“He belongs in Asgard,” Frigg said.
“He’s dead,” Hel answered. “He belongs here.”
The line between Frigg’s eyes deepened. “He is one of the Æsir. His home is Asgard.”
“Perhaps you should be having this conversation with your husband,” Hel replied. “Is Óðinn not the one who established the borders between the living and the dead?”
Frigg scowled. Even as a grown man, that expression terrified me.
“Baldr is essential to Asgard,” she said. “He belongs to us, and I am going to take him back.”
“Perhaps we should ask Baldr,” Hel said casually, her eyes flickering over me.
The crowd turned to watch as I emerged from the shadows. Frigg’s lower lip quivered for a heartbeat, before she raised her hand to hide her mouth. I bowed before her, then turned and bowed before Hel.
“My son!” Frigg embraced me, and my heart clenched. She smelled good, warm and soft despite her formal robes.
“Hi, Mom.” I took a deep breath as we pulled apart. “It’s good to see you.”
She wiped her eyes. “My dear, I’ve come to take you home.”
The room was silent. Her voice echoed strangely off the walls. Home. Funny how that word already sounded odd on her lips.
“Mom. I am home.”
Frigg frowned, then raised her hand and waved it slowly in front of my face. My body tingled with her magic as she searched for an enchantment.
I shook my head. “Look, you can see I’m not enchanted. Mom, I’ve spent a lifetime serving you and my father. I’ve done everything you requested, wooed whomever you needed to impress. And now it’s over.”
“Your wife and child mourn you,” she said.
“I know. I’m sorry. But my time in Asgard has ended.”
“Your poor wife’s heart is broken, Baldr! Nanna almost threw herself on your funeral pyre!”
I winced. “But she didn’t, did she, Mom?”
Frigg’s lips pressed into a tight line. She had to know how little love there was between me and Nanna. She straightened her shoulders and turned away, dismissing me entirely.
“You must love him very much,” Frigg said to Hel, “to create such a convincing doppelgänger.”
Anger surged through me, hot and immediate. “Damn it, Mom, listen to me! I’m not enchanted, and I’m not a doppelgänger—”
Hel raised her hand, and I fell silent. Of course it was futile. Frigg and Óðinn never cared what I wanted when I was alive. Why would they care now that I was dead?
“I wonder where my real son actually is,” Frigg said, raising her voice so it carried throughout the entire throne room. “Is he in your chambers, Queen Hel? Do you force him to warm your bed?”
A low murmur spread through the crowd, and I clenched my fists. I knew my mother would take that as all the proof she needed.
Frigg smiled, and her tone warmed. “Queen Hel, please don’t think me cruel. I do understand. Baldr is beautiful as the sun. All Nine Realms love him. It’s only natural you would love him too.”
Hel remained motionless, her face carefully neutral.
“But, my Queen,” Frigg continued, “should your love for Baldr cancel the love of all the living realms? Surely you can see he belongs to the living. We all love him, Hel. We love him more than you possibly could.”
Hel frowned. “And here I thought you wanted Baldr back because he was useful.”
Frigg nodded. “He is useful, Queen Hel. Baldr’s good looks open many doors for us.”
I shivered. I’d always known my parents used me in their political machinations, but I’d never heard it put quite so bluntly before.
“The peace and goodwill my son spreads to the realms help us all,” Frigg said, spreading her arms as if she were including the inglorious dead in her statement. “Weigh that against the needs of your bedchamber, Queen Hel.”
Frigg drew herself up tall. “And, if you dare ask for my real son’s opinion, think of where he’d rather be. In Asgard he has his pick of romantic companions from across the living realms. But here...” She let her voice trail off as she glanced around the room. The crowd shifted uncomfortably.
Hel raised her skeletal hand and the murmurs stopped. “Enough. You say everyone loves your son? All the living realms?”
“They do, my Queen. You know it is true.”
“Prove it.”
Frigg’s brow furrowed. “Excuse me?”
“If everyone loves Baldr the Beautiful, then everyone will mourn him, no?”
