Her Gilded Firebird: Book Three in the Norse Warriors series

by Susannah Shannon

  Chapter 17

  She fell into step beside him. He began speaking immediately, “You know I left the Snowforce before my training was finished.”

  She did know that, but he had never provided her with details, and she hadn’t asked for any.

  “I wasn’t strong enough, “he whispered.

  She came to a dead stop, “That cannot be true.”

  He shook his head sorrowfully, “It is though. About 13 is when you start to know what you are called for, warrior, diplomat, or tactician. That was when I started being sick.”

  “You were sick?”

  “I was freezing all the time, even inside the keep. I would be so cold that my hands would shake so that I couldn’t even grasp a sword. My chest would ache, and I would get weak and dizzy. I fainted more than once during a sparring class.”

  “But you got better,” she said.

  “I did, but not at first. My father had to pay his friend double to take me on as an apprentice as if I hadn’t humiliated my family enough by failing out of the Snowforce.” She had no idea that this caused him such pain.

  “When did it get better?”

  “It was extraordinary, my first day at the forge. I didn’t even get to do anything yet, fetch water and haul wood, that kind of thing. But from the beginning, I didn’t shake, my chest didn’t hurt, and I never felt dizzy.”

  She reached for his hand. “What do they want?” she asked.

  “They want me to go back.”

  “Well, you can’t,” she said.

  Her tone caught him up short. “Excuse me?” he asked with a dangerously cocked eyebrow.

  “You can’t leave me,” she cried out in despair and rage that he was even considering it.

  He reached for the back of her neck and drew her closer to him, “Snow dove, you are coming with me. If I go, which I won’t.”

  “Good,” she said, relieved. “Now tell me about them. The men with the reindeer, are they related to each other?”

  “Well, Ake, he’s the leathery looking one is the spymaster for the whole kingdom. He works under the chief general who is Prince Georg. He’s a tomte, I’ve heard.”

  “He’s much too tall,” she quickly said, “Or so I hear.” She wasn’t sure how her husband would feel about her admission that she had met one of the farm fairies. Dairymaids openly acknowledged their existence, but most other people thought that they were a myth.

  “I’ve heard he’s part human too, I’ve never wanted to ask,” Gunnar offered. Elin nodded in agreement.

  He continued,“Ragnifer is a wood sprite, he can speak to animals. I think their species, or maybe they are races, I’m not sure, but they are sort of distantly related.”

  Elin made a mental note to ask her mother about the men, she seemed to know everything there was to know about dairy sprites, perhaps she knew about their cousins.

  They returned to their cottage, to find the supper gone, and both of their visitors settled comfortably in front of the fire. Ake continued as if the young people had never left the room, “He said we was to tell you that it's time you took your rightful place at the Snowforce."

  Ragnifer earnestly added, "Yer needed laddie. Just come see what they have to say."

  "I can’t just leave, I have work to do, Gunnar answered.

  Elin chimed in, “And a wife!"

  To her surprise, her husband responded, “You can take a wife to any of the keeps."

  This was news to Elin.

  "Where is he then?" Gunnar asked.

  "Armund?" replied Ake,” He’s at the eastern castle, along with the general.”

  "Why isn’t Armund at Pinnacle keep?” Gunnar asked, turning to explain to Elin, “That’s the keep at the top of the world, he usually lives there."

  Ake responded sharply, “Well, he's waiting to talk to you, isn’t he?" He turned to Ragnifer, “I told you this was stupid."

  To everyone’s surprise, even his own, Gunnar said, “I will come to speak to him, but I have to arrange someone to guard my forge."

  Ragnifer waved his hand, “That’s all of a nothing, I sent for some emberlies."

  Gunnar nodded. "None that are too young. I’m really close to the treeline here."

  Elin asked, “What’s an emberlie?"

  The three men looked at her as if she had just asked: "What is the moon?"

  "Tomte that can work a forge, “Gunnar replied.

  "Like the tomte that help in dairy?"

  "Well, yes, only emberlies are real,” her husband said.

  "Drotte is most certainly real," she said stubbornly.

  Ake looked at her appraisingly, “Grew up on a dairy, did ye- that explains the nice cheese."

  Elin frantically gestured Gunnar close to her, there was no privacy to be had in the small cottage. "I thought you said you weren’t going?" she whispered angrily.

  "I think we should go and hear what he has to say."

