“They say... many things,” I hedged, hoping I wouldn’t get another slap. But, surprisingly, that made Joleb grin fiercely.
“That they do, female. That they do. But family history also tells me it is so. The great Princess Jolakaia died in battle, did you know that? And her stone sky mate Faerwyrth dropped like a rock to the bottom of the river at the exact same moment, though no weapon ever touched him.”
Faerwyrth. That was Skalla’s father’s name. A name he hadn’t been able to recall yet on his own.
I have to remember that. So I can tell him when I see him.
Yet another reason to get through this and survive. So I could tell the man I loved the name of his forgotten father.
Joleb came to crouch before me once more, sliding a razor-sharp claw beneath my chin. “I could be a god-killer, too. A legend among men.”
“You could,” I said, swallowing more blood and remembering something Jolakaia had once said about her brother and men like him. “But... no glory.”
Anger flared in his eye, and I winced, ready for another slap, but it didn’t come. He didn’t ask me to go on, but he was clearly waiting for me to explain myself. Hoping I wasn’t making the biggest mistake of my life, I raised my chin and held his gaze.
“No glory in that,” I said.
I cursed myself for relying so much on the webbing and not taking more time to learn more Bohnebregg so I could speak it better. But there was nothing I could do about it now. With the limited words I had, I pieced together what I hoped would be a net to snare Joleb and save myself all at the same time.
“I am weak and soft,” I said. “No claws.” I held up my hands to show him. “No knife. No scales. No fight. Just a soft female.”
The anger was gone from his eye now, replaced with something I wasn’t sure I liked, something that seemed to grow when I’d said soft female. I ignored it and forged on, praying that this Prince’s pride would doom him and be my ticket out of here.
“I am easy to kill. No battle, no glory. Yes, Skallagrim dies. But you do not really kill him.” One of my eyes was swelling, but I fought to hold Joleb’s gaze, speaking slowly and as clearly as I could. “You cannot be a god-killer if you do not kill the god.”
The room had already grown quiet since our arrival, but now it was hushed with thick dread, as if everyone knew I’d lobbed some grave insult at their leader’s head and they were waiting for him to explode. Which, to be fair, was kind of the whole point of what I’d just said. I wanted to insult his manhood, his prowess as a warrior, and give Skalla a chance to come back and get me before Joleb gutted me like a fish.
And thank my lucky fucking stars, it actually seemed to be working.
“Perhaps you are right,” Joleb said, and then everyone in the room, including me, seemed to let out their breath at the same time. His snout took on a nasty smirk. “Perhaps I will keep you. After I become the god-killer and rip out every one of Skallagrim’s scales in front of you, perhaps I will let you live.” His gaze grew greedy, and he buried his claws in my hair once more, but more gently this time, letting the strands run through his fingers like water. “I’ve never seen hair like this,” he murmured. “The colour of moonlight on metal. Yes, I think I will keep you after all.” He cocked his head. “I know Skallagrim will die when you do. But does it work the other way around? If he dies, will you perish, too?”
“I don’t know,” I said, and it was the honest truth because I really had no fucking idea.
His grip on my hair tightened possessively, making my scalp burn with pain.
“I suppose it does not matter if you die when I kill your mate,” he purred darkly. “You will be mine either way. And whether you are dead or alive, your hair will gleam just as prettily all the same.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
Skallagrim
After spending far longer than I’d intended to at the gates of Heofonraed, I had to admit defeat. There was no way in. And for all intents and purposes, it seemed there was no one even there to answer. Perhaps things had changed since I’d been mate mad. Perhaps, even if I did not kill them, they all had died and for some reason had not been replaced. The Eaforswynne were still here, guarding who in the stone sky knew what, but no council answered my calls.
This was disconcerting, but even worse was the fact that it meant I would not be able to find Suvi’s friends. At least, not quickly. I supposed I could start opening sky doors at random, searching the universe one little corner at a time for the group of them, but who knew how long such a task would take? Theirs was one miniscule machine in the entire scope of a sprawling starscape. It would be worse than trying to find one specific grain of sand in the churn of the Bohnebregg River. For Suvi, I would at least attempt it, but I felt physical pain at the idea of being away from her for so long while searching in such a fruitless, inefficient way.
It was with a foul mood that I hurled myself back up into the sky above Heofonraed. It was as if I was beating the sky itself with my wings, trying to alleviate my frustration. River help me, I could already anticipate Suvi’s hurt disappointment. I hated that this would not be the reunion I had promised her. Instead of returning victorious with all her friends, I’d be coming back empty-clawed, and I did not feel worthy of her.
Some small, fearful part of me even went so far as to worry that Suvi might no longer love me if I failed her in this. Which was absurd, because Suvi loved me before I’d even remembered Heofonraed. She loved me without ever knowing there was a possibility I could track down her friends. So it was foolish to think that her love would be rescinded over such a thing now.
But perhaps I was a fool. A great, blundering, fine-scaled fool.
Because that foolish thought scraped at me. It dug in with claws, got between my scales, and it hurt because it felt far too much like truth.
Going from angry to furious, I smashed the sky open with my fist.
The sky door opened directly above Callabarra on Bohnebregg, but I could not see the city due to Aeshyr’s protection spell. I had to say the word to reveal Callabarra, and for a gut-gripping moment I panicked, thinking I’d forgotten it as I’d forgotten so many important things already. But then, like a single drop of water, it was flung from the river in my mind.
“Falreth!”
The landscape below wavered, then drifted away, revealing Callabarra. From up here, it looked very different. Maybe even a little wrong. Dark. Though it was night so of course it would be dark, and there were a few lights here and there, so what was I doing thinking it odd that the city was dark? But all the same, something about it felt... Not right. I glanced back at the sky. The sky door had faded, but everything still looked strangely opaque. There were no stars.
Cloud cover. The first I’d seen so thick like this since my return, and the river inside sloshed and churned and suddenly spat out the words rainy season.
Without being able to see the moons and stars, I couldn’t tell how long it had been night here. But still, I knew I’d spent far longer at the gates of Heofonraed than I’d meant to, hoping to avoid having to come back here defeated like this. But there was nothing left to do about it for the moment, and as much as I hated going to Suvi and seeing her hurt little face, I desperately wanted to be with her after being gone all day.