by Unknown
“And you, Mimir,” I withdrew my hand with relief. “Thank you for helping Odin bring me back.”
“Oh, Odin payed a hefty price for that,” he chuckled. “I require no thanks.”
“I've come to ask for your help again,” I ignored his mention of payment. I didn't want to contemplate Odin giving his eye to this guy. “I've brought him back from the Void and placed him in a new body.”
“Oh you have, have you?” He chuckled. “Why don't you all come inside? I think this conversation requires mead.”
“Oh yes, thank you,” Thor accepted with a sigh. “It's been a long journey.”
“Come in then,” Mimir turned and led us through a huge door, then down some oversized stairs(the guys laughed at me trying to get down them), into a room that looked way too big to be inside the house hinted at by the outer wall. I realized that Mimir's home was dug down deep into the earth. It was like a burrow for a really big groundhog. “Have a seat,” he gestured to a collection of mega chairs.
I climbed up into one, feeling like Alice needing a bite of cake. Mimir poured us all mugs of mead from a pot hung in his fireplace. He brought me one so large, I had to use both hands to hold it. I thanked him with wide eyes and he laughed at me, great booms of sound that vibrated through my body. Well, fee fi fo fum. I guess I'd found another fairy tale that hadn't originated with a faerie.
“So,” Mimir took a seat facing me. “You've come a long way to ask me about Odin. What's happened? Did the spell go awry?”
“He can't remember who he was,” I held my mug to my chest, the warmth of it comforting my dragon. “He doesn't know his sons or anything about his life. He doesn't know me.”
“And you want me to tell you how to get him to remember?” Mimir lifted a brow.
“Yes.”
“And what would you offer me in return?”
I smiled and placed my mug down on the seat next to me(there was plenty of room). I fished the book of fairy tales out of my bag, then I held it aloft and his eyes went wide. He knew the fey writing and I was willing to bet he could read the language.
“This is a book of fairy tales,” I flipped open a few pages so he could look them over. “Actual faerie stories. It's written in the fey language but somehow I don't think you'll have a problem with that.”
“No, I won't,” Mimir whispered. “The problem is, I can't help you. I don't know how to bring his memories back.”
“What?” I deflated.
“I'll point you in the right direction though,” his gaze stayed fixed on the book. “And I'll do it for free since you thought to bring me such treasure.”
“Where should I go?”
“Back to Faerie,” he finally took his gaze off the book long enough to look at me. “The book I gave Odin, the one you used to bring him back.”
“Yes?” I pressed.
“It's not god magic.”
“I knew it!” I pounded my fist onto the chair. “I knew it felt different.”
“Yes, it's different alright,” Mimir grinned at me. “Those spells were given to me by a faerie girl. I translated them into Norse.”
“The symbol on the book's cover.” I was on the edge of something, something very important. I could feel it. “She gave that to you as well?”
“Yes,” he nodded. “The star is a fey symbol of great magic.”
“But the fey don't have souls,” I frowned, something so close I could nearly touch it. What was it? “Why would they have soul spells?”
“To control humans of course,” Mimir grinned. “Back when the paths were open, when Faerie was closer to the Human Realm than we are, the fey walked among the humans. They loved humans, loved to play with them and torture them, but their elemental magic was only a superficial thing to humanity. It never touched the human soul, never truly conquered the human heart. So they used some kind of great collection of magic to create those soul spells.”
“The Nine Great Magics,” I whispered, a shiver coasting over my arms.
“Yes,” Mimir sat forward in his chair. “That's what she called them. The Nine Great Magics, one for each point on the star. With the soul magic, the fey finally had the control they wanted. Humans bent to the will of the faeries, bent knee to their rule and to their glory. Humanity was utterly overcome.”
“Why were humans able to hunt the dragon-sidhe then?” It didn't make any sense and there was something still niggling at me, something tight in my chest.
“By creating soul magic, the fey went against the natural magic they were born with,” Mimir got serious. “They weren't meant to control another race so completely. The balance was tipped and the fey paid the price.”
