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I glimpsed Raven pausing to turn and speak to her partner. They were both halfway across the ship now, nearly within reach of me. Whatever they planned to do would bring trouble, and I didn’t know if I had the energy to use Odin’s foresight to get a glimpse.

Axel licked his lips, and his eyes darkened. “The truth about the throne was half the reason Silver sent everyone who was loyal to Drak away. She dragged it out of Ingrid when a vampire overheard Ingrid having a vision. At first, Silver planned to turn us into servants and vessels, but not with the throne just sitting there. Of course, it isn’t so easy just to walk into the throne room and take a seat. If the queen is not present in the room, the doors are barred.”

“So Silver knew of the prophecy?”

“It seems she has pieces of it from the sagas; whether what she knew is as clear as Ingrid’s vision is unknown, but likely, yes, she knows plenty.”

Even Silver had believed I sat on the throne which must have been half the reason she demanded I relinquish it to her in front of a room full of witnesses. Our mother’s visions had specifically shown Silver sitting on the throne too—always sitting on that damn throne. Not being crowned, not leading an army, not standing and addressing the people of Vylheim from the steps of Mara’s Keep, but sitting on the magic Loki designed.

But, I wasn’t the answer Axel was looking for. I’d only leaned on the arm of the throne and sat in Drak’s lap, never taking my rightful place as a queen.

I dropped my voice to a whisper and leaned closer. He smelled of sea salt and iron. “Like I said, I never sat on the throne, so I can’t…” My breath hitched. “I can’t dethrone her.”

But I could bring Drak back to do it.

I stole a look at Raven and Goat, seeing that they had been stopped by Finan. He stood in front of them like a massive beast and discussed something about the captives dying off. If they starved, the journey to West Anglor would be a waste. Corpses could not be slaves and were not worthy sacrifices.

My stomach flipped. Finan spoke as though he believed it, distracting them with this and, admittedly, arguing for our benefit. Everyone aboard should receive a portion of the food.

I tore my eyes away from the Grimward trio and focused on whatever Axel was saying. Fuck, I shouldn’t have missed a single word Drak’s advisor spoke.

“It won’t be easy, but you were once considered the queen, however brief. I believe we can find an angle to get you on that throne.”

“Listen,” I said, cutting him off. “I never sat on the throne. But Drak did.” A brief sadness tugged at his mouth before he returned to his stoic self, and I dove into the explanation of Brynhild’s journal, Drak’s soul, and my goal to restore it along with his human body. Axel didn’t even flinch at this or at my claim that I had the ability to forge life after absorbing Odin’s power. Axel already knew pieces of it all. How he knew, I didn’t fully understand; I never would, but he always had information about everything ‌he shouldn’t. That was what helped him keep Drak alive both as a young boy when King Roderic wanted him killed and when Drak became a vampire and king of Vylheim.

Goat shoved Finan aside, and I snapped my head toward them. Raven grabbed him and whispered something before he stepped forward.

If Axel noticed this threat, which I had no doubt he did, he didn’t reveal it.

“Then we have two options,” Axel said. “Bring Drak back to dethrone her, or get you to Mara’s Keep.” Lowering his eyelashes, he added a faint dip to his head. “I will defer to whichever you believe is best, my queen.” The painful sadness that pulled at his lips had seeped into his voice. He’d support my choice, but he wanted Drak back. “Either way, your safety and freedom are all that matters.”

Raven pushed past both men, and I shoved the crystal deeper in the pocket of my trousers.

Axel shot to his feet. Or he would, in exactly three seconds, when Raven lunged toward me.

This was it.

I had no doubt they’d come for the crystal and to kill me because with foresight; I saw exactly what she’d do; her bending over me, her long fingers wrapping around my neck. Her raven mask protecting her from my urge to headbutt her.

I made a note to resist that urge. The masks were hard bone and clay, and it’d only hurt me.

As soon as Axel actually stood up, several more Grimward flooded the back of the ship, nearly trampling over the captives. Screaming erupted in the chaos as three, no, four masked men restrained Axel.

Raven lunged, but I anticipated her every maneuver, evading it with a sidestep. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see both her future steps and Goat’s, so when he snatched a fistful of fabric and dragged me to my feet by holding onto the collar of my tunic, I wasn’t ready. His hot breath stank of sour ale and stale fish.

“Where is it?” he snarled.

But Raven was way ahead of him. She rifled through my pockets and yanked out the crystal. The brilliance had waned, falling to a dull, milky white now at the center of her black glove. Drak was taken from me again.

All of my energy and focus trained on Raven and Drak’s soul. I saw which way she’d turn, that she’d shriek and change the soul to her other hand as the crystal slowly burned through her glove, and then quickly put it into her leather pouch.

All of this would happen if I hadn’t intervened.

Goat threatened me with something that I was only vaguely aware of. My death, surely.

As he grabbed me by the throat and lifted my entire weight, my boots barely brushing the ship’s damp wooden planks, I reached for the crystal.

The second he lifted me to the edge of the ship, I ripped it from Raven’s grip, but instead of getting a hold on it, the crystal fell to the ship’s floor. My heart stopped beating as Drak’s soul smashed against the planks, but it didn’t so much as chip. Instead, it glowed again after my brief touch, flaming brighter and brighter as if he raged along with me, and the plank it’d fallen on splintered and cracked. Black streaks snaked out from beneath it, and the scent of charred wood stung my nose.