“What are you thinking?” Bain set aside the file and looked up at Tove with a mixture of affection and concern.
“There seem to be three clear options.” Tove leaned back against the table and crossed one foot over the other. “One, someone kidnapped the Queen, somehow bypassing the guards and all the people in the palace. Two, she snuck out that night and decided to run away. Or three, which seems the most likely to me, is that the King killed her and disposed of her body somewhere nearby.”
“You can’t accuse the King,” Bain said quickly, while both Ridley and I stood in silence, processing what Tove had said.
It really wasn’t that surprising, and honestly, I’d been thinking of it myself. Based on everything Kennet had told us, it sounded like the King was feigning grief to stonewall our investigation. Combine that with his marriage to a lonely child bride, and contrast his indifference at the meeting with his overt distress at her disappearance, like he was overcompensating, and something didn’t add up.
“No, of course not.” Tove shook his head. “If the King did kill her, there’s nothing we can do about it. If we were to say anything, it would only start a war between our kingdoms. The only ones who could lobby accusations without the risk of treason would be the Prince or maybe Marksinna Lisbet.”
“But if King Mikko did kill her, why call us here?” I asked, deciding to play devil’s advocate in all of this. “He’d already gotten away with it. Why draw more suspicion on himself?”
“You know why,” Ridley said, making me look back at him. “Konstantin Black.”
“What would he have to do with this?” I asked.
“The King has to blame his missing wife on someone, and with everything Konstantin has been up to lately, he would make an excellent scapegoat,” Ridley said. “And of course, there is the chance that Konstantin is actually the one behind the Queen’s disappearance.”
“Who?” Tove asked.
“The Kanin traitor,” Bain reminded him. “He’s been kidnapping Kanin changelings.”
Tove grimaced. “Right. Sorry. I’m bad with names.”
“You really think Konstantin had something to do with this?” I asked Ridley and shook my head. “It doesn’t make sense. It’s a totally different MO.”
“I’m not saying he did it. There’s no evidence supporting he has anything to do with this,” Ridley said. “But everyone’s a bit jumpier with him and Bent Stum running around, especially since we don’t really know why they’re doing any of this.”
“A Queen is a big leap from changeling, though,” Tove reasoned. “Especially the Queen of another tribe.”
“Bent Stum is Omte and he’s been going after Kanin,” I argued. “Maybe their plan is to hit all the tribes. The Skojare don’t have changelings, so maybe this is his way of attacking them.”
Bain and Tove exchanged a look. Bain pursed his lips, then shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
“That traitor guy probably has nothing to with this.” Tove put his hand on Bain’s arm, and he seemed to relax a bit.
“Tove is right, and number three is the most likely choice,” Ridley said. “But if the King did kill her, or even if she ran away, there’s probably not a lot we can do. So while we’re here, we might as well go on the assumption that someone kidnapped her. It’s the only way we can actually help.”
“Even if she was kidnapped, what can we do?” I asked. “We’ve read over the guards’ report, and there’s nothing there.”
“There was something I saw in the file.” Bain turned around and grabbed it, flipping through it quickly. “It caught my eye, then Tove asked Kennet to leave, and I forgot for a moment, but … yep. Here it is. The Queen had gone down to the pool area to swim, and she’d discarded her robe, which they found at the side of the pool. And in the blue satin of her fabric, they found a solitary black hair.”
“Oh, shit,” I said under my breath, and my heartbeat sped up.
“Now, I haven’t met everyone in the palace, but the Skojare have always been very picky about mixing bloodlines,” Bain said, explaining something I already knew. “If you marry out of your tribe, you’re gone. So I sincerely doubt that anybody in this place has hair darker than blond.”
He was very right. There was absolutely no way my father would’ve been allowed to live here after he married my mother. In fact, he’d never been allowed to even visit. For a black hair to get on Linnea’s robe, it had to come from someone outside of the Skojare.
And although I couldn’t say for certain who it came from, I did know for sure that Konstantin’s hair was charcoal-black.
THIRTY-THREE
pursuit
The rocks stung my bare feet, but I paid them no mind as I walked with Tove Kroner along the shore of Lake Superior. I had changed into jeans and a sweater before heading out, since a dress didn’t seem appropriate for scouting the area for signs of Konstantin Black, Bent Stum, or Queen Linnea herself. The weather was warm enough to go without boots, and I always felt better with my feet touching the earth, so I’d forgone footwear.
During our meeting, we’d come to the conclusion that the only way for anyone to make off with Linnea was through the water. The pool in the lower level of the palace was freshwater, with a tunnel that led out into the lake. Someone could’ve come inside and taken her out that way. Admittedly, it would be harder for someone who didn’t have gills and couldn’t breathe underwater, but not impossible.
If Linnea had been taken that way, she would’ve come out on the nearby shore of the lake. So we’d decided to split up and search the shore. Ridley suggested that we mix the search parties, with him pairing with Bain, and me with Tove.
I couldn’t help but think he was looking for a reason to avoid me. We’d been getting along well since we’d gotten to Storvatten, but I was sure it was because there was work to be done.
