The Raven's Warning

by A. E. Rayne

  Else rushed to the bed as Meena approached the door.

  ‘Who is it?’

  There was a pause. ‘Morac. What’s happening? Why is the door locked?’

  Meena glanced at Else who shrugged.

  They had forgotten about Morac.

  Turning the key, Meena opened the door, quickly ushering Morac inside before promptly locking it again.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Morac wondered, sensing the tension in the chamber. All three looked as though they’d been caught stealing the silverware. Then he spied Morana’s arm which Else had bandaged with a strip of cloth after Meena had taken her blood. ‘What happened to Morana?’ He was irritable, barely sleeping, worried about Evaine, and suddenly suspicious.

  ‘She, ahhhh,’ Meena began before realising that keeping secrets from Morac was pointless as he knew his sister better than any of them. He would be able to tell that something was different about her, and if they didn’t let him in on their secret, he might inadvertently blurt it out to Jaeger which wouldn’t help any of them. ‘We are trying to break the curse.’

  Morac blinked in surprise. ‘You are?’ He stared at Dragmall, who hurried to pull back the fur, struggling down onto the floor again. ‘You know it’s a curse?’

  ‘It appears so. Morana has been helping us in her own way. Leading us. We think we can break it,’ Dragmall said, chipping into the stone with his chisel and mallet. ‘But we must act quickly because Draguta will return soon. She cannot know what we’re doing.’

  ‘But Draguta will know,’ Morac insisted. ‘She will know. What happened in the hall was because she’d been inside everyone’s heads. Seen what we were all thinking. She was going to exact her revenge before you killed her,’ he said, staring at Meena.

  Meena swallowed, meeting her uncle’s eyes. ‘Morana can read the book. We need her to stop Draguta. There’s no one else who can use it.’ She didn’t know what she was saying. She didn’t know why she believed that Morana would care to keep any of them safe, even if they risked their lives to save hers. ‘Draguta has Evaine. She has bound Jaeger to her now. She has Eadmund Skalleson too. All we can do is try. Whatever happens, we need to find a way to stop her before it’s too late.’

  23

  ‘You need to rest,’ Biddy insisted, grabbing Jael’s elbow before she could rush away to check on something else. She had been roaming the fort all day with Axl, with Fyn, with Gant. Thinking about everything, and everyone.

  Except herself.

  ‘I’m fine,’ Jael grumped, removing her elbow from Biddy’s determined grip.

  ‘No, you are the opposite of fine. I’ve never seen you so pale. You look ready to fall down.’

  Jael felt ready to fall down.

  She glanced at Astrid who had been taken under Biddy’s wing, working in the tents, helping to care for Entorp’s patients who were improving, though a few were still too weak to go back to their homes.

  Astrid’s face told her that she agreed.

  ‘I can make you some more of my broth?’ she suggested. ‘It’s good for those who have lost a lot of blood. It’s iron-rich. Full of what you need.’

  Jael had a strong memory of Astrid’s broth, and she screwed up her face. ‘Alright. You do that. And I’ll go and sit down,’ she lied. ‘Soon. I promise. I only need to check a few more things.’ And ignoring Biddy’s frown, she turned towards Ayla who was on her knees beside Bruno. She hadn’t left his side since she’d left her own sick bed, eager to take him back to their new cottage.

  ‘Ayla,’ Jael whispered, drawing a stool towards her. ‘I wanted to talk to you about Briggit Halvardar. About everything you saw in your dreams. We have to defeat her too. A woman like that can’t remain upon a throne, not when she wants to kill us all.’

  Ayla turned to look at Jael, seeing a vision of the cottage in Harstad. Of the blood. Of Jael crying, holding her dead baby. Her mouth gaped open, and she didn’t know what to say.

  ‘Are you alright?’ Jael wondered.

  Ayla shook her head, trying to focus. ‘Yes, I... I dreamed about Briggit many times. I walked through her castle with her. It is vast and luxurious, and she commands it from a golden throne, but it is a terrifying place. Those around her are dazed, bound to her. All of them. The Followers, the army, her family. Those she hasn’t already killed. She is in complete control of Helsabor, but she is hungry for more.’

