Nokken

by Mary E. Twomey

  As Jens shook his glorious backside to entertain us, I reached a new understanding of how deserving a moment must be to earn a smile from him. That he spent so many on me was a humbling thought, and I took that new knowledge with a readiness I had not possessed before.

  “Is that really what yer world’s like?” Tor inquired, skepticism stitching his eyebrows together.

  Jens bowed to Nik’s polite applause. “Pockets of it. You’ll see.” Jens sat back down at my side, sizing up my look of unmasked admiration hesitantly. “What?”

  “It’s you.” I blinked at his confusion, unable to find eloquent words to communicate how much my heart filled and ached for him. “What a waste to’ve missed looking at you during the years you had to be invisible.” I spoke slowly, and in that tiny moment, we knew the same language. “It’s nice to see your face.”

  Jens snapped to attention, searching my sincere expression for signs of a joke. And just like that, he understood me as I was beginning to understand him. He cupped my cheeks, and with the greatest care, kissed my lips like he was making gentle love to them. When I was a pathetic puddle in his arms, he whispered, “That you see me now makes all the difference.”

  “Seems like your whole culture’s a waste of time.” Foss interrupted in his gruff manner. He slid the kanins off the spit, split them open and handed them around.

  “And what all-noble vocation do you have, Foss? Does perpetual grouch pay well?” I said, only half-joking.

  “I’m a retired mercenary. Now I own several ships that take in their share of fish.” He bit into his bunny, letting the juices run down his chin. “Own a few dozen rats like you, too. They know how to keep their mouths shut in the company of men. A world of you? I can’t imagine a more insolent and immature place. Let’s hope I die well before then.”

  “Here’s hoping,” I replied with a piercing glare to my smile.

  Jens barked out a rebuttal to the rotten man, but I placed my hand on his back to quiet him. I looked at Foss, conveying more disappointment in him than I could have communicated with a thousand words. “So we’re back to that? Got it. You’re big and scary and I hate you, too.” I gave him a farewell salute. “It was fun while it lasted. You were almost redeemable.”

  “I care nothing for your redemption, little rat. At least that one knows her place.” He motioned to Britta, who kept her eyes downward as she chewed. I wanted to pull a Jerry Springer and leap across the fire to strangle him for slighting Britta’s sweetness.

  Uncle Rick opened his mouth to correct Foss, but I shook my head. “Uh-uh. Don’t worry about it, Uncle Rick. He’s happy the way he is. We only have to last till the final portal falls. I can hold out until then.” I fumed at Foss, tightening my grip on the slimy bunny meat. “But you’ll watch how you talk about Britta. Say what you have to about me. I get it. But don’t try your intimidation nonsense on her. She’s too polite to take you down the way you need.”

  I barely saw it happen.

  Britta’s knife launched out, whipped across the fire and plunged strategically between Foss’s spread knees. Britta stood, reminding them all she was a warrior, too. “Oh, dear sister. I’m not that polite.” She picked up her head and glared – actually glared at the brute, who grumbled at being ganged up on by a couple of girls.

  Foss stood, sword drawn. “You would dare attack one of the four powers? I could have you hanged for that!”

  The others stood to intervene, but Britta didn’t need the safeguard. Her voice rose with a hint of madness to it. “I’d like to see you try! They’ll never hang me! They need someone to clean up their mess. Who would take my body down and prepare it for burial? Say what you want about my profession, but it affords me the same amount of untouchability as yours.” Her upper lip curled. “All the kings and all the powers of Undraland love to fight, but no one wants to get their hands dirty.”

  Foss’s logic was stuck in his throat, his mouth moving, but no words daring to come out. “Know your place, rat,” he finally spat.

  Jens popped Foss in the chest with the flat of his hand. “Back down, Foss. My sister isn’t your slave to jerk around however you feel like. Neither’s Lucy.” He held up his hands and addressed everyone. “Be cool, people. Finish your food and go to bed.”

  For the most part, everyone obeyed, reclaiming their space around the fire.

