Page 119 of North Is the Night
“As your Aina will make hers,” he replies. “You must prepare yourself, Siiri.”
“Prepare myself?”
“You fight to save a friend you believe wants to be saved. In your heart, you cling to the hope that shecanbe saved. But Tuonela is a realm of magic and monsters. It is a realm built from your darkest nightmares. There is no telling what your Aina has done to survive. The Aina who left you on the shores of your lakeside home may not be the same Aina you find once you cross the river. You must decide now whether she is truly worth the risk.”
“Of course she is,” I say without hesitation. “There is nothing she could do that would turn me from her.”
He nods. “Cling to that, then... and forgive her, Siiri.”
“Forgive her?”
“Accept her for who she is now, not who you wish she could still be. And if she declines your offer of escape—”
“She would never do that—”
“Ifshe declines,” he continues over me, “you must be ready to let her go and return empty-handed.”
I shake my head, pushing those fears down into the deepest, darkest parts of my being. “Aina will always choose to come home, and that home is with me. She would never betray me. And you will never deter me, old man. I’m rescuing Aina, and I’m taking youbothhome.”
He turns his attention back to his work, stabbing the rune of the raven into my skin. “I know where you must go to practice with your itse.”
“Where?”
“The first time you send your itse out, it needs to be to a place you know in body and soul,” he explains. “You should know it better than the backs of these hands I now tether. It will make it easier to navigate your way there and back.” He glances up with a twinkle in his eye. “Do you know of such a place?”
A smile quirks my lips. “You want me to return to Lake Päijänne.”
He nods, dipping the fishbone needle back into the ink. “We’ll try it tonight.”
37
Aina
I wake disoriented ina new room. The curtains around the bed are pulled shut, wrapping me in warmth. I blink a few times in the welcoming darkness. Yesterday, I woke in the room Tuonetar designed to be my cage. This morning, I wake in the queen’s suite.
And I wake alone.
After our late-night ride, Tuoni returned me to this room without crossing the threshold. He stood on the dark landing and bid me goodnight. No chaste touches, no searing kisses. Nothing. Is he really so committed to waiting? His only request was that I not leave the room until morning. Feeling safe for the first time since arriving in Tuonela, sleep came easy.
Now, I’m awake.
I sit up, my unbound hair spilling down my back. As I pull back the curtain, there comes a knock at the door. A fire burns high in the hearth, and candles glow along the mantle. More candles light the table where breakfast is laid.
My gaze darts to the locked door. “Who is it?”
“It’s me.”
Me.The god of death has no need for further identification.
“Coming.” I slip out of bed in nothing but a thin shift and wool socks. I wrap my robe around my shivering shoulders and hurry over to the door, pulling it open.
Tuoni stands on my doorstep. He looks different from last night, and just the same. He has bathed. The ash that greyed his hair is gone. Now he is the sleek, black raven. His hair is tied back, changing the shape of his face. Otherwise, he still wears the clothes of a hunter—dark breeches and boots, a thick wool tunic, a cowl.
He looks me over from my unbound hair to my socked feet. “You slept well?”
“Yes, my lord. Thank you.” At his annoyed look, I smile. “Yes, Tuoni.”
“I have some things to attend to today outside the palace,” he says. “I’ll ask that if you leave this room, you bring a maid. You had one from before. Is she still acceptable to you?”
