by S. E. Babin
Heat crept into my cheeks. “He wouldn’t have killed me.”
Loki shook his head and pinched the space between his brows. It was then I noticed he was wearing a pair of Nike shorts and a heat wicking shirt. Not typical god wear. I blinked and waved my hand at his outfit in distress.
“You’re seriously worried about my attire when we have matching tattoos? What kind of nature spirit weirdness is this?”
I was afraid I knew exactly what it was and, with the way he was reacting, I was quite sure he wasn’t going to like it. Even with all of his pretty words, this would be quite the surprise for him. So I decided not to tell him right away.
I shrugged instead. “No idea. I’m going to call the first of the Asgardians today. Did you want to be there?”
His stare was incredulous. “I look like I got drunk at a bachelorette party and went to the tattoo parlor with my girlfriend and you’re worried about guests?”
I couldn’t help the twitch of my lips. He was right. It was an awfully pretty tattoo. “Perhaps it will fade,” I suggested. I knew it wouldn’t fade. The part of me that wasn’t screaming inside was quietly rationalizing how I was going to fix this little problem we had. This morning, I wore long, lacy and billowing sleeves and a long fluted ring to cover most of it up. The sleeves fell long enough to keep my hands hidden.
“You can hide it with magic,” I told him. “Like human cosmetics.”
He stared at it like it was going to bite him. “That’s...not a bad idea. But I want to know what it is. I do not like going around with foreign magic inside of me.”
A sigh escaped me before I could help it. “It’s not foreign magic.”
His gaze flew up to mine. “Then what is it?”
“It’s a side effect of the binding. I read this can sometimes happen, especially if the other person interferes.” I was totally lying to him. I had researched it in the wee hours of this morning, but the only instance it had happened made me throw down the book and scream in horror. “Give it some time and it should fade.”
It was definitely not going to fade.
I was silently screaming on the inside, but this was a complication I would deal with. I would much rather it be a minor complication, but this was...a big one. A huge honking massive mind-blowing complication.
Because Loki had not just bound himself to me and destroyed Odin’s bond.
We were now bound together in immortality, honor, and magic.
I’d poked and prodded and did everything I could this morning to try and weaken the magic holding us together. It wasn’t like the one I had with Odin. I knew that one was suffering.
This one was strong and bright and absolutely blooming with our joined magic.
I was so, so screwed.
Not only was our bond strong as any I’d ever seen, Loki, standing there looking very confused, had no idea he’d just married one of the most powerful women in the Nine Worlds.
I hadn’t even been divorced for a single minute before I wound up in the same predicament again.
I wanted to weep at the injustice of it all. Instead, I decided I just wouldn’t tell him.
Considering I’d found the information in an antiquated book my mother had given me millenia ago and I’d never before heard of something like this happening, I had some time to spare before he figured it out.
I hoped.
“Come on,” I told him, making sure my sleeves dangled so as not to show off my new marital art. “We have people to welcome.”
Loki groaned but followed me outside.
The first woman to step through was Astrid. Pretty and bubbly, she gave me a wide smile of wonder as her eyes took in her new home. “It’s positively lovely,” she chirped.
Out stepped children, husbands, and wives, minor and major gods and goddesses, some my friends, some formerly my enemies. But we were now bound by something more hardy. More eternal.
Hope.
I didn’t recognize anyone, but the loyalty bond twanged inside of me every time someone stepped through. Until Baldur stepped up. I could see him glimmering through the portal, Bearded and annoyed, Baldur stared at me with a strange look of wonder.
Yet another one of my stepsons, I’d always liked him, but we were never really all that close. I thought he was a good man, but he excused his father’s behavior over and over again. I never complained to him, but I could see he wanted to approach the subject. Not feeling any real sort of loyalty to him, I never did. I never spoke of Odin to anyone else. But our people were not blind.
“Father is beside himself with anger, Freya,” Baldur said, his hand outstretched to test the strength of the portal barrier.
