I nodded. “Okay. You two want me to help you steal Levateinn. In exchange, he’ll take me to the Norns, so I can become the mistress of my own fate.” I shrugged. “I think it’s a shit deal. There’s no guarantee that the Norns will actually help me. And I believe you, but I’m not sure about this shade character.” I nearly said he seems a bit shady, but then thought the pun would annoy me more than anyone else.
“Look.” Galin scrubbed a hand over his jaw, his eyes gleaming. “There’s more than just our bond at stake here. If I can get Levateinn, then I can take over as king of the High Elves. The first thing I’ll do is break the wall that imprisons your people.”
Now that was something worth considering. Hope beamed in my chest, a star growing brighter. At last, my dream was within my grasp. Maybe this was it? Maybe it was my destiny. “Do you promise?”
“Of course.”
And there it was again—that strange realization that I trusted him. I smiled. “Okay. Now that you’re free of the helm, can’t you just open a portal? Should be a simple snatch-and-grab, right?”
“Unfortunately, no. King Gorm has thousands of runes protecting his quarters. The moment I open a portal in his room, it will be swarmed by guards.”
“So, what are your thoughts?”
“I think we should try some human magic.”
My forehead furrowed. Had he lost it? “Humans don’t have any magic. That’s why the High Elves have them completely subjugated. When Barthol and I were preparing to rob Silfarson’s Bank, we had to live with them. They mean well, but many of them still refuse to accept Ragnarok. They insist that something called ‘global cooling’ is the cause of the endless winter.”
“Human magicians do exist. Before Ragnarok, there was a subculture of humans who studied trickery. Specifically, sleight of hand. For example, they’d say they could make a coin disappear. But instead of actually doing magic, they'd distract the other human, and when they weren’t looking, they’d hide the coin in their palm. It would only appear as if they’d done magic.”
He slid his hand into his pocket and stepped closer to me. He flicked my hair off my shoulder, leaned in, and whispered in my ear in a deep, rich murmur, “Perhaps you could join me in my room later?” The sound of his voice and the closeness of his perfect face sent a hot thrill over my skin.
Then, from my other ear, he appeared to pull a silver coin. He held it up, grinning. “See? Human magic.”
I fought to suppress a smile. Humans were lovely, simpleminded creatures. “Okay. This actually worked as a form of magic?”
A slow shrug. “In a way.”
“So, this is a long way of you explaining that we need to distract King Gorm so that I can steal the wand.”
“Exactly. I’ll make a scene to distract him, and you steal it.”
“When exactly do you want to do this burglary?” I asked.
He tossed the coin in the air, and it glinted as it spun. He caught it again. “Tomorrow night.”
“That soon?”
“I’ve been thinking about how to do this for weeks. I have a plan.” Galin fixed me with his gaze and drew in a deep breath.
I got the feeling, even before he spoke, that this would be another prime example of not taking the safest option.
Chapter 32
Galin
That night, I fell into a deep, dreamless slumber from which I awoke fresh and rejuvenated. I dressed in a clean set of clothes and my favorite useless accessory: the Helm of Awe. It was important to keep up the illusion that Gorm was in control while Ali and I planned to steal Levateinn.
Once fully dressed, I walked down the stairs. Today, I arrived in the mead hall in time to snag some scrambled eggs, sausages, oatmeal, orange juice, and a mugful of piping hot coffee. As I sipped the coffee, I heard Revna call for me. Her voice was like sharp claws raking inside my skull.
I turned to see her sitting with Sune, dressed in a gold gown and waving her fingers at me. “Were you planning on dining with the lowlifes?”
“I wasn’t. That’s why I walked past your table.”
When she replied, all the playfulness had disappeared from her voice. She went straight for the jugular: “Why did you betray us?”
I mentally calculated the best way to keep Ali alive. “Perhaps I have a plan, and perhaps the Night Elf is useful. How do you think I’ve survived this long?”
Revna’s eyes slowly widened, and she grinned. “Oh, you naughty boy. So, she’s an informant?”
“Tell me more,” said Sune, leaning forward eagerly. “Have you seduced her for information? Mind if I have a go?”
Just as I was considering if this was the appropriate time to snap my brother’s neck, a trumpet interrupted us, followed by the dulcet voice of the herald announcing the arrival of the king. King Gorm walked in slowly, looking tired. He’d survived the race, but not without considerable effort.
With a grim expression, he ambled over and sat next to Revna without looking at me.
“Daddy,” said Revna in her most saccharine voice, “are you still upset with Galin?”
“I should have him executed for treason,” he muttered. “But we can’t afford to lose any more High Elves in the Winnowing. We’re in last place.” Only then did he slowly turn to look at me, speaking softly but otherwise not bothering to hide his rage. “Once this is over, perhaps we will find suitable accommodations for you in your former lodgings.”
The dungeon, of course.
Revna sighed. “Father, that is a little excessive. Why don’t I keep an eye on him?” She gave me a wink that put me right off my breakfast.
From the Vanir table, the Regent rose. “If I may have everyone’s attention. Now that King Gorm is with us, I’d like to announce the final contest.”
I scrubbed a hand over my jaw, staring at him. I’d expected him to continue with his announcement, but instead, he began waving his fingers in what I recognized as the runes of the portal spell.
An instant later, electricity crackled, and a dark void bloomed a few feet to his right. It grew larger and larger, until it took up almost the entire aisle between the rows of tables. All around me elves began to scream. Then, I saw why: a beast of hair and muscle, nearly as tall as a horse, charged into the hall, snorting and grunting loudly.
“Eofor!” shouted the Regent. “Eofor, sit.”
And just like that, a monstrous boar sat in the great mead hall of the High Elves. It was covered in bristly black hair and smelled terrible, like the contents of a sewer that had fermented in the hot sun. When its head turned to look in my direction, I saw beady eyes set behind a pair of ivory tusks nearly the length of my forearm.
A giant fucking boar.
All around me, elves were shouting and jumping out of the way as the boar began to snuffle and snort. A dark purple tongue slid out from between the tusks, and it began to snake plates of pancakes, bowls of oatmeal, even—I grimaced—pieces of bacon into its maw.
“Quiet! Quiet!” shouted the Regent at the terrified elves. “We don’t want to upset him. This is Eofor, the largest of the royal hogs.”