“I’m so sorry to hear about your loneliness. We’ve traveled a super long way and are trying to figure out where we are,” Ingrid said.
Freya stopped sobbing and smiled. “You don’t know where you are. That is the most peculiar thing I’ve ever heard.”
Freya began to laugh and it was musical. Her beauty surpassed any Ingrid had ever met – including the siren, Huldra, who had wooed them into the cave. Freya looked as young as the four of them, yet she was mature beyond their years. Gods and goddesses weren’t always immortal according to folklore, but they had long life spans.
“I’m finished crying today. You all look like you could use some clean clothes and food. Did you come from Bifrost?”
“No, we think we came from the center of the World Tree,” Bjørn replied.
She eyed him skeptically. “That isn’t possible. Humans aren’t supposed to be able to enter Asgard without crossing the Rainbow Bridge. It is designed that way for our protection; although you all seem perfectly harmless to me.”
Freya stood up and began walking toward the palace. She looked behind her and said, “Come along if you want food and a bath.”
Ingrid began to follow her first, and then the others trailed behind. They were leery, but curious, and the only way to find out more was to jump in with both feet. Ingrid had a jolt of energy from the new development in their journey. She wasn’t sure if it was the excitement of seeing myths come alive before her eyes or finally feeling like there was hope that Tuntre could be saved.
Chapter 13
Ingrid had never felt so relaxed in her whole life. She had an entire room to herself with a luxurious golden bathtub. She soaked in the warm water and pictured herself as a queen basking in her royal tub. The water had scented oils, which smelled similar to the flowers they had stumbled upon outside the cave. The gold of the tub glimmered more where the water covered it.
Ingrid took in her surroundings and all of it was a new experience for her senses; none of it looked like anything she had ever seen before. The walls were colorful, with prints of flowers and embossed gold. The floor was gold, but she didn’t know if it was real or made to look like the actual precious metal. This home wasn’t what she had expected from a goddess’s palace, but then nothing Ingrid had experienced so far had met her preconceived notions. Other than the scary images she had conjured up in her imagination, the pleasant experiences were way beyond what she could have dreamed up on her own.
The whole bathing experience was new for Ingrid. At home she had to fetch the water from the well and then heat it up on the fire. After she had filled a small wooden tub with water, she had to squeeze her body into it so she could get clean from head to toe. That’s why she had only done it once every two to three weeks. Soap was made from animal fat and ash so it hadn’t smelled pretty, but it had helped scrub off several days of grime. Ingrid began to wonder if her body reeked to Freya. Since the goddess had access to warm water that flowed freely from a spout inside her castle, Freya probably cleaned herself more frequently. In fact, all her friends probably smelled awful, but they were accustomed to it since everyone in Tuntre had the same bathing habits. None of the villagers would have even thought of adding something to the lye soap to make it smell pleasant. That would have been considered impractical.
Ingrid’s skin began to wrinkle as the water cooled down, so she looked around the large room for something to cover her body. Freya had taken her clothes and showed her how to fill the bath with water. Freya even added the scented oils, but she hadn’t returned with anything for Ingrid to wear.
Ingrid turned her head and tried to see if something was left on the shelf just behind her. There was something white folded in a neat pile but it didn’t look like a dress. Since she was alone, Ingrid stood up and let the water drip off her body until the air slightly dried her skin. She went to the shelf and pulled the soft cloth from it. Freya did have a gown of the same material, but Ingrid didn’t know how it was draped over her body.
Just as Ingrid pulled the fabric around her, Hilde stepped into the room wearing a similar covering. Ingrid felt a little shy exposing her naked body to her friend, but Hilde never worried about modesty when it was just the two of them. In the summer she would swim naked in the lake that was now frozen. Even though at the time it was just Hilde and Ingrid swimming, Ingrid remained in the water and quickly put her clothes back on once she was out of it. Now her friend was trying to dress her.
“I’ll help you wrap that around you so it won’t fall. I had to try several different ways before I could make it work.”
