Chapter 23
RoderickwatchedSnowfromacross the table, heart pounding a wild beat. Her cheeks were flushed and pink. Clearly, she was unhappy with him. She hadn’t wanted him to come to the village to see her here, and yet, here he was.
Tasnia told him Elator and Yirrie were the ones who raised her from the time she arrived when she was eight. He didn’t know much beyond that, only that it was clear the woman didn’t care for the situation. She said it with a look of distaste on her face.
He reached for the enchanted blade which he had carried in with him. No one had noticed. Not even Tasnia. He placed it on the table in front of him. Snow’s eyes narrowed to slits as they darted to the sheathed blade, widening with her annoyance and her suspicion. Tension radiated from her like a coiled snake ready to strike.
“What is that?” Yirrie asked.
“That is an enchanted blade,” Roderick said, never taking his eyes off her. “I forged it.”
“I prefer not to have weapons on my table,” Yirrie said with a sniff of derision.
But Elator looked as though he were awestruck. “May I?”
“Of course.” Roderick pushed the blade toward him.
Snow huffed. “This is ridiculous.”
As she said it, Elator removed the blade. Both he and Yirrie gasped with their admiration and appreciation of a fine weapon. Snow tried hard not to look at it, but it was difficult. It truly was a magnificent dagger.
“I have never seen the likes,” he said.
“There are only four of them in the entire realm,” Roderick said. He gave Snow a pointed look.
She knew Ardan had one.
He pulled his own dagger out of the sheath by his side. He placed it on the table next to the empty sheath.
“I forged them all,” he said. “One belongs to a young elven boy.”
“Ardan?” Elator asked.
“Yes, I believe that’s his name.” Still, Roderick’s gaze never left her face.
“Ardan was the one who used his enchanted blade to save Snow from dark magic,” Elator said. He replaced the blade into its sheath and handed it back to Roderick. “It’s a remarkable weapon. However, we still do not know who you are or why you’re here.”
“I’m here to give Snow this blade so that she may kill the queen who usurped her throne and take it back.”
Snow huffed out a breath as Elator and Yirrie both looked at her with surprise and question in their eyes. She sat back in the chair and crossed her arms over her chest showing her frustration and annoyance.
“That isnotgoing to happen,” she said.
Roderick forged on. “I was sent here by the queen to kill Snow White and bring back her heart in a wooden box.”
Both of them gasped with their shock. Roderick continued.
“But I have no intention of doing that.”
Elator leaned forward. “What are your intentions, then?”
“I intend to help her regain her throne as she is the rightful ruler of the Mystic Vale.”
“And how do you intend to do that?” Elator asked.
Which only served to infuriate Snow even more. “Do not encourage him, Elator.”
“I intend to take her into the villages north of here so that she can meet her people and know that she is loved and that they want her on the throne. So that she can see what Seraphina’s power has done to them and the people of her kingdom. So that she will know she is the only one who can free them from the queen’s tyranny,” he said.
