by Audra Hart
Morna scoffs dismissively at that and Luca looks at her in frustration. He wishes she could just accept a positive comment about herself once in a while. But he immediately turns his attention to Gullveig, “Morna says you have had some experience with this?”
“I have. Morna dear girl, I am mated to your Father, but we are not as you and Luca are. We have not been as constant and true to those we love. It’s a sad failing of many of our kind. But I digress. I, like your Father, have had numerous other loves over the centuries. One of my long standing lovers was a vampire. His name is Octavius. He like, your Luca, refused to feed off of humans. But he also hunted those who victimized humans.”
“He trailed one such monster across Europe whom had a fondness for taking mortals as lovers. The sick bastard seemed to enjoy the fact that they would be so helplessly attracted to him and would give themselves to him so eagerly and yet would rarely survive the encounters. One mortal girl did survive. Actually, three of them survived. But the first one we found was in Greece. Her name was Melina. She was a sweet, tiny little woman. She barely survived the mating with the beast. We found her and nursed her back to health.”
“It quickly became apparent to us that she was pregnant. It took a great deal of my magic to keep her alive because the beast had ravaged her body so badly, but she lived and the child did as well. He still lives in Greece. He’s a fine man. He survives on food and occasionally animal blood. He is an immortal, nearly five hundred years old.” Gullveig walks over and takes Luca’s hands into his own, so you see Lucian, your Morna can survive this and you will have another child with your mate.”
“Prophesies have foretold of two magical sisters that will give birth to a new race of magical beings. We have recently realized those prophesies spoke of Morna and Breena. We just didn’t understand how it would be accomplished, but this development has made it plain what is happening. This race will be hybrids of a sort. Half magical human and half vampire.” Gullveig says with a smile. “Prophesies tell us that these children will be strong protectors of humanity, they will be powerful, honorable, valiant and strong. I believe that will be due largely to the fact that Lucian will be the head of the clan. His character, his innate goodness will guide this race to become a blessing to all who encounter them.”
“But Breena is not mated to a vampire…” Luca begins.
Morna chuckles, “Not yet. She and Damian are very infatuated with each other. I suspect they will be fully mated soon. I have suspected for days that they are true mates.”
Gullveig laughs too. “I am certain that you are right Morna. I have seen those two together. They are deeply in love already, they are just hesitant to act on it with everything that is going on around them.”
Luca smiles at that thought, but he is fearful for his sister in law. “Breena is not as strong as Morna. Will she survive such a mating?”
“Breena is much stronger than you give her credit for. Physically, emotionally, and morally Breena is truly a rare specimen. She, in her own way is just as spectacular as your mate. That young vamp Damian is a rare gem as well. I suspect he will be a devoted mate to Breena and father to their children” Gullveig says with conviction
“What is that young man like? The one you mentioned in Greece. You said he was a fine man, how so?” Luca asks.
“He is a builder by trade. He builds homes, and community buildings for impoverished communities. He moves to other countries every ten or twenty years, because he doesn’t age. But he does good, wherever he goes. Luca, he is much like Morna is now. He is strong, and fast. But he is flesh and blood as Morna is. He is venomous, but he can withhold that venom when he feeds and he doesn’t live as a vampire. He is a fine man, but a tragic man too. He fell in love once and was devastated when she died of old age. He remained with her until the day she died. He was truly devoted to her. I am proud to call him friend.” Gullveig says.
Luca nods thoughtfully. He had always assumed that vampires were vile fiends by nature. Perhaps he should rethink that belief, perhaps there is hope for his kind. But more likely this man is such a fine creature because he is half human. “How will this pregnancy progress? What will happen to my mate? What will we need to do to keep her healthy?”
“The pregnancy will progress very rapidly. The child will develop at an astounding rate. The fetal development of this child will be approximately equivalent to a week to ten days’ worth of growth in a day. About thirty-five to forty days from conception to birth. Morna could be considered on level with six to eight weeks along. The changes are very rapid, and it does take a massive toll on the mother. But Morna is not a typical woman. She is much, much stronger than a typical woman and she will come through this challenge with flying colors.”
