Page 88 of Rune

A shrill scream pierced the air. Tova. I whirled around, but it was not she who had yelled, but rather the servant pouring the wine. The girl paled, staring at the ground. Though a crowd gathered quickly, they couldn’t cover Olesea as she lay on the ground, her eyes bloodshot and contorted, her body twisted in ways that would only be comfortable in death.

In her hand was Tova’s goblet.

“Poison,” someone said. The word settled over us all like a thick curtain.

None missed the scrape of Odin’s chair as he slowly stood, his eye darkening. He scoured it over us. “Who did it?” The question made the ground rumble, and I was grateful for Ve’s arms around me. “Who poisoned a mortal?”

None spoke. Odin glanced to me, then away like I wasn’t a threat. To be fair, I hadn’t done this.

“This has never happened before,” Ve spoke into my ear. His words were quick and thrummed with worry. “Gods interfere in the games, but never so outright.”

“What if it was a mortal?” I whispered back.

A strand of his hair fell loose as he shook his head. Odin’s eye was coming back around, and he waited until it had passed us to speak again. “The mortals are stripped clean upon entry to Asgard, and again each time they are moved. It couldn’t be them.”

Odin pointed a finger. “Bring the servant here.”

It was Aegir who grabbed the servant girl and dragged her before Odin, while she stuck her heels in the dirt to slow the process. She was thrown at his feet.

“Who gave you the poison to kill Olesea?”

“No one.” She sounded certain, and I knew where the truth rested. She was given poison, but not for Olesea. The cup had belonged to Tova. And from how she had looked over the crowd when Tova wouldn’t drink…

I glanced in the direction I had seen her look. Thor was that way. I happened to know he’d bet on First to win. Maybe he was taking out the main competition? There were hundreds of gods here. Any one of them could have done the deed.

Odin reached to his back and removed an axe. The girl made to run, but it was Frigg who grabbed her arm and held her tight. Odin let the weight of the axe fall into his hands as he spoke again. “Who gave you the poison? Or is it your neck I will be cutting?”

She struggled, but another had come to hold her other arm. She was helpless. Her eyes flashed with fear. “I gave no one poison,” she insisted. “It wasn’t me.”

“And yet, I do not believe you. Perhaps I have not made myself clear. No one is to interfere with the Champion Games.” He shouted this at all of us, forcing us to hear him. To see the anger throbbing through his veins. To see what happened when we didn’t listen.

I was listening. I was terrified. But no matter what he did next, I’d still throw myself into that city at the first chance I got.

As I thought that, Odin sighed, his nostrils flaring. “One more chance.”

A scream tore from her throat, one of pure fright. “Mercy, I beg you. It was only one mortal who would’ve died anyway—”

The words were cut off just as her life was.

My hand flew to my mouth to stifle a cry. Too late, Ve covered my view. He stroked a hand down my hair, bringing his forehead against my own. From behind him, I heard Odin roar.

“There will be no further chance for interference. Stand mortals, and face the city.”

I snapped my head to Tova. Finally, she was looking at me. Her chest beat quickly. We understood at the same moment, and Odin confirmed it with his words. “The Champion Games start now.”

His fist pounding the table was the drum that set them off, and the mortals went running. My vision darkened. Everything I had to do, it needed to be now. Before I could think about what I was doing, I slid a dagger from the belt across Ve’s chest, took aim, and threw it.

It struck with perfect accuracy.

TwEnty-ninE

MY THROWN DAGGER landed beside Trig, right between his feet. He snapped his heels together to hide the silver hilt between leather boots, while ropes still bound his ankles to a stake. His gaze met mine, and a million unspoken words passed between us. The feast was in chaos. Chairs tipping over. Gods scrambling to get a better vantage point. Voices raised with surprise. All eyes turned toward the city and away from Trig, so no saw me throw the blade, nor did they see as he bent to slice through the rope. Within moments, Trig was free, the rope falling on the ground. His eyes lifted.

Please don’t run toward Tova, I begged. Hide.

He nodded. Then he dashed away, his blond hair disappearing in the thick of the green trees. Undoubtedly, he’d loop back later, but for now, that was one problem dealt with.Another would arise later when we needed to find him to get home, but that was less pressing.

I faced the city once more.

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