TheElskerSagaBoxedSetIBOOKSdec2014

by ST Bende

  Olaug watched my internal struggle with barely contained glee. “And how do you feel about that rule?”

  “It’s as wrong as a rooster in a china shop.”

  Ull shot me a glance. “Do you mean a bull in a china shop?”

  “Nope. Rooster. Happened once in Nehalem. Well, the dishware section of the general store, but close enough. It was total chaos.”

  Ull stared.

  “It was just bad all around. And so is this silly rule. No offense. If nothing ever changed, you wouldn’t have come to earth, Ull. We wouldn’t be together. Your dad wouldn’t have agreed to change me. The Norns wouldn’t have picked a human to do a god’s job. Of course things change—that’s just a part of living. Who made up that ridiculous rule, anyway?”

  Ull glanced at Olaug. “Odin.”

  “Well, he’s dead wrong, bless his heart. According to Asgard, Ragnarok’s going to be the end of us, right? Nothing against your prophets, but I, for one, do not intend to die just because some fortune tellers and your grandpa say so.”

  Ull put his hands on my shoulders. The pads of his fingers stroked a firm line to the base of my skull, releasing the tension that built as I made my speech. His hands were amazing. “But you realize it is possible, no? That much as we fight against them, The Fates might know our destinies better than we do?”

  I reached over to cup Ull’s face in my hands. The prickle of his five o’clock shadow rubbed against my palms. My eyes caught his in a determined stare—maybe if I looked deeply enough, I could project the confidence I desperately needed him to have in us. “Ull. Did it ever occur to you that sometimes finding your destiny means doing the exact opposite of what The Fates have in store?”

  Ull blinked at me. The blue of his eyes narrowed as his pupils dilated, absorbing a message that clearly had never occurred to him. To the consummate rule-follower, bucking the Asgardian system must have sounded stranger than a two-tailed mallard. I squeezed his hands, touching my forehead to his.

  “Just think about it,” I whispered.

  “She is right.” Olaug nodded. “We have Helheim, Nifhel, Jotunheim, Muspelheim and Svartalfheim fighting against us. Our enemies have attacked before, but never as a unified front. If we are to survive, we cannot afford to act as we always have. Whatever it is that Kristia is meant to be to us, she will be the one to bring about change.”

  “I do not like it.” Ull shook his head. “But I know I cannot stop her.”

  “No,” Olaug spoke softly. “You can’t.”

  Ull wrapped an arm around my waist and guided me to the couch. I curled up against him, letting my hair fall across his chest as I lay my head on the fabric of his sweater. The contrast of hard muscle and soft cashmere was so Ull. It made me calm, despite my nerves.

  “Why don’t we tell her more about our relationship, Ull?” Olaug offered.

  With his arm slung around me, Ull slid his massive hand over my abdomen. He rubbed slow circles across my flat stomach, resting his chin on the top of my head as he spoke. “Olaug is more than my grandmother. She acts as my link to Asgard. When Svartalfheim attacked the Dark Forest, Odin was hesitant to allow me to leave the realm. He agreed on the condition that Olaug join me.

  “She runs official operations from Ýdalir, and relays messages as needed. Meanwhile I am able to delegate a portion of my duties to colleagues back home, and still tend to the most urgent issues from here. Telecommuting, so to speak.”

  “A modern god for a modern time.” My cough poorly disguised my laughter.

  “Always glad to be able to amuse you.”

  “I love you, Ull.” I gazed up at him.

  “Those are just words.” He kissed my forehead. “When I am needed, Odin summons me through Olaug. We installed a portal to the Bifrost when we built Ýdalir.”

  “The Bifrost is the rainbow bridge that connects the realms to Asgard.” I remembered.

  “Correct. It is guarded by Heimdall. When called, he sends the bridge to the portal so we can return to Asgard, or visit another realm.”

  “So you literally walk on rainbows?” My mouth fell open just a little.

  Ull shrugged. “It is not a big deal.”

  “Says the guy who walks on rainbows,” I muttered. “And doesn’t look a day over twenty. How do you all avoid aging? Is that a genetic god-thing, or do you take a vitamin or something?”

