The intimate wear was a bit lacier than her personal style ran but still very nice. Socks and nightgowns and a new pair of running shoes, dress shoes, and combat boots! On the desk, the jewelry tree from the palace room had appeared stocked with a few new pieces of jewelry. A bright blue laptop sat on the desk with a stack of note pads and pens and pencils. Towels and makeup even though she hardly ever wore makeup: extra pillows and a warm throw blanket on the bed. Even the journals from her past self that she had yet to finish reading were there. They had thought of everything.
“Oh my! I don’t know what to say. You guys are absolutely amazing. I’ve never had so many brand-new things in my life. Thank you.” She said as she started to tear up. Karis, Teagan, Eli, and Deacon all moved in, and the group hugged her.
“You’re our mate; you're going to have to get used to us spoiling you sometimes, honey.” Whispered Karis in her ear.
“We have another gift for you. We noticed you wearing that rose line necklace, and we wanted to get you something nice that also serves a purpose. So, we got you this.” Said Eli as he pulled out a necklace that glowed a bright blue like her hair on a silver chain. It had Viking knot designs all around the glowing stone. “If it ever glows green, then that means you're in danger or poison is near you. It detects stuff like that and lets you know.” Explained Deacon. “Oh, wow it's very beautiful, thank you.” Said Aurora as Karis held her blue hair up, and Eli slipped the chain around her neck and set the clasp.
“We have organized a formal dinner party at the palace later tonight. For you to meet our father and mothers and I heard two political advisors had been biting at the bit to meet you so they will be joining as well.” Said Eli. She froze and looked at the guys wide-eyed and fingers white in her lap.
“What if they don’t like me?” She asked.
“You have nothing to worry about the honey; they will love you.” Said Karis as he kneeled at her feet, placing his hands over her now cold ones.
“You are our mate, and you make us happy so they will accept and love you as we do.” Said Teagan with a hand on her shoulder. “Our moms will love you, firefly; they are right; you have nothing to worry about.” Said Deacon.
“Yes, I do have something to worry about. I have nothing to wear to a formal dinner party, and I don’t know the dos and don’ts of Asgard society yet.” Stressed Aurora as she crossed her arms across her chest and leveled a glare at them. They all finally realized they hadn’t prepped her for any of this and maybe had gone about it backward.
“Well, I can fix the dress issue.” Said Karis as he pulled out his wand and waved it in the air. A beautiful silver halter dress with an open back and fine details of blue ravens flying down and around it appeared in the far corner of her room on a dress mannequin that floated in the air and turned in a circle. Once it landed in the corner on firm ground Aurora s mouth that had been hanging open closed. “How the hell do you do that? Its like instant shopping on speed dial!” Asked Aurora as she stared at the stunning dress. Karis just laughed then said.
“We have you covered, as for the dos and don’ts of society no one expects you to know, so don’t worry about it. Just be you.” Said Teagan. The door to the dorm room suddenly opened and in walked a petite girl with brown curly hair and blue eyes, wearing yoga pants and a loose tank top. “Oh, hi, you must be Aurora. I’m Paisley.” Said Paisley as she offered her hand to shake. Aurora shook her hand.
“Yup, I’m Aurora nice to meet you. I hear that in my past life, I was good friends with your mom.” Said Aurora.
“Yeah, I grew up with all sorts of stories about the trouble you and she got up to.” Said Paisley as she broadly smiled back. “Well, I’d love to hear about those stories one day.” Said Aurora grinning back. She could already tell that she and Paisley would get along perfectly.
“Well, we will let you get ready for the formal dinner; we are going across the hall to get ready our selves.” Said Eli as he backed away, wanting to give the girls space. “These are my guards and mates, Eli, Deacon, Karis, and Teagan.” Said Aurora introducing them. “Nice to meet you all.” Said Paisley as she grinned.
The door closed behind the guys. “So, what’s it like being mated to four of the best warriors in Asgard?” Asked Paisley as Aurora walked over to the dress and looked through her bras and underwear for something that would work with the dress.
“Warriors? I guess I never thought of them as warriors before. To me, they are just men with some rather interesting abilities.” Said Aurora. Paisley laughed and said. “There have been many women in Asgard that have tried nailing them down. But they never showed interest in any who tried. They were too busy going on missions and helping fight the war between the giants, demons, and us.” Explained Paisley.
