Page 80 of Master of Storms
“I thought you’d forgiven me?”
“That doesn’t mean I’m going to surrender. Nor does it mean I won’t bring you to your knees.”
She broke away with a laugh, just as he reached for her.
“Oh no,” she called, over her shoulder. “I have a prior engagement with the queen. And you—” a swift glance down his body “—look like you have a meeting with your hand. Make sure you dig your nails in a little,my love. Because that’s how I’d do it.”
“War,” he growled, under his breath.
Solveig was still laughing as she slipped from the room.
* * *
Heatedvoices spilled from within the queen’s chambers as Solveig paused in front of the door. The guard there gave her a stern look.
Matters were afoot in theZilittuclan.
“Perhaps you should let them know I’m here,” she suggested.
“I—"
The door slammed open and then theZilittuwarlord, Talon, collided with her. He captured her forearms in order to avoid knocking her off her feet.
“My apologies, Your Highness.” He shot a sharp look over his shoulder as if to curse someone within the room for his haste. “I wasn’t aware you were there.”
“Apology accepted,” Solveig mused as he set her free. “After all, it sounds as though you’ve already caught your share of condemnation.”
He gave her a curt nod. “Enjoy your visit with the queen.”
And then he strode past her, still bristling with anger.
Solveig watched him go. He served the same purpose for theZilittuas the Blackfrost did for theZiniclan, and she for theSadu. But where the Blackfrost was an enormous, almost piratical storm of barely leashed fury, Talon was ice cold. A leather thong leashed his mass of honey brown hair into a knot on the top of his head, but he was clean-shaven, whereas the Blackfrost seemed to own a permanent rasp of stubble along his jaw.
It would be interesting to see the two of them go to war.
The Blackfrost’s accolades marked him as the most dangerousdrekiin the north, but Talon was fast making a name for himself as a warlord to watch. Cold, ruthless, emphatically loyal to Draco.
Maybe he’d been the one who sank that dagger within Scorpius’s chest.
Solveig glanced at the guard in amusement. “Perhaps now?”
He gave a hasty knock on the half-open door. “Your Highness, Princess Solveig of theSaduis here to see you.”
The flurry of conversation within the room ceased abruptly.
“Send her in,” Andromeda called, and the guard swung the door wide.
It was immediately clear who’d been doing the arguing.
Viveka paced in front of the fireplace, practically spitting with rage, even as Andromeda reclined on a daybed, sipping wine with a slightly amused expression. The queen wore a mauve gown, which set off her dark skin nicely, and her fingers were bedecked with gold rings. She glittered like adrekiqueen who’d been swimming in the royal vault, and a collared lynx purred by her feet.
Viveka, however, looked like her hand was itching to rest on the hilt of her knife. The princess’s golden-brown hair hung in loose tangles down her spine, and she wore a white silk shirt with ruffles down the center. Solveig glanced down at the princess’s brown leather boots. Potential enemies or not, she was going to have to find out who made them. They were gorgeous.
“Solveig,” Andromeda came to her feet and set the wine aside, a genuine smile blooming on her face. “You came.”
“Barely.” She glanced at Viveka, tempted enough to test the room. “I was almost mown down by a certain glacier in the hall.”
Viveka growled under her breath. “Please tell me that this is not the only court where certain arrogant, stubborn males cannot bend their necks even once?”
