I rushed down the steps straight to Frey with only quick smiles at the guys and the moment I was close enough, he bent to the side in the saddle, his arm curved around me and he lifted me up in front of him. I settled my ass in his groin as his arm tightened around my ribs, he leaned us both forward, touched his heels to Tyr’s flanks and shouted, “Yah!”
And off we went to visit the elves.
* * * * *
We rode well out of Snowdon and well into a forest because Frey told me the elfin messengers would come to him but whatever message there was to be delivered would be delivered at an adela tree.
So, bonus, I was going to get to see an adela tree.
As we raced through the forest, I was seeing I needed way more practice on Caspia as Frey and his men snaked at a full gallop through the trees, sometimes coming so close I could feel the wind as we whizzed by them and all the boys, as far as I could tell, did this without hesitation using nothing but instinct.
It was super cool.
I saw it before we hit it, the opaque mist that looked like dense, glittering fog that shrouded the dark trees and I noticed we were heading right to it. But as we got close, Ruben, Thad and Orion pulled back and the minute we penetrated the mist, the men were left behind.
“What –?” I started, twisting and looking around Frey to see the hazy figures of the men on their mounts quickly receding.
“The mist is created by the elves, wee one,” Frey told me and I looked up at him. “Only I can penetrate it… and you as you’re with me.”
Wow. Cool.
I looked forward, my heart beating that familiar excited beat, my blood singing through my veins and this only increased when I saw the beginnings of a golden glow that pierced the fog. It increased as we rode into the glow, becoming brighter and more intense until we were suddenly there.
The adela tree.
And it was magnificent.
Not tall, it’s thin, twirly-ended branches rising direct from the earth for the tree had no trunk. Even though it wasn’t tall, it was wide; its thousands of thin branches growing up and out. And its bark glittered bright and golden, lighting the large clearing around it almost like it was daylight, except it was cooler, more fan-freaking-tastic daylight.
And if that wasn’t awesome enough, with an ice blue flash and a bright white spark, mini elves were appearing from what seemed like straight out of the earth at the base of the tree’s stump. Once they formed, they immediately turned, touched a glittering branch and grew to the size of a normal human right… in front… of my eyes.
Unbelievably cool.
As I watched, Frey halted Tyr at the outer edge of the clearing and dismounted, pulling me down and setting me on my feet beside Tyr.
“Stay here, Finnie, yes?” he said quietly, I tore my eyes away from the elves, now numbering six with more flashes and sparks coming from the tree, all of the elves regarding us with ice blue eyes filled with curiosity under their feathered caps and I looked up at him and nodded mutely.
He grinned at me and turned to Tyr.
“Stay with Finnie,” he ordered, Tyr’s strong, sleek jaw rose up and he whinnied softly.
Frey moved into the clearing and directly to a male elf who gave Frey the elfin salute of chin bent to the side of his neck. Once he lifted his head, they started talking quietly so I couldn’t hear what they were saying and the flashes and sparks stopped coming. I counted nine elves and none except the male talking to Frey was looking at Frey. They were all looking at me.
I smiled and waved.
When I did, there seemed to be a low, cheerful twitter that filled the air although none of them spoke nor did their lips move. They looked amongst each other and then back at me. That was when I got smiles.
Through this, Frey continued to speak with the male elf and I saw that the discussion was intense but I wasn’t reading bad vibes from Frey. This reading proved accurate when suddenly they stopped speaking and both Frey and the elf turned to look at me.
And when they did Frey smiled, broad and white and my heart stuttered at the sight.
My husband didn’t hide his smiles from me but I’d never seen one like that. Never like that.
Ever.
It was gorgeous.
He tipped his chin at me and gave me a flick of his hand which told me I could approach. Without delay, I did, quickly, making it to his side with Tyr at mine in a second.
When I arrived, Frey’s arm curled round my waist and he pulled me close to his side before he said softly, “My wee Finnie, it is my honor to present you to Nillen, Speaker of the Elves.”
I looked from Frey to Nillen, who was my height, and I smiled before whispering, “And it is my honor to meet you, Nillen, Speaker of the Elves.”
Nillen smiled back and replied, “The honor is mine, Seoafin of the other world, bride of our Frey.”
I inclined my head like Mother would and told him softly, “Thank you for allowing me to come.”
“It was our pleasure, Seoafin, Ice Bride,” he returned just as softly and went on. “And we do hope you are present when there are future joyful messages we will share with our lord Frey.”
Joyful messages.
Cool.
It was good news. This pleased me. With all that was going on, we could use good news.
“I do too,” I agreed not knowing what the message was but not caring. Anything that made Frey smile like that was totally okay with me.
He inclined his head to me then looked to Frey and stated, “We return to our realm now in order that you can celebrate with your Ice Bride.”
Celebrate?
Apparently whatever the news was, it was joyful.
Awesome.
“Of course,” Frey murmured, Nillen gave him another elfin salute, Frey lifted his chin to him then looked around at the other elves all of whom gave him a salute then they all smiled happily at me then they all slowly drifted back to the tree, bent low to touch its bark where it met the earth and then disappeared with an ice blue flash and a white spark.
