Chapter 40 Freya
“No signs of Harald’s fleet, nor his warriors, shield maiden,” the Skalander draug rasped in the strange voice of the undead that I still hadn’t gotten used to. “Nor sign of the child of Jord or his familiar.”
It was no shock to me that they hadn’t managed to catch Guthrum. He was a man who belonged far more to the wilds than to civilization, and the only way we’d manage to find him would be if he was dead. I was still struck with anger at myself whenever I thought of how easily he escaped, but in truth, not only had I believed him too unwell to run, I’d also not thought he’d have the desire to. A mistake on my part, because Kaja had obviously told him enough that he’d decided fleeing the best course. There was no doubt in my mind that he’d go to Harald, which meant that my enemy would soon know I had escaped and that I had an army of my own.
“We’ll continue pressing down the coast toward Torne,” Geir said. “If Ylva was correct that Grindill was his target, Torne is where his ships will be beached.”
I nodded, reaching down to retrieve my shield and slinging it over my shoulder. We’d been working our way down the coast, the undead nature of my army necessitating that we avoid contact with villages lest we be perceived as cause for alarm rather than salvation, but thus far there had been no sign that Harald’s fleet had attacked. Many of the draug believed this meant Ylva was mistaken and that Harald had returned to Nordeland, but I knew better. It just meant that he wasn’t attempting to achieve his plans with force.
“Gods, you smell bad,” I muttered to my brother as he fell in alongside me. “It will be the stink that warns Harald we are coming.”
“No one to blame for that but yourself,” Geir retorted, rubbing his head. Much of his once thick blond hair had fallen out, leaving bald patches of his scalp visible, though his beard remained thick as ever, the rings on it shining in the sun. They were all rotting, my army, their bodies decaying with every passing hour, and though it didn’t seem to hinder their mobility, I knew it must impact their sanity. What I was doing to them couldn’t go on forever, which meant the time I had to defeat Harald was limited.
Climbing into a drakkar, I scanned the horizon while the oars dug into the waves, pulling us toward Torne. We passed the entrance of the fjord on which Selvegr, the village I’d once called home, was located.
“Did you see her?” I asked quietly, knowing that Geir had gone to ensure that Ingrid was unharmed and safe, living with her father.
“Yes.” His fingers tightened where they gripped the edge of the ship, skin a terrible hue of gray. “She is well.”
I bit the insides of my cheeks. “Did you…Did you speak to her?”
My brother shook his head. “I didn’t wish to frighten her.” Lifting his hands, Geir examined them with his glowing green eyes. “Better for her to remember me how I was than like this.”
Part of me agreed. To see the one you loved as the undead, rotting and horrifying, was not the last memory you should have of them. But another part of me wondered if it would be worth it to have a chance to say goodbye. To have one final moment and the closure that came withit.
Something that I’d been robbed of with Bjorn.
My eyes burned, and I scrubbed at them, angry at myself for even considering that he might be dead. Yet grief and fear still clawed my insides, because it felt like such a cruel twist to have united our hearts once again only to be torn apart for good.
“Not for good,” I hissed at myself, then shook my head when Geir looked askance. “You know her heart, Geir. Whatever choice you made is the right one.”
“Will you tell her that I love her?” His eyes met mine, and though they were entirely inhuman, I saw the grief in them. “Take care of her once the day is won?”
I nodded, then forced a grin onto my face. “When your child grows older, I shall tell them how you fought back from Hel’s grasp to win a great battle and a place in Odin’s hall. It will be a story for skalds to tell through the ages, and your child will have the honor of bearing your name.”
Geir frowned, and I winced, afraid I’d said the wrong thing, but then my attention was caught by the true source of his concern. Two riders galloped down the beach, one in pursuit of the other. It was too far to make out their faces clearly, but as I lifted my hand to shade my eyes, the pursuer straightened on her horse, a glowing bow and arrow appearing in her hand. And to either side of her ran Skoll and Hati.
