“There are no stakes other than peace for the fae realms and sea folk against the elven. What other stakes matter?”
“Stakes of the heart, Jonas.” Von cuffed the back of my head.
“Those are not on the table.”
“Then what is the purpose of this little secret project for the princess?”
Sander said nothing, but came to my side, the same furrow of concern he had the day of the vows written on his face.
“It’s nothing but a bit of advice from Ari about adding joy to her days.” I looked at each of them once before going on. “It’s nothing more than trying to make a piss-poor situation more tolerable.”
The trouble was I didn’t think there was nearly as much misery returning home with a wife as I anticipated.
Von sobered. “I don’t think it is a bad thing, Jonas. I was glad when you asked for our help with all this.”
“Von, your tender heart is showing.” I knocked his shoulder as I strode past. “Don’t read so much into it. You’re as romantic in the eyes as Mira.”
“Well, she might have a point.”
“I have a request,” Sander interjected.
“What?” I spun around, walking backward to look at my brother.
“Find a way to make my new sister not look at me like I’m going to attack in the night. You’ve told her, right? You’ve let her know I don’t hold ill feelings that I was wounded?”
“Probably thinks you’re embarrassed by the scar.” Von gingerly patted Sander’s ribs where Skadi’s knife had lodged into his innards during the battle.
He shook his head. “Not in the least, she was the better fighter of us. The woman is fearsome with a blade.”
It was a strange feeling, the pain of nearly losing Sander to the Otherworld was there, but now it was edged in a bit of pride that Skadi was a damn warrior beneath her stoicism and mild temperament.
“Jonas, she knows, right?”
These bouts of drifting thoughts needed to end. “I might’ve mentioned it.”
Sander frowned. “I’ll speak to her.”
“Don’t corner her and demand friendship, Sander.” I hooked an arm around his neck, squeezing him against my side as we descended the tower staircase that led back to my wing. “Give her time to get her bearings.”
“Well, I think she is searching for them. I do hope she finds them soon.” Von went still at the bottom of the stairs, eyes straight ahead. “She’s mystifying, isn’t she?”
A strange stutter stilled my breath. Skadi was in her doorway, one hand behind her back, glancing in the opposite direction.
“She is.” I wasn’t certain if I was the one who spoke or one of the others.
Like a fist rammed through my middle, I could’ve doubled over from the sight of her. Hair spilled down her back in loose waves. Delicate braids crowned the top of her head, and woven around them was a small silver chain. The dress she wore was a shade of green like sea foam and moss that split high enough on her leg I could see the smooth shade of her soft, sun-toasted skin.
The scrape of our boots from stone steps to wooden floors drew her attention.
“Oh.” She straightened and drew in a sharp breath. “I was looking for a ser—staff.”
“Jonas.” Sander elbowed me. “She’s speaking to you.”
I cleared my throat and stepped forward. “Ah, they’re likely downstairs finishing with the feast. What is it you need, Fire?”
Skadi’s cheeks pinked. “Oh. I suppose I could ask Dorsan, but . . . he will likely die of impropriety.”
“We can’t have that. You have your husband and two sometimes-dependable men at your disposal.”
