Anything So Exquisite
Four days later…
I burst out of the house and ran down the stone steps as the mass of riders, led by Frey and King Atticus, charged into the clearing in front of the Palace.
Frey swung Tyr around and reined him in as I got close and I put my hands on his thigh, tipping my head way back to look up at him.
“Did you win?” I asked with a smile and he smiled down at me.
Then he leaned far down to the side in his saddle, his hand hooking me at the back of my neck and pulling me up to my toes so our faces were close.
“You don’t win a hunt, wife,” he said quietly. “The only way to lose is if you don’t bag a deer or at least a hare.”
“Okay then,” I replied, “did you bag at least a hare?”
“Four,” he stated, “and three deer.”
I scrunched my nose.
Frey took in my face and his smile got bigger before he asked, “Why is it you burst forth from the Palace with excitement for news about the hunt and now you look as if I told you I scored through a village cutting down every breathing being with my sword?”
I didn’t “burst forth from the Palace” because I wanted news of the hunt. I burst forth from the Palace because my hot guy husband rode up to the Palace on his beautiful steed looking… well, hot. And he’d been gone since the wee hours of the morning. And therefore I “burst forth from the Palace” because I was excited to see him.
I did not tell him this.
Instead I explained, “Because before, I thought it was a competition you could win. And now it’s just a bunch of guys going out and killing things. Competition is exciting. Killing things just to kill things…” I shook my head and finished, “not so much.”
Frey kept smiling as he bent even further then touched his mouth to mine before he ordered softly, “Step back, wee wife, so I can dismount.”
He let me go and I stepped back to see Father moving toward us so I turned to him and smiled.
“How did you do?” I asked.
“Not as well as The Drakkar, a hare and two deer,” he answered, arriving at me while speaking through a returned smile and bending in to kiss my cheek after he spoke. When he straightened, Frey was there and Atticus looked to my husband. “As usual, not anyone did as well as The Drakkar.”
I turned to look up at Frey. “So you did win.”
Frey looked down at me, eyes smiling. “If it pleases you, my princess, you can think of it this way.”
“Okay, I’ll think of it this way,” I decided, Frey’s mouth twitched and his eyes went to Atticus who was noting, “Plenty of fresh meat for the feast tonight.”
I made a gaggy face that Frey caught and I knew this because he burst out laughing. It also made him hook an arm around my shoulders and pull me into his side. And last, and best, it made him kiss the top of my hair after he quit laughing.
When he was done kissing me, I tipped my head back to see he was looking down at me.
When he caught my eyes, he stated, “You eat pork.”
I had a feeling I knew where this was going.
“Yes,” I confirmed, “but –”
Frey cut me off. “And beef.”
“Yes, husband, but –”
“And chicken, pheasant and lamb,” he went on.
“I don’t eat lamb,” I protested.