Page 107 of Blood Beneath the Snow

She pressed her face against the cell bars and lowered her voice to a whisper. “All the more reason for you to be queen, then. The godforsaken are ready to support you. Halvar says the rebellion is ready. All you have to do is win the Trials.”

I smothered the words threatening to escape: that Frode was gone and I wasn’t sure Jac was interested in our truce anymore. My odds of winning the Trials decreased with every passing minute.

“Good,” I said, moving to sit on the dusty floor and hoping she couldn’t read my hidden desperation. “It’s been too long. Too many years. The godforsaken deserve a turn at the helm.”

We lapsed into silence, and I rested my face in my hands. The space behind my eyelids throbbed. I couldn’t get him out of my head.

Frode Frode Frode.His name echoed like a song.

“I know you probably don’t want to answer this, but…” Freja chewed on her lip. “Arne is okay, right? He wasn’t dead last time you saw him?”

I chuckled at her tone. “Yes, I caught a glance of him after the battle I witnessed. He was fine. Maybe a bit scratched up, but nothing major.”

“I can’t believe you two actually ended things. And on such bad terms.”

I shrugged. “He’d rather I marry the prince than fight for the godforsaken. In the end, it was a simple choice to make.”

Simple for our relationship. But not for our friendship. I’d naively thought things could possibly stay light between us. But our argument in the war camp had proven otherwise.

I twisted my hands together, hoping the motion would distract me. I had to get Arne and Frode out of my head so I could concentrate.

“Are you okay?” Freja asked softly.

“I’m fine.”

She reached through the bars to grasp my hand, and gratitude overwhelmed me.

I squeezed her hand in return. “I’m going to get you out of here,” I said. “No matter what it takes. No matter who has to die. You deserve better than this.”

A wiry voice floated over to us. “You’ll be queen soon enough. No need for such dramatics.”

Freja’s eyebrows flew up and she let go of my hand, scramblingover to the front corner of her cell bordering her neighbor. “Say that again,” she demanded. “Valen. You can’t say that and then go quiet.”

I peered over at the person in the next cell. They grumbled and pushed themselves to a sitting position, resting most of their weight on their elbows. There was no way they were younger than eighty.

“Isaidthis one”—they pointed a finger at me—“is going to be queen. Listen harder next time.”

Freja’s eyes were wide. “Valen is a Seeing One,” she whispered.

I glanced over at Valen’s wizened features, twisted and gnarled like an oak tree. I had learned about the Seeing Ones growing up but I wasn’t sure if I believed they were real. The books I read about the wandering clan of seers who rejected ideas of society for a truly blank slate fascinated me. They were neither men nor women, simply people, and used non-gendered pronouns.

I knew my father hated the Seeing Ones. He spoke of them only with disdain and disbelief, once going so far as to say they were Nilurae who pretended to have the gift of sight.

Valen’s dark eyes bored into mine, an unspoken challenge. I knew how they expected me to treat them—with disgust and disdain, the only things my father had offered them.

I bowed my head in Valen’s direction. “If I might ask, how did you end up imprisoned in Bhorglid? I thought your people were peaceful wanderers.”

Valen cackled, an edge of derangement in their voice. “Are you also under the impression your father sentences people to this prison only when necessary?”

“No,” I said. “I can assure you the opposite is true. Freja is only here because of what I’ve done.”

“Not exactly true, but it doesn’t surprise me you would say so,” Valen said. When I opened my mouth to respond, the Seeing One held up a hand to stop me. “I know your destiny much more intimately than you do.”

“And her destiny is to become queen?” Freja asked.

“Yes.”

Freja’s eyes lit up and she turned to me. “Youaregoing to win,” she breathed. “Revna, I knew it. You’re going to be Queen of Bhorglid! Queen of the godforsaken! Can you believe it?”

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