The other three also agreed with the stipulation that, at least for the time being, they take orders only from Thyra.
“It’s not that we dislike or distrust you after your heist in Avaldenn,” Halladora said. “We just know Thyra better. For now, this is how it will be.”
Trust was earned, often very slowly. Though it would make things more difficult, I couldn’t rush this. “I understand.”
“So where do we go from here?” Tonna asked, her eyes gleaming brighter than before. I suspected she enjoyed being asked to be a part of this exclusive group.
“You should train together,” I said. “Starting today. You’re all powerful, but you do not all know how the others fight. Time to learn, for who knows when Thyra and I will need you?” I thought of the Ice Scepter, and how it was our shared goal to find it. How Thyra believed it would give her understanding of the other Hallows.
I swallowed, feeling ever more guilty for keeping the secrets of the Frør Crown from her. I’d remedy that today. In private, of course.
“Does this mean I cannot train with my sisters?” Livia asked.
“Not at all,” Thyra assured her. “You’re not obligated to be a Valkyrja, but you should all train together. The best with the best. Just no using your fangs. Not until we meet our enemies anyway.”
The female warriors agreed, and the first of the Valkyrja and Livia returned to the training area, leaving me alone with my twin.
“That was easy,” I said on the back of an exhale.
“When others respect your actions, it is easy to get them to follow. That reflects well on us both.” Her face was soft, loose, relaxed.
Should I take this moment to tell her?
Thyra twisted to take in the vast scope of the training room. She stiffened, all the looseness gone.
I searched for what had caught her attention, only to find Thantrel staring our way. Thyra stared right back at him, though like last night, she was not scowling or hard-faced. Instead she looked . . . thoughtful?
“He’s a great person,” I whispered. “The timing is horrible, but?—”
“Stop, Neve. I want to focus on us. Not some male, no matter how handsome he is.”
I imagined telling Thantrel that Thyra had called him handsome and seeing his face light up, but then her words sank in deeper. No, this was between them, and my sisterhad valid reasons for rejecting him, even if she’d done so coldly.
Then again, was that any surprise? We were Daughters of Winter. Of the coldest family to have walked this realm.
“I won’t again. Not unless you wish to talk about him,” I inhaled. “And actually, I have something more to tell you. Something I wanted to tell you last night before Luccan fell. I lost the thought of it after that, but now is as good a time as last night.”
“What’s that?” Relief that I’d dropped the matter of her mate rushed across her face.
“It’s about the Frør Crown. In the vault, it told me to try it on. I did, and I saw something. Something I don’t understand.”
“Why didn’t you say something earlier?” Her tone had hardened considerably, and she took a step back.
Annoyance lashed through me like a whip. “You’ve demanded much from me and given little in return. I still don’t have the blade promised to me.” Her face fell, and I regretted the words, even though I felt them wholly. We’d come so far in a day. I wanted us to go further. Not stall here, when we’d just started to bond. “I suppose I wasn’t sure that I could trust you, but nowI am.”
She swallowed. “I understand.”
A pause swept between us before she added, “You’re aware that we cannot stand together in everything, right? The throne seats one.”
“Yes,” I whispered. “But for now, the throne is so very far away, after all. It can wait.”
Although I’d started to want the ruling seat enough toaccept a queensguard and advisors, I thought that I could give up a throne for Thyra. After all, I’d first wished to run away from that powerful seat entirely, at least until I understood how many people I could help. The fae of Winter’s Realm, maybe, in time, the slaves of the Vampire Kingdom.
As long as Thyra proved that she was for the people of this realm, I could step down. I could live a fulfilled life in so many other ways.
Perhaps she thought the same thing, for she turned and gestured to the door. “Come, sister. Let me reunite you with Sassa’s Blade. Then we’ll visit the Frør Crown, and you can show me what you’ve discovered.”
Chapter 39
