Tattered

Chapter 21

After his grand pronouncement, Hrothgar dismissed the rest of the thanes.

"Go," he told them. "Tonight, drink and rest all you can. Tomorrow we will be consumed by war and grief once more."

The thanes all bowed their heads, murmuring praises to their king. Both young and old, tall and stout, simple and clever- all of them bowed to Hrothgar. They filed out of the room one by one, until they were all gone. Only four people remained in the chamber: me, Siegfried, Hrothgar, and Freydis.

Hrothgar frowned at the sight of his queen, his thick white brows furrowing. His dismissal had been meant for her as well, but it seemed she had chosen to refuse it. She pointedly ignored her husband's scowl, her face a mask of regal beauty.

"Leave us, Freydis," Hrothgar said at last, his voice gruff. "I will speak to these warriors alone."

If I had not been aware of Freydis' true nature, I never would have been able to see the anger that flared in her at her husband's words. Only the smallest twitch of her lips gave it away, but I knew the rage that it revealed. She loathed being excluded from this important meeting, almost as much as she loathed Hrothgar.

My eyes darted between the two of them with growing apprehension. Freydis was clever and wily, but there was no way for her to directly disobey the king. She had no other choice but to comply.

"Yes, my lord," she murmured. She bowed once to him, then swiftly exited, her skirt whispering against the stone floor.

The door shut loudly behind her. Hrothgar let out a long, exasperated sigh, leaning back in his chair. He suddenly appeared much older than he had only a moment ago, when he had stood before his gathered thanes with such might.

"Rise, both of you," he said, waving a hand. I moved out of my kneeling position to stand as Siegfried did the same beside me. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, hoping to see a clue of what he was thinking, but he only stared obediently at Hrothgar. Frustrated, I turned my face away, waiting for the king to give us further orders.

"You two must know how desperate I am to send you on this mission," Hrothgar said, looking between us. "It is our last resort. Without the both of you here, our defenses against another troll attack will be pathetically weak. Yet I believe that it truly is our only chance, and I must be willing to take that risk."

I swallowed thickly, my pulse running fast at the gravity of Hrothgar's words. The lives of every man, woman, and child in Heorot rested on our success. Either we killed Grendel, or everyone perished. The intense pressure of it dimmed some of my earlier excitement at such an opportunity for glory.

"Do you have a plan, your grace?" Siegfried asked. "Surely we will not be able to walk into the trolls' camp and kill Grendel so easily."

Hrothgar hummed in agreement. "You are right about that. But there is a way it can be done." His gaze slid toward me. "And it relies almost entirely upon you, Brynhildr."

I straightened my shoulders, trying not to betray the nerves swirling in my head, the trembling uncertainty in the pit of my stomach. "Whatever it is, I am ready."

Hrothgar leveled me with a dark stare. "You will not like it," he warned me. "But it is necessary to our success."

I filled my voice with determination. "I will do anything that is necessary to defeat them."

He took in my fierce expression, the immovable resolve in my eyes, and nodded slowly. "That is good," he said. Then he straightened his back, fixing me with the harsh gaze of a king once more. "Brynhildr, you must surrender to them. You must join their camp."

I thought I had been prepared for whatever foolhardy or suicidal plan Hrothgar could come up with. I had been preparing myself to sacrifice my own life for this plan, to throw away my life for Heorot. But this... This went too far. No, it was unthinkable. I spluttered, unable to comprehend it.

"Surrender?" I repeated dumbly, uncomprehending.

"You are half-troll," Hrothgar went on, oblivious to my shock. "And if the rumors are true, Grendel himself is a Halfling like you. If they see you as one of them, they will accept you into their camp. From there, you must stay with them and erase any suspicions they may have about you. Then, find Grendel and the opportunity to kill him."

My mind was still processing his words, but Siegfried seemed to accept it all without question. "And what will my role be?" he asked.

Hrothgar turned to him. "The trolls do not know of your power," Hrothgar said. "You will allow them to kill you, to make sure they believe you dead, and then heal yourself. I want you to spy on them, Siegfried. Gather any information that will be useful- their numbers, their hierarchy, what weapons are in their possession. Brynhildr's role will make it near impossible for her to leave or to communicate with Heorot. You will be the one to report what you've learned back to me." He paused, clasping his leathery hands in his lap. He reached into his sleeve and withdrew a roll of parchment tied with a string. He held it out to Siegfried, who reached forward to take it from him.

"Write the information upon this parchment, and it will appear on its twin here," Hrothgar said.

Siegfried frowned, looking from the parchment to Hrothgar. "But I'm no seidr or vala," he protested. "I have no skill in magic."

"You have no need for it." Hrothgar gestured to the parchment, indicating for Siegfried to unroll it. "A vala has imbued it with magic through sacred runes. It will work, I promise you."

Sure enough, when Siegfried unscrolled the parchment, two large runic symbols drawn in sharp, strong strokes, marked the corner of the page. The first was ansuz, the rune of messages and the second was thurisaz, the rune of gateways. Like Siegfried, I was not a sorcerer who could command the power of runes, but even I could understand that the magic was meant to transfer messages through magic.

My mind, still roiling in shock and outrage, caught up to me. Somehow, I found my voice. "Your grace," I said. "To surrender to the trolls is to forfeit my honor and dignity. They have taken my sister, they have killed countless norsemen. I cannot do it. If we could just land a swift attack on them-"

"You will be killed well before you can get anywhere near Grendel," Hrothgar cut me off impatiently. "You are strong, no doubt, but even you cannot fight against several trolls at once. You must force him to face you one-on-one. Deceiving the trolls is the only way to do it, and you know it."

"But your grace-"

"No more." His voice was hard, uncompromising. "For once think with your mind and not your brawn. Your sister is in the camp as well. This could be your opportunity to free her."

I felt a sharp pang in my heart at Ingrid's name. The words of the troll I had killed in today's battle rushed back into my mind. You'll never find her, he had taunted. He had all but confirmed what I feared: Ingrid was in the trolls' camp.

A maelstrom of warring emotions swirled in my chest. Ingrid's wellbeing was more important than anything to me. Getting her back, seeing that she was safe, was the reason I had travelled all the way to Heorot in the first place. Still, my entire being rebelled at the thought of pretending to join the monsters who had terrorized our people for so long. You should kill them all, and then free Ingrid, a voice filled with rage and bloodlust whispered in my ear. Then you will have both your sister and your pride. But even as I fantasized about barging into the troll camp and single-handedly destroying them all, I knew it was just that: a fantasy.

I gritted my teeth together harshly, my hands clenching into fists. I had to control my anger, as Gregor had taught me. Hrothgar was right. His plan would be the best chance we'd have of killing Grendel. And of saving Ingrid as well. I could swallow my pride for that goal- I had to.

"I understand," I muttered, inclining my head in acknowledgement. "I will carry out the mission."