Page 125 of Blood Beneath the Snow

I had nothing.

I had no one.

I was alone.

For a moment, an ache tore through my chest, and I wished a stoic figure stood in the back of the crowd, arms crossed over his chest, dark mask expressionless.We can be monsters together now,he would muse, and I would hear the half smile in his voice even if I couldn’t see it.

How could I love him after everything he’d done?

I bit back tears.

Voice steady, I spoke, hoping my words would carry over the crowd, wondering what they saw when they looked at me—their scarred princess, crowning herself on a throne of ashes.

“I don’t know the words the priest would have used to declare me queen,” I began. “But I don’t need them. Because the priests no longer hold power here.”

Freja let out a whoop, but it was the only sound. The crowd stared at me, expressionless.

“I am your queen. I am your ally. I will fight for your safety, for your rights. I will protect the vulnerable and raise up those who have earned it.”

It was everything I’d come to say. I reached up and placed the crown on my own head.

Freja’s cry was like a clap of thunder echoing in the silence. “All hail the Bloodsinger Queen.”