TheElskerSagaBoxedSetIBOOKSdec2014

by ST Bende

  “Wow.” I exhaled.

  “You haven’t seen the best part.” Victoria turned the page again, revealing another sketch. “Check out that back.”

  “Holy mother.” Emma sidled up next to us. “It drops almost to your bum. That backline is sexy as sin. Ull won’t be able to keep his hands off you.”

  “That was the plan.” Victoria confirmed.

  “Um…” My fingers covered my eyes. The idea of wearing a near-backless dress had me flustered. But the idea of Ull and his hands… “Yes. Please. Make that one.” Make it right now.

  “You like it?” Victoria shot me a sly glance.

  “I love it,” I confirmed.

  “But more importantly, Ull is going to flip.” Emma tossed her hair. “Has he ever seen you in anything that sexy?”

  “Emma,” Victoria said. “Please.”

  “My clothes are sexy,” I defended myself.

  “Sure. If you call the occasionally exposed collarbone or, gasp, a bare wrist sexy,” Emma heckled.

  Victoria narrowed her eyes. “She does have a point.” She buried her head in her sketchpad, scribbling furiously.

  “It’s not like we had any reason to wear backless gowns in Nehalem,” I pointed out. “It was cold, like, three hundred days a year.”

  “How do you explain the other sixty-five days?” Emma nudged me with her shoulder.

  “Okay, ladies. What if we did something like this for a honeymoon dress?” Victoria held up the paper. “In teal, or maybe white.”

  “Oh my God, V. It’s perfect! Can you make me one in green?” Emma clapped her hands.

  “You just came up with that?” I touched the paper with one finger.

  “The strapless bit might be a little uncomfortable for you, but we’ll tuck it here and here,” Victoria pointed with her pencil, “and I’ll build in padded cups so you don’t have to worry about fidgeting with a bra. The ruching will accentuate your tiny waist, and the A-line will give Ull easy access in the event he decides to—”

  “It’s gorgeous,” I interrupted, blushing fiercely. “Love the ribbon at the hips.”

  “That is a nice touch, don’t you think?” Victoria admired her work. “We could even add some pockets. Fun it up.”

  “You’re really going to make me two dresses?” I touched the notebook with one hand.

  “I’m planning to make you an entire honeymoon wardrobe. No offense, Kristia, but I don’t trust you to shop for yourself for that particular occasion.”

  Now that she mentioned it, some guidance would be nice.

  “Yay!” Emma clapped her hands. “What about something like this for one of the dresses?” She grabbed the pencil out of Victoria’s hands and started drawing. When she finished, Victoria eyed the paper critically.

  “Again with the eyelets? Emma, we discussed this. Leave the design to me. You just worry about Kristia’s wedding hair.” Victoria smiled angelically as Emma grabbed the Hair Helper off the nightstand.

  “Oh, goody. Because I think I know what happened before, and it’s an easy fix. All we have to do is tease the crown and maybe add some of that glittery hairspray…”

  Heaven help us all.

  “Olaug! To what do I owe the honor?” I opened the door of my flat with a wide smile. Olaug stood on the other side, an overflowing grocery bag in her arms.

  “I was just passing through, and I thought I’d pop in on my soon-to-be-granddaughter. And her roommates—are they home?”

  “No. They’ve got classes this afternoon.” Holding the door open with my hip, I reached for her bag. “Let me take that for you, it looks heavy. Come in. I’m so happy you’re here.”

  Olaug patted my arm as she walked into our tiny entry. While I carried the bag to the kitchen, she took off her coat and appraised our living space. Couch facing the open kitchen, tartan throw artfully arranged across the reading chair, and thanks to a bout of pre-honeymoon jitters, a freshly swept and mopped floor. Everything was spic and span.

  “What a lovely home, Kristia,” Olaug praised.

  “Thank you.” Heat crept across my cheeks as I made my way back to the foyer. “Let me take your coat.”

  With the coat tucked away in the closet, I followed Olaug toward the kitchen. “Can I get you anything? Tea, or a sandwich, or maybe some cookies?”

