Pronouciation:
Sgrìob Chlann Uisnich - skrEE-ub chlown oosh-nich
Ãs an dris, anns an droigheann - AHs an drees ow-ns an droy-an
Heimdallr - hame-dahler
Lugh - loog
Chapter 16
All too quick I was scrubbed, hair brushed and loose, with braids woven in and out of thick curls, some decorated with plain wooden beads my mother had made; as her mother had taught her to, and hers before that. Eirny had even offered perfume that I couldn't stop lowering my head to sniff at. Hati had much the same reaction when I met him in the small room next to his den, full of leather-bound books and parchments nearly hiding a small writing desk. His nose buried against where my neck met my shoulder so he could soak in the new floral sweetness to my scent.
"You smell like you are in heat," he groaned, eyes ablaze.
Choking, my gaze darted to the other two males in the room with us, but neither Caldar nor Vali seemed to be paying us any attention.
"I can assure you I am not, if you seek to use that as an excuse for me not to come with you."
He hummed, his fingers rubbing a lock of my hair with a disappointed pout to full lips, but his gaze glinted mischievously. "Should I expect it soon? It is winter. We have had many females sequestered away for a few days lately."
Maybe he was trying to distract me from the impending fact I was to visit another realm, this time knowingly and with my soul safely in my body for once. It was working. My nervous picking around my thumbnail turned to flaming cheeks and random letters tumbling from my lips.
"I. . .um. . .we...I..."
Lifting a brow, he settled me with a brush of his cheek against mine. "A topic to discuss when we get home then. It is strange to see you stutter my mate. You walk with the barest care with no dress on, have no doubt seen mating couples when the wilds were you're home, but I bring up the possibility of you going into season? I'm your mate. I want to know, so I know when to stay close in case you do."
"Oh." Clearing my throat, I avoided his gaze as I managed to muster up an answer. "You don't need to be worrying about me distracting other males for a few weeks yet. I have always been nearer when the days lighten again."
"If the two of you are quite finished?" Caldar interrupted.
Hati chuckled, not bothering to hide the excited expectation my time frame had encouraged. Even when I dreaded the very thought. Being in season meant being fertile, and with a mate, that meant the possibility of cubs if I let him join me for the few days it would take to break mother nature's cycle.
His fingers interlinked with mine, and a jerk of his head summoned Vali to join him. The small room Hati used to write letters and store far too many books was crammed further with three males and myself fighting for room.
"Would this not be easier outside?" I asked.
"Yes," Caldar answered, glaring at an entirely too close Vali. "But we can't risk anyone seeing. Not even other Vargr. Everyone needs to believe the lie we've woven about your whereabouts, and tonight, I'll have scouts hidden in the forest ready to try and catch the spy relaying to Sköll that you're all away, and that Vali came here if he doesn't already know."
My stomach twisted, so sharp that I worried I'd throw up Eirny's tea. Would Sköll change his breaking to Asgard plan if he thought there was a chance at catching me and Hati unawares on the road?
"Good hunting then," I offered with a bow of my head.
Caldar bowed his in return. "Safe travels."
"Don't. Let go. Of my hand." Hati emphasised every other word by squeezing the hand he held in his.
Gods. How dangerous was this. Could I get lost? Tossed into some unknown realm? Fall into the abyss? Were any of those really more terrifying than coming face to face with deities of age and power beyond measure?
"Ãs an dris, anns an droigheann," I muttered unhappily.
Caldar snorted, then translated for a perplexed Hati and Vali. "Out of the bramble into the blackthorn. She believes you're jumping from one peril only to land in the next."
"I second that assessment," Vali added. "Now is a bad time to be leaving the pack."
"Is that a warning, Vali? Is there something I should know?"
Paling, he quickly shook his head. "No. But the gods play their games. Who knows how long they will make us wait, how long before they deign we may return, what promises or pledges they will demand of us. The pack will notice you're both missing before long, and if the spy does get message to Sköll, it won't take him long to realise where we really are."
"They have travelled to a nearby Jarl to make treaty if anyone asks, that is all anyone will find out." Caldar locked Hati under a stern gaze. "And you have promised to return before anyone feels need to ask. Where you are going is out of my reach, Alpha. Lugh would not stand for me to travel to the lands of another pantheon."
