by Logan Jacobs
“It’s warmer than I expected, too,” Asta added as she picked up a large piece of meat and shoved it in her mouth.
“I’m glad you all like it,” I told them, and I picked up my own piece of meat. The vendor hadn’t given us any utensils, so I figured it was meant to be eaten with our hands. And even if it wasn’t, we were disguised as huge warriors, so I doubted anybody would remark on our eating habits.
I bit into the sauce-covered meat, and immediately my taste buds exploded with flavor. The dish was spicy, so spicy it cleared my sinuses right away, and I almost coughed from the heat of it.
Asta was right, it was warmer than I figured, but it seemed the ice plate had cooled it down to perfect eating temperature, and I was sure that was some sort of special Jotunheim trick these people used all the time.
The meat was absolutely delicious, even though I didn’t know what it was, and I quickly finished off my plate and fought the urge to lick it clean.
“Oh, this is the most delicious thing ever,” Kas said, but when her violet eyes caught mine, they grew as wide as saucers. “Oh, I didn’t mean better than your food, of course, Rath.”
“It’s okay,” I assured her with a laugh. “It really is very good.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever had something so spicy,” Eira said. “But I like it.”
“Mmm, yes, neither have I,” I agreed.
While the girls finished their meals, I carefully watched the marketplace for any suspicious activity. The place was crowded, and all I could see were frost giant families, couples, and solo individuals out buying wares from the booths. There were plenty of vendors to choose from, even in the small area I could see, and the place was packed with booths on either side of the main street.
The vendors were so close together that most of their booths were touching, and they ranged from food, to jewelry, to clothes, to potions. It seemed they didn’t have the same system in place as the Asgardian marketplace did, where the vendors would set up booths near other vendors with the same wares. This was a free-for-all, and I kind of liked how it gave the consumer the opportunity to walk all around looking for just the right booth.
Another vendor with jewelry caught my eye. The craftsmanship was beautiful, and I wanted nothing more than to run over and buy each of my women something special, but we had a mission to do, and I needed to focus on that over everything else.
I made sure to look over at the girls every now and then as they chatted, but my attention was really focused on the market all around me. I saw plenty of frost giant children running around, though they were nearly the size of Asgardians, at least in height. It was almost strange to see my born enemies appear so incredibly normal, but I knew the war wasn’t about any of us, it was about things far back in the past that only Kings truly cared about.
Most Jotunheim citizens probably didn’t even care about the Asgardians and the war with them anymore. I would imagine it was like it was with us, where we were told to hate them from the time we were children. We personally had no reason to hate them, but our realms were at war, and that meant we had to despise the other species altogether.
Still, seeing the sweet families walk through the marketplace warmed my heart, and I thought about how ridiculous the war was in the first place. The two realms didn’t need to be feuding any longer, it had gone on long enough.
If my time dealing with the dragon trade had taught me anything, it was that anybody was capable of evil, no matter their lineage. I’d seen elves, Asgardians, dwarves, and frost giants all with their hand in the dragon trade.
Nobody, besides children, were innocent, but not everybody was guilty. I couldn’t penalize all frost giants for the actions of a few, just like I couldn’t penalize all the elves, and I hoped nobody would penalize all Asgardians. After all, it was two Asgardians, a half-Valkyrie, and an elf out working to save all the dragons. We were a strange group, but we were trying to undo the sins of all the different peoples, not just the frost giants.
After a few moments, I started to suspect we were in the very nice area of the marketplace. The wares were incredibly well-made, and the clothing and fabric I saw for sale was made of high-end silks and some other strange materials I presumed were native to Jotunheim.
We needed to find the dirty part of town.
While Eira and I agreed most of the criminals we’d known operated in plain sight, a lot of their clientele wouldn’t come to this area to try and buy some illegal product. The deals would be done in the open, but they probably would be in the part of the market where there were less valuable wares around. Not only would that area have less people, but since the wares were mid-range, they’d be less memorable to whoever passed by. Nobody would be focusing on the other frost giants in the area, because they wouldn’t be focusing on anything other than getting to the better part of the market.
The only problem was that I had no idea where the poorer part of the market would be, and it would be incredibly suspicious to ask. Nobody would want to go to that area without a reason, and I didn’t want to give anybody a reason to follow us.
“So, where are we off to, now?” Asta asked once everyone had finished their meals.
“We need to do some looking around,” I said. “This appears to be the really nice part of the marketplace, but we need to find the area without so many high-end wares.”
“I guess it would make sense most of the really expensive stuff would be right here.” Kas nodded. “This is pretty close to the entrance.”
“Right,” I agreed. “But we need to find the areas where there are less people.”
“Where should we begin?” Eira asked as she looked around curiously.
“Well, there’s really only one way to go right now.” Kas shrugged. “This is a huge tunnel, but nothing branches off until a little further down.”
“You’re right,” I agreed. “We’ll walk down the market and see how we feel about the tunnels we come across first. We might want to wait until a few tunnels down to try and branch off.”
“It would be a lot easier to navigate if there were signs or something,” Kas sighed. “I haven’t seen a single sign saying where anything is.”