Gullveig pauses to let them absorb this information. “But I caution you, I must be near Morna during the last weeks of the pregnancy. When the child is ready, he may try to chew his way out of the body. His teeth will be like Luca’s. And he will be venomous as well. I nearly lost Melina because I didn’t realize this. The amniotic sac is much like your skin Lucian. It is very durable. I had to use a knife blessed by a Stone Breaker to cut the child out. Your friend George can bless the instruments we will need to deliver this child. But she cannot deliver naturally. I am not comfortable taking that risk.”
“I would not either,” says Luca with feeling.
“I want my godson to deliver this child,” Morna says quietly. “Micah is an OB/GYN. He is a skilled healer and you can teach what he needs to know to deliver this child safely.”
“Madam, I would be happy to assist Micah in this. I respect the Spell Weavers greatly.” Mordir says with a smile.
Gullveig laughs, “Unfortunately, Mordir is a rare man among our healers. But I don’t see a problem with Micah being your physician Morna. But I must insist that Mordir and I work with him. Our combined medical and magical approaches will make the perfect medical team to safely get mother and child through this. But my empathic abilities will be needed in the last weeks. That’s essential.” Mordir nods his agreement.
Heimdall arrives and looks at his goddaughter. “So you know, Baby Girl?”
“We know,” Morna says with a smile. Morna stands and walks over to Aideen. “Is she aware of us?”
“Not really. She is relieving her past mistakes. I have called another Vanir in who is… especially capable to help her. Heimdall also believes your friend Rinda should be here. Valliant has gone to fetch her.”
Heimdall clears his throat and says, “We need to discuss Aideen’s recovery. But I don’t want to do it here. I don’t want to risk her being aware of what we are discussing. Guldfey is here Gullveig, she can take over for you with Aideen and Ari.” Heimdall looks at Morna and Luca, would you two please join Gullveig and me in my study. We have much that we need to tell you. I know your heads must be swimming with the news of the pregnancy, but we need to make plans to restore Aideen.”
Morna nods and stands, “Lead the way, Godfather.” She looks at Mordir and asks, “You will come get us if anything changes with our Aideen?”
“I will Madam,” the healer assures her with a nod and a smile.
Luca, Morna, Heimdall and Gullveig have comfortably settled into Heimdall’s luxurious sitting room. The room is an eclectic mixture of styles and periods from all over the world. It is very comfortable and bright room. Morna is enjoying her second icy Coke. She had marveled when the servant brought her exactly what she had been craving. She thanked the young Ingrid profusely, and drank half of it immediately. Morna had chuckled when Ingrid said, “I see you will be wanting another quickly. I will be right back.”
Gullveig and Heimdall both are enjoying their second mug of Asgardian mead. Heimdall informs Luca about the animals in his park and that he is free to hunt anytime he wishes during his stay. Luca thanks Heimdall warmly, but is growing impatient to discuss his daughter’s condition. Heimdall chuckles and says, “Lucian, we so called gods could learn a great deal from you and your m
ate. We should make an effort to have a little more humility and respect for others as you two do. In most ways, you two are just as powerful as us, yet you act as though you are no different from any serving girl you encounter. You are both truly an inspiration.”
“Thank you for saying that Heimdall, but I really would like to discuss our daughter. We are very worried,” he adds as Morna squeezes his hand. Morna is sitting on the sofa with her feet tucked under her, snuggled into her mate’s embrace. In one hand she holds her soda she is sipping and with the other she has been caressing his right hand. Luca leans down and lightly kisses the top of her head.
“Forgive me Luca. I can sense the impatience in both of you. Even though you are both much too polite to show it. But I also sense your great love and affection for each other. It’s very, very pleasant for me, as an empathic of meager ability, to be around such emotions. And I fear I have been delaying starting the conversation for another reason. We have called another Vanir to join us. We think he will be most helpful with Aideen.”
