"Good." Finn started walking ahead, so I followed alongside him. "Are you ready to see the Queen? I"ve told her about your arrival, and she"s anxious to meet with you."
I wouldn"t have minded a few minutes to gather my thoughts and get cleaned up. Especially since I was wearing jeans with holes in the knees, a tank top that showed my black bra strap, and my hair was just pulled back in a ponytail. But I also knew better than to keep royalty waiting.
"I can meet the Queen now."
"Good." Finn smiled for a moment. "She"s a fair Queen, and there"s no reason for you to worry."
"Thanks." I smiled back at him. "I"ll try not to."
The roads inside Forening were even more winding than the ones that led to it, and it sort of felt like we were walking in circles until we finally reached the palace. Unlike many of the other troll palaces, which were designed more like castles, the Trylle palace was an opulent mansion.
Long vines grew over the three-story structure, nearly masking the bright white exterior, and the back was made entirely of windows. It sat perched on the edge of a bluff, with the back of the palace supported by beams overgrown with vines. It appeared as if it might fall off the edge and plummet into the river many feet below, but the Trylle had enough magic that I knew that would never happen.
Finn opened the grand front door, and I"d expected a footman to greet us, but the Trylle apparently had a much more help-yourself kind of operation. Inside the main hall, the floors were marble, and from the front door I could see straight through the house to the breathtaking view through the windowed back wall.
As Finn led me through the palace, I was once again reminded of the gated community in northern California and the mansions I"d seen there. The chandeliers on the ceiling, the velvet jade runner that lined the corridor, even the furnishingsit was all lavish but it was all so modern. Other than the paintings on the wall, which appeared to be of former Kings and Queens.
Finally we reached the throne room, where I"d be meeting with the Queen. Finn pushed open two ma.s.sive doors with vines carved into them. I"d been here once before, when I"d visited Forening as part of a field trip in tracker school and had been given a tour of the palace. But the beauty of the throne room would never cease to impress me.
It was a circular room, with rounded walls, and the one behind the throne was made of floor-to-ceiling gla.s.s, to take in more of that stunning view. In all honesty, it felt more like an atrium with a domed skylight stretching high above. Vines grew over the ornate silver and gold designs etched on the walls, making this room feel much closer to nature than anything we had in Doldastam.
The throne sat in the center of the room, covered with lush emerald velvet, and I could"ve sworn that when I"d been here last, the throne had been red. It was made of platinum that swirled into latticing with bright emeralds laid into it.
Queen Wendy Staad sat in the throne, wearing a long flowing gown. The fabric was a deep evergreen, nearly black, but there was something iridescent about it, so when she moved, it would shimmer and change color.
Her dark brown curls were arranged perfectly, with one bright silver lock in the front. She appeared young, even though she was actually a few years older than me, but she had a severity about her when she smiled at me.
On either side of her there was a smaller chair fashioned in the same way as her throne. To her left was Bain Ottesen, the Trylle Chancellor I had met before in Storvatten. He was a rather slight young man with dark hair and features, so only his bright blue eyes gave away his partial Skojare heritage.
To her right was the King, Loki Staad. He sat rather casually for a King, tilting to one side and resting on his elbow, and he grinned when I entered the room. His hair was lighter than most Trylle"s, and it was slightly disheveled.
"My Queen." Finn bowed slightly as he entered the room, so I followed suit. "This is Bryn Aven of the Kanin. I told you about her."
I stepped forward and bowed again. "Thank you for taking time to meet with me."
"You"ve come here asking for our aid." The Queen folded her hands over her lap, and raised her chin slightly as she looked down at me. "Tell me exactly why we should do that, given that you"ve been charged with treason by one of our greatest allies."
TWENTY.
correspond May 18, 2014 Bryn I wanted to be the one to call you, but Ridley wouldn"t let me. He said it"s too dangerous, and even though I know it"s true, I still wish I"d been able to actually talk to you.
Maybe I can soon though. If the Trylle give you amnesty. But they have to, right? Finn promised he"d help you. I know Queen Wendy has gotten stricter over the past few years. (Finn says that the battle with the Vittra changed something in her.) But you need help, and she has to see that. She has to be fair.
I say that as if anything in life is fair or right. After what happened to Ridley ... I mean, I don"t even know what happened with Ridley. Ever since he came back, he"s been strange. He won"t talk about anything. Tilda says I push too much and I need to just let him be but I just want to know that he"s okay.
The funeral for the King was this morning. It was held inside the ballroom in the palace, and it was standing room only with people spilling out into the street. People turned out from other Kanin communities, but Queen Mina wouldn"t let them in. She said that they could be spies for Viktor"s army, so they had to wait outside the gates of Doldastam listening to the bells toll.
She wouldn"t even invite any of the royalty from the other kingdoms, because she claims she can"t trust them. She says that we can"t trust anybody. During the funeral, the Queen spent most of the time swearing vengeance.