  Britta bristled. “Excuse me. There’s a man over there who doesn’t seem to mind my presence.” Britta’s eyes watched Jamie stirring a few yards away. She took two portions over to him so they could have a minute alone.

  Jens looked like he wanted to go check on his friend, but I tugged him down next to me. “Give them some time.”

  “I… yeah. You’re right.”

  “Eat with me.”

  Jens tapped his kanin leg to mine with that half-smile I adored. “It’s a date.”

  Twenty-Three.

  Fighting Amongst the Ranks

  We walked for two more days after that. Two days of Tor explaining the process of maturing the perfect batch of Gar. Two days of listening to Nik retell the history of the Nøkken for my benefit. Two days of learning more about Mace and his lonely childhood. Two days of holding Jens’s hand like a true couple off on a nature walk together. Two days of Jamie building up his courage to do the same with Britta.

  It was also two days of Foss treating Britt and me like dirt. He even knocked me down once when Jens and Henry Mancini were with Uncle Rick and Charles gathering more supplies in a nearby village. No apology. No help back up. Martin Luther King would have been proud that I did not choke him – not that I could reach his granite neck anyway.

  The thing of it was that I could see a flicker of conscience each time he was terrible. Charles peeling off the curse was working, but the behavior was so ingrained that he would have to start making conscious choices to break old habits if he ever wanted to make real progress. It was to the point where he could begin to choose the kind of man he wanted to be, instead of the curse choosing for him. I decided to tread lightly to make the choice easier for him.

  “You’ll not be rough with her like that anymore, Foss,” Britta demanded when he knocked me down again ten minutes later.

  Foss and I were so shocked she said anything, we both just stared at her for a second. “How dare you speak to me like that, Tomten scum!” Foss postured, his chest so wide, I had to remind myself not to cower.

  “No! It’s fine. I tripped, Britt. Foss would never do something so mean.”

  “I know you’re lying,” Britta argued, her chin raised in defiance.

  Jamie, Nik and Tor were a ways behind and finally caught up. Nik gave me a hand up and brushed the dirt off my backside. “What’s going on?”

  Before Foss or Britta could chime in with their cacophony of contradictory opinions, I held up my hands. “Clumsy moment.”

  “Why are you sticking up for him?” Britta demanded. She turned to Jamie. “Foss has been –”

  I cut her off for the sake of peace among the ranks. “I love you, too, Britt. We’re not going to get anywhere if we keep fighting, though. So I’m putting a stop to it. He can’t use me to start fights anymore. We’re a team, and if we’re all going to make it out of this, we have to start working together.” I glared at Foss. “So this is me, working with you, Foss. Being the big mercenary boss is easy. Working with people you hate is hard.” He started to argue, but I shook my head, raising my fist in the air. “Prove you’re stronger than me, Foss! Prove you’re strong enough to do something actually hard for you. Get along with us for the rest of the trip. It’ll be the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do, I’m sure, but Alrik didn’t ask you on this trip because he thought you took the easy way out.” He started to interrupt, but I waved my arms to silence him. “Newsflash, it’s time to either man up or show everyone what a childish rat you are!”

  The tension was too high. The next move was his, and we were all watching him make the choice of manliness or childish behavior.

  H
e sneered at the pickle I put him in. Then he responded in a way I had not anticipated. Foss raised his enormous arm and backhanded me, sending me flying into the grass.

  Britta shrieked, her hands over her mouth.

  Jamie spat blood from his mouth at Foss and socked him one as I blinked back my tears. “You hit her, you hit a Tomten prince, you fool! I could have you in the stocks for that! My family could wage war on the Fossegrimens for one of the four powers attacking the Tonttu throne!”

  “I don’t play mind games with children,” Foss snarled. When he saw Tor standing at Jamie’s side and Nik kneeling in front of me, he realized he did not have an ally. I was just glad Jens had Henry Mancini. I don’t think my temper could’ve taken it if he’d acted out on my dog. Nik held my hair back and rubbed my back as I spat blood on the grass.