Lugh was a god of my homeland, a sun warrior, and while one might have mistaken Caldar's words to mean that he did not wish to be out of the protection of his gods, something about the cruel twist to his mouth made me take pause. He meant it. He feared what would happen if he went against Lugh by stepping into another realm. . . More and more I was beginning to wonder if Caldar might have more experience of gods than knowing Hati. . .something that bound him to gods I feared I could no longer call my own, and no longer saw me as one of their own.
MÃ nas said the Children of Danu could no longer see me, but if they could still see Caldar, my mother and siblings, others here who worshipped then, then it wasn't distance from Alba that clouded their vision of me.
"Eabha?" Hati released my hand to tilt my chin up, his voice softening so as not to be heard by the others. "You have withdrawn from me again since you awoke from seeing your brother. Is something on your mind?"
And he'd long since sussed that it wasn't grief alone that made me quiet and pensive once more. Maybe that was why he'd brought up the topic of my upcoming heat. To inspire our connection.
"I'm scared, Hati," I replied honestly, squeezing his hand and hoping the expression on my face conveyed my love for him. "That is all. I'm scared about what is going to happen, what we will have to do, what the gods will ask of us, that Sköll will find out I've seen my brother and visit him again." I swallowed and took a deep breath, hating the pity in his eyes, and even the eyes of Vali as he peered around his nephew to look at me.
"I will let nothing happen to you. Hopefully we will get some answers now, my mate. Ask Freyja about what you fear, about your brother, she may be fierce but she is compassionate. She may be able to provide you some peace."
Maybe she would know if there was a way for my mother to see her son again. It felt cruel to keep them apart when MÃ nas had only chosen Helheim for me.
"Very well. Then I'm ready."
Without explaining what was going to happen, Hati waited for Caldar to leave the room, which he did with another warning growl aimed towards Vali, before staring up through the small window. The dark night sky was crisp clear, and directly in view out the window was the cluster of stars and strange smudged pale pink and white light slicing across like a scar in the heavens. It was known to my people as Sgrìob Chlann Uisnich, the track of the children of Uisneach. It was said, to keep them apart, two lovers were buried at opposite sides of a loch, and over their graves, two trees grew. So tall did they grow that the stars got trapped between them, and so the beautiful milky trail was formed.
Hati was staring at it too, but I doubted he knew the story I did, had probably been told an entirely different one. He breathed in deeply, and as he did, I could feel the air come to life with an electric charge, akin to the way the air fizzled before lightening struck. Golden eyes flickered into brilliant wildfire, and I watched him in awe, my own body responding to his magic. His hand was scalding hot in mine, but not painful, in fact I gripped it tighter, sucking in a breath of my own as I fell to the exhilarating sensation whipping around the room.
When he spoke, his voice was but a breathy whisper, one simple, familiar word uttered from his lips. One word, but the strength and intention with which it was spoken sent every loose paper scattering in a powerful wind.
"Bifröst."
My gaze moved from the fluttering pages of books back to the night sky out of the window. It was as if I could see the trail of stars more clearer than before, the light getting brighter, so bright I had to squint. The smudges around the trail shifted and swirled, appearing more like clouds of gem coloured dust surrounding many small suns. . .
The wind grew in strength so stray strands of hair slapped and stung my cheek. Our surroundings began to shift and ebb like the sky did, throwing out shards of light in reds, blues, greens, yellows, distorting my view so much I was no longer certain I was still in the castle. A tug on my hand urged me to walk forward, but it was as if there was a pressure beating back against me, like waves crushing back rock, warning me not to follow. My hand tightened in Hati's to make sure he was still there, and while I felt him squeeze back, pulling to get me to follow him, I couldn't see him. I heard the echo of his voice calling my name as the wind gave a final powerful gust that tore Hati from me.
His fingers slipped from mine.
As if he had been my anchor, without him, my body was tossed to the abyss, my limbs yanked in every direction. Panic squeezed my chest. For a moment I was sure I was floating in dark nothingness, once more blind and lost. . . until an unfamiliar voice boomed out, "You are on the bridge, she-wolf. You need only walk towards my voice."