Ridley and Bain had gone east, starting at the bridge and moving outward, and Tove and I went west. Thick evergreen forests lined the shore, going right down to the rocky banks of the lake.
Storvatten was more of a village, with scattered cabins and cottages hidden in the trees. There were no paved roads—only dirt and gravel paths connecting them. As Tove and I walked along the lake, I’d glance over and only occasionally get a glimpse of a house. Most of them were overgrown with moss, making them nearly invisible among the trees, but they were all within feet of the lake.
“Should we ask them if they’ve seen anything?” I asked Tove, and motioned to nearby house.
It was built very low to the ground, so I assumed it was more of a burrow, like Ridley’s house. Moss covered the thatched roof, and low-hanging branches shaded it. But in the small front window I saw a face staring out at me—the bright blue eyes locked on me and Tove.
Tove considered my suggestion, then shook his head. “If they’d seen something, they would’ve told the guards. And if Linnea was kidnapped, her captor was smart enough to get in and out of the palace without being seen, so they were probably smart enough to bring her to the shore outside of the Storvatten city limits, past the prying eyes.”
“Do you know how much farther that is?” I asked. Before we left, we’d all looked at a map of Storvatten, but it had been hand-drawn and rather vague on detail and distance.
“Not that much farther, I don’t think.” He climbed on top of a large rock nearby so he could get a better gauge of the distance, and looked back toward the palace. “Storvatten isn’t that big. We must be almost out of it by now.”
An engine revved, and it was hard to tell the distance with the sound echoing off the trees, but based on the birds taking flight and scattering in the sky, it couldn’t be that far.
“The road must be that way.” I pointed toward where the birds had fled from, and Tove slid down the rock and followed me.
We went into the woods, ducking under low branches, and the pine needles stung my feet. Through the trees, I could see a highway, and I could still hear the car. When I glimpsed the bl
ack sedan through the branches, I picked up my pace, starting to run toward it.
I broke through the trees and ran onto a worn, deserted stretch of highway. Several feet down the road from me, the car sat idling on the side of the road. The car door opened, and in the seconds before the figure stepped out from it, my heart stopped beating.
Then Bent’s lopsided head rose above the door. His left eye appeared slightly larger than the right, and his massive hand gripped the door as he scowled at me.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he shouted. “I thought Konstantin took care of you.”
“Where’s the Queen?” I asked him and ignored his question.
He laughed, a dumb, heavy sound that bounced off the trees and startled the birds that hadn’t left yet. He stepped around the door, lumbering, really, and I realized that he was much taller and larger than I’d originally thought.
“You tell me. You’re the one with all the answers.” Bent grinned as he walked toward me, his steps large so he’d reach me quickly, but I refused to step back. I never backed down from a fight.
The trees rustled behind me, and I glanced back, expecting to see Konstantin, but it was only Tove finally catching up to me. He hadn’t started running when I had.
“You better run while you can, little girl,” Bent said, and I turned back to face him. He’d nearly reached me, and I squared up, preparing to do whatever I had to do to take him down. “And this fight ain’t going like last time.”
Just before he reached me, he suddenly went flying back—soaring through the trees, with branches cracking as he hit them. I stood frozen and stunned, and then looked over to see Tove standing with his arm extended and his palm out.
I knew that the Trylle had the power to move objects and people with their minds, but I’d never actually seen it in real life before. But Tove had just picked up Bent and thrown him through the trees, and honestly, it left me breathless for a moment.
“I’ll take care of him,” Tove said and nodded toward the trees. “You look for the Queen.”
“Okay,” I said, and as he started jogging into the woods to go after Bent, I added, “Be careful.” Though I wasn’t sure if he needed that.
I ran over to the sedan and looked in through the open door. I hadn’t exactly expected to see Linnea sitting in the backseat, but it was still disappointing to find it empty. Hurriedly and without really knowing what I was looking for, I searched through the glove box and around the seats—but other than empty food wrappers and water bottles and a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt, there wasn’t really anything.
I popped the button for the trunk and I lifted it very slowly, steeling myself in case I found a body. But there was nothing.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement, but when I looked over, there was nothing. Dark clouds hovered overhead, but there was no wind, so the branches were still.
Then I saw it again, just in my peripheral vision—something was moving. But when I turned to face it, there was nothing.
And then, intrinsically, I knew it. His chameleonlike skin let him blend in with the trees, and I had no idea where he was exactly, but I was certain of it—Konstantin was here, stalking me.
THIRTY-FOUR
relinquish
I stood in the middle of the highway, not moving—just listening. Twigs snapped, but I didn’t look toward them. I didn’t want him to know that I had heard. I just listened, following the sounds of his movement.
He was coming closer, trying to sneak up behind me. I kept my head forward, but from the corner of my eye I saw him. The briefest shadow of movement and the dark tufts of his hair, and then I knew exactly where he was.
I waited a second more, letting him take a step closer to me, and then I turned and sprang on him. I swung and my hand connected firmly with his face, and it felt a bit strange, like the air had suddenly become solid matter.
His color instantly began to change, hurrying to blend in with the surroundings, but in his panic ended up more of a mottled gray. I grabbed his hair and I whirled him around, slamming him against the car.
