Realms Gate

by Juliet Anderson

  Erin had a distinct feeling that the trouble was headed her way.

  Wilhelm led her back to her rooms. A good job really as she wouldn’t have had a clue how to find them.

  “I hope Lokranor and its villages did not disappoint?”

  “It is a beautiful land, even if covered in snow.”

  “I would be happy to show you more tomorrow.” His eyes held hers mesmerised for a moment.

  “I am not sure how long I can stay. I need to get back to Muirhead.”

  “What is so pressing that you cannot stay at least one more day?”

  “I should be practicing my sword skills with Magnus each day.”

  Wilhelm gave an exasperated sigh. “We might be backward here, but we do have a large training centre. You have your sword with you and if Magnus is unavailable, I would be more than happy to train with you.”

  “I will need to check with Birdie.”

  “Fine. But I expect to see you later in the training hall.”

  Great, Erin thought. Someone else to boss me around.

  Birdie was feeling like a teenager on her first date as she waited for Ajax in the Great Hall. He was due to show her around the Archives. He was a walking encyclopaedia on Lokranor and the Realms’ Gate and she found him intriguing. He did not look like a typical Norse warrior, with his shaggy grey hair and interesting dress sense, which was probably what endeared him to her.

  Her face lit up as she saw him scurrying across the hall.

  “I hope you have not been waiting long?” he puffed.

  “I only just got here,” Birdie told a little white lie.

  “Well, let’s head over to the Archives.” He indicated for her to follow. “So what have you done with Erin this afternoon?”

  “Wilhelm is showing her around Lokranor and Nordgard.”

  “A clever move. If she likes what she sees, she’ll be more inclined to take up the role of Priestess.”

  “I just wish it wasn’t Wilhelm accompanying her. The two did not get off to a great start when they first met.”

  Ajax chuckled. “I’m not surprised. Wilhelm can be a little hot-headed and impetuous, but his heart is in the right place.”

  “I’m worried they’ll have a heated argument and Erin will end up vaporising him.”

  “That certainly wouldn’t be good for diplomatic relations.”

  Birdie enjoyed the walk to the Archives, with the snowy streets, it reminded her of an Alpine village. Ajax gave her a running commentary on all the houses and buildings they passed. The Archives was a beautiful stone building, full from floor to ceiling with huge great tomes and scrolls. She wandered around aimlessly for a while, just taking it all in.

  “Is there anything in particular you want to see?” Ajax asked.

  “I’m curious to find out why Erin is inheriting her powers before her birthday.”

  “I imagine it is because she is a priestess of two Realms.”

  “I would contest that. Priests and Priestesses always start receiving their powers when they take on the role. In Erin’s case that will be on her eighteenth birthday. I don’t think the prophecy relates to her.”

  Ajax looked at her sceptically. “You think the prophecy is wrong?”

  “No. I just don’t think it is hers.”

  He stared at her blankly.

  “In these books I imagine there are many prophecies?” she continued.

  “Yes.”

  “We often pick ones that we think fit the situation best. The prophecy mentions a priestess born of two worlds. It doesn’t state that it will be the first priestess born of two worlds, so it does not necessarily indicate Erin. We just assume it does.”

  “You think another path lies for her?”

  “Yes. And somewhere in these books there must be a prophecy that relates to a child of unrivalled power.”

  “An interesting hypothesis,” Ajax mused. “One that certainly needs looking into further.”

  “So where do we start looking?” Birdie was keen to get down to work.

  Ajax passed her a pile of books. “Here is a good starting point.”

  Birdie opened the volume and soon lost herself in a world of Norse mythology. But a world that was scarily close to reality. A while later a tankard was plonked down in front of her.

  “You need to take a break, Birdie.”

  “Sorry, I got lost in the history of this place.”

  “It’s easy to do so.” Ajax took a long drink of wine. “Do you mind me asking why you never married?”

  Birdie was thrown by the change in topic. “I never met the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with,” she responded a little sadly.

  “I thought men in the first Realm where abundant?” Ajax responded almost disbelievingly.

  “I am sure there is an abundance of excellent specimens, but I was limited to Muirhead.”

  “How come?”

  “When my brother, James, was killed, I was thirty-two and enjoying my career as a vet, living happily with my fiancé. Following James’ death, I not only had to put my career on hold, but had an estate to run and a niece to safeguard. Not to mention filling my brother’s place temporarily on the Circle.”

  Birdie paused for a moment, it was still difficult talking about that part of her life. “My fiancé would never have understood my brother’s legacy, so we split when I moved back to Muirhead. On the bright side, the livestock on the estate always have access to a fully qualified vet.”

  “And you never got involved with anyone else?”

  “Not seriously, no. I had too many secrets in my life for a relationship.” Birdie decided it was time to turn the conversation around to Ajax. “How about you?”

