by S. E. Babin
He was around four foot tall and carried two large hand axes. I’d never seen him wield either, but both appeared to be clean and well cared for. Unlike the dwarf himself. His hair stuck up in wild tufts like he’d gotten stuck in a lightning storm and had forgotten how to run. His eyes were a deep and verdant green, like the color of a forest floor on an overcast day. Gravelbeard’s nose was a little too large for his face and his cheeks were flecked with both dirt and scars. He had roving eyes but a warrior’s stare and I had always liked him, but I always feared him a little, too.
“I’ll follow you, Freya,” the dwarf said as he motioned for the bartender to bring him another.
I crossed my hands in my lap calmly but my heart roared like the ocean. Part of it was fear and the other wonder. “How did you know?” I asked quietly.
“Dwarves do not possess magic,” Gravelbeard said. “But we are possessed of a watchful eye and a keen nose for politics. Anyone like me could see you’d rather run a knife across Odin’s throat than lay with him as a wife.”
I swallowed hard and nodded.
“Get out of here,” he said with his disused voice. “You’re diminishing my chance with the lasses.”
“Of course,” I said, careful to keep the smile off my face.
“No need to find me,” he said as I began to walk away. “I’ll find you.”
And that was Gravelbeard in a nutshell. A creepy, intelligent dwarf with knife skills like a trained chef and the ability to smell out a fresh herb like a bloodhound.
Too bad he seemed like he was kind of a pervert.
“I told everyone it might be small bites tonight to give you the chance to settle in.”
Gravelbeard grumbled. “No need to settle in. I’m ready.”
“Okay. Then what’s on the menu tonight?” I asked as I leaned over the area separating the kitchen from the bar.
He grunted.
“If you’re ready, I really need you to tell me so I can add it to the menu.”
The dwarf spun around, fire in his eyes and a sneer on his mouth. “The menu?” he spat. “The menu? You tell them sons a bitches out there that they’ll eat what I give them or they’ll eat nothing at all!” He gesticulated with his hands wildly as he roared and I simply stared back at him.
“There’s quail, chicken and beef in the fridge. We have a stocked pantry, eggs, milk, cream, and all the herbs you could want. The stocks are full of veggies and I roasted some garlic a few days ago. Tell me again what you’re making this evening,” I said calmly.
Gravelbeard narrowed his eyes and I let a hint of my magic roll through mine.
It was a standoff for a moment before he rolled his eyes and turned his back to me. “The special is roasted quail with braised carrots. If they don’t want the special, they can damn well order off the regular menu.” He peeked over his shoulder. “And for the love of the All Father woman, please do not make me make cheese sticks.”
I put my hand up and grinned behind it. “Sorry, dwarf. There are kids here. There might be cheesesticks.”
I turned around and was walking back to the front but not before I heard him mutter, “Damn kids don’t belong in a tavern, for Odin’s sake!”
For once I agreed with Gravelbeard.
After I got back into the bar area, I quickly changed the chalkboard sign to reflect the current special. I grabbed two aprons from the hook on the side of the bar, tossed one to Loki, and put the other over my head and tied it behind my back.
“What’s this?” Loki asked in confusion as he studied what I’d just thrown him.
“It’s called an apron,” I said. “You put it over your clothes so they don’t get dirty.”
His confused look didn’t abate. “Why in the world would I get dirty?”
“Because you’re going to be carrying food in and out of the kitchen for the rest of the evening. Chop, chop, Trickster God. Get up and get a notepad.”
“No,” he said in horror.
“Yes,” I said with glee.
Loki got up and got a notepad, but his eyes trailed me for the rest of the evening.
Three hours later, everything on my body hurt, but the first night at Freya’s was a rousing success. I had no idea how much money we’d brought in, nor was I all that concerned about it. Whatever money was made would go straight back into improving the town. I’d work out all the logistics later as far as jobs and all of that but right now all I wanted to do was sink into a tub of hot, bubbly water and relax.
