Fantasyland 01 Wildest Dreams (48 page)

“Out, boy,” Kell barked at Skylar, Skylar
jumped up and took off.

He closed the door behind him and Kell’s
gaze came to me.

My eyes had not left him and my fingertips
were on the desk, pressing in, seeking support hopefully without
looking like I was.

“Frey?” I asked quietly and Kell’s bushy
white brows shot together.

“What?” he barked.

“Frey,” I repeated, turning more fully to
him and stiffening my spine. “Have you heard some word? Are Frey
and the men all right?”

“Gods, woman, a’ course they are. Stealin’ a
branch from a poof? Bloody hell,” he replied and I decided that I
would not share my thoughts on him calling homosexuals “poofs” but
I even if I wished to do so, I didn’t get the chance because Kell
kept speaking. “We got riders at the shore. They hold Baldur
banners.”

Oh shit.

Kell went on. “They’re flashin’ a sun
message. Bloody Baldur knows you’re here, he’s camped close and he
wants you and Frey to attend him.”

Oh shit!

“A sun message?” I asked.

“Sun,” he grunted. “Mirror. Message.”

That was all he said but I put two and two
together and figured that the riders were flashing a mirror at the
sun in some way that the men on the ship could read.

And that message was, my uncle… who was not
my uncle… wanted me and my husband… who was not here but instead on
a clandestine mission to steal property from Middleland soil some
weeks after, of course, he and his men had helped the king’s
captive sorceress (and forced mistress) to escape… to come and see
him.

This was not good.

“
I’m guessin’ from that look on yer face
you’re readin’ this situation as
not good,
” Kell accurately deduced then without a breath
continued. “We’re exposed. Until nightfall, without them seein’, we
can’t get a man to shore to get a message to Frey. And, we got a
command from a king on our hands, one we cannot defy without good
reason and we got ourselves a couple a’ those, but none of ‘em are
ones we can share. And Baldur is not the kind ‘a king who’s big on
bein’ defied. Not to mention, we send you in, you got no idea who
this blighter is.”

By the way, Kell, like all of Frey’s closest
men, knew who I was and where I’d come from.

“Thanks for summing that up, Kell,” I said
softly and his eyes narrowed.

Then he stated, “I ain’t here to sum it
up, princess, I’m here ‘cause I’m plum outta ideas and wondered
if
you
got some.
The king’s men cannot board this ship.”

“Why?” I asked and he gave me a look I
couldn’t quite decipher because I didn’t know Kell all that well
but I had a feeling there was something on the ship the king’s men
couldn’t see.

Shit!

Thinking fast, I suggested, “Can you send a
message that I’m indisposed, um… not well and ask the king to wait
until tomorrow when I’ll hopefully feel better? That way we’ll have
time to make up a story and form a plan.”

He crossed his arms on his chest and his
irritated impatient look got more irritated and impatient.

“Tried that. They told us to send a boat
ashore anyway as the king’s concerned about his niece and wants to
send his men across to board in order to ascertain she’s all
right.”

I blinked then asked, “How long have they
been out there?”

“Over an hour.”

I blinked again and asked, “Why didn’t you
tell me earlier?”

He uncrossed his arms and planted his fists
on his hips and asked back, “And why would I do that?”

I put my hands to my hips too and shot
back, “Oh, I don’t know, Kell. Probably so I’d have more time to
consider this dilemma and maybe come up with an answer rather than
receiving the news there
was
a
dilemma at the last possible moment so my only choice is to freak
out and make a rushed decision about what the heck we’re going to
do. Jeez, two heads are better than one,” I ended on an annoyed
snap.

“Not when one ‘a those heads belongs to a
woman,” Kell fired back.

Oh no he did
not.

I glared at him.

Then I ordered, “Prepare a boat and pick men
you trust to accompany me but the party must include Gunner and
Stephan.”

It was his turn to blink. Then he breathed
out a, “What?” that clearly stated he thought I was insane.

“Prepare a boat and pick men you trust to
accompany me,” I repeated.

“Woman –” Kell started but I interrupted
him.