  “Actually my dear, I brought you something. Oh good, you do have a stand mixer. Makes it so much easier.” Olaug made herself at home in my kitchen, unpacking the grocery bag and rooting through drawers until she pulled out our mixing bowls. “This will do nicely.”

  “What are we making?” My smile was genuine. It had been so long since I’d cooked with Mormor. Continuing the tradition with Olaug was an unexpected perk of becoming a Myhr.

  “There’s no way I can allow you to marry my grandson without teaching you to make his favorite waffles.” Olaug rooted around my kitchen until she found the aprons. She handed one to me and tied the other around her waist. “Suit up, Kristia. We have much to cover.”

  “You’re teaching me to make your waffles? Your Norsk Waffles? The recipe Inga’s been trying to get out of you forever?”

  “The very one.”

  “Wow.” I exhaled. “This is huge.”

  “You are family now. I always knew I would share my recipe with Ull’s bride, I just didn’t know I’d have to wait this long to meet her.”

  When the apron was tied tightly around my back, I pulled out a fresh hand towel. “Is this a goddess lesson day, too? I feel like we’ve barely scratched the surface, and there’s not a lot of time left.”

  “I feel the same way.” Olaug plugged in the mixer. “Do you have time to go over some things? If not, we can just make a quick batch of waffles and I will get out of your hair.”

  “No! Stay, please. My afternoon is free as a bee.”

  “Excellent. Then please hand me three eggs.”

  “Hold on. I won’t remember all of this.” I ran to my bedroom and returned with a notebook and a pen. “Okay. Go.”

  Olaug chuckled. “You do realize much about being of Asgard will be instinctual, don’t you? The relationships, the extrasensory enhancements, they are just going to come to you as you go along. They are not things that can be taught.”

  “Maybe. But I also know an extra half-teaspoon of vanilla can completely wreck a batch of chocolate chip cookies. And I’m not taking any chances with Ull’s waffles.”

  “Fair enough.” Olaug smiled. “Whip the eggs thoroughly.” My pen flew across the paper as I took verbatim dictation. “Make sure the butter is completely melted, and do not overuse the cardamom. You will want to, but the savory should never overpower the sweet.”

  “How much do I use?”

  “Some.”

  “I’m going to need something more specific than that.” Compulsion wasn’t a hat one could just take off.

  “I’ve never measured it. I just use some.”

  I dug through a drawer until I came up with measuring spoons. “How about this. I’ll hold these over the bowl so I can measure what ‘some’ means and write it down.”

  Olaug smiled. “If you wish.” She added the remaining ingredients and patted my hand. “The sugar comes next. Whip it into the eggs until the mixture is slightly stiff.”

  She continued, adding her personal touches to each ingredient as she cooked. Finally, the batter was ready.

  “Oops. Should have plugged my waffle iron in sooner. Sorry!” I moved to pull my iron from the cupboard, but Olaug put a hand to my arm.

  “Norsk waffles have their own kind of iron.” She pulled a heart shaped waffle maker from the bottom of the grocery bag. It heated quickly, and in no time we sat at the kitchen table with two fresh cups of Earl Grey and a batch of homemade waffles.

  “These are amazing.” Flavor danced around the corners of my mouth as I took another bite. “Even better than the ones at the church.”

  “I have had a veritable eternity to perfect them,” Olaug pointed out. “And speaking of eterni
ty, let’s talk about your new life. When you and Ull promise ‘till death do us part,’ it’s going to mean a whole lot longer than you grew up thinking it would.”

  “I know. I can’t wait.”

  “Look at you.” Olaug reached across the table to pat my hand. “Your smile could be seen from the heavens. I’ve only ever seen one bigger. Ull just lights up when you are around. It is such a blessing to see you two together.”

  Heat tickled the back of my neck. “You love him so much.”

  “Of course.” Olaug pulled her hand away to spread jam on a waffle. “I used to take care of him while his mother was away. Did he ever tell you about it?”

  “Ull doesn’t talk about his childhood.”