“These people all live here,” Asta pointed out. “I wouldn’t imagine they need signs.”
“Maybe not,” Eira acknowledged. “But we have signs in Asgard.”
“Yes, but we also get plenty of visitors in Asgard,” I countered. “I doubt the frost giants have many visitors from other realms.”
“Yes, that’s true.” The redhead nodded. “Most people probably don’t know about the ice caves. We didn’t even know this place existed until Ramir told us.”
“I wonder how he knew,” Asta puzzled. “Do you think he disguised himself as a frost giant, too?”
“I doubt it.” Kas shook her head. “My father has never judged anyone based on their species, and I’ve known him to have dealings with dwarves, elves, and even the gods of Vanaheim, so I wouldn’t doubt he has frost giant customers, too.”
“Your father has dealings with the Vanaheim gods?” Eira asked, and her green eyes went wide with shock.
“I’ve never actually seen any of them.” Kas shook her head. “He has this magic little box, and if they need something, a note appears in it. He makes the item, puts it in the box, it disappears, and the money appears.”
“That’s incredible,” Asta breathed, but then she shuddered. “I still hate that place, though.”
“It’s not my favorite, either,” I chuckled.
“You all have been to Vanaheim?” Eira asked, and her jaw nearly fell to the floor.
“Once.” I nodded. “And we don’t care to go back.”
“How was it?” she asked, clearly too excited to pay close attention to what I said. “It’s supposed to be the most beautiful of all the realms.”
“Also the most poisonous,” I said. “The air is some sort of drug, and we were all loopy from breathing it in.”
“Asta and I danced nak
ed in a field for twelve hours while Rath laid in the grass,” Kas grumbled as her cheeks flared a ruby-red.
“Damn, sounds like a good time,” Eira snickered.
“Hardly,” the strawberry-blonde snorted.
“How did you all make it back if you were intoxicated from the air?” Eira inquired.
“Well, after Blar, Inger, and Uffe finished gorging themselves on berries, they decided to wake me up just in time to get us back through the portal that had already started to close,” I said, and I glared down at the little dragons.
Blar looked up and away from me, as if he had no idea what I was talking about.
“This was before we knew about Blar’s teleportation abilities,” Kas explained.
“Oh, wow,” Eira laughed. “Their little bellies nearly got you stuck in a realm forever.”
“Luckily, they came around.” I shook my head.
“Yes, luckily,” Kas chuckled and stood up. “We should go.”
“Right.” I nodded. “Everyone, act natural, feel free to wander over to the booths if you see anything suspicious. We don’t want to appear as though we aren’t here to shop at all.”
“Okay,” Eira agreed as she looked around. “There’s so many families here, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a frost giant family.”
“Are you surprised by that?” Asta asked.
“No.” Eira shook her head. “Anytime I’ve been in this realm, I’ve taken several lives out of it. I’m not surprised I’ve never seen a family. I’m sure they try to stay as hidden as they can.”
“I thought the same thing,” I told her. “It’s odd to have their realm seem so similar to ours.”
“Yeah.” Eira pursed her lips and jerked her chin toward one of the booths. “We’ve always been told how savage the frost giants were, but look at that family over there. The dad has the little girl on his shoulders. I’ve seen Asgardian parents do the same thing, but seeing such a mundane thing here… it’s really eye opening.”
“Let’s not forget we’re here to find the arseholes who stole dragon eggs,” Kas pointed out.
“Right,” the redhead said, and she tore her emerald eyes away from the frost giant family. “It seems like someone from every realm is involved with this horrific trade.”
“It does appear that way,” I sighed. “It’s incredibly sad to see how widespread it is.”
The girls nodded, and we started to walk down the main strip of the marketplace.
Every now and then a cart would come by, but for the most part it was just a whole lot of frost giants out shopping for the day.
The further we got down the marketplace, the more elaborate the booths became, until they were actual buildings carved into the ice around us.
Some of them appeared to be pubs, but I could only guess that based off the clientele who stood outside with huge glasses of some dark-colored liquid.
“I think we’re in the pub district,” Kas said after a few moments.
“We should go in a couple,” Eira suggested, and a mischievous smile played across her lips. “Bars are a great place to find criminals.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” I chuckled.
“How about that one?” Asta asked as she pointed to a building that took up a large area of the ice cavern wall.
The structure of the building was made of ice, but it had been dyed a dark blue, and a huge sign hung above the door with some strange looking flowers on it.
“Alright,” I agreed. “Let’s try that one.”
The sweet elf girl led us over to the bar, and she pulled the huge door open so we could step inside.
The place was dark, with only candles to light up the room with a faint, orange glow. Immediately, my nose was assaulted with an incredibly strong floral scent, and I wrinkled my nose in response to the intensity of the smell.
“Hm, where do we order drinks?” Asta asked as she looked around.
“Ohhh, are you looking for a drink?” a huge frost giant woman asked as she came from out of the shadows.
“We can help with whatever you’d like,” another one said, and she walked over to Eira and started to stroke her face as she leaned her body against the redhead.
