by JD Nelson
Stunned, I jerked my gaze to her. “You know?”
“Well no, not about the ring, but about the Norse-lands, yes. I’m a faery.”
I exhaled a deep breath as sweet relief filled me. I didn’t have to convince her of anything. She already knew.
She cocked her head and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Are you engaged to the King? Who else in Svartálfaheim can afford a rock like that? Spill, lady. Where exactly have you been?”
“You’ll have to give me a second to wrap my mind around the absurdity of anyone being mated to Kristian, and then I’ll happily tell you where I’ve been.”
Arching an eyebrow, she asked, “You’re on a first name basis with the king?”
“I spent some highly memorable time at Väsen Castle before I came back to Midgard.”
True to form, Chase looked suitably impressed with my little adventure. “Memorable time at the castle, huh? I just bet it was.”
Feigning ignorance, I drew a halo around my head with my rapidly healing hand, then smiled like the cat who ate the canary.
She grinned. “You’ve been a bad girl!”
“Maybe,” I conceded.
Her smirking, mirthful face suddenly became pensive. “Wait a minute.”
Anxious at her strange tone, I sat up straight. “What is it?”
“Which of his brothers gave you that ring?”
“Jakob did, we …” I trailed off and shot my eyes to her chagrined face. “Damn it, Chase! You’ve known Viveka was my mother this whole time? Why on Earth … I mean, Midgard, didn’t you tell me?”
She bristled at my anger. “Yeah, right! So you could go off all half-cocked to find your faerytale mother and live happily ever after? No, thank you!” Noticing my indignant look, she added, “We both know she would have had you brainwashed and doing her dirty work, long ago, if I had told you.”
Laying my head on the counter, I moaned. “That is so true. I would have run off like an idiot.”
“Yes, you would have. Even as a small child you were headstrong.” She patted my head. “It hasn’t been easy to keep you hidden.”
I peeked out from my folded arms. “Small child? How long did you watch over me before we met?” We’d only been friends for a few years.
“Since you were seven. It has been a great honor to be trusted with the safekeeping of Odin’s child. The job would not have been awarded to anyone who wasn’t up for the task, so there’s a fair amount of prestige involved.” She frowned. “Well, until now. I’m in so much trouble because of your disappearance.”
I scooted my chair away from her, just in case she decided to get any payback for me forgetting to call her. “I’m so sorry, Chase. I had so much going on that it just slipped my mind.” Stiffening with a horrible thought, I asked, “Who are you in trouble with? You aren’t with Odin, are you?” I didn’t want to have to fight my best friend, but I would if it meant that I wouldn’t be served up to my father on a silver platter.
“No!” she said vehemently. “The faeries serve no one but our queen.”
“I’m glad. I really need a friend right now.”
She examined my healed hand. “So, sleeping with your Mom’s old male, huh? How’s that going?”
I smirked. “Well, if my brother, Soren, wasn’t trying to cock-block me, it would be so much better.”
She shook her head. “I can’t believe you’re speaking of Soren in that way. It’s so weird. He’s revered, you know. As in, he’s the mightiest of Odin’s sons regardless of Thor’s popularity. Everyone knows the real strength lies within his first son.”
“Whatever!” I said disgruntled. “Soren may be powerful, but he can be a real hypocritical dick, and I have my own talents now, I’ll have you know. Magic that Soren doesn’t have, damn it. We’ll soon see who is the most powerful.”
She slapped her palms on the counter. “You seriously have to spill, Miss Powerful. I want to know everything. Start from the beginning and don’t stop until you get to right now.”
“Well, the biggest news is that Jakob Väsen and I are mated.”
Her mouth dropped open. “How?”
“Do you remember the spell book … the one with the runes?”
She nodded. “Hell yeah, I remember it. It came up missing at the same time you did. I figured that if you weren’t kidnapped, your disappearance would have something to do with the book.”
