by GR Griffin
Chocolate was a hard to find commodity on the battlefield. And it was as richly sweet as she remembered, Lenneth placing one of the squares on her tongue. She didn't close her eyes completely, enjoying the taste as the chocolate began to melt from the heat of her mouth. "Oh that's good." She breathed out in delight when she had swallowed the piece down.
Lezard was smiling, having noted her reaction to the chocolate. "I wasn't aware Valkyries had a sweet tooth."
She refused to blush or act flustered, though Lenneth did stop from taking another piece. ""Each one of us is different."
"I never accused you of being the same entity." He gestured for her to continue. "Please. Don't stop on my account."
She both wanted and didn't want the chocolate. And all because Lenneth felt she had revealed a part of herself to Lezard through her enjoyment of the candy. Even as Lenneth told herself she had to work to get Lezard to let down his guard, she was hesitant of doing the same. As though fearing any bit of knowledge he gained about her would be used against her. To weaken her, to thoroughly enchant her into loving him.
Lenneth called upon the discipline she had used on the battlefield, forcing her fingers to pass over the chocolate squares. Instead she gripped a fork, and none too gently speared a piece of the meat. Lezard wore an amused expression, as though he knew exactly her reasons for avoiding the candy.
"They were asking about you at dinner." Lezard tried to make conversation.
"Oh? And what did they want to know?"
"Just where you were, and if you would find time to join in on the meal." Lezard explained. "Someone even accused me of purposefully hiding you away."
"That someone wouldn't be that blonde haired girl from before?" Lenneth asked in between bites of the meat that tasted like lamb.
"You are correct." Lezard let out an exaggerated sigh. "Mystina is spoiling for the chance to spend time with you. I'm afraid she won't be put off with many excuses. I did speak to her, speak to them all about behaving around you, and conducting themselves respectfully....but I fear some people's curiosity will win out."
"I will deal with them." Lenneth's tone was firm, as though she was bracing for battle.
"As will I." Lezard touched her hand, Lenneth fighting not to jerk away from him. "I want you to be comfortable here, Lenneth. To do that, you need to be treated as a person and not a specimen of great interest."
"Thank you." Lenneth said, tone more gruff than she would have liked. But she was fighting not to be touched by his regard, and that fight made her gratitude sound almost hostile.
He didn't seem put off by her tone, Lezard actually patting her hand before pulling away. "It will be difficult for us all. At least at first." He amended. "Everyone is so excited to see you, so curious about you. I hope in time they come to see you as a person, and not this great mythical figure."
"But that is what I was." Lenneth pointed out. "I was a Valkyrie, a minor deity. I'm older than anyone in this city. I've had centuries of experience...several lifetimes' worth of memories."
"But have you ever really lived?" Lezard's question took her aback. "Lenneth, your life has been the battle. You fight the undead and any other foe that dares to defy Odin. When have you had the break to experience something other than fighting? To learn to be something other than a Valkyrie? To be the woman you were born as?"
"Maybe I don't want to be that woman." Lenneth countered. "Maybe I was happy being a Valkyrie."
"Were you?" He asked.
"Yes." She set down the fork, and locked eyes with him. "I was good at what I did. I had a fine rapport with my einehrjar, and my work had meaning. I was protecting not only Asgard but all of Creation from the undead. Being mortal, being a woman in love....it pales in comparison to the purpose I had as a Valkyrie."
His expression flickered, something like disappointment briefly showing. "I can't give you so grand a purpose." Lezard acknowledged. "But...love is not so bad. Nor is putting down your sword, taking the rest you have earned after years of fighting. Even the sharpest blade dulls after constant use."
"I wasn't anywhere near past my prime." Lenneth countered. "I could have continued in Odin's service for decades, maybe even centuries more before I'd fall."
"You feel you were retired too early."
"I know I was." Lenneth said levelly. "If that fiend Brahms hadn't taken my sister, hadn't sent me back to Odin disgraced by my failures..." Some unreadable emotion crossed his face, but it was gone an instant later. "There are many what ifs. If I had succeed, or if I had been killed, regardless, it would be some other Valkyrie who was sent to be your bride."
