He tried to lighten the mood. “Darling, you’ll always have your hooks in me.” He swung his legs off the bed and brought me so I was sitting next to him, his arm touching mine. He jutted his chin out, and I fed him a few hits of his cigar before taking it back. “Yes, your abilities are still in me, but not nearly as strong as they were in the beginning. It seems to be fading, though I’m not complaining. I’m enjoying it while it lasts, but I’ll be glad to be little old me again. No joke, but it’s a lot of power. Settled quite a few of my old debts with it. Hope you don’t mind.”
I groaned. “I don’t want to know.”
“And I’m about halfway to paying you back for what you did for me in Elvage.”
I stiffened. “Please tell me you’re not robbing old ladies again.”
“Again?” he said, affronted. “No, no. Robbing the evil to pay the good. Robin Hood loyalist acts. You know, things of that sort.”
I shook my head, refocusing on the more important topic. “Wait, Jokull’s dead?”
“I can give you the overview, but the details aren’t for you to worry about. You’ve made it my job to protect Jamie, and Jokull was an obvious threat to that. He was commanding the men at the gate, so I killed him. Well, the siren song killed him, technically. Handy weapon to borrow.” His voice lowered. “That it got Jamie next in line for the throne was just a bonus. Jokull would have been a terrible leader. He couldn’t even command the simple battalion he had at the gate.”
My mind raced at what this would mean for everything. Jamie would inherit the throne when Johannes died. All we had to do was keep Jamie alive until then, and Tonttu might have a shot. I cast a look at Tucker that conveyed the sudden wave of sadness that hit me. “I wish your answer to everything wasn’t fire and murder. Has anyone even tried asking Johannes or Jokull to step down? This isn’t the dream Martin Luther King, Jr. had in mind. And I can’t believe you murdered Jamie’s brother right in front of him. I’d never get over something like that.”
Tucker’s arm curled around my hips, drawing me tighter to him for a peck on the cheek. “Jokull was trying to kill Jamie with a small army. Jamie’s family cast him out before he’d even hit adulthood. That he got to see one of his greatest enemies go down is a service I paid him. Now there’s one less person in the world who wants him dead.” He stroked my hip with his feather-light touch as we smoked his cigar. “Not everyone has a family who loves each other as much as yours did.”
“Thanks. Poor Jamie, though. We should get a move on. I don’t like that Jamie’s unprotected.” I was surer on my feet as I stood this time, but Tucker held my elbow and wrapped an arm around me, just in case. “I’m fine,” I assured him. “I just want to get dressed.” I was wearing a pretty red nightgown, but preferred to move around the house so I didn’t feel so cooped up.
“Well, I can help with that.”
“Out.” I pointed to the door, but he didn’t obey.
He moved me to the wardrobe, which had been stocked while I slept with various red dresses with detailed gold trim. Tucker fanned through the garments. “Let’s see. Red, or red? Oo, this one’s red with loopy gold on the sleeves, but this one’s red with gold… what are these? Streamers? Tassels? Does it have a cape that attaches?”
I picked a dress at random from the wardrobe and went behind the partition to throw it on. It was simpler than the others, with fewer embellishments. It was fitted all the way from my hips up to the V-neck that dipped too low for my comfort level. The simple skirt flared out and brushed my toes, hemmed to my height so I didn’t trip. It looked more like a dress and less like a Renaissance costume. I chose it for the long sleeves that would cover up the scrape on my arm.
I brushed out my hair while Tucker yammered on about how he loved older women more because there was no chance of getting them pregnant. “Britta’s lovely, don’t get me wrong, but to watch her be so uncomfortable and still try to do everything she normally would? It’s exhausting. It’s making me a more considerate person, and that’s not the man you fell in love with, darling.”
“Uh-huh. I’m going to get Jens and Linus. See if we can’t get out of here tonight.”
“You have to let me check the bandages on your face first.”
I deflated. “Fine, but the marks are covered. It’s all better, I’m sure. Even if my blood’s showing, it’s hidden beneath the bandages.”
