Nils obviously looked at Frey’s face because his paled.
Even so, he fought his corner. “I cannot believe you stand in defense of her after she committed treason.”
“Excellent,” Frey weirdly replied, crossing his arms on his chest in a way it looked like he was settling in. “Let’s talk about that. How, precisely, did you know of that?”
The older man lifted his chin.
“Anneka and I keep informed about our children,” Nils informed him.
“Not surprisingly you do this likely with spies, paid sneaks and unlawful magic, because I’ve noted that for years neither of your children have had anything to do with you,” Frey retorted. “Now I know why.”
“I’ll remind you, nephew, she came to this buttery of her own accord,” Nils shared.
It was time for Noc to butt in and he did just that.
“She came to this buttery to protect her brother.”
Nils’s eyes went to Noc. “Weakness. The both of them. My bloody son, I’ve no idea how he makes it through a night, petrified of his own shadow. And her. My daughter. Twisting herself in knots to hide her brother’s affliction from me and her mother, like we wouldn’t notice it and lament it. Putting herself in line for his punishments because the boy faints and cries and begs, and she can’t bear it. Even going so far as misbehaving, courting our ire, so we’ll turn our attention to her. It’s obscene. A flaw in her character.”
“And I’m sure you punished her for that too,” Frey said in a quiet, dangerous voice.
“Of course I did,” Nils snapped. “She’s a Drakkar. She was taught to know better. And that boy…” He sniffed before he declared, “My son should have ascended to Head of the House. You didn’t want it and neither of your soft-hearted brothers deserved it. Instead, my son attached himself to a sniveling woman who pushed out a worthless child, causing his mother and myself inexpressible shame.”
Noc watched as Frey held his uncle’s eyes, and he did this for a long time before he turned away and dropped his head. Lifting his hand to the back of his neck, he wrapped it there and squeezed.
He released his neck, his hand falling, his gaze coming to Noc’s.
“How is she?” he asked.
“In pain, but still uppity as all hell and worried sick about her brother,” Noc answered.
Frey nodded.
“The other Heads of the Houses will not stand for my incarceration,” Nils declared.
Frey turned back to him. “This is a delusion. When they hear of what you’ve done, they’ll stand in line to condemn you. But even if what you believe were to be the case, I would not care.”
“You hold great power, nephew, but you do not rule this land,” Nils fired back, his face twisted.
“You are correct,” Frey agreed. “But my mother-in-law does and it was me who seated her on that throne.”
Nils drew in a long, loud breath through his nose.
“Bloody hell,” Frey muttered, looking to the ceiling. “I can’t stand to be in his presence much longer. Where’s that bloody witch?”
“You called?”
Both Noc and Frey turned toward the feminine drawl, and they did this just in time to see the green smoke start to dissipate and Valentine lift her hand in an indifferent gesture. This movement caused the handsome but frightened-looking woman she’d brought with her to tumble back. She slammed into Nils Drakkar, taking them both into the shelves where more bottles fell and smashed on the ground.
“Pity, waste of good liquor,” Valentine noted casually.
“Kristian and his family?” Frey asked.
Valentine looked to him. “Frightened, but no harm had been done. Though I arrived just in time.”
“She’s a witch,” Frey informed Valentine.
“She was a witch,” Valentine returned. “I’ve stripped her of her powers.”
“What?” Nils whispered.
Noc looked to him. He was now holding his wife in a protective embrace Noc didn’t think the man had in him.
“It’s true, my love,” his wife said in a trembling voice. “My magic, she took it.” Her gaze wandered fearfully to Valentine. “Her power is…I’ve never felt anything like it.”
“This is…it is…it’s,” Nils sputtered, “unspeakable.” He speared Valentine with his eyes. “Return it immediately.”
“If you don’t cease speaking to me in this manner, you odious man, you’ll find yourself without a tongue,” Valentine retorted.
“Who do you think you are?” Nils demanded, pulling his wife behind him and taking a step toward Valentine.
When he did, the witch lifted her hand and snapped.
Nils stopped immediately. Both his hands shooting to his mouth, his eyes getting huge, his facing losing all color, he staggered back and Noc watched as his eyes got even more huge and he rolled his jaw around in a bizarre way that was also creepy as fuck.
“Valentine,” Frey sighed.
“I’ll give it back,” she promised, but finished with, “eventually.”
Noc stared at her. “You took his tongue?”
She tipped her head to the side. “I didn’t fancy how he was using it.”
“Bloody hell,” Frey muttered.
Frey’s last man in the room, a guy named Ruben, chuckled.
“I assume you have plans for these two cretins that I’ll approve of?” Valentine asked Frey.
“I’m uncertain you’ll approve of them but I can assure you they’ll be punished,” Frey answered.