"I don't think any other Valkyrie could be half as good as you." He seemed sincere enough, and Lenneth tried not to feel flattered.
"You don't even know me. You're certainly not in love with me. Any Valkyrie would have done, any at all." She felt satisfied that Lezard didn't have immediate objections to what she said.
"I don't know you it's true. But I want to make the effort to get to know you. Regardless of how we became engaged to one another, we are each other's future. Would it not be better to get along than to fight all the time?" A hopeful smile from him, Lenneth's stomach doing a little flutter to see it. Lenneth thought she was entirely too susceptible to his smiles. But she didn't dash it, knowing she had to woo him back to better her chances at learning from him, Hel's secrets.
"I don't want to fight you." She said out loud, and his smile brightened even more. "I don't want to hate the man I have to wed."
"Nor do I want you to hate me." Came his reply. "Ours may not be the most conventual of relationships, but we can give each other the chance. The chance to have it be something more than a marriage of convenience."
She just nodded in response, wanting to take another piece of chocolate but forcing herself to instead take another bite of the lamb. If she couldn't resist something as small and inconsequential as chocolate, what hope did she have of resisting the love potion? Lenneth took satisfaction in denying herself both things, even as she began to quiver in response to Lezard unbuttoning his jacket.
"What are you doing?" Lenneth was pleased she managed to keep the alarm out of her voice.
"It's a bit warm in here." He explained, already attempting to shrug out of his jacket. His reason for disrobing reassured her, even as her eyes did a slow, contemplative look over him. Without the bulky jacket, she could better see his body, get a better feel of how large or small his frame was. He wasn't overly muscular, nor was his puny, being a pleasing in between. It was rather surprising, Lenneth expecting a mage to be a skinny weakling when it came to body mass.
Lezard had noticed the way she looked at him, his lips quirking in another one of his off putting smiles. This time heat flared in her cheeks, Lenneth quickly looking away. Lezard would lay the jacket on the back of a chair, close enough to reach but forgotten in an instant.
She was more than a little embarrassed over the way she had looked at him. And to cover that embarrassment, Lenneth's mind cast about for a topic to distract them both. "Do you know how long I was asleep?"
"Just a couple of days from what I understand." Another small smile from him. "I did not procrastinate on waking you." Her face grew hotter, Lenneth recalling just how he had woken her. And with that memory, she could practically taste his kiss, Lenneth remembering how he had touched and held her. The kiss had been necessary to wake her, but it didn't excuse the way he had lingered over her mouth. Or the way his hands had caressed over her belly.
"If you woke me soon after my arrival in Flenceburg..." Lenneth began slowly. "It should be only three or four days..." She trailed off suddenly, not wanting to finish the statement. Three or four days since her sister Silmeria had been taken by Brahms. Time enough for Silmeria to have awakened as a vampire. Maybe not enough time for Hrist to stop her from feeding.
She was going to frown from her thoughts, Lenneth giving a fierce shake of her head. "Was a black haired Valkyrie among the ones who accompanied me to this k
ingdom?" She searched his face for any signs of recognition as she described Hrist's appearance. "She wears armor that is a vivid purple, not too different from the color of your eyes. Her hair is long, not as long as mine, and her gaze is often describe as piercing. She wouldn't have smiled at all, regardless of her duty." Her voice went softer, Lenneth remembering something else about her older sister. "Hrist almost never smiles..."
"Hrist?" A questioning sound from him, and then understanding dawned "Ah, one of the sisters you mentioned."
"The eldest of we three." Clarified Lenneth. "She wears a sword, though her favored weapon is that of the halberd."
"I saw no Valkyrie such as you described." Lezard told her. "Certainly there was none that shared a resemblance to your features."
Lenneth nodded, trying not to feel disappointed that Hrist hadn't deigned to see her to her new home. Lenneth told herself Hrist had a more pressing responsibility, the need to see to Silmeria, and set their little sister's soul to peace. Lenneth was more sure than ever that Hrist must be in the midst of the journey to the vampire's island, and she sincerely wished her somber sister good fortune in her hunt.
