Page 166 of North Is the Night
“She came to me again when I had great need of her,” I go on. “She offered me more provisions and told me how to find Väinämöinen. She is fierce, Loviatar.”
“I knew she would keep fighting,” the witch murmurs, tears slipping down her cheeks. “She wants to make a better world for us all in life and in death. You fight for it too... both of you.”
Reaching into the satchel at my hip, I pull out the box Väinämöinen gave me. “Reach out your hands,” I say to the witch.
She hesitates but then does as I ask. I set the box on her palms, and she stiffens as she feels the dimensions of the box. “What is this?”
“You know what it is,” I reply.
“How did you get it?” she whispers.
I smile. “I told you, Väinämöinen sends his regards. Now we may trust each other too.”
Loviatar stills, clutching her daughter’s keepsake box.
“He’s never turned from you,” I go on. “He never will. He lives out the days of his long dying, tortured by the Witch Queen for daring to bring hope to the mortal world. He cannot die, even though he suffers from an affliction that should have killed him ten times over. Just as you are trapped here in the dark, tortured forever by your own loneliness.”
“Just as Tuoni is tortured,” Aina whispers.
I turn to her. “What?”
“Tuoni helped Väinämöinen and Toivotar escape,” she explains. “The Witch Queen fashioned her curse to punish Tuoni too.”
“How?”
“You spoke of the long dying. Tuoni’s power is to prolong life. He is the Great Fading, Lord of Blessed Death. By cursing Väinämöinen not to die, Tuonetar knew that Tuoni would bear the pain of his dying, prolonging his life. Don’t you see? Tuonetar yoked them together and cursed them both—the shaman not to die, and Tuoni to bear the pain of it.”
“Only Väinämöinen’s death will fully free him,” Loviatar adds. “Just as only you can free me from this realm. The Witch Queen has worked swiftly and surely, trapping us all in her web.”
“Then we shall all break free at last,” Aina replies. “For yourself and for your daughter, for my son, for the shaman, for the death god. Let us work together now. Come with us, Loviatar. As Queen of Tuonela, I free you from all ties to this place. You may leave Tuonela as you will.”
Loviatar sighs with relief, clutching to her daughter’s keepsake box. “Come. I will show you the way.”
Before we move three steps down the tunnel before I cry out, a searing pain burning the back of my hand. “Ouch—”
“Siiri?” Aina whispers in alarm. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. My tattoos feel strange. They feel... hot.”
“Fire,” the witch whispers. “Wherever you are in life, there’s a fire near your body. It burns hot enough for you to feel it through your tether.” She turns to me, her sightless eyes unblinking. “You are in grave danger, little fox.”
“I have to get back. I’ve already been gone too long, and Väinämöinen needs me. It has to be Lumi.” I groan. “Gods, I’ll never forgive myself if I get him killed.”
“Lumi?” the witch repeats, a curious tilt to her head. “Ajatar’s irksome flea of a daughter?”
“Yes, she followed me north, intent on killing him.”
“And... is he whole?”
“Yes, and Lumi knows. She’s coming for him. We have to get to the veil.”
As one, we take off down the dark tunnel. I don’t know how long we run before Loviatar says, “Stop!”
Aina and I wait, panting, standing side by side, as the witch climbs up the narrow steps and throws back a trap door. The witch exits first, not waiting for us. We follow. With my axe in my right hand, I hand Aina my knife with my left. I have no bow. I left it in the weaving room. That makes the quiver at my hip useless.
Next to me, Aina shivers in the cold. We neither of us have a cloak.
“This way,” Loviatar whispers.
