The guards all swung their rifles toward us, but my women must have guessed what I was going to do before I even acted, and they already had their pistols or rifles pointed at the group at the entrance.
Everyone was still for ten seconds, and I saw a few Jotnar people duck back into the doorway of the distant castle so they could avoid getting shot.
“Ehhh, baatta coooh?” the man who had instigated me drawing my revolver asked very slowly.
Kasta answered him, and then the man swallowed hard before he nodded.
I de-cocked my pistol with a slow motion of my thumb and pointer finger, and then I lowered it from his face and slid the heavy weapon back in my holster. The man let out a sigh of relief, but his face was still as white as fresh snow. I nodded my head to the group of guards, and the man took a hesitant step back before he nodded gratefully at me.
Kasta gestured to the entryway of the courtyard, said something that I guessed meant “get the fuck back to your posts,” and then the other guards saluted after they lowered their weapons.
I turned away from them and continued walking toward the castle without speaking, my team followed closely behind me, and the dozens of Jotnar people in the courtyard that had observed the exchange scurried out of my way.
Then we stepped into the castle like we fucking owned it.
“What the fuck was that about?” Zea whispered as soon as we entered the foyer. It was decorated with black, gray, and red slate, and giant tapestries of Thor, Loki, Frejya and Odin hung from the various walls.
“He asked Adam if he could spare one of us for a bit of fun with him and his guard mates,” Kasta hissed under her breath.
“Shit,” Juliette whispered. “I thought for sure we were all going to get iced.”
“It was the perfect response,” Aasne said. “The coward pissed himself, and his friends are probably making fun of him right now.”
“Or they are going to investigate why Adam is only wearing an oarsman’s uniform,” Kasta said.
“That is my mistake,” Elana said as she looked to me. “Forgive me my king, I did not notice that your uniform isn’t an officer’s.”
“It is my mistake as well,” Aasne said as she touched my other wife’s arm. “I am not familiar with Jotnar uniforms, but it is obvious to me now we should have made an alteration to yours so you were an officer.”
“But mine is okay?” Kasta asked as she looked at the shoulder of her uniform.
“Yes,” both women said at once and then Aasne pointed to the embroidery on Kasta’s sleeve. “This indicates you are a Hersir, or officer of the warriors on a ship. Eve’s uniform also says she is a Merkismathr. This is like Lux’s position on Persephone. They are normally responsible for making sure the ship is stocked with supplies and weapons as well as commanding part of the bridge. The rest of us have simple warrior rank.”
A group of Jotnar families seemed to be taking a tour of the castle, and they walked toward us as if they were going to exit the foyer. We stepped aside, and then I nodded toward one of the distant side hallways.
A pair of guards stood on the side of the door, but Kasta nodded to them and said something in Nordar that I guessed was a greeting. The guards replied with similar words, and then they opened the door so that we could pass into the hallway.
“This is going way smoother than I expected,” Juliette whispered after we had walked through the hallway for about half a minute. A few servants had passed us while we were walking, but the corridors were otherwise empty.
Maybe they were a little too empty.
“They are arrogant,” Aasne hissed under her breath as we walked. “They do not think that anyone would be able to attack them here.”
“Let’s assume they do know we are here,” I said. “We need to get to a terminal so Zea can try to get a map of this place and a hint of where our target is. Kasta, when you see the next servant, pretend you are lost and ask for the nearest terminal.”
“Got it,” the blonde android said, but then her footsteps slowed as we approached an intersection in the hallway and saw a woman walking toward us with two wolf-looking battle drones at her side.
The drones stood a meter at the shoulder and a single pulse rifle was mounted on each of their backs. Their eyes glowed with a strange red intelligence, and the pair focused on us as we passed through the intersection. The sight of the two metal animal-robots would have been unsettling if they had been escorted by a drone pilot wearing the traditional hand and visor controls. However, the woman who walked next to the two laser-wolfs had red glowing eyes that matched the robots at her side, her left arm was made of a silvery metal that ended in a hook-like appendage, and her neck and chest were covered with tattoos of wolves tearing into crows. She was obviously a cyborg, and I didn’t see any sort of control mechanism for the drones on her body.
“Halt,” she said in English, and I felt my stomach bounce off the floor.
Chapter 14
“What?” Kasta said as she motioned for us to all stop walking.
“Who are you?” the woman asked as she slowly walked toward us. She had a sharp beauty to her face that reminded me of the Draugr woman in my dreams, but instead of long black hair that matched Eve’s, this woman had brown hair that fell to her shoulders in a smooth wave. Her body was athletic, but instead of the normal Jotnar uniform, she was wearing a tight suit of black leather that hugged every curve of her body like a second skin. There was no indication of her rank on her shoulders, but a single decorative pulse pistol hung at an angle on her hips.
“We are from Pewter Falcon. Why are you speaking English?” Kasta crossed her arms and narrowed her blue eyes.
“I did not know there were cyborgs on the Pewter Falcon,” the woman said as she glanced at Eve.
“I am not a cyborg,” Eve said. “I have albinism.”
“Your skin does seem pale,” the woman said as her glowing red eyes narrowed.
“You ignored my earlier question about English,” Kasta said.
“Your hair is not white though,” the woman said as stepped closer to Eve and raised her fingers. Everyone in my group tensed as the woman’s gloved fingers ran through the vampire’s obsidian locks, and then the woman lowered her hair with a strange smile on her face.
“It mostly affects my skin and eyes,” Eve replied calmly. “But I will admit that I do have a few white strands. I dye them every few weeks.”
“Ahh,” the cyborg said as she looked down to Eve’s uniform. “I am not familiar with the Pewter Falcon’s crew. That is Captain Taangarn’s ship, is it not?”
“Aye,” Eve said. “Our ship was damaged in the battle with Waymund. We are supposed to meet with our King and explain our failure.”
“Oh myyyy,” the woman sighed as she shook her head. “Where is Taangarn then?”
“On his ship,” Kasta said, “you are ignoring my question about English. Why are you speaking it?”
“Because he would not understand me if I spoke in Nordar, would he?” the woman asked as she pointed at me.
My body went numb, and none of us said anything for a few moments.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I believe you know what I mean,” she said, and her lips curled up into a wicked smile. “Do not touch your weapons, or this conversation will be over quickly.”
“For you,” Aasne hissed.
“Do you think my pets are just decoration? Do you think no one else is watching our conversation? Did you think you would make it this far without my help?”
“Your help?” Elana asked.
“Well…” the woman sighed. “The help of my mistress. She would like to offer you a deal.”
“Who is your mistress?” I asked.
“Someone who is happy that you are here,” the woman said as she gave me a half smile. “If you will cooperate with us.”
“What do you mean by cooperate?” I asked.
“I mean--” the cyborg woman stopped speaking when a group of servants turned a corner behind us, and we stood in silence until they disappeared.