“The dragons,” I swallowed past the lump in my throat, a memory rising of Arach's parents lying dead and twisted with spears sticking from their bodies.
“Yes, the dragons,” Mimir nodded. “The human soul can only take subjugation for so long before it rebels. They got angry, though they didn't know why they were angry, and as angry men often do, they found an outlet for their frustration. They focused on the dragons, killing both beast and fey. I think they knew, on some deeper level, that they were striking out at those who had wronged them. Unfortunately, the regular dragons paid the price as well.”
“So this faerie gave you the spells,” I felt my forehead crease. “Why?”
“To be rid of them,” Mimir shrugged, “and perhaps because she loved me. She was leaving with the others, they were closing Faerie off for good and she wanted to give me a present. She knew I treasured knowledge above all else. So she gave me the spells with the warning to use them carefully.”
“So you think I could find the answers I need in Faerie?”
“I'm sure of it,” he nodded.
“What was her name? The faerie who gave you the book?”
“Isleen of the House of Fire,” he said wistfully. “I remember now, she said she didn't want her new king to know that the fey were to blame for his parent's deaths.”
“Oh sugar,” I whispered. “Isleen.”
“You know her?” He leaned forward eagerly.
“I'm married to her king,” I smiled and shook my head. “I think that book was meant to find me.”
“You're married to Arach?” He gaped at me. “But what of Odin?”
“It's complicated,” I laughed sadly, at myself and my life. “A lion thing.”
“A lioness thing,” he corrected thoughtfully. “Yes, I've heard of the little clause in becoming the Lion Goddess. Interesting that Odin would put up with it.”
“Funny you'd mention that,” I sighed. “He doesn't want to this time around.”
“No he wouldn't, would he?” Mimir laughed and then sobered. “Would you tell Isleen that I miss her? That if she ever wants to see me again, I'd open the wards for her.”
Thor and Vidar gasped.
“What does that mean?” I looked from them to him. “Open the wards?”
“The wards guarding Jotunheim of course,” Mimir cocked his head at me. “So that she could trace here from Faerie.”
“You really do miss her,” I observed with some surprise.
“You know her,” he sipped from his mug and watched me carefully. “Are you surprised?”
“No, not really,” I leaned closer to the giant god. “Why did you give such a treasured book to Odin?”
“Sometimes wisdom is knowing when not to learn something,” Mimir winked at me. “Those spells almost wiped out an entire race of sidhe, I wasn't about to mess with them. Besides, Odin was willing to part with an eye for them and I always hated how pretty his eyes were. Looking at his eye gives me more pleasure than looking at that book ever did,” he waved a hand to a shelf behind him and my jaw dropped. There, in a clear jar, was Odin's beautiful peacock eye suspended in a clear fluid. It was perfectly clear, as if it were still alive. “Don't you wish you hadn't learned about that?” He chuckled.
“Yes,” I cleared my throat. “Yes, I do.”
Then there
was a pounding at the door and we all turned with surprised and wary looks. Thor and Vidar got to their feet, running up the stairs to take places on each side of the door, while Mimir got up and went to answer the call. He pulled the heavy door open a little and then fell back as someone shoved their way into the room.
“Hold!” Mimir called as both Thor and Vidar started to attack the visitor. They backed down and I angled my head around Mimir's rather large frame, in an effort to see who it was.
“Mimir,” a woman's voice. “I heard you were harboring the Godhunter.”
“Who told you that?” The anger was evident in Mimir's voice.
I stood up and came around my chair. This was obviously concerning me and there was no sense in hiding in my seat. The woman, or giantess I should say, didn't notice me at first, she was too intent on Mimir, Thor, and Vali. It gave me the opportunity to get a good look at her.
