Argnier, Gunni, and little Eivor trudge armed at his back.
Crystal marches behind them, her unique scale armor glinting in the sunlight.
A puffy-eyed Jarl Clementia and her eldest daughter, who doubles as her Second, take their places in the back along with Renfield, Clem’s dutiful husband.
He expected none of these allies to join him or to provide support.
Only Edmund and Thora meet his stride to fulfill their sole command.
And yet the Jarl of Kaldrgataness, devoid of his spiked circlet,parts the tide of his people as he approaches his longhouse in not a scrap of armor.
Drengr lurk at every corner, and he can spy no Kaldrgataness soldier since most of them now camp around Coldheart Keep, far from the town itself.
At least his crew remains unaccosted as they near his longhouse. A comfort he knows exists because Sigvid awaits to skin him alive under this false knowledge Lavinia created.
Standing before the towering double doors of the longhouse, he takes a final deep breath. Closing his eyes, he imagines Aura’s smiling face as he awakens with her safe in his arms, sunlight tickling her rosy cheeks.
I will save you, my princess. No one, including your father, will keep me from you.
With a final shuddering roll of his shoulders and signaling to everyone but Edmund and Thora to wait, he throws the doors open.
The King of Treland lounges on Calder’s throne with all the possessive power the unhinged Beast can contain. Slode leans down, speaking in his ear, but his attention shifts toward the doors slamming.
Their gazes meet across the room, and a twisted smile promising pain paints across his mentor’s face.
“Jarl Calder fucking Avardsson.” He jumps from the raised dais, sauntering toward them.
At least Slode has the decency to appear concerned at his appearance.
“You have until I reach your backstabbing cunt ass to tell me where you have my Queen before I rip your fucking lungs out through your back.”
Thank the Norn for Thora's explanation of what transpired back in Blackwood with Lavinia.
Calder’s breath remains steady despite Sigvid’s berserker side trembling with anticipation. “I would never touch your Queen. But I do know where Lavinia took her.”
Sigvid gestures around with a disturbed laugh. “Here! She wastaken here to Kaldr-fucking-gataness. Your dear mother told me so as she dragged my wife out our fucking front door!” His voice rattles the rafters. “I wouldn’t have believed the half of it had I not learned your mother tasked you and your Jarl pals with delivering my daughter to Lavinia’s feet.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Thora commands the lingering Drengr in the longhouse without a word. The group slips silently to the front door, even if their necks twist to gawk at the simmering pot that is their King.
“You think so little of me, Lord Commander.” Calder swipes a horn of mead from one of the tables and drains the drink in one gulp.
Leave it to Sigvid to deplete my stocks of Salt mead.
“Why would I think more of a traitor?” Sigvid grits his teeth.
“I would not know what you’re talking about.” He plucks an apple off a bowl and takes a loud, juicy bite that echoes.
In response, Sigvid kicks one of the long tables, colliding it with another. “My little Queen is in the hands of fucking Lavinia! If you don’t return my wife to my arms, I will take my time ripping you apart slowly as I savor every drop of blood you fucking spill.”
Once the final Drengr exits, leaving only Sigvid, Calder, Slode, and Edmund, he tosses the half-eaten apple on the ground. “Is that all? You seem more unhinged than usual, Sig.”
Edmund finally reaches his father, tugging him aside.
Sigvid shakes with unbridled rage. “No fucking shit! Lavinia has half of my godsdamn family imprisoned in the shitstain that is Skalor.” He pauses. “Where is Aura? Where is my daughter?” He growls, looking around the room as if expecting her to materialize.
At the mention of her name, Calder’s chest thuds with the torment of having not been able to shield her from the evil of his parents.
Damn, Lavinia, for manipulating this moment, and fuck Sigvid for buying into her lies.
