Fantasyland 01 Wildest Dreams (27 page)

“Then I’ll see to that without delay,” she
returned hotly.

“That is your right,” he shot back and
continued, most definitely not cleverly, “though it would be a
shame to lose her charm serving your table.”

She went completely still in his arms but
the pink fled her cheeks as the pain flashed in her eyes.

Gods damn it to hell.

“You didn’t just say that,” she
whispered.

He tried to gather her closer but her hands
went instantly to his chest to hold herself back.

“Finnie, my love, this discussion is
ridiculous. That was years ago. She’s a servant. Just a servant.
She didn’t mean a gods damned thing. They never do.”

This, although he would have no way to
know it for a woman of his world, a princess especially and Sjofn
of the House of Wilde definitely would understand that a man like
him would freely dally with a wench like Viola without thought or
shame, but apparently a woman of Finnie’s world did not think the
same thing and he belatedly understood that it was very clearly
the
wrong
thing to
say.

And he would learn this because her
beautiful eyes closed down, shut him out and she replied quietly,
“Then let me educate you, Frey, if it was years ago or yesterday,
if it was a servant or a duchess, to your wife, no matter what you
think of her or what you think she thinks of you, it means
everything. Now, let me
the fuck
go so I can have dinner with my parents.”

The ugly word he didn’t understand but she
emphasized so tersely caused him to loosen his arms and she pulled
instantly away and then didn’t delay in moving directly to the
door.

She opened it, stood at it, turned back to
him and called, “Are you coming?”

She needed him to guide her to the dining
room for she had no earthly clue where she was going and she didn’t
wish him to know she didn’t.

And suddenly, their game annoyed him but
Frey moved across the room to his wife. However, when he got there,
he quietly shut the door.

She glared at it then tipped her head back
to glare at him.

He lifted a hand to curl around her neck and
bent so his face was close to hers.

“We’ll finish this discussion after dinner,”
he said gently.

“No we won’t,” Finnie retorted immediately,
her voice a snap and it whipped across his frayed temper like a
lash, causing him to lose hold on it so he squeezed her neck and
got closer.

“Yes, wife, we will.” His fingers again
tensed at her neck, he dipped even closer to her and his voice was
a low rumble when he decreed, “We’ll finish a number of things
unfinished between us after dinner.”

Her eyes widened, her face paled and her
lips parted.

She understood him.

He let her neck go, opened the door, took
his wife’s hand and pulled her into the hall.

Then he dragged her down it, his strides
long and angry, and as he did so he thought dinner with her parents
was going to be interesting.

And it was going to be long.

Too long.

So he was going see to it that it ended as
soon as possible.

He and his bride had vastly more important
things to do.

Sleep Well, Wife

“I’ve a marvelous idea,” my Dad announced as
we stood outside the dining room having just finished a sumptuous
five course dinner that was sitting like a weight in my stomach,
“I’ll order a sleigh brought ‘round and we’ll go to Esmeralda’s for
a mug of that warm, liquid chocolate my Sjofn loves so dearly.”

I thought this was a
great
idea mainly because both my mother and father were
acting a lot more patient and even kind to me, if weirdly watchful.
Though I put this down to them wondering how things were going with
me and Frey and they
would
wonder since I didn’t speak to him (at all) and barely
looked at him all throughout dinner except to glare daggers at him
when he specifically asked for Viola to serve him
personally.

Yes, oh yes, he did exactly that.

The freaking, dickhead
jerk.

And, by the way, Viola was
very
pretty and she didn’t look
a
thing
like
me.

Ugh!

I also thought this was a great idea
because it would mean delaying being alone with Frey, something I
did
not
want because
I was pretty certain I couldn’t strangle him to death but if I was
lucky I might get in a well-aimed kick that if I did it as hard as
I wanted, might mean the end to everyone’s hopes that he’d provide
a future king.

I also thought this was a great idea because
a mug of warm, liquid chocolate sounded pretty good regardless of
the dinner sitting like a weight in my stomach (as, everyone knew,
chocolate in any form sounded good no matter what) and a place
called Esmeralda’s sounded worthy of exploration.

I opened my mouth to agree wholeheartedly
with this idea but my freaking, dickhead
jerk
of a husband got there before me.

“I’m afraid not, Atticus. Finnie explained
she was tired prior to us joining you for dinner. So now I think
it’s best if my wife and I retire.”

I turned stiltedly to him, tipped my head
back and glared more daggers at him.

He looked down at me, completely impervious
to my mental daggers then crossed his arms on his chest.

“Understandable, Drakkar,” Dad mumbled then
I felt him coming close to me as he continued to mumble, “It’s been
a long day for you both.”

I wiped my face clean, turned to him and
smiled what I hoped was close to genuinely as he leaned in and
kissed my cheek distractedly.

But as his lips brushed my skin, I felt
their touch like they were lasers. I closed my eyes at the
beautiful pain and kept them closed as I memorized it.

Then he moved away and I opened my eyes to
see Mom gazing at me, the skin around her eyes and mouth soft, her
expression, however, was blank but I could tell she was thinking,
about what, I didn’t know.

Then she moved in and I braced because
although she’d been okay during dinner, I didn’t know what to
expect.

But I would have never expected her to give
me a warm, albeit very short hug and say to me during it, “It’s so
lovely to have you back, my dear.”

Then without further ado, as my mind
imprinted the feel of her arms around me, they bid Frey a far less
familiar but still relatively friendly yet definitely watchful
(see? way weird) goodnight and they took off.

I watched them go.

Great.

Frey grabbed my hand and started dragging me
to the stairs.

Great again!

