Page 53 of Clash of Storms
Could Sirius stand against sixdrekiwarriors?
"The drekling knows something about the princess," he said slowly, anticipation firing within him like the wind stirring hot coals to life.Yes. "If we capture her, then she'll lead us directly to Árdís."
And he might finally be able to bury the myth of the Blackfrost.
12
"There she is." Sirius's voice roughened with satisfaction after two hard days ride. "I can see the princess. She's exactly where I predicted they would be. The storm must have driven them to take shelter too."
They hadn't lost too much time.
Malin sucked in a sharp breath behind him.
Below him, leading a pair of horses up a steep hill, were a tiny figure in a green dress and a mountain of a man in burnished chainmail. They appeared to be arguing, which, considering Árdís would swear the sky was red if you said it was blue, wasn't unusual. Sirius almost felt a moment's sympathy for the hulking brute at her side.
Almost.
Then he remembered what he'd heard the peasants in Reykjavik call the man. Haakon Dragonsbane, the Norwegian dragon-slayer who'd killed three dragons. Granted, dragons were adreki'sweaker, ill-bred cousin and therefore hardly a match for adreki. But it was still an incredible feat for a mere human.
"We don't have to do this," Malin plaintive voice sounded behind him.
Sirius lowered the spyglass he'd held to his eye. An ominous suspicion came over him. "What do you mean?"
"The man's her husband," Malin snapped. "The princess cares for him. And if you go down there—"
"I promise I will truss him up as neatly as a pig in a sack. No blood." Sirius held his hands up and gave her his most becoming smile. "No killing. I just want his wife."
"You can't promise there'll be no blood. He's a dragon-slayer. He'll fight you, especially if you're planning on kidnapping his wife, and there's no guarantee you're better with a sword than he is."
What?
"I'm adreki. He's not going to get nearme," Sirius scoffed.
"You also haven't considered Árdís," Malin said. She perched atop Iškur, the reins held laxly in her hands. "You haven't accounted for her at all.Drekiare hardly reasonable around their mates. She could try and rip you to pieces."
Hmm. Árdís might be a problem. She was less than half the size of him indrekiform, but he couldn't mark a hair on her stubborn, golden head. And she was a hissing, spitting she-cat in mortal form at the best of times, let alone when he threatened the man she'd run off with.
"It's not too late," Malin's voice cajoled. "We could leave them be. Nobody at court would ever know."
And then his father would kill Andri.
"No." He rapped the eyeglass against his palm. "It is too late. I tried to grant her the freedom she craves, and my father made it clear if I didn't bring her home, then he would give her to Roar. I'm sorry, Malin. I know you hope Árdís escapes this wretched court, but we have to think with our heads, and not our hearts. This is merely politics."
"Thisis dangerous," Malin insisted, and Iškur whickered as she leaned forward on his neck. "You don't know what's in the skies. Roar could be nearby. If you engage with this Dragonsbane, you wouldn't even see your brother coming."
"He's not my brother," he snarled.
"Fine. Your father's bastard. Why don't you climb that rock?" she suggested. "You'll get a better view of the skies. And the human."
The human was insignificant.
Anticipation and frustration warred within him. On the one hand, Árdís was directly below him, seemingly arguing with her husband. Within the hour, he might be able to throw her over the back of the packhorse and head home to present her to his father.
On the other, the second he had her in hand, any chance he'd ever had of kissing Malin evaporated.
But she doesn't want you. She wants a sweet, gentle male who will court her and whisper endearments in her ear....
Sirius wanted to slit the bastard's throat already.