The last of the stragglers trickled out and waved goodbye. Gravelbeard’s special was very well received, though his expletive riddled tirade every time an order of mozzarella went back was not. Most people thought it was hilarious. Those with children would hiss and dive to cover their precious one’s ears. I did not reprimand him, though. The rate this was going I wouldn't have to enforce a rule not to bring kids in here. They’d avoid it just to keep from hearing Gravelbeard’s creative and colorful use of language.
Loki’s voice from behind my ear startled me and I let out a little squeak as his breath brushed my hair.
“Why do I have the overwhelming urge to touch you all the time?” His fingers flicked back a piece of my hair from my neck. “Is it these?”
I spun around to see him studying his hands. “What are you not telling me, little witch?”
Swallowing hard, I plastered a smile on my face and grabbed a towel to busy myself so I wouldn’t fidget. I grabbed a glass tumbler, dried it, set it on the rack, and kept going. “I told you, Loki. I’m not sure.”
“This is not a normal binding. We both know this. Something happened between us.”
“I thought you said you’d wait for me to tell you.”
A smile lit his face and his green eyes gleamed. “I knew you were hiding something.”
I rolled my eyes and turned my back to him. “There’s nothing to hide. You’re free to go any time.”
There was a pause. “Is that what you want?” he asked quietly.
I didn’t answer right away. A small part of me did want him to go away because it would mean less complications. Most of me couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing him again and that bothered me. More than I cared to admit. “No,” I answered in return.
“Good.” He hopped up on top of the bar and swung his legs around. “Now stop drying those by hand and use magic to clean this place up so we can go home.”
I shook my head. “I’m trying to conserve my magic.”
Loki’s growl made me look up. “For Odin? He cannot touch you here.”
“He will find a way.”
He shook his dark head once. “No. And if he does he will have to deal with me.”
“As much as I appreciate -“
A crash had us both rushing to the back door. I was about to reach out and fling it open when Loki grabbed me around the waist to pull me back. He put a hand to his lips. “Wait,” he whispered. “I’ll go first.”
Emerald green magic sparked behind his eyes as he gently opened the door and stepped out. I followed behind him and stopped when I heard his soft gasp.
“Sigyn,” he whispered and took an alarmed step back.
“Loki?” I questioned as I peeked around him.
A gorgeous, voluptuous, and extremely angry woman stood in front of us holding a massive sword pointed at Loki’s neck.
“Uh,” I said eloquently.
“Urk,” said Loki.
“I’m Freya,” I said. “I’m not sure who you are.” And I certainly wasn’t sure what she was doing here or how she’d gotten in.
Wild black hair waved around her face. Her skin was a light golden and enhanced by light, brilliant amber eyes. Her lips were generous and her cheekbones were sculpted. But right now her face was set in an impenetrable rictus of anger for only one man.
“Loki?” I questioned again. “What’s going on?”
The woman bared her teeth. It was only then that I noticed she was dressed like a warrior. Leather armor covered most of
her body, leaving only the tops of her shoulders bare. Her feet were wrapped in high soft leather boots. Her sword, shiny and sharp, was still pointed at Loki’s neck.
“What’s going on,” the woman hissed, “is that my husband has run away. For the umpteenth time and left me by myself in Jotunheim!”
I blinked once. Twice. Three times. “Wife?” I echoed dully.
“Yes. Wife,” the woman snapped. “Not according to him, though. But according to the laws of our people, we are.” She leaned forward and the tip of the sword went in just enough to draw blood. “Aren’t we, honey?”
Loki slowly raised his hands up and took one step away. “Sig,” he said calmly.
The woman rolled her eyes and did not relinquish her sword. “Taking up with a redhead now, are we? Typical.”
Loki’s gaze flicked to me. There was regret and anger. Also shame.
I let out one slow, deep breath and let myself back into the building.
