“What?” breathed Rey, so quietly only Silla heard him.
“What do you mean, ‘fallen’?” exclaimed Jarl Hakon. His gaze swept the crowd, as though searching for someone.
“She means,” said Eyvind, speaking at last, “Istré has burned to the ground.”
Whispers raged through the room, but one attendee stood from a bench and bellowed, “Burned! You let it burn?” Silla examined the furious, gray-haired man with curiosity. He boorishly clambered over attendees to reach the walkway.
“We did notletit burn, Loftur, you utter blockhead,” seethed Hekla, glaring at the man as he tried to squeeze past a disgruntled woman on the second row of benches.
What in the eternal fires happened in Istré?Silla wondered.
“Loftur hid vital details about the mist from us and brazenlyendangered the entire village!” Hekla continued, glaring at a mad-eyed Loftur as he reached the walkway. “ ’Twas a miracle we got them out alive.”
Whispers whipped up in the crowd, but Jarl Hakon grew very still, his gaze falling on the warrior beside Hekla. “Eyvind,” he growled. “I do not understand this ill-tempered woman. Explain.”
Rey took a menacing step toward Hakon, but Silla grabbed his hand to hold him back. The last thing they needed was a brawl.
On the walkway below, Hekla’s cheeks turned a furious red, while Eyvind ran a hand through his hair. “It did not go as planned, Father. I’m afraid it was far more complicated than we’d expected—”
Jarl Hakon threw his hands up in the air. “I should have known to send Atli.”
Silla’s incredulous gaze whipped to Jarl Hakon. What kind of a father spoke of his son like that?
“Thiswomanis to blame!” Silla’s attention was drawn back to the one named Loftur, pure loathing in the man’s expression as he stormed toward Hekla. “Stubborn and reckless, and endlessly meddlesome—”
In a move that was casually threatening, Eyvind stepped between Hekla and Loftur. Silla’s eyebrows rose. “I was there, Loftur,” he said in a firm voice. “She was not reckless. In fact, I believe many hundreds of people—including yourself—owe her their lives.”
The man was not cowed. He tried to dodge Eyvind to get to Hekla, whose face was now a furious shade of red.
“What good are our lives if we cannot feed our families?” growled Loftur. “Centuries, my kin have lived in Istré, and now it is all gone, all burnt because of you—”
Silla gasped as the man took a swing at Hekla. But Eyvind caught his fist, twisting until Loftur screamed.
“Do not,” said Eyvind through clenched teeth, “touch her.”
Silla lifted her eyebrows even higher. Twice now, Eyvind had protected Hekla.
“Eyvind!” exclaimed Jarl Hakon. “Loftur is a respected member of this community! Release him at once!”
Whispers whipped through the room as Eyvind released the man’s fist, and Loftur stumbled away. “Loftur,” said Eyvind, every word laced with deadly intent, “you and I both know there were nopeoplein that barn, nor was there a cure for their ailment.”
“Gods’ sacred ashes, cansomeonespeak plainly?” muttered Rey, scratching his head. Silla nodded, wholeheartedly in agreement.
Hekla sent them a wary look. “The mist Turns all living beasts—humans and woodland creatures alike—into draugur.”
Silla blinked at the word “draugur,” trying to recall the meaning of it.
“The restless dead,” Rey said numbly, and a cold sensation crept down Silla’s spine.
“Aye,” said Hekla. “And the gods damned chieftain of Istré had all the human victims locked in a barn, hidden away from prying eyes. Loftur tried to perform some ritual to convert them back to the living but—” She shook her head. “It was the mist’s trickery. It would have killed them all had we not evacuated in time.”
“It might have worked!” Loftur clutched his injured hand indignantly. “I had to try!”
“And after the double black moon,” continued Hekla in a booming voice, “the mist has grown strong enough to escape the confines of the woods. We were able to restrain it long enough to allow the people of Istré to escape, but now that it’s loose…” A muscle in Hekla’s jaw flexed. “The mist will spread and feast on all mortals in this kingdom. It will not rest until we are all Turned.”
Silence spread in the wake of Hekla’s words, but Silla’s mind spun with renewed speed.
“How do we stop it?” she blurted.