The amused voice was level and calm, offering me a sense of direction. Calmer now I felt a steady surface beneath my feet, I turned towards where I guessed the stranger had called on me from. I could still see nothing. Nothing but strange blinking lights, like stars trapped behind thin clouds. So I forced myself to go against instincts warning me I was stepping off a cliff edge into nothing, cautiously placing my foot down.
The impact sent out a rainbow coloured flame out from under the sole of my foot, and I gasped as small iridescent embers danced into the air before burning out. The strange flames licked over my foot and up my shin, and while the fissures of heat warmed my skin, they didn't burn. It was more like a pulse of energy that seemed to buzz over my skin.
Magic?
My next step was equally as hesitant as the first but when the same solid mass met the bottom of my foot, and glittering colours revealed the strange surface supporting me, I let out a barked laugh of amazement.
A deep chuckle answered.
I walked along the rainbow bridge with a grin until the sole of my foot hit cool rock, and a gust of wind knotted my hair in front of my face, shielding me from the blinding light replacing the dark. Shoving my hair away, I reeled back and startled when I found myself standing on an outcrop of rock so high above a thrashing sea, it made my stomach churn. We were so high up, there were even clouds, thin wisps of white like sheep's wool caught on brambles, between me and the glittering blue water. On the other side were rolling green fields and forests stretching on as far as the eye could sea.
A breath of awe left my lips.
Asgard.
Another gust of wind made me sway forward, my step to catch myself causing stones to clatter off the edge, and a strong hand pulled me back to safety.
"Mind your step. If I were to lose you now, your mate would be most displeased with me."
The voice was the same as the one who'd guided me here, and I carefully skirted the edge of the cliff before turning to face the man who'd helped. Only when I did, it was what he stood in front of that made my jaw drop at first. A massive doorway had been carved into the side of the mountain, yet, the more I studied it, the more appeared to be not a mountain at all, but building, with windows and towers carved into the face.
"Himinbjörg. This is Himinbjörg," I breathed, my gaze falling back to the man who stood equally as impressive as the structure behind him.
His hair was the colour of a wheat field caught in the rays of a red setting sun, braided in places and loose in others, long enough to fall past broad shoulders. His features were strong and noble, slightly weathered with age, but not to detract from how handsome he was. He exuded strength too, and stood nearly as tall as Hati did. I hoped it was exhaustion that had my cheeks warming as I made myself stand taller and tear my gaze away from strong arms of corded muscle and back to his face.
"You are Heimdallr."
The lines around his effervescent eyes crinkled as he smiled. Eyes that pierced right through me. "Introductions usually begin with offering your own name, she-wolf, but have it your way. Welcome, Eabha. It is nice to see you up close for once."
"You've seen me before?"
"Indeed." He nodded with a smile. "I watched the day your mother birthed you, but I did not catch sight of you again until recently, though I kept track of your whereabouts. In the last year, every now and again, I would see you whipping about the space between worlds."
That was a good way to put it, at least, it was exactly how it felt - being whipped about from one realm to the next.
"You have grown well, Eabha, you look strong. Freyja will be pleased to see it." His lips quirked as all-seeing eyes peered into mine. "She will be perhaps less pleased to see that glint of defiance. I understand. You've seen much grief."
"Because of you," I snapped, cringing before amending, "Gods like you, at least."
The man chuckled, unoffended or understanding, and walked back to the outcrop of rock, folding his arms as he scanned the view. "I must return to my watch, you will find your mate inside, but we will see each other again."
I was tired of people saying that. A shiver went up my spine as I fretted over why I would see him again.
Heimdallr glanced over his shoulder with an arched brow, explaining, "You will need to come back this way to return to Midgard."
My cheeks heated. Of course. That made sense. But I couldn't help the foreboding feeling I got when powerful gods and monsters kept repeatedly promising to see me again, especially as most had cruel intentions.
Turning towards the door, I gulped as I peered up at the massive stone doors. There was no way I could open them, surely. Yet, as I tentatively pressed my hands against the sun-warmed rock carved with intricate, interlocking patterns, the doors moved easily, grating across the ground to reveal a chamber lit by flickering torches.
And a scene of familial violence.
Hati had Vali's throat in his grip, the pair grappling in the middle of the room with their features creased into animalistic snarls. I shouldn't have expected anything less.
