26. Out of the Fire #2
“That’s how she sees you, Lara. A princess from the storybooks.”
Larissa groaned, covering her face with her hands. “Thanks for making it worse.”
“Do you still see them as stories?”
Larissa dropped her hands. “No. I can’t anymore.”
“What changed?”
The face of the red-headed goddess swam in her mind. “The Norn came to me in a dream.”
One of Anara’s eyebrows raised as she cocked her head. “Apparently they enjoy doing that.”
Larissa’s hands grappled with one another until her knuckles turned white. “I don’t understand. If they’re real, then where are they? Why aren’t they killing the Empress themselves instead of sending us dreams? What happened to the rest of the AEsir ?”
“I don’t know, Lara, but if the Norn are calling to us, we’d better listen.”
Larissa quieted, her fingers absent-mindedly caressing the gun in her lap. “What about the Smaragd commonwealth? You hardly mention them.”
“That’s because they’re private people. If the old stories like to exaggerate how the blood of Rubinians burns like the volcanoes off our shores, then the Smaragdians run as smooth as a stilled lake.”
“You don’t exactly make that sound like a good thing.”
Anara snorted in derision. “That’s because it isn’t. Their self-righteous pacifism allowed Shiko to advance her empire into the southern commonwealths without so much as a fight.”
“Aeron,” Larissa mumbled.
Helga swerved as Anara’s hands slid from the wheel. “You remember Aeron?”
Larissa bit her cheek, wishing she’d kept her mouth shut. “Only a little. Enough to remember that he died trying to protect Smaragd from Shiko.”
A growl emanated from between Anara’s clenched teeth. “The royal family was weak, and their surrender made his death worthless.”
Larissa wasn’t sure what to say to that.
Anara released a heavy breath. “To answer your question, however, they practice healing galdr . Like I said, they’re private people.”
“And Perlian galdr ?”
Anara scrunched her nose. “I’ve always said your galdr is the strangest of all.”
“I remember you saying that.”
“You do? Well, I stand by it. Your galdr allows you to manipulate energy.”
“What does that even mean?”
“Don’t ask me; that’s how you explained it, but I never understood.
Shifting is a clear and defined art, but what you do…
” She shrugged. “Your mother told you energy is in everything. Your family has always been able to sense that energy more acutely than others. Once you latch onto it, you can manipulate it, move it, wield it, or even harden it like a barrier—like you did with Halla earlier.”
“But I didn’t know I was doing it.”
Helga slowed without warning. For a moment, Larissa feared the old truck was giving out on them until she realized Anara was pulling over to the side of the road. She turned her entire body to face Larissa, who squirmed under Anara’s intense stare.
“I want to try something before we get to Perle,” Anara said. “Will you trust me?”
“What do you have in mind?”
Anara lifted her eyes, muttering, “Loki’s Knot, your distrust will be the death of us all.”
Larissa followed Anara to the back where Darien had already popped open the tailgate and waited with Halla, looking at Anara for answers for their sudden stop. From the frown on his face, he was clearly still angry about the night before.
Larissa did her best not to stare. She’d told him she didn’t remember him, but with each passing minute, she was remembering more. Not only that, but she was feeling more, and every feeling added a tangled layer of confusion she didn't have time to unravel.
The touch of Darien’s hands last night resurfaced in her mind as it drew out a memory of him holding her in his arms on a shoreline in Perle.
It had been nighttime then; they weren’t meant to be sneaking around outside.
It wasn’t safe, but she had to see him. The moonbeams danced off the water and settled on Darien’s hair.
His arms had surrounded her in warmth and safety.
It would be easy to lean into that memory, but before she could, rationality returned.
She chided herself. She wasn’t that person anymore, and, regardless of what Darien said, neither was he.
She wouldn’t hold him to any kind of obligation he felt toward Lovisa, no matter what feelings the memories stirred.
But every time she looked at him, she could not shake the gut-wrenching longing in her stomach.
If Darien noticed Larissa’s disquiet, he didn’t acknowledge it. He turned to Anara. “Are we close?”
“Yes, Lystheim is only a few miles away. Darien will drive from here. First, we need to move the fruit crates on top of the other supplies. If a sentry looks back here, it needs to look authentic. Darien, it will be up to you to persuade the sentry at the gate. We also need to create space for Larissa and Halla to hide between the boxes.”
Halla crossed her arms behind her head as a smug grin spread across her face. “Don’t worry. I’ve got practice sneaking into the Wall. Just leave it to me.”
Darien leaned back on his hands, looking up at her. “If I remember correctly, didn’t some strong, handsome guy have to save you?”
The tip of Halla’s freckled nose turned pink. “I would’ve been fine.”
