“We know, we were both there,” Atticus shot back. “And our daughter was there too. She saw that woman collapse, I saw her face right after it happened. She was in a state. You can’t toss her up on a horse and –”

Drakkar cut him off. “I can and this is what I’m going to do, Atticus.”

Atticus opened his mouth to protest but Aurora got there before him.

“Drakkar, I understand your wish to be away but my husband and I would like a moment with our daughter to ascertain that she is well after the events of tonight.”

“And your daughter is in another world and has no idea that her selfish actions have put my Finnie in such peril,” Drakkar retorted and was mildly surprised to see Aurora rear slightly back.

Then he was far more than mildly surprised to hear her whisper, “That peril, Drakkar, came at the hands of a woman you tossed aside.”

This was exactly what he didn’t need and precisely what he was attempting not to think about.

Therefore Drakkar clenched his teeth before he returned, “A woman who was paid by a conspirator.”

“A woman who was open to payment because she’d been bedded by you, she liked it, she wanted it to repeat when you returned and you gave her hope by requesting she attend the table where your new wife sat. Then you dashed those hopes because you were enjoying yourself elsewhere,” Aurora shot back. “I know women, Drakkar, being one, and that woman acted out of jealousy.”

Drakkar felt his temper fray as her words made the guilt he’d been controlling rise and he leaned slightly toward his queen before he replied, “That may be but she also acted out the paid request of a conspirator I can assure you I have not bedded.”

“I think you understand my point,” she said softly.

“No, actually, I think I’d like you to make it more clear,” Drakkar retorted also softly but his was deadly.

Aurora crossed her arms on her chest and bravely ignored his tone. “Atticus told me your man kept him from our daughter.”

“Again, she is not your daughter,” Drakkar gritted through his teeth and Aurora’s back went straight.

“No, you are right. And, perhaps, not being in my head, or Atticus’s, you cannot know that we have found you were right about something else. So as you stand there, certain in nothing but the fact that no one can be trusted, I’ll explain something important to you before you whisk our daughter into the night,” Aurora stated, Drakkar crossed his arms on his chest and scowled at her.

She lifted her chin and continued.

“You were right, we grieve the loss of our Sjofn but we have both come to know why you came to care about Finnie in such a short time.”

Drakkar’s body got tight but she wasn’t finished.

“As for me,” she said quietly, “I would give my crown to see my daughter again. She vexed me, everyone knows, but I loved her straight to my soul and I’d hand over my crown without that first thought for the chance to see her again. What I wouldn’t do is harm Finnie.” She pulled in a breath and kept her eyes on Drakkar likely so she would not see her husband’s response to her next words. “It pains me to say but Finnie is the daughter I didn’t have. My husband, I am pleased to know, had the daughter he wanted, one who enjoyed his pursuits. For thirty years, I did not have that but for the last two weeks, I did.”

With years borne of practice, Drakkar managed to keep his reaction in check and didn’t show his surprise.

Queen Aurora would likely not have seen it. She was focused on her message and kept speaking.

“As you have said, my Sjofn is not here and I do not go a day without thinking dozens of times of what she has done. I think of what she’s done to my king and my country but I also think of me. She left me behind, Drakkar, and her father. And it does not escape either of us that your Finnie, our Finnie, did the exact opposite. She did not escape her parents. She risked a great deal to find them again. And you are not a parent yet so you cannot know but I will tell you, knowing the difference of their two motives twists a knife already imbedded deep even deeper. At the same time, knowing Finnie and seeing her joy at being with those who remind her of the parents she loved soothes a considerable balm over that wound.”

Drakkar held her eyes, heard her words, knew they were not false but sensed she was not quite finished.

He was not wrong.

Aurora continued. “I cannot say at this moment that I would drink that poison for her or give my crown for her return as I would my own daughter. I can say that I would do nothing to harm her and, to those who already have tried, I do not recoil that they find justice.”

She inclined her head to where Viola had lain to make her point but didn’t take her eyes from Drakkar.

She also didn’t stop talking.

But she said her next quietly with astonishing emotion trembling in her voice and her eyes were not blank, they were alight with passion.

“You soon talk to the heads of the two Houses whose blood flows in my veins. I am a Ravenscroft, I am a Lazarus and those two Houses, if they are anything, they are Lunwynians. They would no sooner betray their king, their country, their niece,” she leaned forward, “or me than they would fly to a dragon’s cave and invite his fire.” She straightened again and kept speaking quietly. “You are The Drakkar, The Frey and Finnie is your destiny. Legend tells that all the Houses were touched by the elves that have frosted our country to such beauty yet have provided abundance and they did so that the Houses would lead Lunwyn to prosperity. The Frey and The Drakkar have been born in one man, which means the gods have called upon you and our cherished elves leave their realm at long last to serve you. Although the heads of those Houses do not hold the knowledge of Finnie being your destiny, they, like me, would do nothing to stand in the way of the decisions you make, the commands you give or the actions you take for Lunwyn because you have been chosen by the gods and Finnie has been chosen by them for you. And with respect, I ask you to remember that, Drakkar, in your fire to avenge what’s happened tonight under your nose, a glass delivered to your new bride by the hand of a woman who warmed your bed, when you speak to them.”

“Aurora, my beloved,” Atticus whispered, reaching out and clutching his wife’s hand in concern at her show of insolence.

But Aurora held his gaze, not looking at her husband and Drakkar noted her chest rising and falling with her emotion.

He’d seen that before more than once.