Page 3 of The Daughter of the Scarred Elf

Silence filled the room while the guards in front of the room slowly reddened. Kolfinna’s chest stopped painfully squeezing and she could breathe for a few seconds. Maybe she wasn’t alone after all.

“W-Well,” the blond guard, Audun, stammered, “she’s a strong fae and it doesn’t change that she fought against us?—”

“It almost appears like Ragnarök made this entire commotion in order to steal the royal sword,” Fenris said, “and they fought Kolfinna in order to take it from her. That sword is known to have belonged to the last fae queen and her empire, in which King Harald took it as a war trophy when he won againstthe fae. It isn’t too far-fetched to believe that they wanted to steal it back. And who are we to know the full properties of a fae artifact?”

King Leiknir frowned while Nyborg pursed his lips together. “Captain Asulf,” the king said, “do you believe Kolfinna is speaking the truth that she waspossessedby the royal sword?”

“I do.” He turned his silver gaze to her and she wanted to cry right then and there—he was on her side. “She has been under my watch for five months. I would’ve known if she had shown a single sign of disloyalty. She has been nothing but obedient, loyal, and faithful to this country. She has put her life on the line several times?—”

“She still tried to attack my men, Captain,” Nyborg said. “She?—”

“Mymen.” Fenris’s voice cracked like a whip and his eyes flashed. “Do not forget that all Royal Guards are under me, Frode.”

Nyborg flinched and lowered his gaze.

“She has put her life on the line several times,” Fenris repeated, his smooth voice growing louder for everyone to hear. “She is an asset to the Royal Guards and I don’t think we should dismiss her claim about the royal sword.”

Hilda raised her aged hand before Kolfinna could breathe a sigh of relief. “Captain Asulf, I believe you’re being biased and overlooking the fact that shedidattack the men and that she was wielding a sword that is meant only for the royal family. That in itself is treason.”

“That sword is evil,” Kolfinna said, forcing herself to stare at anyone but Hilda. She tried to look for someone in the crowd who might believe her, but they all looked at her as though she were a monster. “Ragnarök?—”

“Silence.” The king’s voice boomed across the cratered, scorched walls of the expansive room, which felt like it was shrinking the longer the trial went on.

Kolfinna swallowed down the bile rising up her throat. Her frustration grew and the anxiety gnawing at her core intensified. How was she going to tell her side of the story if no one would let her speak?

King Leiknir motioned to Nyborg. “Continue.”

Nyborg glanced between the king’s encouraging nod and Fenris’s steel-cut gaze. He cleared his throat. “Err, I also spoke to a few guards from the city and they said they spotted Kolfinna running to the royal palace rather than remaining on the streets of the city to help with the attacks and the evacuations. This tells us that she wanted to fight in the palace rather than fulfill her guard duties. I can only imagine it’s because she wanted to steal the sword.”

Kolfinna cringed. That was right after Yrsa had fought her. She had suspected Yrsa was a member of Ragnarök and had rushed to the palace to confirm that the dreki ambush was just a distraction for something more sinister. She had never thought it would come back and bite her like this.

The gossipy murmurs began again, and the crowd’s suspicion seemed to refuel Nyborg because he stood straighter. “Kolfinna’s commanding officer, Edwin Karlsson, also confirmed that she doesn’t work hard and that she always seems to have some sort of ulterior motive.” He waved to the crowd and a white-blond man stood up. Edwin had been sitting beside his aunt, Hilda, but Kolfinna hadn’t even noticed him until now.

“Furthermore,” Nyborg continued while Edwin sat back down. “Kolfinna had injured a guard, unprompted, two months ago. There were several eyewitnesses who confirmed so.”

At that, Farthin stood. The man who had bullied her, mocked her, and beat her senseless the entire time she was a RoyalGuard, glared at her with such ire that she would’ve flinched if she didn’t hate him so much. That hatred made her stand taller, and she wished she could go back to when she had attacked him all those weeks ago. Where she had left him buried in a hole full of stones.

Kolfinna ripped her gaze away from him and Edwin. They were horrible people, and the way Nyborg spoke of her painted her out to be a lazy, deranged bully.

The king eased back in his throne and tapped the gilt armrest of his throne. “I see, I see,” he murmured, looking pleased with himself. “It’s becoming clear what kind of person Kolfinna is.”

The rest of the crowd seemed to be in agreement as they nodded, glared, and murmured amongst each other.

“Then—” King Leiknir began.

The grand, gilded double doors of the throne room swung open and rattled against the walls in that exact moment. The whole room shifted toward the intruder. The sound of clothes rustling as people turned, stifled gasps, and the clacking of Sijur’s heeled boots slapping the marbled floors pervaded the buzzing air. Kolfinna’s breath, which had felt like it was stuck in her chest for the longest time, released raggedly at the sight.

Sijur was all smiles, despite being here at the last moment. His light gray, uncreased military uniform was out of place in the sea of luxurious dresses, shiny jewels, and Royal Guard uniforms.

“Apologies for being late!” Sijur announced with a wave to the crowd. When he was three feet away from the throne, he bowed animatedly to the king. Even to Kolfinna it seemed exaggerated, almost sarcastic. When he raised his head, his teeth gleamed in a grin. “Greetings, Your Highness.”

“Sijur Bernsten.” The monarch’s eyes narrowed. The ends of his thin lips twitched into a scowl. “What are you doing here?”

“I have a request to halt this trial.” He turned his head to Kolfinna and winked.

Kolfinna blinked in response, while someone audibly gasped. The king went unnaturally still while he peered down at Sijur with mildly veiled animosity.

She vaguely remembered that the Royal Guards and the king didn’t get along with the military and the commander-in-chief. And seeing as how Sijur was the son of the commander, she could only imagine what rivalry brewed between the monarch faction and the military.

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