“Oh, wow, I had no idea. I'll is right back. I’m just going to get changed.” Said Aurora as she slipped off her combat boots and padded in socked feet to the bathroom near the entrance to their dorm room.
Walking into the bathroom, she found a normal size tub and toilet and sink. What a let down after the palace bathroom thought Aurora as she realized she had gotten used to that one. Pulling off her clothing, she took the tags off and slipped on black lacy panties and a strapless bra. Slipping the dress over her head, it glided down her body like silk. It fit perfectly like a glove meant for her. A little apprehensive about the back of the dress not existing, she twirled, trying to glance her back in the mirror. The back of the dress fell elegantly resting on her lower back, leaving her full back on display. Her four mating marks with their life trees and the Norse compass spanned her lower back, and her raven tattoo took up the rest of her full back like a full back tattoo. It looked amazing, and the necklace around her neck matched the beautiful silver dress and blue ravens on it. Grabbing her clothing off the floor, Aurora walked back into the bedroom and placed the pile on the bed.
“Wow you look gorgeous do you need help with your hair?” Asked Paisley as she sat cross-legged on her bed.
“I’m horrible at doing hair, so yes, I would love some help.” Said Aurora as she sat on the bed. Paisley ecstatically ran to a drawer and picked out some clear elastics and grabbed a brush from Aurora's pile of things on the desk. Then strode to the bed, settling behind Aurora.
“Well, first, let’s take out these braids; they look like they have been in a few days.” Said Paisley. “Yeah, Amber, the maid in the palace did my hair for me the day after I arrived here in Asgard.” Said Aurora.
“She did a beautiful job. Time for something new. I will do a traditional hairstyle the Norse have used for centuries.” Said Paisley as she undid the braids with expert fingers. Running the brush through her hair, she made quick work of it then started separating sections. She went on, braiding a large braid that she loosely puffed out down the middle of her head. Then leaving the hair on the bottom to fall loosely over her shoulders, she braided two small braids on each side of her head. Then twisted them up like a rose and pinned them in place. Finishing up, she said.
“Well, you look stunning go look in the mirror tell me what you think then I will help you with makeup if you would like.” Aurora walked to the bathroom mirror and gasped. It was beautiful a hairstyle for a strong woman; it looked like her hair was a blue rose at the bottom, and the sides were like what she imagined women in the Norse war would have worn. Silver hair beads adorned some of the braids. Coming out of the bathroom, she hugged Paisley.
“Thank you for doing my hair. I’ve gone most of my life, never having anyone to have girl chats with or to do my hair. And now, in less than a week, I have had both. I really appreciate it, and I think and hope that we will become great friends.” Gushed Aurora near tears.
Chapter seven: Learning new tricks
A knock on the door sounded as the girls finished applying a small amount of makeup Paisley had talked Aurora into wearing. Paisley got up and ran to open the door. Opening it, she said.
“Behold the Goddess in all her glory, boys! You all outdid yourselv
es with that dress prepare to suffer all night watching other men fall all over themselves for her.” Said Paisley in her unique bubbly way. Aurora’s Tigress pushed her way past the men’s legs and went in search of Aurora. Loki fluttered past and landed on the desk. All the brothers who happened to be dressed in nice black tux’s with white dress shirts under them gasped at Paisley's comment, and their smiles turned to frowns at her remark until they saw Aurora walk out of the bathroom. Their jaws dropped. Paisley laughed so hard at them that if she wasn’t careful, she might bust a rib. They had it really bad for Aurora, like her granny would say they gone darn got stuck on that girl.
Aurora stared at her tiger that had been a small cub only a few days ago.
“Holy crap! She has grown like a weed. Scratch that a weed doesn’t even grow that fast! She is insanely big guys, is that normal?” Asked Aurora, who was not even aware that she completely spellbound them. Deacon was the first to speak telepathically to his brothers.
“Do we really have to take her to the formal to meet our parents and the politicians?” Said Deacon.
Karis answered. “I don’t like the idea of other men going anywhere close to her.” Growled Karis.
