What’s next was the library, it turned out. It was literally wall to wall, ceiling to floor books. When we walked in my mouth dropped open, and Cordy and Asher both looked pleased with themselves.
“You like it?” Cordy asked.
“Wow,” tipping my head back, I tried to take it all in, “it’s like…beauty and the beast style. Wow…this is fantastic.”
“Way less stuffy than beauty and the beast,” Asher said, “you can run around or yell in here, no one cares.”
It was less stuffy then the usual library. There were sagging brown arm chairs here and there, in clusters around tables. Several of the jotun sat reading by the fire, and some of them had coffee mugs with them, one was even drinking what looked like a glass of wine. Not worried about staining the carpets, I guess. No one really paid much attention to us as we wandered around, finally find a seat at one of the empty tables.
“Anyways,” Asher picked up the conversation where we’d left off, “safe to say, I’m not marrying the princess. I think I’d run away if someone tried to make me.”
“Princess? She’s a princess?” Again, the idea of Kloe in a puffy dress and tiara was utterly ridiculous. More like a leather jacket and brass knuckles.
“Not exactly,” Asher tipped his chair back and placed his boots on the table, “I just call her that, mainly because she hates it.”
“She’s some third cousin a billion times removed,” Cordy said, “and she’s still got royal blood in her. So technically she’d be engaged to Asher…” he gave her a black look and she added hastily, “…if it were the old days.”
We all jumped when someone shot out from behind a nearby bookcase, “you think the advisors will let you off so easy?”
It was Kloe, and we all fell silent, staring at her in dismay. How long had she been hiding behind the bookshelf? Had she heard our entire conversation?
“Where you spying on us?” Asher’s voice was incredulous, “you know that’s a bit mentally unstable, right?”
“You just don’t get it, do you?” Kloe looked smug, placing her hands on her hips, “you’re nothing without me. Do you seriously think the people are going to let themselves be ruled by a king with no power?” She laughed, and a few people nearby looked up from their books. When they saw it was Kloe most of them rolled their eyes and went back to reading.
“Don’t you have something else to do?” Asher’s voice was low and his entire body was tense. It was obvious that it took everything in him not to explode at her, “are you that bored, that you need to trail after me?”
Kloe crossed her arms, eyes coming to rest on me, glittering with malice, “you think they’re going to let you marry some half breed? You can have your fun with her, date her for a little bit even, but don’t think anything more will come of it. You’ll need a strong queen, one who actually has royal blood, and power,” she placed her palms on the table and leaned closer to him, voice dropping to a hiss, “You think your dad would have been allowed to marry a half breed if he’d been powerless?”
Asher slammed one fist onto the table top, making Kloe jump. This time everyone was looking at us, “GET. OUT.” He gritted the words through his teeth.
Kloe straightened up, obviously trying to pretend she hadn’t been startled by his outburst, “suit yourself. But you might want to start being nicer to your future wife,” she glanced over at me before turning to leave, “and you…keep your hands to yourself.”
My mouth dropped open, and I could only watch her leave in silence. Words seemed to have left me completely. What in the hell had that been about?
Asher sighed, “come on, the library’s been ruined for me. It’s nearly supper anyways.”
We stood to go, and all the jotun who’d been watching our little outburst immediately returned their attention to their reading material. Right, like you haven’ all been listening in.
At dinner I got a chance to sit across from Lettisha, Charlotte’s apprentice. It was an experience, to say the least. The tall blonde girl amused the table while we waited for the first course to start, floating one of the dinner buns out of the basket and over to Cordy, where it bumped against her cheek insistently.
Cordy laughed, snatching it out of the air and taking a huge bite.
Lettisha smiled at the expression on my face, “never seen magic before?”
I closed my mouth, “that obvious huh?”
“Maybe a little, “ she grinned, “that’s a trick charlotte taught me. She’s really good, I mean…she can do heavy stuff. I can’t do much yet, only stuff like that. Amusing party trick, not much good in a fight.”
Cordy said around a mouthful of bread, “unless you were really hungry during the fight. Then you’d be good.”
“True,” Lettisha floated another bun up and grabbed it, nibbling on the corner. Her eyes flicked back to me, “how do you like it so far?”
“Good,” I took a dinner bun, mostly to have something for my hands to do while I talked, “I like it. The library is massive.”
One corner of Lettisha’s lips quirked. “I heard you met ‘the princess’ already.”
“I…you could say that…” I darted a look up and down the table, but luckily Kloe had picked a spot two tables away. Well out of earshot.
“Tell me if she gives you a hard time,” Lettisha said, “I’ll turn her into a toad.”
“Can you really do that?” Again my shock must have shown on my face, because Lettisha and Cordy both started laughing.
“No,” Lettisha said, “but I wish I could. She’d make a great toad.”
“Or a lizard,” Asher chimed in.
“But you can do other stuff?” I asked, “I mean, I saw Charlotte training you the other day, it looked pretty cool.”
Lettisha beamed at the compliment. “Hey, thanks! Well, right now I can only do little tricks like this, but I’m still pretty new. Charlottes’ concentrating on teaching me to heal right now. Like wounds and stuff.” She ducked her head and glanced over at the head table, apparently was satisfied that her mentor was deep in conversation with the queen, and said in a low voice, “she’s very particular about that training, since…well, the way she got her powers…”
“What?” I dropped my voice to a whisper to match hers, “what do you mean?”