“Still, I’d like to know what I’m dealing with.” He stood before me with his cigar in his teeth and gently pried the adhesive from my cheek and the side of my forehead. His eyes narrowed, and he took his habit out of his mouth to speak. “How often would you say you ‘fall’, käresta?”
I scratched the back of my neck. “Does it look like I want to get into all that right now? I’m not talking to you about this.”
“Why not?”
“Because you love me,” I stated without question.
Tucker was incredulous, his arm flying out animatedly. “That should make you tell me all the more!”
I shook my head. “No. Your love is terrifying. I don’t want you retaliating on my behalf for something you don’t understand the layers of.”
Tucker narrowed his eyes at me. “How often?”
I quieted, my shoulders slumping. “Not as often anymore. Thought I’d never fall again. Used to fall a lot in the beginning, but I got better. He got better. He learned. I learned. Guess I didn’t realize falling’s inevitable with some people.”
“Indeed. I’m glad you finally learned that lesson.” He wadded up the bandages and kissed my temple. “Well, you’re in luck. No shimmer in sight. Jens told me there were some hints of it last night when Foss brought you inside, but it’s gone now.” Tucker set the bandages on fire, destroying any evidence that I was part siren.
“Well, that’s good.” I felt the area, the scratch almost like brail. “I probably shouldn’t go out like this.”
Tucker held his chin up and blew smoke to the left of my face. “Nonsense. I think Foss should see exactly what you look like. It’s a very beautiful dress, after all.” His eyes glinted dangerously. “Who knows? He might take one look and ‘fall’ all on his own. Looks like he could use a good trip down the stairs.”
I drew in a deep breath. “Look, whatever you think you know, you don’t. I did something horrible to him last night. I betrayed him on the worst level I possibly could, so stay out of it. The last thing I need is more drama. Let’s just get the guys and go home.”
“Of course.” He drew out a long knife to escort me out of the room. Not exactly appropriate, but it was nice to know he cared so much.
I butted the crown of my head to his sternum. “I missed you a medium amount.”
“You missed my cigars, sweetheart.” He chuckled, kissing my hair. “Your compliments must be straight from Shakespeare himself. Forgive my swoon.”
“Oh, Tuck. By this time you should understand that I can’t help but forgive you just about anything.”
20
A Silent Wife
Jens and Linus were with too many men to count, hammering and hauling to build up Foss’s home as quick as possible. There was something attractive about watching the man you love sweat because he’s outside, you know, building a friggin’ house with his bare hands. I bit my lip as I watched the sweat roll down his biceps as he lifted a beam over his head. All he needed was to flash me his roguish smile to land himself on the cover of a smutty novel Tonya would’ve devoured.
Several people ran up to me and bowed, a few men offering their shirts for me to walk on when we stepped off the grass and onto the dirt path.
Tucker was walking behind me, which I hated. He sniggered as I tried to talk the men out of laying their shirts down, my cheeks as red as my dress. The more I insisted, the more adamant they became, drawing more men and more to volunteer their shirts for my path. It was totally embarrassing.
Jens turned and caught my eye, offering up a sympathetic head tilt to my discomfort, but he wasn’t able to hold my hand
or be nearer to me than Tucker without rumors flying.
Linus trotted up to me with Aren at his heels. She had a hammer in her hand and a grin on her face that fell as soon as she got near enough to see the scratches on my temple and cheek. “Oh, Guldy! What happened?”
“Nothing, sweetie. Clumsy moment,” I answered, hoping she was young enough to accept that.
Aren cast me a knowing look. “Ah. I see. Did you speak out of turn to your husband? Poor Guldy.” Then she recited a rhyme that made my mouth drop open. “Remember, ‘A silent wife gives him a happy life.’”
Linus’s head whipped down to her. “Where did you hear that?”
Aren shrugged, her black braids moving up and down with her shoulders. “Everybody knows that one.”
Linus stole my heart and hers when he bent down to her eye level and said, “If you ever get married someday, promise me you won’t be a silent wife. Promise me you’ll laugh and sing and talk as much as you want.” Then he pointed his finger in her face. “If any guy tries to shut you up, he’s not the guy for you. You send him my way. Then he’ll be the silent one.”