  “What about me?”

  “You never married either? I would have thought an intelligent man of good standing would be quite a catch here.”

  Ajax laughed. “Sadly the population generally prefers warriors to intellects. Besides, I like intelligent woman and the majority here are not educated to a particularly high level.”

  “Do you have any family?”

  “I have a brother, Bjorn. He is a member of the King’s Council.”

  “A warrior?”

  “Of course,” Ajax chuckled. “A family can only survive one disappointment.”

  “Your parents objected to you becoming a scholar?”

  “Most vociferously. They were horrified I chose books instead of a sword. I don’t think they’ve forgiven me to this day.”

  “Families are such wonderful things,” Birdie sighed. She snapped shut the volume in front of her. “I think that’s enough research for me. How about we continue this tomorrow?”

  “I look forward to it.”

  As Birdie wandered back to the castle, she contemplated how her life had altered. Her plans had been laid out clearly, yet one event changed everything. No career, no husband, just a large estate, a niece everyone was trying to abduct, and one hell of a legacy. She often wondered what would have happened if she’d ignored James’ instructions and stayed to fight with him. Would he still be alive or would they both be dead and Erin in Heinrekh’s clutches?

  Erin’s life was changing as well now. Not that she’d made many plans that needed breaking. But she was definitely going to have a life she could not have dreamt of. That’s if she hadn’t vaporised Wilhelm in the meantime.

  CHAPTER 19

  Sasha was feeling quite irritable. Erin had failed to show up for their ride and she wasn’t picking up her calls. If Angus had upset her again, he would have to deal with one very pissed off sister. She headed back into the house but Angus was nowhere to be seen so Sasha grabbed her car keys and drove over to Erin’s. Mrs McDowell had been particularly vague as to Erin’s whereabouts.

  “Sorry, Sasha, but Erin had to go out with Birdie. It was all very last minute,” she flustered.

  “No problem.” Sasha felt a little miffed. “Will they be back later?”

  “I’m not sure,” Mrs McDowell responded evas
ively.

  “Any idea where they went?”

  Mrs McDowell hesitated just a few seconds too long before replying. “No, dear.”

  Sasha knew she was trying to cover something up but it seemed Mrs McDowell was not going to be forthcoming with any information, so she headed home. She tried on and off throughout the afternoon to get hold of Erin, but her phone just rang out. Hundreds of different scenarios ran through Sasha’s mind, the most likely of which was that Erin’s mother had been in an accident. But then why would Mrs McDowell not say that?

  She gave up and got changed for her evening with Tobias. Climbing, yeah. She passed Angus’ study as she was leaving and heard voices from within. His guest had a similar accent to the one the other day, but this voice was much harder, coarser. Sasha decided against interrupting them. The door was shut so they clearly did not want to be disturbed.

  She was half way drown the drive when her mobile rang. She thought at first it might be Erin, but it was Tobias. He had been called in to cover an emergency. She was upset, she had psyched herself up for climbing and now she had nothing to do. Thoroughly deflated, she turned the car around and parked up by the outbuildings. Out the corner of her eye, she saw her brother and his guest disappear into one of the disused barns. Was everyone in Muirhead acting weird today?

  More curious about how her brother and guest were dressed than anything, she followed them into the abandoned building. With no lighting, the building was virtually dark. She could hear voices at the far end so crept closer, hoping to catch their conversation.

  Suddenly the gloom turned to light and she was standing in a small clearing, the ground covered with snow. Just ahead of her was her brother, his companion and another gentleman with long blonde hair. The blonde man turned and looked at her curiously. It was his eyes that had her completely transfixed, they were the most amazing steely blue.

  “It seems we have a guest from Muirhead.” His accent was soft but familiar.

  Angus whirled around with a look of horror on his face. “What the hell are you doing here, Sasha,” he barked at her.

  “I was wondering what you were doing taking people into a disused barn. I thought you might have been planning something for the estate.” She glanced around, she could not understand how one minute she was in the barn, the next in this frozen place. Had she entered Narnia perhaps?

  “I need to get you home,” Angus muttered and stepped towards her.

  The blonde man stopped him. “On the contrary, I think your sister should stay. She might prove very beneficial.”

  “You already have my loyalty, Heinrekh, you don’t need my sister.”

  Sasha detected the fear in Angus’s voice as he spoke. Who was this Heinrekh, and why was Angus so afraid of him? But more to the point, where the hell were they?

  “Will one of you please tell me where I am?” Sasha sighed impatiently.

  “Vasmaar, my dear,” Heinrekh replied, his voice silky smooth. “Welcome to my homeland.” He extended his hand and for some bizarre reason, Sasha felt compelled to take it, as though was higher force was at work.

