What the actual fuck?
“That alone is not enough reason to believe her treasonous,” the prince replied. Did he sound angry, or was she projecting her own feelings?
“Under her leadership, our attempts to gather solid information against the mortals have constantly been thwarted. We never captured the right person. When we have caught someone, they’ve died before we could properly interrogate them.”
Had Latham always had such a snivelly voice?
“In your stint in charge, have you been able to glean any vital information?” the prince asked coolly. Latham had the good sense to appear at least a little chagrined.
“Well, no, but we haven’t had the chance since we’ve been dealing with Solveig’s absence,” he said, clearly grasping at straws.
“The monarchs of the realms are getting restless, but I will not settle for anything less than absolute proof of involvement with the mortals. Or at least a reasonable motive that connects these incidents,” the prince said gravely.
“What about her coming back? No one has ever escaped before, yet she did, with barely a scratch on her,” Trella insisted.
Like someone had stabbed her, all the blood drained from her body. They would use her escape against her? The prince seemed equally troubled. He swallowed hard, clearing his throat.
“No, that is not a good enough reason.”
There was a long pause. Latham appeared to wrestle with indecision before letting out a long sigh.
“Her father was a mortal,” he said quietly.
No.
How could he? Howdarehe? No one knew that information, save for the queens and Latham. And Trella, apparently, because she did not look at all shocked by the revelation. The prince, however, did.
He reared his head back, disbelief colouring his features.
“That’s not ... That’s not possible,” he whispered.
“It’s true. Solveig told me herself,” Latham said.
That bastard.Solveig was going to kill him, but first, she would rip his tongue out and shove it up his ass, as promised.
“She was raised by the queens, was she not?” the prince asked skeptically. Latham hesitated again, but apparently he’d made up his mind to spill all the secrets.
“She was. As you know, Queen Koa’s mother was one of the strongest Vanir who ever lived. She was a force to be reckoned with, but she had one weakness—her mate was a mortal.” The prince shook his head absently. “Yes, she was married to an Elven, but she found her mate later in life. A mortal man was brought in as a slave and the mating bond struck her to her knees the first time she saw him. Such a thing was unheard of, and her Elven husband was forced to watch his wife fall in love with a pathetic human. That human sired her a child—Solveig.”
“You’re saying that Queen Koa is Solveig’s half-sister? And her father was mortal? How is she so powerful?” the prince asked, clearly unconvinced.
“Her strong Vanir heritage overrode her mortal half, and as she grew, she showed signs of her mother’s great power. Threatened by Solveig, the Elven husband had her father murdered. He then poisoned his wife, but not before Koa became aware of what was happening. She was too late to stop her father and watched her mother die when Solveig was a babe. Koa and her wife took Solveig in and raised her as their own shortly after being sworn in as Queens of Asgard.”
The prince took all this in, but Solveig couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Did he believe it? His face was set in deep concentration and he slowly nodded his head.
“So you see, she’s half human! Her father was mortal, killed by an Elven. She has a reason to side with mortals, she’s one ofthem!” Trella exclaimed.
The prince nodded again and Solveig’s entire being went still. “I see,” was all he said before walking back into the camp.
Solveig watched his retreating form, the wind carrying his scent to her. She breathed in deeply and ignored the deep part of her soul that flinched. Tearing her gaze away from him, she focused back on the couple. A smile crept across Trella’s narrow face.
“Lath! We did it!” she said quite loudly, throwing her arms around his neck.
With Latham’s face buried in Trella’s hair, Solveig couldn’t see his reaction. When Trella practically climbed Latham’s body, wrapping her legs around him, she decided it was time to leave. He backed her into a tree and started kissing her ferociously. She didn’t want to see him dry hump the twat.
She quietly backed away, Trella’s obnoxious moans assaulting her ears as she crept towards the side entrance and made her way back to her tent.
Gerrie was going to lose her mind when she found out what Latham had done.