I could hear the smile in Tucker’s voice as he spoke from behind us. “I think I can lend a hand to that cause.”
Linus stood, his arm wrapping around me. “My sister is smart and funny and kind. Whoever tries to make her silent needs his head kicked in.”
Aren gasped, her blush at Linus’s focused attention on her was derailed only at the thought of disrespecting one of the four powers. “You shouldn’t joke like that, Linus. Master Foss is powerful.”
Linus held me tighter to him and kissed the top of my head. Emotion rose in my throat, but I choked it down so as not to make a fool of myself in public. I’d missed my brother. I could say it a thousand times, and it still wouldn’t be a fiftieth of the heartbreak I’d carried around my neck like a talisman of doom. I clung to Linus, burying my face in his shoulder, inhaling until I had enough of my bearings assembled to be able to speak again. “I love you,” I whispered. “Thanks for that.”
“Love you, too.” Then, knowing I didn’t want to get emotional in public, Linus changed the subject. “Tell the queen what you’ve been up to, kiddo.”
“Linus is letting me build a house!” she bragged.
I returned her smile. “Um, does your dad know where you are?”
“Papa would never let me do this! He thinks I’m picking berries in the orchard.” She giggled mischievously.
Tucker tsked Aren. “The daughter of the chief sullying her hands with work? I’ll be conveniently missing when that bit of news reaches your father.”
I smiled up at Linus, narrowing my eyes at him. “I can’t imagine how this could possibly end badly. I mean, what could go wrong?”
Linus proffered his arm to me, pretending to be a true gentleman. He offered his other elbow to Aren, who was giddy to be so near her own personal Vin Diesel. Linus kept his conversation coded for Aren’s sake, and then laid on a thick English accent for my enjoyment. “How are you feeling, Jane Austen? Your face is just lovely.”
My British accent flirted on the edge of cockney if I wasn’t careful. “Well, Colin Firth, I’m feeling smashing. I had some tea and crumpets this morning, and now I fancy a walk home. When do you imagine you all might be ready for such a venture?”
“I’m ready whenever milady—” Then he stopped, dropping his fake accent. “I can’t keep that up. My accent’s going to start turning Jamaican soon. The house should be the bare amount of livable in a few days, with all the people we’ve got helping.” He bumped Aren with his hip. “Hey, kiddo. Why don’t you go ask Jens how high he can count in Spanish? It’s a magical language he learned to enchant fair maidens on the Other Side.”
Aren grinned and ran off toward the workers, more than pleased to pester Jens, who looked like he needed a break.
Linus dropped his voice, and Tucker closed the gap between us so he only walked two feet behind me. “What happened last night? Last I saw, you were saving our lives, then a bunch of Braveheart crap happened, and you ran off into the woods with Foss. Then he was carrying you out of the woods, completely passed out. A doctor went in to help Foss, not you, and Foss has been gone all day. When Jens went to check on you, your face was all torn up. Looks pretty scraped still.”
“I fell,” I lied, not wanting to get into it.
“She fell,” Tucker emphasized to Linus, his tone laced with unnecessary hinting. I wasn’t trying to cover over the fact that Foss hit me; that much was obvious. What I didn’t want was a conversation about it.
Linus held my hand tighter around his arm to keep me from squirming away. “Look, I don’t understand everything you and Foss’ve got going on, but I know when something’s off.”
“And you should know when I can handle myself. We got into an argument. He didn’t want to take the cure, and I wanted him to. I tried to trick him into taking the cure using really hurtful means, and he got pissed. I fell and scraped my face on the way down. Nothing more to it.”
Linus paused our leisurely pace forward across the lane of donated shirts. “Wait, Foss is still under the curse?”
“Foss and the chief,” I confirmed. “As far as I know, they’re the only ones left.” I gave Linus’s arm a squeeze. “It doesn’t matter. Honestly, it doesn’t. We’re leaving just as soon as Foss’s house is done. He’s staying here. So long as I stay on the Other Side, it matters zero what choices he makes. I thought it mattered, but it doesn’t. He’s not really my husband.”
