Page 47 of A Curse Carved in Bone
Harald waved him to silence. “It makes sense. Ylva’s runes ensure that Freya cannot serve any man not of Snorri’s blood:I vow to serve no man not of this blood.”
He laughed and clapped his hands, and I tensed with the expectation that he’d point out that Bjorn could control me. Instead, Harald said, “But Freya is no man, so she can serve herself, correct?”
Not waiting for a response, he added, “And Saga’s words were: ‘Their fates certain unless the shield maiden cuts her thread free of the false king’s control and weaves her new destiny.’ To me this says that the dark future is unchangeable unless Freya acts, unless Freyaleads.It must be she who frees herself of the false king’s control. And the only way for her to do that is to kill Snorri.”
“Or Ylva.”
Harald made a face and shook his head. “I do not believe that killing Ylva will change anything. Freya has already made Snorri king and he uses her name to hold the allegiance of all of Skaland. But you and I arguing will achieve nothing. Freya must lead, and you and I must bite our tongues and listen.”
This reaction was so distant from what I’d expected that I didn’t know quite what to say. I’d been prepared to buck against Harald’s control, not for him to hand me all the might of Nordeland to achieve my ends. “You would willingly give up to me, a woman who was until recently a fishwife who’d never been more than a few hours from her village, control over your warriors, your jarls, your people?”
“If that is what it takes to save them.”
My hands balled into fists. “But I don’t know anything about leading.”
“You know what you wish to achieve,” Harald answered. “And I am a tool in your arsenal. My knowledge is yours, Freya.”
“Doesn’t it bother you to be reduced to a tool?” I asked. “To be so…so…powerless?”
“I’m not powerless,” Harald countered. “It is only that what I will do with my power is already known. Except that I am surrounded by Unfated. Which means you can cause me to act differently. You can snip my thread early or weave it into another pattern, and I relish that uncertainty. That chaos!”
Both his wild grin and his words struck me as strange but I only said, “Is that why you collect the children of the gods around you? Why you created a cabal of people with magic?”
“This is no collection, Freya. No cabal. This”—he gestured to the distant table full of people—“is my family. To have a child of one’s own blood is a blessing from the goddess Freyja, but it has been my privilege to provide a home for so many children of the gods.”
“Which you do entirely out of the goodness of your heart?” I tried to keep the scowl from my face because I did not truly believe he was willing to give me total control. “Not at all because it allowed you touse their powers to rise to rule. To control a kingdom. To make yourself wealthy above anyone else.”
“Nearly all that I do is try to aid my family in achieving their own goals,” Harald said. “Or to protect them. Power allows me to do both these things, which is where I gain my true joy. Ask Bjorn.” Harald abruptly laughed. “Actually, do not. You’ll believe not a word he says, nor, I think, a word that comes from my lips. So ask others. Ask whoever you like, Freya. I can’t force you to trust me. That is something to be earned, not demanded. But while I earn it, have faith in the certainty that our goals are the same: to tear asunder the dark future my wife so deeply fears.”
I didn’t trust him. But what was less clear was whether my distrust was because I refused to see him as anything other than the villain I’d been raised to think him or because he was a villain in truth.
“What is to be our first course of action?” he asked. “Saga has given us some insight, but we are woefully lacking in facts.”
The insides of my cheeks were raw from how often I had bitten them, my mouth tasting of blood as I forced myself to think. “We need to hear from Guthrum. Discover what Snorri is doing. Right now, we hold the advantage Saga’s vision has given us, for Snorri believes us ignorant to his intent. But if we begin to marshal our defenses too obviously, we will give ourselves away to his spies.”
“Agreed,” Harald said. “I will send a messenger to seek out Guthrum.”
“How swiftly can the jarls come to your call?” I asked.
“They will have the advantage of having just set sail on the prospects of war. They can sail within a day or two of receiving word. Astrid can be dispatched to deliver messages at speed.”
“She’s a child of Hermod,” Bjorn muttered. “She’s fleet of foot.”
It struck me how dangerous Nordeland was for no reason other than that they were united. But Skaland was larger and more populous, which meant if Snorri had achieved such a union, my people were now also a force to be reckoned with.
“I’ll arrange for Astrid to find Guthrum first, then?” At my nod, Harald walked swiftly from the great hall, leaving me alone with Bjorn.
Who stood with his arms crossed and a glare on his face, clearly displeased.
“What?” I demanded. “Do you take issue with my plan?”
“It is notyourplan, Born-in-Fire.” He gave an angry shake of his head. “Don’t you see? You only repeated back to him the very ideas he supplied. You are not leading anyone—you are being led.”
My cheeks warmed, half in embarrassment and half in anger. “I’d be a fool not to take advice from him. What do I know of rule? What do I know of his resources? Or how quickly he can gather his jarls? To pretend as though I know more about leading Nordeland into battle than the king of fucking Nordeland would make me an idiot.”
“You’re a puppet being used by two men who have desired to make war against each other for nearly as long as you’ve been alive,” Bjorn snapped. “HaraldhatesSnorri for what he did to my mother. Do not let the veneer of civility he wears fool you otherwise. Death is not enough. He wants Snorri destroyed in such a way that the stain of it follows him into the next realm. Until now, he believed killing you would achieve that end, but now I think he sees that he can use you to truly destroy Snorri’s chances at Valhalla, because you can send him to Helheim and deny him the last battle.”
A chill ran through me, because though I’d not been unaware of Harald’s fixations, Bjorn’s words made them feel so much darker. “What would you have me do? What solution do you have to my circumstances that has not been voiced?”