She was tall of course, nearly as big as Mimir, but really stunning. Auburn hair trailed down her back in soft curls and framed a harshly beautiful face with ice blue eyes. Her lips were thin but her mouth was generous and her chin was too dainty for such a strong face. She was dressed in leather armor, a large sword strapped to her waist, but it couldn't hide the lushness of her body. This was just the type of giant woman I was loathe to face. Oh well.
“She was spotted traversing Jotunheim with them,” the giantess waved back at Thor and Vidar. “I can feel the Valkyrie magic, Mimir. Do you deny she's here?”
“I'm here,” I stepped around Mimir and the woman jerked her attention toward me. Behind her, Thor and Vidar groaned. “What do you want?”
“Do you know me, Godhunter?” She came up to me, towering above me and making me eye the chair I'd just vacated. Maybe I should jump back on it, like I did the time I'd first met Fenrir. She was taller than him after all.
“Hold on,” I waved a finger at her and then climbed up on the massive chair behind me. Oh that was so much better. I was now on level with her and the hard wood seat actually gave me a solid foundation to stand on. “Okay, now, uh, no, I don't know you.”
“This is the Godhunter?” She turned to look at Mimir with disbelief. “You jest with me?”
“No, Rind,” Mimir chuckled and came over to stand beside us. Thor and Vidar maneuvered themselves to my right while Trevor took up a position on my left. “This is she. Vervain, meet Rind.”
“Rind,” I said the name with my own disbelieving tone. “Vali's mother?”
“And you're Odin's wife?” She spat.
“Yeah, that's me,” I looked her over more carefully. The highlights in Vali's hair matched her hair color exactly and there were a few more similarities in the angles of her face. It was enough to take the sting out of her words. “You know, I made myself a promise to do something, if I ever met you.”
“What's that?” Her hand drifted towards her sword.
“Thank you,” I stuck my hand out to her and she stared at it briefly before, miracle of miracles, she folded her large palm around mine and shook it.
“What are you thanking me for,” she pulled her hand from mine warily.
“Vali,” I said with sincerity. “Thank you for bringing him to Odin and therefore, me. Having him in my life is a gift I can never repay. He's my first son. I don't know why you gave him up and I don't care. That's your business and I won't judge you for it, it doesn't matter. He became mine because of it, so thank you.”
The tension seeped away from her shoulders and she swallowed hard. The men seemed to fade back, allowing us the illusion of privacy. Rind took a deep breath and huffed it out.
“I wanted to meet the fool who would not only marry that worthless rapist but bring him back from the dead,” she said. “I had thoughts of killing you even, to take you away from him. Now, you go and say that about...”
“Vali,” I said softly. “Your son.”
“He's not mine,” she shook her head. “You said it yourself, he's yours. I never wanted him. I couldn't look on him without anger. That was no life for a child. I'm grateful that he had you. That he wasn't alone with the Oathbreaker. It's more than I could have hoped for him.”
“Why do you hate Odin so much?”
“He raped me,” she said simply.
“No way, no,” I shook my head in denial. “Odin wouldn't do that.”
“Oh, he did,” she leaned into my face. “He used magic to make me give in to him because I spurned his advances. He was married to Frigg at the time and I wanted nothing to do with a married man but he laid an enchantment on me that made me love him and when I finally came back to myself, I was pregnant.”
“He's a different man now,” I whispered, horrified that Odin had done such a thing. “I'm so sorry he did that to you but you must know that Vali is not to blame. He's an incredible man and a good son.”
“Perhaps,” she leaned back and looked me over. “You're not what I expected.”
“Right back at you,” I grinned.
“Alright, Godhunter,” she nodded. “You've got Odin, that's punishment enough. Peace be between us.”
“Peace,” I smiled. “I like that word.”
She turned away and started to climb the steps.
“Rind?” I called after her. “If you ever want to meet your son, I think he'd like to know you.”
Her back stiffened and she turned just barely, to look at me over her shoulder. She gave an almost imperceptible nod and then left.
“Well, damn,” Mimir laughed and went back to his seat as I sank back into mine. “If I hadn't seen it myself, I wouldn't have believed it.”
