But it was only a split second, and then he had my hand, and he spun me around again. This time, when he pulled me back into his arms, I extended my leg, the way the dance required. He dipped me down so low, my hair brushed against the floor, and my eyes stayed locked on his as he pulled me back up.
I stayed in his arms, my body pressed against his, feeling breathless and dizzy, and I knew it wasn’t just from the dancing. I stared up at him, and I’d never wanted to kiss anybody as badly as I wanted to kiss him then.
But instead I found myself blurting out, “It’s too bad Juni couldn’t be here. ”
“Yeah. ” Ridley sounded out of breath himself, and he blinked, clearing his eyes of whatever had been darkening them. “Yeah, it is. ”
The song ended, so I pulled away from him and smoothed out my dress. I wanted to rush off the dance floor, retreating back in the shadows to stand with Tilda, but Ridley hadn’t moved. He stood in front of me with a puzzled expression on his face.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing. ” He tried to smile at me but it faltered. “Thanks for dancing with me. ”
Ridley turned and walked away, leaving me alone in the middle of the dance floor.
FOURTEEN
mission
Even though I hadn’t drunk much at the anniversary party, I awoke the next morning feeling hung over. I would’ve been happy to spend the entirety of the day snuggled deep within the recesses of my blankets. It was barely after daybreak when Ember came pounding up the stairs to my loft and threw open the door.
“Unless my building is on fire, go away,” I told her as I buried my head underneath the pillow.
“Don’t be such a grump. I have good news. ” Ember hopped on the bed with such force, it bounced me up. When I landed, I peered at her skeptically. “I’m leaving. ”
“Why are you leaving?” I lifted the pillow from my head and rolled onto my back so I could look up at her. “And why is that good news?”
“I got my next assignment. ” She beamed at me. “I’m heading out to get a new changeling. ”
“Congratulations,” I said, but thanks to my sleepiness it came out a bit weaker than it should’ve.
Like me, Ember preferred being out on missions to being cooped up here in Doldastam. So even though it would be less enjoyable for me to be stuck here without her, I was genuinely happy for her.
“Thanks. I just came to say good-bye, and then I have to get going. ”
“You’re leaving right now?” I pushed myself up so I was sitting, and glanced at the alarm clock on my nightstand. “It’s not even seven in the morning. When did you get the assignment?”
“Like, twenty minutes ago. Ridley called me to the Rektor’s office and gave it to me,” Ember said. “He did not look excited to be up this early. I think he drank too much wine last night. ”
“Wait. ” I rubbed my forehead, trying to clear my head. “None of this makes sense. ”
Usually we got our assignments a few days to a week before we left. It gave us time to go over the changeling’s file and get to “know” them before we met them, and we got our travel arrangements in order, like booking hotels and plane tickets, if needed.
On top of that, it had only been a few days ago that the King and Queen had ordered all the trackers to stay in Doldastam until after all the guests had cleared out. Some of the guests were leaving tonight, but the majority of them weren’t heading out until tomorrow morning.
So, barring some kind of emergency, I didn’t know why they would send out a tracker before Monday afternoon. It didn’t make sense.
“Ridley said that the King had called him early this morning saying that they got a tip, and they needed someone to get this changeling in right away,” Ember explained.
“Which changeling?”
Ember pursed her lips and gave me a hard look. “You know I can’t tell you that. Our missions are confidential until after we return. ”
As a matter of privacy and safety, we were never allowed to tell anyone where we were going or who the changelings were. It was to prevent things like what had happened with Linus, as well as the fact that the royals didn’t always want it getting around how well-off (or how not-so-well-off) their offspring had been in the human world.
“I know, I know. ” I waved it off. “But what was the King’s tip? What’s so important that he roused Ridley in the middle of the night to start organizing your mission?”
Page 34
Ember opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but she couldn’t seem to find the words. And that’s when it hit me. It was so obvious, I couldn’t believe I didn’t figure it out instantly. I blamed my sleep-deprived brain for it.
“Konstantin Black,” I said.
“They don’t know for sure. ” Ember rushed to ease my anxiety.
