 Thyri considered the girl with a critical eye. She certainly looked Scandinavian with her light hair, skin and blue eyes, but she was nothing remarkable; plain was the most accurate description Thryi could conjure.
“A pleasure,” she said, in her heavily accented English, holding out her hand for Svea to take. Her lowered hood framed her own face prettily, the dark green fabric a stark contrast to the bold red of her hair. “I didn’t dare hope that Dr. Gupta would find a disciple of Rhaegar.” Thyri unfastened the clasp of her cloak and removed it from around her shoulders, draping it nearly over the back of a nearby chair. The slight swell of her stomach had just begun to grow visible beneath the fabric of her dress, and her chest strained against the bodess a little more than usual. She would need new gowns. Pregnancy had not yet robbed her of her figure however her voluptuous hourglass remained temporarily intact. Thyri had never been conventionally beautiful, but she had always been striking and entrancing. Her body was her power. Dr. Gupta’s stolen glances had not escaped her notice over the weeks she had known him, and she took care to reward him for his help with a tactically placed hand, smile or exaggerated hip swing. It cost her nothing and bought her so much.
“Shall we sit?” Dr. Gupta asked, breaking the silence that had descended over the room. He showed Thyri to the chair nearest to the hearth and then took the one beside her. It left the sofa opposite free for Svea and her familiar.
“Show me your hand,” Thyri instructed the girl, sitting forwards in her chair so as to be close enough for the required gesture to be comfortable enough for both of them. When she accepted Svea’s hand she turned it over and ran her fingers gently across the scar on her palm. Thyri nodded in satisfaction and released her grip.
“Tell me, Svea,” Thyri began, sitting back and settling herself amongst the cushions, “are you devout? Do you want to serve your God?” Her intelligent green eyes pinned the girl in place with a hard searching stare, “I need to know I can trust you, or I am straight out of that door. I can’t impress upon you enough just how important this is.” Unbidden, her hand sprang to rest protectively across her expanding stomach. “I need your oath.”
She watched sharp-eyed as Dr. Gupta nodded at Svea encouragingly and Thyri waited a little impatiently for the girl’s response. Thyri was taking rather more on faith than she was usually comfortable doing. There were very very few people in the world she truly trusted, and neither Svea nor Dr. Gupta was on her list. The doctor was easier to play, easier to charm; Svea posed another challenge entirely, one at which Thyri was far less adept. She needed to regain some control over the whole messy business and she was tired of feeling as if she had just stepped off a cliff and was plummeting down towards the open sea.
“Are you aware,” Thyri continued at last as she considered how best to play up the theatrics. She’d had some practice over the decades. “That your God has chosen to descend to this world? He is here, and the ancient creature who haunts the skies has stolen much of his power from him.” Thyri drew herself up to her full height, her spine straight, “and I am his paramour.” She remained still and alert as she watched the girl’s face, waiting for her to draw the correct conclusions from what she had been given. She supposed she was about to find out just how bright her new companion was.
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