Sig was going to lose her mind when she found out what that tattoo around his hand really meant.
I grinned in anticipation of it, though I knew I had to figure out a way to remove it.
I locked the door behind me. Sig and Loki could work it out somewhere else besides my bar.
Men.
I wondered for one horrifying moment if Gravelbeard was married.
With a snap of my finger, I flicked off the lights and vanished from the bar.
6
The insistent pounding on the door woke me up from a sound sleep.
“Go away,” I called. Nothing was that important before the sun rose. Considering we were all immortal and sealed within a magical barrier, the odds of something happening were indeed pretty low.
“Open the door, Freya,” a low voice insisted.
“Go away, especially if it’s you,” I called out to Loki. “Your wife is waiting for you.”
There was a silence and then a low chuckle. “You’re jealous aren’t you? My, my.”
I groaned into my pillow. “I’m going to light you on fire if you don’t go away.”
“Seriously, Freya, open the door. I need to speak with you.”
“This can’t wait until morning?”
“Freya!”
I let out a low moan of frustration and got up to unlock the door. Loki stood there, outlined by moonlight and looking handsome as sin.
“She’s my wife,” he said.
“No shit. I thank you for this enlightening conversation. Can I go back to bed now?”
“In name only,” he amended.
I rolled my eyes and stepped away from the door. Seconds later I face planted into my couch. “Don’t care,” I told him. “It’s none of my business.”
I heard the front door close behind him. “On Jotunheim, arranged marriages are taken quite...seriously.”
“Still don’t care,” I mumbled into one of the pillows.
“We’re forced to marry when we are very young and sometimes never meet until we become adults.”
“Stranger danger,” I whispered and giggled to myself.
“I think the humans call it an arranged marriage. Sig and I were young. I never wanted to be married. She -”
I held up a hand. “I still don’t care. When we marry within our race, Loki, the bond has to be severed. You know this. If it isn’t and you haven’t taken precautions against it, she will find you. She found you. In my place. She’s a danger to us now. If you make her angry, she will tell Odin where we are.”
“Sig wouldn’t.”
I sighed. “I don’t know Sig. I do know Odin, though. And if that hairy bag of meat can convince a lovely lass to jump naked into a tub with him while his wife is home, Sig doesn’t stand a chance against his charms.” I looked up at him.
He wore a pair of athletic pants and a white shirt and he looked so surprisingly human it made me ache inside. “She can stay,” he said.
I shut my eyes for a moment. “She can. But she will have to take the oath of fealty.”
He shook his head. “She cannot. Her loyalty is to Jotunheim.”
“And yours is not?”
“My loyalty has always been divided. It’s why I am no longer welcome at home.”
“If she doesn’t swear fealty, she cannot stay. Even if this means you have to go with her.”
“But I don’t want to.” His voice broke.
“It doesn’t matter. She is your wife. I am merely someone you swore loyalty to. Marital bonds trump that.” I had to choke down my bitter laughter over that one. He was bound to both of us. It wasn’t uncommon for someone to take another wife, but for someone like Loki to do so? It would be an embarrassment if found out. For both of us.
“She might be my wife, Freya, but you are my soul.”
“This is a conversation I am not going to have. Either free yourself from the marital bond or leave with Sig. Those are your options. You have five days.”
Loki stared at me for a long moment. “Very well. I shall endeavor to do as you ask.” He gave me a sweeping bow and left my home in a blink.
I flopped back down on the couch and stared at my ceiling until the pink strands of dawn rose over the mountains and streamed into my living room.
The next morning I woke up feeling like I’d gone ten rounds in the ring. All I wanted to do was to have a new home free of the restrictions Odin placed upon me. I wanted to be free. Now I was married to an apparently clueless man. Who happened to already be married.
And I was responsible for every single one of the people who’d come through the portal yesterday.
Perhaps I had not thought this out as well as I should have.
