Linus at Large Page 18

  I nodded. “Marrying Freya was Johannes’s original plan for Jamie, but Jamie fled to my world and married Britta, Jens the Brave’s sister. She’s pregnant, and Johannes has been trying to kill Jamie and the baby.”

  “Your land is allied with Prince Jamie, then?”

  “Of course. He’s one of my dearest friends. If Johannes kills Jamie, there’s no hope for the Tomten. You might as well designate a large chunk of your land for refugees from Tonttu and get used to higher prices on crappier food. Johannes can’t handle the land or the people.”

  The chief was thoughtful. “You think Jamie can?”

  I straightened. “I know he can. It’s only when he left Tonttu that things started falling apart.” I quieted, folding my trembling hands in my lap. “It should be Jamie’s throne. When Johannes dies, Jamie’s the next in line to rule. Tucker killed Jokull a few days ago when he tried to murder Jamie on Johannes’s orders.”

  Foss and the chief exchanged worried glances. “We’re rebuilding our people now. We can’t afford to take in gnomes fleeing their land.” The chief scoffed, “We can’t afford to lose the produce we’re buying from them now, paltry quality though it may be.”

  Foss leaned against the wall at my side. “It would be a disaster. Our land needs to heal first before we can take care of anyone else.”

  The chief stood and poked his head out of the room, barking for a servant to fetch him Viggo and Tomas of the Hills.

  Viggo appeared almost immediately, and the situation was laid out for him. He looked from me to Foss before speaking. “It sounds like much rides on freeing the Tomten prince before his father can kill him.”

  The chief’s face was grim. “I can send forty of my men, but if a hanging’s already being arranged, they’ll be too late. There’s no way they’ll reach Tonttu by dawn.”

  Just then, a voice I did not expect to hear boomed through the house, pulling me to my feet. “Queen Lucy! I require an audience with the Queen!”

  I heard several servants telling him to stay where he was, but Kristoffer was not one to bother with waiting around when there was work to be done. I knew it was a matter of seconds before swords were drawn.

  I had my quaking hand on the knob before Foss could stop me. “Kristoffer?” I called, alerting him to my whereabouts. When his head poked around the corner, I ran to him. “Kristoffer! Did Tucker and Jens make it to you okay? What’s going on?”

  His brown eyes that had once snuck me cutie pie glances now looked relieved to see me even alive. Then he was flooded with upset. “My queen! Get the queen a healer!” he shouted through the house like he owned the place.

  I glanced down at my dress, the front of which was painted with Tucker’s blood. “No, no. It’s not mine. I’m not hurt,” I assured him, resting my hand on his forearm.

  He gusted his relief in my face, placing his hand over my much smaller one. “My queen, we must speak in private. Hallamar’s ruled that if Johannes attacked Jamie, it’s viewed as an attack on you because of your…” Kristoffer tried to fish around for a covert way to mention the laplanding. “Because of your connection.” His brow furrowed. “But how? How is Jamie in Tonttu, but you’re here? How is it possible?”

  “No time to get into the details, but we found a way to break the bond. So I can feel Jamie’s emotions, but we’re not as tied as we were.”

  Kristoffer gasped. “How?! It’s impossible!”

  “Human magic,” I explained without explaining. “But I could sure use Hallamar’s backing on this one. Jamie’s in real trouble.” I led him to the chief’s study where the others were discussing different options for attack. “Kristoffer, do you know the chief? And this is Viggo, the power of the West, taking Olaf’s position.” I motioned to Foss. “And my husband, of course.”

  Kristoffer bowed only to the chief, his jaw set as Tomas of the Hills entered the room with not enough information to be helpful in this situation.

  Foss took charge, for which I was grateful. He broke down the logistics of the mess in a few sentences that clued everyone in to the problem and the ramifications that leaving the land of Tomten to implode under Johannes’s rule would have on Undraland as a whole. He looked around at the leaders of men, his voice firm. “I’m backing Prince Jamie. I’ve travelled with him to the Other Side and back, and he’s shown himself to be of good quality. He’ll unite the tribes and bring the Tomten deserters home. They’ll follow him,” he said, and then his head swiveled toward me, “if Lucy’s behind his rule.”

  I stood. “Of course, I am.”

  Kristoffer placed his fist on his chest. “Then I propose an alliance between Elvage and Fossegrim. My men can port here and take one soldier each to Tonttu. We march together on the castle and take back the throne for Prince Jamie.” He looked the men in the eye. “Johannes has had his chance, and our people are tired of taking care of his deserters, and paying the high levy on his crops. It ends tonight.”

  The chief stood and shook Kristoffer’s hand. “My men can be armed and ready by the time you rally your troops.”

  I watched in awe as history was made. Fossegrim was forming an alliance with another race. They were helping rebuild part of the world they weren’t even responsible for. I could see the curse’s tentacles unwrapping themselves from around the chief’s neck so he could breathe deeply and think in a straight line.

  Kristoffer bowed to the chief, and then to me, and vanished before I could demand to know how Tucker was surviving, or if he was surviving.

  27

  For Undraland

  I couldn’t believe how quickly it all assembled, but no sooner had the four powers told their men in charge to rally the troops did nearly four hundred men assemble with machetes, quivers and swords at the ready. They were a nation bred for violence, and they were eager to fulfill their purpose in a way that didn’t conflict with their lifted curse.

  The chief led the way up to the roof of his home, standing on the edge so he could be seen and heard by all. Foss, Tomas of the Hills and Viggo came to stand by his side, and Foss brought me with them, displaying me as a united front with their kingdom.

  The men wore leather armor, like Jens and the guys had done, but the Fossegrimens had helmets in the shape of different gruesome animals mid-kill. Their jaws were open and ready to strike, so it looked like the men’s heads were about to get torn off and swallowed whole by bears, lions, eagles, snakes and other various animals I hadn’t come across in my travels. They had red paint streaking down their faces, and looked like the “after” picture in one of those war journalism photo spreads, only they were upright. In short, the men who were known for their vicious cruelty fully looked the part as they readied for battle.

  Linus stood a few feet behind me, which gave me just enough moxie to stand without shaking in front of the men who looked ready for a Viking tear-up.

  Foss’s right hand was still dead, but no one knew of his affliction, and even Foss still didn’t know how I’d been the cause of it. I held onto his limp hand, giving it a reason not to animate as he barked commands, explaining the plan and the fragile alliance with the elves, who were set to arrive at any moment.

  My stomach was tied in knots, and I bit my nails with my free hand. I did not have much experience in watching an army fall in line, but as it happened before my eyes, it was like watching a terrifying game of deadly dominoes stacking up. Each Grimen was standing at attention, ready to follow to the death their leaders. Despite the shifting powers, the men devoted their swords and their lives to Foss, the chief, Tomas of the Hills, and even Viggo. And now, I was one of them. Their swords were also pledged to me, which gave me no uncertain amount of incurable guilt I was sure I’d never outlive. Jens had sent Kristoffer back with Foss’s ring he’d borrowed to commence a war in my name. It felt heavy around my neck. I felt heavy.

  Foss held up his fist in the air, garnering the attention of every rank. “Elvage is coming to port you to Tonttu. We have not fought alongside another race since the
sirens were extinguished from the land. You’ve seen Prince Jamie enjoy the fruits of our island. You drank Gar with him and know his quality. His life is in danger, and Johannes has run out the length of his rule. We will not abandon the Tomten to death! We will not leave them to wither and die!”

  The men shouted their agreement with this, and Foss continued. “This is a test to our people to see if we can work for the greater good and prove ourselves worthy of our swords. Are you worthy of my name?” he barked, his voice carrying throughout the ranks.

  They answered with a loud, “Yes, Master!”

  “Are you worthy of your swords?”

  “Yes, Master!”

  Foss brought me forward to stand in front of him, his hand gliding to my shoulder to present me to the crowd like a science fair project. “Your queen travelled through worlds with Prince Jamie to find a cure for your Depravity of Man curse, and as of this morning, our land is freed of the siren’s oppression!”

  The men indulged in a moment of confusion, and then splintered out noises of gut-wrenching cries of joy at being released from something they’d never deserved. They all roared with frenzied jubilee, swords and fists in the air in my honor. It was terrifying.

  Yet more spine-chilling was when Foss and Viggo lifted me to stand on the ledge of the roof in my bloodied dress without consulting me. Heights and I weren’t the best of friends. I looked down on all the swords just a story below me that I could be impaled upon if the slightest breeze blew me off the wood roof, or a pterodactyl hit me with its wing and sent me flying.

  You don’t know. It could happen.

  Foss ignored the fear he knew good and well I was quaking from and urged his people onward. “You owe your queen a great debt, and this is what she wishes. Tonight marks a historic day for Undraland. The Fossegrimens and elves unite with the Other Side, restoring Tomten to a ruler who will ally himself with our nations!” Foss’s voice rose yet further, and my heart swelled. “We will march on the Tonttu castle and take back the land for the prince! Are you hungry?”

  The men roared.

  “Are you tired of barely surviving on what little Tonttu grows for Undraland? Are you tired of trading your women for food?”

  Again, an answering battle cry, sounding like savages.

  “Then today we fight for our freedom from starvation! Fight to restore order to Tonttu! Fight for your land that Johannes would see wither and die! Fight in the name of your queen, who freed you from your curse!”

  So many fists in the air, so many men shouting in their animalistic leathers. I was scared to my very soul, but tried to hold my chin up without letting it quake. The warm wind picked up around us, blowing my hair back as I stood with my husband.

  It was then we heard a trumpet, and a sea of boots marching on the sandy earth. Linus ran to the left of the flat roof. “It’s an army! It’s that Kristoffer guy and a crap ton of soldiers!” He waved them forward, and I worried about him being too close to the edge. “And Jens!” The elves marched toward the Grimens with stony expressions of purpose beneath their wing-bedecked helmets of brass and steel.

  The chief held up his fist, and the Fossegrimen army slid their heels together, puffed out their chests and held their fists over their hearts.

  Kristoffer commanded his men to stand in rows beneath us facing our army, so that one by one, a row of each would vanish – the elves taking the Fossegrimens over to Tonttu – until they were all there and could march together.

  They waited for their commander to give his green light, but Kristoffer turned and looked up at me. I was still perched on the edge of the roof with Foss’s hand on my waist to steady me, my knees knocking like a bad knock-knock joke under my red dress that was stained with Tucker’s blood.

  The elfin army turned and the red painted faces of the Grimens looked to me for a word, and I realized I was not just the ornament the chaos would happen around. I was the trumpet to sound them off into battle. My mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out.

  Suddenly, I felt Jens at my side, invisible, but there for me all the same on the ledge. His sugar cookie smell was calming, and I felt strong where I had been laced with crushing anxiety before. Jens whispered, “The dwarves are marching on the land already. Tell the men they’re our allies, and give them a good send-off, Mox. You can do it.”

  When my mouth opened, I willed sense and victory to birth out of it, but my voice was small in its insecurity. Who was I to be sending people off to war? Who was I at all? I had once thought myself to be a pacifist, but those days seemed forever ago. Now I was commanding bloodthirsty armies.

  When words came to me, they were without filter. “I don’t believe in this,” I admitted, and I felt Foss growl behind me that I was already messing things up. “I wasn’t raised in warfare. My parents kept any hint of the constant danger we were in away from us so my brother and I could have a childhood.”

  I felt something powerful start in my toes and rise up in my body, strengthening and emboldening me as it climbed up through my bones.

  It wasn’t magic. It was me. Lucy Kincaid with her mismatched Chucks and a penchant for outdated hippie music. I was nobody, but in that moment, I was everything my parents always said I could be. I was strong. I was confident.

  I could do this.

