by Kate O'Hearn
Freya hesitated. This was the one order she knew was going to be hardest to follow. Who were they to decide who was worthy or not? How could she be expected to judge someone? It was all so unfair.
‘Say “I swear”!’ Orus whispered. ‘Freya, swear it!’
Freya could hear the sharp intake of breath from the others behind her as she hesitated.
‘Answer me,’ Odin commanded. ‘Do you swear?’
It went against everything Freya believed, but with the pressure of her mother beside her and all of Asgard gathered behind her, Freya finally nodded. ‘I swear.’
She could hear her mother release her held breath.
Odin inhaled deeply before continuing. ‘Do you understand your position as Valkyrie? That you possess the power to keep the Angels of Death at bay and with a word can command them away from the battlefield. They resent this ranking, but accept it. Do you?’
‘I understand and accept,’ Freya said.
‘Then it is by my order that I command you to arise, Valkyrie. Rise and receive your armour and sword.’
Freya climbed to her feet as Odin took her hand. He drew her back to his wife, Frigg.
Frigg raised the new silver armour. ‘By this breastplate, I give you the power of wisdom in choosing the best slain for Valhalla. May it guide you and protect you always. I welcome you, young Valkyrie.’
‘Lift your arms and open your wings,’ Orus softly instructed.
Freya felt as if she was in a dream as she lifted her arms and opened her wings fully. Frigg approached and placed the silver breastplate into position on her chest. The heavy armour fell down past her waist. She had never been measured for it yet, somehow, it fit the lines of her body perfectly. The leather straps were then fed around her body and under the wings at her back to be fastened at her right side.
With her breastplate in position, Frigg kissed Freya lightly on the forehead and took several steps back.
Next, Thor came forward. He put his hammer down as he lifted the silver winged helmet high above Freya’s head.
‘With this helmet, I grant you speed and stealth. No human eyes will rest upon you as long as you wear it. Only the dead and dying may see you as you truly are. Take this helmet and protect it. With it lies your power of secrecy.’ He paused and his blue eyes threatened. ‘But be warned. Never allow a living human to wear your helmet. To do so will cause the helmet great suffering and its cries will be heard in all Asgard.’
Thor took a step closer and put the silver winged helmet on Freya’s head. When it was in place, Freya felt everything change. She became dizzy and light-headed. The world around her drained of colour, as though she was gazing through a dense fog. Maya always said it was harder to see with her helmet on. Freya now understood what she meant. Though the helmet made her invisible and part of the ethereal realm, it had a cost. That cost was her clear, colour-filled vision.
She felt herself starting to fall. Thor’s strong arms went fast around her.
‘Steady . . .’ he said. ‘It takes a moment to adjust.’
Freya recovered, but still felt very strange, almost as if she weighed nothing. Distracted by the strange sensations coursing through her body, Freya was unaware of the silver gauntlets being drawn up her arms or the heavily jewelled dagger being placed at her waist.
When she was fully dressed in the armour of the Valkyrie, Odin came forward again. In his hand he carried a newly forged sword. Her sword.
Freya had seen Odin perform this part of the ceremony many times, and had watched her sisters going through it. But now that it was her turn, her fear returned.
Odin lowered the sword until the tip was resting halfway down her gown, just above her knees. He reached forward and pierced the fine fabric with the sharp tip. Then, as Freya stood perfectly still, he used the sword to cut away the lower length of the gown all the way around her body.
When he finished, the jagged edge of fabric rested against her thighs as the lower half of her beautiful gown lay on the floor in ruins. Looking down at herself, she knew this signalled the end of the life she had known. She was turning fourteen. It meant she was no longer a child, or a girl or even a young woman. She was now . . .
Valkyrie.
For Toulouse
Who always says:
‘I don’t write the books, I just make them better . . .’
Thanks, Tou
Love you
Copyright © 2015 Kate O’Hearn
This epub edition published in Great Britain in 2015 by Hodder Children’s Books
The right of Kate O’Hearn to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form, or by any means with prior permission in writing from the publishers or in the case of reprographic production in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency and may not be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A Catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Epub conversion by Avon DataSet Ltd, Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire
ISBN 978 1 444 92239 4
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