by T. G. Ayer
Odin gestured to Sigrun, a frown plastered across his face. She released me and went to the dais.
"Valkyrie Sigrun, when you arranged the Mead for Brynhildr and Aidan, did you handle the Mead yourself?"
Talk about a leading question! Did he suspect Sigrun?
She shook her head. "No, my lord. I asked my personal Huldra to order the Mead from the kitchens."
Odin rose from his throne and paced a few steps on the dais. "So your Huldra and the kitchen servants would have had access to the Mead?"
She nodded, a frown darkening her face as she looked from Fen to Odin. "What is wrong?"
"The Mead which you gave to Bryn was poisoned," said Odin.
"Oh my!" The color drained from Sigrun's face, her skin unnaturally pale against her dark hair. It had taken a while for the truth to penetrate Sigrun's shock. "Poisoned?"
"Yes, child. We will need to speak to your Huldra."
But Sigrun was shaking her head, the movement stiff and denying. "She has been gone for a while now. Ever since Brody disappeared." Sigrun frowned. "I never questioned what happened to her. I presumed she had decided to move on. And I have a new Huldra now."
Sigrun looked straight at me, and I knew what she was thinking.
Her Huldra must have tipped Astrid off when Sigrun and I had snuck into Valhalla to see Aidan, Joshua, Aimee and Brody after their arrival. I'd been so desperate to see my friends that Sigrun had found a way to get us in and out safely. In the end, Astrid had seen us and fed her information to Freya.
"What about the kitchen Huldra?" asked Fen.
Odin called his servant to his side, and she scurried away to find the kitchen Huldra. While we waited, I drew closer to Sigrun and whispered the whole story to her. As she listened, tears filled her eyes at the poor dragon-girl's predicament.
The pair of Huldra arrived, and the kitchen maid moved toward the dais. She looked familiar, and I swallowed a gasp as I recognized her as Lifa, the fox Huldra who'd helped me sneak in to see Aidan. I found it hard to believe that she would've been the one to poison him after going through all the trouble to help me see him in the first place.
Lifa moved to the dais, a shiver rippling through her body as she looked up at the god. "Huldra Lifa, we have questions to ask of you," Odin's voice rumbled softly.
"Very well, my lord, I shall do my best to answer them." She gave a quick curtsy, the bright orange of her tail sweeping the marble tiles behind her.
"Please can you tell us about the day the Valkyrie Sigrun requested Mead for the Valkyrie Brynhildr and the Warrior Aidan?" Odin's voice boomed around the hall.
The Huldra stared at the floor, and my stomach dropped. I hoped her reluctance to meet Odin's eyes just meant she was being obeisant. I really didn't want her to be guilty. "I do recall my sister making that request of me," she said. "I prepared the Mead in little leather pouches and gave them to my sister to give to Valkyrie Sigrun."
"Was the Mead unattended at any time?"
"No." She shook her head. "I dispensed the Mead and then passed it directly to my sister."
Odin, Sigrun, Fen and I shared worried glances.
"Where is your sister now, Huldra Lifa?"
Lifa shrugged. "I do not know. We hardly see each other, and I have not seen her at all in the last few weeks." As she looked around at the gathered warriors and gods, eyes flicking nervously from face to face, I registered for the first time that Thor had put in an appearance. He stood quietly off the side of the dais. I wouldn’t have thought that Thor could be a melt-into-a-crowd kinda guy, and yet there he was, observing the proceedings in silence.
Lifa's eyes narrowed, her expression now edged with anger instead of confusion. "What is happening? Is something wrong?"
Sigrun touched the Huldra's arm, a gentle smile on her face. "The Mead was poisoned, Lifa, and we are trying to find out who would do such a thing and why."
"What?" Lifa backed away, shrugging off Sigrun's hand, her face grey and rock hard. "You dare accuse me of tainting the Mead?" She screamed the words. Her lips twisted and curled in contempt, and her face colored with fury. The beauty that had drawn my eyes to her face just minutes ago now dissolved as we watched.
