“Freya, have you lost your head?” Bjorn hissed, but I ignored him as Ylva slowly approached.
“You know this for certain?” Her voice was unsteady, her jaw trembling, and though she’d never been any friend of mine, I felt a wave of guilt for the grief she was enduring. Especially given that it would only grow worse.
“Yes.” I swallowed hard, my eyes flicking to where the bloodstains were obscured by snow. “Harald took his body. Ylva, he’s a child of Loki. A shape-shifter. All these years he’s been keeping up the pretense that Saga is alive, using her face and voice to tell everyone that it was Snorri who tried to murder her and naming Harald as her savior.”
Ylva swayed on her feet. “You were supposed to protect my husband, at all costs,” she whispered, not seeming to care about the revelation of Harald’s identity. “You swore an oath.”
“I tried, Ylva. Truly, I did.” I leaned against the barrier, my magic still gleaming bright. “Harald deceived us, but that is not the limit of his trickery, I’m sure of it. We must reveal the truth of his nature to turn his warriors against him.”
Tears welled in her icy blue eyes. “Did he die well?”
It was as though she didn’t even hear me. Or was just beyond caring for anything beyond her own grief. “Ylva, it is your people Harald aimsto make swear to him as king. You are the lady of Halsar and you are sworn to protect them. Let us out and we can help you.”
“Their lady no longer, for my husband is dead. Skaland’s king is dead.” She dropped to her knees, an awful wail tearing from her lips. Ragnar stepped forward to rest a hand on her shoulder, but she shoved his hand away and howled Snorri’s name.
“Ylva, where is Leif?” Bjorn had come next to me. “Where is my brother?”
“Do not name him so!” Ylva lifted her face, swollen eyes filled with sudden fury. “You betrayed your family and are no brother to him!”
“That’s his decision to make, not yours,” Bjorn said. “But as Snorri’s heir, it is his legacy at stake if Harald isn’t stopped.”
“The legacy is already lost,” she answered. “For Harald’s forces sailed directly to Skaland after the battle. His ships passed me while I was headed in pursuit of our own fleet, and I thought that he must have evaded Snorri’s ships on the strait. I believed I’d have a better chance of stopping Nordeland if I could find Snorri and bring him and our warriors back to fight, but a fishing vessel that witnessed the battle told us that Skaland’s warriors were lost to the sea. Dragged beneath the waves by black roots.” Her eyes fixed on mine. “Lost to you, Hel-child. Don’t think to deny it, because word of your power spreads like wildfire on the tongues of every merchant vessel that has recently been in Nordeland. I’d have to be mad to consider setting a creature like you free.”
I pursed my lips, understanding now why Harald had done nothing to hide my presence in Nordeland. Done nothing to hide my magic—quite the opposite, in fact. He was ensuring that word of what I was would reach Skaland so that they’d know that I was the one to blame when Harald used me to destroy Snorri’s army.
“Leif is in Grindill, which is inevitably Harald’s target,” Ylva said. “If Harald has not already killed or imprisoned him, it is only a matter of time.”
Bjorn cursed, then slammed his fist on the barrier, but my mind was racing. “Negotiate for Leif’s return using us.”
Ylva went very still.
“Harald wants us dead,” I told her. “We served our role in his scheme, and we are now his greatest liability, for we know the truth about him. The only reason we still live is that he was unable to kill us, so he left us imprisoned to starve. Let us out, and then trade us for Leif. We’ll kill Harald and avenge Snorri.”
“Why would I trust you?” Ylva asked. “Why should I believe any of what you say? How do I know this isn’t just a trick to catch me and destroy the last resistance to Harald’s rule? Because your word means nothing, Freya.”
“What about my memories?”
Ylva didn’t answer.
“I remember the runes used for the spell to capture memories and share them with others. I can use them to capture the memory of what happened here,” I said. “You can watch and judge for yourself.”
“Don’t trust her.” Ragnar’s dark eyes were grim. “They fight for Harald. This is a trick, my—”
Ylva held up a hand, silencing him and, for a long time, the only sound was the sea and the wind. Then she said, “You saw Snorri die?”
The muscles in my jaw tensed because I knew this was a risk. “Yes.”
“I want to see everything. Then I will decide.”
Keeping my shield up, I turned to meet Bjorn’s gaze.
“Do it,” he said. “She’ll see that you tried.”
But also that Bjorn had been the one to slay Snorri, and I didn’t think she’d be sympathetic that he’d been tricked into doing so. Yet what other choice did we have?
Sighing, I released my magic, the film of silver light coating the barrier falling away as I dropped to my knees.
“Put the first moment of the memory in your mind as you draw the first rune, and run through events that occurred, ending it with the final rune,” Ylva instructed. “And show care, for you may only capture a memory with this magic once.”
