Wildest Dreams (Fantasyland #1)(118)
Author: Kristen Ashley

Drakkar watched as Gun cantered to his wife and the boy and both started speaking with Sky who was obviously dissatisfied with his performance.

Thad was right, there was no hope of Finnie leaving Sky behind which Drakkar thought was good. She needed to slow. They were leaving for Kellshorn on the morrow but would likely stay there no longer than they had Snowdon. The summer thaw had already begun and the resulting waters favored by the well-to-do throughout the Northlands would be bottled. And every year at the thaw, all of Drakkar’s ships were loaded to capacity with Lunwyn water and then set sail to Middleland, Bellebryn, Hawkvale and Fleuridia where they sold for ridiculous prices and were, by far, his most lucrative payload regardless of the fact they were simply water.

Therefore, he would need to be in Sudvic to assist Kell managing this as well as discuss with his captains what their cargo holds would be filled with on their return. He and Finnie would then board The Finnie for Fleuridia and he didn’t want Finnie’s head filled with new adventures and training for them when their course was set simply to unload water on Fleuridia.

He wanted Finnie’s head filled with what she’d name their child and how they would be raising him.

And as his bride trained to become the Raider Drakkar was never going to permit her to be, Drakkar was putting a fair amount of effort into siring the child which would slow her down.

He heard hoof beats in the snow behind him, turned to see Oleg heading their way and tensed.

Outside the execution, their time in Snowdon had been good. Finnie enjoyed the city even more than Bellebryn or Hawkvale and when she wasn’t with him, training or tutoring Sky, she was holed up with her girls giggling or she was in the city with her mother shopping, eating in restaurants and partaking in copious pastry sampling at cafés. He had, unfortunately, been called to duty to see two plays with her, one which he fell asleep during only to have Finnie prod him very hard in the ribs waking him in time to hear her burst out laughing which caused the patrons close to the royal box to glare at them which made Drakkar laugh and Finnie laugh more.

His talk with Hernod Grieg had garnered no more than what Quincy and Balthazar had learned and he’d unfortunately had no time to get creative. Grieg was adamant he was the man behind the plot and his desire, he said, was to unite Lunwyn and Middleland as they should never have been separated by Atticus and Baldur’s father, King Halldor.

Drakkar could not argue with this though, obviously, he would never consider assassination which was a coward’s play not to mention, in the present circumstances, that target was his wife. And he knew there was a not small faction of Lunwynians and Middlelandians who agreed that Lunwyn should never have been split. Those in Middleland were not fond of Baldur as their king and those in Lunwyn were displeased with losing the land granted to Baldur. Not to mention citizens of both countries had been parted from family members who were forced to live in different borders by Halldor’s decision which was arguably fair to his sons but not-so-arguably unfair to his people. And even though Atticus and Baldur had assumed their thrones at very young ages, the decades passing had not changed these sentiments.

Atticus had made two attempts through his reign to affect some kind of compromise with Baldur in an effort to settle this ongoing dissatisfaction. Both attempts were offers to build an alliance between nations including providing all in both countries with dual citizenship and uniting their taxes, treasuries and currency, but Baldur would not hear of it. This was likely because his taxes were high, they were expected in gold, silver or copper but his treasury printed currency he expected his citizens to use on anything not tax-related. He printed this at vast amounts beyond what was held in his country’s coffers making the printed tender mostly useless but Baldur extortionately wealthy.

His people were, with reason, restless and if Atticus, or King Ludlum of Hawkvale and his son Prince Noctorno who ruled Bellebryn were different kinds of rulers, this would make Middleland ripe for invasion.

Unfortunately, they were not.

With this, Drakkar knew there was unrest but Finnie being a target of that made little sense and in fact seemed counterproductive unless Baldur or the leader of a House wishing to take the throne as his own was really behind the plot. Further Grieg was ruled by coin, not patriotism, and would not be moved to act in a manner that courted, and indeed had ended in his execution unless there was something exceptional in it for him.

However, whatever that was he’d gone to his noose without sharing it.

Therefore, Drakkar did not feel Finnie was safe yet.

Quincy and Balthazar agreed with Drakkar and Quincy remained behind to continue to dig locally because both were suspicious of Grieg’s quick trial and his being scheduled to hang with Viola and Enger. Enger and Viola were both only pawns whereas Grieg was clearly a player and more time should have been allowed to glean information from the man.

Drakkar had learned this push had not been instigated by Atticus but pressed by his father, the head of the Houses of Drakkar (with the excuse that Finnie was a Drakkar and they wanted immediate retribution) and backed by the Houses of Lazarus and Ravenscroft (who also both claimed Finnie as their own for their blood, they thought, flowed in her veins and this was true with Sjofn as Aurora was of both Houses). But it was also pressed by Apollo, the young head of the House of Ulfr and Drakkar’s cousin for Ulfr was his grandmother Eugenie’s House. Apollo’s reasoning was that he felt Baldur was clearly behind the plot and their act of reprisal should be swift in order to deter future attempts on Finnie’s life.

This was not surprising. Drakkar knew Apollo well, liked and respected him and he knew his cousin returned these sentiments. But he also knew his cousin was most assuredly not a man to cross and for Lunwyn, and his cousin, Apollo would demand vengeance and would be immensely displeased and not afraid to show it in ways no one wished to court should his demand go unheeded. Considering the power, influence and wealth of the House of Ulfr was only rivaled by the House of Wilde and Drakkar’s personal wealth and influence, Atticus bowed to Apollo, and the pressures of the further familial Houses of Lazarus, Ravenscroft and Drakkar.

It was annoying but it was understandable and Quincy, so far, had not uncovered any nefarious reasons behind Grieg’s swift dispatch.

Balthazar had not remained behind but gone forth to see if further information could be gathered to refute Grieg’s claims that he was the mastermind. However, the three messages he’d sent Drakkar since his and Finnie’s return to Lunwyn had shared that Balthazar’s endeavors had not yet borne fruit.