"My sister and I have given our loyal service to the All-Father, and this is the way we are thanked? With accusations of poisoning?" She glared from face to face, her features now so hideous, her skin grey and speckled with moss. Her forehead appeared ridged, almost wooden. She spun away from Odin, her rage palpable. And although the shocking act of turning her back on the All-Father without leave was bad enough, it compared little what she did next.
As she stormed away, she ripped off her clothes, flinging them to the marble floor. The very act of her revealing her nude body to us all should've shocked me, but I was too distracted by the sounds of tearing fabric as they echoed within the hall. The brimming fury our questions had called forth struck a chord of fear within me.
And then I gasped.
The sight of her as she neared the doorway ripped the breath from my lungs. Her tail I had expected. But now I stared in horrified fascination at the Huldra's back, skin hard and thick and brown like the bark of a tree, indenting her body as if she were really a tree masquerading as a girl.
At the threshold, she spun on her heel and glared back at us, her anger at its zenith, where control no longer existed. She screamed again, throwing her anger at us. I ached to cover my ears against the shrieking of her voice, but her eyes held me spellbound.
Huge, black and demonic eyes.
Chapter 24
Lifa's shrieks echoed around the hall, each note clanging in my eardrums, until they faded into a tense and worried silence. Warriors, Ulfr and Valkyries alike shared uncomfortable glances before turning their eyes back to the All-Father, who was yet to react to the blatant disrespect.
From what I knew, Huldra were a law unto themselves; they owed nobody their allegiance, served Odin of their own free will and therefore had the right to up and leave whenever they wished. Still, I waited in the dead silence with the rest of the room, dreading Odin's fury. Finally Odin broke the strained hush. "I believe this may be the handiwork of your brother Loki." He strode to Thor, who still stood beside the dais, as shocked as the rest of us.
Thor nodded. "It is a pity he managed to escape his prison here. But it seems that he has many who are on his side."
"He certainly had plenty of our people on his side to poison the Mead, to abduct einherjar Brody and free himself." Odin shook his head. "We will need to be very, very careful. There are traitors among us, and they will be found in the least likely places."
"Father, has Mimir been able to perform a foretelling? Or, perhaps, Mother?"
Mimir and his visions had always made me curious. And yet I had no desire to meet or converse with a bodyless head, no matter how eager I was to know my future. I suppressed a shudder.
Odin shook his head, the light glinting of his golden helmet. "Mimir grows weak. Too weak. And your mother has had too few visions of late. It is a strange and worrying thing."
I frowned as I digested that piece of news. Mimir was renowned for his predictions and for their accuracy. He was the reason Odin had known about me, the reason he'd sent Sigrun to bring me to Asgard just seconds before Aidan's father's thugs would've shot me to death.
If Mimir could no longer make his predictions, then Odin was losing his upper hand. The power to see at least a little of the future had always given the All-Father the ability to make the wisest choices.
And what of Frigga? How was it possible that she'd lost her ability to sense things? And how would she help to divide the Warriors of Valhalla fairly between Odin's and Freya's armies?
I shivered. The cold winds of change blew around us, ominous and foreboding.
Thor met my eyes for the briefest of seconds before replying to Odin. "Father, I believe I should waste no more time."
He leaned toward Odin, and they conferred in a strange and inexplicable silence, broken
only by a painful ringing in my ears, like a thousand miniature alarm clocks in concert. I winced, as it dawned on me that the gods had more mystery in their ways than I’d given them credit for.
Then Odin sat back and turned his single eye to me. "Valkyrie Brynhildr, Thor will speak with you alone. You may consider his words my own." Odin paused, his attention drawn to a commotion at the hall's entrance, and I glanced behind me at the small contingent of Warriors and Ulfr who entered the hall and headed for the dais. "I have other pressing matters to attend to." The All-Father spared me a concerned, sort-of-fatherly gaze, then waved a hand off to the side of the hall.
My gaze followed the direction of his hand. I stepped away, then hesitated, unsure of where to go; I saw no doorway, no room that ran off the hall.
"Follow Thor," Sigrun whispered in my ear. I threw her a grateful glance, dragging my eyes away from the visitors to focus on Thor's retreating back.
