It was all so fascinating, my head often turned or my body twisted to keep sight of something we passed and when we passed the glass shops, I decided I was definitely checking those out, as soon as I could.
There were a number of restaurants, pubs and even what looked like cafés, some with sturdy, wooden furniture outside surrounded by torches and big fire drums where people sat drinking coffee or maybe cocoa, some of the men smoking brown-paper-covered, thin cigars.
It was, I noted, definitely a city and what appeared to be a cosmopolitan one at that.
Our entourage, now including all our riders, did not pass through the city unnoticed. In fact, we caused quite a stir. When eyes came to me, men would bow slightly or women would bob in a graceful, short curtsy. But if eyes caught or moved to Frey, men would lift their hand in a fist and touch their chin and women would tuck their chin down and to the side of their neck.
This was strange but it was cool and for both reasons, I wish I could ask Frey about it but, alas, I should already know so I couldn’t.
We made it out of the commerce area and were winding our way through what seemed a residential area when our party made a turn around a house and I saw it.
The Winter Palace. It had to be for it was huge and it was extraordinarily gorgeous.
It sprawled along the rise at the base of an enormous mountain and the outside carried as much beautifully carved wood as all I’d noticed inside. The many, varied height, narrow-angled gables were all decorated with intricate dark wood carving mingled with long, glistening icicles, most of the diamond paned windows glowed with candlelight, at their tops the light glowed through the carved wood adorning them and the rest of the façade was made of massive dark wood planks.
And I could see this even in the night for all along the front of the Palace there were big drums with roaring fires probably every six feet and closer to the building was a row of tall torches only maybe a foot apart and there were a vast number of torches that were affixed on a slant on the Palace itself, all of them bearing cages around the fire and all of them lit.
It was freaking magnificent. Every inch of it and there were a lot of inches. The place was huge.
I was frozen in awe but my awe slid away as I saw on the wide, stone steps that swept down and widened gracefully as they ran from top to bottom there were a bunch of people standing and waiting.
For us.
And the two people at the very top, right in front of the huge, lancet arched, square-paneled, wooden double doors were my parents.
Eek!
I stared at them and deep breathed wondering why I was so freaked out.
I didn’t know why and had no time to figure it out. Oleg drove the sleigh off to a side and the other men fell back but Frey rode Tyr straight to the foot of the massive flight of step and stopped. He did not delay in dismounting nor did he delay in reaching up, grasping my waist and pulling me down. Further, he did not delay in engulfing my gloved hand in the hugeness of his and guiding me up the steps.
Nervously, my eyes took in the people standing along the steps and I noticed there were at least thirty of them, none of them in the fine clothes my parents wore. These included the four girls who had been there that first night, all wearing cloaks of the same colors their dresses had been that night, all of their eyes on me.
Frey stopped us two steps down from my parents and directly in front of them. I tore my eyes from the girls and looked into my parents’ blank faces (though, Mom looked kind of peeved for some reason, then again, my Mom of this world had so far only looked peeved) but as I took in their expressions, I watched my father lift a fist to his chin and at the same time my mother’s chin dipped to the side and into her neck.
Both of these gestures were for Frey.
How weird. Seriously, I wondered what that meant and had to find some way to find out.
When my father dropped his hand and Mom’s chin righted, Frey suddenly bowed at my side. I looked at him to see his bow was not deep, but shallow, just a slight bend of his waist and his head was tipped back, his eyes on my parents but his hand still in mine squeezed then he gave it a gentle jerk.
Oh shit. I was supposed to curtsy.
Crap.
I dropped into an awkward curtsy, seeing as I was doing it on a step which was deep but not deep enough to execute a curtsy, something I’d never done before in my life. I pulled it off, thankfully, without falling over or something equally embarrassing and I bowed my head.
“Rise, my daughter and new son,” Dad muttered, Frey straightened and his hand held mine firmly so I could use the strength of his arm to pull myself up.
