Page 47 of The Crown of the Last Fae Queen
Blár lifted his shoulders. “I highly doubt he will succeed, but I thought I should let you in on the plan. We don’t have much more of a plan right now; do you have any ideas of when you can break free from your guards?”
“We’ll have to choose a time when Vidar and his generals aren’t around,” Kolfinna said, chewing on her lower lip. Blár had defeated Rakel before, but she had no idea how he would fare against Floki, Agnarr, or Freyja—or all of them combined. She had no doubt in her mind that they were all easily black ranked, in terms of power. Not to mention Vidar, who seemed unstoppable. Even if she managed to get away from Yrsa and Astrid, she couldn’t imagine herself getting far with such powerful people close by. “Blár, we have to be careful. His generals are powerful.”
“Is there any time when they’re not around? I can’t imagine them staying here when their armies are invading the rest of this kingdom.”
She blinked up at him. “What do you mean?”
“You didn’t know?”
Anxiety knotted in her stomach. “Know what?”
“At this very moment, they’re battling with the military and the Royal Guards. The generals seem to have stopped by here for some reason—because of you, maybe? But I don’t think they’ll stay here for too long. Eventually, they’ll have to return to their posts.”
Kolfinna should have expected as much; Vidar and his armies weren’t here simply for her—their ultimate goal was to take back their lands, and she was an instrument to help in thatcause. But hearing the words out loud—that they were advancing into Rosain and potentially claiming more territory—made her physically sick.
“Are you well?” Blár touched her arm and she found herself nodding.
“Yes …” She exhaled deeply, her thoughts jumbling together. Through it all, a clear idea formed in her mind; an idea she didn’t like one bit. “Maybe we should hold off on my escape plan.”
“Why?”
“I’m in a unique position,” she said. “I’m able to become close to these people. I doubt they will come to trust me, but I can maybe find out some information that can be helpful. Weaknesses of theirs, their plans, how many men they have, what powers they hold—that sort of thing.”
“I don’t like it.” He gritted his teeth together, searching her face for signs that maybe she wasn’t being serious. But grim determination strengthened her, steeled her resolve. They didn’t have much of a plan to begin with, and it wasn’t like they could escape right this second, so it would do her good to gather information in the meantime.
“I’ll be fine; remember, theyneedme. They won’t kill me.”
Blár opened his mouth like he was going to argue, but another small noise in the hallway had them both jerking their attention to the door. He squeezed her arm gently and murmured, “All right. We will talk later.”
She wanted to spend more time with him, to kiss him again, but he was already heading to the window. Without another word, he vaulted himself over the window sill and landed on an ice platform he must have created. Kolfinna rushed to meet him there, her fingers stretching over the stone sill.
“Blár, when will I see you again?”
Her ears twitched and she could hear faint footsteps from afar. Her heart raced in her chest; she had almost forgotten thatthe fae’s hearing was better than a human’s. She prayed that Yrsa was the one guarding her tonight, because she was sure Astrid would have heard everything if she was guarding her. What if she was listening to their every word and would relay everything to Vidar in the morning? The thought sent a shiver down her spine.
“Don’t answer,” she said suddenly, reaching forward to grasp his hand, but the runes kept her from touching him. “I will wait for you.”
Blár reached through the runes, his hand capturing hers. “Soon.”
Tears collected in her eyes and she didn’t bother blinking them away. “I will wait.”
“Good night, Kolfinna.” He looked like he didn’t want to leave her, but it only lasted a few fleeting moments before he ducked down and began scaling down the tower. She wanted to push her head through the window opening and watch him descend, but she couldn’t even do that.
The footsteps drew closer to her room, so she rushed back to her bed. She had just thrown the blanket over her chin when she heard Astrid’s voice.
“I’ll take over for the night.”
Silence.
“Yrsa?” A tinge of annoyance laced her tone. “Yrsa.”
“Y-yes?” Yrsa sounded groggy, as if she had just been jerked awake.
“I’ll take over for the night.” Astrid released a sigh of disappointment, or irritation. Kolfinna strained her ears to hear better, but other than the shuffling of footsteps— likely Yrsa leaving—and the creak of her door as Astrid leaned against it, she couldn’t make anything out.
Slowly, her thoughts drifted and she fell fast asleep.
14