“Of course, we can,” the first giant said, and it dawned on me then all she was wearing was a small pair of panties that barely covered her private parts, and a see-through tunic so her blue breasts were fully visible.
“Um, Asta,” I said through the side of my mouth. “I don’t think we’re in a bar.”
“What are you talking about?” the elf girl asked. “They just said they could help us.” She turned to one of the frost giant women. “We’d like to be served, please. Do you have mead?”
“We can serve you,” another woman with only a piece of fabric tied around her breasts and waist said, and she walked over and grabbed Asta’s hand to try and pull her into the darkness.
“Oh, no, no, no,” Kas said as she grabbed Asta and pulled her toward the door. “Come on, everyone. Let’s go.”
Blar tugged on my leash as he tried to get to one of the females, but I just pulled him away, waved at the women, and stepped back out into the marketplace.
Once we were back on the street, a couple of men walking by nodded and smiled at us as if we were in on some dirty little secret, and I realized we were still standing directly in front of the brothel.
“Come on,” I said, and I led the girls down the main path and took a deep breath to clear my head.
“What was that?” Asta asked with an innocent frown.
“It was clearly a brothel.” Eira rolled her eyes and laughed. “You led us into a brothel.”
“A brothel?” the elf girl asked, and her white eyebrows pinched together with confusion. “What’s that?”
“Seriously?” Kas asked. “You don’t know what a brothel is?”
“No.” Asta shook her head. “Are there any in Asgard?”
“A couple,” Eira chuckled.
“I’ve never been,” the elf girl mused.
“Yes, that’s clear,” the redhead giggled.
“So, what is it?” Asta pushed. “Are they fun?”
Kas leaned in and whispered something in her ear.
“No!” the elf girl gasped and covered her mouth.
“Afraid so.” Kas nodded.
“Oh, I’m so embarrassed I brought us in there!” Asta squealed.
“It’s alright,” I laughed. “You couldn’t have known.”
“Maybe not, but it’s still embarrassing.” The white-haired elf girl’s cheeks were bright red, and she put her face in her hands.
“There’s no need to look so mortified,” Eira chuckled. “I’m sure Rath’s been in a brothel or two.”
The redhead winked at me, but I just shook my head.
“Not once,” I said honestly.
“Really?” Eira asked, and she jerked her head back with surprise.
“Really.” I shrugged. “I never saw the point.”
“Hm.” The redhead regarded me coolly. “I was sure all the men in my warband visited the brothels after a good victory.”
“Oh, they do,” I laughed. “I’ve just never gone with them.”
“You continue to surprise me, Volrath, you know that?” Eira asked with a smile and a shake of her head.
It’d been a long time since I’d heard Eira use my whole name, and I liked it more than I remembered.
We continued down the main path of the market until we found another bar. This one had a window where passersby could order a glass of booze, as well as a small seating area in front of the pub.
I walked over and ordered four pints, but the man looked at me strangely and gave me four huge glasses of some sort of dark liquid I assumed was the Jotunheim version of mead.
I passed out the drinks and took a sip of the dark ale. The drink was not nearly as sweet as mead, but it was earthy, spicy, and flavorful, and I took another sip as I sat at the table with the girls and looked out to the main street of the ma
rket.
“I haven’t seen anything even remotely suspicious yet,” Eira grumbled around the rim of her own mug. “Whoever’s doing this is good at hiding.”
“I know.” Kas pursed her lips. “I thought we would have seen something by now.”
“It’s only been a couple of hours,” I reminded them. “We’ll stay as long as it takes.”
“What if we don’t find anything tonight?” Asta asked with a frown.
“Then we’ll come back tomorrow,” I assured her. “We have to find those eggs before the King gets a hold of them.”
“There’s no telling how many he’d break trying to cast his terrible little spells,” Eira muttered, and she took a long drink.
“I hadn’t considered that,” Kas said as her strawberry-blonde eyebrows pulled together.
“It was the first thing I considered.” Eira shook her head. “I’ve been around enough magic to see it not go well, and I can’t imagine he’s going to get that spell right on the first try.”
“Even just one little dragon egg being cracked would be horrendous,” Asta gasped. “How can he live with himself?”
“Isn’t this the same arsehole who locked you in his dungeon?” Eira asked. “I’ve seen plenty of Kings in different realms, and they’re almost always terrible.”
“It’s because they think they can do whatever they want,” Kas growled, and her fist clenched on the table. “It makes me so mad.”
“It’s alright,” I told her. “We’re going to catch these dragon trading bastards. Just keep an eye out for anybody who looks like they’re trying to blend in.”
“Isn’t that what we’re doing?” Asta asked. “Trying to blend in?”
“It is.” I nodded. “So, you should be able to spot it, right?”
“Mmm, good point.” The white-haired elf girl nodded. “I was looking for wagons or large bags that could be carrying eggs, but maybe I should look for people like us.”
“There’s no guarantee that whoever we see will have eggs on them at the moment,” I said. “But we’ll need to check out anybody who looks even remotely suspicious.”
“Okay.” Kas nodded, and the girls all drank their ale as we looked around at the frost giants passing by.