“It did. Jakob was summoned when I recited a spell. He scared me so much that I almost sprayed him with pepper spray, but then he called my brother and his mate and they came here to meet me. Emelie is really sweet, but Soren makes me want to pull my hair out one strand at a time.”
She shrugged. “Sounds like typical brother stuff to me. So, what did the spell do? I mean, besides call him to you. I wonder if it was a spell to find love.”
“I don’t think so. Jakob read over it and said that he and all of the dark elves on Midgard are mine to command. Whether that’s really true, I have no idea. So far, nothing else has happened, at all.”
“Okay, that doesn’t sound ominous or anything. What happened after you met Soren and the Norn?”
I smiled, remembering what happened in front of Jakob’s bathroom mirror. “Jakob took me to his house on Álfheim.”
“And gave it to you pretty damn good, if I’m to judge by that goofy smile.”
“Not right away,” I said, a blush filling my cheeks.
“Wow … but Prince Jakob makes a stick in the mud look exciting. Why him? Why not the Mad King? He’s freaking hot. Those eyes. They’re just downright drool-worthy.”
“Mad King? Kristian? Please, the only thing mad about him is the way he screws with his brother. I’m telling you, it’s a testament to Jakob’s patience that Kristian isn’t six feet under somewhere. He and his right hand are quite the practical jokers.”
She shook her head in amazement. “Look at you—standing up for your male. You’re smitten, aren’t you?”
I couldn’t deny it. I was in love. More than that, I was in the kind of love that made me wonder what Jakob would look like caring for our young. “He’s my true-mate, Chase. It’s impossible not to love him.”
Her disbelieving smirk faded at the mention of him being my true-mate and was replaced by a look that could only be described as crushed.
“Chase, what is it?”
She stared at the mystery section with unseeing eyes, her mind somewhere far away. “I found my true-mate a few years ago,” she said after a while, smiling bitterly to herself. “He was ruggedly handsome, a giant of a male. I worshipped him, Erin. He was my … everything.” Bringing her eyes back to me, she sighed. “As much as I craved this male, as much as I knew that he was for me, he didn’t reciprocate my feelings.”
I was floored. How could anyone not love Chase? She was stunning. The male had to be blind … and stupid.
She shook her head. “I can’t believe I told you that. I thought I would carry it to my grave.”
“I’m glad you did, Chase. I just wish I didn’t feel so shitty about shoving my happiness in your face.”
“Don’t be. I don’t see him anymore, so it’s easier for me than it used to be. I’m happy for you, Erin. You deserve this after the life you’ve had.”
I nodded and pulled down the shoulder of my top to expose my back and veer away from the subject. I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable by asking anything else about him. No sense in dredging up painful memories. “I got my valknut the second we left Midgard. It hurt like hell.”
She laughed and showed me hers. “We have matching tattoos!”
“Badass!”
“Yeah, well. I think we lose a little street cred because there are millions of others with the same one.”
“Maybe you do,” I huffed. “Damn, I wish I would’ve had the chance to meet Odin. I’d love to tell him how much I love this new body art of mine.”
“You considered meeting with him? Are you insane?”
“Soren didn’t think de
nying his request to see me was wise, and he is my father.”
“So, then why didn’t you meet him?”
“Your queen, oddly enough. She stopped us in the woods once we arrived on Ásgard and advised us not to.”
Chase froze. “Who did?”
I furrowed my brow and sighed, readying myself for more bad news. “Why do I feel like I’m about to learn something that is going to piss me off?”
“Because there’s no way that my Queen could have been on Ásgard.”
Slamming my now healed hand down on the counter, I let out a yell of frustration. “Viveka, you bitch!” That female was evil incarnate. I hoped she could hear me curse her in whatever corner of hell she lived in.
“Easy, killer. What did she say to you while you were there?”
“She berated Soren, but she also told us that Loki had been freed and gave me a shifting stone.”
She sprung to her feet. “Let’s have it. There’s no telling what magic has been put on the stone.”
Terrified by her words, I dug it out of my pocket and flung it on the counter as if it were poisonous.
