Page 13 of Tree of Ash (The Runic Saga #2)

Dinner Companions

Larissa

Larissa clutched Halla’s pebble in one hand and her dress in the other to keep from falling as she descended the stairs that led out of the throne room.

Several military-styled trucks awaited on the deserted street below along with King Torsten, Speaker Skaei, and Anara, but the sounds of the crowd could still be heard in the distance.

Lost in thought, Larissa missed the last step and found herself tumbling forward.

“I’ve got you.” Darien grasped her waist from behind, steadying her on the step below. Larissa looked up, determined to control the heat that rushed to her face. Though humor danced in his eyes, his voice was genuine. “You were fantastic.”

“If you’re quite done congratulating yourselves, we have a banquet to attend.

” The look on Torsten’s face was enough to bring the heat back into Larissa’s cheeks.

Darien’s hands fell away from Larissa as Torsten paused beside them.

“You’ve done well, Lovisa, but that was only your first hurdle.

You will need to speak with the high-ranking members of the Vienám next.

Do not speak to them of Halla or the prophecy; speak little, in fact, but enough that they are certain you are Lovisa. ”

“Faeir,” Darien began, his voice rough with emotion. “Larissa won the crowd, and you taught me it’s the people’s opinion that matters the most.”

“ Lovisa has appealed to the crowd,” he corrected, “which represents only a fraction of the Vienám, might I add. But on a scale of magnitude such as this, she must also convince the generals.”

Irritation flashed in Darien’s eyes, but it was the surge of galdr that emanated from Anara that captured Larissa’s attention. Anara stared at Torsten with her lips pressed together tightly. A bright-yellow glow colored her eyes as her pupils narrowed to cat-like slits.

“I thought I made it clear that you were to keep your shifting under control while you were here,” Torsten snapped.

Anara smiled wide, revealing rows of sharpened teeth. “I think you’ll find that I very much have this under control. You might remember that as the Crown Princess of Rubin, I do not answer to you, King Torsten, any more than you answer to me.”

Speaker Skaei stepped between them. “It is wise for us all to remember that violence between the kingdoms led to our current predicament. While you are the leader of the Vienám, King Torsten, Princess Anara is correct. Had she control of her kingdom, she would have been crowned Queen by now. She does not owe you her allegiance any more than I do. We must find a way to coexist peacefully; otherwise, this war is lost before it is even begun. Besides, I do enjoy watching her transformations.”

Torsten’s mouth opened and closed in an undignified manner. “Very well, but for the sake of our cause, Princess Anara, I ask you to consider refraining from too many transformations that might only alienate our allies.”

Anara’s teeth and eyes returned to normal. “I’ll consider it.”

King Torsten gestured to the first truck. “We don’t tend to use vehicles within the valley; gas is a precious commodity, but Lovisa’s presence will make it impossible to reach the banquet hall on foot through the crowd. We’ll have to take two trucks.”

At his words, the drivers moved to open the back doors in unison. Torsten and Skaei filed into the first truck. Anara approached the second vehicle, muttering to herself. “Like the mighty Thor, we must face the trials wrought for us at the hands of the giant Skrymir.”

“Isn’t that the story where the cat is actually the serpent?” Larissa asked.

“And the old woman is actually old age itself?” Darien echoed, his eyes twinkling.

Larissa’s smile stretched across her face, her mind and body drawn into her past where their conversations had come this easily, but it faded as the smooth pebble in her hand reminded her of Halla.

Noticing, Darien held out his hand. “I can hold it for you. Just through the banquet so you don’t lose it.”

She would look ridiculous walking into the banquet hall with a rock in her hand, and, of course, her dress didn’t have pockets, but still she hesitated. Forcing her fingers to unclench, she dropped the pebble into Darien’s open palm.

“Darien!” King Torsten called. “Join me.”

There would be no argument. That much was clear. Darien tucked the pebble into his pocket, but his gaze lingered. As though of its own accord, his hand reached up to cup Larissa’s scarred cheek. “Don’t let him get to you. We’re one step closer to getting Halla back, and maybe then—”

“Darien!”

He grimaced in comical exaggeration. Pulled by his father’s command, Darien walked toward the truck, and the door slammed with obstinate finality.

Anara placed a hand on her hip. “Think Torsten wants to put some space between you two?”

Larissa snorted. “You don’t say.”

“Come on, let’s go before they leave us here.”

