A Midwinter Fantasy - Leanna Renee Hieber [103]
“I puzzled over your motive for drawing me here in anger,” Troy said. “Now I understand. You forced a slave ring on my daughter’s finger simply to lord it over me. You’ve become foolish old man. Isolated at the top of the world, you’ve lost touch with where the real power lies.”
“Power does not lie with you,” Odin spat.
“You feared my father’s power, so you killed your own son and set Loki up to take the blame.”
“Enough!” Odin scrambled to his feet and banged the bottom of his staff on the ice. A crack of thunder split the air. Sonja’s ears rang.
“ ‘Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing,’ ” Troy murmured.
He released Sonja’s hand before drawing a short black sword from the scabbard across his back and raising it. Lightning burst from the blade’s tip, arcing across the room to hit the side of Odin’s throne. The dirty ice exploded, showering those nearby with slush. Huginn and Muninn jumped aside, brushing the muck off their clothes. After a few moments Huginn slunk back to his master’s side, but Muninn had obviously had enough. He sidled toward the door.
Odin glanced at him, and the raven-man fell to the ground, writhing in pain.
“Rats leaving a sinking ship,” Troy said under his breath. Then louder: “Remove Draupnir’s child from Sonja’s hand and I shall leave you in peace.”
Odin kicked the Crystal Crib, causing it to slide a few feet toward them. “Don’t think you can dictate to me, Troy the Deathless.”
“Will you leave me no choice but to kill you?” Sonja’s father asked wearily.
Raised voices sounded behind her. Vidar raced into the room and sprinted toward them, his long fur coat flying. “Sonja, are you all right?” He skidded to a halt at her side, grabbing her arm, as if to prove to himself that she was solid and alive.
“Come and stand at my side, Vidar,” Odin roared.
Sonja’s burst of pleasure at seeing him died beneath an onslaught of fear. “Go to your father,” she encouraged. She couldn’t bear the ring to hurt him again.
He gazed at her as if she’d lost her mind. “My place is at your side. I chose you two thousand years ago when I defied my father to save your life.”
“What’re you talking about?” Odin bellowed. “Come here, Vidar.”
Vidar met Troy’s gaze in unspoken accord. He drew a sword from beneath his coat then faced his father. “No more,” he said, his voice soft but firm.
Odin’s head dropped forward, his leather bag of runes clutched against his chest. For a moment Sonja thought he might back down, now that he’d lost Vidar’s support. But then he said, “You never were to be trusted.”
Vidar fell to his knees, teeth gritted, the sinews on his neck taut with pain. His ring was clearly punishing him.
“Father, do something!” Sonja dropped to the ice at Vidar’s side, tears in her eyes.
“Stop this, old man,” her father demanded, his voice a slash of warning.
“Thor! Wake up, son!” Odin shouted. “Do as I told you!”
The red-bearded giant stomped forward from the back of the room. He swung his hammer up in an arc and down to smash the Crystal Crib. The crystal structure shattered into a hundred blue shards.
“No!” Vidar’s tormented shout rang off the walls. He reached for her, his hand closing around her wrist. “I never meant this to happen. I love you!” he shouted.
The noise faded as if she had cotton wool stuffed in her ears. The room wavered. Energy leaked out of her body as if someone had ripped a hole in her soul. Her father’s arm wrapped around her back, and she sagged against him. Clear crystal blue color ringed her vision . . . then closed around her.
Chapter Nine
The racking pain from the ring faded, leaving a residual ache, but Vidar ignored his discomfort and turned to where Troy held Sonja’s limp body in his arms. “She’s alive? Tell me she’s alive!”
The air elemental’s normally inscrutable expression fell away, and his face tightened to a mask of fury. The air around him prickled with barely contained power as he gently laid her on the ground. “She’s