“
Kell, we have a demand from a king. We’re
in his waters and my husband is in his country doing something he
will probably not like. Frey is not set to return for days.” I
leaned forward and reminded him, “We need to
buy time
and the only one who can do that is
me.
”

“
Princess, that man has known the other you
since she was a baby and
you
have never seen him in your life,” he reminded me
back.

I threw out a hand and declared, “I’ll wing
it.”

His brows shot together again and he
grunted, “Wing it?”

“Make it up as I go along, wing it. Now send
a message that I’m rousing myself for the journey, prepare a boat
and select men you trust to accompany me.”

He didn’t move. He scowled.

Then he announced, “Drakkar is
not
gonna like this,
woman.”

I didn’t figure he would. Then again, I
figured he’d come to understand I had no choice.

With any luck.

“I’ll deal with that later.”

“
Hopefully it won’t be
much
later, say, he already knows what’s happenin’,
he’s makin’ his play and that play is abducting you, incarceratin’
your rounded arse in one ‘a his castles and sendin’ word to your
father that he ain’t real happy his niece and nephew-in-law are
runnin’ amok in his kingdom. Somethin’, by the by, your papa don’t
know balls about.”

Hmm.

“We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it,”
I decided.

Kell scowled at me some more but still
didn’t move.

“Kell, time is wasting,” I reminded him.

He ignored me and continued to scowl at me.
Then something shifted on his face, the scowl was still there, just
not as severe and something had lit in his eyes.

I didn’t have time to decipher it. I had no
time at all and I needed to get changed before all this went down.
I wasn’t wearing breeches to this meeting. I was meeting my uncle,
king to princess, and I needed an outfit that would remind him of
that.

So I prompted, somewhat loudly, “Kell!”

That was when he muttered, “He said you had
the spirit.”

“What?” I asked impatiently and Kell’s
unfocused eyes focused on me.

“
Nothin’,” he grunted. “I’ll send the
message, prepare the boat and gather the men.” He lifted a finger
and jabbed it at me. “But, woman,
I’m
gonna be one ‘a those men. You stay close to me, you pay
attention to me and you learn real quick to
read me
. We got no choice, you and me, but to get
through this bloody mess together. Don’t go goin’ princess on me
and don’t go goin’ cockamamie on me. Yeah?”

My shoulders straightened in umbrage and I
declared, “I’m never cockamamie.”

“
Woman, you transported yourself to a whole
‘nother world not knowin’ where your arse would land or what it
would land
in.
Most women
got at least some cockamamie in ‘em but
you
are head-to-toe cockamamie,” he
returned.

That was arguable but I didn’t have time to
argue it now.

“Kell, time is wasting,” I reminded him and
the scowl shot back to severe.

Then he burst out, “Balls, I see it in yer
eyes. You’re gonna go cockamamie on me.”

“Kell!” I snapped loudly.

“All right, all right, smooth your knickers,
princess,” he said, hands up but pressing down. “You got an hour
then your arse is on deck.”

“Right,” I replied.

He sucked in breath and seared me with
another scowl. Then he shook his head and exited the cabin,
slamming the door behind him simply, I guessed, because he was a
curmudgeon and didn’t want me to forget it.

I stared at the door and, with that
confrontation over, the coming one loomed in front of me.

I had two choices, freak out or get my shit
sorted.

I rushed to my trunks to get my shit
sorted.

* * * * *

First off, it was clear we’d travelled far
enough south that Middleland, unlike Lunwyn, was not charmingly
crusted with ice and snow. I’d noticed that from viewing shore from
the ship and I’d definitely noticed the air was warmer, not well
above freezing but not below it.

As Kell, myself, Gunner, Stephan and three
of Frey’s crew acting as impromptu royal guards made our way to my
uncle’s camp on horses provided for us, I also noticed that
Middleland wasn’t that charming at all. It wasn’t exactly barren
but it also wasn’t colorful or overly fertile. It seemed bleak,
craggy and dark and although the days were longer, that wasn’t
exactly a boon because Middleland would probably look better in the
moonlight.