“It reminds me of what the Romans wore in that one book I enjoy reading. Is this called a toga?”
Hilde shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. Since I don’t help my parents copy the older books, I’m not as familiar with the mythologies as much as you and Bjørn are. I like the newer stories.”
“I like to read whatever I can get my hands on, but you know that. So now where do we go?”
Hilde had finished tying off the cloth and Ingrid looked for her boots to no avail.
“What are you looking for?” Hilde asked.
“My shoes.”
“Freya took all of our belongings. I don’t suppose we need anything on our feet inside this palace. The floors are as smooth as my baby brother’s butt.”
“Hilde! Where do you get all your strange expressions?”
“I don’t know. They just pop into my head. Anyway, let’s go look for the boys. Maybe they’ll be wearing these toga things too. I’ll give Bjørn grief for wearing a dress,” Hilde laughed out loud.
Hilde was right about the floor’s smooth surface. As they looked for the boys, they padded their way through the grand halls as if they owned the place. Ingrid didn’t know how else they would find anyone if they didn’t explore every corridor or room.
Finally, Freya approached them in one of the main hallways. “You both clean up nicely. Now I can stand to be around you. Your bodies stunk. I’ll take you to my dining room so you can start feasting. The men have already begun.”
“You mean Bjørn and Stein?” Hilde asked.
“Yes, who else would I be talking about? We are alone in this palace.”
Hilde snickered. “I don’t look at them as men, but boys. They’re only eighteen.”
Freya gave Hilde a quizzical expression. “Age doesn’t mean anything to me. I find those men enticing to look at. Are any of you married?”
Ingrid laughed nervously and explained, “No, we’re just friends.”
“Good, I wouldn’t want to have to fight you for their affections,” Freya replied matter-of-factly.
“But you’re married!” Ingrid was indignant and jealous.
“So, why does that matter?” Freya asked.
“Where I come from, married people only seek attention from their spouse.”
“How boring; humans can be so dull,” Freya responded.
“Do all the gods and goddess look at marriage that way?” Hilde asked.
“No, and that fiend Loki tries to tell my husband I’m unfaithful to him. I’m not – well, not exactly. I just like to flirt with handsome men. I’m not intimate with them.”
Ingrid had read Loki’s accusations of Freya in one of the mythology books. She didn’t know what to believe, but it wasn’t really important. All that mattered was that Freya knew Loki. They needed to find him, and Freya may be able to help them.
“Since you know Loki, do you know where we can find him?” Ingrid asked.
“I know Loki, but why are you looking for him?” Freya gave her a distrustful look.
“Let’s not talk any more – I’m starving,” Hilde changed the subject.
Ingrid wondered why Hilde didn’t let her ask Freya more questions, but she wasn’t going to find out until they were alone. They followed Freya to a large table that could probably seat at least twenty guests around it. Stein and Bjørn sat at one end, gorging themselves with all kinds of delectable looking foods.
�
�Go ahead and join your friends. I’m sure your journey has made you famished. We can talk after you have finished,” Freya commanded.
Hilde and Ingrid sat across from the boys and began piling food onto their plates. They tried to eat a little slower than Bjørn and Stein, so they didn’t look like animals, but they still barely looked up from their plates as they continually put food into their mouths. They chewed a little, but it seemed they had forgotten their manners as they devoured the delicious morsels.
Eventually, their pace had slowed, and they all felt a little sick from the over indulgence. Going from no food to over-stuffed wasn’t always the wisest choice.
“I think I’m going to be sick.” Hilde rubbed her tummy.
“No, we can’t waste all this food. Keep it down. We may not be able to eat again for a long time.” Bjørn wasn’t looking much better than Hilde, but his words seemed to force him to swallow hard.
Ingrid stood up and tried to get the food to move from her stomach, but she looked for the something she could throw up into just in case. Freya walked into the dining room and ogled the boys like they were her next meal. Ingrid felt a twinge of annoyance with Freya’s behavior.
