“But there’s something you didn’t tell me,” Bjarke said.
Volstagg frowned. “I didn’t? Well, then, ask your question as we walk. You don’t want to be late for supper and let your brothers and sisters to get all the best cuts of that pig your mother is roasting.”
Bjarke grinned. “You mean you don’t want to be late.”
For a moment, Volstagg wondered if he should scold the lad for impudence, but ended up smiling back. “Whelp! I’ll have you know, I eat like a bird. Barely enough to keep up my strength for when Thor calls on me to fight alongside him once again. Come on.” They headed across the field, Bjarke with his helm tucked under one arm and his practice sword canted across the opposing shoulder. “And tell me, what did I leave out?”
Bjarke hesitated in the manner of a child who worries he’s about to pose a question his elders would rather not hear. Eventually, though, he asked, “What about Amora? The queen was going to punish her. Cut off her head or something. But I’ve seen her walking around the city like some great lady.”
Volstagg grunted. “This is a grown-up thing and may be hard for you to understand. But at the moment, she’s once again a lady of the court. After all she’d done, there was talk of executing her, but she offered the murdered warrior’s kin a huge amount in wergild, and afterward Odin settled for banishing her. She spent a century in exile, and then the All-Father allowed her to come home. No doubt he had his reasons even if we lesser folk couldn’t understand.”
In truth, Volstagg considered it a terrible decision, one they would all have cause to regret when the sorceress turned on the Realm Eternal yet again. But meanwhile, there was no point in fretting over it, or in encouraging the lad to doubt the wisdom of his sovereign.
Bjarke brooded over that for a few paces, then, his expression brightening, said, “Well, at least Lady Sif beat her up.”
Volstagg chuckled. “Yes, there is that.” It occurred to him that he’d gotten so caught up in relating Heimdall’s adventures that upon reaching the end, he’d neglected to underscore the moral that had prompted him to tell the tale in the first place. “Anyway, do you understand the point of the story?”
Frowning, brow wrinkled, Bjarke thought it over. “Heimdall didn’t just win because he was brave and a good swordsman. He had ideas, just like Frigga said.”
Volstagg beamed down at his son. “That’s it exactly. He thought.”
“And I should be like him?”
“Right again.”
“Well, then, here’s what I’m thinking. Before the next tourney, can uncle Fandral be my teacher?” Fandral the Dashing was Volstagg’s comrade in the Warriors Three and generally regarded as the finest swordsman in Asgard.
Once again, there was a moment when Volstagg might have taken offense, but as before, he saw the humor. “First chance I get,” he said, “I’ll ask him.”
Acknowledgments
Thanks to my editor Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells and to Marc Gascoigne, Anjuli Smith, Vanessa Jack, and everyone at Aconyte Books for all their help and support. I especially appreciate it since we worked on this novel while the COVID-19 pandemic was underway, and, as they were working from home, all their tasks were that much more complicated.
And thanks, obviously, to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby who together created the Asgardian part of the Marvel universe. I hope my book reflects the spirit of wonder and adventure they brought to their tales of the heroes and villains of the Realm Eternal.
Author’s Note
This novel draws from both the magnificent vision of Asgard found in Marvel comics and “real” Norse myth and real Viking culture. With regard to the latter, hnefatafl, sometimes called Viking Chess, is a real game, and you can purchase sets and find rules and strategy tips online. Please just be aware that Marvel and Aconyte Books assume no liability if you choose to play against the dragon Nidhogg.
About the Author
RICHARD LEE BYERS is the author of over fifty fantasy and horror novels, including a dozen set in the Forgotten Realms universe. A resident of the Tampa Bay area, the setting for many of his horror stories, he spends much of his free time fencing and playing poker.
twitter.com/rleebyers
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Forgotten Realms
The Reaver
Queen of the Depths
The Black Bouquet
Dissolution
The Shattered Mask
Forgotten Realms:
Brotherhood of the Griffin
The Captive Flame
Whisper of Venom
The Spectral Blaze
The Masked Witches
Prophet of the Dead
Forgotten Realms:
The Haunted Lands
Unclean
Undead
Unholy
Forgotten Realms:
The Year of Rogue Dragons
The Rage
The Rite
The Ruin
Pathfinder Tales
Called to Darkness
Lord of Penance
Iron Kingdoms:
The Black River Irregulars
Black Crowns
Black Dogs
Arkham Horror
Ire of the Void
The Blood of Baalshandor
The Impostor
Half a Hero
Blood Machine
The Nightmare Club
Joy Ride
Warlock Games
Party Till You Drop
Scarred Lands:
Dead God Trilogy
Forsaken
Forsworn
Forbidden
The Paladins: Arrival
The Shadow Guide
This Sword for Hire
Murder in Corvis
Blind God’s Bluff
The Enemy Within
The Vampire’s Apprentice
The Hand of Rasputin
Children of Gaia & Uktena Undercity
The Ebon Mask
On a Darkling Plain Stormtalons
The Ghost in the Stone
Citadel of Gold
X-Men: Soul Killer
Dark Fortune
Dead Time
Fright Line
Deathward
The Tale of the Terrible Toys
The Head of Mimir
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Author’s Note
About the Author
By the Same Author
Return to the Realm Eternal
Aconyte Newsletter
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