“Charlotte didn’t originally have power,” Lettisha explained quietly, “she was gifted the power by a sorceress in the middle of the great battle. Charlotte actually died, and when she was resurrected, the sorceress put a piece of herself into her. She pretty much sacrificed herself, since she didn’t have enough power left for battle after.”
“Did the sorceress…did she die?”
Lettisha nodded, face grave, “the evil queen killed her.”
Asher chimed in, “and then my mom kicked her butt and became queen.” He grinned. “Don’t forget that part.”
Cordy poked him in the shoulder. “You do like to brag about it.”
“Can your mom kick people’s ass?”
“No, but she drives a mean looking mini van, and I think she’s gotten into fights with other soccer moms before.”
When the laughter subsided I asked, “Cordy, do you…your mom and you…”
“Do we still talk? Does she know?” Cordy nodded, “yup, my mom knew something was up. So when I was recruited they let me call her and tell her,” she tore off another chunk of dinner bun and said around it, “only she thinks I’m working for the CIA, and I have mind powers.”
I blinked, “because that’s more believable?”
“I guess it must be,” Cordy shrugged, “and it sounds better saying ‘ hey mom, the CIA has recruited me because I have telekinesis, than the other story, ‘hey mom, I’m actually a mythical frost giant and I’m going to live in a palace made of ice now, bye.’. Right?”
“Yeah,” I muttered, “I guess the last one does sound weirder.”
The thought of phoning dad up and telling him some version of the truth. The reason I set my school on fire….it would be nice to tell him it was an accident…
I dismissed the idea immediately. He would be furious that I was “making up stories”. Plus, I didn’t really want to talk to him anyways.
Conversation in the great hall died to a murmur as the double doors burst open, and a tall blonde soldier marched in. This time I got a better look at the legendary Erik as he strode past. His blue eyes were hard this time, his mouth a straight line. There was nothing casual about him right now.
He made a beeline for the head table, leaning down to whisper something to Loki and Megan. I saw the Queen’s eyes widen, and the king gestured at Erik, sending him back through the hall and out the door, moving even faster now. We could hear the echo of footsteps from in the hallway, and Asher stood up abruptly at a nod from his father.
I turned to Cordy and whispered,“What’s happening?”
“I think it must be something to do with the rebels,” she quirked one brow at Asher, who shrugged.
“They’re dispatching us immediately,” he said, “so I would guess you’re right. I’ll tell you when I get back.”
We turned and watched him jog out of the hall after Erik. The great doors slammed behind him, and the noise level returned to normal, everyone speculating on what was going on. The rumors traveled down the table like a giant game of telephone, and by the time we were on to the third course they reached us. Rebels had been spotted crossing over into Muspelheim.
My stomach turned violently. The rebels had come. Did that mean they were here for me? Was Kari at the head of them. The thought of Kari chasing me all the way here was frightening, and the idea that she might hurt someone in her quest for me…
Asher. My mind went there right away. What if Asher was out there searching the forest and was killed by one of the rebels. What if my mother killed him?
I found myself clutching the table so hard the tips of my fingers hurt. Darting a look around the room I realized that the jotun kept glancing over at my table. At me.
They had obviously thought of the same thing. That the rebels had come for me. That my mother was the cause of all this. I sunk lower on the bench, wishing the floor would open into a black hole and swallow me into oblivion.
“Hey,” Lettisha reached out and touched my arm gently, “it’s okay. The elite guard is…well, elite. They know what they’re doing, and Asher is one of the best sword men we have.”
Cordy chimed in, “he’ll be fine.”
I was starting to relax again, and sat up straighter, only to find myself staring right at Kloe. She was standing in the middle of the aisle, hands on her hips, “It’s your fault,” her voice was deliberately loud enough for the jotun on either side to hear, “that’s why the rebels have come so soon.” She scowled at me furiously. “If my fiancé gets hurt over you, I’ll make sure you regret it.”
Cordy made a rude noise and waved at her dismissively. “Get lost princess,” she raised her voice just as loud, saying, “Asher would probably rather get stabbed than marry you anyways.”
There were snickers from a few onlookers, and Kloe’s face contorted in rage. She turned cherry tomato red and stormed away, footsteps echoing through the room.
“Thanks,” I said, and Cordy nodded cheerfully. I couldn’t help feeling a little sick though. What if Asher did get stabbed? What if he got seriously hurt out there? I’d never forgive myself for being the cause of it.
“You don’t even know that they’re here for you anyways,” Lettisha said. She gave me a reassuring smile. “It could be something totally different. They do little raids on us sometimes. Try to pick of soldiers and stuff.”
Cordy’s smile was wicked. “It never goes well for them.”
“Yeah,” I said, “maybe that’s it. Maybe it’s a raid.”
We went back to eating, and talking about different stuff, anything but the rebels. But I knew Cordy was wrong. They weren’t here for anything else. I remembered the look on Kari’s face when she found out I had the link. The way her eyes glittered.
There was no way she was going to give me up without a fight.