Page 57 of Rune

The skin beneath his eyes was sunken, and I let my gaze slip to his body. He’d lost weight. Time had been unkind to him in other ways as it pulled at the tangles of his hair and lived in the wrinkles of his clothes. That strong jaw was set as always, and his beard had grown more so it’d hide the nervous tick of his chin.

Trig had always been my sunshine on a rainy day, with his blond locks wild like the fjord. He was the fresh water from the spring and the first rain of spring, drowning me in the gentle embrace. I’d relied on him and his affection to give me meaning.

Now, looking at him, I felt cold. It didn’t light the fire inside me like it once did. Only stroked the embers, sending sparks through mybody that reminded my muscles what it felt like to be held by him. Testing to see if they longed for that again.

It wasn’t love swarming through me. More like a hollow pain that burned to the bone.

My feet traced a slow line backward until my shoulders hit a wall, then a hand slid into mine. My eyes snapped to my left. Frigg had come from the shadows, with a finger to her lips to be quiet. Her eyes were sorrowful, like she knew what pain this would bring up in me.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I was on my way to tell you he was here.”

I didn’t ask how she knew where to find me. She was a goddess. But none of that mattered right now.

Trig was here. He was in danger.

Odin unclipped his red cloak with slow movements, so Trig would be forced to see the strength of his arms as they were unveiled, and watch how the muscles rippled as he folded the cloak like he had nowhere better to be, but I suspected it was Odin biding his time until he knew how to address this. Beside me, Frigg was as silent as I was, both of us lurking in the shadows to see what would happen next.

Odin pulled himself to full height and looked down upon Trig. “Balder tells me you threaten to ravage the mountainside if I do not return Tova to you?” Odin said evenly.

It shouldn’t have taken so long to piece that together, but the shock clouded my mind. Now I sorted it.

Trig came for Tova.

Trig stood only five paces from Odin, and not once did he quiver. I’d always thought he was built like a god, but being amongst them showed his weaknesses. Still, he appeared unfazed as he spoke to Odin as if this were his home.

“You have my bride, and I’m here to get her back.”

Odin regarded him like a passing trouble he didn’t wish to give much thought to. “If she were your bride, she would not have been taken,” Odin corrected him. “She was unmarried when we selected her.”

“Barely,” Trig argued, as if there could be some gray area there. “We were pledged together. I wear her braid.” As he said it, I saw the dark braid he’d woven into his hair. Odin raked his eyes over it, unimpressed.

“That means nothing here. She will fight, as it is our right to demand it.”

The first crack came from his voice as he put an arm over his chest. “I beg you.”

My heart stopped.

Trig wasn’t whimpering. He wasn’t on his knees. But those words weren’t ones that came easily from his lips.

He continued. “She is my entire world, and I can’t let her die. I am willing to fight to get her back.”

“No,” I whispered. I started forward. Trig was a good fighter, but Tova stood the better chance. If he faced the champions, he’d die for certain.

Frigg held me back. “This is not your fight.”

“I can’t let him die in the arena.”

She shook her head. “That’s not what he wants.”

I frowned, then watched as Trig put a hand at his waist where Balder had bravely allowed him to keep a weapon. I realized what Trig meant.

Oh no.

He was not asking to fight in the arena with the other champions. He was here tofight Odinto get Tova back.

Like an arrow, something cold rushed through me. Trig hadn’t been willing to argue with hisfaðirfor me. He was willing to face Odin for Tova.

I slunk back against the wall. He really did love her. The realization was both heart-wrenching and reviving. As much as I’d wanted him to be, Trig was never meant to be mine. He was always hers.

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