“You came to us through the massacre carrying your brother, speaking through sobs and half-crazed,” Kallan said. “Not even three moons later, you were gone.”
“You refused!” he spat, drawing Kallan’s eye from the memory as if seeing Kovit for the first time. “You didn’t bring him back.” Kovit crinkled his nose in disgust.
“He was missing an arm and his spine had been cleaved in two,” she said. “His guts had spilled out his back.”
“He lived!” Kovit cried. Tears burned his face.
“He was already dead, Kovit.”
“You didn’t even try,” he growled, heaving a breath through his mouth that shook him with rage.
“Not even Gudrun could bring him back,” Kallan argued.
“He was alive!”
Kallan stared, cold and calculative, and waited.
“You never understood!” Kovit heaved. “He must live! He must— Mother said he must, that we both must live! Just live. But you let my brother die…then spoke of your peace. Your peace… Always your damnable peace! Did Tryggve desire peace when he killed my mother? I was there!” Borg bellowed. “No excuse can justify that massacre! No excuse can justify the lives slain there, your father always said! He saw! He understood!”
“I underst—”
“She threw herself onto me as the berserker went for my brother! He turned on my mother and slaughtered her! And you speak of peace, your peace!” Kovit stared at Kallan like she was a slug that had oozed from the bottom of the sea. “I only lived because he never thought to look for me. He never finished me! The massacre…” Kovit gasped. “I live and am left with these images! There are things I can not unsee!”
His sobs filled the cell as Kallan looked on, wordless and numb.
“He left me alone with my hate,” he said, “Always my hate! Always…always.”
His whimper quieted.
“And the hate goes on… And the grief passes on and another child vows their vengeance,” Kallan muttered and raised her eyes to Kovit. “How many more must die before you have your fill? How many more like you must enter the warrens? How many more until none are left, Kovit? How many more must die?”
“You know nothing of grief,” he growled. “You wouldn’t understand. Of my—”
“Don’t I?” Kallan spat, tightening her balled fists. “I took to the warrens because of my mother, because there were others like me on the streets.”
“On the streets,” Kovit scoffed. “Others like you, princess? Oh yes, you in your palace. You understand the hunger, the filth, the desecration of the warrens from inside your precious, perfect, palace walls.”
“I gave everything I could to you. I lost my mother and then my father,” Kallan said. “You dare speak to me of not knowing, not understanding the hole, the grief, the emptiness that burrows its way through? Carving out your heart until nothing is left. Not even the strength to die!”
Her shoulders shook with a rage she fought to keep in check.
“Did you punish him too, Kovit? Was it you who took my father from me?”
Calmly, quietly, Kovit met her eyes.
“No.”
“Who sent you?” Kallan shrieked. “Who wants me dead? Who crossed your palm with silver?”
Kovit grinned.
“You think none desire your death?” he asked. “That no one could hate Lorlenalin’s princess? I did,” he volunteered. “I did and she found me. I, who would be willing to do it for free.”
“But she paid you.” Kallan cocked her head in question and Kovit chuckled.
“She didn’t pay me to kill you.” Kovit shook his head and dropped his dark smile. “She paid me to stay quiet.”
“Who, Kovit?” Kallan repeated.
“I just can’t say,” Kovit said.
“And the Dvergar?” Kallan asked. “Did you pay them as well?”
“They found me,” he answered, too tired to fight anymore. “They paid me.”
“They found you?” Kallan whispered. “How did they find you?”
“I didn’t care who killed you or how or when,” Kovit droned, not hearing a word Kallan said. “I only cared that you suffered as much as I.”
“You didn’t summon the Dvergar, then,” Kallan said.
“No, but they wanted you.” Kovit hung his head. Sleep was taking him.
“But they couldn’t get to me,” Kallan said.
“So I found someone who could,” Kovit said.
“Who, Kovit?”
“Gunir’s king.”
Kallan’s face fell white.
“Rune?” Kallan’s thoughts fell into disorder. “B-But Rune didn’t… Rune wouldn’t.”