***
Thor led the way to a small alcove built into the far wall, hidden so well that it looked very much part of the carvings on one of the hall's many gigantic pillars. A set of doors opened out onto a torch-lit balcony, which looked out toward the valley and the training fields. A slight twinge of guilt twisted within my gut; it had certainly been a while since I'd last visited the fields. I'd gotten special treatment again, allowed to go to Midgard as part of the scout team without proper training.
Waist-high stone pillars spaced a foot apart protected the balcony, miniature versions of the gigantic pillars within the hall, so similar to the ones in Valhalla, which seemed to hold up the roof itself.
Thor reached the balustrade first and waited. As I drew close, I found my attention drawn to the god beside me. When the silence began to stretch beyond comfortable, I cleared my throat and looked away, hoping the encroaching shadows hid my reddened cheeks. Thor was just too easy on the eyes, and he knew it. "So, what do you have to tell me?" I asked.
"I have a very good idea what could help you save your Warrior, Aidan, and now the daughter of the Nidhogg, too." Now it was Thor who stared off into the distance, his eyes inscrutable, though I suspected he wasn't really looking at anything within the valley.
I waited, and before long he spoke again. "The legend of Swartelfheim tells of the Blood Goblet of the Dwarf Queen Huld."
"Dwarf queen? I thought the dwarfs were led by the men of their kind?" I recalled the tales of the tough and manly dwarf kings.
"For a long time, yes, that was the case. But a few hundred years ago, the dwarf queen had her fill of playing the quiet wife. She orchestrated the death of her husband and took over the kingdom."
"She killed her husband?" I didn't realize I'd voiced my disbelief until Thor responded.
"Yes, she had to. Dwarfs are notoriously stubborn, and if imprisoned or exiled, King Brokk would have tried to take back the throne over and over again. So she used the one method guaranteed to kill him: exposure to sunlight." Thor grinned as my jaw dropped, and I hurriedly closed my mouth. "Sunlight has the remarkable ability to turn a dwarf into stone. And now that the King is dead, there is nobody who would dare go against the queen."
"Does she not have sons . . . heirs to the throne?"
"Yes, in fact she has two sons. Neither will inherit her throne while she lives." A chill edged Thor's words as he glanced at me. "Her sons have new roles within the dwarf kingdom. They guard the entrance to Swartelfheim."
"So, all these years, why have her sons not at least tried?"
"The queen has them controlled. I am unsure what her strategy is. Guilt, perhaps. Or maybe they do not want to lose the only family they have. Or lose their only link to the throne."
I raised an eyebrow. "So you want me to go to this witch and ask her very nicely if she would lend me the goblet?"
Thor's next words chilled my blood. "No. I am asking you to go to Swartelfheim and kill Queen Huld."
My heart thudded so loud in my ears that I heard nothing else but the rhythmic pounding of utter shock. I must have heard him wrong. "You're kidding, right?" I asked, but the cool expression on his face said it all. He wasn't kidding. "Why do I have to kill her? Surely there is an easier way?"
"I understand your concern, Valkyrie, but there is no other way to retrieve the goblet. It is the life of your Aidan and the dragon-child for the life of Queen Huld." His eyes were inscrutable, his expression so emotionless that in that moment he lost all his sexy charm and became, instead, a being filled with deep and dark secrets. He was, after all, a god.
I remained silent, quelling any urge to refuse, any need to say no. One life in exchange for two was a no-brainer. Thor placed a hand on my shoulder, pulling me from my thoughts. "There is one more thing, Brynhildr. It is important for you to understand whom you are dealing with. Huld is impossibly strong. She is sustained by the power of the goblet, and by the power of her dead husband."
Great. Always a catch, isn’t there?
Thor continued, ignoring the scowl on my face. "Huld made one mistake. She had poisoned the king's grog, but dwarfs are notoriously hard to kill. He fought back, but in his weakened state he could not defend himself against the queen's sword. She drew blood several times, allowing it to mix with the black sand of the realm. After the battle, she melted the sand in the intense heat of the forge, making it malleable, and formed it into an exquisite crystal goblet."
"Why would she do such a thing?"
