The Shadow of the Gods (Bloodsworn Saga, #1)

by John Gwynne

He smiled at her. “You are my second; should you not be giving me advice on how to win?” “Put your axe in his skull,” Orka said.

“Hate does no one any good,” he shrugged. “Sometimes killing has to be done, but do not do it with hate in your heart. It will eat at you, like maggots laid beneath the skin.”

It is a dark world, and dark deeds rule it, drag us down a white-foamed river we cannot resist.

“No, this is my home,” Orka said, placing her palm over Thorkel’s chest. “You and Breca are my home. Wherever we are together, that is home to me.”

“I am teaching you,” Orka said, offering Lif her arm and pulling him back to his feet. “That if you

do a foolish thing, pain will follow. Or death.”

“All plans go wrong,” Orka said with a shrug. “And when this one does, we will improvise.”

“Our choices decide the future. Who we trust, who we love. And our choices will determine what comes of the treasures we find at Oskutreð. Kin are not the answer. Blood is not the answer.”