Kovit peered up from the floor.
“Rune was a disappointment.”
Kallan’s fists twitched with the temptation to fire her Seidr at him, but Kovit didn’t seem to notice.
“The deal was…the king would kill you the moment he was alone.” Kovit had dropped his head again. “They were to find your body near Lorlenalin and assume you died in battle. And until recently, I had believed the job was done.”
“But the Dvergar… They had paid you…” Kallan said.
“I sent them after you when the king left Lorlenalin. I figured the two adversaries could work it out. Either way, you had been taken care of and my employer would be content and I could wash my hands of both the Dvergar and the king.”
“Who sent you?” Kallan snapped, irate with his indifference.
Kovit raised his head to show her his wide grin.
“I have no idea.”
“Who sent you?”
Kovit attempted to shrug.
“Can’t say.”
“What do they plan?”
“Ah…” A light in his eyes seemed to glisten. “That is what I’ve been waiting for. Now that, I can answer,” he whispered.
Kallan didn’t dare move from her place as Kovit widened his grin. Blood seeped from his split lip.
“They’re coming for you, Kallan,” Kovit breathed. “They’ll find you and they’ll take you back. It’s only a matter of time before you go home. You belong to them.”
“Who?” she asked.
Kovit shrugged again and closed his grin, hiding his teeth.
“Can’t say,” he smiled. “But they’re coming.”
Glaring down at the remnants of Kovit and Borg, Kallan spun on her heel and snapped her wrist just as she threw open the door and slammed it again, leaving Kovit alone in the dark.
Kallan marched down the corridor, past her rooms to Rune’s bower. Undaunted, she flung wide the doors of Rune’s sitting room then swept through the rich décor. A moment later, she yanked open the door of Rune’s bed chamber.
Dressed in just his trousers, Rune turned to catch the firelight shimmering on the silver strands that laced her bodice. Too late, he gazed at the fire in her eye as she slipped her hand around Gramm’s hilt where it rested against the door.
Rune dove for the sword. Kallan stepped in and landed her fist in his eye, sending the king flying back onto the trunk at the foot of his bed. Before Rune could check for blood, Kallan released a blast of pure Seidr. A gush of wind caught his chest and flung Rune back and over the bed.
“Had to stop a war?” Kallan shrieked, and Rune leapt as Kallan swung the blade and missed.
“Had to declare peace?”
Rune hopped back, and Gramm’s tip grazed his belly, leaving behind a thin line of red.
“You lied to me!”
“I never said—”
“You kissed me!” Kallan said and fired another blast of wind. The shot grazed his pelvis and slammed him back into the wall and his supply of mead.
“You let me believe you actually did this for me!”
“Kallan, wait! I can explain!”
Rune scrambled onto his bed as Kallan circled around the farthest side to corner him.
From the sitting room, Geirolf and Torunn peered in, followed quickly by Roald, a wench, and a menagerie jus
t as Kallan swung Gramm again. Rune moved, but had run out of bed and fell to the floor.
“Day after day trudging through Midgard…”
Kallan sent another blast of Seidr just as Rune dove for the door leading to the war room.
“Starved and wet and cold…”
Rune flattened his back to the wall, nearly smashing the looking glass in the process, and did his bravest to confront the Seidkona.
“Eating nothing but your damn fish while you insisted one of my own had betrayed me!”
“But Borg did—”
Kallan lunged and swung the blade down, leaving Rune barely enough time to snag up his bow and block the blade, deeply gouging the riser.
“You took me from Lorlenalin to kill me!” Kallan shouted and swung. The blade struck the upper limb of the bow severing it.
“You were one of them!”
She swung again and caught the grip.
“And I believed you! I actually started to believe you! And I let you put your hands on me!”
“You spoke to Borg,” Rune said, beneath his bow.
“Yes, I spoke to Borg!” Kallan shrieked, lowering Gramm to her side. “And I know everything! How you lied to me! How you and he had a deal! How you agreed to kill me!”
“I never killed you,” Rune said.