The worst part is that everyone ate it up. They were all cheering when she promised bloodshed to Evert"s enemies. Not that I blame them entirely. Somebody in our midst murdered our King.
At the funeral, Ridley stood in the back by himself. When everyone started cheering, I looked back and saw him sneak out. I hope n.o.body else noticed because that won"t look good for him.
I"m training harder with Delilah. We have to prepare for what"s coming. I don"t know what it is yet, but it"s something dark and something big. And I can"t let her get hurt.
I know this is terrible timing, but I can"t help it. I"m falling head over heels for Delilah. I feel so guilty, since our whole world is falling apart, but my heart doesn"t give a d.a.m.n about time or place. All that matters is how we feel about each other.
But she has given me so much strength through all of this. I feel like I can do anything for her, and I will. I"ll do whatever I must to keep her safe when this war finally begins.
Can I tell you an awful truth? I"m looking forward to this war. The tension and the waiting is maddening, especially when paranoia is running rampant.
I"m not sure if I should tell you this, but by the time you get this, hopefully everything will be all over, and you"ll want to know about it. Even if it hurts to hear.
Astrid Eckwell tried to accuse your father of poisoning the King. It was right after the funeral, when everyone was milling about. She just stood up and pointed to him and said it was him. She was hysterical, and the guards eventually dragged her away.
Queen Mina silenced the crowd, reminding them that the Hogdragen had already investigated your father. But that was all she said, so people kept giving your parents these awful glares until they finally slunk out. Well, they didn"t slink exactly. You know your mother. She keeps her head held high no matter what anybody throws at her.
They should leave Doldastam, but I don"t think the Queen will let them. No one can go in or out. Tilda has talked about making a break for it, but I don"t know if she will. I don"t blame her, though. I can"t imagine having a baby here, even though she"s not due for a few months.
You"re so lucky that you"re not here. I don"t know if you"re safe. I don"t know if you"ll ever be safe again. But I still think you"re the lucky one.
Your friend (no matter what), Ember
TWENTY-ONE.
asylum It was the look in her eyes that caught me off guard. In the corridor, right before we reached the throne room, there had been a ma.s.sive painting of Elora Dahl, the Trylle"s most recent Queen before Wendy. Jet-black hair, flawless olive skin, dark piercing gazeshe was as beautiful as she was imposing.
But it was that look from the painting. Somehow, even in a rendering on canvas, Elora made me feel like I was two inches tall. And it was that exact look that Queen Wendy now shared with her mother.
I wanted to falter under her gaze, but I stood tall, with my shoulders back.
"I have been falsely accused," I told her coolly, and that caused King Loki to c.o.c.k an eyebrow.
"That seems a bit like a convenient excuse, doesn"t it?" Queen Wendy asked, unmoved.
"I was working in Storvatten, under direction of my kingdom," I explained. "The Queen there felt unsafe, and I, along with my comrade Kasper Abbott, was sent to find out the cause of her unease.
"Upon returning to Doldastam, I discovered information that tied the problems in Storvatten to the Prince, Kennet Biaelse," I went on. "When I tried to bring this to King Evert, Queen Mina blocked my attempts. Kasper and I explained the situation to her, and she accused us of treason and had us sent to the dungeon."
"What did you say that made her allege treason?" Queen Wendy tilted her head, appearing interested.
"She said that simply making any claim against an ally was treasonous," I answered.
Wendy sat up straighter and exchanged a look with her Chancellor, Bain. Then she looked back at me. "Go on."
"I was afraid that we"d be locked away in the dungeon, so Kasper and I escaped in order to clear our names," I said. "We went to Kennet"s room, since he was staying in the Doldastam palace. He admitted to his involvement in the attempts on both Queen Linnea and King Mikko"s lives in Storvatten."
Loki let out a surprised whistle, causing Finn to cast a harsh look at him. For their parts, Wendy and Bain appeared unfazed.
"An altercation ensued between Kennet, Kasper, and myself," I went on. "Kennet killed Kasper, and I began to fight with Kennet. During the struggle, Kennet fell out the window and died."
Bain leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. "So you think Kennet was behind everything in Storvatten? What about when you arrested Konstantin Black and Bent Stum for the crimes against the Skojare kingdom?"
"Kennet admitted to hiring them to do his dirty work," I said, lying a little. "He wanted to be King himself, instead of his brother."
Kennet had confirmed that he"d hired someonehe just never talked to Konstantin himself. Mina had been the intermediary, but I thought if I accused Mina of anything without substantial evidence, Queen Wendy would question everything I was saying.
I didn"t thinking aligning myself with Konstantin right now would help my case, and he was the only way I had been able to put all the pieces together. That meant that I had to leave out a few things and twist a few facts.
"But why wouldn"t Queen Mina hear you out?" Wendy asked.