“I see you all made gluttons of yourselves. Each of you needs to take a sip of this; it will keep you from vomiting up any food.”
Freya handed them a large horn that contained a gold-colored liquid. None of them felt like putting even a drop of water in their mouths, but they obeyed. Once they swallowed, the urge to regurgitate all they had eaten went away. She then led them outside to a large tree that looked similar to the one in Tuntre, but on this one, the top was visible. Ingrid heard voices again coming from inside the tree, just like she had with the one in her village. She ignored the sounds and assumed her ears were just playing tricks on her.
“Is this the World Tree?” Bjørn asked Freya.
“If you mean Yggdrasil, then yes, it is.”
“How can that be?” Stein whispered.
“I don’t understand your question?” Freya looked at Stein.
“I didn’t mean to say it out loud. My friends and I thought we had climbed up the middle of this tree and ended up here in Asgard, but we were behind the hedge maze when we arrived. This is too far from where we entered your courtyard. Also, we came through a hole in the ground, not out of a tree trunk.”
Freya smiled and hooked her arm into Stein’s to lead him nearer the tree. “I see. So instead of crossing the Rainbow Bridge to enter the god’s kingdom, you went through the inside of the Yggdrasil. I know you told me that before, but I didn’t believe it. If what you are saying is correct, it is possible that you came through it in front of the hedge labyrinth. You see, our world rotates. One day, the palace will be on the north side of the Yggdrasil; the next day, it will be on the south side. The maze probably was right next to it when you arrived here, and then the tree moved so that you couldn’t see it after you had gotten away from it. As for the hole, I’m sure you came out one of the holes our groundhogs dig around the tree’s roots. My servants are constantly sending the creatures back to Midgard and filling the holes. They probably already did that before the tree moved.”
Freya’s explanation sounded so casual, like it was such a normal occurrence, but Ingrid had realized that none of this was ordinary. The strange world of Asgard didn’t even seem to be real though she was in it and viewing it with her own eyes. Somehow, she knew that Tuntre was not the real either, nor was it where she had originally come from, but she still couldn’t remember anything about the place where she belonged.
Ingrid walked next to Freya and Stein as they strolled with arms linked. Stein looked uncomfortable with Freya’s attention as she stroked one of his arms with her other hand. He probably didn’t want to offend the goddess, but Ingrid didn’t know for sure what Stein was thinking.
“So what do we do now?” Ingrid asked.
Freya gave her a quizzical look. “What do you mean? There is nothing to do but bask in my presence. You are, after all, a mere human getting to commune with a goddess.”
“No offense to you, but we didn’t come here to meet you. We came here for answers and,” Ingrid didn’t feel like boosting this woman’s ego and wasting more time.
“How dare you! I gave you food and a warm bath, and you have the nerve to demand answers! I don’t remember asking you any questions, and I didn’t give you permission to talk. The men are going to take me for a walk. You girls can sit here and wait.”
“I apologize for Ingrid’s rudeness. She didn’t mean to offend. We’ll gladly wait for you and the boys to return,” Hilde said in a contrite tone of voice.
Hilde grabbed Ingrid’s arm and pulled her to a golden bench placed in front of the World Tree. Bjørn and Stein looked awkward as Freya looped each of her arms into theirs so that she could be in-between them as they escorted her. No matter how gorgeous Freya was, neither of the boys seemed interested in her affections. Yet she didn’t seem to notice their lack of attention and flirted with them as if they were the most handsome men on the earth.
The threesome disappeared into another wing of the courtyard, out of site from where Hilde and Ingrid sat.
“Ingrid, you need to be careful. We can’t afford to anger Freya. What if she has magical powers of some kind and could hurt us?”
“That’s funny to hear you talk about magic when you’ve been so doubtful about it during most of our journey. I know I need to be careful. I just feel like we’ve reached a dead end. If we can’t find Loki, how are we supposed to free Tuntre from the Web?”