“This is ridiculous. ” I threw the covers off me and leapt out of bed, barely noticing how cold the wood floor felt on my bare feet as I stomped over to my wardrobe.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m getting dressed. ” I threw open my wardrobe doors, hard enough that the wardrobe nearly tipped forward, but I caught it just in time. I grabbed a sweatshirt and pulled it on over the tank top I’d slept in. “I’m gonna go find Ridley and give him a piece of my mind. ”
“He’s probably back in bed,” Ember said.
“I don’t care. ” I turned to face her. “I just can’t believe he would do this. This should be my mission, not yours. If Konstantin is back, then I should be the one going after him. ”
Ember had been sitting on the bed, but she stood up now. Her hands were balled into fists at her sides, and she took a fortifying breath before speaking.
“Bryn. Stop. ” She spoke harshly enough to break through my frantic agitation, but by the tightness in her voice I could tell she was doing her best to keep calm and not yell at me. “First of all, what you’re doing is incredibly patronizing. I am strong and smart and capable enough to handle this mission. ”
“No, I know that, Ember,” I hurried to apologize. “You’re an excellent tracker. I don’t mean it like that. ”
“I know what your deal with Konstantin is, better than almost anyone,” she went on. “So I get it. But I also know what a massive jerk he is and how much of a threat he is. I understand the danger, and I also understand how important it is to bring him back to stand trial for his crimes. ”
“I know,” I said.
“But—and I mean no offense by this—I’m not clouded by my own personal feelings about him. ”
I wanted to argue with Ember on the last point, but I couldn’t. Only a few days ago I’d confessed to Ridley that I wanted to kill Konstantin and that I wouldn’t let him get away again. Since I’d seen him last week, I’d been replaying my fight with Konstantin again and again, thinking about how much worse I would hurt him if I saw him again.
My own need for revenge would make it impossible for me to think as rationally and impartially as Ember, so I fell silent and lowered my eyes.
“I understand the severity of the situation, and I’ve got it under control,” Ember said at length. “That’s why Ridley chose me and not you. ”
“I know that you’re right and that he made the right choice. I just…” I trailed off.
“You still want to be the one going,” she finished for me.
I looked up at her and nodded. “Yeah. ”
“I get it. But it’s actually a pretty big if that it is even Konstantin. The reports were sketchy. They’d just heard rumors that he might be in the area of another prominent changeling. ”
“How do they know?”
“After the incident with Linus, they sent out Konstantin and Bent’s pictures to all the tribes so their guards could keep a lookout. They’re, like, Trolls’ Most Wanted now,” Ember explained. “A Trylle tracker was getting one of their changelings, and they thought they saw someone that looked like Konstantin
, and that happened to be nearby where this changeling I’m going after lives. ”
“I know you can’t tell me who or where, but can you tell me if you’ll be close, at least?” I asked. “In case you need backup. ”
“I’ll be less than a day’s drive from Doldastam, if I need you. ”
“And you will call me if you need me? Or Ridley or Tilda or somebody, right?” I asked, and I was thinking more of Ember’s safety than my own vendetta. Ember was a good fighter, but so was Konstantin, and he wasn’t working alone.
“Of course I will,” she promised me with a smile. “But I shouldn’t. I’m sure everything will be fine. The Trylle tracker was probably mistaken, and I’ll find a perfectly safe changeling and bring her home. ”
“How long do you think you’ll be gone?” I asked.
“On the off chance that things get dodgy, Ridley wants me to try to make this a quick mission. I’m hoping a week will be good enough, but I also don’t want to risk scaring the changeling off. ”
“Well, I was only in Chicago for five days, and Linus came back okay,” I reminded her. “So I’m sure you’ll be fine. ”
“I’m sure I will too. ”
“I should let you get going, anyway. If you need to get out of here right away. ”
Before she left, I hugged her tightly. Ember had gone out on missions before, but this was the first time I felt nervous for her. I was reluctant to let go of her, but eventually Ember pulled away. She smiled at me, promising that everything would be okay, before she turned and headed out my door. It took all my willpower to keep from chasing after her and following her.
FIFTEEN
repast
“I’m not thrilled about this either,” my mom said in a hushed voice, as if someone might overhear. Her gray jacket went down to her ankles, and she pulled it tighter around herself as we walked toward the palace. The large diamond studs in her ears glimmered when the sun poked through the clouds in the overcast sky.