Gullveig clears her throat and says, “I have been keeping a secret. It’s a shameful secret. But I must confess it now. I believe that it is my daughter, Morna’s half-sister that is behind Ari’s actions. I have not seen her in almost six hundred years. I didn’t even know if she was alive or not. I have not been able to locate her. But Valliant says the shadow image that assaulted Ari was definitely our daughter.”
Morna and Luca sit quietly for several long moments, digesting this information. “Why would she harm my daughter, her own niece? How could she have anything against us? We didn‘t even know of her,” Morna asks in bewilderment.
“I am not certain,” Admits Gullveig. “She has always been a very complicated woman. She was a wild, willful child. She is powerful and a woman of strong lusts. She is fascinated with magic and power. She had spent centuries traveling the known realms, taking random lovers and learning the ways of other kinds of magic. But six hundred years ago, she just disappeared. We have no idea what has happened to her.”
Morna digests this information, but her mind goes swiftly back to her daughter. “Who is the other Vanir that you have called to come help Aideen?” Morna asks softly.
“Keep an open mind Morna,” Heimdall urges. “It’s Agnar.”
Morna explodes! “What hell can Agnar do for her? Besides try to screw her brains out!”
“Now, now Morna. He has changed a great deal since you first met him when you were a young woman. You know in your heart that he is a changed man. You have fought alongside him as Protectors of the Gateways,” Heimdall says quietly.
“He too, is empathic and must have sensed some attraction in you for him or he would not have accosted you like that,” Gullveig says quietly.
“Sure I was attracted to him. I was sixteen, full of teenaged hormones, and we had been on the sparring fields all day. He is a glorious specimen at seven feet tall with that beautiful face and all those muscles. And he can fight like a demon escaped from hell itself. But that doesn’t mean I wanted to have sex with him up against a wall in my father’s hall,” Morna huffs indignantly. And then she adds, “I had to break the horny bastard’s nose to make him leave me alone.”
Heimdall chuckles. “Morna I long ago read that memory in your mind. There was more to it than that. You did flirt with him and then allowed him to kiss you. He knows who your father is, he had every reason to believe you took after Valliant in all things and would welcome his sexual advances. He didn’t know you were resolved to wait until you met your one true mate.” Heimdall politely leaves out the part about her letting him fondle and suck her breasts too. It wasn’t until Agnar had knelt before her and was raising her skirt and had buried his face in her eager womanhood when she came to her senses. Heimdall knows how hard it was that time for Morna to stick to her resolve to wait for Luca, and doesn’t want to embarrass his goddaughter too much in front of her mate. “When he sensed that resolve in your heart, he stopped. However, you were already panicked and punched him, thus breaking his nose.”
Morna knows Heimdall’s words are true. And looks at her mate with deep shame burning her face. Luca kisses her tenderly and whispers too quietly for anyone else to hear; “Don’t you dare be ashamed of being a young girl in the presence of these so called gods. I am now doubly amazed you kept your virginity until I came along. It is further testament of your strength when you are resolved to see something through.”
“Damn Luca.” She whispers back nearly inaudibly, “Now I have to confess something to you later, since you are so accepting of my past indiscretions and are so willing to believe I remained a virgin on the strength of my resolve alone.”
“Later love,” he says in a barely audible whisper, as he stokes her face. His loving acceptance of anything she might reveal is obvious in his gaze. Her heart calms, as do her fears. And she is able to turn her attention back to Heimdall.
“But I am not sure how Agnar could be of any help to our Aideen, he was definitely a randy hell raiser and womanizer.” Morna asserts in a hostile tone.
A deep chuckle sounds from the doorway. “Yes, Morna I certainly was. I used to really regret that I let you get away. You were a very, very sweet little morsel back in the day,” says Agnar roguishly.
Agnar comes into the room with a flourish. Luca can easily see what attracted Morna to him when she was a young girl. He is probably close to seven feet tall, and very, very muscular. His face is very handsome and strong. He has brilliant green blue eyes, black, wavy hair, cut fairly short for a Norseman, and sports a neatly trimmed mustache and beard. Luca also can see the man has a strong zest for life, but he senses some quiet resolve to achieve something that has thus far been just out of his reach.