“Skade!” I snarled. “Head for shore!”
Geir called the order, the rowers picking up speed. Yet as they did, Skade let loose her bowstring. The green arrow flew through the air, striking the pursued horse in the haunches. The animal went down, the rider flipping through the air. He hit the sand and rolled, on his feet in a flash and running.
“It’s Ragnar!” one of my warriors shouted.
My heart lurched, because if Skade was pursuing Ragnar, it meant that Ylva’s plan to exchange Bjorn for Leif had not gone as planned. “Faster!” I shouted. “Archers, shoot her!”
The drakkar’s drums caught Skade’s attention, her eyes widening as she recognizedme.
“Try it, you murderous bitch,” I hissed, calling magic to my shield. But instead of shooting her brand toward me, Skade aimed at Ragnar’s back. Ragnar, who might well be the only person alive who knew Bjorn’s fate. “Kill her!”
My archers shot arrows, but they fell short. I screamed in fury as she released her bowstring, the deadly slice of green flying through the air to punch through Ragnar’s back. He fell, and rolled, then lay still in the sand.
The drakkar ran up on the beach, my warriors spilling out in pursuit of Skade. I joined them, sword in hand, chasing her up the beach. Hel’s name started to rise to my lips, but I knew it would be wasted words. The goddess of death would not claim an Unfated without a reason worth angering the other gods, and I highly doubted this situation warranted it. But on horseback, the huntress swiftly outpaced us, cutting onto the road at a gallop. She looked over her shoulder and screamed Skoll and Hati’s names, but the wolves had paused on the beach, their eyes onme.
“Geir,” I shouted. “Have some of your men follow her. She’ll lead us to Harald!”
He nodded, calling out orders that I barely heard as I raced to Ragnar’s prone form. Two of my warriors had stopped next to him, rolling the man over. Sand clung to his skin, and blood oozed from a hole just below his collarbone.
But he was alive.
Brown eyes jumped from me to the undead surrounding me, many of them individuals he knew well. “Hel-child,” Ragnar whispered. “What have you done?”
“United Skaland. These warriors fight for their families and another chance at Valhalla. Tell me what has happened?” Kneeling next to him, I asked, “Did Harald attack you?” And because I could not help myself, “Where is Bjorn? Is he alive?”
“Grindill,” Ragnar said between his teeth. “He’s alive but injured. I escaped because of him.”
My stomach clenched, fear making me want to vomit. “Harald has him?”
Ragnar shook his head, breathing shallow and rapid, not long for this world. “Snorri.”
“Snorri’s dead,” I snapped. “I watched him breathe his last.”
“All say he is alive. Snorri made an alliance with Harald, united by a common enemy.” Blood oozed out of his lips. “You.”
I cursed, seeing to the heart of Harald’s plan because there was no doubt in my mind that he played both roles. “It is not Snorri, but the trickster wearing his face.”
“Perhaps so, but all believe that after you cursed Skaland’s warriors that you attempted to do the same to Nordeland’s fleet, only quick thinking allowing Harald and Snorri to work together to slay you,” Ragnar whispered. “Word has spread that a celebration of the alliance is planned. Steinunn will sing the song of what you did. Bjorn will be executed. The blood eagle for your traitorous lover.”
The world spun around me, terror strangling me, but I managed to say, “When?”
“Soon.” More bloody foam to Ragnar’s lips, but he managed to say, “Ylva lives. Leif as well. Save them. Redeem yourself. Save…”
The final word never came, Ragnar’s chest falling still.
“I look forward to seeing you in Odin’s hall when the time comes, brother,” Geir murmured, and I saw that he’d pressed his own sword hilt into Ragnar’s hand. “Have a cup waiting for me.”
I sat back on my heels in the bloody sand. “Soon…” I couldn’t finish my sentence. Couldn’t repeat what Ragnar had said, for Bjorn would be executed in the worst way imaginable.