Frigg’s mouth opened, closed, opened again. “But of course. We all mourn him.”
The corner of Hel’s living lip curved in the smallest suggestion of a smile. “Then prove it. If everyone, and I mean every living, sentient being across the realms, wails in torment over Baldr’s death, then I shall return him to Asgard.”
Everyone gasped. Including me.
“But.” Hel raised her hand again. “If there is so much as one creature who does not shed a tear, your son remains in Niflhel. Forever.”
Frigg blinked. She looked pale in the torchlight.
“Do we have a deal?” Hel asked, in a voice as fearsome as her appearance.
“I-Yes. Yes, Queen Hel. I agree to your terms.” Frigg inclined her head slightly and then turned, sweeping from the room without waiting to be dismissed. Fulla and Hermod scurried after her. My brother tried to catch my eye as we left, but I ignored him. I ignored them all.
I was looking at Hel.
CHAPTER 9
Hel’s living hand clenched her throne so tightly her knuckles had turned white. Her dark hair trembled against her neck. I jumped onto the dais and was at her side by the time she stood. I opened my mouth, but she shook her head, silencing me. I followed her, waiting as she walked from her throne and through the halls, answering a ceaseless stream of questions from various advisors. When I tried to hold her hand, she pulled away from my touch.
I half expected her to slam the door to her chambers in my face, but she motioned for me to enter before pulling the heavy door closed.
“What the fuck was that?” I said, finally breaking my silence as she slid the oak bar across her door, locking us in.
“Shut up,” she snapped.
“You’re the queen,” I said. “You could have just said no.”
She shook her head as the radiance of golden light enveloped her body, obscuring her features. By the time the light faded, Hel was halfway undressed.
“You could have sent Frigg away,” I said.
Hel ignored me, pushing her robes down the generous swell of her hips. It was almost enough to distract me.
“Why did you do it?” I insisted.
She stepped out of her robes and wrapped her arms around my neck. “Shut up, Baldr.”
“Making a bargain with Frigg? Don’t you think that’s just a little bit risky?”
“Damn it, you’re not my advisor!” she snapped. Her hips rocked into mine and my body responded to her heat, my cock stiffening against the seam of my pants.
“But—”
Hel pressed her lips to mine, kissing me with an angry hunger. I opened to her, letting her tongue claim me as her hands ran through my hair and slipped up my shirt. The air filled with the sweet tang of her arousal as she rubbed against me.
“Shut up, Baldr,” she hissed against my skin. “Shut up and do what you’re here for.”
I bit off a moan. In all my long years, no woman had ever said anything like that to me before. Damn, it turned me on.
“What I’m here for?” I growled.
Hel’s hands were already fumbling with my belt. I reached down and helped her, pushing my pants over my hips. My cock sprang out, searching for her heat. I grabbed her ass and lifted her, shoving her against the cold wall of her bedchamber.
“Is this what I’m here for?” I asked, nipping the skin below her ear.
Hel moaned. Heat poured off her body, and I pressed my cock against her wet folds. She was so hot
, so ready.
“Is this what you want?”
“Oh, Baldr,” she moaned.
“You want this cock?” I growled, holding myself just outside her cunt, feeling her entire body tremble in my arms.
“Yes! Yes, please, yes!”
I thrust inside her. She gasped, her eyes opening wide and then closing in pleasure. I shoved her against the wall, fucking her hard and fast, losing myself in her heat, her smell, the softness of her body. Oh, this woman did it for me! Her body tightened around my cock as she gasped with each thrust, arching her back against the wall, driving me deeper and deeper. I growled as our sweat poured together, energy sparking and arcing between our bodies. She was the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen, the most gorgeous woman in the Nine Realms and, in this moment, she was mine.
I didn’t expect her to come, but suddenly she was screaming, her body clenching around my cock, her nails digging into the skin of my back. I froze, pressing her against the wall as she shook and rippled under me. I drank her in, watching her beautiful face tilt back, her eyes closed and her lips parted as pleasure burned through her.
