Chapter 16
Njall
The last door slammed shut, the sound echoing down the tunnel.
I sank to the ground and rested my head against the cold stone wall behind me.
They're gone. The water that had gathered on the ceiling dripped onto my arm again, and I flicked it off.
It had been two weeks since I'd been taken prisoner, and like clockwork, the general and king of Huestur would visit to taunt me on their way to supper.
I could do nothing but laugh at how little my father thought of me. Regardless of his feelings for me, or rather lack thereof, I knew he couldn’t leave his son to rot in an enemy’s cell. It would make him look weak, and weakness was something my father despised more than anything.
But tonight, they'd let slip a detail that lingered in my mind.
Hulda had been abducted, too. If she had been kidnapped, my father would certainly put all his resources and energy into getting her back.
After all, she was his second-ranked child.
And that would leave few, or even no men to come and find me, at least not until she was safe, and who knows how long that would take.
My only hope now rested with Baldr. While my fun-loving brother wasn’t the most reliable in all aspects of life, he had a big heart, and he wouldn’t be able to leave me to suffer forever.
My hopes for a speedy rescue had been quashed tonight, but I had to hold onto the belief that he would come for me, eventually.
Leaning on the wall, I tried to picture my father’s expression when he discovered we’d let Elva go.
He’d be furious, hopefully enough that the giant vein on his neck would burst and we’d finally be rid of him.
In my twenty-seven years of life, he’d gone through too many pets, and each female had been used and discarded when he grew bored with her.
They would start as his alone, but when they failed to please him, he'd send them off with whichever group of men were leaving for the front lines, leaving them to be used as the soldiers saw fit. None of the women had ever returned.
Gripping the pendant from my mother, I thought of her kind face and her striking green eyes.
The same green as Elva’s right eye. I’d been too quick to judge her, to use her to get in my father’s good graces for once.
I'd thought a siren could handle herself against him, maybe even put an end to him for me, but then she’d been arrested, and I'd seen a flash of her green hair. Sirens were rarely fully siren. They were always mixed with something, and I’d almost destroyed the only other selkie I’d ever met.
The only other selkie I was ever likely to meet, since my father had forbidden me to ever tell anyone what my mother had been.
Everything made sense now. The moment Elva stepped into the bar, I’d felt her, sensed her.
It’s why I approached her, something I conveniently forgot when having her arrested.
At first, I'd thought she bewitched me with her siren powers, but now I wasn’t so sure.
When she’d sung at the guards to make them release her, it felt nothing like the connection we had when we were in bed together.
I pushed myself off the ground and tried to brush the dirt from my pants, but it did little good.
After weeks of being down here, my wool pants were stiff from the layers of grime on them.
My tunic was just as filthy. The cotton was wearing thin in places, and spots were ripping, letting the cold through when I would try to sleep.
I picked up my empty dinner plate and tapped it idly on the ground, noticing how easily the sandy earth shifted.
I needed something—anything—to occupy my mind while here, or I’d lose myself to thoughts of Elva and the desperate hope that she’d managed to escape the chaos.