The Song of the Ash Tree 03 - Already Comes Darkness by T. L. Greylock

Author:T. L. Greylock [Greylock, T. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grass Crown Press
Published: 2017-02-22T18:30:00+00:00

NINETEEN

The fire that burned the Hammerling lasted to morning. Raef had stood vigil over it until the smoke drove him away, and then, after leaving instructions for the Hammerling’s warriors to be released, he retreated to his chamber in the Vestrhall and did not emerge until a bright sun was high in the sky and the Hammerling’s ashes were being swept into the fjord by a gentle wind.

He sought out Siv first, who waited alone in the hall, knees tucked to her chest as she perched on a bench. Raef slid onto the bench beside her.

“I am sorry.”

She reached out and tucked a strand of his hair that had worked loose behind his ear. “For what?”

“For shutting myself away.”

“I know what it is to seek solitude.” She smiled and held out her hand, palm facing him. Raef placed his palm against hers and wrapped his fingers between hers, his heart full to bursting with joy over Siv’s understanding. He stood and pulled her to her feet and settled a deep kiss on her lips.

“Come,” Raef said when he pulled away. “It is time I spoke to Vakre.”

They found Vakre by the fjord at the end of one of the docks. He stood with his arms crossed over his chest, his face turned toward the sun. He wore no cloak, nothing to keep winter at bay, and when Raef came close enough to touch him, he could feel the heat emanating from Vakre’s skin. It was a tender heat, an easy warmth free of malice or anger.

Vakre smiled at Siv, but then his eyes sought Raef. “Did I kill anyone?”

“No.” Raef watched the water shimmer in the sunlight and a deep longing for spring came over him. He swallowed that down. “I have to ask, Vakre, what did you do? How did you rise into the air?”

The son of Loki shook his head. “I do not know. I could feel my father, as I always do when wreathed in his gift. The power, the fury, the fear, they burned through me, and for a moment I could feel the lives of everyone below me as though they were beating hearts in the palm of my hand. Hearts I was meant to crush.” Vakre’s gaze met Raef’s and the pain there was laced with sadness and guilt. “I could have killed you all.”

“But you did not.”

“Not this time.”

There was nothing Raef could offer Vakre, no words of reassurance to counter the truth Vakre spoke.

“You told the Hammerling that Hauk still lived,” Siv said, breaking the silence.

Raef’s mind swam with visions of Eira as she had appeared on the field of battle under the stars. It seemed difficult to find the words to express what he had seen.

“Eira came for him.”

Siv frowned and Raef rushed on.

“Her throat was ripped open, torn to shreds by your arrow. But the blood was dried, and she was angry, so angry, but,” Raef paused, “uncertain, lost, somehow. She knew me and yet did not know me. Her eyes,” Raef hesitated again, then brushed past that image and continued.

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