Then, shaking his head, he threw his weight against Skídbladnir’s steering oar and turned around. Back to Alfödr’s hall. Back to pay the piper.

And there would be hell to pay.

Anya’s hand slipped around my waist as we watched her brother leave us. When he was out of sight, I gave her a kiss on the cheek and stomped off after our captain.

Torden had told me to be free. And I was finally tall enough to jump Alessandra’s fences.

Og er de ikke døde, så lever de ennå.

And if they’re not dead,

they still live.

—Traditional ending, Norsk tale

57

The crew worked busily, feet pounding the deck, calling out to one another as we navigated the fjord by the shifting light of the moon. Nobody paid me any mind as I strode after Lang.

I stopped him as he reached for Homer’s door.

“What have you done, Lang?”

He stilled but didn’t turn.

“Selah, I can talk about this with you later, but right now—”

“No. Now.” I seized Lang by the shoulder and turned him to face me. “Right now, you are going to let me in on whatever you’ve been keeping from me.” My chest rose and fell quickly, heart beating fast. “You’re going to tell me everything.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because this has been going on long enough!” I shouted. “Because when I needed to get out of Norge, my ship—my ship—was somewhere else.”

Lang swallowed. “I’ve done all of this for a reason.”

I pushed past him, pushed through Homer’s open door. “Excellent,” I said sharply. “I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

Homer, Yu, and Andersen stood over the map in the navigator’s quarters, Andersen’s face guilty, Yu’s impassive, Homer’s looking rather satisfied.

“I wondered when this day would come,” said the navigator.

I refused to bask in his approval. I steeled myself, crossed my arms. “What was my ship doing in Odense, Homer?” I was going to ask the same question as many times as it took to get a direct answer. “And what kind of spying and treachery lost me my fiancé?”

Andersen turned to Lang, eyebrows arched. “Would you care to explain?”

The four of them stood silent over the map for a long moment, like the four winds at the corners of the world. Homer’s chapped hands were planted heavily on the table; Yu’s arms were crossed. Andersen looked strained, his gray-gold hair straggling around his sunburned face. Lang’s eyes were closed, dark lashes fanning out in the exhausted hollows above his cheeks.

“Looking after her is our prime objective,” said Andersen, his low drawl intent. “How are you going to defend her if your head is always somewhere else?”

“Andersen.” Homer gave him a warning look. “Just tell them what you told me.”