“I don’t know, but as long as we aren’t in current danger or starving, I’m perfectly happy to wait for answers. Doesn’t this all feel like a dream? Enjoy the grandeur of this place while you can, because I doubt Tuntre would ever be this nice, even without that black net surrounding it.”
“I’ve lived my whole life wanting something more than Tuntre, but after reading that mysterious book, all I could think about is how I caused the misery we all suffer. I can’t soak up the greatness of this place while guilt suffocates me.”
Hilde patted Ingrid’s hand. “Frey–oops, I shouldn’t use her name, but goddess Ingrid, you don’t know that any of this is your fault. That book could have been untrue. There are too many unexplained things to make me question the validity of it. Why can’t I remember anything past this year? Why would a supposed god named Loki care about Tuntre or you? Why do things happen after you think or dream about them? The list goes on until my brain gets overwhelmed with it all.”
“I know what you mean. I have similar questions – and the longer we journey, the more I seem to have. None of what we are experiencing makes any sense.”
The girls sat there in silence for a long time, staring at the huge World Tree. Ingrid assumed Hilde’s mind was swirling with thoughts as they soaked in the clean smelling air and the beauty of the gold palace’s courtyard. She knew she had to be careful around Freya, but the woman made her mad. It was hard to hold back her questions.
“Do you ever get flashes of images you can’t explain?” Hilde interrupted Ingrid’s ponderings.
“No, I don’t, but I’m guessing you do.”
“I see things I don’t think anyone else sees. Sometimes my vision blurs in and out, like I’m entering a different place briefly and then returning to my current location. It’s too weird to explain so I’ve never tried to before this.”
Ingrid thought about what Hilde was saying and then asked, “What do you see in that different place?”
“It happens too fast for me to understand what I’m looking at. I see you and Bjørn, but our clothes are totally different. The place is bright and well lit.”
“Why have you never said anything about it before?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I was afraid you would think I was a losing my mind. Do you think there are other realms besides this?”
“I can’t know for sure, but Stein remembers other things too. He thinks we all came from another world.�
��
The sound of animal roars interrupted the girl’s conversation. A golden chariot pulled by two large bluish-gray cats carried Freya, Stein, and Bjørn right in front of the bench where the girl’s sat. The animals looked like domesticated cats, but they were larger than any pets Ingrid had seen before. Tuntre had a large population of cats which seemed to keep the mice away, but they never lived long and were small, scrawny-looking things. The animals attached to Freya’s chariot were majestic looking, but not lions or tigers.
“Do you want to take a journey with me? I just showed these handsome men some of Asgard. Since they didn’t want to play with me, I got bored with them. I’m leaving for a few days, but you girls are welcome to join me. I know some gods who might be interested in hooking up with you beautiful maidens.”
Stein and Bjørn exited the chariot hastily as Hilde replied, “No, thank you. We appreciate the offer, but Ingrid and I couldn’t handle any of your friends. We are just humans.”
Freya hooted, “It’s your loss, but I understand. Goodbye!” She circled the chariot around the tree and exited the courtyard the same way she had entered it.
“Whew! What a relief to get away from her. She was very handsy with us.” Stein let out a huge breath as his face flushed a little with his insinuation.
“I don’t want to know. She obviously had the hots for both of you. I’m surprised you didn’t just cave in and have a little fun with her.” Hilde laughed and then added, “Was she too much of a woman for you?”
“I’m not into that kind of woman,” Bjørn chuckled. “Besides, she’s married to Odin. I wouldn’t want to make him mad. There’s no telling what kind of damage he could do to me.”
“Now what are we going to do? She’s gone, and we have no one to ask where Loki is.” Ingrid was upset.
“I don’t think she wanted to talk about Loki. I tried to bring up the topic and she almost kicked me out of the chariot in the middle of a creek. We may be better off finding a less moody god to ask,” Stein suggested.
“Where are we going to find one of those?” Ingrid inquired.
The Web of Loki Page 10