Page 131 of North Is the Night
“But... surely, you can find them. You can reason with them—”
He spins around, glaring at me. “There is no reasoning with Tuonetar’s creatures. There can be no mercy. They don’t understand it. They only understand power.”
“What will you do?”
“I’ve had to triple the guards on all the buried väki,” he replies, refilling his cup. “There’s no telling where the twins might go or what they might do. They could make deals behind my back with the goblins or the other witches. They will continue to sow trouble. And if they get their hands on you, wife, they’ll no doubt ransom you for their mother’s freedom. Which, of course, I cannot allow.”
“And when you find them?”
“I will have no choice but to bind them in iron and sink them into the bog.”
“And will that... does that kill them?”
“No,” he mutters. “I will strip them of their magic, as I did their mother, but I need them alive. Their powers are important. They help us achieve the great balance. They know how they are needed. They know how they now bind my hands.”
“Kalma should have just let the väki take me,” I whisper. “I would be less of a burden to you dead—”
“No.” He crosses the room in three strides, cupping my face with both hands. “Do not say that again. Those words are forbidden between us, do you understand?”
“Why do they want me dead so badly?”
He considers for a moment, lowering his hands to my shoulders. “This wasn’t about killing you. It was about testing their sisters. They had to be sure who was loyal to me... who they could trust.”
“What do you mean?”
“They saw Kalma’s actions in the throne room as a great treachery. She played her part too well, feeding Tuonetar’s need for chaos for far too long. All the while, she was scheming in the dark, plotting to set me free. Kalma surprised her sisters with her loyalty to me. She confused them. She scared them, Aina. And there is nothing more dangerous in Tuonela than a scared witch.”
“She scared me too,” I admit. “I had no idea she was so powerful. She held the Witch Queen’s throat as if Tuonetar was a mere rag doll.”
“Kalma is indeed powerful. In some ways, she holds more power than I.”
“In what ways?”
He frowns, dropping his hands away from me. “Well, for one thing, only Kalma can control a kalman väki.”
This truth reveals so much more about the politics of Tuonela. The twins forced Kalma to choose publicly yet again. Would she save her father’s new wife? Or would she let her väki devour my soul as it was made to do?
It was a test for Loviatar too. Would she fight a kalman väki for me, even knowing she would lose? I let out a shaky breath, relieved to have the answer for myself. Maybe I was wrong about the witch. She loves her daughter, but Loviatar would clearly fight death itself to save me too.
This is a night of revelations for us all.
“And Vammatar?” I say, glancing at Tuoni.
He frowns. “She goes wherever the wind blows. Such has always been her nature.”
“So... she helped you tonight only because she believes you’re winning against the Witch Queen? Can we expect her to turn on us both with the first changing of the wind?”
He holds my gaze. “I will protect you, Aina.”
Frustration and sadness are etched on his face. I feel them echoing down the bond. Stepping closer, I place a hand over his heart, my fingers brushing the soft wool of his tunic. “My presence is tearing your realm apart.”
His hand lifts to cover mine. “You deserve neither credit nor blame. My realm was in pieces long before you arrived.”
“But the fact remains that I am a liability to you. You can’t spend the rest of your days fighting to keep me alive in a realm where I am meant to be dead.”
He closes his eyes, that scar over his clouded eye crinkling. “I said don’t speak of it. I cannot bear it.”
I trace the scar lightly with my finger. “The god of death... afraid to speak of dying?”
