Dangerous Talents by Frankie Robertson

Author:Frankie Robertson [Robertson, Frankie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance, Fantasy, fullybook
Goodreads: 15753350
Publisher: Castle Rock Publishing
Published: 2012-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

*

The Great Hall buzzed with a multitude of conversations. Dahleven stood to one side talking with a crofter of substantial holdings. The Althing had broken for the noon meal, and now, afterward, the Jarls and their heirs moved among the carls and freemen, maintaining good will with the men of their provinces. Servants passed quietly along the sides of the room, removing the remains of the meal from the tables and refreshing the pitchers of ale.

Dahleven wondered if Celia was awake yet. He’d never seen someone hit so hard by Emergence. The memory of her in his arms tingled along his skin. He’d liked the weight of her nestled against his chest. When she’d fallen asleep with her head tucked into the hollow between his neck and shoulder, her trust had felt like a greater gift than any Jarl could bestow.

“What can we expect, my lord?” the crofter asked.

What had the man been saying? Dahleven cursed silently; he’d lost track of the conversation. Ah yes, the pasturage. “Kon Neven has decided not to open the high range this year. It needs time to recover from the past few years of grazing.” And we need time to make the borders safe again.

The crofter looked sour, but took his leave politely. Dahleven turned and saw Jon up near the dais, draining his tankard. Again.

His sister had made no bargain with that one. Ingirid had married for love, but Jon had married for position. Neither of them had gotten what they’d hoped for. He watched Jon lean back and hook his elbow on the empty table on the dais, then casually turn and switch his tankard for the full one Neven had left behind.

Dahleven had seen Jon do it before. There was plenty of ale to be had from the pitchers kept full on the sideboards, but this was one of the ways Jon puffed his ego. Neven had never given Jon the power he’d expected would come with marrying Ingirid. His father had seen too clearly what Jon was. So Jon took his petty revenge and pretended to himself that he had somehow bested Neven.

Dahleven clenched his teeth and turned so he wouldn’t have to look at his brother-by-marriage. He and Ragni would have taken Jon aside long ago for a “talk,” but Neven had forbidden it. He supposed Father was right. Nothing would change what Jon was, and that kind of “conversation” would only have made Ingirid unhappy.

Instead, he turned his anger to better purpose, rehearsing in his mind the petition he would soon make to have Knut declared Outcast.

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