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Roar nodded. “I am.”

“I’ll show you to the back.”

The faerie boy led us to the back, where a dwarf with a long, braided beard plunged a sword into water. Steam filled the air, making me cough, and the dwarf looked up. “Lord Roar! I have words to say to you! Just a mo’!” He turned to the boy and began to give orders.

My lips parted in shock. Since visiting the teahouse and buying half of Tvali’s stock, we’d been by seven other merchant’s shops so I could meet them, and Roar could do business. None had spoken to him so gruffly.

“Dwarves,” Roar grumbled. “So crass.”

“And blasted good at working with Zuprian steel, which is more than I can say for the faerie two doors down. What a bleeding amateur. Wouldn’t even pay him to make a spoon!” The dwarf glanced up slightly and seemed to notice me for the first time. “Who’s that?” He jerked his head to me and went back to pick up another sword and began sharpening it. Did this dwarf ever stop to breathe?

“My fiancée, Lady Neve.”

“A fiancée. Good for you, my lady.” He kept working the blade. “You’re well protected and won’t be meetin’ the same end as the other strangers that find themselves in the west. Poor buggers.”

What did he mean by that? I opened my mouth to ask when Roar leaned closer. “People traveling through the mountains. They can’t always get through the passes, so they end up roaming our territory, looking for safety.”

“And they don’t get it?”

“The lands surrounding the mountains can be just as harsh as the passes and peaks. Wherever there is not civilization, deadly foes lie in wait. So no, their end is not always kind.”

I shuddered. I’d planned to travel the passes too and had been woefully underprepared, especially after I lost my horse. Would I have been one of those people?

“Master Smith,” Roar said, trying to gain the smith’s attention, but the dwarf remained focused on sharpening the blade. “I’ve come to make certain that my order will be ready in two days’ time?”

“Why do you think I’m still here workin’ when I should be at the tavern havin’ a pint?” The smith scoffed and, finally, stopped moving. He set the sword he’d been working on down and scowled up at his high lord.

“You’ll be able to buy many more pints with the gold bears I’m paying.”

The dwarf spat on the ground. “Those blasted bears are the reason I need to keep makin’ so many swords! If King Magnus needs more fae on the fronts, he should pull them from his own taverns! Not be askin’ for them on such short notice! Why must we give our sons and husbands to the king when his own city is rife with bastards who can surely hold a sword?”

Roar let out a long breath. His face said he agreed, but as he began to speak to the smith, he was the picture of a loyal subject.

I wrapped my arms around my middle and shook my head. So far, what I’d learned of the Royal House of Aaberg had not been flattering, and I had not learned that much at all.

The idea of the Courting Festival and what I would encounter there loomed larger than it had before. What obstacles would I have to overcome? Would the royals believe Roar and I were engaged?

And if they found out that we played the king for a fool, what exactly would they do?

Chapter 16

“Lady Neve! Stop lusting after all the books in the library. We must study.” Clemencia rapped loudly on the table. “Now, tell me, who is this?”

I tore my eyes from the shelves and all the stories they held. It was too bad I wouldn’t have more time here to devour them. I’d much rather be doing that than the lessons we’d moved on to.

With a groan, I looked down at the parchment Clemencia pointed at of a hand-drawn royal family tree with the name blotted out. Not far away, a fire crackled in the hearth, emitting heat and the faintest smell of smoke. I pulled a shawl around me tighter, buying time as I wracked my brain for the answer my lady-in-waiting sought. But it was no use. After hours of going over the House of Aaberg’s history and dabbling in the other families of the Sacred Eight, my mind had turned to mush.

I leaned back and sighed. “I don’t know. We ought to have been doing this all along instead of dancing. This is much harder with all the names and titles and then they all intermarry over the centuries! It’s just too much.”

Clemencia’s face softened a touch. “As you’re from a village, no one will expect you to be perfect. Why would a village girl know the extended family members of the Lady of Ships and Lord of Tongues? But you will not have as much leeway as your father granted you.” She shook her head at my ignorance. “What was he thinking?”

I looked away from her. “About catching his next fish and feeding us.”

“Of course, you’re right. But you didn’t answer my question.” Clemencia tapped the page again, back to business as usual. “It’s the last one, and it’s important.”

I studied the page. I recalled King Magnus Aaberg, Queen Inga Aaberg née Vagle, Prince Rhistel the heir, and Prince Vale the Warrior Bear, the same faerie who had betrayed Roar. A twin to the heir, born only minutes apart. But who was the other sibling? A female . . . I knew that much.

“Her name is like an epic tale,” Clemencia added, likely taking pity on me.