“You won’t get through,” I told him even as I raised a hand up to disguise the area I was in. It wasn’t likely he’d be able to figure it out just by looking at it, but where Thor got the looks in the family, Baldur got the brains. “If you haven’t pledged fealty to me, the barrier will not fall.”
Baldur sighed. “So you’re stealing his subjects now?”
I bared my teeth in a grim smile. “I’ve stolen nothing. I’ve given people a choice. Something your father has never done.”
“Surely there’s a way to work this out,” he pleaded.
“Considering you’re here and Odin is not, I have to feel he doesn’t care too much about me. He only wishes for things to go back to the way they were.”
“Before you blew up his castle?” Baldur’s eyes twinkled. So he thought it was funny, too.
“Just the palace,” I reminded him. “Our joint home. It was a parting gift.”
“You blew Dad’s beard and eyebrows right off. He had to go see a witch in town for a potion because he couldn’t make them grow back.”
I studied my nails. “Maybe I added a little something extra for Odin.”
“He says he’s sorry.”
My lips twitched. Even Baldur couldn’t keep a straight face.
“Yeah, I know, Freya.” He rubbed a hand over his glorious beard. “Just…” he sighed. “Try not to keep pissing Dad off. He has scryers and witches scouring the Nine Worlds for you.”
I shrugged. “I’m done with your father. If he gets pissed off, it was unintentional on my part.” I was lying. Blowing up the palace was totally intentional.
He nodded. “There’s a lot of people waiting in this line.” He looked behind him. “Father will be back in town in less than an hour. My suggestion to you is to get these people through as quickly as possible and lock down this portal tight.”
I gave Baldur a stiff nod. “Thank you,”
“Bright Blessings, Freya.” His gaze flicked to the left of me where Loki was standing, frowning at his hand again. “Loki.” Baldur nodded at him.
“Hey, Baldur,” Loki said. “Great place your mom has, right?”
Baldur rolled his eyes. “Odin is going to flay you alive and roast your bones.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Loki said. “After thousands of years of the same threat, I’m still standing here unflayed and unroasted.”
Baldur’s gaze flicked to Loki’s hand. Something registered in his gaze and my stomach tightened. “Something tells me this time, he might actually keep that promise.”
To me he gave a tight smile. “I’m afraid you might have gotten in too deep this time.”
I raised my hand. “Farewell, Baldur.”
“Freya.” He nodded and stepped away from the portal. The barrier fell and people continued pouring through.
My shoulders fell a couple of inches. Baldur was loyal to Odin but he was also his own man. He wouldn’t say anything unless directly asked. Plus he didn’t know where we were and I thought I managed to position the portal where there were no real clues about our whereabouts. The next person to step up a few minutes later surprised me. I took a hesitant step back as Tyr walked up to the portal. He was massive, as many of the Aesir were, and wore little clothing, another fun fact about them. One of my first edicts as queen was to make everyone put on enough clothes to
cover all their dangly bits before they could enter the palace. It annoyed the vast majority of the older gods, but few were willing to cross Odin. Looking back I think everyone was willing to cross me if they could, just not my husband. I would have to be careful in the upcoming years to ensure my leadership was strong.
Tyr was clean shaven, a rarity among us, and sported a strong, square jaw that looked perfect for punching. I was hoping not to have to punch anyone today, but it was Tuesday, so it was a perfectly good day for a fistfight.
"Can I help you?" I asked politely.
His jaw tightened and he grimaced as he tried to step through and couldn't. "Let me through."
I shook my head. "Nope."
Loki took a couple of steps closer. He had stopped staring at his hand like it was going to bite him, but his complexion was still a little pale.
Tyr's lips tightened. "I'm here to negotiate on behalf of Odin."
"Then negotiate," I said.
"Through the blasted portal?" Tyr's bushy eyebrows beetled together and they looked like two caterpillars trying to get to know each other.
"Tyr, how long have you known me?" I asked.
His gaze narrowed. "Since the creation of time," he said warily.
"And do you really think I'm going to open the damn portal to the God of War?"
Tyr sighed. "Why is it always war I'm remembered for?" he grumbled. "I'm also a lawyer."
