by Nelson, JD
What, little one?
Viveka is involved.
There was a long pause. How?
The doppelgänger’s right hand.
Shit.
My sentiments exactly. Jakob is not going to take this well.
No. How long will you be?
I may be a couple more hours. I’m finishing up here and then I’m going to go find Kristian. He’s pretty fragile right now.
Okay, I’ll be in the drawing room with the others for the next few hours. We’ll need to talk to him about a permanent solution to the prisoners housing soon.
I’ll tell him.
Be careful, Viveka is still about.
Not for long, I’m going to trap her in the room I’m in. She’ll come back to it, I’m sure of it.
Do it safely.
Yes, sir.
The link cut off and he was gone. It was time to take care of Viveka.
—Chapter Twelve—
Casting the enchantment to trap Viveka in the viewing room only took a few seconds to set up. When she got caught, she could thank her accomplice for the idea.
Now, all that was left was to destroy the computer. I put my hands to the desktop tower and pushed a surge of energy into it. It glowed for a split second, and then suffered the same fate as the DVD had earlier. No one would ever know what happened to Kristian in this castle—ever.
I hurried out of the small room and relocked the door. Viveka would know Kristian had been found by now and I had to get out here before she found out it was I that had tampered with her system.
In his bedroom, I found Kristian lying in his bed, wide-awake. I sat down and gave him a cheerful, “Hi.”
He shifted to his side, propping his head up with his arm. “Hello. Did you have any luck?”
“I did.”
“Who can I trust?”
“You can trust your brothers, Axel, the castle guards, and the castle staff. They are innocent. Your hird and the harem have been imprisoned. Viveka will be captured soon. She was the mastermind. I have no doubt that she will return to the locked room soon after she finds you have returned.”
He sighed heavily. “Does Jakob know?”
“I’m sure Soren has told him by now.”
An odd look crossed his features, part fascination, and part possessiveness. “I find that Soren’s name across your lips fills me with a jealousy I’ve never experienced before. I have no real right to be your mate, I know this, but I find that I want you more, each time I see you. You are beautiful, pure, and sexy—perfection.”
He took my hand and tugged me down to him, brushing back the hair that fell in my face. I could feel my face flush with color. “It’s my grandmother’s magic. I have strong feelings for you as well.”
His expression turned hopeful. “Can I kiss you? I would like a memory of my mate without the creature’s taint on it.”
If I were to say to him that I didn’t want the same thing, I’d be lying. Even after finding out he was the one that brought all of this into all of our lives, I still wanted him as much as I ever did.
Leaning forward, I pressed a chaste kiss against his lips. Only, it didn’t feel chaste once our lips met. It felt right—really right, so I didn’t protest when he deepened the kiss and lifted himself on top of me, or when he seized handfuls of my hair in his palms and kissed me until we were both breathless. It was only when he started unbuttoning my top that I stopped him.
“Kristian,” I shivered as he dragged his sharpened teeth down my neck.
“Yes.”
“We have to stop.” My words sounded slurred around my fangs.
He nipped at my collarbone. “Do you want me to stop?”
Did I? That would be a hell no. I felt like I would die if he left right now.
He gazed into my half-closed eyes. “Emelie?”
I shook my head. “No.”
Smiling seductively, he asked. “What do you want, Emelie?”
“I want you to taste me.”
Surprise lit his features, and then hunger. Clutching my hair in his hands again, he exposed my neck and pierced the tender flesh. I moaned his name loudly and clutched myself to him, desperate to find his vein—until Soren burst in the door.
“Kristian,” Soren’s loud voice reverberated in the room.
Standing quickly, he wiped the evidence of my blood off his mouth with the back of his hand. “Soren.”
Judging by the look on Kristian’s face, he and I were in agreement that he was a dead elf. Soren’s face was contorted with rage. However, to our surprise, calm words came from his lips. “Long term measures need to be taken for your prisoners. There are too many to hold in the dungeon. We are awaiting your direction in the drawing room.”
“I will go now.” Kristian said, and then he left the room without even so much as another glance at me—figures.
I thought Soren would berate me. Hell, I wanted him to, but he didn’t. He only said, “You’re still bleeding. Kristian didn’t seal the bite wounds.”
I dizzily reached to touch my neck and pulled back bloody fingers. “Oh.”
Sighing, he scooped me up off the bed and walked me to the sofa in the sitting room. Then he got down on his knees beside me. He didn’t have to tell me how much it hurt him to close Kristian’s bites. I could hear it in his head. He was heart-broken and worried that when all of this was over, I wouldn’t pick him.
“I’m sorry, Soren.”
“Why did you do this now?”
Tears slipped from my eyes and onto the couch. I couldn’t look at his agonized face.
“It’s the bond…I think. When he’s around me, it’s hard to have any self-control.”
He pulled me up into a hug. “I am not angry at you, but Myrgjöl needs to remove your bond—now, if that is what you want.”
“I swear to you, it is. I only truly want you, always have.”
He gave me a weak smile. “And I swear to you, if I find out Kristian used his influence on you, I will kill him.”