  Britta was shaking with rage. Watching her slowly unhinge her grip on servility was unsettling. Only I saw the dip into her apron pocket. I shouted for her to stop, but her mind was made up. Britta had wild eyes and steady hands capable of preparing bodies for death from the noose. Her knife flew out from her and sunk into the top of the hand Foss struck me with.

  He roared. I screamed. It was chaos.

  “Sing, Nik! Calm them down,” I ordered, struggling to get to my feet. I ran to Foss, showing him my hands were gentle and would only try to help him.

  To his credit, he only grunted once when I slid the blade out of his hand.

  To my credit, I didn’t barf all over the wound, which started oozing thick blood the second the air hit it.

  I washed his hand with water from my canteen, hoping beyond hope that he wouldn’t take his pain out on me. “Easy, Foss.” He was a bear ready to strike. I kept my voice quiet, slicing the tension with silk instead of a chainsaw. “Britta’s the meekest girl I’ve ever met, and you turned her into that.” I shook my head. “You have a choice to make. Be under the curse of your people, or be the best of your kind.” Then I took the knife, giving him a look that warned him to trust me. He stiffened, but didn’t stop the blade as I cut off his shirt sleeve. “For what it’s worth, I have faith in you.” Then I wrapped the cloth around his hand, making a tight bandage.

  Foss flexed his hand, wincing at the pain. “I care nothing for your faith.”

  I waited a few beats for Nik’s song to soothe sense into Foss. Then I took a chance and kissed his temple, shocking him out of his bull-headedness. “Be good to me,” I admonished him. “Don’t settle for being one of the four powers. Be big enough to be the only one.” I wrapped my arms around his neck when I saw him debating whether to be man or beast. To my surprise and his, he leaned for a moment into my lips, his body begging for one more kind kiss. I indulged him, running my fingers through his short hair. “That’s the faith I have in you. I won’t make you weak. I’ll make you the strongest.”

  Nik continued to sing quietly, erasing the animosity by small degrees every few bars. Shoulders began to relax, and though everyone was still mad, there was less of a chance of someone flying off the handle.

  Foss stood abruptly, breaking out of my embrace. “Get away from me, rat.”

  I wanted to shake sense into him, if such a thing were possible. I realized in that moment of my life that change was not in the cards for everyone. Foss might never become a better person, and the world would not shine as bright in his corner of it.

  I took a deep breath and recited my favorite historical figure’s famous speech under my breath like a prayer. “‘In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.’”

  Nik helped me to my feet and smoothed his thumb over my sore cheek, kissing it once as he held me. I brushed the hair off my shoulders and donned an authoritative tone. “No one tells Jens, Alrik or Mace a thing about this. I won’t have Foss win this by stirring up more anger and more fighting in the group. It stops here. We all stop fighting today. Taking down Pesta should be more important to you than taking me or Britt down, Foss. Make your choice. Pesta or me.”

  Foss seethed, his answer stuck in his throat.

  “Good enough. Let’s get going. They’re supposed to meet us at that giant hill, and it feels like it keeps getting further away as more stupidity sneaks into the group.” I laced my arm through Britta’s, my cheek still throbbing. I dropped her knife back into her apron. “You okay, Jamie?”

  Jamie looked like a bull ready to charge. All notion of a lackadaisical life spent wearing a crown and eating bonbons felt like a joke when seeing him in this light. He was no man for sitting on a throne. He was a beast for killing bears and taking out mercenaries.

  “Let’s move,” Jamie seethed.

  Nik kissed my cheek again, lacing his fingers through mine as we walked. “A queen if I ever saw one.” His hand on mine was sweet, sure, but there was a note of territorial claim to it.

  I kept a healthy distance from Foss. Jamie and I stayed close to Britta, not ready to risk her safety on Foss’s cruel nature. I guessed it would not take long to break our feeble alliance.

  Twenty-Four.

  Nik the Man of Valor

  Our group reunited with Uncle Rick’s team, and we walked another day. The gorgeous prairie that days ago enthralled me was now kinda, well, boring. But I would take boring any day over Weres or spiders, so I didn’t complain.