I let him because I wasn’t going to fight
him out where servants, such as, say,
Viola
could see. I let him because it was undignified to
struggle and Mom taught me never to lose my dignity and all that
jazz but I
was
a princess
in this world so
that
had become
a moral imperative as everyone knew all princesses should do their
utmost to keep their dignity. And, lastly, I let him because it
sucked but I knew if I fought I would so totally
lose.

He dragged me up the stairs and directly to
my rooms, in through the door and he closed it behind us softly
then leaned against it, arms crossed on his chest.

I had walked in several steps and turned
to him and, seeing him settle, I crossed
my
arms on
my
chest.

Then I spoke.

“
I’m afraid after living the simple life
for nearly two months, all that rich food and wine have made me
unwell, husband,” I informed him, chin up, shoulders straight.
“Although it was
served
with
great skill,” I watched his eyes flare as he caught my meaning,
though it would have been hard to miss, “it’s not sitting well in
my stomach. I’ll thank you to leave me to my bed and find your own
chambers…” I paused then finished, “
immediately.
”

A muscle ticked in his jaw scarily before he
returned in a quiet, deadly voice, “You’re my wife, Finnie. What’s
yours is mine and that includes your bed.”

“
All right,” I returned instantly,
“however, tonight, considering I feel unwell and this place is
gargantuan and
highly
populated, I’m sure for my sake you’ll be able to find
somewhere else to sleep. Or, perhaps,
not
sleep depending on whose bed you fall
in.”

That muscle ticked again, it scared the
freaking beejeezus out of me mostly because the air in the room was
stifling from the heat of Frey’s anger but I ignored it and held
his eyes.

This lasted a long time and I was about to
give up and look away when he spoke again in that soft, lethal
tone.

“
I will take the time to explain a few
things to you, wife. And I’ll take this time before I peel off that
charming dress you’re wearing to
finally
discover what you wear under it and after that
I’ll peel off what you wear under your gowns to
finally
see the entirety of your charms. And after
that I may or may not take my time to finally
enjoy
the entirety of those charms.”

I felt my chest swell with panic but I kept
my stance, held his gaze and kept my mouth shut.

“
I am Frey Drakkar,” he announced oddly but
his voice held weight. “And you know this, Finnie,
you
know,
” he stressed, his
eyes flashing with anger, his voice rumbling with it, “but I’ll
explain what that means.”

Ho boy.

I had a feeling this was not going to be
good.

He kept talking. “There has not been a Frey
of the Drakkar for centuries. In ancient times, every generation
birthed a Frey. That was, until one Frey betrayed the elves,
betrayed his line and betrayed his country. The elves retreated to
their underground realm, not to be seen for centuries. That was,
not until my birth to the House of Drakkar and the Vallees
declarations that I was, indeed, the first Frey for seven hundred
and fifty years.”

I had no idea what he was talking about but
I still sucked in a shocked breath because, obviously, that sounded
important not to mention interesting.

“
But the Vallees did not simply declare me
the Frey. They also declared me
The
Drakkar.”

I kept his gaze and kept my mouth shut,
hoping despite myself he’d go on because I
still
had no idea what he was talking about.

Luckily (or unfortunately, depending on how
you looked at it), Frey went on. “This land and the House of
Drakkar have not had A Drakkar for over fifteen hundred years.”

Hmm.

That was obviously important and interesting
too.

Frey kept speaking. “And the Frey and The
Drakkar have not been embodied in the same man since
before
ancient times. The gods… they
learned not do that. It would make one man too powerful. Even, if
that man commanded his power right, more powerful than
them.”

That was when I sucked in breath and held
it.

Oh my God.

I didn’t know what that meant, exactly, I
just knew it was big.

“As you know, the Frey commands the elves
but The Drakkar, it is The Drakkar, my wee wife, who commands the
dragons.”

I let out my breath but I couldn’t stop my
eyes from growing wide.

Dragons?

Frey kept going. “Over fifteen hundred years
ago, after the last Drakkar died, the dragons entered their caves
high in the mountains where no one can climb. They entered them to
slumber and await the next call of their Drakkar. That call has not
come for there has been no true Drakkar birthed to the House of my
line. Not until me.”

Now I was breathing heavily and staring at
him because I couldn’t pull my eyes away.

“The elves magic is powerful, mighty, more
than any witch in any land. More than the combined powers of the
most accomplished witches of all lands. But the dragons… their
power is without measure. They are immortal. Their scales cannot be
pierced. Their talons are sharper than razors and cannot be broken.
Their teeth and horns and the spikes on their tails are tipped with
poison they can discharge at their command, poison so strong, a
drop would fell an elephant in seconds. And their tail carries so
much strength one swipe and it would cut your Palace in two,
leaving splinters in its wake. They are bigger than a house and
they fly through the air. And I know, my Finnie, I know you know
the tales of the heat of the fire they breathe.”

I kept breathing hard, it wasn’t fire but it
burned my lungs and I continued staring at him, not moving a
muscle.

Even though he said I knew, he explained
anyway. “That heat would incinerate a man in less than a second. It
melts iron like candle wax. It could remold mountains.”

Oh.

My.

God.

“
And all of that, my wee wife,
all of it
is at my command.”

Oh.

My.

God.

“
The Frey who betrayed the elves also
betrayed his throne, something else you know. He betrayed his
throne and Lunwyn descended into turmoil. Wars were fought.
Countless men, women
and
children died. Our beautiful Lunwyn descended into chaos
for centuries as the throne passed from House to House until,
finally, the House of Wilde secured it two centuries ago. But the
rightful seat in that throne all in the land know is a,” he leaned
slightly forward, “
Drakkar.
”