“What does it say, Saga?”
She rolled her eyes but really, she should have expected the question. He was, after all, the spymaster. Used to knowing all that went on even more so than her.
“I asked her to come south. To meet us in Myrr.”
“She can’t sail all the way to the landlocked southlands.”
“She’ll have to hire a sleigh at some point, but Sayyida can manage. Vidar might come too, especially if he thinks Vale is there.”
Vale’s cabal were the most loyal of friends, and Saga had hinted in her letter that they were on the hunt for Vale and Neve.
“Tell her to avoid docking in Grindavik,” Lord Riis said. “Sail into Vantalia and have her use the name Lady Glia. She should also not parade about in Virtoris colors or with their sigil, no matter how tempting the privileges. Once docked, tell Sayyida to go to the brothel flying my banner near the docks. I’ll have an escort waiting for her.”
“She’ll be offended that you think she needs anyone to help her,” Saga replied.
“Her offense is the least of my concerns. Her ship and influence over the Nava, however, might be useful.”
Saga nodded slowly, unsure about all that was transpiring—that Neve was a cousin, and, if the rumors were true, might wish to dethrone her father.
A part of her hated the idea, but another part, the bit that despised her title as princess for all the restrictions that came with it, wondered if it wouldn’t be so bad to no longer be royal. She couldlive more freely—marry whomever she wished.
Unsure about so much, Saga sighed and turned to the letter. She added the last parts stipulated by Lord Riis before closing it back up.
“You won’t regret adding that, and neither will Sayyida. We’ll have it sent off in the morning before we set out once more.”
She looked up at the male her mother loved. Perhaps she had loved him for all of her life? Saga did not dare ask.
“What will happen if Neve takes the throne?”
His brown eyes softened. “If you fear for yourself, you need not do so. She loves you, Saga.”
“I don’t fear for myself.”
She did, however, worry that her father and Rhistel might be harmed if Neve seized the throne. Her eldest brother did not deserve Saga’s concerns, but she could not turn them off. That was a failing, a too warm spot in the heart of a daughter of Winter. A weakness.
The stew arrived before she delved deeper into her failings.
Chapter 31
NEVE
Three days had passed since Thyra and I made oaths with the vampires, and yet, as we rode west for Vitvik, I still felt the band of the magic simmering beneath my skin. It mixed with my own powers, now freed since we were about to undergo heists. The sensation was not unpleasant, just odd. A constant reminder of what we’d said.
“Are you well?” Vale asked, his horse coming up alongside mine.
“Fine. Preoccupied by the oath.”
“Had you performed it yourself, you’d hardly sense it at all. That’s why most people perform eiðra that way.”
“I had no idea. When I made a pact with Roar, it was in writing.”
Vale’s jaw tightened. “I assume he did not want to form an eiðra to save his own hide because he knew he might have to break the pact.”
Which was exactly what he’d done. Then Roar hadsidestepped further ramifications of his deception by destroying the blood vials we’d been supposed to drink.
Fates, I hated thinking about that snake.
Willing him from my mind, my gaze drifted to Thyra, riding near the head of the column, her black cloak fluttering behind her in the faint wind.
