Page 116 of Storm of Desire
"Thedrekiprince heir cleaned a barn?" Árdís sounded both a little horrified and in awe. "What sort of powers does this Freyjawield?"
Haakon laughed. "He did it of his own volition, I believe. Freyja could give the tide lessons in wearing away a rock." His laughter faded. And she'd forgiven him for trying to use her to lure out thedrekiwho had a fascination with her. That didn't mean she'd welcome him back into her life. His voice roughened. "But she'll adore you, Árdís. Who couldnot?"
Árdís made a strange purring sound in her throat. "The only one whose adoration I seek is a certain thickheaded dragonhunter."
"Well, you've already won him over, despite the fact you like to call him unrulynames."
"HaveI?"
Haakon captured her hand, and brought it up to his lips to kiss. "You had him from the very first moment he saw you. You had his heart. His soul. It was fate, and he knew it. He'd found the one woman he intended to marry. His adoration was never in any doubt. He just wonders if this capriciousdrekiprincess could ever love a lowly dragonhunter."
Árdís squeezed her arms around him. "He might think himself merely a dragon hunter, but he's proven remarkably skilled. He captured the heart of adrekiprincess," she whispered, "before she even knew itherself."
Relief. Sweetrelief.
"It was never about capturing her heart. But about keepingit."
She hesitated, and Haakon held his breath. "Haakon," she said in a confessional tone, and he twisted in the saddle to see her face. "There's something you need toknow—"
"Ho!" Tormund bellowed, showing inordinately terrible timing. "There heis!"
An enormous goldendrekiswooped in lazy circles in the air abovethem.
"Rurik," Árdís breathed, staring up indelight.
"The prince," Marek whispered, his voice rough withawe.
Whatever she wanted to tell him, the moment wasgone.
Later, he promisedhimself.
He watched the light break over her expression. She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. And she deserved to be there in the skies, soaring like the wild creature shewas.
Gliding on wings of gold beside herbrother.
Thedrekilanded, a wash of golden light breaking across him. It was so bright, Haakon was forced to throw up a hand in front of hisface.
And then the light vanished, and a man stood there, tall and nude and completely unperturbed by the fact. Blond hair raked back from his brow, and his eyes were the same color as Árdís's. Someone had broken Rurik's nose long ago, but it only made him look slightly more dangerous. The first time Haakon had met the prince, he'd thought the man strange, but there'd been something about Rurik that unsettled him. The man had been vaguely amused by Haakon's determination to kill the local "dragon", and completely unthreatened. It was only when Freyja had been imperiled, that darkness rippled through Rurik's eyes, and a monster staredback.
Don't turn your back on him, he'd thought, even though Rurik had never so much as made a threat againsthim.
Rurik's gaze raked the company, locking on Árdís and softening. But Haakon had seen those amber eyes harden when Rurik had gone to fight Magnus, and knew if one crossed the prince, then the lazy, insouciant smile would vanish, and you would be facing a whirlwind trapped into humanflesh.
The carnage he'd seen as the pair ofdrekifought had been furious and devastating. Two enormous beasts grappling in the air before him, tearing at each other with teeth and claws, and slamming shoulder-to-shoulder in an effort to cripple each other'swings.
He couldn't face that. Not as a man. Not onfoot.
"Sweet Jesus," Tormund breathed. "Remind me never to piss beside thatbastard."
Clearly he was not the only one sizing Rurik up, albeit in differentareas.
"Here we are." Haakon offered his arm, and Árdís swung down, barely giving him a second glance. "You'resafe."
There was a bag at thedreki'sfeet. Rurik tugged a pair of trousers out of it, putting them on. "Welcome."
"Rurik!" Árdís ran toward her brother, and he swept her up into his arms, twirling her in a tightcircle.
Haakon slowly dismounted. Time to pay hisdues.
