A Curse Carved in Bone

Ylva, who came to Nordeland looking for Snorri after learning that Skaland’s army was defeated, finds Freya and Bjorn. She orders her warriors to kill them, but their arrows can’t penetrate Freya’s magic shield. Freya tells Ylva about Harald’s trickery and Snorri’s death. Knowing Harald will take Leif captive in Skaland, Freya urges Ylva to trade her and Bjorn for Leif. She uses a runic spell to show Ylva her memory of Harald’s confession, proving the truth of what she’s said. Ylva pretends to agree to their plan, then ties Bjorn up and leaves Freya to die trapped inside the runes. Bjorn begs Freya not to use Hel’s power against Ylva, and the blood oath forces her to comply.

Soon after, the specter appears to Freya—who is sure now that it’s Saga—and tells her: “You are not wholly mortal. Her curse will set you free” (250). Freya, understanding the message, dons her armor and curses herself to walk the path to Helheim.

Black roots pull Freya through the ground and drop her into a place between realms, the road to Helheim. There, she finds the real Saga, who warns her not to enter the golden gates of Helheim. Saga says Harald’s motive is to manipulate and control and that Freya must cut his thread short. She admits that all her visions have shown Freya failing to stop Harald, but she asserts that Freya can change her own fate.

Saga tells Freya how to return to the mortal world outside the runic barrier. Instead, Freya takes the road to Hel’s realm. The gates are guarded by an enormous black hound. There she meets the goddess of the underworld, who tells Freya she has power over death and must use it to weave her own fate. Freya thinks of the Skalander warriors she cursed and realizes she can release them, so she goes through the gates of Helheim with a plan.

Freya finds her brother Geir among the souls of Skaland’s warriors. She wakes them and convinces them to help her fight Harald and earn their place in Valhalla. Freya and the Skalanders flee Helheim and begin climbing the roots of Yggdrasil—the sacred tree at the center of the Norse universe—to return to the mortal world. Freya has to fight off attacks from Hel and Hel’s giant pet serpent, Nidhogg, who sprays black venom that burns like acid. She’s deprived of air as she climbs through the earth and only makes it to the surface because Saga’s skeletal hand pulls her through when she loses her strength.

Freya finds herself free of the runic prison and surrounded by Skalander warriors who are now draug—the undead—and who have obtained three ships. They want Freya to lead them in battle. Once Geir convinces her she’s worthy of the honor, Freya accepts.

Ylva takes Bjorn toward Grindill to turn him over to Harald in exchange for Leif’s freedom. He manages to escape on the way but is recaptured when Skade finds them and shoots him in the shoulder with an arrow. Torne, the village outside Grindill, shows no signs of having surrendered to Harald. Bjorn senses something amiss and convinces Ragnar to sneak away. If they’re walking into a trap, Ragnar will remain free to spread the truth about Harald. Skade brings Ylva and Bjorn to Grindill’s great hall. Leif enters with Snorri’s arm around him.

While sailing toward Skaland, Freya and Geir discuss strategy. Freya urges cunning rather than violence to avoid killing countless Nordelanders to get to Harald. She believes that learning the truth about Harald will cause the other Unfated to abandon him, but Geir isn’t convinced. Geir apologizes for manipulating and exploiting Freya in the past. She apologizes to Geir for killing him. Both promise loyalty going forward.

They come across Guthrum clinging to life in the water, and they rescue him, hoping he’ll become an ally when he regains consciousness. Upon landing in Skaland, Freya lays Guthrum by the fire to rest, but when she turns her back for only a moment, he flees.

After Leif calls Bjorn a traitor and leaves the great hall, the false Snorri has Skade kill Ylva’s warriors. He tells Ylva to cooperate or he’ll gut Leif in front of her, then orders Tora to get rid of the warriors’ bodies to avert local suspicion. Harald returns to his own form and reveals his plan: He’ll pretend that Freya’s atrocities in battle led him and Snorri to unite their nations and form an alliance against a common enemy. He orders Skade to find and kill Ragnar and then go kill Freya and burn her body.

Bjorn baits Harald’s anger, but Ylva stops Harald from killing him, saying they need Bjorn alive as bait to capture Freya if she somehow escapes. She suggests a public execution for Bjorn. Freya will attempt a rescue, but Leif can control her using the blood oath. Harald resumes Snorri’s appearance and orders Tora to keep Bjorn from escaping until his execution.

Freya fears that Guthrum will reveal her presence in Skaland to Harald. This and the draug’s decomposing bodies push Freya to move fast. As they pass Selvegr on the way to Grindill, Geir confirms that his wife and child are safe. Freya promises she’ll take care of them when the fighting ends. From her ship, Freya sees Skade chase Ragnar on the beach and shoot him with an arrow, then flee. Before dying, Ragnar tells Freya about Bjorn’s planned execution and warns her that everyone believes Snorri is alive and allied with Harald. Freya realizes that Grindill will be defended by Skalanders. Taking it by force would mean killing her own people.

Skoll and Hati abandon Skade and approach Freya, who removes their collars and cuts off the fur with Harald’s runes painted on it. Freya and Geir plan to sneak into Grindill through the drain tunnels and get Steinnun to show people the truth about Harald with her skald magic.

Tora watches over Bjorn in the prison cells beneath Grindill. She reveals that she learned the truth about Harald a year ago but that he tricked her into swearing an oath of loyalty to him by disguising himself as her lover. Harald’s weakness, Tora says, is his desire for those he manipulates to know how he’s tricked them. Kaja flies into the prison, leading Tora and Bjorn to suspect that Guthrum is alive and might prove to be an ally.

From inside Grindill’s drain tunnels, Freya overhears Steinnun talking to Harald about her desire for revenge against Snorri. She doesn’t know the truth about Harald or that Snorri is already dead. Late in the night, Freya and Geir sneak into Steinnun’s room and tell her everything. Rather than being appalled at Harald’s deceptions, she’s relieved Snorri is dead. She’s satisfied that Harald kept his promise to her and refuses to help them. Then Steinnun screams, forcing Freya and Geir to flee without accomplishing their mission.

Steinnun visits Bjorn’s cell and tells him about Freya’s visit. Bjorn calls her selfish for being okay with Harald hurting others just because she got what she wanted. She says he did the same: ignored his mistrust of Harald because Harald offered vengeance for the attack on his mother. Steinnun then reveals the truth behind her own story. It was Harald, disguised as Snorri, who raided her village and killed her family. Her desire to stay with her family kept her from joining Harald’s service, so he eliminated them. It’s time, she concludes, to compose a song about Harald and all the Unfated who serve him.