  Olaug chuckled. “We eat apples.”

  “Pardon?” An apple a day was only supposed to keep the doctor away, not double for the fountain of youth.

  “Apples,” she repeated. “Our Goddess of Wisdom, Idunn, formulated a magical apple that slows the aging process. So long as we continue to eat the apples, our progression is delayed over a thousand percent. We do grow older, obviously.” She held out one wrinkled hand. “But as Idunn continues to tinker with the formula, our life expectancies continue to increase. We have not had a god die of old age since she produced her first crop.”

  Unbelievable.

  “If I eat them do I stay young too?”

  “Not as you are. They do not have the same effect on mortals,” Olaug explained.

  “Apples. Who knew?” I fingered my necklace.

  “Did you never wonder about all the apple pastries around Ýdalir?” Ull asked.

  “I just thought you guys were really, really wholesome. Apple pie and all.” I shrugged feebly.

  “Oh, sweetheart.” Ull patted my stomach.

  “What? It’s not a huge stretch. You are wholesome. I’ve never heard you swear.”

  Ull raised an eyebrow and pressed his lips to my ear. His cool breath made me shiver when he spoke. “Oh, you will,” he promised.

  Images of our imminent honeymoon flashed in my head. Beads of sweat trickled down my neck. Oh, Lord.

  “Now, Kristia,” Olaug continued in her matronly tone, “the ceremony elevating you to Asgard can happen during your matrimony.”

  “How does it work, exactly?” The butterflies in my belly took flight.

  “It is fairly simple.” Olaug paused.

  Ull listened intently since he didn’t know how the conversion was going to happen either. No mortal had ever been allowed to become a god. I was something of a novelty.

  “There will be a bit of prep work beforehand. Idunn will prepare your body for the transition to immortality.” Olaug’s eyes glazed. I sensed there was something she wasn’t telling me, but she moved on quickly. “The formal transformation will occur at your wedding. Odin will raise Mjölnir above your head and sing an incantation affirming your worthiness while calling on the powers of Asgard. You will both give your assent and pledge your fealty to our realm, and it will be done.”

  “That’s it?” I was incredulous. I thought for sure there would be spells and blades, the whole eye of newt thing. All we had to do was say some words under a hammer?

  “Besides the preparation, that is all. Getting Odin’s permission was the hard part. The ceremony itself is relatively simple.” There it was again—that glazed look. I could guess at its meaning.

  “Will it hurt?” I wasn’t so good with pain. Flu shots were my undoing.

  “Oh.” Olaug chuckled. “I do not think so. No human has ever entered Asgard, so we are not entirely sure how this will go. But it should be fairly easy.”

  Talking about pain reminded me of something. “What about, well, fighting? Who’s going to teach me?” Surely Olaug wasn’t expected to cover that, too. I lobbed a hopeful face at Asgard’s fiercest assassin, but he shook his head.

  “I do not want you engaged in combat, Kristia. It is too risky.”

  “Elfie’s come after me too many times. We both know I’ll get attacked again.”

  “Your necklace has protected you in my place. As the Seer, you can channel Mjölnir’s powers through it. I expect you to wear it at all times. And if the creature appears again, I want you to grab that necklace immediately; do not engage him in conversation. Do not ask him any questions. Do not try to fight him. Just grab the hamme
r, and get out of there.”

  “Ull—”

  “I mean it, Kristia.” It was a tone I didn’t hear often. But I wasn’t too concerned—I knew Ull’s anger was just a mask for his fear.

  I put my hands on both sides of his face. I stared him in the eye and took a deep breath. “I get that you’re scared. I do. I’d freak out if I thought too hard about the things you do when you’re dealing with warrior stuff. I’d be absolutely lost if anything ever happened to you.”

  “Kristia—”

  “No, listen to me. I want us to talk this out and move on, because we can’t keep coming back to it.” I made sure to keep my voice level.

  “Fine. I do not want you fighting.”

  “I don’t want me fighting, either. I want us laying on a beach somewhere, sipping fruity drinks and doing something a lot more fun than thinking about the Norse apocalypse.”

  “We agree on that.” Ull smiled through his worry lines.

