by Joan Holub
“You and that jewel? It seems you’re partners. A team, neither able to do future-telling magic without the other,” Ms. Frigg explained.
When Odin handed the necklace containing Brising back to Freya, she gazed upon her jewel with new wonder. “So that’s why the dwarfs couldn’t make your magic work . . . partner,” she murmured, touched and pleased with this news. Feeling even closer to her dear jewel now, she clasped its necklace around her throat, where it flashed colors of deep contentment.
Odin smiled. “Every student we invited to Asgard Academy has some unique kind of special magic to offer. Like your brother Frey’s ability to help things grow, for example. Or the magic to bring snow.” That magic belonged to the frost giants, Freya knew, recalling how they’d shaken snow from their white hair.
“And with others, like you, it’s a specialness you have within yourself,” said Ms. Frigg.
“Um . . .” Freya cocked her head at them. She didn’t exactly understand what they were getting at.
Odin regarded her keenly. “Did you think Ms. Frigg and I brought you all the way to Asgard just because of your ability to foretell the future?”
“You didn’t?” Freya stared at him in surprise.
After exchanging a look with Ms. Frigg, Odin smiled again and leaned forward in his throne. “Never underestimate your abilities, Freya. Though it does take great skill to coax magic from a jewel, we had a bigger reason for inviting you. Your special ability to foster friendship.”
“And that natural skill is its own kind of magic,” added Ms. Frigg.
Till now Freya had assumed it was only her power to see the future that had caused Odin and Ms. Frigg to bring her here. Their words made her happy heart sing with even greater joy!
Odin sat back in his throne. “Now Ms. Frigg and I have work to do. So off with you! And stay out of trouble. I’ll be watching,” he warned. The sky-blue door appeared then, a hint that she should depart.
“Um, can I ask a favor first?” Freya asked Ms. Frigg. When the coprincipal looked up from her knitting, Freya quickly explained about the dwarfs’ having “lost” the ear warmers their mom had made for them. As she’d hoped, the kindhearted Ms. Frigg immediately offered to knit new ones and have Odin’s ravens deliver them to Darkalfheim. She began work on them before Freya was even out the blue door!
Moments later Freya was stepping from the portal onto the fernway that led to the Valhallateria. Immediately some all-too-familiar sounds greeted her. Crunch! Bam! Snort!
Argh! With everything that had happened, she’d managed again to put Mason’s building project out of her mind for a time. But from here she could see that his wall was waaay taller now. And he was still working. In fact, the sounds of his sledgehammer striking stone continued through that night and all of Saturday, too. It was giving her a headache!
By Sunday the wall was nearing completion. After breakfast Freya took the trail over to Yggdrasil’s trunk to the place where the little slot door had appeared before.
“Gullveig! Hey! I’m in trouble and need some advice! Also, I need to tell you that the war’s over and Odin thinks you stole Asgard’s gold,” she called out desperately.
Nothing. No matter how much she knocked, Gullveig didn’t seem to hear. Probably busy with that noisy water slide or her wands or something. But Freya wasn’t giving up. At the very least she needed to fix things between Gullveig and Odin. Quickly, she gathered some twigs and used them to construct this message in the snow, hoping her amma would find it: War over. Can I tell O where U R?
That done, she hurried off to look for Frey. Since Gullveig and Mimir weren’t around, she would seek her brother’s opinion on what to do. Unfortunately, he and his new buddies from Tree Lore class had gone off on a weekend campout to give aid to a field of blighted cloudberries near the border between Midgard and Jotunheim. While that was admirable and made her proud of him, it also frustrated her. With a sigh she headed back to Vingolf.
As a heavy snow began to fall, she and most of the AA girls hunkered down in the dorm. Freya flopped onto her podbed and eyed her roommates. Skade was inspecting the binding on her skis, Sif was straightening her stash of hair ribbons, and Idun was reading a runebook about fruit. They were all super nice. She remembered how they had oohed and aahed over her new necklace when they saw it, making her feel special. And she really needed to talk her worries over with somebody, so . . .
