Chapter 42 #2
I laughed because I didn’t know how else to express the overflowing emotions running through me. “You’re real? This isn’t a dream?”
“Not a dream, Princess,” he confirmed. “And look.”
I managed to pull back from him, and he gestured to the scene around us.
Any priests who weren’t already dead were on their knees, General Raunstrup moving from group to group and tying their wrists.
The soldiers of Bhorglid who had been part of Arraya’s takeover were in similar positions, and I watched Astrid reappear in the cluster of prisoners before grabbing two and teleporting away again.
“We won,” I said with amazement. “We won.”
S?ren was snatched from me. Sonja wrapped him in a hug so tight, I wondered how he could breathe. He laughed as she scolded him. “If you ever pull another stunt like that again, I swear to all the gods—”
I stopped listening, scanning the crowd for Jac. When I spotted his flaming hair, I ran over. He knelt over Volkan, clutching the prince’s hand in his own. “Volkan,” I gasped, relieved to see his eyes open, chest rising and falling. “You’re alive.”
“My Lurae returned just in time,” he said, though he still sounded strained.
He had one hand pressed over his side, and from the sticky coating of blood on his palm I knew he had been stabbed.
Without thinking, I reached out with my Lurae, slowing the flow of his draining life force while his body continued stitching itself back together.
Jac put his other hand on my shoulder. He was always pale, but now his skin was paper white. I wondered if he was less oblivious to Volkan’s feelings than he seemed—maybe even reciprocated them. “Thank you,” he said. “Is that S?ren?”
I briefly explained what had happened, including his miraculous return, and Volkan sighed. “That bastard can’t do anything without making it as dramatic as possible.”
I chuckled and turned to look at S?ren. My mood fell instantly when I saw him crouched over a small corpse, his face crumbling. “I need to go,” I told Jac and Volkan. “I’m glad you’re both all right.”
S?ren clutched Mira’s body to his chest, tears falling down his face.
I arrived at his side just in time to see him close her eyes.
“Arraya killed her,” I said softly, uncertain what other comfort to offer him.
I hadn’t seen him grieve before, and after my own experience losing my siblings, I knew how torturous it could be.
“Mira jumped on a priest’s back and tried to strangle him when he was about to kill Freja. ”
S?ren heaved out a wet laugh. “Of course she did.” He shook his head. “She was like a sister to me.”
“I know.” I gathered him in my arms and rested my chin against the top of his head. “I’m so, so sorry.”
He laid Mira gently back down and then took my hands. “Our work here isn’t done, Revna. When I spoke with the Tapestry, it told me we need to weave the new path to the afterlife. The old one crumbled when Aloisa died, and without it, none of the spirits can pass on.”
I blinked, taking in the information. “How in the world would we do such a thing?”
S?ren shrugged. “I think we start by summoning the Tapestry and seeing what guidance it can offer us.”
Together, we reached for the thread connecting us and it stretched into the Tapestry. My soul seemed to settle with the use of my Lurae. Unlike last time, it was easier to cast the woven images into the air.
The world turned into a mess of golden threads. And when I turned to face the Tapestry, I instead saw the battlefield flooded with the souls of the dead.
Their golden threads all connected back to one place: S?ren.
I didn’t miss the two bloodred threads that stretched into the distance, behind a small section of trees outside the courtyard.
It seemed Arraya’s soul had been marked when we destroyed her and Callum.
Whether they were stuck out of sight or didn’t want to be noticed by the crowd now that they were helpless was unknown.
But I didn’t care. They were gone now, and it was time for us to move forward.
Most of the souls I didn’t recognize. A few were as familiar as breathing.
Mira and Valen stared down at their golden hands, marveling.
I caught a glimpse of a salt-and-pepper beard and noticed Halvar eyeing me from a distance.
A pang of guilt sank into me like a blade, but it was forgotten quickly.
Because a voice I recognized said, “Can you see us all now?”
I whirled so fast I nearly lost my balance, then choked when I saw Frode standing there, hands in his pockets, grinning widely.
“Frode,” I gasped. My brother looked the same as the day I’d lost him.
Curly hair windswept, two blades sheathed at either hip, his armor gone but the layers that had been beneath it still present.
I held my breath for a moment, waiting for him to disappear. But he stayed.
Reaching for him, I let out a shaky laugh. My hand passed through his nearly translucent body. He offered me a wry smile. “Apparently S?ren is the only one who gets a second chance at life.”