  “So we want the same thing?” I traced his cheekbone with my finger. “We just have to figure out how to get there. And before we do, the odds are pretty good someone’s going to come after me again—if not the elf, then someone else who’ll want to use my visions. It’s only a matter of time.”

  “What are you saying?” I felt Ull’s jaw tense beneath my hand. I rubbed the muscles with my thumb.

  “I’m saying that you have to give me a shot at protecting myself. Or you really might lose me. Forever.”

  Ull’s face froze. He held himself perfectly still as a tremor passed through his body. Then he exhaled sharply and grasped both of my hands in his.

  “I know,” he whispered. He leaned down so his forehead rested against mine. “I am afraid for you.”

  “I’m kind of afraid for me, too. But you know what?” I lifted his chin with one finger and looked him in the eye.

  “What?”

  “I’ve got an awfully good fighter to show me the ropes.”

  Ull cracked first. “You really want me to teach you?”

  “I do. And it doesn’t have to be now. It doesn’t even have to be before the wedding. Just promise me you’ll be the one to give me the tools I need to take care of myself. Because I want us to be together forever, and I don’t need any giants kidnapping me or elves trying to off me again.”

  “All right.” Ull closed his eyes. “I will do it. But you have to promise something in return.”

  “Okay.”

  Ull squeezed my hands and opened his eyes. “Promise you will not throw a fit when we arrange for your bodyguard.”

  “My what?” I took a step back and put my hands on my hips.

  “Once your identity gets out, the line of creatures waiting to kidnap you will stretch from one end of the cosmos to the other. As the Seer, Odin will require you have twenty-four-hour detail.”

  “Absolutely not. No. I don’t want some stranger following me around all the time. I already have you asking about my every vision. I’m covered.” The idea of two overprotective-Ulls was too much.

  “Sweetheart.” Ull stepped forward and pulled me into his arms. I softened into him just a smidge, but I kept my hands firmly on my hips. “This is not about me. You are my world, yes. But as our visionary, you are also of tremendous value to Asgard. Odin will not let you roam the realms unsupervised. He is going to require security detail to keep you safe.”

  “Well, you’re an assassin, right? Can’t you do it?” I tried to squirm away, but Ull was so strong it was as if I were trying to wrestle a grizzly. I gave up and rested my cheek on his ribcage.

  “I will protect you, yes. But at the end of the day, you are still going to need a bodyguard.” He stroked the small of my back and I shivered. Without thinking, I dropped my hands from my hips and wrapped them around his waist.

  “And if I promise not to freak out when I get this stalker—”

  “Bodyguard,” Ull corrected.

  “Whatever. If I don’t freak out, then you’ll teach me to fight?”

  “That is my offer, yes.”

  “Fine.” I dropped my arms. Ull ran his hands over my hips and kissed the top of my head.

  “Thank you, darling,” he murmured into my hair.

  “You’re welcome,” I muttered. “But you’d better teach me some really good moves.”

  “Oh, I plan to.” His husky voice absolutely dripped with double meaning. I turned beet red.

  “That’s settled. Now can we get back to our lesson?” Olaug tapped her foot from across the room, and I buried my face in Ull’s chest.

  “Yes.” Ull kissed my forehead and guided me back to the couches. I curled up against him and stroked his palm with the pads of my fingers. He slung his other arm comfortably around my shoulders and pulled me close.

  Olaug smoothly steered the conversation toward my duties. “As Ull’s wife you will be Goddess of Winter. As time goes on you may choose to take on additional responsibilities. That shall be at your discretion.”

  “But what will be expected of me as a… .” It was still weird to say goddess out loud. “As one of you?”

  “Not much at first, my dear,” Olaug reassured me. “Everyone wants to see you have an easy transition.” Ull looked up. “I spoke with Sif just before you arrived. She says ‘hello,’ and ‘why don’t you visit more?’”

  Ull laughed. “Typical.” His fingertips rubbed soft circles on my arm and a slow burn built on my skin. My pulse spiked, but the proximity of Ull’s grandmother helped ebb the hormones.