I tilted my head back to look at my parents while my nerves jangled but before anyone could say a word, Frey spoke.
“My Ice Bride has been travelling long and she is chill. We must get her inside.”
Then he didn’t wait but led us up another step, I saw both my mother and father jerk in some surprise then when Frey kept right on going and was about to bowl through them, they turned toward the doors. One of the people standing around rushed to them and pushed both open and Mom and Dad strode through, Frey and I following close and some of the people from outside followed us in while others disappeared to places unknown.
The doors barely closed behind us when Frey let my hand go and turned to my Dad.
“Atticus, we must talk. Now.”
Dad blinked up at him then I turned my head to blink up at him too. His voice sounded firm, fierce and maybe a little ticked off. I didn’t get that. He didn’t seem ticked off while we rode.
Dad rallied and replied, “Of course, Drakkar. My study.”
Frey turned to my mother and ordered, “The princess does not leave the Palace unless she has my leave.”
I blinked again.
Uh… what?
Mom looked up at him and nodded.
Frey wasn’t done. “You will attend my conversation with my king.”
Mom’s eyes flashed to me then to Frey and she nodded again.
Frey turned to the four girls hovering close. “See to your princess.”
Then, without looking at me, he stalked away.
I stared at his back, stunned at his tone, behavior and more bossy than his normal bossy commands.
Dad followed Frey.
Mom came straight to me, her fingers curled around my arm tight and she leaned into my ear to hiss, “Now what have you done?”
I didn’t get to say a word before she let me go and hurried off in the direction Frey and Dad had disappeared.
What on earth?
Before I could ask, the four girls surrounded me and started herding me toward the carved stairs.
One who was close to my side and had her hand on me, peered at me and whispered, “Sjofn?”
I looked at her, shook off that strange, weirdly troubling scene and whispered back, “No. Finnie.”
She blinked then she smiled slightly and pulled me up the steps as she introduced herself, “I’m Alyssa.”
The girl walking close at my other side grabbed my hand and squeezed.
“Jocelyn,” she whispered.
“Esther,” one of the girls at our backs said and, still mounting the stairs, I turned to smile at her.
“Bess,” the last one peeped and I smiled at her too.
“Gods,” Jocelyn breathed, giving my hand another squeeze as I turned to face forward because even though they were guiding me, I was climbing stairs and I didn’t want to fall flat on my face. “We’re so glad you’re back.”
We alighted the stairs and they started leading me swiftly down the hall.
Alyssa got even closer to my other side and whispered, “We’ve been so worried.”
“Yes, we didn’t have time to tell you a thing,” Bess said quietly from behind and another glance back showed she and Esther were right on our heels.
“We’re so sorry about that,” Alyssa stated, “but the switch was supposed to happen ten minutes earlier. I don’t know what caused th
e delay but whatever it was, we lost our opportunity to warn you what was to come.”
Hmm. Seems it was not so good that Claudia and I prattled on when I should have been transporting. If we hadn’t, things might have gone better for me, apparently.
Crap.
We stopped at a door but just barely before it was opened, we were through it and I was back in the room where I’d started my adventure. It was again lit up, it now had a roaring fire in the grate and it was still freaking gorgeous.
I barely got a chance to take it in and definitely didn’t get a chance to open my mouth before my hat and cloak were gone as were my gloves.
And while they did this with practiced ease and uncanny quickness, they kept talking.
“We wanted to send a messenger but no one knew where you’d gone.” This was Esther.
“Everyone was abuzz that The Drakkar rode into the night with you right after the ceremony. They’re still talking about it. I mean, obviously, you’re beautiful and equally obviously, he’s The Drakkar, so they think he couldn’t wait to get his hands on you, especially after your conjugal kiss which everyone is also still talking about.” This was Alyssa and she went on to state, “But your mother was livid. She’d spent months planning the celebration that was to happen after the wedding ceremony. She didn’t get over The Drakkar hauling you away for weeks.”
