The morning sun was rising, staining the sapphire sky with rosy gold. I looked up from my writing desk. Spread out below me were the ruins of Boston, entombed in a thousand years of ice and snow. The sight pierced my heart; the icy light was enough to remind me that the ravages of Ragnarok endured. I’d been dead and imprisoned for a thousand years, which meant it felt like only yesterday that the world had been alive and the gods had still ruled.
Only yesterday the world had had meaning. Now, we had to make our own.
I refocused on the page, staring at the beige vellum as I carefully inscribed a rune on the paper. It was a tricky fortification spell. A thousand interlocking symbols that together created a powerful barrier.
After I finished inking the rune, I put down my quill and rubbed my eyes. It took all my mental capacity to see how the runes connected, building and supporting one another like the stones of a castle wall. Each had to be carefully placed, taking into account their strengths and weaknesses. Together, they became unbreakable.
As I lifted my quill to begin the next rune, a loud knock on my door interrupted me.
“Odin’s arse,” I cursed under my breath as I crossed to the door. Opening it revealed the smirking face of my sister, Revna. Her shimmering platinum hair cascaded over a green gown that probably cost more than the entire Night Elf economy.
“Galin, are you almost finished with the spell father ordered?” she asked as she slipped past me, into my room.
“How lovely to see you, dear sister. Always a pleasure.” My voice dripped with sarcasm.
She ignored me, plopping herself onto my sofa. She had brought an orange with her and began to peel it. “This sofa is comfy. Where did you get it?”
“As much as I always enjoy our chit-chats, I’m afraid I have work to do.”
“I’ll be quiet as a mouse,” Revna flicked a piece of peel onto my floor. “I like watching you work.” She cocked her head. “Particularly without your shirt on, with the candlelight sculpting those fine muscles.
I said nothing.
“We’re only half-siblings,” she ventured after a moment. “It’s been a thousand years, so we hardly feel like brother and sister anymore.”
I clenched my jaw, disturbed by where she might be going with this.
“In the old days, the monarchs always married their relatives to keep the bloodlines pure.”
Another involuntary shudder. “Is this a personal challenge to see if you can make me vomit in record time? Perhaps you can try your charms on our lovely brother Sune.”
“You haven’t seen a woman in nearly a thousand years while you were in prison. Oh, except that little tunnel runt.” She gave a dramatic shiver. “Anyway, Sune is not as fun as you.”
“Fun? I’m a lethal warrior who spent the past thousand years as an imprisoned lich. Fun is not one of my strengths.”
Revna rolled her eyes. “Fine. Sexy. Don’t you remember all the women who would try to sleep with you back before Ragnarok? You never really liked any of them, but they followed you like lovesick puppies. I’m sure you bedded plenty of them. But none of them were your equal, like I am. Don’t you remember—you were known as the Sword of the Gods, fearsome and beautiful. I never got a nickname like that, which seems a major oversight. You and I are equally paired, and now that your soul is returned, I find you appealing.”
“Well, this has been a disturbing few minutes, but I must get back to my work. Would you like to go out through the door or the window?”
“Oh, my lovely brother. That manacle on your mind”—she made air quotes—“will stop you from defenestrating me any time soon.”
“Pity.”
Revna’s eyes narrowed slightly, her calculating side revealing itself at last. “So, how much of your past do you remember?”
Why was she asking that? “What do you mean?”
“Do you remember me?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Horrible then, horrible now.
Still, I studied her. She did look almost the same as before. It was hard to believe she was over a thousand years old, but once elves reach maturity, they age very slowly. King Gorm was nearly nine thousand years old, and he looked barely older than a fifty-year-old human.
Revna’s fingers dug into the orange, and juice dripped onto my sofa. “Do you remember how you became cursed?”
Most of my past life was clear as day—the battles, the blood, the glory. The spells I’d conducted in the mountains. It was only the last few years before I’d died that were hazy. I knew that I’d built a magic wall to protect the Night Elves, but in the centuries that had passed, the details had faded away. “I think the curse burned away some of my memories,” I finally answered.
Revna’s eyebrows flicked upwards. “Well, that explains quite a bit.”
“What are you talking about?”
Instead of answering, she walked across the room to stand next to me. The way her eyes lingered on my body had me reaching for a shirt.
“So, what does this fortification spell do?” she asked. “The one father is so keen on.”
“I’m sure you know. It will stop the Night Elves from trying to break free, by strengthening the wall. It will stop them from raiding Midgard.” In this, at least, my father and I had a common goal. If a battle erupted between the Night Elves and the High Elves, it wasn’t our side that would lose.
Revna’s tone sharpened. “Why don’t you compose a slaughtering hex—something to do away with them for good?”
How about I lock you in a dark prison forever once I become king?
King Gorm and I had just fought bitterly over this very question. Just a few weeks ago, he had asked me to destroy the Night Elves once and for all. With the military campaign against the Night Elves stagnating, he desperately wanted me to design an apocalyptic magical weapon for that purpose.
While I still had this thing on my head, I had to keep him reasonably satisfied, but I couldn’t help the High Elves overrun the Shadow Caverns. Fortunately, while the crown kept him protected from my wrath, it didn’t allow him to physically control me. So, the wall would remain. I was happy to keep the High Elves from advancing on the Night Elves.
That was my one goal, now. A successful attack on the Night Elf realm could mean Ali’s death.
I tried not to think of her too often; she disrupted my focus, and that would only delay my return to her. But the very effort of banishing her from my consciousness brought her beautiful face into my mind. Hair the color of snow; eyes that shone like moonlight on water; skin that had never seen the sun, smooth and unlined. … My heart ached to see her again.
“Well?” Revna snapped, bringing me back to the present. “Wouldn’t it be better to just slaughter them, rather than expend all this energy trying to keep them contained?”
“Revna,” I replied coldly. “You do remember, long ago, how easy it was for me to kill those around me? As you have pointed out, I can no longer do that. But are you so sure that will always be the case?”
She paled. “Fine. I’ll leave.” She walked to my door, back stiff. I was just turning back to my work when she spoke again in a fluting voice. “I almost forgot. Father told me to tell you that we’re having a meeting after dinner. He said not to be late. But I should warn you. He has news that will make you want to murder him.” She cocked her head. “Too bad you can’t.”