I clenched my jaw, disturbed by where she might be going with this.
“In the old days, the monarchs always married their relatives to keep the bloodlines pure.”
Another involuntary shudder. “Is this a personal challenge to see if you can make me vomit in record time? Perhaps you can try your charms on our lovely brother Sune.”
“You haven’t seen a woman in nearly a thousand years while you were in prison. Oh, except that little tunnel runt.” She gave a dramatic shiver. “Anyway, Sune is not as fun as you.”
“Fun? I’m a lethal warrior who spent the past thousand years as an imprisoned lich. Fun is not one of my strengths.”
Revna rolled her eyes. “Fine. Sexy. Don’t you remember all the women who would try to sleep with you back before Ragnarok? You never really liked any of them, but they followed you like lovesick puppies. I’m sure you bedded plenty of them. But none of them were your equal, like I am. Don’t you remember—you were known as the Sword of the Gods, fearsome and beautiful. I never got a nickname like that, which seems a major oversight. You and I are equally paired, and now that your soul is returned, I find you appealing.”
“Well, this has been a disturbing few minutes, but I must get back to my work. Would you like to go out through the door or the window?”
“Oh, my lovely brother. That manacle on your mind”—she made air quotes—“will stop you from defenestrating me any time soon.”
“Pity.”
Revna’s eyes narrowed slightly, her calculating side revealing itself at last. “So, how much of your past do you remember?”
Still, I studied her. She did look almost the same as before. It was hard to believe she was over a thousand years old, but once elves reach maturity, they age very slowly. King Gorm was nearly nine thousand years old, and he looked barely older than a fifty-year-old human.
Revna’s fingers dug into the orange, and juice dripped onto my sofa. “Do you remember how you became cursed?”
Most of my past life was clear as day—the battles, the blood, the glory. The spells I’d conducted in the mountains. It was only the last few years before I’d died that were hazy. I knew that I’d built a magic wall to protect the Night Elves, but in the centuries that had passed, the details had faded away. “I think the curse burned away some of my memories,” I finally answered.
Revna’s eyebrows flicked upwards. “Well, that explains quite a bit.”
“What are you talking about?”
Instead of answering, she walked across the room to stand next to me. The way her eyes lingered on my body had me reaching for a shirt.
“So, what does this fortification spell do?” she asked. “The one father is so keen on.”
“I’m sure you know. It will stop the Night Elves from trying to break free, by strengthening the wall. It will stop them from raiding Midgard.” In this, at least, my father and I had a common goal. If a battle erupted between the Night Elves and the High Elves, it wasn’t our side that would lose.
Revna’s tone sharpened. “Why don’t you compose a slaughtering hex—something to do away with them for good?”
How about I lock you in a dark prison forever once I become king?
King Gorm and I had just fought bitterly over this very question. Just a few weeks ago, he had asked me to destroy the Night Elves once and for all. With the military campaign against the Night Elves stagnating, he desperately wanted me to design an apocalyptic magical weapon for that purpose.
While I still had this thing on my head, I had to keep him reasonably satisfied, but I couldn’t help the High Elves overrun the Shadow Caverns. Fortunately, while the crown kept him protected from my wrath, it didn’t allow him to physically control me. So, the wall would remain. I was happy to keep the High Elves from advancing on the Night Elves.
That was my one goal, now. A successful attack on the Night Elf realm could mean Ali’s death.
I tried not to think of her too often; she disrupted my focus, and that would only delay my return to her. But the very effort of banishing her from my consciousness brought her beautiful face into my mind. Hair the color of snow; eyes that shone like moonlight on water; skin that had never seen the