“Thank you, Joetta.” Grim nods at Sigvid.
“Slode, let her go.”
Slode drops his axe hand. Joetta massages her throat where his blade has pressed. “I will only take you to Nellie and then to Queen Avina's items if you swear to bring her home and kill Duke Samson. None of us want another King Rendel.”
“I swear, as Prince of Salt, Samson will die by our hands. Now Joetta, where is Nellie?”
“She and the Duke are in different directions.” She gathers the discarded linens and places them on the dresser.
“My friends here would love a private meeting with him.” Sigvid gestures to the others. Grim is already cracking his knuckles.
“Leave it to me.” Joetta disappears for a longer time than Sigvid is comfortable.
She finally returns, looking pleased with herself.
“Samson is eating his morning meal in his chambers just down the main stairs. We staged a distraction a few floors down,keeping his servants preoccupied. Your Majesty,” she curtsies to Sigvid, “we are to collect Nellie.”
Grim and Slode leave the bedchambers, heading to detain Samson.
Joetta leads Sigvid out into the hall and down a servant staircase. They twist through the castle until they stumble onto a deserted wing with a line of closed doors. Joetta unlocks one to reveal a collection of chests, crates, and other assorted items. Only when he finds a leather journal with ‘property of Avina Bloodstone’ scrawled on the first page does he realize these are her belongings.
What a piece of shit.
Samson’s supposed fiancé found herself captured three weeks ago by the most fearsome warrior in Treland. His response is to send one man to appeal to Salt, and then he packs her items and locks them away, never speaking of her again.
A pinprick against the back of his neck coerces him to meet Joetta’s scowling expression, clutching a dagger with both hands.
“You stole her from us. She deserves to be our Queen, and you took her!” She is blubbering. “I know what you’ll do to that precious kitty. I heard what they said in the Arena. You will use Nellie against Her Majesty.”
“I would never hurt an animal. You should see what I did to the Hound Master for killing cats.” The satisfying memory of the hounds devouring his flesh is still fresh in his mind. “What rumors have there been?”
He could disarm her, but now he’s just curious.
She digs the point of the dagger deeper into his skin. He respects her passion even if exaggerated stories have misled her.
“There are many! Your hate for our Queen after she defeated you. You tricked her, dragging her to Salt so you can torture her slowly in the most gruesome ways imaginable.”
“Interesting, but untrue.”
Sigvid squeezes her wrist until she squeals, and the dagger clatters to the floor. He kicks the door shut while twirling her tiny blade that amounted to an overgrown toothpick.
“I will forgive this little outburst because your help until now has been impeccable.” He flips the dagger until the point rests under his chin.“I am known for a great many things, Joetta, but harming animals is not one of them.”
Joetta scoffs. “Your words aremeaningless.”
It would be so damn easy to choke this girl out. Or threaten her the rest of the way to Nellie. But, an Avina-sized grip keeps him restrained.
Damn that fucking woman and her fucking hold on me.
He slips a hand into a pocket of his tunic, and Joetta’s eyes track his every move. “Do you know what this is?” He holds out a lock of golden hair tied with twine.
Her eyes bulge. “Queen Avina’s hair. I helped her cut that to send to you.”
Sigvid nods. “I have kept this,” he slips the curl back into his pocket, “since I received it all those months ago.”
“Why did you kidnap her? Try to kill her if you feel something for Her Highness?”
She is asking too many fucking questions.