Still she wondered who had made the journey with her to Flenceburg. But Lenneth didn't expect Lezard to know their names, nor did she expect the Valkyrie and their einherjar to linger once they had delivered Lenneth unto him.
"Your escort arrived late in the night." Lezard told her. "Late enough that it was almost time for the sun to rise. But many in the castle were already asleep, missing their chance to see your entourage." A small smile then. "I think it better that way. I'm sure the Valkyrie and their einherjar would not have appreciated a commotion over their arrival, any more than you appreciated the group that surrounded you."
She nodded. "They might not have been as reserved as I was in response to such a fuss." A wry twist of her lips. "Depending on who was sent, I dare say weapons would have been drawn."
His own eyes widened, Lezard looking surprised. "Isn't that overreacting?"
"Perhaps." She allowed. "But this is an enemy nation...or was. And we Valkyrie are bred for battle, having little tolerance for idle curiosity. Especially when the questions become personal in nature." They eyed each other a moment, and then Lenneth confessed. "Truthfully, I was about ten seconds away from violence myself when you interfered with those women."
"Wouldn't that have made an impression!" His tone was light, but Lezard grimaced all the same. "But please...do try to restrain such impulses. They really meant no real harm to you, and I would much rather you make friends than enemies of the people that live in this castle."
She could make no promises. "I don't know if these are the type of women I can be friends with." She sighed then. "They are so different from the women that I have known. So...frivolous and care free."
"Maybe not as carefree as you think." Lezard murmured. She arched an eyebrow at him in challenge. "Yes, they can be a silly group of girls but don't underestimate Mystina. There are two sides to her, and while she rules uncontested over the women in her circle, she is concerned with more than just the day's gossip and the latest fashion. She is ambitious, and has a keen mind."
"You admire her." Noted Lenneth, and the look he gave her was interesting. Like an annoyed grimace, as though he was reluctant to admit to that admiration.
"I admire her accomplishments in the field of magic, and in her scholarly pursuits." Lezard hesitated. "In some ways, she is very close to being my rival. If I was just a little weaker, and she a little stronger, it would be Mystina who rules over this castle. But then..." A teasing look. "You wouldn't be here if that was the case."
"I'm sure Odin would have found someone to give me to in place of you." Lenneth said, a hint of depression in her voice. She forced herself to reach out and tentatively touch fingers to his arm. "From what I have seen so far, if you have not played me false and presented the true nature of your personality. I have not done so bad when it comes to a husband."
His lips twitched, Lezard fighting a smile. "Why my lady. That almost sounds like a compliment."
She surely flushed then. "It was meant to be one." She started to take her hand away, and he caught it. Lenneth froze, not sure if she should jerk her hand away from his. Her moment of indecision allowed him to caress his thumb over the back of her hand, Lezard smiling at her.
"Somehow I get the feeling compliments from you are a rarity."
"Ah." It was hard to think with him touching her hand like that. "I acknowledge when someone has done something worthy of being praised."
"Duly noted." He continued to smile, expression warm as he gazed at her. Lenneth was unsure of how to react, unused to being gazed upon so openly. It made her want to fidget and turn away, Lenneth feeling her cheeks grow hot in response to Lezard's look.
Even worse, he still held her hand, Lenneth unsure of how to extract it without giving offense. "You mentioned earlier that I am now susceptible. Susceptible to what?"
His smile dimmed, his expression taking on a more serious look to it. "You are mortal now Lenneth. Time is no longer your friend, and even your body can turn against you. Your bones can break, and illness can befall you. And regardless of what you are, there are people who would try to take advantage of you. Use you, against me, against yourself...."
"I am not so easily manipulated!" She protested.
"If they cannot gain use of you through subterfuge, than there are some who may try by force." Lezard countered.
"They will find themselves on the wrong side of my blade if they dare try!" But then Lenneth remembered she had no sword now, shoulders slumping with that realization.