“Is that why you came for me?” Kallan asked as he cowered beneath his bow. “Why you rescued me from the Dvergar? Because you had to make good on your deal?”
“I didn’t kill you!” Rune said. “See? You’re standing there trying to kill me!”
Kallan released a high-pitched growl and lunged, forcing Rune to take up his bow and block, locking Gramm at the hilt.
Glancing at the damage done to the bow, Rune let slip a smile and Kallan slipped a fist through their weapons to punch him in the mouth. Rune fell back into the wall as Kallan stood screaming over him.
“You scolded me for my lies and half-truths! You were right there alongside me with your own fair share of lies! You were working with the very spy you planted to betray me!”
“But I never did—”
“Enough!” Kallan turned the blade down, driving it into the end table beside him.
Unarmed, she stood heaving over him.
“Negotiations are over!” she said. “If you insist I am free, then I go! I leave first thing in the morning with my kin! And if you have any objections, Your Highness…” she said this with a derisive tone. “Then I suggest you imprison me to keep me here!”
In a rage, Kallan marched to the door, ready to burst through the crowd of onlookers that had gathered to watch from the sitting room.
Rune called from the floor, “But Aaric—”
“Aaric isn’t working with Borg, Rune!” Kallan turned on her heel.
“Borg told you,” Rune said.
“Borg told me!”
“But Aaric,” Rune said, trying to push himself up from the floor. “You can—”
“A woman hired Borg, Rune!”
Rune’s shoulders dropped.
“First thing in the morning, Your Majesty!”
“But, Kallan—”
“Your services are no longer required!”
And as sharply as she was cold, Kallan swept from Rune’s bedroom, leaving him alone with their audience.
Gudrun and Daggon rode through the night, stopping only to rest the horses. Too exhausted and worn to speak, they made their way slowly along the Alfheim Wood. Another day’s ride and the tops of Lorlenalin’s white towers would greet them.
“Hold up,” Gudrun said, pulling back on the reins.
“What is it?” Daggon asked.
The air settled and Gudrun reached beyond this earth, into the fibers where the Seidr flowed. There she felt it, like a lone ripple along a perfectly still surface. Strong, powerful, and too close to ignore.
“It’s too late,” Gudrun whispered. “She’s here.”
In an instant, Gudrun slid from the saddle and threw open a saddle bag.
Daggon slid off his horse. “Gudrun?”
“Here,” the old woman said, handing Daggon her pouch. “Inside you’ll find my strongest cloaking spell.”
“You know I don’t do your Seidr spells, woman—”
“There isn’t time,” Gudrun said.
“Then let us be off an—”
“Daggon! Please!”
Daggon studied Gudrun’s golden eyes.
“If I’ve ever learned anything, it’s when not to argue with you, Seidkona.” Daggon accepted the packet from Gudrun. “Very well, woman.”
Daggon swiftly pulled himself back on his horse.
“Ride ahead,” Gudrun said. “Don’t look back. Don’t stop. You must get to the city. In my chambers, beneath a floor board under my chest.”
“What am I looking for?”
“You’ll know it when you see it. Whatever you do, no matter what happens, get it and my pouch to Kallan. She’ll know what to do.”
“What of you then, lass?”
The winds picked up, whipping Gudrun’s long silver hair about.
“Go!” Gudrun called.
“Gudrun.”
“There isn’t time!”
The raven called and Gudrun shrieked. “For once, Daggon! Do as you’re told!”
“Alright.”
Daggon nodded and whipped the reins, sending the horse into an instant gallop.
“Ride fast,” Gudrun called. “Ride hard. Don’t look back!”
The wind continued to whip about as Gudrun looked on.
“No matter what happens,” she whispered.
The winds settled, and Gudrun turned to her horse.
“Drui,” Fand breathed. Delight rose in her chest at the sight of the Seidkona. Pulling the threads of Seidr through the air, Fand stirred the winds back up and forced Gudrun to spin about in search of her assailant.
“Drui,” Fand repeated in sing-song then watched in amusement as Gudrun withdrew her Seidr staff.