When Morna and Luca stand up to face him, Agnar is taken aback my Morna’s appearance. “Morna, I knew you would look different, being a different incarnation of yourself and all that, but you still look like you, only a mature, grown up, more stately you. You’re glorious! Amazing! This new ascended form is definitely you!” Agnar takes her hand and kisses it gently.
Morna stiffly pulls her hand away, and is watching him skeptically. “I have not yet re-ascended,” Morna says curtly. Agnar simply raises his eyebrows at her comment.
Luca is watching him in an amused fashion. Agnar looks at Luca and extends his hand to him. “Sir Lucian, forgive my rudeness. I must confess to being totally infatuated with your mate once upon a time.”
Luca laughs richly and shakes his hand, “Yes, so I have heard. And by the way, my name is just Lucian Michaels.”
“Okay Lucian. I am Agnar. Pleased to meet you. You have quite a reputation among our kind. Any man who can win this one’s heart must be one of a kind.” Morna puts her arm around Luca’s waist possessively as Agnar speaks to her mate. Morna reluctantly admits to herself that Agnar’s aura has changed completely since the days when she first met him. His whole attitude and demeanor seem more mature and solid as well. Why haven’t I noticed this before? We have spent a great deal of time together as Gateway Protectors. Perhaps I was aware of the change and that is why we became so close. But we still tried to destroy each other over stupid things on more than one occasion.
Agnar turns his attention to Gullveig and Heimdall, and greets them appropriately. Heimdall finally urges everyone to sit. When Heimdall offers Agnar refreshment, he casually declines and says, “I thought I was here to discuss Aideen?”
“You know my daughter?” asks Luca in a low menacing tone.
“Yes I do Lucian. I might as well confess up front to you that I am in love with her. I have been so for nearly one hundred years now. At one time I thought she loved me as well. We were very happy, but then one day, she told me that she was leaving, she had other matters to attend to in Midgard. She never explained why she was leaving. She just broke our affair off, and I haven’t seen her since. Well, until today when Heimdall summoned me and told me that she was here and injured. I had been out looking for her ever since I heard Ari h
ad kidnapped her. I would have been back sooner but I was dealing with a nest of blood wraiths that I stumbled across trying to break through the Gateway on the east coast of America.” Agnar smiles sweetly, almost sadly and says, “I hope someday she will be my mate.”
Morna chuckles softly. “Well that certainly explains the change in you. My daughter stole your heart and doesn’t want to play house with you. Is that it?” She asks caustically.
Luca looks at his mate in surprise. Morna is rarely this judgmental of anyone. He wonders about their history together.
“Morna, look in my heart woman. I know you are not an empathic like your sister, but you are an excellent reader of men. You will see I have changed. I, like you, have grown up. If you had remained with us in the Gateways and here in Asgard during this last limbo you would know that for yourself. I want to spend eternity with Aideen. She is my one true mate,” Agnar vows quietly, without flourish or added emotion, just raw honesty.
Morna snorts. Then continues to look at the demigod before her. He truly does seem like a different man. His words ring true, his heart toward her daughter at least, seems pure. Morna wavers and looks up at Luca. Their eyes meet and hold for a minute, then Morna sighs softly and Luca speaks. “Fine, we accept your profession of love for our daughter and your apparent maturity of character at face value. What does any of that have to do with Aideen’s current situation?”
Heimdall urges the trio to sit down. “Morna, Lucian this will be hard for you to hear. Agnar, it will hard for you as well.”
Gullveig leans forward, and looks at three people before her. “I believe that my daughter cursed Aideen.”
Morna stands up like she is ready for battle. “What kind of curse?” she demands forcefully. Luca gently takes Morna’s hand and urges her to sit down.
“Love you can’t break the curse by destroying Valgullveig’s mother. She’s not the one who enacted it,” he chides gently.