"I don't doubt that you will protect yourself. But you must be careful now." Advised Lezard.
"What would you have me do? Rely on you?" The last held a touch of sarcasm to it, but Lezard nodded, all the more serious.
"I would be your friend, your ally. As your husband it is my right to protect you." Now she pulled her hand away, Lezard realizing too late he had said the wrong thing. "I would guide you." He said instead. "Help you navigate the muddied waters of your new world."
Lenneth allowed a moment to think about this. It was true she didn't know much about mortal existence. It had after all been centuries since she had lived in the mortal city Crell Monferaigne, a holy kingdom of Midgard that was devoted to Odin's worship. That time had been brief, perhaps seventeen years spent with her parents and her sisters before Odin had called Lenneth to Asgard.
The times had changed since those years spent as a teenage Goddess, mortal customs altering into new ones. What she had known of mortal life in Crell Mongeraigne, would be vastly different from life in a nation that followed Queen Hel's laws. She really did not know how to get along in a mortal world, had no money to her name, no assets to sell. It left her dependent on her husband to be, for food, shelter and emotional support.
"Very well." Lenneth said out loud. "I will accept your help."
Another smile from him, Lezard pleased. "For now, that is all I ask."
Lenneth shivered at that, the words for now stressed between them. She well understood he had expectations of her, expectations that would become all the more apparent once they were wed. Lenneth could only be grateful Lezard hadn't insisted on an immediate consummation of their union, the man actually delaying their wedding to give her time to get used to him. Lenneth didn't think she would ever get used to the idea of being a man's wife, and she was even more leery of the idea of letting Lezard attempt to make love to her.
It might be foolish of her, but Lenneth was now harboring hopes that she could find out what she needed, and gain back Odin's approval with it. She might need never marry Lezard then, might even be able to return to being a Valkyrie. It seemed a better alternative then remaining in Flenceburg, suffering the love enchantment that would only grow stronger as Lezard touched and attempted to love her. Every touch, every smile, every heated look only served to make the chains around her heart grow tighter. How long before sh
e started to become fond of him, and how long before that fondness developed into affection? It would only snowball from there, until Lenneth was hopelessly in love, and no longer willing to turn her back on Lezard. Not even to serve her king. It was something she couldn't allow, something she would fight against with every fiber of her being. But it didn't change her realization of how difficult that struggle would be, Lenneth looking away from Lezard as her heart panged in protest.
Chapter 12: Twelve
Lenneth wasn't the type to wake up with a gasp or a scream. Not even when dreams had tormented her sleep, Lenneth's failures and fears plaguing her relentlessly. She had of course dreamt of her sisters, of Silmeria especially. In her dreams, Silmeria had changed, her eyes crimson now as proof that she had fed. Brahms was a shadowy presence by her sister's side, radiating approval of what Silmeria had become. And together they would attack, unleashing death and devastation on the plains of Idavoll.
Sometimes she dreamt of the day of her failure. Of the overcast sky, and the forest that had been splattered with her einherjar's blood. Lenneth could vividly recall the screams of the three Valkyries that had accompanied her, remember the sounds the vampires had made as they fed on those women. Lenneth even dreamt of the moment she had faced off against Brahms, her mind analytical as it tried to see just where she had failed.
Had Lenneth been too overcome with grief and horror to put up a proper fight? Had she let her emotions rule her actions when she should have steeled her heart? Lenneth knew she wouldn't have been anywhere as emotional had the Valkyrie in question been anyone but her favored sister. She remembered the desperation, the need to get to Silmeria. To save her from Brahms and a life as one of the damned.
Even in her sleep, Lenneth had flinched when Brahms fist connected with her face. It had been a cruel blow, one that knocked her unconscious. Lenneth was surprised it hadn't dislocated her jaw in the process. But the pain of his punch was nothing compared to the pain of losing her sister. Or of the worry that she might lose Hrist as well, Lenneth having dreamt that the older Valkyrie would lose against Brahms, her blood shared between the vampire Lord and his queen.