Page 18 of The Magic of Vanaheim

“Don’t tempt fate,” Arngrim said, but Perhonen’s eyes glazed over, shining like two eerie moons.

Hel’s tits.His words must’ve triggered a vision.

“Yes,” Perhonen said, voice hollow and features blank. “I shall rule over Vanaheim while you’re dead.”

“Perhonen!” Arngrim gave her a shove as if a proper shaking could chase away the vision. “Don’t! Don’t say that!”

Shaking herself out of the trance, Perhonen’s eyes went back to their normal pale color.

“What did I say?” she asked, a little disoriented.

“You predicted my death,” Talvi said. He threw an arm over Arngrim’s shoulders, for his mentor looked shocked. “It’s just a prophecy. It means nothing.”

“She said you’re going to die!”

“It could be meant metaphorically,” Talvi said, unimpressed. If he had learnt anything from Perhonen and his mothers, then it was that words of prophecy were never what they seemed. He’d grown up with the stories of kings and queens destroying everything they held dear in a futile attempt to change fate. But Talvi could feel the strings of destiny around him all the time. They rippled behind a delicate veil, some thin as yarn and others thick as ropes, but always moving, breaking, and reconnecting.

“Metaphorically? Don’t you think it means something that she had this vision today of all days? You should get rid of Bloodaxe, and then we should crush Bergelmir for good measure. Make sure that theJötnarthink twice about attacking us again.”

“Speaking of Håkon, is he all right?” Hearing the hatred in Arngrim’s voice, Talvi had to assure himself that his betrothed was fine.

To his relief, Arngrim’s features softened, and he rolled his eyes.

“Yourbetrothedis alive, and I’ve made sure that no one will touch a hair on his precious head, which is way more than an assassin deserves if you’re asking me.”

“I’mnotasking you.”

“Wait a minute, Håkon Bloodaxe is here?” Perhonen asked. “What about the princess?”

“Bergelmir sent an assassin instead of his daughter,” Arngrim grumbled.

“He’s not an assassin,” Talvi countered. Just thinking about Håkon made his blood sing with excitement again. He’d been ready to do his duty and marry Princess Anya for the sake of his people, but instead of a strategic marriage, fate had dropped the man of his dreams right at his feet. Talvi still couldn’t believe it.

But why had Håkon been the one sent to kill him in the first place? Bergelmir wasn’t stupid. He must have realized that this kind of mission was a deadly risk, even for a mighty warrior like Håkon. How could Bergelmir put him in such danger? And did he really know so little about the customs of theVanir? Hadn’t Gunnlaug told him? Ultimately, it didn’t matter, Talvi decided.

“Bergelmir sent me his eldest son, whom I’m going to marry as planned.”

“What? Are you out of your mind? This isn’t about your ill-fated infatuation with a man you know nothing about! He’s going to kill you the first chance he gets!” Arngrim yelled.

“You weren’t worried about that when you planned to marry me off to Princess Anya!” Talvi shot back, finally getting annoyed at Arngrim’s pigheadedness.

“Because she’s a harmless girl and not fucking Håkon Bloodaxe!”

Perhonen watched their quarrel with an amused smile on her colorless lips. “So, we got Håkon instead of Princess Anya. Well, that’s certainly an interesting development.”

“Yeah. We should send Bergelmir his head to show him how we deal with word-breakers.”

“You willnottouch him!” Talvi hissed. “None of you.”

Perhonen chuckled. “It seems I was mistaken. Bergelmir is a fool, after all.”

“Yes!” Arngrim nodded vigorously. It wasn’t often that he was of one opinion with the seeress.

“Last time I checked, I was the one ruling over Vanaheim. I’m going to marry him.”

“Of course you will,” Perhonen said.

“See? Perhonen agrees you should—” Arngrim faltered. “What did you just say?”