“I bet this weather’ll slow down Mason’s wall,” Sif remarked, giving her an opening.
Instantly Freya’s mood improved. “You think?” She was about to ask for their advice on what to do if he somehow did succeed, when Skade suggested, “Want to play a game? It might help take your mind off all that.”
“Ooh! I love games!” said Freya. Skade was right. She needed something to take her mind off the wall. And games were fun! She hopped up. “Let’s go ask some of the other girls to play too, okay?”
Minutes later, she had organized a game of charades out in the main area, suggesting topics such as famous heroes, geographic locations, gods, goddesses, and Ymir. Most of the pods participated, and some world groups actually started cross-bonding and laughing together. It was really too bad that when the girlgiants began losing, they started an argument that brought the game to an abrupt end. Still, it had been a start at cross-world friend making!
Finally the snow let up. While everyone else went to the V for lunch, Freya grabbed one of Idun’s apples and headed off to see if Gullveig was back. The snow was thick on the ground now. So thick that it had completely covered up the twigs she’d used to leave her message! She walked along the trunk of Yggdrasil one way and then the other. But things looked different with the new snow somehow, and she couldn’t find the entrance to the library. Did that also mean she’d lost Gullveig again? Forever?
She noticed something glinting under the snow next to the tree. When she kneeled for a closer look and brushed the snow aside, she found pieces of Asgard gold! They’d been laid to form a rune that meant “yes”! This had to be Gullveig’s reply to the message Freya had left, letting her know it was okay to tell Odin about her and Mimir and their library in the tree. Which also meant this part of the tree must be where the slot sometimes appeared.
That was great, but she still would’ve liked to see Gullveig to ask her advice about Mason. Standing, she raised her hand to knock.
Caw! Just then Odin’s ravens flew overhead. Each held one end of a long strand of yarn stretched between their beaks, from which hung four pairs of pointy, lopsided ear warmers of various colors. They must be taking them to the dwarfs. Wow! Ms. Frigg was fast at knitting!
Freya waved the two ravens closer. “I have a message for Odin!” Hearing her, one of the ravens passed off its end of the yarn to the other raven, which continued on toward Darkalfheim with the ear warmers. After the empty-beaked raven swooped down and landed on a nearby branch, Freya told it about Mimir and Gullveig and their library, and how they’d thought they were helping Odin by hiding Asgard’s gold and hadn’t known the war had ended. Then she tossed one piece of gold to the raven as evidence that her story was true.
“Cawt it!” said the raven, having done just that, the piece of gold now clamped neatly in one claw. As it winged back in the direction of Valaskjalf, Freya heard Mason pounding on the wall again. She shuddered.
Gazing down at her jewel, which now hung from the new necklace she wore, she asked, “What’s going to happen, Brising? Will Mason finish the wall by tonight?” Since she no longer had to pull her jewel out of a pouch, it was way easier to speak to. The fact that its changing colors revealed her mood was something that, luckily, no one had yet figured out.
Brising replied:
“What will happen is not known.
It will depend on gold and stone.”
“On Asgard’s gold, you mean? And on the stones Mason is using to build the wall?” she asked it. But Brising revealed no more.
Oh, how she wished her jewel had been able to reassure her
that Mason would fail! She sighed. For a moment she considered escaping the situation by running back to Vanaheim. But that would be cowardly. Besides, she couldn’t leave before Frey returned from his plant-helping mission. If only she could come up with an honorable way to get out of that promise she’d made to Mason. It made her cringe to think of promising her heart to him in front of everyone, especially her new friends and a certain cute hay-haired boy she’d met on the bridge!
She studied her surroundings carefully before leaving this time, making sure she wouldn’t lose the library entrance ever again. Then she took the remaining gold pieces still glinting in the snow and arranged them in the rune for her name. That way Gullveig would know she’d gotten the message. There was one piece left over.
As she examined the palm-size gold piece, an idea as bright as gold came to her. Smiling to herself, she pocketed the piece and headed for the dorm. Because now she had a new secret plan!
