Page 24 of Clash of Storms
"Rurik."
"Yes," Malin breathed. "She's going to find her brother, Rurik."
5
An alliance with the Blackfrost.
Just what was she thinking?
Better the devil you know....
And he had promised to set her free as soon as he found the princess—though Malin was in two minds about leading him to Árdís.
"Nobody should look for you here," Sirius told her. They'd taken the servants' portal from the court and arrived on the outskirts of Reykjavik an hour or so ago. Sirius had paid for a room at the Viking inn for the night, and requested a meal be sent up for her. "You'll be safe in my absence, though I advise you to stay in the room while I'm searching and keep away from the windows. There might be spies in Reykjavik who serve my father or hisdreki. You're supposed to be dead—or imprisoned—so it wouldn't do for Roar or his friends to catch a glimpse of you."
Malin examined the small room, conscious of the single narrow bed in the corner.
So far there'd been no sign of pursuit, but she could sense the Blackfrost's impatience. The others had taken to the skies the second he dragged her to the dungeons, so they would have a head start.
There was no sign of the male who'd flirted with her at court. Sweet Goddess, was that only yesterday?
No. Now he was stripped down to the raw essentials of the predator he was. Everything about him drew the eye; the way he swaggered into a room as if aware—in this primeval wasteland—he alone stood at the top of the food chain; the enormous bulk and breadth of him, thick with well-honed muscle; the lushness of a mouth barely disguised by the trimmings of a dastardly beard.
"What are you going to do?" Malin demanded. She had to think of some way to protect the princess—and herself.
"I need to fly east." Sirius knelt by his smaller travel bag and began removing items. Everydrekicarried one, especially when they shifted into theirdrekiform. Though nakedness was a natural part ofdrekilife, humans looked askance upon it, and he must be expecting to take mortal form at some stage.
She could practically imagine some poor villagers coming across the Blackfrost in all his glory. Eyes would bulge in shock; ladies would faint; and some idiot would probably take one look at him and try and pick a fight.
It wouldn't end well.
"East?" she asked, trying not to think of him naked.
"If Árdís heads directly for her brother's territory, we're in trouble. Rurik shall never give her up without a fight, and she'll never return home with me. I need to catch her before she arrives there. She's not used to long flights, and hopefully Roar and the others haven't caught sight of her yet. It might not occur to them that she would fly straight to Rurik's."
But the princess wasn't in the skies.
And she wouldn't be in Rurik's territory.
Malin paced to the window, trying to hide her face. She'd learned to lie the first year she arrived at court, but sometimes her nervousness gave her away. He'd smell it on her skin, and want to know why she was suddenly sweating.
"Anything you want to tell me, sweet Malin?" Sirius's voice dropped.
Árdís can't shift shapes.
"No," Malin replied.
"Árdís is travelling with a drekling servant. Friend of yours?"
The princess had rescued Marek from the dungeons before the queen could burn him alive.
"Most drekling are aware of each other," Malin murmured, for the last thing she needed him to know was that Marek was part of the prince's rebellion.
He might start asking questions about what, precisely, she knew about it.
"Would she have left the drekling here in Reykjavik?"
"She may have."
