A Curse Carved in Bone by Danielle L. Jensen

Freya has never felt more upset and betrayed in her life. She found someone she trusted, Bjorn, and he betrayed her. The man Freya was going against and fighting happens to be Bjorn’s father, Jarl Snorri. Now, the two and Bjorn’s men are returning to his land. Bjorn promises to take Freya to get answers, and the only way to get those answers is by visiting Bjorn’s mother, Saga, who is a seer. She is also the one who pointed Bjorn his way toward Freya, and also saw a terrifying vision of Freya that she wants answers about.On their way, Freya refuses to speak to Bjorn. In fact, she spends much of her time trying to figure out how to kill him and find a way to do things without him. But Bjorn has taken all of her weapons, including her prized sword. Also, during the journey to his land, Freya is struggling with her new powers. With a few words from her, her magic can decide people’s fate; she can send them to Helheim in seconds. She vows to never use that power again—she doesn’t want it. But during their travels, a fight breaks out, and the enemy takes all the children. Freya uses her words and condemns them all to Helheim, saving all the children—she feels sick that she so quickly used those powers again.The group arrives to Bjorn’s land, and they meet with his father, Jarl. Freya feels frightened by the people, thinking they are all judging her about her powers, when in reality, Bjorn tries to explain that they are in awe of her. After meeting with his father, who gives them advice about visiting with Saga, they decide to head out. Before they go, Bjorn makes them stop at a swordsman’s shop, where he had Freya’s sword fixed.Despite Freya’s wishes, she and Bjorn start their journey to Saga. They don’t speak, but on the way, they run into a woman. The woman starts to flirt with Bjorn, and Freya gets a bit jealous, not wanting anyone to look at Bjorn. The two continue on, and when they set up camp, Bjorn gives Freya some privacy, but he never returns. So Freya goes out looking for him. She finds him and the woman who they found earlier, but she is very naked and not human—a siren. The siren tries to lure Bjorn in for the night, and while he is transfixed on the siren, he is not obeying, saying he only wants Freya. Freya then fights the siren and kills her, making Bjorn amused.The two finally make it to Saga. Bjorn gets a moment with his mother, where she says of course Freya is mad—he lied and betrayed her—of course she hasn’t forgiven him. That he needs to find a way to make it up to her. After their reunion, Freya gets a full evening with her to get all of her questions answered. Saga tells her of a vision, of Freya surrounded by bodies. She also mentions that Bjorn chose the lesser of two evils—he was supposed to kill her, but rather he chose to save her life, even though it meant deception. Saga tells her that maybe she should forgive him. Saga and Freya then go get drunk together, where Freya feels bold and goes to Bjorn and makes a move on him. He declines, saying she is only choosing to make a move because she is drunk. He wants her forgiveness once he has earned it. This only makes Freya even more angry.Bjorn and Freya decide they need to leave for their new quest, to stop the child of Loki that is planting deception throughout their people. They travel back to talk to Jarl Snorri about their plan. While there, they celebrate with the village, which includes a new song and saga about Freya and how she is a hero for saving the children. This makes Freya’s heart fill with pride, as her own people fear her and push her away, yet these people see her as a hero. When Freya and Bjorn talk with Jarl, Jarl comes up with an idea. He convinces Freya to be in command of his people, to lead his army—they will all listen to her. After their conversation, Bjorn gets upset with Freya because she couldn’t see that his father was just using her. But when Freya asks for his help, Bjorn declines. He says he’ll never try to tell Freya to do something, as that would maybe put him in a position to betray her trust again. That night, Freya goes back to the festivities, but they are all interrupted when intruders come into the town. Freya escapes, and a townsman hands her a flask of water so she can recover, but it’s not water—it was poisoned, and Freya blacks out.Bjorn finds out that Freya is gone and goes after her, and he’s angry. When Freya wakes up, it is to men telling her they are going to take her to the child of Loki. But before it can get further, it turns into a bloodbath, and Bjorn has killed every single one of them. Freya forgives Bjorn just a little bit more thanks to the rescue.When Freya gets back to camp, Snorri gives his army to Freya. His commander, Steinunn, is making a lot of the moves and commands, but Freya gets the credit for it. Bjorn still stays away from her, wanting her to make her own choices. Another massive battle breaks out, but this time, it’s all a trick. Saga is there, and she tells Bjorn that he needs to kill his father because it’s not really his father—it’s the child of Loki. So Bjorn kills him. Then they realize Saga wasn’t really there. Saga transformed into another—Steinunn—who reveals himself as a shapeshifter and the child of Loki. Steinunn traps the two and leaves. This gives Freya and Bjorn time to think about themselves, and Freya reveals that she has forgiven him. They finally sleep together, only for them to be ripped apart the next day. Saga comes to save Bjorn, but Freya was taken by the gods to Helheim, where she needs to find her way out.Freya, in Helheim, is tormented by those souls she has sent there, as well as her brother and family that are there. She decides that she has the power to give them a second chance at Valhalla. She creates an army of the dead for those who want that second chance, and they all go back to the mortal world to go find Bjorn.Bjorn, meanwhile, has been taken prisoner to Steinunn. He’s been injured on the way there, and he has been kept in a prison. They are keeping him there until the time of his execution.Freya manages to get into Steinunn’s camp, where she finds Bjorn very injured. She helps him escape the rest of the way, which includes a freezing river and a waterfall. When Bjorn mentions that he is cold, Freya freezes up, because Bjorn never gets cold thanks to his fire magic; she realizes she doesn’t have Bjorn—she has Steinunn. Bjorn, who has managed to escape prison, starts to panic when he can’t find Freya with her army. He sends a bird scout out, and he goes straight to it, where he finds Freya and Steinunn fighting, Steinunn in a beast form that is cutting Freya up. After a brutal battle that has left both Bjorn and Freya injured, Freya can think of only one thing to do. She wraps her arms around Steinunn and utters the words that send her straight to Helheim. The roots of trees nearby reach out and take both her and Steinunn to Helheim. The fight continues, until the gods intervene and Steinunn is killed. The gods say that Freya has done her job, but she makes a plea to go back. The gods start to refuse, until Odin arrives and claims Freya as one of his own. If she wants to go back, she needs to find her own way back; she starts the terrible climb up.Bjorn, panicked that Freya is gone, starts clawing at the ground. Others come to tell him that he needs to relax, but he swears he can hear Freya in the ground. While digging, he finds her cold hand. Everyone starts to pitch in to dig Freya out. After some time, Freya eventually opens her eyes.Bjorn takes Freya back to the camp. She addresses the people there. She doesn’t want to lead them—she wants them to choose the best person to lead, basically giving them their freedom. She says she just wants a quiet life with Bjorn. So he takes her back to Saga’s house, and they start their life together.In an epilogue, one year later, the two are in their new farmhouse. Still madly in love, and have not touched their swords in that one year. Farm life seems to suit Bjorn, but Freya realizes something is missing. It isn’t until a young soldier comes rushing in saying they need Bjorn and Freya’s help. The two get their shields and swords and look at each other, realizing that they are tired of the quiet life, and maybe they are ready to go back out and fight for their people again.