“And?” Frey prompted.
“And she is feeling great guilt about these perils,” her face went slightly hard before she went on, “as she should. Through our communications both Valentine and I have become aware that the Princess Sjofn has been far from forthright with your Finnie.”
After that, the witch said no more.
“And this matters because…?” Frey asked, losing patience.
“It matters because her guilt is ascending. She’s becoming frantic about these perils she’s placed Finnie under. She’s gravely concerned something will befall her. Princess Sjofn is highly trained and rightly feels she is better equipped to deal with these threats, as she has proven in the past. And I can assure you, Drakkar, that communication is not easy for me and it is not cheap for Princess Sjofn. Every time she sends a message through Valentine, she pays dearly for it and the messages are coming one on the heels of another.”
When she quit speaking, Frey lifted his brows, not about to prompt her again.
“Drakkar,” she snapped, “it is not her currency Princess Sjofn is using. It is your Finnie’s.”
“Again, this matters not,” Frey replied. “Finnie has no further use of that currency. She is mine and my coin and property are hers. And, woman, I’ll remind you she has taken over the life of Sjofn and is now a princess with her own funds and property, that property being a bloody palace.”
“That may be so, Drakkar, but I’m telling you, Sjofn’s guilt is ascending. She is now talking of paying Valentine to send her back.”
Frey felt the ice disintegrate as the fire came back.
“By the gods, you jest,” he whispered.
“No.” She shook her head. “Valentine is refusing until she hears word from Finnie. But Princess Sjofn is making refusal difficult for she’s offering three million of what they call ‘dollars’ and from what I gather from Valentine, this is enough coin to set a single being in a life of relative opulence for decades.”
“My princess is bound here and Sjofn bound there by the elves,” Frey reminded her.
“Valentine is strong, Drakkar. I cannot say for certain if she can circumvent an elfin spell. What I can say is that I feel her power and if anyone can, she can.”
Gods damn it.
“And if she were to return Sjofn here, would that mean my princess would go there?” Frey asked.
The witch shook her head. “The talk is not of the Princess Finnie returning to her world, but only of Sjofn returning here.”
“She cannot return,” Frey declared.
“I know this, Drakkar, but she is determined.”
“Then tell this Valentine to tell Sjofn that if she does, I will see to it that she sits at a secret tribunal to hear testimony of her treason after which, when judgment is passed, she will face private execution. Her mother and father both agree that her selfish actions brand her traitor to the realm and traitor to the crown and if they do, any head of a House chosen to be judge at her tribunal will as well. All of this will be done without any but the four people involved knowing it is done, plus, of course, her executioner. Sjofn will be hanged for her crimes but no one will be the wiser as Finnie carries on as princess then king mother. This news, I would suspect, will likely halt her desperate attempts to return and make amends for her treacherous actions.”
“I agree,” Agnes said softly, her eyes again surveying him, “but do you not think your wife should have some say in issues of such great import?”
“No,” Frey answered shortly.
She surveyed him again closely and he sensed she did not agree.
He did not care.
Then, wisely moving on, she declared, “There is more you need to know.”
Frey waited.
She took in breath.
Then she stated, “Valentine is a powerful witch.”
“You’ve explained that,” Frey replied and she had, as did the elves.
Agnes went on. “She is witch not seer.” She paused then announced, “But I am both.”
At the look on her face, the fire died and the ice returned.
“Speak,” he ordered.
She pulled in breath then let it out on a whispered, “Drakkar, I see fire and blood and I see it around your Finnie.”
Frey’s body locked so he wouldn’t go back on a foot at this news.
“Fire and blood?” he asked softly.
“Dragon fire,” she whispered, “the heat so intense, buildings melt. And blood, so much, her boots stand in rivers of it. I dream of it, I dream of it every night, I can’t stop dreaming of it.”
“I control the dragons,” Frey reminded her quietly.
“And in ancient times, when The Drakkar called the dragons to duty, it is told it was not unknown for an innocent to perish in the line of their fire.”
Frey was silent as that ice again stole through his veins.
Agnes spoke on. “It is an awful thought, worse to speak of and worse still for you to make the decision, but I believe you should relent to the return of Sjofn and let it be her that faces this future, not your Finnie.”
“You’re speaking of murder,” Frey replied, his gut twisting with disgust.
“You yourself said if she returned she’d face certain execution,” Agnes retorted.
“Execution, witch, is not murder,” Frey clipped.
She lifted her chin to grant his point then said, “I see the vision, I dream the dream, I do not know if it is Sjofn or Finnie who stands in the fire and blood. I also do not know the outcome. The fire surrounds her, the blood flows over her boots. But I do know this will happen, Drakkar. Never, not once since I started dreaming the visions as a wee girl, has one not come true.” She pulled in a visible breath and finished, “I am sorry but this is your choice. If you bar Sjofn’s return to this world, you must pray to Keer who holds Princess Finnie’s and your destinies in his hands or you make the dreadful choice to stand Sjofn in that fire. But the choice is yours.”
Frey studied her.
Then he asked, “You say you do not see the outcome?”
She shook her head and confirmed, “I do not.”
“And how does Finnie or Sjofn come to this pass?”
“I do not see that either, Drakkar.”
“And is she alone or surrounded by men, guards, soldiers?”
She shook her head again and repeated, “I do not see that either.”
Frustration crawled up his throat and he growled, “This vision is not very helpful.”