  Jael frowned, leaning closer. ‘Let me guess, she wants to bring back the Darkness?’

  Ayla nodded. ‘She is a Follower, so yes, the Darkness is her greatest desire. She is filled with dark ambition. Briggit believes that she will be the one to bring Raemus back. That she will become his wife.’

  ‘His wife? But doesn’t he want Dala? His own wife?’

  ‘Briggit thinks that Raemus will be looking for a new wife after what Dala did to him. Some Followers, mostly the female ones, imagine that Raemus will kill Dala when he returns.’

  ‘And Briggit said that?’

  ‘Oh yes,’ Ayla said. ‘I heard her talking about it with a woman. About how one day she would be Raemus’ bride. How they would rule the dark world together. You can be sure that nothing will turn her away from that path. It is carved in stone in her mind. The sickness curse was her way of laying the foundations for that. Wiping Osterland clean. Removing any threat.’

  ‘So, she wants the Book of Darkness too?’

  Ayla nodded.

  ‘And what will Draguta say about that, do you think?’ Jael wondered. ‘Draguta, who apparently doesn’t want to bring back the Darkness at all?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Ayla admitted. ‘But there can only be one mistress of that book.’

  Jael was thoughtful. ‘Then perhaps it will be up to the book to decide? A book that powerful? I imagine it will have a say in things.’

  Nothing had changed.

  The sky was darkening, Meena could see as she peered up at the tiny window.

  It had been hours now since Dragmall had carved the symbol into the flagstone, following the contours of the shape with Morana’s blood. But nothing had changed, and Meena could tell that her aunt was panicking. She kept trying to move, but she couldn’t, and Meena could feel the frustration almost leaking out of her.

  They sat on the beds and stools, waiting to see what would happen.

  But nothing did.

  ‘What do you think we should do?’ Else wondered, looking at Dragmall who was slumped on a stool opposite Morana. He was confused, certain the curse should have broken immediately. ‘I’m not sure,’ he admitted, pulling on his long, white beard. ‘But perhaps we should leave you now, Else? You can feed Morana. Put her to bed. There is nothing more we can do for her now.’

  Morana’s dark eye flared in anger, but it did her no good; she still couldn’t move.

  Morac looked disappointed as he rose to his feet, hoping to get to his cottage before running into Jaeger. ‘You should cover that symbol,’ he muttered despondently, pointing to the floor. ‘Best no one finds it.’

  Else nodded, hurrying to grab the bed fur, dragging it back over the symbol. ‘I’ll grab some rawhide in the morning. It will look more like a floor covering than a mistake,’ she said.

  ‘Well, then,’ Dragmall sighed, pointing Meena to the door. ‘We shall return in the morning. Hope for some improvement.’ Perhaps that was the problem, he realised. He didn’t really hope for an improvement at all.

  But to catch a witch, Dragmall knew, it was likely they needed a witch.

  If only they could find a way to free her.

  They were leaving in the morning, though that would still make them late for their arranged meeting with the Vandaals.

  ‘I sent a messenger,’ Axl told his sister. ‘To let them know. So they don’t think we’ve changed our minds.’ His ale was warm, and he felt disappointed, dreaming of an ice cold cup to numb his fingers; an ice cold dip in an almost freezing lake too. His body hurt too much to move. And yet, in the morning, he would have to.

  He fel
t nervous leaving everyone behind.

  Meeting their neighbours. Trying to act like a king.

  Looking around the hall from his seat at the high table, Axl saw his father’s warriors with their countless arm-rings and scars. Grizzled, leathery faces. Flecks of grey in their beards. Battered and bruised – burned too – yet ready for more.

  He didn’t feel worthy of leading them.

  Turning to his sister, who was rubbing her sunken eyes, he felt relieved that she was there. ‘What do you think Raymon will say?’ Axl whispered.

  Jael finished her cup of ale and stretched out her neck. ‘Well, he’s already said yes, hasn’t he? But who knows what trouble Getta has been stirring up since he sent that note.’ She studied the hall. It was packed. Full of energy. Nervous, jangling warriors enjoying their last night in the fort. There was some excitement too, she could tell; a sense of anticipation that they were finally doing something. That they were finally going to emerge from behind the walls. Her eyes met Ivaar’s before his quickly hurried back to his cup. ‘It will be good to talk to him directly, but in the end, he’ll have no choice. Our army could crush his. Now. We can ask nicely, but ultimately, we have more men. Anyone who stands in our way will quickly regret it, as Raymon Vandaal will find out.’

  Axl peered at his sister, surprised by the look in her eye. Or perhaps he wasn’t. He’d never met anyone more determined than Jael; more single-minded and stubborn.

  Except, perhaps, their father.

  Jael smiled. ‘Of course, it needn’t come to that. I can be very persuasive when I want to be.’ She swallowed, her ears suddenly buzzing again, thoughts of Eadmund washing over her like a waterfall.

  ‘What is it?’ Axl wondered.

  Jael blinked away the vision and picked up her empty cup, burying her face in it. ‘Just tired. After three dragur attacks, you would be too.’

  ‘But now they’re gone,’ Axl said, gripping Amma’s hand under the table. Resting it on her knee.

  ‘Well, they’re gone for now.’

  Amma leaned forward in surprise. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I don’t imagine it’s the last we’ve seen of them,’ Jael mused. ‘I don’t believe that was every dragur in Osterland. If Draguta has a mind to, I’m sure she could raise others. But this time, we’ll know just how to stop her.’

  Eadmund yawned, pulling Evaine closer, trying to get comfortable in the gravelly dirt. The air was frigid, and the furs barely took the edge off the plummeting temperature, but her body felt warm, if not twitchy. Evaine was irritable after spending two days on horseback, but they would arrive at the castle in the morning, and Eadmund knew that she would be back to herself again quickly.

  He stroked her hair, listening to the incessant chirping from an army of crickets stationed nearby, and the thunderous snoring of Rollo who was a great shadow in the distance, his mind wandering to his mother. He started to relax, his tension unravelling, at last, his eyelids drooping as a cool breeze ruffled his hair.

  His mother, he thought to himself.

  Eskild.

  And closing his eyes, Eadmund heard her calling to him.

  Running her hand down Tig’s warm nose, Jael watched his eyes close. He was rarely still or quiet, much like her, she supposed with a yawn, turning to leave the stables, relieved to finally have finished all her checks. Confident that they were ready for Rissna. Or as ready as they could be with an army of bruised and broken men and a hole-ridden fort under constant threat from Draguta and her book.

  Jael hadn’t been expecting to see Ivaar there, and she frowned, annoyed that she hadn’t heard him. ‘What do you want?’

  ‘Nothing,’ he mumbled, avoiding her eyes. ‘Just making sure everything’s ready for the morning.’

  Jael walked toward him, closer to the light, seeing the cuts on his face, the tiredness in his eyes. She suspected they all looked much the same. ‘And are you? Ready?’

  Ivaar nodded. He felt uncomfortable. Not sure how to be around Jael at all.

  Once he’d wanted to fuck her. Then he’d wanted to kill her.

  Now...

  Jael smiled, reading his thoughts. She didn’t know how she felt about him either. Ivaar had a complicated story, she knew, though much of it wasn’t his own doing, as she had recently begun to discover. ‘I’ve been meaning to tell you, I found out who killed Melaena,’ she said, watching the shock jar his face. She could almost see the tension grip his body.

  ‘What? Who?’

  ‘Morac and Morana. The same two who conspired to kill your father.’

  Ivaar’s mouth opened and closed, memories shuddering into view. He shook his head, seeing Melaena’s smiling face as he held it to his. ‘Why? Why? What did she do to them?’

  ‘It wasn’t Melaena they wanted to hurt,’ Jael tried to explain. ‘It was Eadmund. Everything they’ve done has been to hurt Eadmund. To drive a wedge between you and your brother. To break him. Render him useless.’

  Ivaar was confused. ‘Because?’

  ‘Because a broken Eadmund can’t fulfil his role in the prophecy. Because they could get to Eadmund, but they couldn’t get to me. I was here, safe with my family, behind these walls. For the most part, it seems.’ Jael stopped, taking a deep breath. ‘But Eadmund? Morana has been playing games with him since the beginning. Twisting and pulling the threads of his life far away from anywhere that could make him a threat to their plans. So now they only have one problem left to deal with. Me.’

  Ivaar was still shell-shocked. ‘Those things they said I did? All of them? All the things I was accused of over the years... I didn’t do any of them. Not one. Not one!’ He felt the oddest sensation, as though he was a boy again. Tears were coming, and he was growing more and more agitated. ‘But no one would believe me!’

  Jael didn’t know what to say. Ivaar had done things that were unforgivable no matter what games Morana and Morac had played with him. She couldn’t absolve him of the pain he had caused; the people he had hurt.

  ‘I became who they thought I was. Who they made me out to be,’ Ivaar murmured. ‘I couldn’t be who I wanted, so I tried something else. I tried being someone else.’

  ‘And now here you are.’

  Ivaar stared at Jael, his thoughts crystallising. ‘I’m going to kill Morana Gallas.’

  Jael yawned. ‘You’re going to have to get in line. Wait till Eadmund wakes up and finds out what she’s done!’

  Morana couldn’t sleep. Her head was clanging with urgency.

  She could feel Draguta getting closer. Evaine too.

  And stuck in a chair or trapped in a bed was no place to be. Not if she was going to save herself.

  The curse-breaking symbol should have worked. The old man had done everything right. He had chosen the right symbol. Used her blood. Carved it in her floor. But she was still trapped. Helpless.

  And quickly running out of time.

  Morana closed her eyes, desperate to find a dream.

  The dream was Oss again.

  Eadmund felt happy to see it. His father was there in the distance, talking to Thorgils, who was leaning over the railings, watching Jael fight Fyn in the Pit.

  Eadmund felt a sudden jolt. Confused. As though two different worlds had collided inside his head. He didn’t know what to think.

  And then his mother was beside him, her voice soft in his ear, her hand on his arm.

  ‘This is a good dream to have,’ Eskild smiled as Biddy walked along with Eydis, the puppies charging past them, getting a stern telling off from Thorgils as they tried to enter the ring. ‘This is your home. Your family. This is what is inside your heart, Eadmund. All of it. This is what you love. Who you love. The rest is all dark magic, keeping you away from here. Keeping you from being happy.’

  Eadmund felt trapped. His feet wanted to head in opposite directions.

  He could feel the battle inside his heart.

  Two sides. Both trying to claim victory.

  He panicked, wanting to see Evaine and Sigmund
. Everything would make sense then, he tried to tell himself, feeling his body shiver in protest.

  And then his mother’s hand, warm on his. ‘Come on,’ she breathed. ‘I want to be over there, don’t you? Jael is about to send Fyn flying. You remember that? You have to be there. She will come to the railings. Let you kiss her.’

  She was smiling. He could hear it in her voice.

  Eadmund frowned but he was moving now, and though he tried to dig his boots into the dirt, he was still moving. And his mother’s hand was gripping his, and suddenly he was leaning over the railings, and Fyn was flying through the air, and Thorgils was roaring with laughter, slapping Eirik on the back, tears in his eyes. And Jael was smiling, triumphant as she walked towards him.

  Eadmund wanted to move. He tried to turn around, but she was getting closer, and his mother was still there, and Eirik was laughing, and Jael was coming and Eadmund didn’t move.

  ‘Your turn?’ Jael wondered with a grin, staring into his eyes.

  Eadmund opened his mouth, but he didn’t say anything as Jael pushed herself up on her toes and leaned forward. Her eyes sparkled in the sunlight. It was cold, and her face was flushed. Happy.

  He wasn’t holding his mother’s hand anymore.

  Jael’s eyes were so green, he thought; like a deep ocean, but not cold.

  Not now.

  And he leaned forward, not even blinking as he stared into her eyes and kissed her, feeling how cold her lips were.

  How familiar.

  And closing his eyes, he felt himself disappear.

  IV

  RISSNA

  24

  ‘Are you feeling alright?’ Axl wondered, holding Amma in his arms. ‘You’re not sick are you?’

  Amma felt sick. ‘No, I’m fine. Just worried. I want to come with you.’

  ‘I know. But I need you here. It’s safer.’