Apollo looked from his boots to Frey’s mother to see her eyes were aimed at her son and they were slits.

“What, precisely, have I done to you that you feel it’s appropriate to treat me in this manner?” she asked.

“Precisely, nothing,” Frey answered immediately. “And a mother who does nothing is no mother at all. Thus, I have no qualms treating you in this manner.”

She stared at her son a moment before she swallowed.

Frey spoke on.

“Now, why are you here with bird nor man bringing news you would be?”

“My message was too sensitive to trust to bird or man,” she answered.

“And your message?” Frey prompted.

She drew in breath through her nose, looked to Apollo, then back to her son and declared, “Antoine has perished.”

“Fuck,” Frey muttered as her words made Apollo straighten from the desk.

Frey looked to him and Apollo shook his head.

Frey turned his attention back to his mother.

“Franka sent you with this message,” he stated.

“She did,” she confirmed.

“How did he die?” Apollo asked.

Valeria looked to him. “They have had him, and have been torturing him, for a great deal of time. There is only so much a body can take. He simply expired.”

Apollo raised a brow. “And they shared this directly with Franka?”

She shook her head. “As she would, during her discussions with them, Franka demanded to see him again to ascertain his condition. It was a coincidence, and I daresay a grave error…theirs…that when they opened the mirror to show him to her, he took his final breath.”

At that, Apollo felt something he thought he would never in his life feel.

Sorry for Franka Drakkar.

He then felt Frey’s gaze and turned his eyes to his cousin.

“They no longer have anything to hold over her,” he noted.

“And therefore she’d have no reason to act for them,” Apollo replied.

“True,” Valeria put in and both men looked to her. “But Franka is a Drakkar. As you bid, she shared with them that you erroneously came to the conclusion that it was Kristian who was behind the plot against”—her eyes slid to Apollo—“Madeleine. Also as you bid, she shared that you’ve imprisoned him and his family in the dungeons of Brunskar to await transport to Snowdon to stand trial for treason. A guilty verdict that carries a sentence from which any sister would wish to save her brother. Although her lover is dead and they have nothing to hold over her, her brother is incarcerated and what he would face if found guilty means she has something to bargain with. And this she’s doing. The plan proceeds as hatched, with that alteration.”

“Her bargain?” Apollo prompted.

“That once they have done what they wish to do, Kristian and his family will be freed and she, as well as her brother, will be allowed to continue their lives unhindered by whatever malice they intend,” Valeria answered. “But, as you wished, she has pressed them to act and do it quickly, now doing so in order to save Kristian rather than to halt the torture of her lover.”

“And we’re to believe Franka continues to put herself in jeopardy for kin and country?” Frey asked, his voice dripping with disbelief.

Valeria cut sharp eyes to her son. “They killed her lover.”

“Indeed,” Frey replied. “But this is Franka. I’m certain she’ll find something to amuse her that will assuage her grief.”

She lifted her chin and held her son’s gaze. “It is clear you do not know your cousin well, my son. They tortured then killed the only man she’s ever loved. This is not for kin and country. This is for vengeance.”

“That, I can believe,” Frey murmured.

“Then I bid you to believe it,” Valeria retorted. “She was not wailing her despair when she imparted her message on me. But she was determined. Exceptionally determined. And I do believe you know your cousin well enough to know what that means.”

It was then Frey lifted his chin.

He knew.

At this juncture, a knock came on the door and Apollo called, “Come.”

Lucretia appeared holding a large silver tray on which was tea, to which Valeria said irately, “Finally.”

Apollo ignored her and moved, ordering Lucretia, “See to Lady Drakkar.”

When she nodded, he looked to Frey but Frey was already moving to the door.

Once outside it, Apollo closed it and followed Frey who’d continued walking.

They stopped some ten feet away from the study and turned to each other.

“Your thoughts?” Frey asked.

“I would like to look in Franka’s face when those words were delivered,” Apollo answered. “But I cannot think that she spoke false to your mother. Our protections are such that they cannot break them. If she’s shared our plan, they’d know it was an ambush and she would not be suggesting we carry on with it as it stands. She’d be altering it.”

“Agreed. There are no vulnerabilities to our plans and Franka knows this.”

Apollo nodded.

“I’ll send a return message through my mother,” Frey stated.

“And I’ll leave you to do that. I must have a word with my son,” Apollo replied and Frey’s focus on him intensified.

“All is well?”

“Not close,” Apollo confided. “But I’m working on it.”

“I couldn’t help but note that today, Madeleine spent some time in your study with you,” Frey observed.

“At least with that, all is well.”

“I’m glad of it, cousin,” Frey murmured. “The rift was concerning Finnie. However, she feels she doesn’t know Maddie well enough to broach it.”

He tipped his head to Frey. “Feel free to share this news with your wife to ease her worries. Now, I must see to my son.” He looked to the door of the study then back to Frey. “In order to rest before she again leaves, your mother is welcome to stay the night here.”

Frey grinned before noting, “Well done, saying that without wincing.”

Apollo shook his head feeling his lips quirking..

“However,” Frey went on, “I believe she’ll be perfectly comfortable at The Swan.”

Frey wanted her under Karsvall’s roof less than Apollo did.

“Your choice,” Apollo murmured.

Frey nodded and turned toward the study doors.

Apollo moved to the stairs.