Page 52 of Rune

Tova was the last to go, turning her head back to see me again.

“What of that mortal?” She asked. Her words bit the silence, until I could practically taste her fury. “Will she fight?”

Ve had scaled the ridges in the wall to throw himself over, and rejoined my side. He planted himself firmly there, and looked at Tova. “This is not a mortal.”

I tried to shake my head at her, to ask her to leave peacefully, but that had never been Tova’s style.

“Not a mortal? I know her.”

“Go,” I told her. She did not. Instead she turned her sharp tongue to me.

“You’ll let nineteen others die as you watch, allowing them to think they are doing so in your honor?” She pressed. “All the while you are just like us?”

“Tova, go.”

Ve spoke louder. “She is not like you. She is a goddess, and she is my betrothed. You will speak no ill of her while you are here.”

I’d rarely seen Tova at a loss for words, but she stood still. Her mouth hung limp. Her eyes found mine. There were questions there, ones I couldn’t begin to answer.

“Go,” I begged her again.

This time, she listened.

The door closed behind her with a crack.

“Are you okay?” Ve asked as I left.

My voice was hardly a whisper, trapped inside the confused parts of myself and hardly able to break out. “No.”

There was much between my sister and me since the last time we’d seen each other—training side by side by the fjord. Both our lives had changed drastically. She’d accepted the hand of the boy I loved. I’d run away. Only a week had passed but our relationship had aged years, and I hadn’t thought it would survive the change. But seeing her here, about to fight for her life, took away all anger I’d held toward her.

The odd part was the anger in her own expression. I hadn’t done a thing to warrant that. I wasn’t the one who took her fiancé. I didn’t bring her here.

It was subtle, but I caught how Ve shifted to recompose himself before speaking. “Well, Odin, now I see why I got your job this year,” he joked. The gods laughed. “I am grateful you are taking back your seat tomorrow. Tomorrow proves to be an exciting day.” With a bow, he dismissed us, and the even rows of the gods blurred into a mass as they gathered in groups to talk about what took place. The betting booth opened again, this time to take bets now that they’d seen the champions, and to my delight, twenty was mentioned several times. But the first was mentioned the most.

She would need help defeating him. But luckily for Tova, she was not alone here.

“Tell me how to get into the cells,” I ordered Ve.

“We aren’t allowed in there.”

I grated my teeth. “I’ll see about that.” I swung myself over the railing and slid down before dropping the rest of the way into the arena. The guard at the cell door stiffened as I strode toward him, hardening his features into a burly expression. From how I’d yelled at Odin earlier, I wasn’t certain how much credibility I still had, but I clung to the last threads of it as I held my head high and spoke in a voice befitting a goddess. Astrid would be proud.

“Number twenty,” I said. “I am summoning her to Hitta Haven.”

“Why?” he asked in a voice so deep it might have come from a bear. I tried not to quiver.

“I am curious about her, and I wish to share a meal before she dies.” The words were hard to say, as much as I told myself that wouldn’t happen.

“Please,” Ve said, appearing over my shoulder. “Ruin is Odin’s favorite right now, and I’m sure he’ll bless you for serving his favorite.”

The guard didn’t flinch, but stood there very still for a few moments before giving a curt nod. “She will be escorted to Hitta Haven this evening.”

“Thank you.”

Ve gave me a worried look, but I ignored it. As I walked away, I tried not to think the words in my head:one last evening with my sister.

EiGhtEEn

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