Page 48 of Master of Storms
Andri ran a hand through his hair. “My wings are fully healed. I carried Elin’s weight with no issues.”
Ah. Elin was drekling then, unable to shift. Maybe this was at the heart of the two sisters’ separation, for Malin had only recently proved she could shift shape.
“It’s so beautiful here,” Árdís said, changing the conversation abruptly.
Sharp granite cliffs strove through enormous billows of mist that cloaked the valley floor.
“You were expecting otherwise?” Solveig asked.
Árdís gave her a mysterious smile. “My mother wasZilittu, and there are all kinds of tales of her people. There’s an abundance of Chaos-wielders within the clan, and some say that in their pursuit of power they turned to the darker aspects of such magic. So no, I was expecting eerie forests and human bones hanging in the trees as warning. Not… this.”
“They’re still not to be trusted,” Marduk said as he rejoined them, fully clothed. Somehow, despite the way he looked like he’d just tumbled from bed, he always seemed to have a regal air about him.
Or maybe that was just arrogance.
“Perhaps.” Árdís examined the forest around them a little wistfully. “Though I’ve always wondered what it would have been like to have been trained in my magic. They revere Chaos-wielders here.” Emotion darkened her face. “They don’t lock them away and try and smother their talents.”
Interesting.
The former queen had not been kind to any of her children she suspected.
And it struck her then, that both Árdís and Marduk masked themselves with charm. She’d been so focused on Marduk’s careless smiles that she hadn’t realized there was pain in his eyes sometimes too.
She hadn’t wanted to see it—she who watched and gauged an enemy for weakness.
A troubling thought….
“Zilittumeans ‘spirit of the mist,’ whileZiniis ‘spirit of the wind.’” Marduk continued, and there was a hint of the warrior in his stance as he surveyed the valley. “The court’s been impenetrable for years, though rumor has it that when Draco overthrew his father, the king, he started breaking several of its long-running traditions. A merchant in Kristiania said the new king is insistent upon dragging theZilittukicking and screaming into the future.”
“Merchant?” It hadn’t escaped her notice that he seemed to have a collection of… interesting friends around the world.
The devil had a smile like that. “Technically, he sells things. I just didn’t say how he came about them.”
A smuggler in Morocco. A black-market trader in Kristiania.
And always a “friend” who seemed to know some sort of information she—with all her legal avenues of information traders—couldn’t seem to get her hands upon.
“Just what was it you spent ten years doing?” she asked.
Árdís suddenly looked very interested.
“A little of this, and a little of that.” Marduk shrugged uncomfortably. “I can fight if need be—Father’s arms tutor saw to that—but I’m better with my tongue.”
She had the sudden impression of his mouth moving over hers as he pinned her to the floor of her bedchambers that one time….
“Not like that, Solveig,” he purred, as if he could read her thoughts. “I meant I’m good at talking to people and making friends, though I am excellent at using my mouth for other purposes.”
“I keep hearing about this wicked mouth and its skill,” she replied sweetly. “Though I often find when one spends so much time enhancing one’s own abilities, it’s often just… talk.”
“Anytime you want to test my claims—”
“No!” Árdís said, holding up her hands. “You two will have a room to yourselves tonight. You can test such things there. I don’t need to hear about it.”
Solveig had been so caught in the intensity of his stare that she’d almost forgotten the princess was there. “He’s not testing anything except for the calluses on his own hand.”
“No, no, no, no, no!” Árdís plugged her fingers in her ears. “This is mybrother, I am not even entertaining such notions. That’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Oh, please.” Frustration momentarily turned Marduk into Solveig’s ally. “You drag Haakon into every secluded nook at court. I nearly walkedintothe both of you the other day.”