A frantic knock on the door had me shoving off covers and rushing to the window to see who it was. Brenna, the woman who occasionally acted as me when I wanted to sneak out, stood there, her face stricken with worry. I flung open the door and the usually mild girl pushed her way inside.
“Freya!” She rubbed her hands back and forth and paced through my living room.
“Brenna? What. What’s happening?”
She pointed outside. “Something. There’s something wrong.”
I put both my hands on her shoulders to stop her from wearing a hole in my living room rug. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s a woman out there,” she whispered.
“Okay?” I shook my head and frowned. “Why are you so freaked out about it? Does she not belong here?” Did someone else break through the damn portal? What did a goddess have to do to get some unbreakable magic around here?
Brenna shook her head. Tears sprang to her eyes. “No. The woman...she’s -”
I gritted my teeth and shook her a little. “What? She’s what? Naked? Hungry? Waving magic around? What could she possibly be doing at eight in the morning?”
Brenna dropped her head and looked at her feet. “She’s dead,” she whispered.
My hands dropped from her shoulders and I stared at the young woman. “Dead?” I repeated.
She nodded. “Dead.”
Gooseflesh broke out over my skin and I stepped away. Asgardians didn’t just die. We were extraordinarily hard to kill. “Who?” I murmured.
She shrugged one shoulder. A miserable look stole over her face. “I don’t know. She’s very pretty. I found her on my way out to the forest to pick dandelions for a tincture.”
Fear stole into my heart. “Wait for me here, Brenna. Go nowhere. Let no one in.”
She nodded and swallowed hard. “Aye, lady.”
I rushed into my room, stripped off my pajamas and dressed in an emerald green dress with a simple golden rope belt. I slid on a pair of sturdy slippers, pinned my hair in a loose bun around my head and walked back out. I took Brenna by the arm.
“Show me.”
Brenna led me down the main strip of downtown and down several side streets. Two blocks over from the bar, she turned down a small alley and stopped. “There,” she said quietly and pointed.
I peered closer only for my heart to drop int
o my stomach. Loki kneeled beside a prone body. When I came closer, I realized I knew who he was looking at.
Sig.
I touched the top of Loki’s shoulder and he jerked in surprise. He hadn’t heard me come upon him even though I made no move to be quiet.
“How?” he whispered, his voice choked with tears. I crouched down beside him and lightly pressed my fingers against the side of Sig’s neck. She was definitely dead and from the coolness of her skin, it had happened sometime during the night.
“We will find out.”
He placed his hand on top of mine. “They will blame me for this.”
“No one will blame you for anything. We will figure this out.”
He bowed his head in shame. “Who would have reason to harm her?”
No one. Except for us. The thought rolled around in my head and gave me pause. Was it not unusual that Sig had shown up just as I was trying to make a new settlement?
“When was the last time you saw her?” I asked him. “Before she showed up here?”
He bounced a little bit on his haunches and looked at the sky as he thought. “Maybe ten years?” he said, more to himself than me.
“Mmm. Okay.” We stared at the woman cut down in the prime of her life. She looked so still and lifeless. We didn’t often think about our mortality. We never really had to. It wasn’t that we were unkillable. All of us could perish. But...it was genuinely difficult to take us down and when it happened, it almost always happened over a dispute or as punishment for disobeying the laws. We never made a habit of murdering each other. We were quick to love, quick to anger, quick to revelry. We were not quick to take the life of our loved ones or brothers or sisters.
For ten years Loki and Sig had walked alone. I wasn’t one to discount coincidence, especially not after the events of the last few days. I gently helped him up. “We need to move her before someone else sees. If we can control this from the start, it might be helpful.”
“Control that an immortal has died in this new town?” He shook his head as he bent down to brush the dust from his knees. “Once news of this has come out, it will be very difficult to recover from.”
“We have to hope for the best. That’s all we can do. We do not like change. The good of it will come in time.”
