A Curse Carved in Bone

Harald provokes Bjorn in his prison cell by mocking Freya’s moral predictability and Bjorn’s powerlessness to save her. Then he confesses that he isn’t the real Harald of Hrafnheim. He met Harald when Harald was young and his father was still the jarl, then he consumed Harald’s body and took over his life. He did the same, he admits, with Snorri and Saga’s corpses. Meanwhile, Steinnun is hiding in the next cell, listening to everything Harald says.

Freya marches her army to Grindill’s walls. There, she confronts Skade while the draug use catapults to launch smoldering pine boughs over the walls. Suddenly, Freya realizes that the warriors guarding Grindill and the people inside are enthralled by Steinnun’s song, meaning they won’t notice the smoke or flames and won’t flee from them.

Bjorn is tied up in the square for his public execution, which Harald plans to make Tora carry out. First, Steinnun performs her song, titled “Harald the Savior” (346). The crowd sees the young Harald being consumed by the child of Loki and screams in horror. Steinnun shows them story after story in which the trickster disguises himself as friends and family of the Unfated, turning them into monsters and then playing the role of the rescuing hero.

The draug, immune to the skald’s enthrallment, enter the square. When the song ends and everyone finds themselves engulfed in smoke, the draug guide them to safety through the gates, where Skoll and Hati wait to catch Harald’s scent. Freya finds Bjorn still tied up in the square and frees him. Smoke and collapsed buildings force them to escape through the drain tunnels. There, Bjorn loses consciousness, and the river carries him swiftly toward the waterfall. Freya catches his hand as they’re both swept over the falls and uses Hlin’s shield to protect them from the impact. When they resurface, Bjorn complains of being cold in a tone Freya has never heard him use. She realizes he’s actually Harald.

After Steinnun’s song ends, Leif confronts Bjorn about Snorri’s death, then unties him. Bjorn and the other Unfated search for Harald while Ylva helps get everyone else to safety. Skade lures Bjorn into a trap using Tora and a thrall disguised as Harald. She remains loyal to Harald, she says, because she’s his trueborn child. She refuses to believe that the man she serves now is not Harald and not her real father. Geir appears and uses the element of surprise to attack and kill her. Bjorn gives Geir and the draug the task of eliminating the Nameless thralls while he looks for Freya.

Harald shape-shifts into a monstrous version of Hati and attacks Freya, then Bjorn finds them and joins the fight. His fire axe wounds Harald, who flees into the forest, chased by Freya and Bjorn. When they catch up to Harald, he faces them in his own form but with tentacles and poisoned talons. He cuts Freya’s leg, and she feels the venom weakening her. She realizes they’ll never overpower Harald physically, so she grabs onto him and curses herself to Helheim. Giant black roots drag them both down to the road between realms.

There, Freya continues to fight Harald but fails to kill him. Hel comes through the gates and tries to claim Freya’s soul as punishment for releasing the Skalander warriors. The rest of the gods appear, and Hlin protects Freya from Hel. Tyr lends Freya his fire axe, which she uses to kill Harald. His soul stands over his body, unable to believe he’s been defeated. He tries to flee, but Saga stops him and pushes him through the gates to Helheim.

Odin offers Freya a place in Valhalla, but she chooses to return to the mortal realm and to Bjorn. Her body is still dying from Harald’s poison, so Freya recruits help from the soul of Liv, a healer and former friend. Even so, she nearly gives up from the intense pain as she climbs Yggdrasil’s roots to the mortal realm. When she hears Bjorn calling her name, she keeps climbing.

When Freya is pulled into the earth, dragging Harald with her, Bjorn tries to go after her. He digs for hours even as Tora, Guthrum, and Geir try to convince him it’s no use. He keeps digging until he hears Freya’s voice calling his name. He unearths her body but finds she’s cold and still. Then she stirs and wakes.

Geir praises Freya for uniting Skaland and Nordeland. She, in turn, says he’s earned his place in Valhalla, then releases the draug warriors from their crumbling bodies. She tells Bjorn about Saga’s sacrifice and message of love for him. Then Freya asks Steinnun to compose a song and spread the truth of what’s happened: “A ballad for the ages. The Saga of the Unfated” (385).

Back in Grindill, Freya divides Skaland and Nordeland back into jarldoms, saying the nations aren’t meant to be ruled by one person, and the threat for which they needed to be united has passed. Freya and Bjorn decline Leif’s offer, as a new jarl, to join his war band. When Leif tries to insist, Freya realizes the blood oath no longer holds power over her. The magic was broken when she died, temporarily, as Geir carried her out of Helheim.

Bjorn and Freya decide to start their future together in Saga’s old cabin by the hot springs. Bjorn asks Freya to marry him, and she says yes.

A year later, Freya and Bjorn are married and living a tranquil life, tending their farm and raising animals. Ingrid visits with Freya’s nephew. She senses that Freya and Bjorn aren’t content with their quiet life, though Freya denies it. A messenger reports that raiders from the south are attacking coastal villages, and Leif has called on anyone who can fight to respond. Freya and Bjorn decide to hear what Leif has to say, but insist they’ll return in two days or less. Soon, however, they admit to each other that the fate they want is to join the fight and lead a more adventurous life defending Skaland.