  “She is very excited for your wedding. She never thought she would see the day,” Olaug teased gently. “Neither did I. We are all so happy you have come along, Kristia. You are the blessing none of us knew to ask for.”

  “Agreed.” Ull brushed his lips against my hair.

  “Thank you.” I felt the heat race across my cheeks.

  “Would you ladies care for tea?” Ull asked.

  “Yes, please.” I kissed his bottom lip and Ull headed to the kitchen to make a fresh pot.

  “So when are you going to teach me how to, you know, manage my—” I broke off and signed a circle by my ear, the universal sign for “crazy.” I could not wait to have some control over my handicap.

  “I am afraid there is not much you can do until after you have been changed,” Olaug responded. “You will not have the strength of Asgard until then. And trying to channel your powers without it would be dangerous. If you were separated from your body in the tenth realm—”

  “Olaug!” Ull set the kettle down with a little too much force.

  “She is going to find out about it soon enough.”

  “The tenth realm? No, there are nine. Asgard, Vanaheim, Alfheim, Svartalfheim, Jotunheim, Nidavellir, Nifhelm, Muspelheim and… oh. Midgard.” I ticked them off by rote. One started paying a lot more attention in Professor Carnicke’s mythology class when one found out one’s boyfriend was a living, breathing Norse deity.

  Olaug stared at Ull. “Do you want to tell her or should I?”

  I watched the vein on Ull’s neck bulge until I was pretty sure it was going to burst. “It’s okay. I can just find out later.”

  Ull let out one long breath. He eyed me levelly, as if he were waiting for me to run away.

  “Ull? What’s wrong?”

  “I do not know how much more I can subject you to,” he admitted. “This is not a small matter.”

  “Try me.”

  Ull nodded. He set down a silver serving-tray with teacups, milk, sugar and spoons. When he was done, he stared at me with a guarded expression. “There is another plane beyond the nine realms—an alternate reality you can visit to obtain information. A tenth realm.”

  Chapter Three

  “THERE’S AN ALTERNATE REALITY? Like, a parallel universe?” I squeaked. That sounded absurd. Though, given the origins of my company, I probably should have been beyond surprises.

  “It is simply another place you can send a part of your spirit for a term. Another realm that has… . special powers,”
Ull explained.

  “You can send your spirit to another realm?” The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. “You can separate yourself from your spirit? Actually cut out your soul? Like in a horror movie?”

  “No, nothing like that,” Olaug assured me just as Ull nodded.

  “Well, which is it?” I croaked.

  Ull and Olaug exchanged a look. Ull spoke first. “Yes, you can separate yourself from your spirit. Send it on a journey your physical body cannot make. No, you are not cutting out your soul—the spirit will return to your body, provided you keep it intact in the tenth realm.”

  “And no, it is nothing like a horror movie,” Olaug assured me. “It is reasonably painless, or so I’m told. I’ve never actually done it before.”

  “You haven’t? And you think I’m going to be able to?” There was no disguising the panic from my voice.

  “I know you are going to be able to,” Olaug promised. If only I could feel half as confident as she sounded. “Elsker will train you. Extensively. When the time comes, you will be more than ready.”

  “You can actually send your spirit to another realm?” There were so many things that could go wrong in that scenario. First of all, how did you get your spirit out of your body? And once it was away from your brain, how did you tell it where to go and what to do? What happened if it decided it wanted its independence and went off on a European cruise, leaving your body spirit-less? This could be a total debacle. What if… Oh my God. “What if Elfie finds me? My body lying spiritless, or my spirit off in Never-Never Land? What would happen to me?”

  The vein in Ull’s neck bulged. His square jaw worked itself back and forth before setting in a firm line.

  “It’s that bad?” My mouth was so dry, my tongue felt like someone had glued it to my teeth.

  “I promised I would not let anything bad happen to you, Kristia. But you have to understand that if you choose to do this, if you choose to enter the tenth realm, there is a possibility I will not be able to protect you. If I were to travel with you, your body would be left unattended. And if I stay with your body, I cannot be with your spirit. I cannot protect both parts of you if you separate them from one another. But the thought of not being able to take care of any part of you absolutely terrifies me.”