“Too late, guys. Karis, you’re at fault, couldn’t you have picked a less revealing dress? She did this much work to get ready; we can’t go back on our word now. Although personally, I feel like hiding her away to ourselves.” Said Eli.
“I wasn’t exactly thinking of others seeing her in the dress.” Said Karis sarcastically.
Knowing she would be pissed off if they kept to their secret inner dialog Teagan spoke up. “Yeah, she is a magical being and can grow very fast. Now you! my love, are stunning; you make me want to hoard you away to myself.” Said Teagan truthfully. Aurora grinned her face lighting up as her cheeks blushed.
“Well, we have planned to show you some of Asgard before we go to the palace for the formal. So, we better get going; everyone let’s get close together, and we’ll teleport to the world tree first.” Paisley smiled and waved. “Have fun! You will have to tell me all about it later.” All grouping together holding each other, they portalled out of the room. Arriving in the courtyard where the amazing world tree stood tall and wide seeming to climb the sky, Aurora teetered on her silver heels while getting her bearings. Looking around, she gasped.
“It is beautiful here, just amazing.” She walked forwards, taking in the glowing leaves that hung down from the heavens, the little bay that connected to the sea, and the group of children laughing as they ran into the courtyard and sat down on the stones waiting for the older man.
“Come with us, let’s sit with the children and listen to the stories.” Said Eli as he led Aurora to an area under the world tree. They all sat and waited for the story to begin. A fluttering on wings made Aurora turn her head only to see Loki, rushing towards them. He landed on her shoulder and nudged her cheek endearingly.
“You been away too long. Cook won't feed me fish; he is making me hunt for my food. Please fire the cook.” Said Loki as his beady little eyes blinked at her.
“You should not have bit his ass, you silly bird. Now shush a story is about to begin, and I swear to you, Loki, you better watch your foul mouth around these little ears, or you will have more than hunting your food to worry about.” Said Aurora.
The older man sat upon his stool and looking into the crowd said. “Are you ready for a tale about the god Loki and his mischievous ways?” The children cheered and yelled yes, then sat still listening.
“It once happened that a giant called Thrym stole Thor's hammer and refused to give it back. He was devious and said he would only return the hammer if he were allowed to marry Freyja. No one wanted to let that happen, so Thor decided to pretend to be Freyja and marry the giant in her place so he could get his hammer back. Thor dressed in a dress and wore jewelry and made himself look as womanly as a big bulking God could do.” To this, the children laughed some rolling on the ground clutching their stomach.
“I don’t know what’s funny about this version of the story I remember it differently.” Grumbled Loki, the raven on Aurora's shoulder. She turned her head and whispered. “Shhh… quiet.”
The older man continued. “The God Loki laughed at his efforts as Loki was known as a shapeshifter and could have just gone and posed as Freyja himself. But where would the fun in that have been? So, Loki loved this idea and decided to shapeshift into a handmaid to watch the whole thing happen. The giants thinking Thor was Freyja, got Thor and his handmaiden, which was Loki to the wedding feast. Through the whole feast, Thor was acting very manly and ate mountains of food, and the giants seemed to suspect something was not quite right. Loki made many excuses for the odd behavior, all with underlying jokes about Thor's gender. The moment Thor got his hands on his hammer, he left the giant at the altar and killed his would-be husband and all the guests in attendance as Loki watched in amusement. Thor said that Loki preferred women’s dresses and should be gifted with many.” Finished the older man. Loki, the raven, flew up onto a world tree branch near the older man's face and said.
“That’s not true! Lies! No dresses for Loki! No dresses for Loki! That’s a lie! Thor’s an ass! A pain in my ass!” Squawked Loki. Aurora stood up and glared at Loki.
“I only asked one thing of you, Loki get your bird-brained butt home to the dorm now!” Yelled Aurora as Loki tucked his tail between his legs then flew to the place. All the children laughed regardless, and a few pointed out the funny raven with a potty mouth.
“I am truly sorry for my raven’s outburst.” Said Aurora to the older man who, in turn, bowed to her.
“Children we have been honored today with the presence of Goddess Aurora, the shield maiden of Asgard. The mouthy raven was her familiar, also named Loki.” Cheers rang out, and some kids ran forward to hug Aurora's skirts of her dress. Others hung back and offered shy waves. “Okay, off to your moms and dads for the evening.” Said the older man to the crowd of children.
