by D D Mathews
She hung up and turned to Katia, “Have you ever been to Stockholm, I’m unsure where we should stay when we are up there.
Katia responded like nothing else was going on, “I’m sorry sister. I was taken up there once when my sister was to be married to some Viking fool, I was thirteen, I don’t remember much, except his breath smelled like fish.” Nuri laughed as Ursula announced Lutsk again.
“Duchess Nuri, I wish to speak to you sister about our other sister Katia,” Nuri could hear teeth grinding, “She is dangerous and power hungry, she will stab you in the back the second you turn away from her. I’m the only one who knows how to manage her. Please see that she is sent home as soon as possible.“
“Well, if I’m such a danger to your sister, maybe I should stay here,” Katia said loudly into the speaker.
Nuri added, “Katia is under my protection, an attack against her is an attack against all of her Krakow sisters. Goodbye.” Nuri ended the call.
Katia was now part of Nuri’s family too. She wasn’t sure where she would fit, or what she would do, but she didn’t doubt Katia’s ability to handle anything.
***
Two days later, the call Nuri was waiting for came. She had wondered why it took so long. The queen accused, “I know he was there, the King of the Vikings is pissed. He wants answers. He wants somebody’s head. I offered him you; you stupid girl,” saying the last part like Nuri should be scared.
Nuri response confused the queen, “Thank you for tracking me down, I will, of course, be leaving for Stockholm soon to explain everything to his honorable King. Don’t you worry about this silly little nuisance a second longer. I will report back when everything is fixed. Do zobaczenia.” She ended the call and ordered Ursula to get Tamara and the rest of the girls in the office.
Once everyone was there, not including Mouse and Yuli, Nuri explained her plan. Tamara and Katia added a few suggestions which Nuri thought about and revised her initial plan slightly. She spoke to everyone. “I do this for all of you, my sisters. We will not bow down when we are right. We will not bow down when we are strong. I must leave some of you here to protect our lands, but trust me; you will all be in my heart when I fight for us. I believe this will help guide, not just us, but all Amazons to better things.” She smiled at each of her family members, “Okay you all have work before we leave Friday.”
They all left and started working toward her goal, Nuri hoped she would be able to defeat Alek, she knew he wanted her dead, now she just had to fight him.
Chapter 25
Colin returned the next morning to Nygaard’s to spend more time with Lovisa in her greenhouse. Her enthusiasm about flowers was infecting him and he started caring about the flowers like she did. For every flower name he could remember correctly, she would let him kiss her. Her scent, grass and dark chocolate, invaded his mind.
After a full afternoon with Lovisa, he returned to the hotel. Colleen had left a message; she needed to talk to him. He showered, cleaning off the dirt and headed up to the penthouse. He was let in by the security guy. Colleen was pacing around the room agitated, a double of whiskey in her hand. He didn’t like Colleen when she was drinking and he didn’t like her when she angry, he couldn’t imagine how bad she would be both drunk and angry.
“Bout time, lover boy,” she accused Colin right out of the gate, “I hope you are having fun playing patty cake with that silly girl. These Vikings are the worse kind of wolves, stupid and unyielding. Don’t they see their way of living is over? The way they treat other wolves is disgusting and the way they treat females is criminal. I’ve never been so frustrated in my life. How fucking hard is it to open your eyes and see what is plainly in front of you. Well?” She yelled the last part.
Colin didn’t have an answer to her rant, so he decided to give her good news, “Things are going well with Lovisa.”
“Wonderful, how the fuck does that help me?” she said sarcastically. Colin hadn’t redirected her anger away from him instead he had focused it on him. He didn’t want to spend all night listening to Colleen complain. So he weighed his options. He could wait for her to tire or get in a screaming match with her about the Vikings. Neither would change their dynamic so he opted for action. He walked over to her and slapped her in the face. She dropped her drink and started to get truly angry.
