Ch. 49 Eski pt. I

Chapter 49: Eski pt I

Io read the damaged letter twice.

Then she set it beside her plate and looked at Fulla.

“The clasp.”

Fulla had gone very still.

Lexander waited while a servant poured tea. Across the breakfast room, Thor was attempting to convince Ignatius that the wooden spoon belonged in his hand rather than behind his ear.

The servant withdrew.

Only then did Fulla speak.

“There were two catches beneath the lid. One opened it. The other asked permission.”

Loki leaned back in his chair.

“An unnecessarily judgmental box.”

“You tried to steal from it.”

“I was investigating.”

“You were looking for wine money.”

Io’s fingers rested on the burned edge of the letter.

“Eski.”

The name brought something back.

A small chest beneath a window. Her own hands laying folded cloth inside it. Fulla standing beside her, asking whether she intended to keep every letter he had ever written.

Io glanced at Lexander.

He noticed.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“That was a very specific nothing.”

Her smile was brief.

Then she looked down again.

“What happens if someone forces it open?”

Fulla turned her cup slowly between her hands.

“That depends on what’s still inside.”

They moved to the study after breakfast.

Thor remained with the twins. She announced that she had been reduced to nursery duty, then refused to surrender Seraphina when the nurse offered to take her.

Fulla sat near the window with a cushion behind her back.

“Eski held things you wanted kept,” she told Io. “Letters. Gifts. Work you hadn’t finished. Sometimes things entrusted to you.”

“Weapons?” Atreyu asked.

“Occasionally. Though she preferred people not leave those lying about.”

Loki looked at Lexander.

“A habit that has survived.”

Lexander ignored him.

“And this woman knows how to open it?”

Fulla studied the letter.

“She may remember how the catch works. That doesn’t mean the chest will let her reach everything.”

“Could it hurt her?”

“Yes.”

The answer quieted the room.

Fulla drew a breath.

“If she tries to claim what belongs to someone else. Or if they make her break the wrong seal.”

Io stood.

“Then we need to reach her.”

Atreyu spread a fresh report across the desk.

“The wagon was held at the eastern customs station last night.”

Lexander looked up sharply.

“Held?”

“The driver’s permit covers wool and household goods. The guards found two restrained passengers. He produced a warrant claiming they’re being transported for trial.”

“Whose warrant?”

“One of your provincial magistrates.”

Atreyu passed him a copy.

Lexander recognized the seal.

He did not recognize the case.

“The station commander questioned it,” Atreyu continued. “The warrant names a court in Io’s kingdom, but bears an authority from yours. Neither office will accept responsibility.”

Loki’s mouth twitched.

“Saved by clerks.”

“For the moment,” Mara said. “The escort has become impatient.”

“How many?”

“Six when they arrived. A seventh joined them before dawn.”

Something in her voice made Lexander look at her.

“What about the seventh?”

“The station’s dogs broke their chains trying to get away from him.”

Loki stopped smiling.

Lexander found Thor in the nursery with Seraphina asleep against her shoulder.

Shadow occupied her lap.

Ignatius was on the carpet with Lysandra, trying to reach a cloth ball that remained stubbornly beyond his grasp.

Thor took one look at Lexander’s face.

“No.”

“You haven’t heard what I’m asking.”

“You’re wearing your leaving expression.”

“I have one?”

“Yes. Io’s is worse.”

He sat beside her.

“The wagon is at the eastern customs station. Less than two hours away.”

“Then send soldiers.”

“There are already soldiers there. We may need to settle the warrant before someone decides to force the issue.”

Thor’s eyes narrowed.

“And?”

“And Loki thinks Fenrir may be with them.”

For a moment, even Shadow seemed to stop moving.

Thor’s hand settled protectively against Seraphina’s back.

“You should have started with that.”

“I know.”

“Who’s going?”

“Io, Loki, Baldr, Mara, and a Watch detachment. Atreyu stays here with you.”

Thor stared at him.

“Both of you.”