“She’s still not over it,” Esther muttered.
“Yes, it was frosty in the Winter Palace, believe me.” This was Bess, her eyeballs moved around the group as she finished, “And still is.”
As they talked they led me to the bed and pushed me on it and in it and then they climbed in and surrounded me close and Jocelyn spoke before I could get a word in edgewise.
“Where did he take you anyway?” Jocelyn asked. “Rumor had it he was on his ship the very next night, away on crucial business.”
“Oh gods, I hope he didn’t take you on one of his ships,” Bess muttered.
My wide eyes moved to Bess.
One of them?
They finally paused enough for me to speak. “Uh… he was. Before he left, though, he took me to a hunting cabin, I think.”
Jocelyn looked to Alyssa. “His hunting cabin. I told you.”
“This I cannot believe,” Esther muttered. “His hunting cabin?”
“I know!” Bess exclaimed (but her exclamation was subdued, like she didn’t want anyone to overhear). “His lodge in Kellshorn is fit for a princess, balls to that, I’ve heard it’s so grand, it’s fit for a queen. Even his chalet in Skarnwyld would be better than his hunting cabin!” She looked to Jocelyn and noted, “I’ve heard it’s quite lovely.”
“She’s just lucky he didn’t take her to his fishing cottage in Tylgould. The smell…” Alyssa’s cute, pert nose scrunched up.
Jeez, how many houses did Frey own?
“Tylgould is lovely,” Esther stated. “My parents took me there as a child. And I hear his cottage is right on the Winter Sea. The properties right on the sea are very old but very quaint and very exclusive.”
“Yes, but even so… the smell,” Alyssa repeated as she shook her head.
“Uh –” I tried to cut in and all attention came back to me including Jocelyn’s hand that curled lightly on my thigh.
“Please tell us he’s been kind to you,” she whispered.
“Well…” I started but clearly didn’t speak quickly enough for Esther spoke.
“Bloody hell, he hasn’t.”
“Well –” I tried again.
“I knew it,” Alyssa hissed and looked at Bess. “If he was away on his ship so quickly that means everyone was wrong. The Drakkar would never leave a woman in his bed who he wanted to be in that bed with, balls to crucial business. We should have done something.”
“What could we have done? The queen was in a state. And when Queen Aurora gets in a state…” Bess trailed off, saying it all without saying a thing then finished, “We didn’t have time.”
Alyssa’s hand came up and she squeezed my arm so my head turned to her and she said softly, “I’m so sorry er… other Sjofn.”
“Finnie,” I urged her to call me on a smile, “please call me Finnie.”
“Finnie,” she smiled back.
Okay, well, I was definitely going to like these girls, that I knew right off, but I wished they’d let me talk.
“Finnie,” Jocelyn said and I turned to her. “That’s very sweet.”
“Oh we have so much to tell you!” Bess exclaimed in that restrained way again.
“Yes, including the fact that Sjofn’s witch has been here three times,” Esther stated.
I grew tense at this unexpected news and blinked at her but before I could ask, Alyssa spoke.
“That Agnes, she has something of great import to tell you,” Alyssa shared and I turned my head to stare at her.
Great. Just great. I wondered what that was but I was thinking maybe I didn’t want to know. Who knew what Sjofn was getting up to in my world?
“But she’ll only tell you,” Bess stated and my eyes went to her. “Still, it seems rather urgent.”
Ho boy.
“Well! Enough of this!” Jocelyn finally announced. “It’s clear The Drakkar is in a mood and he and his men have been travelling a long way. We need to prepare Finnie for dinner without delay.”
“But –” I started as they scrambled off the bed, tugging me with them.
“Bath first,” Alyssa mumbled. “Bess, off you go to see about her trunks. We need to unpack her immediately.”
Bess scurried away without a peep.
“The sky blue satin, I think,” Jocelyn mumbled as they led me to the wall which I saw had a hidden door, the doorknob barely noticeable in the wood.