A shrill, enraged scream sounded from the next room, making both of us jump.
Soren drew his dagger and stood. “What the hell was that?”
I smiled, smugly. “That would be Viveka realizing that her charade is over. Shall we go see if she needs our assistance?”
He helped me to my feet and tucked my arm into his. “Let’s go finish this—finally.”
***
Exhausted after five hours of testimony, I threw myself onto a bench outside the council building and pouted. “They hated me.”
Myrgjöl laughed. “Sure did, some of those looks I’ve been on the receiving end of myself. Not a great feeling, but you know the council’s opinions have never meant much to me and they shouldn’t to you either.”
“You’ve made that abundantly clear over the last five thousand years.” Soren affirmed.
She winked at him. “Okay, maybe I’d like to keep one council member’s good opinion.”
He bowed. “Thank you, Myrgjöl. They don’t hate you, Emelie. They’re afraid of you. She has named you her successor, but you are an unknown and an untrained stranger to them.”
“He’s right. They know not your motives for taking my place. They wonder what you would gain if you were to assume the role.”
I huffed and stood up to pace. “Why do I have to gain anything? How about just doing it because it’s the right thing to do?”
They both burst out laughing.
“Are you laughing at me? Because, you know that’s really rude, don’t you.”
They both sobered and Soren carefully tried to explain. “Dear one, no one would undertake that position without payment of some sort—no one.”
“Well, I would. As long as whoever’s asking me to cast is willing to pay travel expenses. Mom and Dad left me more money that I’ll probably ever use in my lifetime and when I’m mated to Soren, I know I won’t even use it.”
Soren shook his head. “No, you will not.”
“See, I do
n’t need it.”
Myrgjöl looked skeptical. “Think about this, Emelie. I don’t want to see you become unsatisfied like your mother. After a while, she became bored and started to resent her chosen path. She told me on many occasions that she felt like a servant.”
“Uh, no offense, but mom was selfish and I’m nothing like her. I’m always going to be interested in finding the right path for others. I found mine and it’s perfect. How could I not want that for everyone?”
“Indeed. What then of Kristian?”
I frowned at her. She knew mentioning him would ruffle Soren’s feathers, so to speak. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, would you wish the same for Kristian?”
“Well, yes, I meant everyone—except for the doppelgänger, he doesn’t deserve anyone. Or rather, no one deserves him.”
“What if there was no other for Kristian?”
“Just get it out into the open.” Soren said. I smiled at him, bemused.
“Yeah, what are you getting at?”
With a cheerless voice, she said, “I can see no other for him.”
Soren’s jaw clenched. “You mean other than my mate, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, come on! No one has ever had two true-mates. It’s impossible. You just haven’t found her. I haven’t tried, maybe I can find her.”
She considered me for a moment. “Maybe.”
“Besides,” I added, “he’s got something a little more important than finding a mate going on today. When will he face the tribunal?”
Myrgjöl glanced up at the three suns on the horizon. “It should be over soon. A change in king would cast fear in the hearts of the black elves and faith in their leader is compulsory. The council remembers this well.”
“They also know that Jakob is the rightful king.” Soren muttered.
“Look,” I reasoned, “Kristian may have made a mistake that ultimately led to the destruction of his personal life, but you cannot deny he was always a good leader to his subjects. The elves have suffered enough. They needed stability in their lives.”
Soren threw his hands up. “How can you still say that? You are one of his subjects, Emelie. Did he treat you well?”
“Emelie’s right.” Myrgjöl interrupted. “Kristian is a good male. He is only guilty of his desperation to be king and using his influence on Emelie, nothing more.”
Thunderstruck, I asked, “How do you know he used his influence?”
“He’s been using it since the moment you met him. I wish I could have told you sooner, but you know I’m not allowed to interfere.”
That explained a lot. Like, how I was tempted to give him my blood, and go with him to his castle after I promised Soren I wouldn’t, and even why I was so eager to share a bed with him.
Now, I had to wonder if my feelings for him were genuine or whether they were manipulated by his hand—or by the doppelgänger’s. “That’s kind of sad.”
Soren’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “Sad? Try psychotic.”
“Well, yeah, but really, all he ever tried to do was have control over the ones he loved, and now he has nothing, except his title to console him.”
Myrgjöl pinched my cheeks. “You remind me so much of my Barnabas. He would have said much the same.”
“I really think you two are giving him more credit than he deserves.” Jakob said from behind us. He looked somber.
“How did the tribunal go?” I asked, with a hopeful note in my voice.
“Their decisions were just. Viveka will serve a century of imprisonment on Niflheim, as will the others involved, separately, of course. Kristian will remain king, and the doppelgänger will be put to death for offenses previous to the one he committed against Kristian and Soren. Those only added to a long list of misdeeds.”
“Have you said your goodbyes to Viveka?” It must be excruciating for him to lose his mate for a hundred years.
“I have. It was painful to say goodbye, but I will soon recover. In what I assume is a test of your honesty, the council has ordered your first sanctioned Fate prediction to be my own.” His smile was telling. Jakob was ready for his true-mate.