Navigating the difficulty of their dresses, they slid into the truck. Its cushioned seats rumbled as their truck followed the one ahead of them. The front of the cab was separated by a thick plastic wall from the back, giving them total privacy that Anara seemed all too ready to exploit.

“So what is going on between you and Darien?”

Larissa groaned. “Anara . . .”

“Oh come on, you have to remember everything now, right? You two were nauseating to be around, and now you’re dancing around each other on tiptoes.”

“It’s different now.” Larissa stopped, her own emotions muddling the words she wanted to say.

How could she explain that every time she remembered her life as Lovisa, it threatened to destroy the life she’d built as Larissa?

Everything had revolved around keeping Halla safe, but Halla was gone.

Before that, Lovisa’s life had been about a prophecy that she didn’t understand.

Now she was an icon for a rebellion she wasn’t sure she could win. “I’m different now.”

Anara shook her head. “It’s like you said: you’re Larissa, but only you can decide what that means. The Norn dealt you a rough hand, but you’re more than the path they gave you. Like choosing your own name, you can carve your own path.”

“And what path is that?”

“It’s the same path that led you to gain the support of the Vienám. It’s the path that will lead you to Halla, and then if you choose, it’ll lead you to discovering and fulfilling the Norn’s prophecy.”

“If I choose?” Larissa scoffed, sinking lower in her seat. “I think choice isn’t a luxury I can afford.”

“Lara, if you choose to save Halla and run, I wouldn’t stop you.”

Larissa’s eyes widened. “You wouldn’t?”

“Of course not.” Anara smirked. “We both know you never would.”

Before Lovisa’s memories had come back, it’s exactly what Larissa would have done, but now she wasn’t so sure. “How do you know?”

“Because I know you wouldn’t abandon them .”

At Anara’s pointed glance, Larissa looked out the tinted window.

Though the crowd could not see in, Larissa could certainly see them in the lamplight.

People who had thronged forward to try and catch a glimpse at the returned royalty.

The trucks crawled through the city streets to avoid running anyone over.

Anara leaned against her door. “This is why Torsten seemed unhappy with you after the announcement. You were meant to inspire them to follow him into battle, but you made them love you instead. You’re their lost Princess, their final hope, and no matter what Torsten does, they will never love him as they love you. ”

Larissa’s eyebrows pinched together. “That doesn’t seem fair to Torsten.”

“Maybe not.” Anara shrugged. “But nothing in war is fair. If I’ve learned anything since I lost you two, it’s that I have to make the most of any advantage I have, fair or not. Just listen.”

Lovisa. Lovisa. LOVISA.

The roar of the crowd swelled to a crescendo as the truck passed by, her name echoing from the lips of hundreds.

Larissa scanned the crowd, drinking in face after face, memorizing their features as best as she could.

They all had someone they loved. They all had someone they’d lost. If she had the power to help, shouldn’t she?

Fate or choice, this was the path Larissa would follow.

She would save Halla, but Larissa wouldn’t run. She couldn’t.

Her people needed her just as much as Halla did.

The truck lumbered along the crisscrossing streets nestled within the mountains, then crossed through a large gate and into an immense courtyard.

The sound of the crowd faded to a dull murmur beyond the perimeter.

Larissa’s door opened, and she looked into Darien’s brilliant sea-blue eyes framed by dark lashes.

Tingles of anticipation scattered the rhythm of her heart as she slid her hand into his.

There was something incredibly familiar about the shape of his skin, yet accompanied by a strange array of new calluses on both of their hands.

It was as if their palms remembered each other but could not make sense of the changes of time.

Stepping onto the cobblestone, Larissa took in the courtyard, which was bathed in the light of the moon that had taken possession of the sky.

The runes sewn onto her gown glowed in the moonlight.

In the middle of the circular drive was a fountain featuring the sibling goddess Sol and god Mani pulling their chariots carrying the sun and moon across the sky.

Ahead of them, King Torsten and Skaei waited—the former with ill-concealed impatience, the latter with her typical self-assured serenity.

“We will enter as one,” Torsten explained. “Speaker Skaei, it would be my pleasure to escort you. Darien, you will need to escort both Lovisa and—”

“Just Larissa is fine, Torsten,” Anara interjected, adjusting the blood-red garment that hung over her shoulder. “I don't need an escort, and we both know that your war council will be more friendly to Darien if I am not at his side.”