Page 148 of North Is the Night
His frown deepens. “There came a time when we were visited by Väinämöinen, here to look for secrets and spells. He found where the child had been hidden away. He vowed to tell me where she was if I agreed to help him set her free.”
“And did you?”
He nods. “It was the least I could do. She was never meant to live in this realm. She was too pure for us... too good. She deserved a life with the living, surrounded by mortals and their dreams. I knew it, and so did her mother.”
His story tallies with Loviatar’s, and something in my chest loosens. “I’ve heard the songs of great Väinämöinen and Antero Vipunen. They say he turned himself into a serpent and swam away through your river’s iron nets. They say he stole secrets.”
“He stole more than secrets. I helped him steal her away. We created a distraction while Loviatar got her out from under the hill. It’s how I got this,” he adds, gesturing to his eye.
“He hurt you?”
He frowns. “I pretended to be trying to capture him. It was a ruse, and Tuonetar saw through it. We had to improvise. Loviatar came to my aid while Väinämöinen and the girl barely managed to escape. As punishment, Tuonetar bound me to the alder tree and trapped Loviatar here in death.”
I sigh, my heart hurting for them both. I relax my hold on the knife in my sleeve. “I’m so sorry, Tuoni. What pain you’ve endured, what sacrifice you’ve made.”
Tuoni nods.
“And the prophecy? You knew there would be a child.”
He stills.
I step forward. “Please, Tuoni. I must know. There can be no secrets between us.”
He turns his face to the fire, lost in memories. “Before she left, my sweet girl granted me a parting gift. She showed me a vision of my future.”
“And... what was this vision?”
His mismatched eyes find mine. “She showed me a wife who shone like the sun... and in her arms, a child.”
“Am I the woman in the vision? Am I the one who will give you that child?”
“She had no face,” he admits. “The light shone from behind her like a rising sun.”
This thought gives me hope. “So, I could still go free.”
His frown deepens. “Go free?”
I take his hand in mine. “My lord, I would beg that you let me go. The woman in your vision has no face, you said it yourself. It doesn’t have to be me. Please, if you care for me at all, you’ll let me go before the witches finish what they started and kill me. Tuonetar will never let me live, I know that now. And I want to live. If my time in death has taught me anything, it’s how tenderly I care for life.Please, Tuoni—”
He shakes his head, turning away.
“Why do you turn your back to me?” I cry. “Why do you refuse to even consider letting me go? Perhaps I am not the one—”
“Youarethe one,” he shouts, turning back to me.
“No—”
“Youarethe one, Aina. Youchoseto be the one. This is your doing as much as mine.”
I shake my head. “No.”
“You fulfilled the prophecy, not me.”
“How?” I cry.
“You came willingly to Tuonela,” he shouts. “You said it yourself: you offered death your hand. You chose your fate to save your friend. Just as you came to me in the woods and married me to save her again, to save all the mortal girls from suffering the same fate.”
“I had to, my lord. It was myonlychoice.”