“Then why are we doing it?” I asked, trudging along beside her.
“Because they’re family, even if they aren’t close,” she explained with a hint of exasperation. “And because it’s a nice gesture. ”
“But you don’t even like them that much,” I said, as if she needed me to remind her of that fact. “I don’t even know them. You don’t even really know them. ”
“I know. But they asked me. ” We’d reached the palace door, so she stopped and turned to me. The wind had left a rose on her cheeks, but that only made her look more beautiful. “And now I’m asking you. ”
“Your mother doesn’t ask much of us, Bryn. ” Dad put his arm around her waist, showing his solidarity. “We can do this for her. ”
“Of course we can,” I agreed, and smiled as genially as I could.
Page 35
There was no point in arguing this or being sullen about the whole thing. It did help to know that my mom didn’t enjoy it either, so the three of us were a united front, all pretending to be happy and polite for strangers.
Besides, I had to agree with my mom that it was a nice gesture. After my mom had eloped with my dad, she had been banned from visiting the Skojare, and at first that meant no contact at all. Slowly, their freeze-out had begun to thaw, and she had been allowed to return home for her mother’s funeral ten years ago, which had opened the dialogue between her family and her again.
So this was a big step on their part. Queen Linnea Biâelse—the young bride of the Skojare King Mikko—was my second cousin, which made her my mom’s first cousin once removed or some other ridiculous relation like that.
The King, Queen, and Prince of the Skojare had invited us for brunch since they were in town, and King Evert had been kind enough to allow us to use one of the meeting rooms in the palace to visit with them.
When we went into the palace, a footman greeted us and took our jackets and boots, and then he led us down to where the brunch was being held. My dad knew where everything was, and so did I, actually, but since we were here as guests of royalty, it was proper for the footman to show us in.
As my mom strode down the corridor, her long white dress flowed out behind her, and it made me happier that I’d chosen to wear a dress myself, although mine was much shorter than hers. My mom always looked beautiful, but she had taken the time to really dress for the occasion, looking more like she should appear on a red carpet than in the dark hallways of a frozen palace, so I knew this was important to her.
The footman opened the door for us, and King Mikko, Queen Linnea, and Prince Kennet were already seated at a long table decked out with fruit and pastries of all kinds. As soon as we entered the room, Linnea got to her feet, followed by Kennet, but the King seemed reluctant to stand.
“My apologies if we’ve kept you waiting,” Mom said, curtsying slightly.
“No, of course not. We’re early,” Linnea assured her with a warm smile, and she gestured to the table. “Please, sit. Join us. ”
On the Queen’s neck, just below her jawline, were two nearly translucent blue semicircles—her gills. They would’ve been virtually invisible, except they fluttered every time she took a deep breath.
Since her marriage to Mikko ten months ago, the royalty in all the kingdoms had dubbed her the “child bride. ” At only sixteen, Linnea had married a man twice her age, but that wasn’t all that uncommon in societies like ours—where royal marriages were arranged to provide the best offspring and alignment of powerful families.
The Skojare possessed an odd elegance, as if they weren’t human or trolls, but porcelain dolls come to life. While Linnea had that look—the pale, smooth features with undertones of blue, and the striking beauty—her face still had the cherubic cheeks of childhood, while her azure eyes had the youthful rebelliousness of a teenager.
Only her crown filled with sapphires, nestled in her platinum-blond corkscrew curls, gave the indication of her title. Her only makeup was bright red lipstick that stood out sharply against her alabaster skin.
Linnea took her seat between her husband and her brother-in-law, and my mom, my dad, and I sat down across from them, separated by the largest assortment of fruit I’d ever seen served at breakfast.
“I know that you’re a relation of Linnea’s, but I’m not sure that we’ve been properly introduced,” Kennet said, grinning as he popped a grape into his mouth.
Kennet was a few years younger than the King, and they were unmistakably brothers. Both of them had darker complexions than Linnea, but not by much. Their hair was more of a golden blond, and they had blue eyes that were dazzling even by Skojare standards. Mikko had broader shoulders, and his jaw was a bit wider and stronger than Kennet’s. Kennet may have been slighter and shorter than his brother, but he was just as handsome.