“Eski belongs to Io. The warrant carries my seal.”

“You can send the seal.”

“And if that fails, they move the prisoners while we argue through messengers.”

Thor looked toward the window.

Beyond it, Aurethar lay in the garden, his head raised.

Lexander lowered his voice.

“I don’t want to take you away from them.”

Her jaw tightened.

He knew exactly how unfair it was.

Every instinct she possessed urged her toward the threat. He was asking her to remain where the threat might never arrive.

At last she looked down at the sleeping child in her arms.

“You turn back if it becomes a fight you can’t finish.”

“We’ll have horses ready.”

“That wasn’t what I said.”

Lexander met her eyes.

“Yes.”

Thor nodded once.

Then she glanced at Lysandra.

“If he comes home damaged, you’re allowed to scold him.”

Lysandra looked up from the carpet.

“I already do.”

“Good girl.”

The customs station occupied a low stone building beside a bridge.

There was a tollhouse on the opposite bank.

Both flew familiar banners.

Lexander had never disliked those two banners more than when he saw a wagon trapped between them.

A line of ordinary travelers waited farther up the road. A woman held a sleeping child against her shoulder. Two carters had begun arguing over whose turn it would have been if anyone had been allowed to move.

Mara rode ahead.

By the time Lexander and Io reached the station yard, the commander was waiting beside his men.

He bowed quickly.

“Your Majesties.”

“Captain,” Lexander said. “Thank you for holding the wagon.”

The man’s relief was immediate.

“I wasn’t certain I had the authority.”

“You had two restrained people and a warrant that didn’t make sense. You did the right thing.”

Io dismounted.

“Where are they?”

“Inside the wagon. We gave them water. The escort wouldn’t permit us to remove their restraints.”

Across the yard, a broad-shouldered man leaned against the wagon’s rear wheel.

He wore a traveler’s coat and no visible armor.

His hair was dark.

There was nothing remarkable about him until he raised his eyes.

Lexander felt the memory before he could stop it.

Weight crushing him.

A vast dark mouth.

The certainty that there would be no breath after this one.

His hand tightened on the reins.

Io touched his wrist.

The yard returned.

Mud. Horses. A rattling harness.

The man by the wheel smiled.

“Still remembering that part?”

Loki stepped forward.

“Fenrir.”

The smile vanished.

Nobody drew a weapon.

That made the silence worse.

Mara quietly moved her riders between the yard and the waiting travelers. The station commander took the hint and began clearing the bridge.

Fenrir watched it happen.

“You brought a king to collect a sewing box.”

Io stood beside Lexander.

“I came for two people being held against their will.”

“And the box.”

“Yes.”

He looked at her for several seconds.

Then he laughed softly.

“At least you haven’t changed that much.”

The wagon shifted.

Someone inside had moved closer to the rear boards.

Lexander heard chain links.

“Show me the warrant,” he said.

One of the escorts approached.

His eyes kept darting toward Fenrir.

Lexander took the document.

The seal was genuine.

The rest was a collection of careful evasions.

There were no charges. No names beyond descriptions. No date for a hearing.

He handed it to the captain.

“This does not authorize their detention.”

The escort swallowed.

“We were instructed—”

“Who issued it?”

The man hesitated.

Fenrir answered.

“Someone you’ll find gone when you go looking.”

“Perhaps,” Lexander said. “Remove the restraints.”

Fenrir pushed away from the wheel.

Every horse in the yard shifted backward.

“Walk away, Odin.”

Lexander’s stomach turned at the old name.

He kept his voice level.

“My name is Lexander.”

“Yes. You keep finding new ones.”

Loki moved between them.

“Enough.”

Fenrir’s gaze settled on him.

Something passed across his face.

It was too quick for Lexander to name.

“You shouldn’t have come.”

“People keep telling me that,” Loki said.

“You should listen.”

“Rarely works out.”

Inside the wagon, a woman cried out.

Io moved.

Fenrir turned his head.

“Don’t—”

She was already at the rear step.