  “I know.” Olaug’s voice was soft. “It was an unhappy time for him. After his father passed and Sif married Thor, she was away for months at a time in battle. In Asgard, when you marry you assume your husband’s position, and as you will become Goddess to Ull’s God of Winter title, Sif became Thor’s battle goddess. She followed him off to fight, and left her little boy in my care.”

  “But didn’t she want to be with Ull all the time? Especially after everything he’d been through?” If I were lucky enough to have a family, I wouldn’t leave them for anything. I’d be there for my babies’ first steps, first words, first everything. There would be no way I’d leave them for months at a time. Ever.

  “It didn’t matter what she wanted.” Olaug watched me carefully. “This is the way things are done in Asgard. The Aesir have a duty to the realm that supersedes duty to self.”

  “Are you saying that if Ull and I get to have children, I won’t be allowed to be with them?” My heart squeezed.

  “I am saying that unless someone shakes things up, Asgard will continue to operate the same as it has done for millennia. And in my humble opinion, that would be a true travesty. I like endre.” Olaug lifted her waffle.

  “Endre?” I repeated.

  “It means change,” Olaug explained. “Someone has to be the one to bring it to Asgard. Don’t you agree it’s time?”

  Oh.

  I gave a tiny nod as Olaug took a bite. When she’d finished chewing, she wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin. “Now as Goddess of Winter, you and Ull actually have a fairly non-confrontational assignment. Not to say it is not difficult, but it is a non-combat position, which is rare among the Aesir. Since Odin has always given Ull discretion in performing his duties, I would imagine you would be able to stay together the majority of the time. There will be some travel as weather anomalies pop up in the realms, but for the most part you will be able to choose a base and work out of it. Together.”

  “That’s good.” It would have been scary to think about navigating immortality all by my lonesome.

  “Ull does a significant amount of research for his post. Satellites move around all nine realms, transmitting data to whichever base he is working out of. Ull analyzes the patterns, looks for trends, and performs necessary adjustments.”

  “How does he do that, exactly?” And more importantly, how was I supposed to do it with him?

  “He hasn’t shown you? He is able to manipulate the climate with his hands.”

  “Excuse me?” There was no way she was being serious.

  “Kristia, he is God of Winter. He draws on his Odin-given gift and generates weather patterns through his hands. He sends them to the necessary coordinates through the teleportation system he developed with Heimdall. If the situation is truly extreme, he visits the climate personally and performs necessary adjustments.” Olaug tilted her head. “What did you think he did at work?”

  “I—I don’t know.” My fingers tore apart the heart-shaped waffle. “I guess I hadn’t really thought about how he controlled the weather. Seriously? With his hands? He just…” I waved my hand across the table and wiggled my fingers, miming falling snow. “Poof?”

  “It’s a little more complicated, but yes. Poof.” Olaug’s eyes crinkled.

  “And I’ll be able to… poof, too?”

  “You will. At your transformation, the power will be ingrained and Ull will be able to show you how to channel it. Along with your other powers.”

  “My other powers?” The waffle fell onto my plate. “What else will I get to do? Am I going to get the speedy thing Inga has?”

  “Of course. Speed of movement, enhanced sight, increased strength, and enhanced physical sensitivity are just some of the changes you’ll see after your transformation.”

  “Enhanced physical sensitivity?” I squeaked.

  “Yes. It’s innate in all goddesses, but it will be especially strong in you because of your title. You’ll be able to feel a storm coming just by the way the moisture in your skin adjusts. If a dry season is approaching, you will know it by the way your hair and nails react to the air. Even the slightest atmospheric shift will resonate within you. Your nerve endings are going to heighten in ways most goddesses won’t ever experience. It will help you tremendously in your work.”

  So I was going to marry Ull, turn into a goddess, and traipse off on my honeymoon with heightened sensitivity? Did anyone else see this as a ginormous recipe for disaster?

  “Awesome.”

  “Are you frightened, Kristia?”

  Was I frightened? The fate of the cosmos rested on my being able to use my visions for the greater good, but I had no idea how to properly channel them. If I didn’t get a grip on my mental tic soon, things were going to end very badly for everyone I loved.

  Frightened didn’t even begin to cover what I was.