“Ice blue,” Alyssa disagreed. “He called her his Ice Bride.”
Esther opened the door in front of us and in we went to another room, this clearly a bathroom slash dressing room with a fabulous light blue, suede-covered chaise lounge in the corner, a three paneled screen that had a beautifully stitched tapestry depicting a snowy-mountain landscape with a cloud-free sky, three dark wood, carved wardrobes on three different walls, a table with a gorgeous porcelain basin adorned with delicate blue flowers, a matching pitcher on a shelf underneath it, a roaring fire in another beautifully carved, stone mantel fireplace, another heavily-carved, full-length oval mirror and a big, oval copper tub in the middle with one side swayed back with a fluffy, ice blue, cotton-covered pillow tied to holes in the copper where you could lay your head when you lounged back.
I stared with mouth open, rendered speechless by the room rather than the girls’ chatter.
Only two syllables described this room: awe… some.
“He must be blind or just mad, I cannot understand why he wouldn’t see our, er… princess’s charms,” Jocelyn muttered and my attention went back to the conversation.
“Well, it’s hard to be beautiful in a hunting cabin, no matter how beautiful you actually are,” Esther stated in a voice that held an edge of ire. “Especially when you don’t have your maidservants to assist you. I cannot believe he departed without taking us with her… wherever he was going.”
“Uh… ladies –” I tried.
“Well, he’ll see her now, we’ll be sure of it and he won’t be blind any longer,” Alyssa stated firmly. “And it will definitely be the ice blue,” she told Jocelyn. “Not the sky blue.”
“The sky blue is lovely with her eyes, none better,” Jocelyn shot back.
“Neither, the winter white with the Valerian embroidery,” Esther declared.
All right. I needed to get in there.
“Girls!” I said loudly when both Jocelyn and Alyssa opened their mouths to retort to Esther and all eyes came to me. “You don’t need to make a match,” I told them. “Frey likes me just fine.”
They stared at me, Jocelyn even blinked.
Then Alyssa breathed, “What?”
“He did take off on his ship but when he came back we mad
e a deal and since then, he’s been lovely. We get along great, I like him, he likes me and, um… things are progressing very well,” I assured them.
At that, all of them blinked and then I braced because they suddenly rushed me as one.
“Oh Finnie,” Jocelyn breathed, holding onto my arm hard, “has he bedded you?”
“By the gods,” Alyssa breathed before I could utter a noise, she was holding onto my other arm, her eyes on Jocelyn, “I can’t believe this. This is wonderful.” Her eager deep blue eyes came to me. “Is he as skilled as they say?”
“I know he is,” Esther, standing close to my front, her hazel eyes dancing. “He took Viola, to his bed. You remember,” her eyes moved from Jocelyn to Alyssa, “that maid, the pretty one who serves the princess’s table? She says he kept her there three days, three busy days and when he released her she did not wish to go.”
Oh my God. Was I hearing them right?
My heart started banging in my chest as my stomach clenched.
“I do know,” Jocelyn whispered, “everyone knows. Her stories of his varied and vigorous talents kept me warm many a night after I heard them.”
Everyone knows?
“Don’t forget his stamina,” Alyssa added on a wicked grin.
Stamina?
All three giggled.
I tried hard to recover from what felt like a punch in the stomach.
Frey had fucked a maid?
One from my house?
For three straight days?
Again, a maid who worked in my house?
I mean, what the fuck was that?
“Gods!” Jocelyn cried suddenly and I jumped. “Water! Oils!” She grinned at me and gave my arm a squeeze. “Even though he,” she leaned in, her grin getting wider, “likes our princess… tonight, we still get to show him the fullness of her beauty.”
“I’ll see to the water,” Esther stated, peeling off.
“I’ll go see where Bess is with the state of the trunks,” Jocelyn mumbled, also peeling off.
“I’ll press the ice blue,” Alyssa muttered, hurrying to one of the wardrobes.