Page 146 of Master of Storms
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Marduk wingedhis way south as fast as he could, landing in the field where the entrance to theSaducourt lay. Using Solveig’s claw necklace, he swiftly gained entry and asked for the king.
He found King Harald within his solar. The elderlydrekimonarch was seated behind a desk laden with scraps of paper, a pair of glasses perched on the tip of his nose. Siv glided around the desk, laughing at something Harald was scowling at. Marduk had never managed to learn anything about her, despite all the times they’d walked together, and he’d never seen her this relaxed.
Drekiaged incredibly slowly, but there were signs of it in Harald’s graying hair and the heavy lines around his eyes. He’d been childless for nearly seven cycles, before he’d been blessed with three daughters, one after the other.
While somedrekimales yearned for male heirs, Harald seemed to care little about his abundance of daughters. Marduk had seen the adoration in the king’s eyes when he’d presented them to him that first time, and every time since.
“My king,” one of the guards called, rapping his knuckles against the door.
The second Harald sensed Marduk, he looked for a companion. A little crease formed between his brows when he found none. “To what do I owe this pleasure, Prince Marduk?”
“Your Highness.” Marduk bowed his head as he stepped inside the solar. Sunlight poured through the glass. The view up here stretched from horizon to horizon. It was like floating in the clouds. “I bring news of your daughter. But first, I thought I’d start with an apology.”
Siv straightened, and even though he’d thought her mannerisms akin to a startled deer every time they’d met, a steely glint came into her eyes. “Where is my sister? Why are you here? What have you done to her?”
“Done to her?” He held his hands up in surrender, then tugged the furled missive free from his shirt pocket. “I’m here on Solveig’sbehalf.”
“On her behalf?” Siv strode toward him, snatching the letter from his hands and swiftly unfurling it. “She hates you.”
“We may have come to a new understanding.”
And then she read the letter, and her eyebrows climbed to new heights. “Mmmm. I think you should see this, Father.”
What the hell had Solveig written about him?
Harald slipped his spectacles further up his nose and held the letter out a good three feet from his face, his lips silently moving. Then those piercing dark eyes locked on Marduk. “You mentioned an apology?”
He gestured to the seat opposite the king. “Do you mind if I sit?”
Harald inclined his head.
There was no point prevaricating. “Twice now, you have granted me the honor of a choice of one of your daughters, and both times I have not been as respectful of such an honor as I should have been.”
“True,” Harald said.
There were a thousand excuses, but none of them mattered. “I know I do not have the right to ask, but I will ask it. I wish for your blessing to court your daughter.”
Harald leaned back in his chair as if preparing for a lengthy chess battle. “You are already mated.”
“And you’re not fit to kiss the hem of her skirt,” Siv growled.
Marduk couldn’t help glancing at her again. Where had this fierce tiger come from? She’d barely been able to meet his eyes the last three times they spoke.
“I daresay I’m not,” he drawled, before returning his attention to Harald. “The court lines have been struck. We were bound together before your people. But the mating is a technicality only. And I wish to make it a formal one.”
“Why?”
Harald was taking no mercy upon him.
“Because… I love her.”There. It was the first time he’d been able to say the words—and maybe they should have been to her—but he wasn’t entirely certain whether she’d be able to accept them just yet. And her family meant the world to her. He needed to earn back their respect, for her sake. “And I wish to be able to support her, and protect her, and—”
“Protect her?” Siv snorted. “It’s almost as if you don’t know my sister.”
“She’s not invulnerable. She’s vicious and powerful and dangerous, but she has one weakness.”
“What?” Siv demanded.