She grinned at the girly squeal that accompanied my throw. “Relax,” she soothed, holding the stone up to the fluorescent light and then handing it back. “The Queen will examine it to determine what damage it has done. Are you ready to meet the real Queen Layla?”
“We’re going to Faeryland?”
“It’s called Älvornas Rike, and yes, we are. Don’t get your hopes up for something exciting. We are much like the humans.”
“Sure you are. Except for the whole flying and turning into a foot tall version of yourself. Which, by the way, is super cool.”
“Yeah, except for that.”
“Well, is there anything I should know before we go?”
Her perfect, bee stung lips pursed in thought. “Look down when we arrive. It’s bright to outsiders.”
“Gotcha.” I moved to stand up, but hesitated. “They aren’t going to think that it’s weird that you’re bringing an elf home, are they?”
“I don’t think anyone would call you an elf. Not with you being Odin’s daughter.”
The sudden, worried expression that graced her face alarmed me. “That’s not a reassuring look on your face.”
“Nope,” she said, with a half-smile.
“Ugh. This should be fun,” I grouched, as we linked arms and popped out of the shop.
CHAPTER NINE
There was no blinding white light on this journey, only blackness and then an explosion of color. I shaded my eyes with my hands and stared down at the vivid green grass on the sides of the well-worn path Chase was all but dragging me down.
“How can you see?” I demanded of her, tears leaking out of the corners of my eyes.
“I’m used to it. You will become accustomed to the intensity in a few minutes.”
That was a huge relief. “Where are we going?”
“To the castle. Layla needs to know what’s going on.”
Ten or so minutes later, my eyes adjusted and I was able to see my surroundings. It was amazing. The area around us was teeming with both tiny and human-sized faeries that all bowed and then skittered out of our way, chattering with delight as they skirted the many brilliantly colored bunches of flowers lining the path.
Waving to a shy, young female that was hiding behind her mother’s leg, I smiled, enchanted with everything around me. “It is so gorgeous here, Chase.”
She grimaced. “I suppose it is.”
Our walk ended at a gleaming castle with turrets so high that they were obscured by the fluffy, white clouds that were scattered across the perfect azure sky above us. It was magical in every sense. Mostly in the sense that the castle was pulsing with power. I had a feeling that if you threw a rock at it, it would either throw it back, or it would be sucked in, never to be seen again. Not too terrifying.
The second the guards at the ornate entrance saw Chase, they let us in without question, leading us up a massive white marble staircase to a double door. One slipped inside while the other told us to wait. Chase looked ready to jump out of her skin when the doors opened and the real Queen Layla appeared.
“You have found her. Excellent.”
I dropped to my knee to bow the way Soren had showed me and dipped my head down.
“Rise, daughter of Odin.”
I straightened. “Thank you.”
“Your majesty, Erin came back to Midgard on her own accord. She has learned of the Norse-lands.”
Layla’s brows furrowed as she studied me. It was eerie. She didn’t seem to remember me at all. “That does make things easier. Doesn’t it, my daughter?”
“Yes, mother. However, I have additional news.
She nodded. “Come into my chamber, quickly.”
I mouthed, “Mother?” to Chase as we followed the queen into the next room. She answered with an indifferent shrug of her shoulders. This was going to be bad. I just knew it.
The queen’s chamber was an enormous room with windows that lined the wall ahead of us from floor to ceiling. I was sure that this was the best view of Älvornas Rike. “How amazing it is here!” I exclaimed, drawn to the view.
Layla joined me at the bank of windows and peered out over her kingdom. “It is, child. As is that elven ring on your finger. Who is the lucky male?”
For a second, I thought about lying. I wasn’t sure if I should tell her, though I doubted that she would care that I stole the mate of a female that had impersonated her. Besides, she might have read it on the front page of the Faery paper, if Älvornas Rike was anything like Svartálfaheim. “Jakob Väsen is my true-mate, your majesty.”