“Vervain has a way of talking until you're so confused, you just give up,” Thor nodded and took his seat.
“That's a hell of a talent,” Mimir gave me an amused look. “Anytime you wanna come back and see me, I'd welcome your visit. It's been very entertaining.”
“Thanks,” I grinned and picked up the faerie book. I looked over the cover and then handed it to him. “Here, I know you're dying to look at it. Go ahead and read it while I recover from that surprise visit. It's the least I can do for your help.”
“Truly?” His face shifted into happy lines as he took the book from me. “Thank you, Vervain. I'll remember this.”
Then he bent his head over the book and began to speed read.
Chapter Forty-Three
We left Mimir's hall after lunch. He insisted on providing us with food as per the laws of hospitality. When Thor observed that he'd never been known to abide by those rules before, Mimir said he'd never had guests worthy of the law before. I was strangely pleased by that.
We hurried back to Asgard, where I parted ways with Thor and Vidar after thanking them for their help and promising to keep them apprised of the Odin situation. Then Trevor and Kirill headed home to Pride Palace and I asked the ring to take me back to the Faerie Realm, right after I'd left it last time. I took the book of faerie tales back with me, replacing it where I'd found it, and then went in search of Isleen.
She wasn't too hard to find, she was going over some business with Arach in his new office, next door to our bedroom. I'd suggested Arach make himself an office(I had to explain what an office was first) after I kept finding him and Isleen talking over papers in the dining hall. He didn't understand why you'd need a special room to go over business in until I explained that it was nice to have all your paperwork in one place. He could not only meet with Isleen there, he could meet with the other royals if they ever came to Aithinne on business, and he could keep track of all his sales of the crafts that the earth pixies were making for us. He really liked the part about showing the other royals his office. I think all dragons are braggarts at heart.
Anyway, he was there, sitting behind his new desk(a piece of furniture that was evidently new to Faerie), looking as happy as a phooka eating pizza. I think he realized that a desk chair could be very similar to a throne, especially if you sat in it right. Which he did. That man would look like a king sitting on a bale of hay. Convers
ely, I don't think I ever looked like a Queen, even decked out in jewels and sitting on the Throne of Fire.
“Hey guys,” I walked in and shut the door behind me. “Sorry to interrupt but I have something urgent I need to talk to Isleen about.”
“Urgent, my Queen?” Isleen, who was seated in a chair before Arach's massive carved desk, turned to look at me with concern.
“What is it, A Thaisce?” Arach was no less concerned, he twisted in his heavy chair and motioned me over.
I sat on the armrest, padded and big enough to be a comfortable seat for me, and he slipped his arm around my waist. The dragon inside me sighed, loving the closeness to her mate. I didn't mind it either. Arach smelled like embers and dragon musk, a warm, earthy scent that brought to mind hot nights of burning in bed with him. I sighed.
“A Thaisce?” Arach was looking at me with even more concern.
“Oh, sorry,” I blinked. “Isleen, I don't know if I ever told you about bringing Odin back from the Void?”
“Oh yes,” she nodded, her eyes shying away from mine.
“Why didn't you tell me?” I said gently.
“You talked to Mimir,” she sighed.
“Yes, you could have been a big help,” I shook my head. “I don't understand.”
“Don't, my Queen,” her eyes begged me. “Please.”
“Don't ask you to help me?” I deliberately misunderstood her, looking at her meaningfully. I didn't want Arach hurt either and I wasn't about to tell him why she gave that book away but he needed to know about its existence.
“No, don't ask me to see Mimir,” she visibly relaxed, catching my silent compliance. “It's been too long.”
“He said to tell you that he misses you,” I watched as her face brightened. Interesting. “If you change your mind about seeing him, he said he'd open the wards for you.”
“He did?” She whispered.
“Who is this Mimir?” Arach was frowning, looking back and forth between us.
“He's the god who gave Odin the book of soul magic,” I explained to Arach. “A book whose content he got from Isleen.”
