Page 66 of A Curse Carved in Bone
Reluctantly, I lifted my foot, but I kept my axe burning as Snorri forced himself to his knees.
“Saga?” he whispered. “How…How is this possible? I saw your body.”
Saga’s mouth twisted with scorn. “I do not know what hapless soul you burned to give evidence to your lies, but it was not me. I escaped the flames with my son and fled to my only true friend. And during all the long years since, Harald has fought to give me the vengeance I deserved.”
Snorri stared at her with bewildered eyes. “Saga…you know it was not me. You…”
“Stop!” Saga barked the word, her hands balling into fists. “I know what I saw with my own eyes. Bjorn knows who he saw with his own eyes.”
“Bjorn!” Freya begged, but Tora pushed her face into the mud to silence her.
“It is time for you to die for your crimes, Snorri,” Saga said. “Time for me to have justice for all that I have suffered.”
Snorri stared at her in horror. “This is not the fate you foresaw for me.”
Her head tilted, green eyes glittering and cruel in a way I’d never before seen. “I said that the one who controlled the shield maiden’s fate would unite Skaland. And it has come to pass, Snorri. For you have united the clans with Freya’s name and made yourself king. But my words never said anything about how long you would keep your crown. Bjorn, challenge him.”
I turned my face out of the mud and drew in a breath right as Snorri’s eyes moved from Saga to me. “Freya, help me. You must help me. You must save me from her lies. She is lying!” Bjorn caught hold of his arm, dragging him to the square of runes Saga was marking. “She is lying!”
The urge to stop this was no longer a prickle but a fire across my skin, burning with such ferocity that I screamed. I flung my body from side to side, my hair ripping from my scalp as I pulled from Tora’s grip. I lunged to my feet only to be struck in the back, a jolt that had to be lightning coursing through my body.
Stunned, I lay in the dirt, watching Saga close the square, binding Snorri and Bjorn within. “Stop,” I whispered as Tora knelt on my back and took hold of my wrists. “Stop this.”
I could not get loose. Could not use Hlin’s magic with my hands pressed to the earth. But Hel’s magic was not so easily contained, and though her roots would not pull those with god’s blood to Helheim, it would distract them enough that I might be able to escape. “I curse you, Saga,” I screamed at her. “I curse you to Helheim!”
Power surged through me, calling to my divine mother for her aid, but the ground did not stir. No roots exploded from its surface.
And in my failure, my body burned and burned.
“Get up!” Bjorn kicked Snorri, who had prostrated himself to the ground. “At least die with honor, you lying prick.”
Snorri raised his head. “I will not lift a weapon against my son. I know not why, but your mother has deceived you. Kill me if you must, but there is no honor for you in this. The gods know the truth even if you do not.”
“Bjorn, do not listen to him.” Saga stood outside the wards, hands fisted and tears slickening her cheeks. “Kill him. End our horror once and for all!”
“Bjorn, no!” I tried to scream, but Tora shoved a glove into my mouth, garbling my voice.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m sorry, Freya, but this is how it has to be.”
“She’s lying to you!” Snorri said. “Odin knows her lies and will not welcome her! She is cursed!”
“Get up!” Bjorn kicked Snorri’s sword in front of him. “Fight like a man!”
Snorri ignored the weapon but climbed to his feet, expression resolute. “I will not fight you, my son. You are deceived by one who you have every reason to trust, and I’ll not harm you for that. Kill me if you must but know that this is not justice.”
“No!” I howled around the glove, trying to force it out with my tongue, but Tora’s hand was clamped over my mouth, my body the purest form of agony.
“Kill him.” Saga spat the words. “Silence him.”
“Fight!” Bjorn’s axe flared with the ferocity of his emotions. “Fight me, Father!”
“No.” Snorri lifted his chin, arms relaxed at his sides. “There is no honor in this fight. I refuse it.”
I felt Bjorn snap, and it was like a stab to my own heart. His arm swung in a wide arc, and his flaming axe sank deep into Snorri’s chest.
Snorri stumbled backward, pulling himself free and revealing a blackened and bubbling hole in his chest. He dropped to his knees, and Bjorn lifted his weapon to deliver the killing blow.
“No,” Saga snarled. “Let him die slowly.”
