Page 80 of The Magic of Vanaheim

Talvi dropped the cloak of disguise surrounding them.

Gasping, Perhonen whirled around. “Talvi!”

“By the gods, you came back!” Gudrun was with them in a blink, crushing Talvi and Håkon in a hug. “What happened? What’s wrong with Håkon? Where have you been?” She was babbling, on the verge of tears. “And from what dark place does this damn bear come?”

“This is Isbani. He belongs to Håkon.”

“He killed that thing on his quest?” Gudrun squeaked.

“Well…yes.”

“He was twelve back then—” Gudrun trailed off.

A strange feeling swept over Talvi. This was his home now. Håkon. Perhonen. And Gudrun, a warrior he didn’t know very well, but who was so dear to Håkon that Talvi had the feeling that she belonged to him too. But where was Arngrim?

“We have to get Håkon in bed,” Talvi said. “You have to have a look at him, Perhonen. Svanhild cast an illseiðrover him.”

“Svanhild,” Perhonen hissed. “This damned viper.”

But she was already following him into the private chambers, as was Gudrun. Perhonen stoked the fire, and Gudrun was fluffing up the blankets so he could lay Håkon down on the bed.

“Get him out of his clothes,” Perhonen said. “And you should get into bed with him. Warm him up.”

Gudrun helped him out of his armor with practiced movements.

“Norns, what happened to your harness?”

“Svanhild, well—she stabbed me,” Talvi said, uneasiness creeping over him. How would Perhonen react when she foundout what had happened? And Gudrun. Instead of traveling to the Halls of the Dead, he had returned, and Talvi hoped he was able to do that for Håkon’s sake. But would the others see it the same way, or would they be horrified?

Perhonen froze.

“I shall rule over Vanaheim while you’re dead,” she said. “And I did. Andyoucame back.”

“I told you that prophecies aren’t to be taken literally,” Talvi said.

Smiling ruefully, Perhonen ruffled his hair.

“Leave it to you, boy, to defy Lady Hel and come back with the power of winter. You have done well, Talvinen. But I worry Arngrim has allowed the fear of the prophecy to lead him astray.”

“What are you talking about?”

Slipping into bed with Håkon, Talvi was overcome by a dark premonition. He was so grateful that Perhonen and Gudrun were here with him, helping Håkon. But Arngrim was missing, and Talvi couldn’t help but worry—

“After you left to look for Håkon alone, Arngrim was so worried, distraught, even. And when you didn’t come back, he went searching for you alone.”

Perhonen’s words brought back the memories of that fateful night with full force. How he’d chatted with Astrid during the feast, how he’d turned around for just a minute and Håkon had disappeared. How Arngrim had tried to convince him that Håkon had escaped, probably to feed his father all the information he’d gathered during his time at Talvi’s side. But Talvi hadn’t believed it for a second. Not for a second. So he’d ridden off to bring his husband back on his own. He could imagine Arngrim had been furious.

“We think Arngrim was the one who sold Håkon out to our enemies,” Gudrun said, watching him with a worried expression. “I’m sorry. I know he was your friend.”

“What?” No. That couldn’t be. Arngrim wouldn’t do that. HepromisedTalvi he’d talk to Håkon, to make peace with Talvi’s decision.

“We tried to find out where you had disappeared to. And we discovered Håkon was last seen talking to Arngrim,” Perhonen explained, a deep sadness lacing her words.

“We wanted to confront him,” Gudrun said, and Talvi could tell how angry and desperate she’d been. “But he’d already fled.”

“He left a note saying he was looking for you, swearing he would bring you back, but I—I could feel that there was something off, something he wasn’t telling us,” Perhonen said.

“Doesn’t take a seeress to notice that,” Gudrun added. “He hated Håkon. He was jealous of him.”