Page 55 of The Crown of the Last Fae Queen
She took one glance at the painting behind her, at the woman with blazing, harsh eyes, and then quickly exited the room.
Astrid and Yrsafell into step beside her as they silently exited the tower. It wasn’t until they reached the outside courtyard that Kolfinna could breathe easy. The air in the tower felt suffocating; her mind was in disarray over Vidar and Aesileif. She didn’t know what to think anymore, and she didn’t like how conflicted her heart was becoming. It was easier to consider the two of them as faceless, evil monsters. Not people with their own hopes, dreams, and families. People who loved.
“Are you well?” Astrid asked as they entered one of the walled sections of the fortress; it was a path that would eventually lead to her own tower, Kolfinna vaguely recognized. Astrid had undone her white braid, and her long, wavy hair streamed over her shoulders freely.
I’m just uncomfortable with being so wet,” Kolfinna said with a short, uneasy laugh. It sounded hollow to even her own ears.
Astrid’s violet eyes softened. “Let’s hurry to your room, then. You’ll catch a cold in this weather.”
It sounded so … motherly. So out of place. But Kolfinna bobbed her head nonetheless, allowing the fae female to lead her by the elbow down the hall. Yrsa shadowed them, mumbling something about taking a short cut.
“It’s faster this way,” Astrid said with a pointed stare at Yrsa, who glared back. “Going directly to the tower is a shorter distance, but means crossing into the city, which takes much longer with all the foot traffic. Going through the walled sections is much faster in comparison.”
Yrsa’s frown dragged down. “Well, whatever.”
They walked in silence for a little bit. Kolfinna tried memorizing the path, her mind soaking in the smaller details that would make it easier to remember the different corridors: the landscape paintings with their vivid colors, the various kinds of statues sitting on marble plinths, the color of the curtains in a particular hallway.
“Are you planning on having dinner with that human?” Yrsa finally asked, breaching the silence between them all. She pointed to Astrid’s hair with raised brows. “You look like you’re getting ready to go somewhere.”
Astrid’s cheeks bloomed with color and she touched the ends of her hair with her free hand. “I’m still not sure.”
“I thought you didn’t like humans?” Yrsa’s tone bordered on accusatory.
It was a question Kolfinna had wanted to ask, so she glanced over at the fae woman, who appeared flustered at the sudden attention.
“I don’t hateallhumans,” Astrid said, blinking and shoving a strand of hair behind her sharp ear. “And besides, he’s on our side, so he’s different, isn’t he? He must have some fae ancestry to be a part of Ragnarök.”
“He looks mostly human to me,” Yrsa said.
“And?” Astrid pulled them down a bend in the hallway, her boots clipping against the polished black-veined tiles. “It is not as though I abhor humans. I dislike what they have done to me and our people, but that doesn’t mean they’re all brutish.”
A frown dragged down Yrsa’s thin lips, darkening her usual scowl. She looked like she was going to say more, but a moan had all three of them slowing in their tracks. It was soft, breathless, and feminine. Kolfinna stopped right when they reached the bend of the hallway. The other two stopped as well, all of them exchanging bewildered looks.
Had they heard right?
But then Kolfinna heard it again. Heavy breathing, and moaning, and the rustling of clothes. Her face grew hot as she could make out the unmistakable labored breathing of two people kissing. Kolfinna’s attention shifted to the hallway to their right and without thinking, curiosity got the better of her.
Her eyesight had improved drastically since becoming a fae, so she could make out the two people embracing each other passionately. The woman was pushed against the wall, her head thrown back, eyes closed, as a fae male trailed his mouth against her throat. She had her fingers woven through his golden hair, her chest rising as his hand cupped one of her breasts. His other hand was underneath her skirt.
Kolfinna’s mouth dropped open as she recognized the two.
Agnarr and Freyja.
But … but theyhatedeach other?
She was sure of it; they had hurled insults at one another, fought each other, and … and been very clear on their distaste of one another. But there was no denying that they both were passionately kissing each other.
Freyja grasped the sides of Agnarr’s face and crushed her lips against his. He yanked her closer to his body, his hands splayed on her backside.
Astrid gaped at them, and then seemed to think better of herself and covered her mouth, her wide violet eyes turning to Yrsa and Kolfinna. She jerked a thumb behind herself, as if questioning whether they should turn around.
Kolfinnadefinitelydidn’t want to confront those two, so she bobbed her head jerkily. Yrsa was still trying to peer into the dark hallway, her human eyes likely not picking up the number of details that Kolfinna and Astrid were able to make out.
Astrid tightened her hold on Kolfinna’s arm and dragged her down to the opposite end of the hallway, where they had come from. All three of them hurried along and it wasn’t until they had passed into another hallway, far away from the couple, that Astrid quickly said, “Oh my goodness. Did you two seethat?”
“Was that General Agnarr?” Yrsa’s voice dropped conspiratorially low. There was an excited glimmer in her eyes, the kind of gleam that only appeared when a juicy piece of gossip was spilled. “That definitely was him, right? No one is that tall and blonde.”
“I thought they hated each other?” Kolfinna whispered, glancing over her shoulder as if the two generals would suddenly burst out from behind them and demand to know why they were talking about them.