“I am relieved.” Soren said. “I really hated her.”
Jakob nodded. “I did too.”
“What about all that lovey-dovey stuff at the castle?”
“It was an act. She hasn’t been the female I fell in love with for a thousand years.”
“Oh, you’re a pretty good actor.”
Myrgjöl nodded. “He is. You should have seen him play Macbeth in 1653. You were breathtaking, Jakob”
“Uh…thank you.”
I had to laugh. For the first time, I was witnessing Jakob look less than his normal reserved self. It was clear that he was uncomfortable with her attention.
“So what’s next?” I asked Soren.
“We need to ask for permission to have your Fate with Kristian broken and if they say yes, we can marry.”
My stomach twisted in knots. What if Kristian wasn’t willing to let me go and he had used his influence over the council to keep our bond intact?
Myrgjöl took my hand and walked Soren and me up the stone steps leading to the doors. “Come on, guys. There’s only one way to find out what they’ll decide.”
“I’ll speak with you soon.” Jakob called after us.
My shoes made small tapping noises as we walked to the reception desk. Self-conscious, I tried to step lighter. No need to bring unwanted attention myself, not when we were about to ask for something that just isn’t done—ever.
We lined up along the desk waiting to be acknowledged for a few moments, but the receptionist never looked up.
Tired of waiting, I finally said, “Excuse m-,” but she interrupted.
“They are expecting you all.” She motioned to the bank of elevators to our right. “If you’ll take one of those to the 5th floor you’ll find they are already in session.”
Soren bowed. “Thank you.”
“What was that?” I asked once we were on our way up.
“Little one, when you are as old as we are, patience is no longer a virtue, it’s a way of life.”
“I guess.”
The elevator opened with a ding and I stepped out nervously. “Where do we go?”
Soren laced his fingers with mine. “Calm yourself, Emelie. Don’t give them cause to doubt your strength by showing fear.”
“I’ll try.”
Myrgjöl opened the double doors and announced, “We’re back.”
A collective sigh circled the room.
Soren stepped forward and inclined his head the group. “What have you decided?”
A small-wizened male hurried over with two chairs. Tsking, he said, “Where are our manners. Be seated, ladies.”
I obliged and quietly gave my thanks, while my grandmother made a total spectacle of herself, flirting outrageously with the much older looking male.
A sharp female voice sounded from the last row of the council members. “Enough of this frivolity let us announce our decision.”
“Very well,” answered a dark-haired male that stood up tall in the front row. I could feel the exact moment his eyes leveled on my face. Almost unwillingly, I glanced up and we locked eyes, staring at each other intently for several seconds. He was trying to read me—like I would give him the satisfaction.
I gave him a victorious grin, when he finally gave up, and bent forward to pick up a small scroll tied with a short length of black ribbon.
Clearing his throat, he began reading. “The council hereby agrees to the dissolution of the bond between the king and queen of Svartálfaheim.”
After I learned that Soren and I could be together, I thought that the worry that had plagued me all day would suddenly be gone. That was not the case. Something else was coming.
The male lifted a different scroll and started to read. “In the matter of Lady Emelie Andersdotter taking the place of Myrgjöl the Great, it has been decided that bar
ring any impediments, she will be an acceptable replacement. We will, of course, need a demonstration to assure that her powers are comparable with yours, Myrgjöl.”
She inclined her head. “Of course, you do”
“Jakob Väsen has volunteered his Fate to be the first approved prediction. Will someone retrieve him?”
I certainly didn’t like the way he stressed the word “approved.” Obviously, he knew about Katrine and Cedric or Hilda and Gunnar. Which begged the question—who had told him?
The old male from earlier walked to a side door and ushered in Jakob. He appeared nonchalant, but he was rambling in my mind. Why did I agree to this? Don’t you dare fuck this up, Emelie! I don’t want to end up mated to a frost giant.
I would have been offended by his lack of faith if I didn’t understand his fear. I had the same doubts he did.
I coughed to cover up the startled noise I made when Myrgjöl spoke in my head unexpectedly.
Emelie?
Yes, Grandmother?
We will not be giving a demonstration today—or ever. We’re shifting out of here on my command. You have to. Else, you’ll have to wait to marry Soren until your service is over. We do this on our terms from here on out. Understand?
Yes, but I haven’t mastered the art of shifting yet. I’ll need someone’s help to leave.
Tell them both that we will meet in Álfheim and have Soren help you get there.
Okay.
I quickly reiterated the plan to Jakob and Soren. Both gave me barely imperceptible nods of agreement.
“Lord Councilman, I have decided that the Norns will no longer labor under the council’s demands and wants. You serve no one, nor shall we. Good day to you.”
Myrgjöl’s words caused uproar. Soren threw his arms around me, pulling me tight against him and then drew his dagger. The last thing I saw before disappearing were the guards extracting their swords from their sides and running toward us. I was still screaming when we appeared in the house on Álfheim.
Myrgjöl clapped her hands together in excitement when she saw us. “I’ve wanted to do that for at least four millennia.”
“I think I’m still struggling not to have a heart attack because of that.” I said, angrily. My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest.