Crown of Crimson (Underworld Gods 2)

“You are wrong,” he says simply. “You chose to give up your life in exchange for your father. You chose to come to Tuonela in the first place. You didn’t have to listen to Rasmus, you could have turned and gone home but you didn’t. You aren’t passive. You have been making choices this whole time. It’s time to own those choices, Hanna.”

I throw my arms out in exasperation, stabbing the air with my sword. “What do you think I’m doing? I am owning my choice in that if I’m going to be queen, then I’m going to be the best freaking queen there ever was. If I have to spend the rest of my life married to a man who might not ever be able to touch me with his bare hands, who might not ever be able to love me, I am going to do everything I damn well can to make sure I am his equal. And that begins with not keeping any secrets from him, regardless of how complicated our relationship is. So, please, if you may, tell me why I can’t tell Tuoni about the prophecy.”

More silence. I’m breathing hard and the sword is shaking slightly. I lower it.

“You can,” he says. “It’s only fair that he knows.”

I growl. All that song and dance for nothing.

“Fine,” I say and then throw out my sword. “I think I’m ready to fight.”

With a loud metallic clang something strikes my sword, knocking it right out of my hand where it clatters to the stone.

“You aren’t,” he booms. “But you will be.”

“Ow,” I cry out, shaking out my hand. My wrist feels like it’s been holding onto a jackhammer.

“Pick it up,” Vipunen says. “Try again.”

“I don’t know where it is,” I say helplessly.

“You do,” he says. “Stop relying on your eyes. They’ll give you nothing and you don’t need them. First lesson in shucking your mortality.”

I sigh and carefully get down on my hands and knees, the ground cold and damp. “I’m not sure I want to shuck my mortality,” I tell him, moving my hands around, trying to feel for the sword. “That would mean death, wouldn’t it?”

“For some,” he says simply.

Finally my hands touch metal and I pick the sword up, getting to my feet.

The sword is immediately knocked from my hands again.

“Stop that!” I cry out, feeling frustrated. For a giant, I definitely get the feeling that there’s someone closer to my size standing not far from me, also with a sword. I wonder if it’s Vipunen, part of Vipunen, or someone else entirely. Guess I’ll never know since I can’t remove the mask.

“Pick up the sword, try again,” he says.

I sigh and get on my hands and knees again, searching for the sword. This time it meets my hand, as if it’s been drawn to me.

“Interesting,” Vipunen says.

“What?” I say, grasping the sword. I take a moment before I get to my feet, trying to visualize what will happen. I will get up and he will try to knock the sword away from me. I need to think ahead.

I get up and I immediately step back and feel a swoosh of air where something swings in front of me.

“That you’re learning fast,” he says. “Faster than I anticipated.”

I’m anticipating he’s going to take another swipe at me, so I dodge to the side, and I feel the air where I was being stabbed. I also know he’s going to get faster with his strikes, so I move my sword out, my grip strong.

THWACK!

A metal sword strikes mine, sending rattling shockwaves through my wrists and arms, making my bones feel like a xylophone. But I manage to not let go.

I feel he’s about to make a move from my other side, so I quickly adjust my stance and hold out my sword again.

THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!

I’m moving, my wrist switching back and forth, the sword feeling light, the movement effortless. With each turn, I meet Vipunen again and again, until I feel I can’t keep up anymore.

I jump back, wanting a moment of reprieve, and my sword is knocked away again.

This time I’m not frustrated. Instead, I’m freaking proud of myself. I don’t know who the hell that was, wielding a sword like it was second nature, if it’s always been in me as Vipunen says or if in fact I’m just a fast learner, my body enhanced by this land. Either way, I held my own.

Vipunen says, “Pick up the sword, try again.”

“Can we take a break?” I ask, hand on my hip, breathing hard. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but that was pretty impressive for a mortal, let alone a beginner.”

“If you’ve come expecting praise, you’ve come to the wrong place.”

I laugh. “Wow. I can definitely see where Death picked up some of his most winning personality traits.”