  Angus’ hand was on the sword around his waist. “Release my sister now or any accord between us is negated.”

  Heinrekh gave Angus a dark look. “With your sister as my guest, I do believe the accord is stronger than ever.” He looked at Sasha and smiled. “Come, I will show you my home. I think you might find it impressive even by McBride standards.”

  Sasha giggled. She could not comprehend why she felt drawn to this man. He was clearly way too old for her, but not the type to suit a father figure. With his long blonde hair, flawless pale skin and most amazing eyes, he had a certain allure. But she was not stupid, she had realised pretty quickly that she had walked into the middle of something bad. She had a fair idea she was actually being taken hostage to ensure her brother upheld whatever bargain he had struck with this man. But bizarrely, this man wanted to make her throw caution to the wind.

  “How far is your home?” Sasha gave him her best wide-eyed look. “As you can see, I am not suitably attired for a long journey.”

  Heinrekh gave her an indulgent smile and produced a fur cloak, which he wrapped around her shoulders. “Home is a short ride, but I won’t risk you catching cold.” Heinrekh looked back at Angus. “You know your mission.” He jumped up on his horse that was tethered a short distance away and pulled Sasha up behind.

  Sasha’s mind and pulse were racing. What the hell had Angus got mixed up in? Was this something to do with the Lokmuir Circle she’d heard whispers about? And how could they have crossed into this bizarre world? Whatever the case, life was going to get decidedly more interesting over the next few days.

  Erin had no idea where Magnus kept disappearing to but he had said he would meet her in the training hall. She found it with difficulty, the castle was a complete nightmare to navigate.

  The walls of the huge hall were littered with an array of swords and shields. She stopped a moment to watch the warriors at practice; one in particular caught her attention. His torso was bare, showing just how perfectly stacked he was, his biceps were impressive too. He moved with such grace. Erin gave a wistful sigh.

  “Are you warming to Wilhelm?” Magnus whispered in her ear.

  “No. But I can admire a beautiful body when I see one.”

  “Now if I came out with a comment like that, you’d slap me.”

  “That’s because you’re a shameless man-whore,” she laughed.

  Magnus snorted and drew his sword. “I’ll make you pay for that insult.”

  “You and whose army,” Erin responded, swinging her Talmar with ease.

  Magnus was not going to give her an easy time, especially with an audience. She really had to concentrate to block his blows and move with stealth. They went back and forth for a while before he dislodged the sword from her grasp. She threw herself in the opposite direction and called it back. She heard the audible gasps from the onlookers; very few had seen a Talmar before.

  “Cheat,” Magnus muttered before coming at her again.

  “Just using my skills.” Erin started to feel the tell-tale tickling in her nose. She was about to sneeze. Not good when in the middle of a sword fight.

  “Stop for a second, Magnus. I need to sneeze.”

  “No enemy would stop so I certainly won’t.”

  The burning in her nostrils got worse. She knew the moment she sneezed, Magnus would have her. All he needed was a second or two. Her mind went back to the last volume Birdie made her study. Loxhadrin was blue energy, but there was something else she might be able to call upon. What was it? A split second later she waved her left hand.

  “Kloxardin,” she murmured.

  It worked a treat. An invisible force field went up between them, allowing her to have her sneeze. Three actually. She took a few deep breaths, flashed a very stunned Magnus a victorious smile, and waved her hand again to remove the shield.

  Magnus lowered his sword. “What the hell was that?”

  “Something I remembered reading about.”

  “And you just called it like that? No practice?” he asked incredulously.

  “Yeah. I thought it was worth a shot especially as you were being a dick.”

  Wilhelm approached them. “She fights well, Magnus.”

  “She fights dirty,” he grunted.

  “You’re just a sore loser,” Erin retorted.

  “Why don’t you challenge Wilhelm?” Magnus goaded her.

  Erin felt her insides turn to mush as Wilhelm fixed his gaze on her. Standing so close to such a magnificent chest was having an adverse effect on her. Boys she had no problem dealing with, Viking princes were another matter altogether. Especially ones so perfectly built.

  “It would be rude to challenge my host,” Erin responded diplomatically.

  “On the contrary,” Wilhelm grinned. “I would be only too happy to beat you.”

  Erin shook her head. This was not going to end well. “Fine, but I must in
sist you put your shirt on. I’d hate to damage such beautiful muscle tone.”

  There was a hoot of laughter from the side lines. Wilhelm shot them a look and put his tunic back on. Erin pulled Magnus to one side. “You are a major rat, Selvig. I either suffer the indignity of losing to Wilhelm or embarrass him in front of his men.”

  “Yes, it’s a win-win scenario for me,” Magnus snickered.

  “Twat,” Erin muttered. “Any pointers?”