Free Blood Ties (Noble of Blood Series Book 2) by A L Wright

well-fitted pants suit with a heavy black cape billowing out behind him.
    The man saw her and his long-strided walk came to a sudden stop. His heavy cape wrapped itself around his legs as his momentum ceased, then went slack behind him as he continued to stand there.
    Nikka tried hard not to stare at the man, but he was so familiar. He held her stare for a few moments before addressing her.
    “You look exactly like your mother, child.” His voice was deep yet clear; rumbling across the foyer and causing all chatter to stop. The woman who had been insistently flirting with Tynen snapped her mouth shut and turned towards the man with a low bow. The rest if the Noble’s in the room bowed as well.
    The quiet that ensued stretched on in that moment, yet felt like forever. The tall man finally walked over to her, covering the distance in only a few strides. He reached out and touched her cheek with his fingertips.
    Immediately she felt the flow of his power, and something within her recognized it and responded. Her cheek grew warm. Nikka reached up without thinking and touched the man’s cheek.
    All the Noble’s in the room held their breath as this stranger dared to touch their Patriarch, then gasped when her fingertips lit up against his cheek.
    The Patriarch smiled for the first time in almost twenty years. He adjusted his hand so that it cupped Nikka’s cheek.
    “My dearest granddaughter. Welcome home.”

Chapter 16
     
     
     
    Victo r stood stoically nearby as his Prince sat silently at his desk. They had just ridden back into the keep to find that Tynen and the girls were gone. Dartein was seething mad, but trying very hard to control it.
    Nikka had never done anything against her father’s will before. But she was a grown woman, and could take care of herself. That did not cause them to worry less, however. Having Tynen with them was good, they would be that much safer.
    Victor knew all that was running through his Prince’s head. He also knew that every irrational thought about hordes of goblins setting upon them unexpectedly was in there as well.
    He knew that because he was having all those same thoughts himself. And a couple other ones. He was trying quite hard to push them away, but just couldn’t.
    Ever since they had brought the smithy girl here, he knew he was going to lose Nikka. He knew it, but had not been resigned to it. He knew that he did not deserve such a woman for himself. But he dared hope.
    That hope died the day he saw Nikka and Friesa holding hands. Their casual conversation about turning the girl cemented his belief that he had lost her completely. He never should have shut her out like he had. Victor had seen in hindsight that if only he had opened up just a bit, she would have responded.
    But he had been afraid.
    A loud bang had Victor opening his eyes to see his friend standing with his fists on the desk. His thoughts had taken him to dark places, and he hadn’t even realized his eyes were closed until just then.
    “Victor, I cannot leave the keep. Not now, not while we are negotiating with the humans. I cannot have them deciding to move out here to our lands, and myself not even present when they do. That will not foster trust.”
    They had ridden to the village to speak with the humans there about the goblin raids, urging them to send their able bodied people out to the keep to learn how to fight. Dartein needed an army, and did not have a chamber to turn humans. So he had to build one however he could.
    A couple of families decided that they would take their chances farming out next to the keep. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. As they left the village, they heard talk among others about doing the same.
    They could only hope that enough would come to make it worth it.
    “I understand, my Prince. Let me go after the girls.” Victor hoped his Prince wouldn’t order him to stay behind. The worry that his Princess would slumber with Friesa to turn her was starting to turn him