I rolled my eyes. "You aren't a lawyer, Tyr. Not really. We don't have contracts."
"Justice then. Damn it, Freya. Let me through."
"You aren't walking through that portal until you are bound."
Tyr's face paled. "You wouldn't."
I shrugged. "I wouldn't. Unless you want to come through the portal. No one disloyal shall walk through."
"I'm not disloyal," Tyr ground out. "I'm neutral." He huffed out a breath. "Or trying to be but you're pissing me off."
"Fealty or nothing," I said again.
Loki shifted back and forth on his feet. "Hey, Tyr!" he called and raised his hand in a happy wave.
This guy.
"Loki," Tyr said. His gaze locked onto his hand. "I didn't know you were into body art."
Loki's mouth opened and I shifted over just enough to step on his foot. Hard.
"Yeah," he said and shrugged after wincing at me. "There's a new tattoo parlor in this place. It's pretty rad."
"Rad?" I mouthed to him.
He gave me a desperate look and shrugged his shoulders helplessly.
Tyr dragged his gaze back to me after giving Loki a hard stare. "He's a strange man, Freya. Sure you want him there?"
"Loki goes where he chooses."
Loki nodded and crossed his arms against his chest. "Yep, and I'm here."
I looked at him again. Was he nervous? Why was he acting so weird?
"I can see that," Tyr said with veiled patience. "Are you going to let me through or not?"
"I can see Odin's inability to listen has rubbed off on you. No. You aren't coming through."
"Odin wants a divorce," Tyr snapped.
Something twanged within me. A deep sadness for all the years we'd spent together. And then I realized he was dumb enough not to realize our bond was already broken. How could someone who ruled over Asgard not have a clue his wife had severed their bond?
Arrogance. Pure and simple.
I smiled at Tyr. "Very well. Tell him I'll grant him his divorce once he releases the Norns."
Tyr gasped in shock. "He would never."
Loki was giving me a heated, curious stare which I was trying very hard to ignore. If Odin was dumb enough to think we were still bound, I wasn't above trying to get something out of it. The Norn were masters of Seidr and if I ever wanted to learn more I would need to be able to reach them. He had been holding them prisoner in a cave far into the forests and using them for his own purposes. They were one of the keys to his all-reaching power. No one knew about them except for a select few. Though...with the way I was chatting, that select few had gone up by quite a bit.
"Then tell him he'll be bound to me for eternity. And when people question him about his bride, he will have to confess he cannot find me. I'll make him miserable until the end of his days trying to find ways to destabilize his power." I waggled my eyebrows. "And he knows I'm just passive aggressive enough to do it."
Tyr's jaw tightened. "I will bring it to him, though this is a ridiculous request, Freya. They are dangerous creatures and should not be allowed their freedoms."
I scoffed. "We're all dangerous creatures. The Norns had always been fine and kept out of everyone's way until Odin took them."
"They're vile witches."
"They control Fate," I snapped back. "They are the most powerful creatures among us. Depriving them means depriving us. If Odin continues to imprison them, the roots of Yggdrasil will wither. We will suffer for it."
"Yggdrasil stands proud," snapped Tyr. "Their role in the fate of the tree is a lie."
I let out a hard sigh. "If you haven't noticed the instability of the tree, then you are a larger fool than I suspected. Release the Norns and Odin will have his freedom."
Tyr gave a hard nod and stepped back from the portal.
Loki leaned closer. "Does Odin really have the Norns?"
I nodded.
"That idiot," whispered my husband, who had no clue he was my husband. "I'm surprised Jotunheim has not declared war yet."
"No one knows Odin has them," I whispered back.
The Norns came from Jotunheim, giantesses who controlled the destiny of man and god alike. Odin might be powerful, but he had nothing on the Norns. I suspected he'd done something phenomenally stupid when he'd come home from one of his exploits way too smug. One day I followed him out into the forests and watched as he went inside a cave. When he'd come back out, a little worse for the wear and missing the right part of his beard, I waited until he was gone and climbed inside of the cave only to see the three massive women cuddled together around a small fire. I'd gasped in shock and when one of them heard me, she raised her hand to strike me down.