“Are you certain that Snorri was dead, sister?” Geir asked. “Because child of Loki or not, Harald cannot be two men in one room at the same time.”
“He doesn’t have to be.” I got to my feet. “He has Ylva, who ruled with as much power and influence as Snorri ever did. What’s more, the people love and trust her, so there will be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Snorri is alive and well. And with threats to Leif’s life, Ylva will do as Harald says. Fuck!” I kicked the sand.
“Little has changed,” Geir said. “We can reach Grindill swiftly, and we know the fortress. It will be easy to take it from Harald.”
“Who do you think will be defending the walls of Grindill?” I demanded. “It won’t just be Nordelanders. It will be our people we must fight. Friends. Families. And given that Harald has made me the common enemy of all, they’ll fight with everything they have to defend against me. Gods.” I buried my face in my hands. “He is so clever. So painfully, cruelly clever, and what advantage we might have had is lost. It is uncertain if Guthrum has rejoined him, but Skade will certainly ensure he knows that I’m free. That I have an army. That I’m coming.”
“What of the other Unfated in his service?” Geir asked. “You say that Tora knows the truth of his shape-shifting but her loyalty to him is forced by magic or oaths. Perhaps both. Guthrum may or may not know, depending on how much his bird witnessed. What of the others?”
“If I had to guess, it would be that Skade knows everything,” I said. “But I do not think anyone else does because the secret would inevitably get out. Necessity would demand that he keep the information as close as possible.”
“Who among his cabal do you believe most likely to turn on him if they learn he is a child of Loki?”
“I don’t know.” I considered what I had learned during my time with them. “Harald has not used his magic to hurt them. It’s possible some might see his magic as an asset, given it has allowed them to thrive under his rule.”
“Then our only choice is to turn our own people against him, because everyone has suffered from Harald’s raids over the years of his rule. Snorri forming an alliance with him won’t have erased that,” Geir said. “We need to find a way to reveal to them the truth.”
Except that it would be the word of the Hel-child and her army of draug against Harald, Snorri, and Ylva. No one would believeus.
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to think through my desperation.
“Freya,” Geir murmured. “Show caution.”
My eyes snapped open, and I tensed at the sight of Skoll and Hati approaching.
The wolves hadn’t gone back with Skade.
Skoll moved next to me and licked my hand, while Hati sat on his haunches with his tongue hanging out, panting from their exertions.
Stroking my hand over Skoll’s fur, I noted that the painted runes that typically stained their fur were faded. “He controls you too, doesn’t he,” I said softly. “You were never meant to be pets.”
Not only could I not risk them spying, these animals deserved to be free.
I removed their collars, then, extracting Gyda’s seax from my belt, I carefully trimmed away the stained fur on Skoll’s head. No sooner was I finished did he jerk out of my grip, racing away to stop on the sand. I did the same for Hati, who then raced after his brother. “Be free,” I said. “I know what it’s like to be bound.” For I was still bound by my own oaths, given that Ylva still lived. What pain that might yet cause me was unknown.
The wolves raced away into the trees, and as they did, an idea occurred tome.
“Ragnar said that Steinunn is in Grindill, or at least will be soon if a performance is planned in conjunction with Bjorn’s execution. If she sings the tale of what happened on that island in front of the whole crowd, all who hear will see the truth.”
“So we head to Grindill and capture the skald?”
“But how do we get to her without him knowing?” I paced up and down the beach. “Harald will know we are coming, so he’ll be watching. There will be no way to sneak through Grindill’s gates, and there is no other way into the fortress.”
“There is one way.” Geir pursed his lips thoughtfully. “There are drains in the city that pour into the river Torne. We just have to find the opening and crawl inside.”
I huffed out a breath. “And just how are we to find them without anyone noticing? The river is fast and deep, and one misstep, and you’ll be over the falls. Trust me, that is not a thing you wish to experience.”
“Ropes moored upstream. We do it at night. As to how…” Geir shrugged. “It is of good fortune that you have an army that does not need to breathe.”