15
The Wall
SUNDAY AFTERNOON FLEW BY. DINNERTIME—Mason’s deadline for finishing the wall—was fast approaching. Freya put away the tool she’d been using from her Findings class and stood back to gaze upon the palm-size gold piece that now lay on her podbed in Vingolf Hall.
With time running out, all the other students had already gone down to the wall to see if the boygiant would finish in time. Now she would go too. First, however, she opened her closet and slipped a berry-red dress on over her woolen shift and stockings. Then she applied matching berry-red lip gloss. As the girlgoddess of love and beauty, she wanted to look her best, even if this turned out to be a disaster!
Lastly, she tucked the gold piece into one of her pouches and left the girls’ dorm. On her way to the Bifrost Bridge, she was surprised to come upon a new sign along the fernway that read:
THE HEARTWOOD LIBRARY
Knowledge Is Power
Below that was an arrow pointing in the direction of Yggdrasil’s trunk. This must mean that Gullveig and Mimir had already made up with Odin! That they’d reminded him of his long-ago request that Mimir take care of Asgard’s gold in the event of war, and had explained how Gullveig had only been helping him. Odin had obviously realized it was all a misunderstanding. Because it appeared the library was now open to students!
Stepping a little lighter at this news, Freya continued over the bridge, down to where her fate would unfold. It looked like the whole student body had gathered by the wall to see what would happen. Villagers from other worlds had heard about the bet and come too. Skade, Idun, and Sif must’ve been watching for Freya, because they rushed to greet her.
“You okay?” asked Idun.
Freya nodded. Giving her podmates a brave smile, she turned to watch the work in progress. Instantly her smile turned upside down. As it must’ve been before the war, the wall now stood tall and strong. And in spite of today’s snowy-weather setback, it looked complete!
She gasped. “Mason finished?”
“Not quite yet. See?” said Sif. She pointed to one last chink in the wall that needed to be filled.
Freya’s stomach tightened as she watched Mason’s brown-and-white horse lift a huge stone and head for the wall to fill in the chink. Who needed Ragnarok? It looked like her own personal doomsday was right around the corner!
Snort! Before Unlucky could reach the wall, a new black horse suddenly galloped out of the nearby forest. Upon seeing the new horse, Unlucky let out a happy whinny, as if to say, Oh boy, a playmate! Dropping the stone, he galloped off with the black horse to frolic in the forest.
“Come back!” Mason called after his horse. But apparently, Unlucky was done with wall building for now. Mason enlarged to giant size and tried to pick up the huge stone himself, but it was too heavy, even for a giant. He released it and shrank himself back down.
Tooot! Heimdall sounded his horn to signal that the deadline had passed.
“Time’s up!” whooped Skade.
Relief flooded Freya. There was still one hole left in the wall. Mason had failed!
Suddenly the two horses came galloping back. What dark-blue eyes that black one has, Freya thought as it passed her. Both horses stopped right in front of Mason. Without warning, the black one shape-shifted into Loki!
Losing interest now that the black horse was gone, Unlucky went over to the wall and pushed the final stone into place. The wall was finished! But it was too late for Mason to win the bet. The poor guy looked so disappointed that Freya instantly felt sorry for him.
A cheer went up from the Asgard students and villagers when they realized the wall was complete.
Sif’s mouth fell open. “Loki saved the day!” she said in disbelief.
“Yeah, just when you think that boygod is a total dweeb, he goes and does something nice,” said Skade from beside her.
“Ha-ha! Tricked you!” the girls heard Loki tease Mason.
“And then he does something kind of mean again,” Freya added, rolling her eyes.
“Cheater!” Mason yelled at Loki, who was laughing now. To his credit, the boygiant didn’t take his anger at Loki out on his horse. Instead he gave him a pat and whispered something in his ear. Schmop! Unlucky shrank back into a horse carving, which Mason strung on the cord about his neck again.
“So Loki came to the rescue, huh? You never know what to expect from that guy,” a familiar voice said from beside Freya.
She swung around to see Frey, looking tired but happy. There were twigs stuck in his hair. “You’re back from camping!” she said.
“Yeah. Did I miss anything? Besides Loki’s horse trick?” He gestured toward a group of frost giants. “Those guys sure don’t look happy about it.”