It wouldn't have killed me but it certainly would have hurt. No one liked getting squashed by the hand of a giant.
I held up my hands to them in surrender. "I'm Freya," I said quietly.
The one who looked like she'd been living in bath water for the majority of her days squinted a milky eye at me. Her face was so wrinkled I could barely make out her mouth and nose. Her eyes were dark and beady and her hair looked like a mop and a lion had mated. "We know, you idiot. We're the Norns."
"Uh," I said and sighed because of course they know who I was. "I'm here to help."
The second Norn, a massive woman with arms the size of a redwood peered down at me. She was pretty, for a giant, with curly red hair and brilliant green eyes. "You can't help," she snapped. "Odin's magic is unbreakable. The only one who can break the spell is him."
"What kind of spell is it?" I asked as I took a few steps further into the cave.
"How the hell would we know?" the third Norn growled. She was the prettiest of all of them, pretty if you liked your woman strong enough to rip you in half and swallow you in a single bite. Her hair was long and brown and her face bore the seriousness of the Mona Lisa and the irritation of basically every woman portrayed with kids in a medieval painting. She just looked pissed off and I wasn't sure if it was because she was trapped in a damp and drafty cave or if it was just her normal look.
"I could try to find out," I said.
The first one squinted at me. Or at least I thought she did. It was hard to tell with all those wrinkles. "Whaddidya ever see in that old bearded freak anyway?"
I had to assume the "old bearded freak" was Odin. I'd heard worse about him over the years. "He can be kind," I said quietly as I continued stepping closer to the Norns. They eyed me but I was assuming they didn't care how close I got. They could squash me like a bug if they wanted to.
"Kind?" the redhead scoffed. "We're sitting
in a cave held prisoner for the bearded one's whim. I don't see much kindness in that."
They were right. "I didn't say he was kind all the time."
The blonde one cracked a grin at that. "Help us get out of here," she said as she picked up a small stone and threw it at the fire, "and we will owe you a boon."
The one who looked like an ancient wicked witch snorted. "A boon? You'd give this tiny bug a boon. From us?" She rolled her eyes.
"What does it even matter," the blonde one said. "It isn't like she'll succeed."
Anger burst inside of me. One thing I absolutely hated was doubt. Especially when it concerned me and my abilities. "A boon," I said quickly. "For your freedom. Done."
The brunette eyed me a little closer. "Don't like your abilities questioned, eh?" She tsked, but they were so enormous even those soft sounds shook the cave. "A boon and I'll answer one question. Anything you like."
"Agreed," I said. Lightning and thunder boomed above us.
The bargain was struck.
That had been twenty years ago and while us immortals didn't think of time the same way humans did, I knew it was a long time, and I knew I hadn't kept up my end of the deal. I could never figure out what Odin had done to suspend them there. The Norns were extraordinarily powerful but they'd never been able to break the spell so they stayed, inside of that dusty and drafty cave, and around the fire they continually stoked. I visited them whenever I could, bringing them honey cakes and mead. But I could never bring enough to satiate them. Probably because I was not a twenty foot woman and I could only carry one large basket without anyone getting overly suspicious. But they still seemed to enjoy it even if it wasn't enough. And as the weeks passed, they began to chat with me. Nothing overly informative, but about their adventures and travels. I'd known as soon as they offered the boon what I would ask for, but this situation now had me thinking if I should maybe ask for something else.
I guess it would just depend on whether Odin believed me and just how bad he wanted the divorce he didn't actually need. On one hand I knew he probably didn't care. He loved other women too much to commit to just one. But on the other, Odin was concerned about appearances and he knew without a queen by his side, he would appear unstable. He wanted the divorce to allow someone else to step in and fulfill my role. Not that my role had ever been too much. Just basically stand beside him and look pretty and occasionally step in whenever he decided something was beneath him. Not that he ever liked my verdicts, but he let them stand so we would look like we could actually communicate.
