Sindri smiled. “That was easy. I’d already been practicing my cloaking skills for months by then. I used them to hide my true emotions from the oracles as well as block them from ‘reaching out’ to one another as I killed them.”
“How could you do such a thing?” Haddi sounded as heartbroken as if these events had happened yesterday.
“Do you still not understand, brother? The council were the traitors. They refused to share their knowledge with future generations and prepare us against the human onslaught.”
“That’s not true, Sindri. Erik twisted your mind against the oracles when you were young. He used you as his personal assassin like Alice enslaved and used me once the Council was gone.”
“It’s you who doesn’t understand, Haddi. You don’t understand the pure power the oracles kept you from. The Kalt Einn are gods on this earth and humanity should be made to serve us or perish by our hands.”
“You murdered the oracles at the behest of a mad wannabe king because you craved power?”
“I spared your life, brother. In hopes that when this day came you would join me in forming a new council of oracles. One that will serve the king in ushering a new dawn of Kalt Einn. Just as the prophecy foretold.”
“I will never serve this false king or stand by your side,” Haddi said.
“So be it,” Sindri seethed. “Let their deaths be on your head.” As Sindri spoke, the glowing of the chalk intensified and the Cauld Ane women inside it huddled closer together. I could see tears slipping down Isla’s face.
“Shall I let you hear their screams?” Sindri asked.
“Please don’t hurt them,” Kade pleaded.
“That’s what I want to see,” Erik said. “You, begging.”
“We’ve done what you asked. We’re standing down and we’re listening. Please, release the women,” Kade said. “It’s me you’re angry with.”
“You still think everything is about you,” Erik said with a laugh. “This is about the Kalt Einn taking our rightful place in this world.”
“This is about you taking the throne,” Kade challenged.
“Myrightful place,” Erik shouted, before quickly composing himself.
Erik then motioned to Sindri, who, with a wave of his hand, calmed the intensity of the circle.
“You see? I can be a merciful ruler,” Erik said.
“You crave power, but how long can you keep it? You’re aging rapidly and the effects will only speed up. Even if you manage to steal the crown, you’ll be dead soon enough.”
“Not soon enough for me,” Connall growled.
“Once again, my sons both dishonor and underestimate me,” Erik replied. “Soon, you will bow to me as I sit on my throne, alongside my true queen. Both of us restored to perfect health thanks to Sindri.”
“How does your pet wizard expect to pull that off?” Connall asked.
Haddi echoed Connall’s thoughts. “Your powers have grown strong over the years, brother. But surely even you do not possess the power to do such a thing.”
“Not by myself,” Sindri replied. “But I could with the help of a heimsgöngumaður. With the help of my oldapprentice.” Sindri spoke a single word in Icelandic, “Muna.”Remember.
Isla
“WHAT THE HELL is going on?” my mother growled, pulling me and Chelsea close.
“I don’t know,” Sam said, wrapping her arms around the three of us.
Thank God Billie wasn’t here. She’d headed into Edinburgh with a couple of friends and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow.
We’d decided to walk up to the house to get changed, having to rely on a skeleton crew to remove the dishes down in the field. The tradition was to give most of the staff the week off after the games, so my uncle only had a small security team and servants to run the house at the moment.
As we’d crested the hill, we noticed Gillian lying on the ground, and we panicked. Gillian hadn’t joined us down on the field as she was feeling under the weather, so the fact she was now lying on the gravel of the driveway spurred us to help her. The only problem was, she wasn’t hurt, and the second we’d helped her up, a man unknown to any of us, pulled her from our circle, waving his hands and creating a barrier we could not get out of.
