“All right,” Drakkar agreed, “I can see this but no witch, no matter how powerful, has magic enough to rival the elves.”

And this was true. A single elf held more magic than the evil she-God Minerva of Hawkvale and the benevolent Lavinia of Lunwyn, witch servant of Alabasta, Goddess of Wisdom and overseer of the earth combined. The magic of all the elves magic was only rivaled by the gods… and the dragons.

Slowly, Nillen smiled.

Then he whispered, “You wish us to bind your Ice Bride to this world?”

“Immediately,” Drakkar replied without hesitation.

Nillen’s smile widened.

Then it faltered.

“You should know, at this time, your bride does not wish to remain in this world. If we bind her here, she will never go back and you know a spell cast by elves cannot be withdrawn without sacrifice. She has ties there, acquaintances she cares for deeply, dreams she wishes to fulfill, belongings that matter to her. She may not wish this, to be bound to this world, a world where she has no ties and a world that is very different from hers.”

“Leave that to me,” Drakkar stated.

Nillen studied Frey Drakkar.

Then he cautioned, “This is your Destiny and you know it is our duty to fulfill your command but you should also be aware that if you bind your Ice Bride to this world, so she can permanently take her place, you must also relegate Sjofn of the House of Wilde to live her days in the other.”

“And I should care about this?” Drakkar asked.

“My lord, it is your due to command us and it is your duty to make such decisions about your Destiny for it is known by all elves straight from Keer that the destinies of Frey Drakkar, Lord of the Elves and his Ice Bride’s intermingle with every citizen of Lunwyn and every elf who resides deep in the earth under our frosted country. That said, these are weighty matters you decide in a heartbeat.”

“This nation’s only princess fled her country for selfish reasons, thoughtlessly throwing an innocent into an unknown situation and placing her at risk. Already, my bride shines a different light on her people than that of her twin and from what I’ve seen, they bask under her glow. I do not make this weighty decision without consideration, Nillen, and you know I never do.”

“No,” Nillen replied quietly, “I know you never do. I am simply cautioning you that you may wish to delay, your union with your Ice Bride is new and there may be consequences to your actions.”

“Leave those to me too,” Drakkar returned.

Nillen studied his lord. Then he inclined his head. Then he again smiled.

Then he muttered, “As you command.”

Drakkar inclined his head briefly then stated, “I expect my command to be executed by the time I join my new bride in our bed.”

“Of course,” Nillen murmured.

“My thanks,” Drakkar murmured back then asked, “Do you have more?”

“No, my lord, Frey Drakkar.”

Without hesitation, Drakkar turned to Tyr. “Good. I bid you farewell and safe journey back to your realm.”

Nillen lifted his chin at his lord after he mounted his horse. Then all the elves watched him as he wheeled the steed and set his heels to its flanks, clicking his teeth. The powerful beast shot into the trees and the elves didn’t delay in moving to circle the adela.

Then they immediately cast the spell that bound the Ice Bride to their lord and his world, at the same time consigning Sjofn of the House of Wilde to the other world everlastingly.

Once this was accomplished, they moved to the base of the adela, bent low to touch its bark where the tree rose from the earth and with a flash of ice blue ending in the pop of a white spark, they disappeared to their realm.

* * * * *

Frey disrobed before he mounted the ladder.

As he pulled the curtain back and spied the loft, he saw the candles still lit but the fire needed to be fed. He also saw his wife asleep, the long, thick mass of waves of white-blonde hair on the pillow, her shoulder, down her back and even in her face.

As she did last night, she straddled the bedclothes, something that stirred the blood in his veins. This likely had a great deal to do with the sight of her exposed, shapely leg. And it likely had even more to do with the sight of the curve of her rounded, generous arse exposed by the short nightdress that had ridden up, revealing a pair of tight, miniscule underwear, underwear he had felt soaked with her excitement caused merely by the play of his tongue in her sweet mouth and light caresses that rarely even touched skin.

This made him wonder what deeper tongue play and more intimate caresses would bring forth from his Finnie.

But becoming as she was slumbering in his bed and as enticing as the stray of his thoughts, Frey determined that he and his new wife would be having a conversation much sooner than the other he intended to have with her and this one would be about leaving the candles burning while she was asleep.

He moved with practiced ease through the loft, extinguishing the candles and then he fed the fire.

Then he moved to his wife.

He’d detangled the bedclothes from her limbs, settled them over their bodies and himself on his back, at the same time pulling her to his side when her head came up.

She blinked at him sleepily in the firelight.

“Finnie –” he started to order her to go back to sleep but in a flash, her face brightened, her eyes twinkled with excitement and she exclaimed, “You’re back!”

“This I am,” Frey agreed to the obvious.

She shot up to sitting and he barely had time to contract his muscles to brace when she slapped his chest then bent over him, her hand at his chest, her hair framing her face, her eyes dancing, her cheeks pink with excitement and her voice breathless with enthusiasm when she demanded, “Tell me everything that happened!”

Frey stared into her animated face as it settled in his gut that this magnificent creature in his bed bravely voyaged from a whole other world for reasons of her own, reasons which weighed in his stomach, but also because their destinies bound them together.

And there she was, after he’d deserted her in his filthy cabin and left her for weeks, angry at her twin for her proclivities and frustrated that he was greatly attracted to her beauty regardless of them, thinking, but not much caring, that she would struggle.

But she did not.

Not his Finnie.

She fed on the challenge, bested it and ended up enjoying herself immensely.

Something about this humbled him as his eyes moved over her face.

“Frey!” she cried, her hand at his chest pressing in to get his attention and he lifted a hand, pulling back the thick, unbelievably soft curtain of hair and tucking it behind her ear.