I thought about telling him how wrong things had gone when I tried to secure him that second chance—but I didn’t, not when I wasn’t sure how much time we had.
“I miss you so much.” My throat burned from inhaling smoke and holding back tears.
“I can’t believe you’ve been here all this time.
I should have gone back looking for you. ”
Frode chuckled. “The Hellbringer beat you to it. Besides, you wouldn’t have been able to see me anyway.”
I nodded. Gods, if only I could pull him in for another hug. One last time with my arms around him. But…even this was a gift. One I would take.
“I’m so sorry.” The words spilled out of me, adrenaline from the battle finally receding. “I should have fought harder that day. I should have jumped in front of you—”
“Revna.” Frode’s expression was equal parts loving and understanding.
“I didn’t want you to do either of those things.
In the moment, I saw no other way to save you.
I made a choice, and I don’t regret it. I’m sorry it hurt you.
But I don’t want you to feel guilty about it for the rest of your life. ”
I swiped away a tear with the back of my hand. “How? How could I possibly forgive myself? You mean everything to me, Frode. Life isn’t as bright without you in it.”
He smiled. “Forgiving yourself will come with time, but I hope you know there’s nothing to be forgiven for.
If you can’t manage to let the grief go, then instead be grateful, too.
Miss me. Tell new friends you make along the way about me.
Hold me close to your heart. I hope you’ll see the honor in the choice I made one day. ”
S?ren’s hand took mine, a quiet show of support. I hadn’t realized my hands were shaking so violently. “I do. Of course I do.” I swallowed. “I just…I wish you could be here for everything. You should be here.”
“I know.” Frode cast his eyes down. “I’m sorry I won’t be.”
I groaned. “No, stop apologizing. We’ll go in circles forever.”
He laughed thickly, and I knew he was holding back his own emotions. “You know I’m proud of you, right?”
I nodded. “I do. And you know I couldn’t have done it without you, right?”
“Right.” Frode looked past me. “Keep an eye on Jac for me. He’s hiding more pain than most people realize.”
“I will.”
We were interrupted by a voice made of endless voices. “Bloodsinger, Hellbringer. It is time to send these spirits on. They should not be made to linger much longer in this world. They have more than earned their rest.”
The Tapestry stepped into view, difficult to distinguish from the other souls because the world was awash in so much gold. S?ren paused his conversation with Mira, both of them now harboring tearstained cheeks, and turned to the Tapestry to listen.
“How?” I asked. “You’ve been more than willing to shove this responsibility on us, but you haven’t been forthcoming about how we accomplish these things in any way.”
I knew my bitterness was obvious in my voice, but I couldn’t help myself. How many lives could we have saved if the Tapestry had intervened when I brought Callum’s spirit back by accident? Dozens. Hundreds. And yet it hadn’t seen fit to help us.
For a long moment, the Tapestry was quiet.
Finally, it said, “Aloisa felt much the same way, as the Hellbringer well knows. She accepted the call to this duty as a child, when she did not have all the information necessary to make the best decision for herself. She sacrificed much.” It looked up, and if it had had a face, I knew it would have been staring directly at me.
“We do not wish for you to feel this way.”
“Then what will you do about it?” S?ren asked. I heard the wariness in his voice.
A new voice chimed in. “What you need is a purpose.”
I stared at Halvar’s spirit, uncertain what to say. How to express the depths of my sorrow. Instead, I simply said, “What do you mean?”
His eyes softened a bit. “Everyone has a duty, Revna. Whether it’s duty to their country, their people, their family.
It’s a part of life. But what makes it worth pushing onward is finding a purpose you feel called to in your soul.
Something deeper. Something you do because you want to, not just because you have to. ”
“Like starting a rebellion,” I whispered.
He smiled halfheartedly now. “Yes. Though my purpose caused me to make judgments about my friends that I now regret.”
Tears traced paths through the dirt on my cheeks. “I never meant to hurt you.”
“I know that now,” he said.
“It is time to weave the new path to the next life,” the Tapestry said gently. “Come now, and we will show you the way.”
My chest tightened and I turned to Frode. He watched me with a gentle smile. Pride and peace radiated from him. I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “I don’t know that I can let you go. Not again.”
“We’ll meet again,” he said. “There’s no place for me here anymore. I need to go. And you need to keep moving forward.”
Resignation flooded me. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Frode stepped back.
I took a deep breath. “Well…how does one weave an archway?”