Chapter 12
"If it's that interesting to you, five."
He rose.
Immediately.
Coming straight out of his crouch in a powerful surge, he stood towering beside me on the bed.
And now, at the expression on his face, I fought cowering before him.
"Five?" he whispered.
I fought the pain as I pushed up on my forearms, beginning, "Noc-"
"Five?" he hissed.
I stared up at him, unable to speak in the face of his fury.
Fury on my behalf.
Something that had never happened, not from Kristian, not from Antoine.
Not from anyone.
"You were coerced, Franka, whether you know that s.h.i.+t or not," he bit off, and before I could utter a noise, even if I had no intention of doing so, a knock came at the door and Noc barked, "Come in!"
He then prowled to the door as a maid came through with towels.
He did this continuing to bark, just not as loudly, and dispensed with the "pleases" and ludicrous "that'd be awesomes" and behaved like the man he would be if he was of this world.
In other words, he issued commands.
"Change the towel with a clean, cool one on her back. Give her the G.o.dd.a.m.ned sleeping drink so she can get some relief from the pain. And get the f.u.c.king doctor in here." He was at the door the maid had scurried through and he turned to me. "You move from that bed, baby, I'm gonna be f.u.c.kin' p.i.s.sed. Let her take care of you, drink the G.o.dd.a.m.ned drink, get some rest. I'll be back."
I had no earthly clue what "f.u.c.kin' p.i.s.sed" meant.
I still nodded.
Noc watched me do it.
Then he swept out the door.
Chapter Four.
How It Was Going to Be Noc It took three of Frey's guys to pull Noc off the man.
Even accomplis.h.i.+ng this, he still struggled against their hold, knowing every blow he'd dealt didn't make him feel better, but that didn't mean he didn't get gratification each time his fist landed in the a.s.shole's flesh.
"I understand your anger, Noc, but this is not helping," Frey said from close.
"It defies belief you'd allow that...that...man to lay his hands on me."
At Franka's father's words, Noc went still.
His entire body.
But not his mouth.
"It defies belief you took that f.u.c.kin' whip to your daughter since she was f.u.c.kin' five without anyone stopping you," he spat, feeling no joy as he watched Franka's father swipe blood from his mouth seeing as Noc's repeated blows to his face where the whip had caught earlier tore that wound long and wide.
He felt no joy mostly because he also felt the job was not even close to done.
It took a while for the vibe in the room to hit him, but when it did he jerked away from Frey's boys and turned his attention to the man himself.
Frey's face was carved from stone, his eyes directed at his uncle, and they were blazing with h.e.l.lfire.
"Since she was five?" he whispered, his tone heavy with disbelief and disgust, not to mention rage.
Noc s.h.i.+fted his attention back to the older man when he replied, "It's none of your concern, nephew, what I do with my children."
"It's b.l.o.o.d.y law in Lunwyn that corporal punishment of minors does not go beyond a simple spanking or a paddle," Frey shot back.
"She's now an adult," the man retorted.
"Which does not negate the crime of child cruelty, but adds the crime of a.s.sault," Frey declared.
"I'm a member of a House, your House, may I remind you," Franka's father returned.
"You're a monster," Noc clipped.
The man turned his gaze to Noc. "And you're a peasant who I've not given leave to speak to me."
Noc opened his mouth but Frey got there before him.
"Are you unfamiliar with the Prince of Hawkvale?" he asked.
"I know of these secrets," the a.s.shole fired back, a sneer twisting his lips, "and this is not the heir to the throne of Hawkvale." He indicated Noc with his arm. "This man is nothing."
"This man saved you from slavery at the hands of Minerva and her minions," Frey retorted. "This man has the ear of the Queen. The Princess. And The Drakkar. This man is twin to the heir of Hawkvale. This man is far from nothing."
"You can pretty him up as much as you like, nephew, but his manner, his speech. He may look like
"Cease speaking," Frey ordered.
"You are who you are, Frey, but I'm your uncle, your elder, and you never have leave to speak to me in that manner," Franka's father retorted.
"Cease..." Frey leaned forward and thundered, "speaking."
"I-"
That was all the a.s.shole got out before Frey was across the room with his hand wrapped around the guy's throat, his feet lifted two feet from the ground, and he was slammed into a shelving unit so hard, all the bottles swayed and four crashed to the ground.
"I said...cease speaking," Frey repeated through clenched teeth.
Franka's father opened and closed his mouth like he was fighting for air at the same time he clawed at Frey's arm at his throat.
"You better hope Valentine returns with Anneka, reporting Kristian and his family are safe, healthy and whole, or I swear to the G.o.ds, uncle, I'll press for you to f.u.c.king swing," Frey warned.
Franka's father made a gurgling noise and Frey dropped him to the ground where he crumpled, landing on a hand and his knees.
Frey turned immediately from him to one of the men standing close to Noc.
"Thad, go to Finnie. Franka's maid woke her along with me and no doubt she's still awake seeing as she wasn't keen on not accompanying me to the kitchens. Ask her to go to Noc's room, attend Franka as the physician sees to her and ask her to stay there," he ordered.
Thad nodded and took off.
Frey looked to one of the other men close to Noc and demanded, "Lund, fetch the constable. Nils Drakkar is being arrested tonight for child cruelty and a.s.sault."
Lund didn't nod. He smiled a humorless smile and then he left the room.
"Arrested?" Nils Drakkar asked in a choked voice, still on his knees, only his head was tipped back to look at his nephew.
"You've been committing crimes for decades, uncle. You'll stand trial for those crimes and pay the penance," Frey announced.
Nils pushed himself to his feet, declaring, "That's absurd."
"It's the law," Frey returned.
The older man's back shot straight. "I'm a Drakkar!"
"You're a G.o.ds d.a.m.ned useless piece of s.h.i.+te," Frey bit out, turning again fully to his uncle. "I still cannot grasp what I saw when I walked into this room. I don't even want to. How could you mark your child that way? It's unfathomable to do to a son. But it's unconscionable to do it to a daughter."
Nils tossed his head. "You know Franka. She earned many punishments."
"And her punishment was tearing open her flesh?" Frey asked with incredulity.
"As her father, it's my decision what her punishment would be."
"And that decision you made will land you in a cell," Frey fired back. "And if I have anything to do with it, and in case you haven't grasped this, uncle, I have a great deal to do with everything, you'll stay in that cell until your dying day."
Nils expression filled with disdain as he snapped, "You cannot mean that."
"Look at my face," Frey demanded, "and tell me if I do or I do not."
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 b.u.t.tery of her own accord," Nils shared.
It was time for Noc to b.u.t.t in and he did just that.
"She came to this b.u.t.tery to protect her brother."
Nils's eyes went to Noc. "Weakness. The both of them. My b.l.o.o.d.y 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 h.e.l.l 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.
"b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l," Frey muttered, looking to the ceiling. "I can't stand to be in his presence much longer. Where's that b.l.o.o.d.y witch?"
"You called?"