Her lips curved in a sly smile. “Jakob is lucky to have found you, but tell me, how does your wicked mother take the news that her daughter is consorting with her mate and longtime lover?”
“I don’t think she knows.” I lifted the ring to the light, trying not to show how sickened I was by the thought of Viveka being Jakob’s lover. “I’ve only met my mother once, and during that time, she was pretending to be you.”
The Queen whirled to her daughter for confirmation. “Chase, is this true?”
“I believe so, mother.”
“Show me now,” she insisted of me. “But take care not to burn me. Your eyes are aflame.”
Embarrassed, I nodded and took her hand. “My magic is so new to me. I don’t have it under control yet.”
“Don’t trouble yourself, child. It takes years of practice to achieve perfection, and for some, that never comes.”
Closing my eyes, I focused on every moment of my trip to the forest of Ásgard and was relieved when I heard her surprised gasp. I was doing it right. I hoped she wouldn’t go ballistic after she saw what I had to show her.
Layla spoke before I had a chance to display everything, prompting me to open my eyes. “Daughter, call Kalig and Fedrus to my chamber.”
Chase curtseyed and eyed me with a worried look. “Right away.”
“Come with me, Erin,” Layla urged. “And give me that tainted stone you’re carrying. It must be destroyed. I have no doubt that they have been using it to track your movements. It’s quite clever.”
I dug the stone out of my pocket and followed her, despite Chase’s worried expression. Upsetting the Queen was not in my agenda today. She was pissed enough as it was.
Leading me into a small, cozy room with two chairs in front of a fireplace, she gestured that I should take a seat. “This is my thinking spot,” she explained.
“I bet it’s a great place to read a book with a cup of coffee, too.”
She settled across from me. “It is, though I prefer ambrosia to coffee.”
“I tried it a couple days ago,” I gushed. “It’s fantastic. I wish that I could afford to have it come out of the tap instead of water.”
She laughed and nodded in agreement. “That would be more convenient than traveling to Álfheim every time I get a craving—which is daily. Did you try it at
the market? I’ve heard tales of a beautiful, but unknown, dark elf female with Prince Viggo and the Norn there.”
“Nothing gets past you, huh?”
“You’d be surprised. It never occurred to me that it might be you, though you were missing. How did you find your way to the Norse-lands? Was it the book that Chase mentioned?”
“Yes. The spell I recited called Jakob to me. He introduced me to my brother.”
She eyed the ring again. “It is a hasty decision, your engagement, but you have made a fine choice. Viveka portrayed me well when she said that Jakob should be king. I have long thought it so.”
“Thank you, your majesty.”
She tsked. “There is no need for formality. You may call me Layla.” Noting my surprised expression, she added, “Viveka’s portrayal of me was so accurate, that it makes me wonder if she has been spying on me.”
“I hope not.”
“I, as well, my dear. I, as well.” She gave me the same narrow eyed look Chase had given me back at the store. If I wasn’t so terrified of her, I might have laughed. “So, Erin of Midgard, tell me, how do you find your brother?”
“He can be a bit…irritating.”
“Then, you have spent a minute or two with him,” she said, with mock seriousness. “That is all the time it takes to figure that out.”
We shared a laugh. It was hard not to love Layla, despite the initial scariness.
She tucked her feet under her and got comfortable. “So, does your little rebellion know about the temple yet?”
I tried to keep my face neutral. “Rebellion?”
“Oh, come now. Like you said, there isn’t much I don’t know.”
I caved under her stare. She was quite intimidating when she wanted to be. “We do. We just haven’t found it yet. Jakob, Nils, and Loki have searched for it with no luck.”
Her eyes widened. “Loki, you say?” She cackled with laughter. “What an idiot Odin is. Ordering that male to do anything has no logic. Not after he has suffered by his hand for a thousand years.” She shook her head. “Odin is acting in desperation. That is never a smart move in battle. He should know that Loki will never do his bidding after his torture, and honestly, I am surprised that Loki did not set out to kill you on sight for revenge.”