When the last disappeared, I stared at the glowing tree and whispered, “That is so cool.”
Then I suddenly moved and it wasn’t me who moved me. One of Frey’s strong arms came tight around my waist dragging me up his body just like he did during our wedding kiss but this time higher so I was head and shoulders over him, his other arm closing around my thighs just below my bottom. Automatically, I grabbed onto his shoulders and looked down as he twirled us around twice, his head back, his eyes on mine, that broad, gorgeous smile on his face.
“Frey,” I said softly, mesmerized by that smile, I moved one hand to his cheek, “what on –?”
But I didn’t get the rest out. His arm at my thighs disappeared, he dropped me down a foot and his hand cupped the back of my head, pulling it toward him, crushing my mouth to his and he kissed me, hard, deep, wet, long and, last but oh so not least… wonderful.
When he was done, he moved my head to shove my face in his neck and held me against him, feet dangling in the air, arms tight and he did this for awhile.
My arms had curled around his shoulders, my heart was still beating hard from the kiss, my breath coming harder but I turned my head so my lips were at his ear and I asked, “Frey, what’s going on?”
His head turned too so his mouth was at my ear and he answered, “The message of the elves, my winter bride, is that you carry my child.”
I blinked at his neck as I felt my belly drop.
What?
“What?” I whispered.
The pressure of his hand at my head lightened, I lifted it up and looked at him to see he was still smiling that beautiful, joyous smile.
“You carry my child, Finnie,” he whispered back, pressing my head to his again for a soft touch of lips then he slid me down his body to my feet but he didn’t remove his arms. In fact, they squeezed me hard as I saw by the glow of the adela tree his eyes were warm, soft and lit with a blissful light that, no other way to put it, was ut
terly enthralling. “You carry my child and the elves did not tell me but I know down to my blood that if he is boy, we will teach him to be a strong, fair ruler and if she is girl, she has no hope to have anything other than the tremendous beauty of her mother.”
At his words, my belly did a somersault then melted.
Okay, well. Shit.
A lot was happening here. A lot.
One was that it was coming to me that I hadn’t had a period since Hawkvale and, until that moment, I hadn’t even noticed. Now, obviously, I did. So, weirdly, elfin pregnancy detection, it would seem, was accurate.
Two was that powder the girls had given me wasn’t as full proof as they said it was. That was now abundantly clear.
Three was that I did not want to have a baby, not now. Yes, I wanted to have Frey’s child, absolutely, in fact, I wanted us to have more than one. But I also wanted to wait awhile, say, after I knew that my future in Lunwyn was secured, I’d travelled back to take care of business at home and after I’d had a few adventures with Frey and his boys.
Obviously this wasn’t going to happen.
Four was, equally obviously, Frey was freaking ecstatic about this news. This meant that he not only loved me, he was happy as all get out I was carrying his child and he couldn’t possibly wish to let me go in six months. No way.
Which meant I was staying.
I already knew this, what with him loving me, and the way he did, but it was way nice having this confirmed.
Which led me to five and that was that if this made Frey this happy, even though it was too early for me; I couldn’t help but share his joy.
So we were going to start a family early. Who cared? We were going to start a family, I hadn’t had a family in fifteen years and now I had one and not only that, it was apparently getting bigger.
And I was staying. It was clear that I was going nowhere and if I’d thought about it logically, I knew that already not only with the way Frey was with me but also Aurora and Atticus. The decision had been made by The Drakkar, this was my family, this was my life, my world and looking up at my husband’s handsome, ecstatically happy face, I knew I’d shot passed bliss and was exploring new heights on that end of the happy scale.
I slid a hand around his neck to his jaw where I glided a thumb out to touch his smiling lips as my eyes watched.
Then I moved my gaze to his and I whispered, “I’ve never seen you this happy.”
Instantly, Frey whispered back, “This is because I’ve never been this happy.”
My body melted into his and I kept whispering. “Really?”
His arms gave me another squeeze and he, too, kept whispering. “Really, my wee Finnie. These past months with you, I have thought there is nothing more beautiful than my wife. Now, I know this is wrong. There is. And that is my wife carrying our child, a child which will herald the beginning of our family.”
Family.
Oh yeah. Family.
I liked that.
I pressed my lips together to bite back the sting of tears in my eyes and then I pressed my cheek to his chest and my body to his. When I did, Frey held me closer and I felt his jaw against the top of my knit cap.
“Love you, baby,” I said against his chest, got another squeeze of his arms and he replied, “And I you, my Finnie.”
I pulled in a breath and tipped my head back again to look at him.
Then I asked haltingly, “Do you think, um… that Mother and Father will, uh… be happy about this too?”
He smiled that gorgeous smile again, dipped his head to touch his lips to my nose and then pulled back an inch before he answered, “Just today Aurora asked how we were getting on with creating the heir to the throne. She awaits good news and tomorrow, we will delay our departure so we can have a celebratory breakfast with them before we go.” He gave me another squeeze as I felt my brows draw together and he finished, “She and Atticus will be delighted.”
Okay, the good news about that was, I was right. Atticus and Aurora were also obviously already on board with me taking their daughter’s place.