  Elin wasn’t sure which scared her more, leaving her family or being without her husband. Panic rose in her throat, and Gunnar firmly said, “We will both go. It won’t be forever."

  It seemed polite to offer their guests the only bed, but both men demurred. “We need to leave, now.”

  "I have to do this," Gunnar whispered. "I have to know what they want of me."

  Elin nodded. She would support him. "I will need to make sure my parents know where we have gone."

  "Of course," he answered, drawing her close to him and closing his eyes. “I need to send a letter to my brother Carr, I’ve meant to buy him out of his apprenticeship, he hates it, and the emberliles can guard the forge, but not my house. Carr can come here and manage the homestead. “

  Ake had parchment, and a quill and Gunnar quickly wrote a note, rolled it up and put it in a bag of coins which he solemnly handed to Ake. “I will take care of this,” the wizened little spy said formally.

  In the few moments, it took Elin to gather a few belongings the sky had turned pitch black.

  “Now,” said the spymaster. "I need a set of Gunnar’s clothes."

  "His clothes?" she repeated stupidly.

  "For the emberlies of course," he answered.

  "Oh." She wrapped a shawl around herself and rustled under the bed and found a torn pair of trousers and a tunic that she had been planning to remake into something else.

  Ragnifer had shoveled ash over the fire in the hearth. It was like a small death to Elin. A home needed a fire.

  Gunnar reassured her, “It has to be this way.”

  The spymaster was curt, “You can watch, but you have to be quiet. Understood?"

  Elin nodded dumbly. Ragnifer took the clothes outside.

  She unshuttered the window, with no fire it was almost as dark inside as it was outside. Ragnifer held up a staff and muttered, "Gnista, gnista." Elin stood at the window for several minutes and was about to return to bed and warm up her feet when a red and gold cyclone came tumbling into the smithy.

  "Oh, quit yer showing' off" griped Ragnifer. The funnel cloud of sparks separated into three trolls with hair of flames. Ake tossed some powder onto them calling "Spices! We offer you spices!" and the trolls sniffed the air and fell into a rolling, wrestling heap as they licked the spices off each other. Soon all three of them were laying on the ground sniffing the air plaintively. "You can have more, but it will cost you,“grumbled Ragnifer.

  "Agreed!" the trolls exclaimed in unison.

  Elin suddenly realized that she was outside. She had been so captivated by the incredible scene that she had walked out of the door. Ragnifer threw Gunnar’s clothes at the greedy little trolls. They were suddenly back into their tornado shape and then they had formed themselves into a pyramid, two on the bottom and the one on the top doing a handstand. The trolls whispered something, and the clothes stood themselves up. With a mighty twist, the trolls lifted and then spun down into the clothes. The top troll’s legs came through Gunnar’s sleeves.

  "Will they pretend to be him?" Elin wondered aloud.


  "Will they pretend to be him?" mimicked Ragnifer. "What silliness is that? They have to get his scent to guard the place, don’t they?"

  Elin murmured something along the lines of "Oh, of course..."

  The trolls, now looking like a headless Gunnar, lumbered around the smithy. Elin could hear them sniffing as they trundled along. After they had circled the place, they funnel clouded out of the clothes, which dropped neatly folded onto the ground.

  Ake tossed two big handfuls of red powder into the air and Elin recognized the scent of cloves and cinnamon, which she knew to be tremendously expensive. She had heard of pepper but never had it. Trying to sound worldly, she asked: “So trolls like cloves, cinnamon, and pepper?"

  Ragnifer nodded, “We are paying them well, so those and saffron and ginger and chilis." The trolls shivered over the spices, sniffing the air and even licking some specks off the ground.

  "Won't their hair catch the forge on fire?" she asked. "A forge is essentially a kiln,” she said with the voice of experience.

  Ake and Ragnifer exchanged a look. "They won’t be visible, will they?" Ragnifer asked Elin in the tone one would use when dealing with the very young or mentally infirm. Ragnifer slammed his staff onto the ground and spat out, “Havana!" and the three trolls vanished. Elin could see their footprints as they walked through the ash dust in the smithy. They each went to a different corner.

  "Now, let’s get yon giant and head for the eastern castle."

  Seeing Rainier’s look of longing, Elin took the biggest wheel of cheese that she had. Carrying it to the cart reminded the visitors, “I have to tell my parents, we can’t just go away."

  Gunnar agreed. The little, cranky men argued that the dairy farm was in the wrong direction, but the blacksmith held firm.