They froze when I cleared my throat, two heads whipping my way, Vali with a look of relief. He gulped in a breath of air when Hati released him to stalk towards me.
"I told you I didn't do anything," Vali rasped, rubbing at already bruising skin.
Hati growled, circling all the way around me before sniffing near my head, not content that I was safe and unharmed until he'd inspected near every inch of me.
"I'm fine. I got a little lost is all, did Heimdallr not tell you?"
"He did. But still." His lips quirked, and I gave him the same look my mother gave Niamh when she'd annoy Anndra in an attempt to get him into trouble. Waving a hand towards his uncle, Hati scoffed. "He is fine. I hardly touched him."
Humming, I eyed Vali who was definitely playing it up, but how much of his pouting and rubbing his throat was for my pity?
"We need to get going," Hati said. "I'd like us to arrive at with dignity, rather than be arrested for travelling with a fugitive."
Swallowing to stop a retort of attacking Vali hardly being dignified, I asked instead, "Why have we arrived here and not at Asgard?"
"This is Ãsgarðr, the borders anyway. The palace in which the gods often gather together is not far, and I'd rather we walked than took the bridge that far into the heart of territory that is not mine, that way I can get a sense of what we're walking into."
Palace? Father had never spoken much of the courts of the gods. Many gods of the Aesir had their own halls and lands within Asgard, but of course they would need a place to come together. How many would be there? What would they make of me? Even if I was destined to save them, I was apparently destines to destroy them all the same, would that make some of them wish to see an end to me? Maybe Sköll really was right, I was safer with him than with the gods. He may have wanted me for unspeakable reasons but at least he wanted me alive. . .
The hair on my neck stood on end, and even stood in skin, I could feel my fur bristling defensively.
"You've scared her enough already, can we get going?" Vali asked, fidgeting as he glanced around like something might jump out the shadows. I didn't feel much better.
Hati grunted. "If we can arrive home tonight, I'd be happy, so yes. Let's not linger any longer."
"If Heimdall hasn't already announced our arrival," Vali grumbled as he followed behind us.
"I won't let them do anything to you," I said over my shoulder as Hati guided us down the mountain halls. "You've behaved, and you amuse me, I want to keep you."
He barked a laugh, and while his expression softened somewhat, tension lingered around his lips. Hati bristled at my words but didn't argue. As much as he and Vali snapped at each other, after all Vali had done, I didn't think Hati liked the idea of handing his uncle over much more than I did. But he would if he had to. The determination in fire-lit eyes as they dropped to me told me that. And I wasn't to interfere if Odin did decide he wanted Vali in his keep.
I wasn't entirely sure myself why I was willing to defend the once god, now monstrous wolven creature. I knew fine well if he got the chance of freedom or forgiveness from someone else, his loyalty would switch quicker than the strike of lightening.
Those niggling thoughts fell away when the beauty of Asgard appeared through an open door. The grass was the richest green I'd ever seen, every blade thick and dewy, swaying gently in a warm breeze. Winter hadn't touched this land, not yet, or maybe it never did. I couldn't seen any hall or castle in the distance, just gentle rolling hills and a forest far to what I guessed to be West by the position of the sun in the sky. But if the seasons worked differently here, maybe direction did too, and time. So I couldn't be sure.
A rustle of wings overhead drew my attention up just in time to see a large bird, black against the blue sky, flying towards the hills. Hati cursed.
"A raven?" Vali offered.
Hati hummed grimly. "I didn't get a good look, but whether it was Huginn or Muninn, or Freyja in her feathered cloak, they know we're here now."
He started walking anyway, and I was so lost in admiring the colourful petals of flowers I'd never seen before brightening the meadow we walked through, that nerves were put to one side. They'd known we would come soon, so what if they knew it was right now?
I'd readied myself for a long walk in skin, but when we reached the top of the first small rise, and the air shimmered with golden runes that quivered like they were hung on a flag, I realised why Hati didn't have us shift to fur and run there; besides the fact it would mean showing up undressed. The magical ward hid what was really there from view until we passed through.
When I'd first seen the castle Hati and the pack called home, I'd thought it the most ugly thing through eyes that held disdain for wolves who sought shelter like humans did. I appreciated its shelter more now, but after seeing the grandeur nestled into the valley below, I might see our home like I did in the beginning. Something ugly that scarred the landscape. This palace, while many times larger than the castle, with tall walls gleaming gold in the sun, looked as much a part of the landscape as the sky or the glittering silver loch that stretched out before it.