  Nik’s puffed-up chest and swagger began to melt as we neared the lake that contained the portal. Jens was holding my hand and Nik’s. The Tomtens were vanishing us so we could get closer without being seen. Nik’s eyes were dull with thoughts of losing the life he’d made for himself, however veiled that life may be.

  “You okay?” I asked of his cloudy demeanor.

  Nik shrugged. “As okay as I can be. I fear I’ve lost your optimism in all this.” He pointed to the side of the lake, where we could see in the distance too many blue and white-haired soldiers flanking the water. “They’ve called in security. There didn’t used to be any guards here. I count three dozen now.” He paled, his mouth falling open at the overly muscled, tall Fossegrimen man in the center. “Is that… How did the Mouthpiece know? How did he follow us here? I thought he was going the opposite direction.”

  Even though I was invisible, I shrank behind Jens. I’d never known the fear of being hunted, but the goose bumps all over my body told me it was not a thing one got used to.

  I examined the structure sticking out from the center of the lake. It was a rock sculpture twice the size of Foss. I squinted and made out the shape of an enormous fish coming up out of the water on a plank, its tail swishing in triumph. It sort of looked like it was on a seesaw.

  A salmon on a seesaw. Salmon Seesaw. I gasped at the secret family password brought to life before me. I ran my finger over Linus’s ashes, wishing he could be here to see it with me, holy crapping in unison as we usually did when something blew our minds.

  “What do you need from us?” Jens cast around like an army general, looking for weak points and forming a plan of attack.

  “The rake and some space, I guess. Jens, you shouldn’t come down with me. I know Alrik found you that weed, but as soon as I start tearing down the portal, they’re going to know I’m there. They’ll attack with their tritons, and you’ll get hit. Whether they can see us or not, they’ll know where to lunge.”

  Jens nodded. “I know, but you’ll never get past their line if they can see you with the rake. I guess you’ll just have to be quick about destroying the portal once we get down there. Then swim us out as fast as you can.”

  I really didn’t like this plan, but as I had nothing better, I kept out of it.

  When we got a little closer, our party stopped behind a thick smattering of trees that kept us safely hidden. Jens kicked off his boots and shoved them in his red pack, turni
ng me over to Jamie for vanishing. Britta kissed Nik’s cheek and her brother’s, and then it was handed to me to continue our little tradition. I stood up on my toes and kissed Nik, rubbing his cheek to mine. “Be safe, Nik. We’ll give you a real hero’s welcome when you come back.”

  Nik brushed his lips to mine, and then whispered against my mouth, “Be brave, Queen Lucy. Thank you for our tawdry night together. You are a treasure, indeed.”

  Jens took out the rake from his magic bag and handed it to Nik. My favorite Nøkken shook hands with the men, eyeing them as an equal, instead of someone pretending to be so.

  Jens looked to me for his send off, but again I refused him. “You and I don’t say goodbye. Not until it’s true.”

  Jens nodded, his expression resolute as he shifted to focusing on the task at hand. Uncle Rick handed him the weed, which he held off on choking down until just before dipping into the water.

  Jens put his hand on the back of my neck, gripping me tight as he took control of the group. “Alright, here’s how it works. Everyone goes toward the docks. No one’s going to jump in and try to fight with us or for us. You’re all going to the docks. Nik and I’ll meet you there in one hour. If we’re not there in one hour, gank a boat and leave for Fossegrimen.”

  My head jerked in his direction. “What? You’re not seriously suggesting we leave you behind.”

  Jens gripped me harder, begging me without words to fall in line and respect his expertise. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. Nik and I can row a boat as good as anyone and catch up to you at the first opportunity. Go to Foss’s house and we’ll all meet there.” He stuck his hand out to Jamie. “If I don’t make it, I’m trusting you to be Lucy’s Tom.”

  My head whipped from Jamie to Jens as my fate was exchanged by way of a handshake. “What? Jens, don’t talk like that! Jamie’s not my Tom! It’s you or no one!”