Page 71 of The Crown of the Last Fae Queen
“Did you think I’d killed her?”
Truthfully, she had assumed the worst.
He must have seen the hesitation on her face, because he continued, “I did not. I promised her I would give her what she desires most in exchange for her cooperation.”
“Why …” Kolfinna stared at him, wondering if this was another ploy of his. She hadn’t done anything to gain his trust, so why was he telling her any of this? Furthermore, why did he need her cooperation? For what purpose? “What does she require?”
Vidar tapped the book protruding from one of his pockets. “Do you really need to ask that?”
“Leiknir’s life?”
“Particularly his head. Severed from his body.” He nodded. “And then she, too, can die in peace.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I need you to understand that your human king is cruel and wicked. If his own sister would barter her life for his death, what does that tell you about what kind of person he is? And yet you still wish for the humans to succeed.”
A throbbing pain built in the back of her mind and she tried to piece together what he was saying, and what was useful, and what wasn’t. There was a reason he was telling her all of this, and she wasn’t entirely sure it was because he wanted her to know about Leiknir’s terrible character—she had known from the moment she had met the king that he held no regard for her or her people.
Vidar needed Aslaug for something, and then he planned on killing her along with the king. Why? Because they were both royals? Did he want to kill the entire royal line? Her stomach twisted even more as she recalled the last page in Aslaug’s diary. Why was Blár’s name written there? It could have been a coincidence—many people had the same name—but … but a small, niggling voice in the back of her mind kept telling her that this wasn’t a coincidence.
“Did something happen?” Kolfinna asked again.
“Why do you ask that?”
“You’re in my room. You could have asked any of your men to grab the book. Plus, you want to hasten my training. Why?”
He was quiet for a long time. So long in fact that she thought he wouldn’t answer her, but then he spoke, short and sharp and clipped, “We are at war, Kolfinna. The humans are killing our kind and every day that we linger with no progress, more of our kind die. Do you understand?”
She couldn’t help herself—she flinched.
The fae were dying. The humans were killing them. And … and she knew it wasn’t just the fae army that was dying, but likely innocent fae, too.
“You must realize that the humans wish to eradicate us all,” he murmured. “Every day that you do not train is a few more deaths on your name. A few more chances for the humans to succeed. Do you truly understand the responsibility on your shoulders?”
She took a deep, shaky breath. “I do.”
“Then why do you insist on siding with them?”
Kolfinna couldn’t answer him.
Vidar sighed, and then motioned for her to follow him out of the room. She shadowed him and when they entered the hallway, she was relieved to see Blár standing among the other guards. His mask covered half his face, his sharp, arctic eyes trained on the floor, and his broad figure filling out the dark leathers he wore. Her heart skipped a beat and she quickly averted her attention back to Vidar, who strode down the hall with purpose.
Blár was still alive, at least.
She could hear the guards shuffling behind her, but she didn’t dare look back. Not with Vidar so close. She could feel her heart pulsing quickly beneath her skin, jumping to a wild, erratic tune.
“Have Freyja and Agnarr left already?” she asked, trying to catch up to Vidar’s long strides. Her gaze flicked over to the walls of the hall, the décor, anything that could help her find her way back here.
“Why do you wish to know?”
“Astrid was telling me that they would leave this morning,” she said with as much nonchalance as she could muster—as if it didn’t matter to her one way or another, like she was just trying to fill the silent void between them with useless chatter.
She could feel his narrowed eyes on the side of her face before he turned his attention forward. “Freyja left an hour ago. Agnarr will leave this afternoon.”
Her heart sank and she reined in her expression to remain neutral, even as bitterness coated her tongue. Freyja was much easier to talk to than Agnarr. Maybe she should have asked Astrid to wake her up so she could see Freyja off, but there was no guarantee that she would have been able to go near the faegeneral, anyway. Even though she was treated like a princess, her movements were restricted and her requests had to first go to Vidar, and he would likely find it suspicious if she wanted to spend time with Freyja.
“Will he train me today?” They rounded a corner in the hallway. There were more fae soldiers in this wing of the fortress, and they all made way for Vidar, bowing their heads in respect. Vidar ignored them all, only sparing a few scathing looks now and then, as if keeping everyone in order.