Sure enough, the giant students among them were grumbling and eyeing both the Vanir and Aesir with hostility.
“They never like it when anyone from Jotunheim gets tricked by the gods,” Skade said. She shrugged. “Being part giant, I understand.”
“I can understand them being mad too,” said Idun. “Poor Mason.”
“Yeah, he worked so hard, only to have Loki bamboozle him in the end,” added Sif. Glancing at Freya, she added quickly, “But for your sake I’m glad Loki did what he did, of course.”
“Me too,” said Frey. “But I can see why he and the other giants don’t think things turned out fair.”
That was all Freya needed to hear. What her brother and roomies had said confirmed her own feelings. Even though Mason hadn’t succeeded, she decided to put the plan she’d come up with earlier that day into action. She just hoped it would smooth things over with him—with everybody, really!
She felt everyone’s eyes on her as she went over to the wall and stepped up beside the shaggy-haired boygiant. Speaking loudly so that all would hear, she made a formal announcement. “Mason, we are all grateful to you for rebuilding the wall. In return for your effort, I will give you the sun and the moon, as promised. And . . .” She paused dramatically, then went on, “I will give you my heart!”
A gasp rose from the crowd. Surprised, Mason grinned at her happily. Then he closed his eyes and leaned forward, puckering up.
She leaned back. Whoa! He hoped for a kiss? Well, she hoped he and the other giant students from Jotunheim wouldn’t be too disappointed—or angry—when she gave him something else instead.
“The heart I give you is not the fickle kind whose fleeting affection doesn’t last,” she continued, still speaking loudly enough for all to hear. “What I’m offering you is one you can keep with you for always.”
Mason opened his eyes and straightened, looking puzzled now.
Taking a fortifying breath, Freya pulled the palm-size gold piece from her pouch. She handed it to Mason and, with great flair, bent low in a curtsy.
“Gold?” he said, sounding a little insulted. “You’re paying me?”
“Note its shape,” she told him, straightening. She drew an invisible heart shape in the air between them with one fingertip.
He nodded, unimpressed. “Oh, I get it. The gold
is shaped like a heart.”
“Which symbolizes my heart. By building this wall, you have earned my heartfelt thanks, freely given. And see?” she said eagerly. “Not only did I shape it into a heart, but I engraved runes on each side. A moon and a sun. Please accept this gift as your reward for a job well done.”
When he still looked unsure and a little downcast, she rushed on. “You’ve won more than just my heart today, you know. You’ve won the hearts of everyone here at Asgard Academy. From the bottoms of our hearts, we all thank you,” she finished kindly.
Mason turned the heart-shaped gold piece over and over in his fingers, studying it for long seconds. Why doesn’t he speak? Freya began to wonder anxiously. Was he going to reject her offering?
Suddenly a big smile crossed his face, and he wrapped his fingers tight around the heart, waving it high in victory. “Freya gave me her heart, with a rune of the sun and the moon!” he shouted to one and all. “Hey, I rhymed. I’m a poet like Odin and didn’t know it!” He ran off toward the academy with his gold heart gift, kicking up his heels and looking delighted.
Phew! thought Freya, heartily glad. Gullveig had come to this world seeking gold to make Freya happy. And in the end a single piece of that gold had brought more happiness to all the worlds than either of them could ever have imagined. The kind of happiness that came from the hope of peace, at least for now.
Since the show was over, villagers began to amble away, chatting with one another a mile a minute about what had happened there. Soon only students remained. Many of them gathered around Freya and congratulated her on having come up with such a brilliant, satisfying idea. Her three podmates sent her thumbs-ups from the wall, where they and others stood admiring it. When Loki and Od drifted near, Freya thanked Loki for his trick.
“No prob,” he said casually, before heading off to inspect the wall up close and tease some light-elf girls. Which left her and Od standing together.
Before either could speak, Odin and Ms. Frigg appeared atop the newly rebuilt wall. Seeing them up there, Freya remembered that poem Odin had seemed to want her to supply a rhyming word for when they first met:
