Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 125422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 627(@200wpm)___ 502(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 627(@200wpm)___ 502(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
And yet, I’ve already shown too much. My pain over Ahto. My rage at Rasmus. The humble pie the Magician forced me to eat when he wielded magic stronger than a God’s.
Missteps, pitfalls, I tell myself. A glimpse at weakness. You must return to being the all-powerful leader they need.
Behind Lovia are the other Gods: Tapio, Tellervo, and Vellamo. Tapio, the Forest God, once proud and brimming with quiet strength, is now hollow with grief. The loss of his wife and their son has left him raw; I can feel his pain like an open wound in the air. Vellamo, my sister-in-law, stands next to him, her own loss just as palpable.
Because it’s my loss too.
The Magician lurks near a column, galaxies swirling beneath his hood. I know he sees more than the rest of us. He probably knows how this might end. His refusal to share what he knows unsettles me, but I cannot press him. I can’t afford to alienate an ally, even an ambiguous one. Still, I hate that helpless feeling, the idea that I must accept riddles when I crave certainty. More than that, I hate that he has magic that makes me appear weak and that he’s in charge of when he uses it. I can only hope he does remain our ally; I would hate to see what might happen if he were to suddenly switch sides.
Rasmus and Ilmarinen linger nearby; I’ve ordered the generals and a few troops to watch them at all times. The Magician might have faith that Rasmus has a part to play, but I have no doubt that son of a bitch will try to usurp us the first chance he gets. Lovia has explained why they brought him, but he’s as trustworthy as a viper in a cradle.
As for Ilmarinen, the shaman is weak, and he speaks poorly of Louhi, but he reminds me too much of Rasmus. Louhi’s influence runs deep, and I would be a fool to put all my trust into him just because he suffered at her hands for decades. I know how insidious her ways are, how they can lodge inside you and manifest. We might need Ilmarinen while we’re here, but I won’t put my full trust in him yet, not when Louhi’s magic might still linger.
The generals shift their weight uneasily, representing the hundreds of troops out in the cold flanked around the castle. They know war on mortal terms, but this is a conflict waged on spiritual, magical, and metaphysical fronts. They glance at me with expectation, trying to find in my eyes the certainty they lack. I realize, with a pang, that everyone here looks to me. Tuonela is my realm; I am its God, its King. If I fail, what hope is there?
I draw a slow breath and begin, forcing my voice to remain steady and calm. “We have little time,” I say, the words echoing softly in the hall. “Louhi and Rangaista hold Shadow’s End. They command the Bone Stragglers, my own armies, and Old Gods who were supposed to be sleeping. We know that, at some point, my son, Tuonen, and my loyal servant, Sarvi, were with them, but their whereabouts are now unknown. We also know Louhi has taken control of my magicked double, my shadow self, and that Salainen, another pawn of Louhi’s and Hanna’s half-sister, is pretending to be the queen herself.”
At the mention of Salainen, Torben sucks in a breath. For a second, I consider glaring at him, since both Salainen and Rasmus are his fault, but he also brought me Hanna, and for that, I have to be grateful. Besides, I know the man feels shame. I’ve spent more than enough time with him now to see how deep it runs in his bones.
I clear my throat and go on. “The City of Death has fallen. Inmost has spread to the other layers. There is no order in the afterlife, only Kaaos. This has always been Louhi’s final goal, perhaps put in place by her father, the Demon God Rangaista, before she was even born. But now that she has succeeded in getting what she wants, we must figure out both what her next steps are and how we can defeat her and the Old Gods and bring Tuonela back.”
“We need a list of our allies,” Lovia chimes in. “Who else is there to help us? We could send scouts to find and bring them back here, maybe.”
“Very well. So, who else is there?” I ask the room.
“Hanna,” Torben says.
“We cannot rely on Hanna’s return,” Tapio argues.
I give Tapio a sharp look. “We can and we must. Mark my word, she is coming back.”
After learning Hanna is on the sun with Päivätär, her mother, I have to admit, I’ve been more nervous than relieved. Her mother is a different breed of God. She and her sister, Kuutar, have always been distant and indifferent to our struggles, which is why what Vellamo told me was a surprise. I didn’t think Päivätär would care enough to give Hanna her powers, but I suppose she must have some stake in our world after all.