Halsten had an idea. “Let me check something.”
He opened each drawer and knocked on the bottom, closing them when he didn’t find what he was looking for. When he got to a bottom drawer, he knocked and a hollow sound reverberated through the vanity.
He ran his fingers along the inside of the drawer until he found a divot. His finger was too big to loop under the indent, so he had Linnea grab it. She pulled, lifting the false bottom out of the drawer.
“You did it,” Niklas was hypnotized by what was in the drawer.
Halsten shrugged. “I made a false bottom to hide my rum from my parents when I was younger.”
A hand mirror encased in a gold handle covered in ornate carvings sat there, untouched and hidden for decades.
“It’s only the mirror, though.” Niklas ran a hand through his curls.
Linnea slowly shook her head. “I know exactly where the comb is.”
“You do?” Halsten asked. “Where?”
“Hidden in plain sight. Directly on Asta’s vanity.”
Gyrial stowed the mirror in his pack to keep it safe since he was probably the most lethal of the group. Well, on land, anyway. Get Liva to any body of water and she would take down troops in one swipe.
“How did Queen Else get ahold of such a precious siren artifact?” Liva questioned. “This has been lost for thousands of years. We were always taught that the fae took our most powerful weapons and hid them in an attempt to keep the peace between the two merspecies.”
Gyrial shrugged. Halsten always forgot how thick his Spellid mountain accent was until he spoke. The fae was of few words unless he was around Asta.
“No word of your comb and mirror have been passed down to the most recent generations. The first I heard of them was when Niklas mentioned them. The trident, on the other hand, is something any fae will willingly admit we keep hidden. Though the vast majority of fae don’t know where it is, we all know we have it.”
“Do you know where it is, then?” Liva pressed.
“Of course not, or else I would have retrieved it by now. I would like this war to end once and for all, as well. Asta is not safe until it is.” Gyrial challenged the sea dragon with a hard stare.
Either way, the trident was likely not in the Blomvin Manor and they had been blessed by having this much time going undisturbed.
Halsten twirled his finger in a circular motion. “Let’s wrap it up. We can rehash century-long feuds on the ride home.”
To Halsten’s surprise, everyone agreed and emerged from the room. As they came down the stairs, the exit in sight, a figure stepped into their path.
It was a woman, finely dressed in a thick green velvet gown that complemented her auburn hair. A thick smattering of freckles crossed the bridge of her nose, but did nothing to conceal her wrinkles and age spots. Especially her frown lines.
She stood between them and the doorway with a wicked grin on her lips.
Linnea stepped down a few more stairs ahead of the group. “Beautiful dress. Who paid for it? It certainly wasn’t the Blomvin trust, seeing as King Botmar is currently storing that until I’m old enough to manage it myself.”
Greer smiled sweetly. “Didn’t you hear? I remarried after you left me. Duke Tiernan of Besniell. He so graciously repaired the manor you left in shambles after robbing me.”
So, that was how she twisted the story. Her evil daughter robbed her blind and ran away with the Blomvin trust, leaving her with nothing.
Greer stopped a servant nervously passing through the foyer. “Be a dear and stoke the fires. It’s a bit chilly, and I would hate for my daughter to get cold during her visit.”
Judging by the way Linnea’s fists balled, Halsten knew Greer struck a nerve. He stepped forward and placed a hand on the small of Linnea’s back. She leaned into his touch.
“So you’ve tricked someone else into your twisted games. Tell me, who do you chain to the grand fireplace now that I’m not here?” Linnea sucked in a shaky breath but concealed it well.
Chained to the grand fireplace? Every muscle in Halsten’s body tightened with restraint to stop himself from strangling this woman. The scars on Linnea’s wrists were from heated metal. From the corner of his eye, Halsten could see that Gyrial now had his hand on the pommel of his sword, also using an extreme amount of restraint to not slaughter the woman.
A short, stout man with a full face of hair sauntered into the room, a stunned expression on his face when he noticed the crowd on the stairs. “My love, I wasn’t aware we had guests coming today.”
“They were just leaving,” Greer remarked.
