Page 162 of Daughter of Shadows and Chaos
Powerful. Unstoppable. Beautiful despite her jagged edges.
Will you have me,minn eldr? All my broken pieces are yours if you'll have me.
You are mine, and I am yours. Broken piecesand all.
"How precious," Hela crooned as she shoved Maude further into the corner of her mind. "Keep holding on to this because it's all you'll have left of him after I'm done with the both of you."
NO!
But it was too late. Maude's spirit had been broken, and her soul leashed to the Goddess of the Underworld to do her bidding.
Baldr stood at attention with his spine straight and his chin up as Helvig and Vilde ordered their prisoners to be brought before them.
Four of Helvig's guard ushered in the two captives and shoved them onto their knees before the Flame King. From where he stood behind them on the dais of the Palace of Ocean and Clay's receiving room, he could see the Queen and King of Rivers kneeling before them.
They were still covered in gore, their armor scratched and dented, but their chins were elevated as they looked their death in the face with a bravery that Baldr envied.
He would have to send word to the Kolbecks once he was free from Helvig's oppressive gaze and let them know what was going to happen with the prisoners of war. They would be shackled and held in the dungeons; perhaps he could help free them along with the families he was already planning to free when the King was distracted.
Vilde stood and glided to where the Queen of Rivers kneeled, running her thin, white fingers up the woman's cheek before grasping the diadem that had been woven into her chestnut-colored braids and ripping it from its place. The River Queen bit down on her scream as Vilde pulled the diadem off and tossed it to the corner of the tent.
"You won't be needing that anymore," Vilde purred before sitting on her throne again.
The action was petty, degrading in a way that would have bothered a lesser woman, but the Queen of Rivers was unfazed as she swallowed her pain. Vilde shrunk into the shadows again, but her smile did not waver. She seemed almost eager to detach herself from whatever was about to happen. Warning bells rang in Baldr's mind, the sign from the gods clear as the morning sky in Logi, but his attention was immediately brought back to the Queen of Rivers.
"I see you've finally moved on from Sylvi," the Queen said sharply as she ignored Vilde and focused on Helvig.
Helvig chuckled. "I suppose we can stop pretending that we didn't always know what Sylvi was."
"I suppose so."
"This is Vilde," Helvig explained, waving a hand toward the Elven, who only smiled. "She is to be High Queen of Ahland."
"I don't care who she is," Alva replied, bored. "Just get on with whatever reason we're here for."
Baldr had to smother his laughter, but the River Queen saw anyway, her gold eyes flashing to meet his. He froze, smoothing his face back into a bored expression. He expected the Queen to look away, but if anything, her eyes flared in recognition that she instantly covered with a cough.
"Are you so eager to meet your death, Alva?" Helvig asked, his head tipping to the side as he watched her.
Baldr's body went cold. Was he executing them? They were valuable prisoners of war, a Queen and King of a kingdom. Killing them would only turn the people against him further. It was not honorable.
Alva looked to her husband, who nodded to her with a level of calm he didn't understand before speaking.
"Our children are free," Alva whispered, her attention turning back to Helvig as her voice grew stronger. "Both yours and mine. And they will not stop fighting until this land is cleansed of your poison."
Vilde chuckled, but Helvig seemed to burn at her words. He signaled for his guards to step forward, their blades already being drawn from their sheaths as theyplaced the cold metal against their necks. It didn't stop the Queen of Rivers from speaking the final words that would then hang in the air around them even long after her death, as if the gods themselves wanted Helvig to feel the warning in them. The sword swung, metal cutting through the air toward both her neck and her husband's.
"It only takes one generation to break a cycle. These heirs of fate and war will break you, Harald. And on that day, I know you will burn in Hel for the rest of your days. I'll be waiting for you there."