"We cannot claim to understand the mind of the queen. Perhaps it was a way to show her strength. What we do know is that the queen uses the goblet as a message to anyone who would dare to challenge her reign."
"How does she do that? What kind of power can a goblet have?" I narrowed my eyes at the beautiful god, hoping he'd get to the point sometime soon.
"Huld uses the goblet as a reminder to her subjects of her status and her power. All her subjects know what the goblet is made from. And the queen regularly performs a ceremonial drinking from the goblet." Thor paused, and I could have sworn the silence was only for dramatic effect. "Little does she realize that every time she sips a liquid from the goblet, she sips at her husband's power. And King Brokk . . . well, the King of Swartelfheim's power is not something one should mess with. When you meet her you will see what the dark power has done to Queen Huld. Some say she is deserving of her punishment."
The god removed his hand, and I almost did a double take. The tingly warmth of his palm had been on my shoulder all this time, and I hadn't noticed?
"You must retrieve the goblet, and you must kill the queen." He paused, rubbing his chin, and added, "If you are able to, I suggest you decapitate. Dwarfs are strong and fast-healing, and their tunnels are extensive. You may need to walk far to bring her body to the sun."
"I don't have a choice in the matter, then?" My words clanged the sound of my own death knell.
Thor glanced at my face, his blond hair glinting in the torchlight, while shadows deepened the hollows of his jaw and the sympathy in his eyes. "No, Bryn, unfortunately in this instance there is no choice. The goblet is kept in the queen's chamber. It will be nearly impossible to steal it and escape the realm without her learning who you are. Once she knows you have taken her treasure, if she does not die, she will track you down and kill you. Dwarfs, whether male or female, are innately vengeful creatures. And you do not want the wrath of the queen to be upon you."
I crossed my arms. "Fine, then. I'll do what I have to." I spoke the words almost angrily, not entirely sure I'd go through with it. When had I become an assassin for hire? When the time came, surely I’d find a way to avoid the whole head-chopping, killing situation. But I kept my thoughts to myself.
"Good." He fiddled with something at his waist, but then he thrust his empty arms out toward me. I was beginning to think that Thor was a little soft in the head. "There is something you will need." Thor held his arms higher, offering them to me. I frowned. Was the god Thor offering me a 'cuddle moment' after telling me to kill some evil queen? Or was he taking the Mickey out of me? I
didn't dare to question his actions though.
My arms tensed, and I was just about to hug him back, a little afraid of offending him by brushing him off. But then he laughed, as if my confusion were somehow amusing. I should have been angry, but I was way more relieved. I'd been a breath away from making a darned fool of myself in front of a god.
Thor moved an arm, flicked a finger somewhere above his other arm . . . and then there it was, appearing as if out of thin air. A beautiful black cloak, as glossy as a pool of liquid night, lay draped over his hands.
"You will need this to get past the guards."
"Guards? You mean the sons of the queen?"
Thor nodded. "They work on a rotation schedule, relieving each other every few hours or providing backup in case of emergency. You will need to use this to get inside." He held the cloak out, just inches from me, the light now throwing pools of gloss into the dark fabric.
"What is it?" I hesitated, still unsure exactly what it was for. Beautiful, glossy black cloak, yes, but how would it help me hide from the dwarfs?
"This is Tarnkappe, the Cloak of Darkness. It has been used many times in the past, for many reasons. I think this is a situation that demands its services."
I took the sweeping cloak, bracing against its solid weight in my hands. For a simple garment, it was pretty darned heavy. A spurt of hysterical laughter surged through me, and though I tamped it down, I just couldn't control the giggle that sprang out of my mouth. What the hell was this? A magic show?
"I see you find me amusing?" Thor grinned as if he really did share my mirth.
"No, it's not that." I shook my head. I had to look away from him to gather my tangled thoughts. It was all so impossible, so improbable. And yet it was all so real. I stared out into the mesmerizing distance, where miniature mountain peaks lay covered in a loving layer of winter white.
"I see. Brynhildr, all this—Asgard, the wings, losing your beloved—it must not be easy. There is a lot to digest," Thor said, his voice soft and easily snatched by a passing breeze.