A raven fluttered and a moment later, the bird stretched her neck as if sliding off the feathers. As the raven shifted its form, Fand uncurled and grew until the Fae stood, her long black hair falling to her waist and spilling over the white gowns that shimmered gold with Seidr dust over the flawless skin of Under Earth.
“Yours is the Seidr I sensed!” Fand exclaimed. “Oh, this is a delight!” Rolling her shoulders back in display like a bird preening, Fand rolled her neck and deeply inhaled.
“Fand,” Gudrun gasped as if finding her voice. “I might have known this was you. Everything reeked of a spoiled palace brat.”
“Oh, such hate.” Fand feigned hurt. “When I picked up your trail, I was certain the child was still alive.”
“Kallan…” Gudrun muttered.
Fand inhaled again, smelling deeply the scents on Gudrun’s clothes.
“You smell like cursed berserker,” Fand said, groaning in delight and smiled. “How is Bergen?”
“Friend of yours?” Gudrun asked.
“Not quite.”
“You found my trail,” Gudrun said. “Now why couldn’t I sense yours?”
Smiling, Fand shrugged.
“Search me,” she said and lunged, throwing a thick line of white Seidr straight for Gudrun, who met Fand’s attack with the Seidr staff and directed the stream of Seidr into the ground.
Fand fired with her other hand, forcing Gudrun to greet Fand’s Seidr, direct and lead it into the ground. Again, Fand fired and Gudrun met Fand’s attack.
“So what do you plan to do with yourself once you’ve killed me?” Gudrun asked.
“Oh, don’t take it personally,” Fand said. “I’m just wrapping up loose ends.”
“Killing ten thousand wasn’t enough?” Gudrun snapped.
“Ten thousand is nothing if not you three. Tell me.” Fand narrowed her gold eyes into slits with a sly grin. “Where is Volundr?”
“Never found him, did you?”
Gudrun dropped to the ground. With palms flat
against the earth, she summoned and pulled the charges Fand had fired at her only moments ago. The Seidr erupted and, leading the Earth’s Seidr on the strands of Fand’s Seidr, she launched Fand’s attack back at her.
Fand opened her palms to the Seidr and invited the energy back in, but Gudrun had summoned too much from the Earth, and the force blasted Fand through the air. Several feet away, she struck the ground, giving Gudrun enough time to counter.
“And after you kill me, what then?” Gudrun said, already accumulating a condensed quantity of Seidr in her palm. “You’ll kill Aaric, I presume?”
Fand was on her knees.
“Only a little,” she said. “He and I have a deal that is keeping him alive a little longer.”
Fand lifted her hands, throwing back the Seidr from one palm, and another, and a third as Gudrun directed the shot with her Seidr staff, dodged the second, and consumed the third into her palm as she pocketed the staff. Gudrun raised both palms, firing off a continuous stream of light and Fand charged, dodging Gudrun’s attack.
Fand fired a single shot at Gudrun’s head. Gudrun dodged and directed the continuous stream, forcing Fand to leap out of the way while releasing another shot.
Gudrun dropped to dodge Fand’s shot and fired a round of light, once, twice, thrice, The fourth sliced Fand’s cheek.
Her perfect, pale cheek.
Fand stopped dead in her tracks and touched the bit of blood etched on her face. Fand gazed at the bright red on her finger as if seeing mortality for the first time in her ancient existence.
“The first flaw in an otherwise perfect complexion,” Gudrun said. “Did the palace brat get a booboo?”
Screaming, Fand fired and fired.
“You have no idea the delight I had in killing Kira!” Fand shrieked as she fired round after round of white at Gudrun, who dodged and danced in desperation to avoid Fand’s Seidr.
Again and again, Fand fired as she walked closer, closing the range between her and Gudrun.
“I’ll drain the life from the last of you!” Fand screamed, still firing and not giving Gudrun a chance to do anything more than move.
“I’ll destroy your secrets!”
A single strand struck Gudrun’s shoulder.
Fire and Lies Page 26