Like Linnea, both brothers had gills—nearly invisible until they breathed deeply. I had seen them before, but I still always found it hard not to stare.
“Runa is my cousin,” Linnea explained brightly to the men, and motioned across the table to her. “This is her family, although I am embarrassed to admit I don’t know them that well. ”
“No need to be embarrassed. We haven’t spent much time together, but I am hopeful that we’ll begin to know each other better. ” Mom smiled at her, then touched my dad’s hand. “This is my husband, Iver. He is the Chancellor for the Kanin. ”
“And who is this?” Kennet was across from me, and he nodded toward me.
“Sorry, this is my daughter, Bryn. ” Mom squeezed my shoulder gently and leaned into me. “I didn’t forget her, I swear. ”
“No, I didn’t think you’d forgotten about her. I can’t imagine how anyone could. ” He grinned at me and winked, and I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to reply to that, so I started filling a plate up with berries.
Mom eyed Kennet for a moment, then began to fill her plate too. “So how are you enjoying Doldastam?”
“It’s a very lovely town
. So much bigger than Storvatten,” Linnea enthused. “It is rather cold, though. ” She pulled her silvery fur stole around her shoulders then, as if she suddenly remembered the temperature. “And we’re so far from the water. How do you handle that?”
“As soon as it begins to thaw, I swim out in the Hudson Bay, which isn’t all that far from here,” Mom explained. “The winters are much tougher, though. ”
Dad reached over, squeezing her hand. Both my parents had sacrificed so much to be together, but by leaving her family, her town, the very water she craved, my mom had arguably given up more.
“How do you get by?” Kennet asked. He folded his arms on the table and leaned forward. “How do you all occupy your time?”
“We all have our careers to keep us busy. ” Mom motioned between the three of us. “I teach elementary students, and that keeps me on my toes. ”
“What about you?” His eyes rested on me again as I picked at a strawberry. “Do you have a career?”
I nodded. “I do. I’m a tracker, and I plan to be on the Högdragen someday. ”
“Tracker?” Kennet raised a surprised eyebrow. “Isn’t that a peasant job?”
“Kennet!” Linnea hissed, glaring at him.
“I meant no offense by that. ” He leaned back and held up his hands. “I was merely curious. ”
Page 36
“Forgive my little brother. ” King Mikko looked at me for the first time since I’d entered the room. His voice was so deep, it was like quiet thunder when he spoke. “He has the awful habit of forgetting to think before he speaks. ”
“No forgiveness needed,” I told him, and turned my gaze back to the Prince. “A tracker is a job mostly filled by nonroyalty, this is true. But as my mother and father both lost their titles as Marksinna and Markis when they were married, that makes me a nonroyal. A peasant. ”
“I am sorry. ” His shoulders had slacked, and there seemed to be genuine contrition in his aquamarine eyes. “I didn’t mean to bring up class distinction. I was just caught off guard to hear that you had such a difficult job. I’ve gotten far too used to hearing people describe their jobs as simply being rich, or on the very rare occasion they may be a nanny or a tutor. It’s exceptional to find someone who wants to work for something. ”
“It’s very important to Bryn that she earns her place in this world, and she works very hard,” Mom told him proudly.
“You seem like an intelligent, capable young woman. ” Kennet’s eyes rested heavily on me. “I’m sure you’re a wonderful tracker. ”
After that, conversation turned to general banalities. Linnea and my mom talked a bit about family members and old friends of my mom’s. Kennet interjected some about the goings-on in Storvatten, but Mikko added very little.
Finally, when the banter seemed to run out, the room fell into an awkward silence.
“I very much enjoyed this brunch,” Linnea said. “I do hope you can visit us soon. It can be so lonely in Storvatten. There are so few of us anymore. ”
This was an understatement. The Skojare were a dwindling kingdom. By best accounts, there were less than five thousand Skojare in the entire world—that was half of the Kanin population in Doldastam alone. That’s why it wasn’t quite so surprising that Linnea was related to us. All trolls were related, of course, but none so closely as the Skojare.