Oh, damn. It hurt, but I made myself stop. I bit the inside of my mouth and pulled back as she collapsed against my shoulder. My legs were trembling by now, but I picked her up and spun, sitting her on the table.
She blinked and raised her head. “Baldr?”
“Lie down, Queen. I am nowhere near finished with you.”
She sighed and lay back, her golden hair flowing across the parchment strewn over her desk. I grabbed her hips and pulled her to the edge of the table, teasing her pussy with the head of my cock. When she moaned I had to take a deep breath, focusing.
“Not that,” I hissed.
Hel had enough time to give me a confused frown before I grabbed her thighs and pulled her over.
“Oh,” she whispered, her cheeks flushing as her feet found the floor. I ran my hand along her back, pushing her down against the desk.
Damn, what an ass! I traced her thighs with my fingertips, watching her skin shiver under my touch. Her pussy was glistening wet, and she whimpered when I pressed my cock against her folds. I entered her slowly, teasing her as she shivered beneath me, running my hands along the curve of her perfect ass as I stared at her body spread out before me, her fiery hair plastered to her back, her eyes closed as she moaned for me. Oh, she was exquisite with that ass in the air, flushed a delicate pink. I couldn’t resist. I pulled back my hand and brought it down on her backside, smacking her. She gasped as her body tightened around my cock.
I reached forward, digging my hands into her long hair. “You like that?” I growled.
“I-oh, I...” she panted, her hips rocking back against mine.
I smacked her again, this time hard enough to leave a red mark on her creamy skin.
“Oh! Yes!” she yelped.
“You are a harlot,” I said, pulling back on her hair. “You’re my harlot.”
Her body rippled under me, grasping my cock and pushing me closer to the edge. “Say it,” I growled.
“I’m yours!” She cried. “I’m your harlot!”
“Damn right you are.” I smacked her again, hard.
“I’m yours, Baldr! I’m-I’m...oh!”
She screamed, and her entire body clenched around mine. I thrust into her as she came, lifting her off the ground, exploding inside her, my orgasm ripping through me like fire, like lightning, leaving me trembling and panting.
I collapsed on top of her, pressing our bodies together. “My Queen,” I whispered, still gasping for breath, “I am nowhere near done with you.”
She sighed. It sounded like yes.
I fucked her hard that night, in every way I could imagine. When I’d come so many times I started to seriously doubt my ability to ever have another hard-on in my life, I bent over and licked my seed out of her until she screamed my name as her body spasmed under my lips. It was so irresistibly sexy I found I could indeed screw her again.
I didn’t want to admit it, not even to myself, but I was terrified. Frigg was the woman who traveled all Nine Realms, after all, making everything vow not to harm me. She was dangerously single-minded; if anyone could make the living realms cry, it would be my mother.
And if we lost, if Frigg somehow managed to make all the living realms cry for me, my separation from Hel would be permanent. It was only a stupid oversight that got me here in the first place. When she made all creation swear not to harm me, Frigg forgot mistletoe. And I was damned certain that little omission had been corrected.
If I were hauled back to Asgard, there would be nothing in the Nine Realms capable of killing me. I’d be trapped in the land of the living, and Hel would be in the land of the dead.
Forever.
So I fucked her hard, fucked her until she screamed and screamed. I wanted to make sure Hel’s next consort had a tough act to follow.
Cry. Making the realms cry.
I emerged from the hazy world of my dreams slowly. I’d been dreaming about crying, somehow. And even now it seemed I could hear the muffled sound of someone sobbing. I shifted in the bed, rubbing my eyes. Hel huddled in the blankets on the far side of the bed. Crying.
I sat up. Hel had pulled the blanket over her head, and her entire body rocked back and forth with her muffled sobs.
“Hey, hey, hey,” I said, reaching for her.
She pulled the blanket tighter.
“It’s okay, it’s me. It’s Baldr.”
Her grip relaxed and I pulled the blanket down. She gasped through her sobs. Her eyes were swollen and red, and her cheeks were streaked with tears.