The bad-ish news was that I didn’t think Frey and I had been trying to create the heir to the throne, not yet. But his words would indicate he did.
Or maybe just Aurora did.
I had no opportunity to think on this as Frey gave me another squeeze and his head dipped, his lips touched mine then slid down my cheek to my ear where he murmured, “It is now time to get my wife and child home and warm. I could stand in the glow of the adela and the brighter glow of this news for a decade, my wee one, but I must take care of my family.”
My belly somersaulted again and I twisted my neck to look at him and when I caught his eyes, I smiled.
Then I said, “Living in Lunwyn, he or she is going to have to get used to the cold, husband.”
To which Frey returned, “As they’ll have to get used to their parents’ loving care, wife.”
Okay, there it was again, another belly somersault and I couldn’t stop the huge smile that spread on my face.
When Frey saw it, his hand cupped the back of my head again and he pressed my face in his throat and his other arm held tight for a moment before he let me go, took my hand and walked me the three feet to Tyr.
I was up on Tyr, Frey behind me and wheeling his steed around when I asked dreamily, “I wonder if she’ll be an adventurer like her Mom and Dad.”
Frey moved us into the forest, this time much slower, the mist having disappeared and I watched the moonlight glint on the snow as I listened to him chuckle before he muttered, “If so, gods help me.”
I giggled because he was right about that. Then I giggled again just because. Then Frey leaned me into Tyr’s neck, touched his heels to Tyr’s flanks, we shot forward and I giggled again as I watched the trees stream by and felt Frey’s command of his beast as they did, the power of the animal under us, the rider and his mount one and I experienced a late night, carnival-style ride that was better than any I’d had before.
And although I eventually stopped giggling, I never stopped smiling.
Not once… all the way home.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Meddling
One week later…
I had a problem.
We were at Frey’s lodge in Kellshorn or, more accurately, outside the large mountain town that catered to vacationing skiers and fishermen who came to fish at the vast lake that Frey’s lodge and the town skirted.
My girls hadn’t been exactly right. The lodge wasn’t fit for a queen as it was no Winter Palace and definitely no Rimée Keep.
But that didn’t mean it wasn’t cool-as-shit.
First of all, it skirted a vast lake and that would be a spectacular vast lake.
Secondly, the lodge was gorgeous. It was made of blond wood and stone, it had a lower level built into the swell of a hill and two upper levels that had wraparound balconies, the lower one wider, all of them with wooden railings made of flat planks that had been stamped through along their lengths with the shape of a pine tree.
Nothing inside or outside of the lodge was graceful, refined or ornate as with the Palace and the Keep. This was not a place for stately affairs or official meetings. This was a place to relax, unwind and be surrounded by nature in all its immense beauty. It was comfy, cozy, welcoming and warm. There were lots of windows, lots of open spaces, lots of beautiful, gleaming wood, lots of gorgeous stone, lots of furniture that invited you to sink into it and lots of fires that seemed to keep every corner warm.
There were also lots of bedrooms which was lucky because all four of my girls came with me.
This meant the journey included sleighs which made that journey longer (two days rather than the one Frey told me it would have been if we were able to take the more direct route). As we travelled, Frey’s men rode around the two sleighs packed with his, my and the girls’ trunks and, for the first time since I arrived in that world, I rode in a sleigh with Esther and Bess (the first day) and Jocelyn and Alyssa (the
second) because Frey didn’t want me on Caspia.
This was my problem.
I was pregnant and Frey, as early signs were indicating, was going to be one of those ultra-careful, concerned, not exactly hovering but nevertheless protective expectant fathers.
Case in point, Frey had put his foot down that, considering my condition, I would not be continuing my lessons on Caspia and he’d also called a halt to knife work with Lund.
I gave in on quitting working with Gun and Caspia. Frey was ecstatic I was pregnant and it had to be said (after the initial shock) that I was ecstatic too therefore it would not do for me to take a fall off Caspia and harm myself or our child.
And, incidentally, when we told Aurora and Atticus, they were both (even Aurora) beside themselves with glee.
In other words, all was well in my world and we didn’t need me to do anything stupid to change that.
But the knife work wasn’t dangerous. Lund knew what he was doing, he never got close to hurting me and we’d been working together for so long, I knew he wouldn’t.
And anyway, all that running around, lunging, twirling and squatting would be a good way to keep fit while pregnant.
Frey, however, did not see it this way and also thought I was a little crazy for wishing to keep fit during my pregnancy, stating, “Part of the beauty of a woman with child is her curves, wife, and you’ll not deprive me of the ones I bestowed on you by ‘keeping fit’.”
Yes, this was what he said.
Further, Frey had allowed me to continue with my bow and arrow but only target practice, not “skulking” (his word) through the woods aiming at human beings.
We’d argued about all of this, our first argument in so long, I didn’t remember when we had our last.
I was pregnant, not invalid and this I shared with my husband.
I was not going to be on a horse, working with knives or skulking through cold woods and this my husband shared with me.
My problem was, to practice with Lund and skulk with Annar, I needed his men and they listened to Frey and not me.