“The rules were clear!” shouted a Vanir. “In this trial, no thrown projectiles were allowed. She has forfeited her life.”
I stood unsteadily, looking at the Vanir—the Regent himself, his hawk on his shoulder as always. He was pointing a finger at me.
“You want to lecture me on the rules?” Galin’s voice was low and controlled, icy as the winds around us. “You who tried to have this very Night Elf murdered on the practice field.”
“That was an accident—”
“It was not.” Galin’s hand shot out, and he grabbed the hawk.
I stared. What was he doing?
The bird screamed, thrashing in Galin’s grasp. The Vanir were shouting, jostling each other. My leg screamed with pain, but I forced myself to remain upright.
Galin held the bird above his head and chanted in ancient Norse, and magic beamed around him. Screeching loudly, the bird bit and clawed at Galin’s arm, and the air hummed with electricity.
The body of the hawk began to twist and shiver. Its feathers fell away, and Galin laid it down in the snow. Its skin peeled open, and slowly, a woman rose from the pile of feathers and skin. Her gray hair hung in a braid down the back of her gray wool dress. Her lip curled in a snarl, green eyes glaring. Shadows filled crevices in her gaunt, wrinkled face.
Galin pointed. “And here we have the person who directed the spear. A hamrammr. A shape shifter. In the form of a hawk, she tried to kill Ali.”
The hag glared at Galin but didn’t speak.
Thyra shoved her way into the crowd, eyes flashing, “Not just a hamrammr. A seidkona. A witch. The Vanir have been using magic to help them win all along.”
“And so have you,” hissed the seidkona. “Just now, as I was flying above Faneuil Hall, I saw the girl step from a portal. You’ve been cheating, too.”
Thyra turned to me. “Is that true?”
I fell silent. Shit.
Thyra shook with anger, looking like she wanted to lunge through the snow to attack me.
The Vanir were starting to spread out now, slinking away. But King Gorm was moving closer, grinning. “So, both the Night Elves and the Vanir have been cheating.”
Galin shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets as snow fell on his bare chest. “Yes. And the High Elves, too. I created the portal.”
“You what!” King Gorm’s fluting voice blared off key.
Galin looked at the night sky. “We all cheated. Seems like it cancels out.”
Silence fell over us.
Finally, Thyra spoke. “I find this acceptable.”
“What about him?” said the Regent, pointing at the man I’d stabbed with Skalei. “If he hadn’t been stabbed, he would have taken the last place. The prince cheated.”
Galin cocked his head. “It seems to me that you’ve had an extra soldier on your side all along.” He pointed to the feathers at the hamrammr’s feet. “That would mean that instead of two hundred and twenty-five elves, two hundred and twenty-six elves may survive this contest. Rounding up, of course.”
The Regent grunted. “Fine.”
“Icy Hel, Galin,” grumbled Gorm, his eyes blazing with rage. “Whose side are you on?”
Chapter 30
Galin
An hour later, I was back in my quarters, and Ali was in the care of a Night Elf healer. Now, I understood exactly who’d come to my room that night before the melee—the hamrammr. The witch had visited me disguised as Ali, and she’d escaped by turning into a bird.
So much made sense now. When we’d visited Vanaheim, we hadn’t seen any women. But they had been there, hidden. Witches in alternate forms.
I paced my room, trying to decide what to do.
Take me to the girl. Ganglati hadn’t spoken for hours, and his voice startled me.
Why?
You told me you needed the girl to steal the wand.
I sighed aloud. Fine, let me scribe a portal. I wanted to see her anyway.
Quickly, I traced the rune in the air, and magic crackled over my skin as I stepped through into Ali’s living room. Despite the darkness, I could smell her clean scent in here.
A few moments later, the door to her bedroom suddenly creaked open, and she stood in the doorway. She wore her leather outfit, and Skalei gleamed in her hand. She looked ready to kill me, which was oddly sexy.
“Oh.” She slowly relaxed. “I thought you were a Vanir.”
Someone banged on the door from the hallway outside and barked, “Who’s there?” A male voice.
I went tense. We wouldn’t be able to say much in front of whoever that was.