"It's beautiful."
"It's dangerous," Hati replied gravely. "Stay by me."
I had no intention of straying from his side.
Magic electrified the air, tingling and sparking across my skin. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as my own magic seemed to awake in answer, the hair on my arms prickling with static. Hati squeezed my hand, and at first I thought he was offering me stability as we walked down the hillside, but a few seconds later a wave of cool flowed from his palm to mine and settled the heated touch of magic. Hati's magic was a balm, like submerging in cool water after a hot day.
I smiled up at him, and he chuckled at the amazement in my expression. Even the very air in Asgard tasted sweeter, fresher, fuller.
The grass was soft under foot, and while with each step I grew more relaxed, taking in the view with admiration, Vali shrunk into himself in shuffling steps. He shuddered at the warm breeze and scowled at the glowing sun that shone so much brighter and warmer than it did back home.
Turning my face towards it, I took a deep breath of the floral heavy air. Then frowned as a strange black dot seemed to get bigger between the clouds overhead.
"Damn." Hati scowled and came to a stop at the bottom of the hill to stare at the dot in the sky that grew to a bigger smudge.
A bird? The one we'd seen earlier?
No.
Something much much bigger than any bird.
As Hati yanked me behind him, I could finally make out what was flying towards us at great speed.
A woman.
Her dark blond hair billowed out behind her, appearing darker against the brightness of the sky, and her mount, a horse of midnight black, ate up the distance between us with strong wings outstretched, billowing up and down even while mighty hooves clapped against the air in a steady beat. The tip of a spear glinted in the sun, and I had to lift my hand to shield my eyes.
"Is she a Valkyrie?" I breathed in awe.
"She's no Valkyrie," Hati answered. "She is Gná, one of Freyja's handmaids. She rides Hófvarpnir, who can fly through the sky and over seas as easily as he can travel to other worlds. Gná often runs errands for her Queen in places others would not dare go, so I would not be surprised if she helped keep an eye on you as you grew."
Not that I knew what a handmaid was. She looked like a Valkyrie to me with her tall spear, fierce expression, and huge, bright shield with a large rune painted on the blue background, hanging from her saddle. And when she stopped across from us, her gaze moved over Hati and Vali with the trained gaze of a warrior studying an opponent. She eyed me like I was the potential threat too. If she had been chosen to watch over me in any capacity, there was no care or even much recognition in her expression.
"You are late. You were summoned the night past." Her voice was deep and full, with an edge of weariness betrayed by the bags under her eerie glowing eyes.
"As I am sure you are aware, my mate was visiting another realm last night. She was not well enough to travel here, and I can see the toll journeying to the underworld has brought upon you too. I imagine Freyja was not too pleased to hear how Eabha was dismissed by my Lady Aunt."
Maybe that was why this goddess looked at me so. Had my actions caused her to take her own? At first I felt guilt, but as the goddess mounted high on her horse sneered, it flickered out. I hadn't asked her to go. I hadn't asked for any of this.
Whirling her mount in the direction of the majestic hall still some distance away, she ignored Hati's jibe. "Come. My lady is waiting and wishes to speak to you before the entire realm hears of your arrival and arrives to catch a glimpse of her." She paused to give Vali a distasteful look. "You shouldn't have brought the traitor with you."
"I have a name," I said, stepping out from behind Hati. "And Vali is here to help."
"But if you'd rather I left. . ." Vali grinned and made to bolt but I snatched the sleeve of his tunic before he could get more than a step away. He pouted, yanking himself free but remaining in his place. "You're as bad as he is."
"I'm much sweeter than your nephew," I argued, lifting my gaze back to the Goddess who watched the interaction with a smirk.
She chuckled, a low, husky sound, and nodded her head towards Hati. "You need not look so frightened, Alpha of the Vargr. Eabha will stand her ground just fine."
A compliment. Even if it wasn't directed at me. In fact, not once had she spoken directly to me. I frowned. Why? Did she think me beneath her?
Shaking my head, I took Hati's offered hand and followed the handmaiden the rest of the way to the palace, and whatever fate awaited us there