  My voice boomed out across the sea of helmets. “Today, you are fathers, fighting so your children never have to. Today, you are protectors of your own, and protectors of those who’ve lost hope. The Tomten children are scattered, and they’re in need of hope! They need you to bring them home to their land, so they can rebuild and start a new world without bloodshed, without a kingdom built on the backs of the weakened and beaten down.” I felt Foss squeeze my waist as he held me in place. “Fossegrim, your curse is gone! Make it your mission in life to free the oppressed, to redeem the land and be peacemakers throughout Undraland. Today you have a chance to change your legacy. Be the men you were meant to be.” I turned to Kristoffer, my hands shaking. “That you and your men are here shows that you have faith Fossegrim can stand. That the dwarves are already marching on Tonttu shows they know there are heroes still in Fossegrim. You believe in Undraland and the unbreakable spirit of its people. Fight for that spirit, and tear down the tyrants who would tell you your freedom isn’t worth fighting for!”

  The elves and Grimens began stomping their feet in a steady beat, building up a war cry that united them and supported the mission I was enlisting them with.

  Foss lifted my arm, and for a second, I didn’t understand why. When the stars on my hand lit the evening, catching the eyes of the men, the elves gasped and the Fossegrimens shouted in victory, as if we had already saved Jamie and overthrown Johannes.

  “Today we fight, and tomorrow we rebuild together in the new age of peace!” I shouted, but before the hoots could get carried away, I added, “Your only objective is to free Prince Jamie and tear Johannes off his throne. Then bring your daughters and wives home to a new land, a land they won’t have to fear any longer!” Then I cautioned them. “Leave the farmers alone. We won’t slaughter a nation in the name of peace. We’ll take the man who’s unfit for his post off his friggin’ throne and throw him to the people he abandoned!”

  The men shouted so loud, I knew my speech was over, thank goodness. Kristoffer and the chief looked to me, and I nodded. “For Undraland!”

  Kristoffer gave a command, and the first row of elves rushed to the first row of Grimens, clutching their shoulders, and disappearing row by row until they were all gone in a matter of a handful of minutes. Jens was the last to go, and my heart clenched in my chest as Kristoffer ported him into the unknown.

  28

  Just a Little Blood

  I was shaking when Foss helped me off the parapet. Instead of melting into his offered embrace, I ran to my brother, tripping and falling twice over the hem of my dress, but finally was able to fling my arms around Linus. “I don’t want to do that ever again!” I squeaked out.

  Linus
pumped his fist in the air and started dancing to his own beat (that I had a sneaking suspicion was actually Safety Dance). “Are you kidding me, Kincaid? That was awesome! I didn’t know you had that in you! That was some serious Braveheart-Robin Hood action. Meta level, for sure.”

  “I just hope they don’t get there and slaughter the farmers or something by mistake.”

  Linus shook his head. “No, no. You were clear. Only Johannes.”

  Foss came up behind me. “They probably won’t need more than a handful of swords. It’s more about the uniting of kingdoms at this point, which you did.”

  The chief’s eyes were wide as he looked at me. “Linus, why don’t you let Tomas of the Hills and Viggo show you my vineyards? Surely you haven’t seen the expanse of my land yet. I have business to discuss with your sister and Foss.”

  “Um, sure. Come on, V.” Linus gave me a side of the hand fist bump before exiting back down the stairs and into the house with the guys.

  The hatch closed, and the chief’s light expression grew grim. “How long have you known, Foss?”

  Foss’s eyebrows pushed together in the center of his forehead. “Known Linus? A few weeks.”

  “Not Linus. Lucy. How long have you known what she is?”

  Foss stiffened. “I knew she was human when I first met her.”

  The chief lunged at me, whipping my back to his chest and drawing his sword to hold under my neck. He pulled me toward the center of the roof, so no one below could see us. I barely got out a choked cry when he gripped my wrist and lifted my arm for Foss to see.

  It was such a small thing. A little scrape from when I’d tripped on my way to Linus. One tiny trickle of blood that was already clotting dribbled down my forearm to my elbow, revealing a few flickering stars standing out in the red.

  Foss gasped that we’d been found out, but I took charge. “Foss doesn’t know anything. I’ve never cut myself around him before.” When the sword lifted me to my toes as it raised against my throat, I eked out, “It’s not real, Dom! I’m not a siren!”