Page 35 of North Is the Night
Tuonetar resumes her place on her throne, her hands balanced atop two human skulls. Reindeer skulls frame the top of the throne, their antlers casting sharp shadows along the wall. Next to her throne is an even larger one, meant for the king. His throne is topped with the massive skull of a bear.
“You’re no doubt wondering why you’ve all been brought here,” Tuonetar says, reaching for her jeweled wine goblet.
“Are we dead?” Satu whimpers. I can feel her shaking like a leaf.
Lowering her goblet from her lips, the Witch Queen turns to stare at Satu, her expression becoming almost sympathetic. “Yes,” she whispers.
Satu and Helmi both sob. I think Riina may join them. But then Tuonetar cackles, slamming her goblet down. Bloodred wine sloshes onto her hand. She brings her hand to her mouth and sucks it dry. “Of course you’re not dead, youstupidchild. What use would you all be to me dead?”
The other goddesses snicker at this too.
“You’ve been selected,” Tuonetar continues. She smiles over at Kalma with an almost fond, motherly expression. “My clever daughter brought you to me. You are here to fulfill a grand purpose. Youdowant to fulfill your grand purpose, don’t you?”
“What purpose?” Lilja dares to ask.
The Queen’s red-rimmed eyes narrow. “All will be revealed in good time. For now, know that I have done my duty as the law of hospitality requires. I have sheltered you, fed you, and offered you a seat at my table. You can expect no more comfort from me.”
I close my eyes, fighting back tears.
“Why are you doing this to us?” Riina cries. “Tuonela is for the dead, not the living. What can you need from mortal girls except our deaths?”
The Queen cackles again, rising to her feet. “Ofcourseyou have come here to die. Did you really think there could be any other end to your pathetic little lives?” She slips her hand back inside her silvery robes, pulling out that cursed willow wand again. “All life ends in death. Whether in one day... one year... or one thousand years, you will die, my sweet little doves. And then you will be mine. Now, be good and return to your rooms to await my pleasure.” She gives her wand another little flick with her wrist. “Guards, take them.”
A chill wind sweeps through the hall, and then the sound of stomping feet and rattling metal rings through the silence. The girls all shriek, turning their backs on the Witch Queen to meet this new threat. “No, please,” Salla begs.
The magic holding me releases, and I’m able to turn too.
Soldiers march out of the shadows. They move with odd, shuffling gaits. Some are skeletally thin... and thesmell. I gasp and cover my nose with my hand. The soldiers are alldead. As they approach, I can see some of them are rotting away, missing flesh and bone. Only magic holds them together.
All down the table, the girls shrink away as the rotting hands of the corpse soldiers reach for us, dragging us to our feet. The one in front of me has an arrow sticking through his eye, his jaw hanging loose on one side like he’s trapped making a soundless scream for the rest of his undying existence. Reaching for Helmi’s hand, I pull her off the bench with me. The soldier’s weak, clammy hand grips my arm right over Kalma’s marks, raising gooseflesh over my body.
“This isn’t real,” Helmi murmurs at my side, her eyes shut tight.
Down the table, the other girls are dragged to their feet. Some of the dead are harsher than others. A massive soldier with a cleaved face holds Lilja by her braid, lifting her off the floor as she flails and shrieks, batting at his bony hand. “If you’re going to kill us, just do it now,” she shouts at Tuonetar. “Where is your honor? Give us a clean death, you rotten witch—”
She chokes and sputters, her words cut short as the soldier’s free hand wraps around her throat, squeezing it tight.
“Courage will get you nowhere in Tuonela,” the Witch Queen warns. “There’s no call for it here. The dead are my creatures.” All the while, Lilja hangs in the air, choking, her legs kicking feebly.
And then Tuonetar lunges across the table like some huge, horrible spider. Cups and plates clatter to the floor as she sweeps forward, silvery robes billowing. She hops to the floor before Lilja, pointing at the poor girl’s reddening face. “Do you see this, little doves? Do you see how she struggles, holding on to the fragile tendrils of her life with her grasping little fingers?”
I know I’m not the only one trying to look away when I lock eyes with Riina. She shakes her head, leaning away from the soldier who holds both her arms.
“Look at her,” the Witch Queen shrieks, her words echoing around the room, shaking dust from the rafters, and making me tremble.
We all turn reluctantly to face the struggling Lilja.
“Do you think I do not know how she plans to escape me?” says the Witch Queen with a sneer. “She wants a noble end. She wants control of her fate... but that is a fool’s dream in Tuonela.” Reaching out a gnarled finger, she brushes it down Lilja’s freckled cheek. “Let go of this fantasy, child. That’s not what death is. Death is beautiful violence. Death is unbridled chaos. Death is... me. And there is nothing I like better than watching the life drain from mortals’ eyes.”
The Witch Queen nods, and the soldier holding Lilja opens his hand. The poor girl drops like a stone to the floor. Her rasping sobs are the only sound in the room. Tuonetar smiles down at her. “That’s a good girl,” she coos. “Yes, breathe deep. Fill those lungs, my pet. And know with each breath you take that your death will come soon. For there is nothing I likelessthan misguided nobility.”
Lilja goes still, holding back her sobs, as we all absorb Tuonetar’s words.
The Witch Queen drops to her knees, bringing her face level with Lilja’s. “I will kill you,” she declares. “And it will be beautiful.” Her tone is almost gleeful. “Your days are numbered, dove.”
The dead soldiers pull us towards the set of looming double doors. I cling to Helmi’s hand as we’re dragged back into the arrival hall.
“Don’t lose faith,” Riina calls out softly. “Stay alive.”