"Her reasons were never made clear to me, Your Highness," I said. "You"d have to ask her that yourself."
Wendy leaned back in her throne and exhaled. "I don"t know what I should do with you." She considered for a moment. "I know the Kanin would want me to return you to them so they could devise a punishment for themselves."
"With all due respect, My Queen, if you send Bryn back to the Kanin, they will execute her," Finn interjected. "Do you really think anything she"s done deserves execution?"
"And you have granted amnesty before," Loki said with a sly smile, and Wendy cast him a look.
"Those were under vastly different circ.u.mstances," she said, almost whispering.
"I am inclined to agree with Finn," Bain said. He"d settled back in his seat and crossed his leg over his knee. "I worked with Bryn in Storvatten, and she seemed intent on serving her kingdom, not destroying it."
"Since both Finn and the Chancellor are vouching for you, and my husband seems to think it"s a good idea, then we will grant you amnesty. For now," Wendy said, emphasizing the fact that it could be revoked if she decided it should be. "Under one condition."
"And what"s that?" I asked, feeling so relieved that I would"ve agreed to nearly anything at that point.
"Finn must keep an eye on you as long as you reside within the Kingdom of the Trylle." She turned her hard gaze to him. "Any trouble that Bryn gets herself into falls on you."
He nodded. "I understand."
The Queen looked back at me. "The King, the Chancellor, and I will continue discussing these matters. But for the time being, you are safe and you"re free to stay here." She smiled. "Welcome to Forening, Bryn."
TWENTY-TWO.
domestic As soon as Finn opened the door to his squat cottage tucked away inside the bluffs, children dove at himtwo squealing b.a.l.l.s of delight with mops of curly hair. Both of them had mud smeared on their clothes, probably from a day spent out in the yard on the warm spring day.
Finn scooped up both of the kids with ease, holding one in each arm. I"d met them before, at Ember"s house, since Finn tried to visit his family whenever he had a chance. Hanna, the little girl, was about five years old, and she was babbling excitedly about the adventures she"d had that day with her mom and her brother.
The younger boy, on the other hand, was much more observant than his older sister. Liam couldn"t have been more than two, with chubby cheeks and dark brown eyes the size of saucers. He stared back at me over his dad"s shoulder, studying me intently.
Finn"s wife Mia came out from a back bedroom, shaking her head and making her ponytail bob. The long sundress she wore fell over the rapidly growing belly. It had only been a little over a month since I"d last seen her at Ember"s birthday party, but by the way she looked now, it seemed like the baby must be due soon.
"Sorry about the kids," Mia said, offering me an embarra.s.sed smile as she walked over to Finn and the kids.
"No, it"s fine," Finn a.s.sured her, and gave her a quick peck on the lips.
"Since Bryn is here, I take it that the meeting went well?" Mia asked.
Finn nodded. "She"ll be staying with us for a while, but that"s what we"d planned anyway."
"I hope it"s not too much trouble having me here," I said.
"It"s no trouble at all." Mia smiled. "I"ll take the kids to Liam"s room to play, and let you get settled in." Liam allowed his mom to pick him up, but he turned his head, unwilling to take his eyes off me for a second.
And then suddenly it hit me, watching Mia and Finn with their children like thatthis would"ve been Tilda"s life. This should"ve been her and Kasper, and their unborn child, but now it never would be.
Because I had failed to act fast enough, Kasper had been killed, and this whole life was ripped away from Tilda and their baby. And now I couldn"t even be with her. I couldn"t even apologize for what had happened.
It all fell on me so hard, I was afraid my knees would give way for a moment. I wanted nothing more than to collapse on the cool dirt floor and let the sadness overtake me, but I couldn"t do that. I couldn"t let it.
"Bryn?" Mia"s eyes widened with concern. "Are you okay?" Then she turned to her husband, sounding panicked. "Finn, I think she"s gonna pa.s.s out."
Finn dropped Hanna quickly but safely on the floor, then hurried over to me. "Bryn?"
"I"m fine," I said but my words sounded hollow. He put his hand on my arm to steady me, and I wanted to push it away, but I didn"t have the strength.
"Have her sit down and get her a gla.s.s of water," Mia said, taking Hanna"s hand.
Finn took my duffel bag from me, and I didn"t even try to fight it. He led me over to the kitchen table and pulled out a chair for me. I sat with my head in my hands and let him fuss over me until the weakness finally began to subside.
When I looked up, Finn was standing over me with a worried crease in his brow, and Mia was sitting at the table beside me. I hadn"t even heard her come back out.
"Sorry," I mumbled. "I don"t know what that was about."
"No need to be sorry." Mia reached out, touching my forehead gently. "You"re cool and clammy. Are you feeling sick at all?"
I shook my head. "No. I"ve just had a very long week."
Mia leaned on the table, studying me the same way her son had before. "When was the last time you"ve eaten?"