The Ice Dragon King & The Slave-Queen

Chapter 15 - Her Powers

“How has the queen progressed with her training, my friend?” King Einar asked his general and first commander, Stig, as they walked together from the castle.

For the past few weeks, King Einar had enjoyed being with his wife. The first couple of weeks after their wedding had been slightly awkward, he had to admit, but after their first night together, she had started opening up to him more easily. At first, he thought it was just physical for him. He couldn’t deny that she was beautiful, with her luscious red hair, small yet hourglass body, and a smile that could make his heart run a mile a minute. He also couldn’t deny how a mere thought of her would tighten his loins easily like a young boy running on strong sexüal desire, driving a need in him that only she can fulfill, either with her soft touches or her willingness to achieve gratification together with him.

However, he was far more impressed by her talents, the quickness of her mind, and her ability to do things that he never imagined a princess of high birth like herself would be able to do or even wanted to. She had a way about her with his people. Most of the Karls that he knew took an almost instant liking to her, even though they were usually very cautious of foreigners. Maybe it was in the way she was openly friendly to them or the way she listened to them when they spoke, as if they were the only person in the room at that moment. Whatever it was, though, she had become increasingly popular with his people and even his closest friends.

“The queen has progressed very well, my king. Only yesterday she managed to beat some of our best warriors during the axe-throwing practice,” Stig said, pride evident in his voice.

King Einar smiled. He turned to his friend and asked, “Really? What happened?”

“You wouldn’t believe it, Your Grace. I lined all fifteen of our warriors up together and told them to throw their axes one at a time. Vali and Arne were the first two to throw theirs. Before they began, our queen decided she wanted to join us too. So I told her, since she didn’t have an axe of her own, she would be the last one to go,” Stig took a breath and continued, “She waited patiently for the others to finish. Most of them hit the target squarely on the mark, except for two of the young ones, Ulf and Knut. Their axes hit a little too much to the right of the mark.”

As they walked to the edge of the cliff overlooking the bay, Stig placed his hand on the eye of his axe and smiled.

“When it was time for Her Grace to go, Vali passed her his axe. You can imagine how heavy Vali’s axe was. Even though it was not as heavy as yours or mine, it was still heavier than most of the men’s regular axes anyway,” Stig continued.

“She took it in her hand confidently, however, not dropping it. Then, instead of just throwing it at the mark like most young bloods would do in their cocky way, she weighed the axe in her hand first, shaking it, swinging it lightly. Then, she made sure she held the throat of the axe firmly not with just one hand but with both hands,” Stig said.

“The thing was, I did not teach her these specifics before. And keep in mind, until yesterday, she had never attended the axe-throwing practice. For the past couple of weeks, she had only watched others do it, but she had never tried nor touched an axe before.”

Engrossed, King Einar turned to look at Stig, his face encouraging Stig to continue his story and not keep him in suspense any longer.

“She stood facing the target with her dominant foot behind her and positioned her hips and shoulders parallel to the target. Then, when she brought the axe above her head, she made sure the butt of the axe tapped her shoulder blade first. She paused before throwing the axe, taking a few deep breaths before she pushed herself forward with her dominant foot and threw the axe at a forty-five-degree angle. The axe hit squarely at the target. It was a clean throw. You would've been proud,” Stig smiled and nodded in approval, remembering what happened at target practice the day before and how widely she smiled after that. The queen was proud of herself and reacted sweetly when the warriors around her clapped and praised her.

King Einar chuckled. When his queen first asked for his permission to learn how to train with the warriors, he thought she was just asking it because she was bored. He had not kept an entertaining court circle the way the Celtic king does and he imagined it was driving his wife out of her mind with boredom. He told himself that by allowing her to train, it might let her use her energy in some recreational sport until she becomes weary or exhausted with the grueling training. At first, he gave her a maximum of two weeks before she would give up and return to entertaining herself inside the castle with her governess and maid.

But oh, how wrong was he?

“She is very good, Your Grace. In time, she might even be one of our best,” Stig smiled.

“I am glad,” King Einar said, unsure if it was good news or not, his mind occupied.

As he stood on the cliff, letting the wind ruffle his hair, he remembered that there was something about his wife that didn’t sit quite right with him. He didn’t know what it was, but his instinct was telling him to find out soon. For as long as he lived, this instinct of his had never been wrong. Many times in his life he had relied on his instincts to get him out of countless troubles as well as allowed him to learn about things that he could only imagine. There are many things in this world that he would not have known if he had not followed those instincts to boot.

“Is something amiss, Your Grace?” Stig asked, his eyes trained on his king’s face, noting that King Einar didn’t seem as happy as he thought he would with the news of his wife’s unbelievable progress.

“Well, I…,” King Einar trailed off.

