Page 78 of The Girl the Sea Gave Back
I said it again, louder.
“Augua ór tivar. Ljá mir sýn!”
I screamed it, my throat burning, and the words bent and broke around the desperate plea.
Eye of the gods. Give me sight.
Again, I brought Halvard to the forefront of my mind—the future I wanted to see.
The quiet wound through me and my lips parted, my breath hitching as I dropped the stones.
The drums stopped, every mouth empty, and silence fell over the ritual house as they hit the pelt one after the other, tumbling into place. I didn’t open my eyes, afraid of what I may see. Afraid of what I may not. I held my breath and Svanhild’s voice found me again.
“Tova,” she whispered.
I opened my eyes and the firelight came flooding back, pulling me up from the darkness of my mind. I looked down, my eyes falling on the stones, where the runes looked up at me in a constellation written only for me. And for him.
The warmth of the kiss ignited on my skin again and Ireached up, touching the corner of my mouth, a tear sliding down my cheek. My mother had been right. Therewasa new beginning carved into the Tree of Urðr.
And the stones never lied. Not to me.
The Spinners were wise, but they weren’t always kind. Sometimes fate was a tangled knot. Sometimes it was a noose. Or a net.
But sometimes, it was the rope that pulled you from the sinking deep.
I looked up, finding Halvard’s eyes in the sea of faces, a smile breaking onto my lips. And as if he’d known it all along, he smiled back.
