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The soldier stepped forward again. Helena jerked to the side, and in that same moment, a shot went off, echoing against the mountainside. Snow whipped into the air just ten inches from the hem of Vemund’s cloak.

“Take us to your queen, or I’ll put a hole in you,” Helena said with the barrel still pointed at him.

Vemund narrowed his eyes. His hands had dropped to his side when the rifle went off, and now he clenched them into fists.

“Those bullets are lead,” the soldier said. “They’ll do what she says.”

Vemund sent him a glare that could have frozen a pot of boiling water. “Keep your mouth shut.”

Lead. Lead, it seemed, could hurt them. I stored that away in my mind, next to copper because Alfrun had shrunk away from the wire on my Christmas tree when Helena had pressed it to her heart.

“What will it be?” Helena said. “A chat with your queen or a hole through both of your hearts. That is, if you have one. If not, the bullets will still tear through your flesh and your bones.”

The soldier winced. He, at least, didn’t seem to think himself invincible.

“All we want is for Lilja to be free,” I said. “We don’t want to hurt anyone.”

That was a lie as grand as the king’s castle in Stockholm. I wanted Alfrun to spend a millennium in a dungeon for what she had done to Lilja.

Alma spoke next. “Let us at least present our case. It’s only fair.”

Vemund sniggered. “Fair? Lilja belongs to us.”

“You stole her,” Helena said. “She belongs under this mountain as much as a hawk belongs on the bottom of the ocean.”

“Lilja belongs where Alfrun says she belongs.”

“Lilja belongs to herself,” Alma countered.

Vemund’s pale lips curled into a cruel smirk. “It’s the way of the underworld.”

“Then the underworld is a horrible place.”

Another shot rang out, this one tearing through the snow on Vemund’s other side. “I’m losing my patience, but I’ve got plenty more bullets,” Helena said. “Take us to your queen.”

Vemund’s gaze met that of the soldier. Something passed between them. Vemund nodded. “Follow us,” he said to me.

I let Vemund and the soldier get a head start up the mountain before I pulled at the reins. No reason to travel too close to them in case they didn’t keep their promise.

“Lilja,” Alma said in a low voice, “how did Alfrun become queen?”

Lilja glanced ahead. Vemund and the soldier were out of earshot. “She killed her aunt, the former ruler of the mountain.”

“How?”

“Magic.”

“What sort of magic?”

“I wasn’t there when she seized the throne, but I heard the other prisoners speak of it. Her magic is more powerful than any other, and with Stali’s skill she was unbeatable. It’s said she withered her aunt’s heart through a spell carved on a piece of elm wood. She pushed it into her chest while she slept.”

“Why elm?” I asked. I never worked with elm. It was resistant to splitting, and so its most common usage wasn’t for carving but for objects built with nails.

“It’s said the first female elf was made from elm.”

I remembered what Gustafsson told us about ash wood. “Like ash made the first human?”

“The elves believe the same. It’s said Alfrun’s staff is elm and that it is the focus of her magic.”