Seeing it, I thought that perhaps Sjofn’s
grandfather had a favorite son after all for Atticus definitely got
the better deal when his father was doling out kingdoms.

Once we’d navigated the dark rocks that made
up the shore and spread inland, it didn’t take long for the tents
to come into view. The sun was beginning to set but I could see
they were striped wide in red and black. They were large, there
were several of them, they each had a number of peaks and all of
these peaks had red and black checked pennants flying.

We were escorted by the king’s men of which
there were twelve (my opinion only, but I thought this was
overkill). They all were wearing amour breastplates with black and
red dragons painted on them, high black boots that came up to their
thighs, poofy black shorts and they also had red and black striped
poofs of material around their shoulders but their biceps and
forearms were covered solely in black. On their heads they had
gleaming helmets with a Mohawk arrangement of stiff black and red
feathers. All their weapons (swords on scabbards attached to their
saddles and a knife at their belts) shone as if they’d never been
used.

I read from their number and attire that
Baldur liked pomp and circumstance. Frey’s men wore what they wore;
there was no uniform of The Drakkar or even of his merchant ships.
My father’s men wore a uniform but it was warm, sturdy, comfortable
and utilitarian. All the heads of the Houses I’d met at the Gales
had worn their colors proudly but they let their wives display the
finery that indicated their wealth. The men’s clothes were
excellent quality and there were touches that indicated affluence
but none of them were overt about it.

This pageantry to meet your niece in a tent
on a desolate plain seemed a bit much and said a great deal about
my uncle.

His men led us straight to the biggest tent
and when I say that I mean it was the biggest tent by far, at least
double the size of any other, maybe more, and as large as a small
house. The entryway had a ten foot long awning stretching out from
it along which four guards stood. It was clear these guards were
more important for their feathers in their helmets were bigger and
each had a ruby in the hilt of the daggers on their belts.

Immediately upon arrival, there was a wee
situation when we stopped and Gunner (most of the men I knew well
were with Frey, however he’d left Gunner and Stephan behind, likely
in case something like this occurred) dismounted instantly and came
to help me off my horse. Unfortunately, one of Baldur’s men did the
same and Gunner didn’t take kindly to this.

As glowers were exchanged and chests puffed
up, an idea hit me and I was both thankful that it did because I’d
been wracking my brain since Kell left the cabin as to what I
intended to do (to no avail) and also I hoped I could pull it
off.

“
Please,” I fake rasped and it sounded so
good even I was surprised at how real it sounded. I saw instantly
so was Gunner who knew I didn’t have a sore throat. It also
surprised the guard
and
Kell who’d
stopped his horse close to mine and I felt his eyes come to me. “I
am comfortable with my guard. If you will allow…” I kept rasping
then trailed off, grimaced in fake pain and wrapped one of my hands
daintily around my throat as if those mere words had caused me more
than mild suffering.

The guard looked at me and his face
softened. I smiled what I hoped was a benevolent princess smile on
him, his lips tipped up and I figured I’d pulled off the princess
smile. He gave a small bow then stepped back gallantly. Gunner
reached up and pulled me down but he did it so my face stayed
parallel to his for the barest second and I saw his blue eyes
smile.

I didn’t smile back because his back was to
the guard and mine wasn’t but I rolled my eyes the barest bit. Then
he set me on my feet and I leaned into him like I didn’t have the
strength to hold myself up. He took his cue and hooked my arm
firmly in the crook of his elbow before he escorted me to the
awning where Kell joined me on my other side. I grabbed onto him
too (might as well go for the gusto) and they led me through the
awning and inside the tent.

If I thought the tents, pennants and
uniformed soldiers were a spectacle, they were nothing compared to
the opulence I encountered inside. I tried not to look as surprised
as I was at the overabundance of fur (the ground was covered in it,
yes,
covered
), sheets
of red and black silk draping the walls, the ornate, heavily
carved, shining wood furniture, the gleaming silver candelabrum all
over the place and the two, large, overdone thrones (yes,
thrones
) sitting
smack in the middle of the tent on a fur-covered rise.