Linus quirked an eyebrow at me. It was weird to see his hair so dark brown instead of the dirty blond it had been growing up. “You say that like it’s a sad thing. You know this isn’t real, right? Your marriage is pretend.”
“That’s exactly what I just said,” I snapped. I looked out at the land filled with magical fairy people who overnight had lost a good portion of the surly and terrifying looks I’d always known them with. “In just a few days, we can pretend none of this ever happened. That Fossegrim is just a place in one of Uncle Rick’s fairytales, and Uncle Rick’s just gone away on a really long vacation. That garden gnomes, Nøkken and dwarves don’t exist. That elves are only real at Christmastime when they come with presents.” I kept my eyes ahead on the wooden structure that was actually starting to look like the outline of a real home. “We can pretend that you never died, and that Mom and Dad are off on an adventure now that you and I are moved out on our own. We can pretend that my boyfriend never vanishes, and that Foss and I were never…” I cleared my throat. “I’m very good at pretending.”
“You’re good at lots of things, but lying to me isn’t one of them. I don’t like that Foss hit you.”
“Yeah? Well, he thinks what I did to him was far worse.” I quieted. “Maybe it was. Let’s just get out of here. That’s how you can help.”
“Do it to it,” Linus agreed.
A servant trotted up to us, bowing before he addressed me. I really hated that. “Domslut, your presence is requested at the chief’s house, if you please. I’ve been instructed to escort you there straightaway.”
“On whose orders?” I asked, my shoulders rolled back.
“The three powers. The chief has much to speak with you about.”
Had he said just Foss, I probably wouldn’t have gone, but I knew the chief couldn’t be so easily ignored. Linus wanted to take me there, but I knew he wouldn’t be able to be cool and just ride out the wave until we got our ticket out. He went for the gut, and I didn’t have it in me to do damage control on that right now. I sent Linus back to Jens. Tucker walked behind me as I made my way to the chief’s house.
21
All the Daughters
Tomas of the Hills, the chief, Foss and Viggo were all sitting around a large table in a smaller room I’d not been in before, and rose when I entered. Tucker was kicked out of the cool kids’ table and forced to wait outside in the hallway. The gold chairs were padded with soft emerald fabric, which matched the closed window dressin
gs. It looked like this room had been designed as a meeting place for the four powers. Each man had a chair with his territory etched into the back, with Viggo taking the chair belonging to the West. I was surprised to find the fifth seat had been engraved for me, with Domslut carved into the gold. None of the other Tribeswomen were welcome at the table. I stood next to my mini throne when I was waved forward.
Viggo bowed his head, greeting me with respect and warmth, but I had no more patience for Undraland. “What do you need from me?” I asked, cutting to the chase.
The chief was caught off-guard by my short non-greeting. “I trust you slept well? You’re looking… lovely as usual, Domslut.”
I knew when someone was sucking up. I’d just defied (and restored authority to) him the night before. That he was being overly sweet now made my defenses raise up. I held my chin high as I spoke. “I look like my husband smacked me upside the head, so I match the rest of your women perfectly. What do you need from me?”
Foss avoided my eyes, which was good, since I had nothing to say to him, verbal or nonverbal. “We’ve decided to appoint Viggo to take Olaf’s place. He’s engaged to Erika now, and they’ll raise Olaf’s baby until he’s old enough to take charge of the land. If it’s a baby girl, then Viggo will remain at his post as the fourth power of Fossegrim.”
I really hadn’t been prepared for that, but I tried to keep my face composed. “Congratulations, Viggo. Please congratulate the new Tribeswoman for me.”
Viggo nodded, clearly unhappy that I was closing myself off from him. “Thank you, Domslut.”
I leveled my gaze at the chief. “What do you need from me?” I repeated.
The chief rested his fist on his table, standing over it like he expected to have to karate chop it in half like a cement block. “Very well. I do need help from you. Foss told me of your potion that lifted the curse last night. He confessed it was you who coerced the information out of Pesta before you both killed her, and that you took so long coming home because you were searching for all the ingredients for the cure.”
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