Wildest Dreams (Fantasyland #1)(104)

This was because Frey tended to tell Atticus about these missions after they were successful for if things went awry (eek!), Atticus could honestly claim no knowledge of them. Unless, of course, it was my father who asked Frey to accomplish them.

Though, that said, the last one was so sensitive, Father still didn’t know about it.

King Baldur also hadn’t known about Frey’s previous mission, Frey wasn’t fired up for either brother to know and he was intent upon entering Middleland, hopefully retrieving the relic and exiting without anyone being the wiser about this mission and, with any luck, they were still no one wiser about the last.

As the story goes, Thad had a communication from a woman he had once had a somewhat long affair with and still held in high regard. This communication was an urgent request to aid in the escape of another woman as she was desperate to flee her captor.

Thad, still carrying feelings for his ex-lover and therefore trusting her, agreed to assist without actually getting all the information. Frey had not meant to go, seeing as he was getting married, though he did offer Thad one of his vessels. But, once married and deciding he’d rather be at sea doing dangerous deeds with his men than hanging with a lesbian (in all fairness, I could see this) at his wedding celebration to her and after, he’d changed his mind, deposited me at his hunting cabin and gone.

Once they arrived, they found that Thad’s friend was actually the maid to King Baldur’s personal sorceress, a woman with great power but even so, she was controlled by Baldur.

It was a sad story, actually, because Frey and Thad had learned from the maid that this sorceress, named Circe (totally kickass name, by the by) had displayed she held magic from practically birth. In order to control her power, Baldur had kidnapped her when she was very young. And to make certain to keep her with no attempts made to gain her return; he’d executed both of her parents.

Yes, executed two people in order to steal their daughter.

It seemed my uncle was a true peach.

Unfortunately for her, not only did she hold a great deal of magic, she also grew into great beauty. So my lovely uncle (not), had started forcing himself on her when she was fourteen and she was still known to be his mistress even though she was more than double that age now.

That was to say, Circe was his unwilling mistress.

Nevertheless, she was a prized possession of King Baldur’s for more reasons than one and assisting her to escape was, as Frey phrased it, “politically sensitive” (but what he meant was politically explosive thus Father still being none the wiser).

However, two things happened. One, Frey was Frey and Thad told me that, upon learning her story, he didn’t hesitate to agree to help her escape. Two, the sorceress’s maid had relayed that Circe had information about the elfin relic everyone was seeking and she would pay for their efforts by providing this information to Frey.

Therefore, Circe was Frey’s source and although centuries of experience with disappointment made him keep his expectations in check, as the days went by and launching the operation came closer, I could feel the men’s restless excitement.

Expectations might be in check but there was still hope.

Yes, this was how important the relic was.

Thinking of all this, I pushed deeper into my trunk to find a clean pair of breeches to wear, pulled some out, a small pouch dropped out of a fold and with it a piece of paper fluttered.

I stared at the tiny, purple satin pouch on the floor by my knee then reached down to pick up the folded piece of paper.

I opened it and read:

Sweet Finnie,

We hope you find this sooner rather than later.

We’ve packed some adela tea for you to use with your husband.

We don’t know if you’ve read about this in your books but in case you haven’t, we’ll explain.

Harvesting anything from adela trees, which grow very slowly and are very susceptible to disease, is strictly controlled. Any adela tree is sacred for they are created by the goddess but also they are the entry point of the elves from their realm into ours. If anything were to happen to the adelas, the elves would be trapped under the earth for eternity and no one wants that so they are handled carefully.

Adela tree branches can be gathered only for wedding bundles and their bark is harvested cautiously and used for a special tea. Adela tea is quite expensive, very rare and not used widely.

We were not able to purchase more than just enough for you to make one cup but one cup, shared by lovers, is just (this underlined) enough.

You see, the tea serves to heighten your senses, touch, taste, smell, sight, hearing, and also it significantly heightens arousal. Alyssa has an ongoing dalliance with the head of the Ulfr House, she is a particular favorite of his and she visits him every time he comes to Fyngaard. Once, he had some tea that he shared with her and she said it was marvelous (underlined twice).

Please do not worry, the affects are not debilitating nor are they lasting. Alyssa says that half a cup each for her and her gentleman lasted several hours, they slept well and woke up refreshed.

With your spirit, we thought this was an adventure you had (underlined three times) to take.

So this is our gift to you and The Drakkar.

Enjoy, sweet Finnie, and we look forward to seeing you upon your return and hearing all (underlined four times) about it.

With love,

Jocelyn, Alyssa, Esther and Bess

I picked up the pouch and fingered the soft parcel.