“I think she already knows who’s in charge. And it’s not me,” Astrid said.
“Shh, orca. Good girl, Elskan. Good girl,” Ludo said soothingly. He made a series of clicking noises to calm the creature.
Elskan eyed him. She clicked back, bobbing her head up and down a few times, then suddenly spun around and slammed her tail into the wall again, opening a crack in it.
Ludo shook his head. “She’s a fifteen-year-old,” he said. “And she acts like it.”
On the way to the stables, Ludo had told Astrid and Desiderio that Elskan was fourteen feet long and weighed two and a half tons.
“Here,” he said now, handing Astrid a metal pail. “Give her a taste of seal. It’ll distract her while I tack her up.”
He took a bridle fitted with a silver bit from a hook and looped it over his shoulder. Next he lifted a double-seat saddle, a saddle pad, and a girth strap from a nearby rack.
“Ready?” he asked Astrid.
Astrid nodded. Her mouth had gone dry.
Ludo opened the stall door and swam inside. Astrid took a deep breath and followed him.
“Um, nice knowing you both,” Des said, as he closed the door after them.
Neither Ludo nor Astrid acknowledged the joke. They were focused on the orca.
Elskan, scenting a snack, turned to them and opened her very large mouth. Her sharp, conical teeth glinted in the lava light. Each one was three inches long. Astrid tossed her a bloody chunk of meat. Elskan swallowed it in one gulp, then bobbed her head for more.
For a moment Astrid forgot her fear, awestruck by the creature’s beauty. “She’s magnificent, Ludo,” she said. “No wonder Eyv?r had to have her.”
Elskan swam up to Astrid. She sniffed her, then nosed the bucket. Astrid tossed her another chunk of meat.
Astrid loved the challenge of mastering her mother’s spirited mounts. She couldn’t songcast, but magic didn’t matter in the hunt. Courage and strength did, and those she had in abundance. Streaking through the water on a hippokamp like Blixt, Astrid felt powerful and in control. What would Elskan be like?
“She’s super smooth if you handle her well,” Ludo said. He’d placed the saddle on the orca’s back, just in front of her dorsal fin, and was now buckling the girth.
“And if you don’t?” Astrid asked.
“She’ll kill you,” Ludo replied simply. “She works well off your tail. Don’t yank on her mouth. Ride with a loop in the rein and give her her head.”
“So she can bite off mine,” Astrid muttered.
“Don’t forget to give her plenty of chances to get air,” Ludo instructed. “Untack her at night and let her roam. When you get to the border, take the saddle and bit off her, give her a slap on the tail, and tell her to go home. She’ll know what to do,” he said.
He looped the reins over the whale’s head, eased the bit into her mouth, and fastened the bridle. Then he attached the panniers to the saddle. When he was satisfied that every piece of tack was secure, he pulled the reins back over Elskan’s head and handed them to Astrid.
“Your orca,” he said.
Astrid took a deep breath, then led Elskan out of her stall, through the stables, to a pair of large iron doors. She knew they led directly to the open water.
“Once I open these, she’s out of here,” Ludo cautioned. “So get on and get ready.”
“Uncle Ludo…” Desiderio said.
Ludo turned to him.
“What will you say when Rylka learns that we’re gone, and Elskan is, too? You need to stay out of the dungeons. You need to get Astrid’s bloodsongs to Ragnar.”
“I’ll tell her you held a speargun on me.”
“Are you sure you’ll be all right?” Astrid asked, knowing full well how Rylka treated anyone who crossed her.
“Don’t worry about me,” Ludo said. “Get yourselves to the Kargjord. Help Sera.”
“Uncle Ludo…”
“Yes, Desiderio?”
“Thank you.”
Ludo nodded.
“Come on, Desiderio,” Astrid called. She was already in the saddle, Elskan’s reins in her hands.
The orca, sensing the open water, started to rear.
“Let’s go,” Astrid said, trying to keep her under control.
Desiderio swam up to Astrid and settled himself behind her.
“What do I hold on to?” he asked.
“Me,” Astrid said. “Ready?”
“No,” Des replied, wrapping his arms around her waist.
The sensation of a handsome merman’s arms around her was new and disconcerting. She didn’t need to be disconcerted right now. Not with two and a half tons of killer whale at the end of her reins.
And then a sudden pounding, loud and ferocious, erased all thoughts of Desiderio.
“Ludovico di Merrovingia! Open up!”
Astrid’s head whipped around. Tauno was on the other side of the stables’ front doors. Luckily, Ludo had locked them after the three of them had swum inside.
Elskan, spooked by the loud noise, started to spin in circles.
“Let us out! Now, Ludo!” Astrid shouted.
“Astrid Kolfinnsdottir, we know you’re in there! You’re under arrest!” Tauno ordered.