How was he to tell his best friend that he suspected his own wife of keeping something from him, even though she had told him once — quite genuinely — on the night before they made love for the first time that she was not keeping anything from him? He had trusted her then, as she looked into his eyes when she answered him, her eyes not giving anything away.

But now, after sleeping with her almost every night, experiencing her nightmares, and listening to her broken whispers when she was deep in her dreams, he thought there might be more to her than meets the eye — more than the ability to make his people love her instantly and more than the luck of throwing axes right on target for the first time. He needed to know what it was that kept nagging at the back of his mind and he needed to know very soon.

“Your Grace?” Stig asked quietly.

“Nevermind, Stig. I was just thinking that I hoped Ambassador Canute’s journey back to our shores would be safe and swift. There are many things that I would like to find out from the ambassador upon his return,” King Einar said.

“Yes, Your Grace, I hope so too. I am very much looking forward to finding out about the Celtic king and news about the Saxons. I pray to Odin every day that there will not be any wars until the end of our lives,” Stig replied.

“Indeed,” King Einar replied solemnly.

Stig looked at the king, his eyes roaming the king’s occupied face. He knows there are some things bothering his king, but as per his best friend’s nature, King Einar is not one to share thoughts or concerns unless he was really at a dead end and could not find a solution to his issues.

Stig had been trying to find the right time and opportunity to approach his king regarding the queen. From the day he suspected his queen to have some sort of power or other, he had wanted to share it with his best friend — at least so that he could further observe her on any display of power in the privacy of their bedroom.

Stig had told King Einar of his queen’s quick success on the training field, but he purposefully left out the part where he thinks her quickness and effortless ability might have something to do with her other ability — the power to roll in the storm. Stig still did not know if the queen really could control the weather, but the two times he had been in her company when she was in a bad mood — when one of them turned out to be a full-fledged storm — were reason enough for him to at least consider her to have such an ability. Who knows if she might have other abilities too? Maybe those abilities will prove useful to the king and his people when worse comes to worst.

But, would it be safe for him to tell the king?

When King Einar said he couldn’t wait for Ambassador Canute’s return and to learn about many things from the old man, was it because he still thought there was a possibility that the Celtic king would turn against his word? And if yes, would it also mean that the queen’s position in King Einar’s kingdom is still unstable? Was his king only pretending to care for the queen’s progress and well-being?

King Einar was deep in his thoughts when Stig suddenly tapped his shoulder hard.

“What’s that? Did you see that?” Stig asked, his eyes squinting at sea, somewhere close to the Twin Peaks.

King Einar didn’t have to look at the Twin Peaks before feeling Draki’s presence, the ice dragon feeling at peace in his heart. King Einar knew instantly that Draki was having a good time swimming in the deep end of the waters near the Twin Peaks. Still, King Einar was supposed to act as surprised at whatever Stig was looking at, so he said, “What? What is it?”

“Did you see the waves near the Twin Peaks? The oscillation of the waves changed right there,” Stig pointed, willing King Einar to see what he had just seen.

“Isn’t that weird? Is it a vortex?” Stig squinted, trying to make out what it was that made the movement of the waves perpendicular to the regular waves coming in as the tide rose.

King Einar blinked rapidly a few times, his mind linking to his ice dragon, alerting him that he had been spotted and that he should swim deep below the surface. As he did so, he could feel himself connecting with his ice dragon and the beast taking heed of his warning. But, the beast made a slight mistake because as he dived deep, he didn’t consider that his tail would appear outside of the water.

“There! Right there! Did you see that? What was that?” Stig asked as he gripped the king’s shoulder tightly, in his excitement, forgetting that it was his king’s shoulder that he was crushing under his large hand.

“Is that a beast? It looked too large for any beast we had seen before. What is that?” Stig repeated, his feet carrying him forward without him even realizing it, the magnetic pull of Draki’s magic reeling him in quickly.

“Brother,” King Einar tapped him on his shoulder when Stig was about to step off the cliff, cautioning his best friend to safety before he was fully engulfed by Draki’s power.

“Whoa,” Stig let out a surprised whisper, not understanding why he would be standing right at the edge of the cliff, and in only two steps he would be falling to his death.

“Beware, my friend,” King Einar said quietly, his eyes scanning the waters near the Twin Peaks, now settled and Draki was nowhere in sight. The king looked at the people nearby and those by the bay at the foot of the hill as well. He saw that nobody else seemed to notice the changes in the waves the way Stig did.

“I… Wait. Why am I right at the precipice?” Stig asked, confused. He had never made the mistake of standing right at the edge of the cliff, not even when he was a young stubborn boy.

After a while, Stig shook his head a little. He had forgotten about seeing Draki’s sleek black body on the surface of the water near the Twin Peaks. He was about to suggest that they both walk to the shore and see the progress of his king’s warship when a female voice called out from behind both of them.