  A shudder danced along the length of my spine. I hated the feeling of being so grossly underprepared. But as much as I wanted to ask Olaug to help me practice using my visions right now, I knew she’d give me the official Asgardian party line—It’s too soon. It’s too dangerous. Wait until after you’re changed. I took a breath and relegated my panic into the corner of my brain. My anxieties could be dealt with later.

  “I’m a little scared,” I admitted. “Doesn’t mean I don’t want to go through with this though. I would do anything to spend a thousand lifetimes with Ull.”

  “I know you would.” Olaug leaned back in her chair. “It is what made me love you every bit as much as he does. Ull never let himself wish for a family. I was afraid he was broken. But you have given me faith. That he sees a future for himself, after all of this time… it is a miracle.”

  “I’ll take care of him, Olaug. I promise.”

  She hugged me tightly. “You will take care of each other.”

  That night, I paced my room. The Asgardians told me I wouldn’t be able to fully control my visions until I’d been transformed, but Olaug’s comment had really gotten to me. I was frightened. Mormor hadn’t raised me to sit helplessly on the sidelines, and I didn’t like doing it one bit. I was sick of waiting to do something to help my soon-to-be family. Ull had waited lifetimes to find me, and here I was sitting on my mental tic like it was an unwanted birthday present. I didn’t want to wait any more. It was time to test-run my gift.

  Elsker wasn’t scheduled to give me my first formal training session for another week, but we’d talked a little on the phone. From the very little she’d told me, I gathered I was supposed to get to a calm space in my head, breathe deeply, and ground myself to the earth. Then I could project a part of myself wherever I wanted to go. Apparently once I was changed, some special Asgardian power would kick in and make this all easier, but so long as I was human it was nearly impossible. Pish. Mormor used to claim I was so stubborn I’d argue with a lamppost. If there hadn’t been so much truth to those words, I’d have admitted she was right.

  I knew Ull and Elsker were just trying to protect me. They were so nervous about all of this. And while I knew what I was doing was risky—I hadn’t forgotten Ull’s warning about being kidnapped and losing all my powers, or the whole burning pajamas debacle—the way I saw it, I’d had these visions my whole life without any training anyway. What was the worst that could ha
ppen?

  I closed my eyes and focused on the backs of my eyelids. Then I pictured a rope pulling me down to the floor. There. That should be grounding enough. Now, to the traveling. I didn’t have anything I really needed to see, and I was smart enough not to go looking for Asgard’s enemies on my first go-round. So I pictured the living room. It was only forty feet away. An image of the couch came to mind and I bit my cheek, focusing on the throw pillows.

  “Come on, alleged Asgardian power.” I clutched my grandmother’s necklace for luck. “Show me how this works.” I opened one eye; I hadn’t moved. And neither had my spirit, or whatever it was that Ull failed to explain back at Ýdalir. I squeezed my eyes shut and pictured the couch again, this time imagining my body floating toward it. I peeked from one lowered eyelid—still nothing.

  I closed my eyes a third time and squeezed the necklace so hard the tiny hammer stabbed my hand. Suddenly I did feel something, but it wasn’t what I’d been going for. Needles pierced my skull from all sides and the backs of my eyeballs felt like they were on fire. My head throbbed and I grabbed at my temples. My chest rose and fell with no control on my part, and my body shook violently.

  In all my nightmares, I’d never once given in to the pain. But with one final shake, I was consumed by the darkness.

  I never even saw it coming.

  Chapter Six

  “KRISTIA!” EMMA’S SHRIEK BROUGHT me back from the darkness. Cold hands cupped my cheeks while something damp dabbed at my forehead. Was it a washrag? My eyes burned too much to open.

  “Where am I?” My voice sounded shaky.

  “In the living room. My God, Kristia, what happened? You’ve been convulsing for like, two minutes! You’re covered in sweat. We need to get you to the hospital.”

  “In the living room…” I was in the living room. So I had done it then? But I wasn’t supposed to have actually moved—I’d only meant to travel in my mind. And I hadn’t seen mental pictures of the living room, only flashes of light as I’d been overcome with pain. “How did I get here?”