Page 50 of Rune

His cup lifted, and the door was pried open.

They came in a line with small gaps between them, each marching with heavy steps and stone-cold expressions like they’d already gone through some great battle to get here. The gods only took warriors between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, and only the strongest of our people. Each champion that came before us would be a valuable asset to any clan. The first one especially, whose physique rivaled Thor.

If I did bet, it’d be on him.

He stopped before us with a locked jaw, head tilted back like he was just waiting for what we would do to him, and hands fisted at his side. He didn’t move, not even as the others lined up beside him.

As they came out, I didn’t find another that compared to his strength. The next was a girl who must have just turned eighteen but appeared far younger, with full cheeks, wide eyes, and a tenderness in how she moved. She looked at the first champion as warily as she lookedat us. There was an audible groan in the audience, and I suspected it to be from those who’d blindly voted on number two. She had muscle to her, so they weren’t lost yet. Some of the deadliest killers were the ones you didn’t think to watch.

Then marched out a man who refused to look at anyone other than Ve, and with a menacing expression like this was all Ve’s doing.

“That one is thinking about strangling me,” Ve whispered. “I swear I can feel his hands around my neck.”

“I’d save you,” I whispered back. “Unless that big one fights too. Then I’m running.”

He turned the smallest degree to look at me. “You’d run? I wouldn’t think you’d run from a charging bear.”

“I’d have better luck against a bear than that man,” I said back. “Is that all of them?” The line had stopped coming out, and most were already in position in front of us. I raked my eyes along the line, but still put my bet on the first. They’d all put up a good fight though. And even the weaker ones get lucky sometimes, as I knew from the handful of times I’d bested Tova while growing up.

A roar went through the crowd, and a shape took form in the doorway. The figure hesitated in the darkness before marching into the light, a slight limp to their step and defiance in the way they moved. Their hair was a tangled knot on their head, tunic torn and stained with dirt, and a long cut down their face that made it tricky to see it clearly.

Until they got closer. Then I saw her, and my mind filled in every last detail for me. I saw how her right eye would twitch when she was nervous, how her lips would purse when she was mad, and how she had a tendency of rolling back her shoulders before every fight. They were rolled back now.

My body chilled, and I gripped the railing for support. Without it, I’d have fallen into the arena with them. Withher.

“Tova,” I whispered. My sister hadn’t spotted me yet, too busy glaring around her to find me. “That’s Tova.”

My sister was here in Asgard. She was one of the chosen champions.

Her eyes lifted, and they found mine.

Tova went rigid and her expression fell flat, and for a few moments she just blinked. Then her brows lowered and her eyes burned with anger like this was all my fault. I shook my head slowly, willing her to see me. I didn’t do this.

I still stood next to Ve, though many of the other gods had risen to their feet now. They all knew of the child marked by Odin. The stands were in an uproar.

But I could only guess what Tova thought of me right now. Standing before Odin’s seat, a band of laurel around my head, my hair chopped short, a silk dress held up by golden cords, and a handsome god at my side.

Beside me, Ve let out a low whistle. “And that one,” he said, “is thinking about strangling you.”

“That’s my sister,” I croaked.

His head whipped to look at me. “Your sister?”

I nodded, feeling faint. “It’s Tova.”

Ve had promised to be at my side through it all, not even his presence could spare me from this horror.

I tried not to look at the first champion now. Tova had to beathim. She had to win.

Tova glared at me, even as Ve cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Gods and goddesses of Asgard, I give you your champions.”

As the stands roared, blood rushed to my head. I could not lose her. This wasn’t right. I searched for someone to help, until my eye landed on Odin.

“Odin!” I shouted over the noise. “Frigg! Odin, hear me!” I pushed myself against the railing and shouted below me until Odin lifted his eye to mine. There was a knowing look hiding in the blues of them, and it sent a pang to my stomach. He knew. I thought back to what Thor had said.I’ve got a good feeling about twenty. That one is a fighter.And the thoughtful gaze from Svana as I passed. They all knew.

He told me he called off the plan to harm my family for stealing me. But the look in his eye said payment had to be made.

Not by her. She was innocent.

---