Queen of Deception: a Marvel Legends of Asgard Novel by Anna Stephens

Author:Anna Stephens [Stephens, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Media Tie-In, Superheroes, Fantasy, Historical
ISBN: 9781839082047
Publisher: Aconyte
Published: 2023-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

Thirteen

Fire

The flat-bottomed ferry didn’t run until dawn, trapping them on the wrong side of the river as the night slowly faded. The delay ate at Brunnhilde and she stalked back and forth along the river’s edge, her boots squelching in the mud. The river was a complication. Did they affect the disguise of noblewomen once more to cross or hope that this early in the morning, with their hoods drawn up and mist and smoke combining to haze the air, they might pass for men?

They spoke – well, Sif spoke – about stealing a boat and leaving a pile of silver in its place, but they couldn’t guarantee the boat’s owner would be the one to find the coins.

“You and your Asgardian honor,” the shield-maiden had grumbled and Brunnhilde had just arched an eyebrow until Sif blushed a little. Her own honor was almost as unbending as the Valkyrie’s. “There are worse things to do though, Bright-Battle,” she’d said quietly in the end. “If it comes to it, with Midgard facing an elven army, it would be worth the risk.”

Brunnhilde had hesitated, torn between duty and necessity, until Sif threw up her hands in despair. “Fine, let’s just bloody swim it, then,” she’d sighed and Brunnhilde had been about to agree, even though the thought of soaking her armor and weapons made her wince, when she startled a black cat invisible in the darkness at the edge of the water. It yowled and flashed yellow eyes at her and sped away. The Valkyrie leapt back on instinct, ripping out her blade and sucking in a great draught of air to prepare herself – and also the pebble she’d been holding in her mouth for the last few hours.

She collided with Sif even as the raven-haired warrior likewise vaulted into a ready position. The shield-maiden’s blade had been restored to its proper place on her hip when they fled the inn and Brunnhilde was glad of it, for the stone was trapped in her throat, choking her and cutting off her ability to breathe. She forced her body to remain under her command until they’d realized there was no danger, and then she sheathed Dragonfang, grabbed Sif and shook her hard with one hand, the other pointing at her own throat.

“Odin’s eye, the stone? Let go of me then, woman, and turn around.” Sif pounded on the Valkyrie’s back three times before the clang of fist on backplate told them it would accomplish nothing. Sif swore some more and began unbuckling Brunnhilde’s armor while the Valkyrie twitched and fought every instinct telling her to convulse and claw at her throat.

The armor hung loose on one side and Sif returned to her earlier thumping, her fist heavy as a mountain as it landed between Brunnhilde’s shoulder blades, four, five, six, seven, eight times and despite herself, the Valkyrie felt panic start to build. And then the ninth blow dislodged the stone and it flew from her throat and into her mouth, smacking hard against her teeth as it shot free and vanished into the dark.

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