in one smooth move, both entangling the blade and disarming me without so much as a sword of his own.
I huffed. “Fuck, I’m out of practice.”
“Too long relying on fangs,” he agreed. I grimaced as I let go of the sword and swiped my fingers through my loose hair.
Marching to a small table wedged in the corner, I picked up a tin pitcher and filled my cup to the brim.
Though it wasn’t blood, wine would quench my thirst for a few hours, even if the alcohol stung as much as Axel’s words.
At least he’d taught me never to shy away from the truth.
“But,” he continued as he wiped down the blades, “you’re still the second-best swordsman in Vylheim. And when you have Odin’s powers, you’ll see a trick like that coming moments before your opponent takes action.”
“Foresight,” I smirked. “And you’re sure I’ll have this skill immediately upon Odin’s death? I won’t have to learn it the way I will with calling upon the Valkyries, or command of ravens?”
He dipped his chin. “If what the sagas your father studied say are true, then yes. And your mother’s visions confirmed it.
Anyone who kills a god will take upon their powers.
You will also gain Odin’s rune mastery right after you kill him, though I can’t say whether creating new runes will take time to learn and improve. ”
“Foresight is what matters,” I said, waving the other skills away. Who the fuck cared to boss around those noisy ravens?
“You should know, though,” he said, “that you will not have the strength Lux possesses. That strength comes from Valhalla through Odin; it is not his strength alone. That is how Ingrid explained it. Foresight beyond mere seconds will take time to master, too.”
“You said the sagas were clear. That I’ll be able to see into the future.”
“I suspect you’ll see moments into the future, but not months or days or even hours.
Again, this is coming from Ingrid’s confirmation of the sagas, not me.
The sagas say that even Odin’s sight isn’t all-powerful, my king.
” The wrinkles between his brow deepened.
If only Odin could see everything, then I’d see everything once he fell dead at my feet.
And only then would I be able to keep my promise to Axel.
But finding Axel’s son wasn’t on a deadline like freeing Lux’s mind.
“Odin isn’t all-powerful,” I echoed. “That’s exactly why he’s using Lux.” I shook my head and leaned both hands on the table. The wine turned bitter on my tongue. “If she doesn’t trust me enough for a fake marriage, then what the Hel am I going to do?”
“Give her time to get to learn who you really are, Drak.”
“We don’t have time. Her mind is slipping.”
“Then I suggest you show her the King Drakkar that I know. Not the vampire king you pretend to be for the throne, the real you.” With that, he bowed and swiftly disappeared into the shadows beyond the stone staircase.
Who the fuck was I really, except a king weak in the knees for a witch from Skaldir? I didn’t even understand why I felt tethered to Lux. Like I’d known her since the creation of the ancient sagas.