“Your Grace, General,” the voice said.

King Einar closed his eyes briefly. He recognized that voice. He had been avoiding the owner of that voice since his wife voiced her concern about his past lovers. King Einar had never had trouble with other women he had slept with over the years except for Tove. It was plainly understood that once the fire of passion burned out, they should just go their separate ways in the world. King Einar respected the women he had slept with, although he never tried to reconcile after he had left them. Whenever he meets them by chance anywhere, however, he would just acknowledge them out of respect. However, he just didn’t understand why Tove kept clinging onto him even after he had rejected her so clearly on the day of his wedding and, once again, after that.

Stig was the first to turn around and look at Tove.

“Yes, Tove?” Stig asked, light disgust weaving through his voice.

“General, may I speak to the king?” Tove said, still waiting for King Einar to turn around.

Stig nodded, but he didn’t budge from where he stood. Tove narrowed her eyes and said, “Alone?”

Stig didn’t even have to look at the king as he answered rather quickly, “I stand by the king’s side as always.”

When Tove frowned in anger, Stig added salt to injury by saying, “As per my queen’s instructions too.”

King Einar snorted slightly before he turned, giving a small smile at Stig.

“What do you want, woman?” King Einar asked, his voice a little sharp, making Tove wince slightly.

“I was hoping I could speak with you alone. The matter is quite personal,” Tove said, smiling at the king.

King Einar was not only annoyed by her smile, but even the sound of her voice was irritating him. However, as he looked at her, he decided he would be willing to give her some face because of their history together. So, he looked at Stig and nodded, indicating that he should leave them alone but not wander too far away.

After Stig walked a few steps away from them, Tove turned her face up to King Einar and tears started welling in her eyes. The effect did nothing much to King Einar, whose patience was already wearing thin even though she hadn’t even said anything yet.

“What is it, Tove?” King Einar asked, trying to keep the irritation off his voice.

“My lord, I was only hoping to inquire about your health,” Tove replied, her stance a little agitated.

“If that was the only thing you wanted to know, you needn’t come and speak to me personally. You can see from afar that I am in the best of health,” King Einar said, turning slightly as if he wanted to walk away.

Tove immediately reached for King Einar’s hand, her fingers trailing on his arm. King Einar was trying hard to control himself from twisting her wrist, knowing full well he should not be harming one of his people just for touching him.

“Tove, I have told you before and I will tell you one last time: I do not want you to touch me, I do not want you to come near me. In fact, we had ended our sexüal relations before I got married. And now that I am married, I would rather you stayed a mile away from me. I do not want this meaningless conversation to cause conflict between my wife and me,” King Einar said slowly, as if speaking to a child.

Tove’s eyes flared with anger. “I cannot leave you, my lord. I need you to know that I cannot live without you. I have loved you since the first time I set eyes on you ten years ago, my lord. I need—.”

“Shh,” King Einar raised his index finger in front of Tove’s face. “Stop. I cannot let you proceed,” King Einar said.

“Please, my lord. Please just let me love you,” Tove begged, now both her hands clinging to King Einar’s arm.

“We are done, Tove. I do not want you to see this, chat, or whatever we are doing right now as an encouragement to you,” King Einar said, his free hand making a circle in the air. “I must reject your love for me. I am a married man,” he continued.

“But it is known that even married men can love another woman that is not his wife. You are a king. I am willing to be your mistress, my lord. As long as I can be with you, I am willing,” Tove said, pleading.

“Be that as it may, it is I who am not willing. You should stop this, Tove. Stop this now and save your dignity. I am sure other men would be—,” King Einar stopped when he heard Stig calling out to him.

“Your Grace,” Stig called out, alarmed.

“Hold on, Stig. I need to finish what I’m saying,” King Einar answered, a little loudly.

“If that’s the case, you should be quick, Your Grace. A storm is coming,” Stig replied, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end as his eyes looked sharply at the king.

King Einar turned to look at Stig, frowning, because he knew that the sky was clear only a few moments ago. But the moment he looked at Stig, he saw the clouds rolling fast in the sky above Stig. King Einar’s eyes widened, surprised at the fast movement of the dark clouds coming toward them. He heard Tove gasp next to him. His mind occupied, he pushed Tove’s hands that were clinging to his arm and walked to Stig.

“What is going on? I’ve never seen clouds rolling in this fast. Especially when the wind is coming from the north instead of the south,” King Einar said quietly when he stood next to Stig, baffled at the extreme change of weather.

“Neither have I, Your Grace. Neither have I,” Stig repeated a few times as he looked up.

Stig’s eyes were not on the dark cloud above, however. His eyes were focused on the woman with the red hair standing by the second-floor window of the castle that overlooked the cliff where King Einar, Tove, and Stig stood. His eyes were focused on the tempestuous face of his queen.