“Sure, kiddo.”
“Alright, both of you, get to work.”
Darien and Halla obeyed Anara’s order, continuing their discussion over the necessity of Darien’s heroics. As they worked, Anara turned to Larissa. “I want you to try to access your galdr .”
Larissa’s heart sputtered like Helga’s engine on a good day. “I can’t.”
“Nothing big, I promise. If you’re able to start controlling small amounts, that should stop you from accidentally releasing it. We can’t have you doing that in the city. It could get us killed.”
Larissa gulped, recalling how she had lashed out at Halla without even a forethought. “Okay, but something small.”
“Can I see your gun?”
“Why?”
“Because your galdr might work better with an object you’ve already connected with. You’ve barely stopped touching it since we left this morning. Come on, Larissa, haven’t I earned your trust by now?”
It was a fair question. Larissa handed the gun to Anara, who laid the weapon in the dirt. “Alright, focus on the gun. Try to sense the energy that surrounds it. Bring it to you without touching it.”
Larissa pursed her lips, trying hard to take Anara’s words to heart while they fell empty in her ears. She focused on the gun, trying to imagine it moving, coming toward her. She fixated on the bumpy texture of the grip in her hands.
Nothing.
“This isn’t working.”
“Stop giving up,” Anara snapped. “Take a breath; look at your ring. Focus on the Dagaz rune, the movement of the lines. These stones and runes are intimately connected to your Ancestral Bloodline and are meant to help you access your galdr .”
Feeling exceptionally ridiculous, Larissa raised the hand with the ring in front of her. Truth be told, she had avoided acknowledging it for fear that she would be sucked back into another whirlwind of memories, but she had been unable to take it off either.
Looking at it, she felt that familiar pull, like a hook around her gut, dragging her into the past. The rune etched onto the pearl was more distinct than ever, its lines darkening and stretching before her. A spark of vitality came from the ring, pulsating.
Anara noticed the shift. “Good. Keep that focus, and try again.”
Keeping her hand raised, Larissa’s eyes drifted from the ring to the gun. Immediately, the intense pull vanished. The gun was a dead, lifeless thing. She scoffed at her own failure before realizing her audience had grown to include Halla and Darien.
“I told you it wasn’t working,” she muttered, snatching up the gun and returning it to the waistband of her pants. She ignored the disappointment on Darien’s face, knowing it was reflected all around.
She had told them she was not that person anymore; they were the ones who wanted to keep pushing. Their disappointment was their own fault.
But, for the first time, she wished she was the Princess they so clearly missed.
Her cheeks burned as she met Halla’s eyes. “Can I talk to you? Alone.”
Halla’s eyebrows pinched together, but she hopped down the tailgate and followed Larissa only a few yards away from the others. Before Larissa could speak, Halla said, “You just have to keep trying. I’m sure you’ll get it.”
“Look, Halla, you need to promise me something.”
“What?”
“If everything goes wrong in there, you run. Even if the rest of us are trapped.”
Halla blanched. “What? I couldn’t leave you.”
“Yes, you could.” Larissa’s voice was firm. “No heroics, Halla. I’m only going through with this to get you to safety. Promise me you’ll run.”
“Lara, that’s not fair. You keep treating me like a child.”
Larissa set her jaw. “Promise me, or I won’t go any further.”
Halla crossed her arms and set her own jaw, mimicking Larissa’s posture.
Stubborn silence between sisters trickled by. Anara and Darien’s low murmurs floated across the breeze.
Larissa released her pent-up breath and arms at the same time.
Softening her voice, she tried another tactic.
“I can’t go in there thinking I’m leading you into danger.
I can’t undo what happened to Pappa and Mamma, but I can protect you.
I won’t be able to focus on anything unless I have your word you won’t do anything stupid. ”
Halla’s arms relaxed to her sides. “I won’t do anything reckless, but that’s all I can promise.”
Larissa rolled her shoulders in surrender. If worse came to worst, she would force Halla to safety. She tugged her sister’s braid, pushing aside her sense of foreboding, but she couldn’t shake the rising anxiety at what they sought to do.
Only idiots would sneak into the Wall.
“You ready, kiddo?” Darien called from where he stood in the truck bed. Halla nodded, walking back and accepting his hand to join him.
He had arranged the boxes in such a way that they formed a hollow hiding place that Halla squeezed herself into. There was just enough room left for Larissa. Shaking her head, Larissa followed suit, hoisting herself up into the truck bed and nestling herself beside her sister.
“We’ll see you on the inside,” Anara called before walking away.
Helga’s engines whined and sputtered as Darien pushed the last box toward the opening of their hiding place. His brilliant blue eyes were the last thing Larissa saw before the box shut out the sun.