Page 58 of Storm of Fury
Because Malin was at that court, and if the queen’s shade somehow haunted it, then she’d be the firstdrekithat Amadea would seek to destroy.
Eleven
Malin’s skirtsswished along the court’s floors as she went in search of her sister. She’d barely seen Elin this week, but one of the court’sdreklinghad seen her pass this way, and she desperately needed to talk about their father.
Pushing open the enormous door that guarded the royal family’s vault, Malin summoned a globe of fire to light her way. The little light flickered in the gust of wind the door made, but it was growing easier to control her fledgling powers. Sirius had been working with her on her magic before he’d been sent on the quest to find Marduk, and though he’d warned her to conserve herself, she couldn’t help trying her magic at every stage. She wanted to surprise him with her progress when he returned.
“Elin?” she called.
There was a green light glowing from the back of the vault. Malin frowned as the green abruptly faded, replaced by a warmer glow.
“Malin? What are you doing down here?” her sister called.
Malin hurried past the cases filled with the former queen’s jewels. The new queen—Freyja—had no liking for gold and gems, a decision that perplexed most of the court, and so they’d been banished to this dark room. She couldn’t say she blamed the queen. Every jewel in the vault had once adorned Queen Amadea, andshewouldn’t want to wear them. Most of them held emeralds, and it felt as though malevolent green eyes watched her from the darkness, as the light from her flame winked over them.
Malin shivered.
Creepy.
“I could ask the same of you,” she called back before stopping abruptly. Her sister wasn’t alone.
Elin pressed a hand to Thorvald’s chest, staring into thedrekiwarrior’s eyes. Her smile held a sharp edge Malin didn’t recognize. “Later,” she whispered to him, and then turned her full attention to Malin as Thorvald pushed away from her. “What do you want?”
Malin watched Thorvald go. She had no right to say anything about Elin’s seeming flirtations with several of the courtdreki, but why did she have to choose him? He’d once been a mercenary who’d served Queen Amadea, and though he’d thrown down his weapon during the coup and bent knee to King Rurik, Malin’s skin crawled whenever she saw him.
King Rurik may have granted several of his mother’sdrekiguards lenience in order to help repair a fractured court, but she didn’t trust them an inch. The court may be undermanned and vulnerable to outside threats without them, but she rather thought the threat within was like putting a knife to the court’s throat.
“I wanted to… discuss Father with you,” she said, once she saw Thorvald close the vault door behind him. “He’s starting to worry me.”
Elin rolled her eyes. “In what way?”
“He’s absorbed in his books. He keeps muttering about the ljósálfar, and saying he needs to know more about them. He barely eats. Barely drinks.”
“The elves?” Elin mused. “They were stranded in their home world of Álfheimr after we closed the circles to them a thousand years ago. Why is he so interested in them?”
“I don’t know.” As the clan lore master, it wasn’t uncommon to find Sigurd buried in his books, but the level of absorption bothered her. And…. “He’s refusing to be alone with the queen.Drekiare starting to notice.”
Elin’s eyes locked upon her with sudden interest. “The queen. How… interesting.” She tapped a finger to her lip and turned away to stroll between the cases displaying Amadea’s jewels. “Why is he afraid of the queen?”
“I don’t know if he’s afraid.” Malin followed her. “But he’s definitely wary. And Queen Freyja’s been so kind. I know several of the court think her human blood makes her unworthy to rule them but—”
“Do they?” Elin’s eyes flashed. “Which ones?”
Malin named a handful ofdreki, but she paused when she saw her sister cock her head consideringly. “Does it matter? The queen has accepted all drekling like ourselves—”
“Myself,” Elin corrected. “You’redrekinow, Malin. You’re no longer one of us.”
She gaped. Was this why Elin had grown so seemingly distant of late? “You know I still think of myself as drekling.”
“You can fly now.” Elin’s lip curled in a sneer. “You can shift shape. I am the one trapped in this weak, pathetic body.”
“Elin! You’re not pathetic—”
Elin brushed her hands off and turned away, but not before Malin saw something she’d never noticed before. “Why are you wearing the queen’s necklace?”
Elin merely wrapped her hand around the gold chain and slipped the enormous emerald pendant inside her gown. “Queen Amadea has no further use of it.”
“Yes, but they’re not ours.” It made no sense. Elin had never shown any liking for precious gems, despite herdrekiheritage, and her sister was no thief. “The king—”