He grabbed her arms and said, “Stop whining, if your grandmother was here she wouldn’t put up with this and neither will I. Get your head on straight and come up with the best possible plan.” Colleen still looked like she wanted to rip off Colin’s head. He finished by asking, “What can I do to help, to keep you sane and help save our clan?” She finally relaxed and Colin let go of her arms. She didn’t cry or retaliate. She seemed more like herself, detached. Colleen walked over to the bar and poured two drinks, Colin followed.
“We can’t save these werewolves; we must target a few and let the others die out. I need your thoughts on the families you’ve met.” Colin much preferred working with Colleen instead of fighting her. They got down to business and started culling the ones who could be saved.
“I think the Nygaards can be saved, but the Hexums, screw them…“
***
The Viking’s “Rite of Initiation” was held on Friday night. Colleen drove them to the site in her rental car, the GPS helped guide them out of Stockholm. During the ride, Colleen kept talking and analyzing the wolves that could be saved. Sadly, Colin came to the same conclusion, not many.
“I think we could get the Leif children to come with us,” stated Colleen.
“Except for their parents Acke and Kristina, those two will never come with us. They’re Viking through and through,” retorted Colin.
“That doesn’t mean the children are.“
“True, but unless you want a reputation for stealing children, you should focus somewhere else.“
“What about Milly, Kajsa, and Jon?” Colleen asked. Colin agreed with her on them and suspected Isak wouldn’t come fighting for them. But trying to sneak them away or get Milly to run away to Ireland was an unrealistic goal.
He simply responded, “Maybe.“
“Okay, you close the deal with Lovisa and work on the Nygaards. That leaves the Falcks.” Colleen said. They had fought about the Nygaards some, but the real fight was over the Falcks. Colin liked Kai and Erika; he was less sure about Alek. After witnessing his shame, Colin thought they should try and bring him with his parents. Colleen was against the Falcks completely. She had spent a lot of time with them and her opinion was less kind.
“Kai is a selfish clown who raised a monster. Alek is the type of werewolf people have vilified for hundreds of years. He believes women are rubber dog toys to be attacked, chewed on, and thrown away. And his father isn’t much better.” Colleen railed as they motored into the woods.
“I liked Kai,” Colin tossed his opinion into the conversation, “And Erika is nice.“
Colleen accepted the stalemate on the Falcks and said, “We’ll talk about this later.”
Colin knew that probably wouldn’t happen. He spent the rest of the drive looking out the window. The road twisted through tall evergreens. The sun was setting slowly and spring was everywhere. Snow and ice from winter was replaced with tons of green. The growth was fast and affected everything on the landscape around him. Colin liked Sweden but missed his home. He had never been away from Ireland, his family, or his clan for so long. He smiled as he remembered the night he won The Ephemeris. He felt a pang of sorrow when he remembered how his clan treated him growing up. He laughed a little to himself remembering dinner with the Rileys or the McCarthy or even the O’Rinns. Colin’s mind wandered until they reached the ritual site.
***
Colleen pulled the rental around a small curve in the road opening into a gentle meadow on a crystal clear lake. About two dozen cars were parked near the entrance along with three moving trucks on a slight decline. The sun still shone on the multitude of Vikings getting ready for the initiation. Colle
en parked the car, while Colin looked at all the commotion. Children were running around and playing while every adult wolf was carrying, unloading, or building something. The whole scene reminded Colin of when his middle school did a Christmas play.
Colleen turned off the car and grabbed his arm before he could jump out. “You have to finish the deal with Lovisa, try to work on her parents also.” She looked him in the eyes for a long moment and continued, “I’ll convince Milly.” He nodded, so she released him and they both exited the car.
Quickly both were conscripted into helping with the set-up. Colleen was pulled into Kristina Leif’s web of unloading food. Colin lost track of her when Kai, who was wearing a dead reindeer over his shoulder, asked him to help carry things from the trucks down the hill. Colin along with Acke Leif, Tomas Erikson, Alek Falck, and the Jorgensen brothers moved a large amount of lumber near the water. He couldn’t understand what all of this was for.
