And worse, Bo was probably spying on me for Thyra to see if I was still working with Galin. I pulled Galin’s hands from me, unclasped my legs, and wriggled out of his grasp.
Pushing past the enormous High Elf, I could finally see Bo. He stood staring at us, his eyes gleaming, and I watched as his fingers tightened on his sword. “Get away from him, Ali.”
I could tell from the intensity of his gaze that he had recognized Galin. A moment later, he started sprinting for him, blade raised.
Galin no longer had a sword, and for some reason, he opened his arms, like he was welcoming the charging Night Elf.
What is he doing?
Just as I had done, Bo lunged at full speed, his sword carving a furious arc in the air, silver hair streaking behind him. I didn’t want to watch Galin die, but it had to happen. First Galin, then the other royals.
I stepped back, waiting for the blood to flow. For Galin to fall.
But instead, Bo stiffened, then fell to the blood-soaked snow.
A moment after he hit the ground, the dolorous toll of a bell exploded across the battlefield, filling my ears and making my head ache. My heart dropped into my stomach as I watched the remaining warriors charging off the Common.
Galin turned to me, fury burning in his eyes. “Seems that the quota’s been reached. The melee is over. Thanks for the help, Ali.”
I stared at him, stunned. What did this mean about our souls being entwined? Maybe I felt it somewhere in the dark hollows of my thoughts, but….
Was this some sorcerer bullshit he was pulling? It was hard to think clearly when he was anywhere near me.
Whatever the case, I couldn’t let anyone see me speaking to him. They already had me pegged as a traitor.
His jaw was now set tight, and he stalked closer to me, cutting me a sharp look. “You would have let him kill me, wouldn’t you? And you were really trying to end my life?” Moments ago, he’d been murmuring that we were meant to be. Now, his voice sounded cold as ice.
I had so many questions to ask, but with the melee over anyone could be watching. I simply said, “That’s what I came here to do. Avenge my parents and my tribe. I will defeat the High Elves. You first, then the rest of your rancid family.”
He looked at me, searching my face for a long moment. Then, he stalked away, into the center of the battlefield, the muscles of his back coiled and angry.
For some insane reason, watching him walk away from me, I felt glass shattering in my heart.
Chapter 14
Galin
Darkness clouded my mind. The gods were dead, Ali hated me, and nothing meant anything anymore.
Perhaps when she had come to my room, she’d simply been using me for information, but she’d never planned to return to me.
I surveyed the carnage around me.
After nearly twelve hundred years, the Common had finally become a battlefield. What had earlier in the day been white snow was now soaked and splattered with crimson, a mottled patchwork of death and slaughter.
Strewn all over the snow, like leaves after a windstorm, were the bodies of elves. Dead and dying, they lay in groups. Black, blond, and silver hair mingled for the first time in more than a thousand years.
I stalked through the center of the carnage, blood-smeared and exhausted. Around me, elves were calling out, some in pain, some with grief. Small groups of still-upright elves moved over the muddy ground—the grim process of helping the wounded and collecting the dead was beginning, but I hardly noticed. My thoughts were fixed on Ali.
She truly hated me still, didn’t she? She had meant to let me die. Perhaps she wasn’t my destiny, then, even if our souls were bound. Perhaps fate was punishing me.
When I turned back to look at her, I found her kneeling by the elf who’d tried to kill me, the lanky one who'd been slammed with a stunning spell for attacking after the melee was over.
As our eyes met, she gave me a final, hard look. There was nothing but pure hatred and sorrow in her gaze.
I turned away from her, and as I did, my sister sidled up next to me. Gore smeared her golden armor and matted her hair, but she looked happy.
“Are you injured?” I asked.
Revna laughed as though it was a complete impossibility. “Do I look like I’m in pain, dearest brother?”
“Your cheek is bleeding.”
“Oh, this?” she said, touching a finger to the blood. “It’s not mine. This is the blood of our enemies. I slew at least twenty.” She licked one of her blood-soaked fingers. “You must remember the taste of victory?”
“Where’s Sune?”
“I don’t know.”
She turned, her eyes narrowing, and I followed her gaze to Ali. Revna's grin curdled my stomach as she pivoted, striding right over to Ali. She pointed at her.
“You there, night wretch. Look at me.”
Ali rose slowly, and I heard Revna’s tinkling laughter.
“I thought it was you, cave-swine. How’s your finger?”
“This one?” Ali flipped up her middle finger. “It’s fine.”
Revna laughed. “Aren’t you clever? Now I see why Galin took you with him into the Well, even if you have a mutilated hand.”
Ali looked right at me, eyes like flecks of ice. “Your entire family is amazingly vile.”
Not going to argue with that.
“And we remain enemies,” she added.
I turned, stalking away.
Next to me, Revna walked calmly among the bodies. In her gore-smeared armor, with her sword still dripping with blood, she looked like a valkyrie choosing which among the slain would rise and go to the gods’ halls. Except the valkyries had honor.
I shuddered as reality sunk in. This was the future, the place Wyrd was currently leading us. If Gorm and Revna continued to rule, there would only be more battles, more massacres. Death and destruction were the High Elves’ identity.
“Do you know how many we lost?” I asked.
“Our side? One hundred and seventy-eight.” Revna nodded grimly. “One hundred and twenty-two High Elves, one hundred and sixty-one Night Elves, and one hundred and sixty-seven Vanir remain.”
I’d come here wanting to take Ali away from all this, but now that seemed completely unlikely. At least the Night Elves were surviving.
“Did you know it was possible to kill an elf simply by stabbing them in the balls?” said Revna. “Wait here.”
She ran ahead of me. She stopped by a fallen soldier, a Night Elf. The elf moved, seeming to ask for help, but Revna knelt, and I saw a blade flash in her hand. The elf fell back to the snow.
I snarled, my blood running cold. “That was against the rules of the Winnowing.”
She turned to look at me, glee dancing in her eyes. “Haven’t you heard? Nothing matters except for winning. And I like it that way.”
I leaned close so no one could hear me speak. “Your lack of honor is an embarrassment.”
In a flash, Revna had her dagger at my throat. “But you wouldn’t turn me in, would you, brother?”
I reached for her wrist, but before I could pull her hand away, the Helm of Awe hummed, and a blazing gout of magic hit me like a sledgehammer between my eyes. Pain split my mind. Even with the helm weakened, I felt like it was ripping my skull open. I clutched my head.