Page 106 of Rune

With one strip of paint, I removed the goddess and found the Viking.

She stirred within me, as if awakening from a long sleep. Longing for Danmark and battle and glory and all things a mortal should wish for. Not aching for the land of the gods. Hoping to never see their faces until she entered Valhalla. And as she awoke, I pressed against Ruin, urging the goddess to go to sleep. The one who dined with Odin. Who fought with Erik. Who sat with Frigg. Who wore silk chemises and thick cloaks, with a home layered in expensive wool throws.

She did not go easily. The goddess roared, demanding to stay. I drew another line on my face, telling her this was who I was now. Viking.

Tova scooped some powder to draw on herself. She placed markings on her arm—runes asking for safety and good travels. It was ironic, because it was the gods we were asking. I doubted they’d give it to us now. “What is this place?”

I took a deep breath, grateful for a distraction. “An altar the gods made for Astrid.”

“The one they thought you were?”

“The one they thought I was,” I echoed.

Tova rummaged through the things, finding a rattle to turn it over in her hands. The gems in that one rattle would buy a hundred more in Danmark. I didn’t miss how she pocketed it. “I’m sorry Odin turned on you.”

I chuckled humorlessly. Turned on me was a light way of saying ‘put me against my sister and forced us to fight to the death.’ “I blame Aegir more than anyone. I suspect this whole ordeal was his maneuvering to get himself back in Odin’s good graces. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s been hiding the real Astrid this entire time. Now he will find Odin’s true granddaughter and bring her back as the hero.”

My thoughts spiraled again. Ve would meet his true fiancée and fall in love with her. She would live at Hitta Haven, fight with the weapons I had, garden with Frigg like I did, and kiss the lips I’d dreamed of.

“Aegir is a strange god,” Tova commented, graciously ripping me from my ravaged mind.

I swung my gaze to her. “You’ve met him?”

She nodded. “He came to the cells to take a drop of my blood once.”

“He seems to have a weird habit of doing that.” I painted another line on my face. “At least I got a good sword out of my time here.”

From behind us, Trig groaned. Tova was on her feet in an instant, leaving a rune half-finished. It was the rune for victory, which felt appropriate. Our victory was short-lived. “I should check on him.”

“I’ll be here.”

One by one, painting marks, until the last of the goddess Ruin was gone, and only Rune remained. If only the memories could be so easily erased.

ThirtY-FivE

NIGHT FELL, AND still no one came. We filled our bellies with bitter pine needles and acorns, hungering for meat but not foolish enough to hunt. Darkness spread from all edges, and we pushed ourselves further into the cave.

“Tomorrow we need to form a plan.” Trig was more awake now, snapping branches between his hands. The sound bounced off the walls of the cave. It was dangerous to make a noise at night, but it was too dark to see anything, and I suspected we all agreed it was nice to hear the sound and know we were not alone.

“And find better food,” Tova put in.

We needed a key. The only one I knew of was with Balder. The impossibility of this task hung heavy around my neck, but I tried to keep my chin up anyway. We were still alive, and that was worth something.

“We will figure it out,” I said with confidence. It was faked, but I hoped they didn’t notice.

Quiet fell upon us all, until Tova’s heavy breathing told us she was asleep. Trig and I both lay in silence for a while, his twigs all broken too far to snap again, until he finally spoke. “I once told you that you’d always have a home with me and Tova,” he whispered.

I lay in silence, trying to find the shape of the walls around us. Focusing on anything meaningless so I didn’t think about everything else.

“I meant it,” he said. I heard him shift. “When we return to Danmark, you still have a home in our clan.”

Tova was returning as the champion. Trig was returning to take hisfaðir’sclan. I had the remains of my old life to pick up, and hoped I could mold it into something purposeful. It wasn’t the same as what they had, but I grinned all the same.

“Thank you,” I said. And this time I meant it.

Morning came softly, the light barely finding us in the back of the cave. I stretched my limbs, testing them out. I groaned. My belly hungered for food, my lips were dry, and my body ached from sleeping on rocks. The life of a goddess had spoiled me. I stood while the others slept, and wandered to the mouth of the cave to dunk myself in the river and wake my body up.

The cool water freshened my senses until they all came to life. I pooled the water across my arms, cleaning my skin, and rubbing the kohl from my face. It ran in black streaks.

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