After moving all the lumber, Kai appeared and started directing the men to build. Colin screwed block legs into a flat board. The platform, when finished, would be eight feet by four feet with six inches of height. He wiped his face off and saw Lovisa near the lake. She was wearing a white dress and stood next to Elsa Leif. Both girls looked nervous. He set down his electric screw gun and headed over to the girls.
Alek Falck blocked him as he tried to leave the platform building area, “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m going to wish Lovisa good luck,” Colin answered.
“No one speaks to the initiates before the ritual.” Alek smiled cruelly. Colin didn’t understand the animosity.
“Can you tell her good luck for me?“
“No one speaks to her.”
Colin felt like Alek was enjoying keeping him from her. He had met bullies like this, but Alek seemed to be enjoying this more than normal. He started to think maybe Alek got exactly what he deserved.
“Hey Colin,” said a familiar voice from home. He turned to see Mandy. He couldn’t believe it. He was missing home an hour ago and now a little piece of it was in front of him.
Erika Falck stood next to her and introduced her to the Vikings, “Okay guys, this is Mandy Connelly from Dublin; she came up yesterday to witness our initiation ritual and help out. She didn’t want to help us ladies with the food, so I thought she could help you guys here.“
Colin gave Alek one last look and headed over to greet her, “I can’t believe it. What are you doing here?” joyfully Colin asked. Everyone else returned to finishing the platforms.
“I guess I’m building a platform for that silly man over there.” She pointed to Kai who was fighting with the reindeer on his shoulder.
Colin gave her a big hug and said, “I’m so happy to see you.“
She looked into his eyes and smiled. She squeezed his hand and said, “Come on dopey. Let’s get to work.” They worked together to finish the platform he had started. The build crew took almost two hours to finish all the work. The sun had set and torches had been set up all around the meadow. Colin thought the flames created an old-world atmosphere that added to the rite. He felt like an ancient Viking raider, with an electric screw gun.
Colin caught Mandy giving him side glances and smiles as they worked on a third platform. This one, when finished would be about three inches off the ground. He thought the Vikings could stand on the ground at that rate but this wasn’t his ritual.
Mandy told him about everything at home. She told him his father was doing fine. Apparently, Ariel O’Rinn had already run off with some old boyfriend to London. Colin wasn’t surprised. She also told him about the fallout from The Ephemeris. Clan members were starting to talk about Osmund behind his back about his leadership style. It wasn’t much but Colin felt like he had played an integral part in Celts second-guessing the asshole. Mandy was energetic and easy to talk to. They had so much in common. And, even though building a ground level platform wasn’t a great gauge, they worked well together. Mandy came over to him and asked for the electric screwdriver. He put the tool forward and when she grabbed for it, he moved it away from her. A playful tussle started between them. She grabbed his wrist and he held the screw gun over his head. The game was about to escalate when yelling came from the other side of the building area.
“Just drop it!” hollered Alek in rage. All the Vikings building platforms and most everyone else stopped and watched. “I’ll deal with it!” he screamed.
Alek pushed his father away, which caused Kai to step back. Alek was red in the face with insane anger.
“I can help,” Kai responded.
“I don’t need your help,” spat Alek.
“Fine, but this behavior is unacceptable to your King.” Kai played the leader card, instead of the dad card.
“Fuck you, my lord!” Alek yelled and threw the power tool he was using into his father’s chest, turned and walked away from the work site.