I had no interest in repeating our fight in Calgary, and when he tried to move, I just slammed him harder against the car.
“You don’t have to be so rough with me.” Konstantin groaned, with his face pressed in the glass.
His skin changed back to flesh tone, and I held his arms, twisted them up behind his naked back. He’d taken off his clothes so he could blend more easily into his surroundings—fabric didn’t change color—and his well-toned arms and torso felt cold under my touch.
In my back pocket I had a length of leather strapping that I’d brought with in case of just such a situation. Now I tied it around his wrists, binding him tightly.
“What did you do with the Skojare Queen?” I demanded, once I was certain that he was secure.
“Just because you’ve got me doesn’t mean that I’ll confess.” He looked back at me over his shoulder. “Now I’m assuming you’ve taken me prisoner, so you might as well take me to my cell. Because I am done talking, white rabbit.”
Still catching my breath from the fight, I met his gaze, trying to get a read on him, but his gray eyes were stony and cold, giving up nothing.
“Why did you come here?” I asked breathlessly. “What are you trying to do?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” Konstantin replied. He tried to turn around, so I slammed him harder against the side of the car, letting him know that things were going to go much differently than they had last time.
“I’m trying to make sure that you don’t kill anyone else,” I told him through gritted teeth.
Konstantin smirked at me, but before he could say anything more, Bent came soaring through the trees and landed on the pavement behind the car, skidding roughly on his stomach. He groaned loudly, but he didn’t move.
Tove came charging through the woods behind him. He leapt on Bent’s back and, using a heavy leather strap like what I’d used, he hurriedly tied up Bent’s wrists. We had heavy chains and shackles that we used in jail cells, but for quick handcuffing, the leather straps were easier to carry and use.
“He put up quite a fight.” Tove stood up, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his arm. “But I think he’s done now.”
THIRTY-FIVE
susceptibility
“Where is she?” King Mikko shouted, and his deep voice boomed through everything like a terrifying thunder. Tove actually covered his ears, and I didn’t blame him.
He stood at the end of the table, and Lisbet was beside him, rubbing his back and trying to calm him. Prince Kennet sat near him, his hands folded in front of his face. The gills underneath his jawline flared violently with each breath he took.
Ridley, Tove, Bain, and I sat farther down the table, all of us cowering slightly under the King’s visible rage. His hands were balled into fists, and his jaw clenched tightly as he glared at us with icy blue eyes.
“They won’t say,” I said quietly, since it appeared that nobody else would speak up. “We’ve put them in the dungeon, and right now Konstantin is refusing to say anything without immunity.”
“Immunity?” Mikko scoffed. “He probably killed her! Why would I give him immunity?”
“My King, Linnea may yet be alive,” Lisbet reasoned. “We must do what we need to in order to find her.”
“Bent Stum is strong but he’s not very bright,” Tove said. “I broke him down some so I could subdue him enough to get him here. I don’t think he’ll hold out for much longer. The Omte aren’t known for their willpower or their loyalty.”
“You think he’ll tell us where my Queen is?” Mikko asked.
Tove sighed, reluctant to promise anything, and he turned to Ridley and me for help.
“The Omte are stubborn,” Ridley said, choosing his words with care. “And Bent seems to fit the mold.”
“Can you get him to talk or not?” Mikko began to raise his voice, and Tove flinched.
“We’ll
do our best, but we can’t make any guarantees,” Ridley said.
“All I want is to find my wife, and to see the men that took her hanged,” Mikko growled. “I brought you here to help, and now you’re telling me you’re not sure if there’s anything that can be done?”
“No, no, we’re not saying that.” Bain held up his hands.
“Find her, so I can punish the men that hurt her, or there will be hell to pay!” Mikko shouted, and he slammed his fist down on the table so hard, the wood cracked.
Lisbet started to say something to him, but he ignored her and stalked out of the room. We all sat quietly for a few moments after his outburst, then Kennet sighed and pushed out his chair.
“I’ll go check on my brother,” he said, and made his exit.
“The King is just very worried,” Lisbet said, making excuses for Mikko’s anger. “We all are.”
“That’s understandable,” Bain said.
Lisbet took a deep breath, making the large sapphires on her necklace rise and fall heavily, and she folded her hands neatly over her stomach. Her eyes were fixed on the water behind the glass dome around us. The afternoon sun was bright above us, making the water appear clearer than it had this morning.
A small fish swam close to the glass; then, out of the darkness, a large muskie attacked it. Its razor-sharp teeth sank through the prey, leaving the faintest trace of blood in the water, before it disappeared back into the depths of the lake to eat its meal.
“I know that while you are in our kingdom you are supposed to follow the law of our King,” Lisbet said at length. “He has made his wishes very clear—he doesn’t want anyone to offer Konstantin or Bent anything that would allow them to go unpunished for their crimes.
“While I share his sentiment, justice is a secondary concern for me,” Lisbet continued and turned her gaze upon us. “Linnea’s return is my only priority. I want you to do anything and everything you need to do to get them to tell you where she is. Do whatever it takes to bring my granddaughter back to me.”
Frostfire Page 23