My stride towards the council room becomes sure and steady. Freya takes up the place beside me, leaving her men and my people to trail behind us.
“I am sorry about your grandmother’s passing. Skadi was a beloved queen.”
Her words are kind, and there’s a warmth about her presence that pulls me in.
My lips tighten into a grim line. “Thank you.”
She smiles softly at me and I surprisingly return it.
“That man, with the green eyes. Who is he?” she asks. My smile drops away immediately.
Her question has my hackles rising. Mine—that’s who. I shove aside my earlier thoughts of warmth and kindness.
“That’s Lachlan. He’s m—my captain.” I can’t help the possessiveness that slips into my words.
Freya chuckles and the sound is like summer rain. “That was not my intention at all, my dear. I’m centuries older than you both.” Her words soothe the bitterness that had soured my tongue. “He just looks familiar.” She muses and the tension in my shoulders eases. “Was he raised here?”
“No. He was raised in the human realm,” I reply, a shade softer.
She nods, my answer enough to quell her curiosity, but anxiety stirs along with the grief that holds me. I inhale through my nose, readying myself for the onslaught of questions that I know will come from her about the past several months and beyond.
Will she consider me inferior? Have I made the right choices?
Evander jogs ahead of us to push open the doors.
“Thank you, Evander. Can you have someone dispose of the asphidra, please? It’s served its purpose.”
He nods, and motions to Ramses, who sets off back down the hall.
I slide into one of the red velvet chairs surrounding the massive round table, gesturing for everyone to take a seat. The open air ceiling is a riot of vibrant colors as the sun sets. Indigo clashes with magenta and gold.
A whole day has passed in what feels like the blink of an eye.My chest aches, the hollowness threatening to swallow me whole.
My fingers are numb and I twist them together in my lap.
I’m the last remaining member of my family.
The last remaining family member who’s not captured.
Odessa.
Odessa is my last living relative.
Swallowing past the tightness and burning in my throat, I address Freya, who has taken the chair opposite of mine around the circular table. Her wings vanish and the feathers of her cloak shimmer in the dimming light. She looks around the table at my friends beside me, waiting for me to begin.
“I’ll start with the introductions. This is Lachlan.” I gesture to him as he slides into the seat to the right of me. “This is Evander.” His copper hair shimmers as he bobs a nod, standing guard by the door.
“Mathilda.” She sits on the other side of me and gives a polite smile and nod. “Tane.” He gives a curt nod from Mathilda’s other side. “Mina.” She gives a grimace and a wave from the other side of Lachlan.
“And Luna.” Sitting beside Mina, she merely crosses her arms over her chest, appearing bored and annoyed.
Freya turns in her chair. “This is Odr.” She points to the black-haired man on her right, who dips his chin in greeting.
“Harald.” She gestures to a blonde-haired man with simmering grey eyes. Wing tattoos down his arms mark him as a royal guard. He stands when she calls his name and saunters around the table towards me and bows lowly. The sides of his head are shaved. A long ashy-blonde braid slips over his shoulder at his bow.
He’s huge, mirroring Tane’s height, but the width of him is staggering, like a bear. But there’s something about him that exudes mischief. It’s not the twinkle in his eyes or the permanentsmirk on his lips. It’s a combination of the two and something else that I can’t quite put my finger on.
He takes my hand in his and presses a kiss to my knuckles. Lachlan shifts in his seat behind me. Surprise raises my brows.