Kai rearranged the reindeer, looked around embarrassed, and said calmly, “Let’s get back to work. We have a long night ahead of us.“
***
Veronika found her old clan in the dream world. The odor of Kai was burned into her memory from childhood. He smelled of strawberries and leather, she didn’t know why that was his smell but even dreaming she could smell it easily. She had moved the location around Joseph and herself. They stood near a tree line in front of a spacious meadow. The entire clan was here, a lot of activity was going on. It looked like the boring “Rite of Initiation.” She didn’t tell Joseph the truth, she simply pointed out who was who. She pointed out Kai and his son Alek when an argument exploded. She pointed out the Hexums, the Jurgensens, and the Eriksons. These were the main targets.
“First take out Kai Falck, the chaos should help you dispatch the rest fairly easily.“
“What about Isak? Where is he? Should I attack him too?” Joseph asked.
“Don’t worry about him, lover. I’ll take care of him myself. I want you to decimate the Vikings; I’ll clean up the stragglers.” She kissed him passionately. “Do you need more time to memorize the targets?” Joseph shook his head no. “Good, I’ll spy on them over the next couple of days and find the perfect time to attack. Let’s get back to the cabin.“
Veronika took one last look over her old clan. She saw her brother set up the tallest platform, the Step of Achievement. She smelled his rancid meat and ash smell. He revolted her, but not for much longer. She moved the dream around her back to her family’s cabin and awoke in the master bed with her young Indian.
***
The building was done and the stage was set for the Viking initiation rite. Colin finally understood when the thirteen platforms were connected to create a curved line of steps. Each step would move the initiate up a little higher.
Dark had surrounded them, the entire clan came together on the inside curve of the steps. The torches had been moved to help light the event better. Nine of the adult Vikings stepped from the crowd and walked up the steps, each stopping at a different height. The king was at the top step. He stood still and solemn as Laila Nygaard at the lowest step started the ritual. Her voice carried over the crowd and she spoke for a couple minutes about the Vikings, the Rite of Initiation, and the two girl initiates. Colin was fascinated for six minutes and then the ritual became tedious.
Both girls interacted with an adult Viking at each step for about fifteen minutes. They did ritual handshakes and stagey movements along with memorized passages. The ritual was formal but didn’t require much beyond the ability to memorize words. There was no Contest, no fighting, no violence, or politics; it was all theater.
Colin watched Lovisa, but Mandy’s hand on his distracted him. The rite was unbearably dull and Mandy’s presence was very exciting in comparison. He liked Lovisa and he liked Mandy. Now that both were here, he worried about hurting someone’s feelings.
After the first step, the Leif and Knutsen children were fidgeting and after the fourth step so was everybody else. The ritual was like a
n endurance test…for the audience. After the Leif twins, Christian and Finn broke the silence of the ritual with whispering. So did the adults. The ritual still had six more steps.
“She’s cute in a pale porcelain way,” Mandy whispered into Colin’s ear.
“She’s also very smart and kind,” he said hoping this would end Mandy’s negative comments; it didn’t.
“I bet she’s fragile like porcelain too. She looks like her parents coddled her.“
“It’s different here, she’s sweet,” Colin said sounding overprotective.
“That’s my point. Do you want a girl who had been protected all her life? A girl you’ll have to protect all your life. What if she breaks?” Mandy asked slipping the idea into Colin’s head.
He didn’t want to think about it. He believed she was the key to saving the Celts. She was also a pretty girl who liked him.
“Shhh. I’m listening,” Colin said pulling his hand away from Mandy’s. She didn’t take offense and focused on the ritual again.
Lovisa had moved to the tenth step, the Elsa girl was still on the ninth with Soren Jurgensen talking about the Step of Honor. Colin had no idea what that meant, but he needed something to think about instead of Mandy.
He listened to Elsa Leif. “I will honor the Vikings, the fallen heroes, the gods, my family and myself. Honor is the responsibility of every werewolf. Without honor, we are lost. Lost to the clan and lost to ourselves. Honor helps guides the clan to do right. When challenged in life, a Viking should look to honor to help guide him. And I promise I will always let honor guide me when challenged. This I promise to you, Soren my elder, my brother, my friend.“