She was so beautiful it almost hurt to look at her.
“Here, sit up. It’s okay, Hel. It’s okay.”
I pulled her upright and glanced around the darkened room, trying to find something to drink. Mead would be good. Akvavit would be better. But all I saw was a graceful black carafe of water. I poured a glass and offered it to her, rubbing her back until she calmed down enough to open her lips and take a tiny swallow.
“I swear, Hel, I’m going to get some akvavit for this room,” I said.
Her lips curled for a heartbeat. “I can’t drink,” she whispered. “It makes the illusion...more difficult.”
I kissed her damp cheek, pushing her hair behind her ear as I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?”
She trembled, and for a second I thought she’d start crying again. Instead she sighed and wiped her eyes.
“She’s right, you know.”
“Who’s right?” I asked.
“Your mother. She’s right, damn it.” Her voice cracked and I refilled the water glass, giving her a moment to collect herself.
She wouldn’t meet my eyes when I sat down next to her.
“All the realms do love you. And the way I feel for you, what is that to them? She’s right.” Her voice hitched and another tear slid down her cheek. “I can’t compete with every woman in the living realms.”
“Oh, stop it.” I kissed her cheek. “There’s no competition. No one could compete with you.”
Hel shook her head. “No. Thanks, but she’s still right. My needs can’t outweigh the love of everyone in the living realms. I’m selfish, keeping you here.”
“Damn it, Hel, that’s not true. What you want matters. What I want matters. And I want to be with you.”
Hel pulled her hands away and hid her face, her shoulders shaking.
“Shhhh, it’s okay,” I murmured, pulled her into my arms. “Look, beautiful, it’ll never work anyway. There’s no way Frigg can make everyone cry.”
Hel sniffed. “Really?”
I forced myself to smile. “Really. You think people who’ve never even met me are going to cry for me? Please. It’ll never work.”
Hel put her mug of tea down on the ebony table and stared out across the flat shine of the river, the dead side of her face revealing nothing.
“I couldn’t refuse F
rigg,” she whispered.
I raised an eyebrow and leaned closer. She had been especially quiet this morning, even for her. Hel took the news about Midgard hard, although I hadn’t been particularly surprised to hear all the mortals cried.
It had been just over a month since Frigg traveled to Niflhel, demanding my return. Of course the Æsir of Asgard cried for me, or at least the ones Frigg could round up, although I noticed Hel’s father Loki was conspicuously absent from the lists of Æsir who’d cried.
And of course the mortals of Midgard cried for Frigg. They would do anything for Frigg. Or, more accurately, they’d do anything for a representative of Óðinn.
But now Frigg was traveling to Álfheim, home of the Light-elves, the arrogant victors of their little civil war. Those elves were vicious and aloof, nothing like the gullible mortals of Midgard, and they had no particular respect for Óðinn’s leadership.
Frigg’s little mission would end in Álfheim. I could feel it.
“And why couldn’t you refuse Frigg?” I asked.
Hel sighed, staring at her hands. “Because she’s Óðinn’s wife.”
“Yes, that much I knew.”
She didn’t even smile. “Baldr, Óðinn is the one who gave me this throne.”
“Ah.” I leaned back in my chair.
“If I refused his request, or his wife’s request...”
“He could take back the throne,” I said. “I’m so sorry.”
She turned to me, frowning. “Sorry for what?”
“I accused you of being unwise for making that deal. I was an idiot. Slamming the door in Frigg’s face could have sparked a war, or gotten you deposed. But a bargain...”
Hel smiled for the first time since Frigg traveled to Midgard to make the mortals cry. “And Óðinn’s wife herself agreed to the deal.”
I reached across the table and grabbed her hand. “You’re brilliant, you know.”
Her living cheek colored with a slight blush, but her frown deepened. “It hasn’t worked yet.”
“But it will! Come on now, Frigg’s up against the Light-elves. You know they have no love for the Æsir. You think they give two shits about me, or my illustrious parents, in Álfheim?”
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