Page 147 of North Is the Night
He takes a step closer. “What angers you, wife?”
I square my shoulders at him, taking strength from the knife blade tucked against my forearm. “You knew, didn’t you? This was your true design all along.”
His gaze darkens. “I am a god, wife. I know many things. Be more specific when you level an accusation at me.”
“The prophecy,” I cry, letting the knife slip down my forearm until I’m gripping the handle. “Mielikki’s words spoken just now from beyond the veil of life and death. Those words came from the All-Mother herself. I felt it, Iknowit. And you’ve heard them before... haven’t you?”
“A prophecy is only told once,” he replies. “None had ever heard the Forest Queen’s words before she spoke them below.”
“Then why did you show no surprise at her words? I saw your face, my lord. I felt you through our bond. There was only hunger, anticipation... relief.”
He takes a step closer, his hand raised. “Aina—”
“I thought Kalma was bringing us down here merely to find the one to free you. But youwantedus brought to you, didn’t you? You wanted to fulfill this prophecy. You weren’t looking for a mortal wife with whom to pass your days. All this time, you were looking for the one who would bear your child, your son. A true heir for death at last. That is all you want. I am nothing to you—”
He closes the distance between us, grabbing my shoulders. “Do not speak those foul words again.”
“Let me go—”
In his frustration and anger, his mortal mask slips. Beneath the beauty, a glimmer of eyes that burn like embers. I feel the iron of his hands as he clings to me. He almost seems to stretch, the darkness of the room pulling at him, making him taller as he towers over me. “Do not doubt me again,” he declares, smoke lacing his words.
I lean away, suddenly afraid of my god-husband.
He feels it through the bond, his hands softening, even as his mask flickers again. Life and death. Beauty and power. Control. Always control. “Aina, Iloveyou—”
“You don’t know the meaning of the word!”
He lets me go.
“And how could you, trapped as you are in this foul place?” I go on. “You speak of the love you share with your daughters. But it is not love. They plot and scheme against you. They dismiss you and deny you. They only serve your wishes when it suits them. That is not love, my lord. They have all the loyalty of a skulk of foxes. You call it love because you are no better. You know no better. You plot and scheme too. You lie. You manipulate.” I step back, shaking my head. “In truth, you all deserve each other. You deserve to make each other miserable forever!”
“Are you finished?” he growls. “May I now speak?”
I back away from him until I hit the table’s edge with my hip. “I fear your words,” I admit. “I fear there will be no truth in them... and I fear I won’t know it.”
“I have told you the truth from the moment you freed me in the woods,” he replies, his voice soft and angry. “I don’t want you for the children you will give me. I wouldn’t care if you were barren. I was ready to risk it for your sake. I wantyou, my beautiful wife. You’re the light in my darkness—”
“Stop,” I cry, spinning away. “Stop saying that!”
“It’s true.”
“You say prophecies are heard only once. But youknewwhat she would say. You were not surprised! So, what prophecy did you hear, husband? Tell me. Trust me with the truth.”
He frowns, hands clenched at his sides. He’s quiet for a moment, searching my face. “It was not a prophecy.”
“What was it?”
A long moment of quiet stretches between us. “I think you know,” he says at last. “You know part of it, at least. You know of Loviatar’s daughter.”
I nod.
“She was dear to me, Aina,” he goes on. “As dear as a child ever could be. Her power was unlike anything this realm had ever seen. There was no darkness in it... no pain, no suffering. She was hope, pure and unbridled. She showed me what Tuonela could be. My dreams came from her. It was she who encouraged me to make this realm a better place. I would purge it of Tuonetar’s madness, of the twins and their pain and suffering, of Vammatar’s duplicitous evil. I would bring order to death, mercy and justice, peace and eternal rest.”
Though our bond, I can feel his emotions. Speaking of Loviatar’s daughter brings him such joy... and sorrow. He grieves her loss deeply. “She was helping you, wasn’t she? That’s why Tuonetar took her and hid her beneath the Kipumäki.”
He nods. “Yes, Vammatar told her of our plans, and Tuonetar struck first. Tuonetar used the manacles I made to contain her and bound me in them instead, stifling my power. I couldn’t stop her from taking the child and hiding her away. Loviatar and I thought her dead. Loviatar grieved... and she hated me. I had to make it right. I could not live with the suffering I’d caused.”
My heart aches for them, for their pain and lonliness. Their dreams shattered, their hope taken, bound to a life of misery in the dark, watching as Tuonetar destroyed everything they built. “What happened next?”
