The Boneless Mercies

Four young women named Frey, Ovie, Juniper and Runa work in Vorseland, a land modelled on the Norse world, as the Boneless Mercies. Clients hire them to kill swiftly, quietly and without cruelty. Nobody remembers them, and they take on the sad, dark jobs that others refuse.

Frey has grown tired of the death trade. She was raised on the heroic sagas of her people, and she wants a life large enough to be sung about.

Then news arrives of a monster ravaging a nearby town. Frey sees a deed worth a song, with enough fame and fortune to let the four leave their trade for good. They set out to hunt the beast, and a healer named Trigve travels with them.

This is young adult fantasy, a genderbent reimagining of Beowulf that draws on Norse myth and saga. The hunt is only the surface. Underneath, the story asks who deserves an honorable death and who has the right to grant mercy. Frey wants to be remembered, and the glory she is chasing demands more of the Mercies than they expected to give.