Grasping Aurora's hands, he spoke. “Oh, my child, you have come back to us again! It does these old eyes such wonders to see you well and here again. I am Cormen, have known you in every one of your lifetimes, and I’d like to let you know that when you don’t know who to trust, and you need answers, don’t hesitate to come to seek me out.”
Aurora smiled warmly at the Cormen. “I knew you in my past lives, then?”
“Oh yes, I knew you in many of your past lives, and I helped where I could. I must say your hair suits you; the blue gives you this rebellious vibe that tells your enemies that you are dangerous to mess with. Your hair reminds me of a poisonous frog in Midgard, and rightfully, so you are right to send that message to those that have hindered you from, ending this war for centuries.” Said Cormen. Aurora decided she liked the older man that had such a twinkle in his eyes.
“Well, it was nice to meet you again.” Said Aurora, not knowing what else to say to that.
“We should get going, Aurora.” Said Deacon beside her.
“It was good to hear your story if I should find myself in need of advice, I may call on you.” Said Aurora politely. Deacon led her away from everyone else, and Teagan, Eli, and Karis joined them.
“Okay everyone get together let’s get to this dinner. “Said Deacon as they all grouped together and teleported to the palace.
Once inside, they walked down to the formal dining room, passing down the marble-floored halls and white paneled walls, they walked into the dining room. The dining room had a gigantic chandelier that hung above a marble table that could seat up to twenty people from the looks of it. Tall, dark wood chairs sat all around the table, ready for dinner guests to take a seat after socializing. Candles sat in the middle of the dark black and cream swirls marble table. Eli and Deacon stood on one side of her, and Karis and Teagan stood on the other; everyone in the room stopped and starred. Eli took Aurora's arm and said he would start with introductions, leading Aurora over to a blond, blue-eyed woman who stood around five feet
tall wearing a yellow sundress. Eli stood tall as he introduced them.
“Mom, this is Aurora, our mate. Aurora, this is Sonya, my birth mother.” Said Eli.
‘Nice to meet you Aurora, we have been bugging the boys to bring you over to our house or at least let us meet you. But they insisted on hogging you to themselves.
Now I can see why. I’m known for not mincing my words honesty is my policy.” She said as she laughed and giggled sweetly. Eli blushed. Aurora laughed.
“It’s good to meet you too.” Said Aurora shyly. Deacon appeared at her other elbow and snagged her away.
“I figured I’d grab you and introduce you to my mom.” Said Deacon as he walked towards a black-haired woman with her hair braided into thousands of long micro braids, green eyes, and a warm smile that reached her eyes. She wore a pair of pants that looked like a dress and a silver top.
“Mom, this is Aurora, our mate, and Aurora, this is my mom Danica.” Aurora felt very comfortable around her and her warm personality.
Grasping her hand, Danica said. “I am so glad to be meeting you finally. Karis has told us so much, all good stuff mind you. I think my boys have chosen well, dear.” Aurora smiled. “I think fate put us together. I had no idea Asgard existed, let alone other realms. I grew up thinking I was human. So, this is a bit to get used to.” Said Aurora as she smiled back at Danica.
“Well, you are in good hands, and if you ever need anything, you just come, say hi.” Said Danica warmly.
A conversation to her left between two political advisers caught her attention. “Something has to be done. The dwarves have been forced out of their realm, and those of us that couldn’t flee became enslaved by Fenrir’s demons or killed.” Said one man. “Things are not much better for the Elves; we still have parts of our realm, but Fenrir’s demons have claimed and held half our realm, making our people flea to the palace region or here to Asgard.” Said another man whose face was downcast. “Just yesterday, a home just outside the Asgard walls was pillaged. The man of the house was killed, and the woman raped and cut several times with a knife. She now has chosen a life as a priestess as the trauma from the experience has left her unable to cope in normal society.” Said another person. “Not surprising. A group of demons a week ago tried to get through the Asgard wall Wards. Luckily our Wards stood strong. But they bring big giants, demons, and anyone else with power they can turn to their cause.” Said yet another. Things must be far worse than she had first realized thought Aurora in shock. Her people and other realms were suffering. And they all looked to her to fix it all.
The Prophecy Page 13