  "Skull’s thick as his shoulders, “muttered Ragnifer.

  Very soon the cart was packed. Elin looked around, the reindeer must have run away in the night. Ragnifer held up his staff and murmured something, and one by one the magnificent reindeer entered the yard. Ragnifer began to harness them to the cart. He gave a low whistle, and an owl flew over and sat upon his head, thereby making his tall conical hat tilt sideways. Ragnifer slapped upwards at the snowy owl. "Idjit! Clumsy! Flibbertigibbet blasted strigiform. Not a one of you has the sense the gods gave a mealworm." The bird languidly flapped its wings and circled the sprite. "Go on with your feathery self! And tell him I meant it!" the owl flew off.

  Gunnar helped Elin into the back of the cart and nestled a blanket around her. “Where are you going to sit? She asked her enormous husband. ” There was an obvious flaw in their plan. They had apparently forgotten that their quest was to take the blacksmith to the king. Elin wasn’t sure how to make them aware of this blunder without being impolite. Ake and Rangier clambered obliviously onto the front of the cart, leaving Gunnar standing beside it. They rested expectantly, and an unusual clopping noise reached her ears. It was not like any horse she had ever heard, although she hadn’t been around that many. A magnificent bull moose appeared by the gate. The moose had antlers so wide that Elin was astonished he could move through the dense forest. He stood with the light shimmering behind him, and Elin was overwhelmed at his majesty. Seemingly unaware of the grandeur of the vision, Ragnifer scolded the amazing stag. “Took your own honey sweet time! Not like we are on an errand from the king or anything. I suppose I should be grateful that you showed up at all."

  Gunnar and Elin exchanged a confused glance.

  Ake held up his hand, "Wait, he’ll need the saddle, we left it under this seat." The two little men disembarked and proceeded to struggle to pull something unwieldy from under the seat.

  “May I help?” Gunnar asked.

  “I suppose you should be good for something,” said Ragnifer crossly.

  Gunnar removed the entire bench from the front of the cart and set it on the ground as if it weighed nothing. “It’s a saddle,” said Ake to Gunnar as if that somehow explained what it was for.

  “Right then, best let an expert do this,” said Ragnifer bustling over to the moose. “Well, put it on then,” he scowled.

  Gunnar lifted the saddle and gently placed it on the moose’s back.

  Ragnifer set about saddling the moose. Seeing Gunnar’s expression, the cranky sprite said, “Well you don’t think I’m letting you break the back of one of my reindeer do ya?" The moose turned its head and looked appraisingly at Gunnar. After a moment of intense eye contact, the moose subtly lowered his antlers. Gunnar clasped a hand across his chest and bowed his head. One warrior was acknowledging another. Gunnar swung up into the saddle. There were no reins. He could hold onto the front of the saddle or grasp the enormous antlers. They set off following Gunnar to the dairy farm. The moose stopped while still in the woods. Gunnar turned around, “I think we should go up and leave all of this,” he gestured from the moose to the cart laden with a spymaster and a wood sprite, “Here."

  Chapter 18

  Elin agreed and climbed down. Hand in hand they walked into the dark farmyard. The dog’s barking woke the entire family. Gunnar gave a firm knock and called, “It’s Elin and Gunnar, there’s no danger.” Her father opened the door. The doors to the little girls’ beds opened, and their occupants came running. Gunnar clasped them up and swung them around. Elin tried to be brave as she kissed her younger sisters, “Go back to bed, sillies. We just need to speak to Modre and Da.” Elin felt tears at the back of her throat. The four adults left the cottage, with a lantern. Gunnar spoke for them. "I have been asked to come do some work at the eastern castle. Her father was impressed, “The castle? Good for you, son."

  Her mother looked stricken for the briefest of moments before she got control of herself. "How long will you be gone?"

  Elin shook her head, “We don’t really know." She considered announcing that Gunnar could go alone, and she would stay at her parent's home. She had bound herself to her blacksmith for all her life, and she would honor that, even though leaving her family hurt her deep into her bones.

  “We will take good care of your homestead,” her Da said.

  “I am arranging for my brother to come to live there, but I'm not certain when he will arrive.”

  “That’s good then,” her mother said, quietly.”We can help him as much as he needs. He seemed like a strong lad.”

  Gunnar assured her parents that he would take good care of her and would send word with any peddlers coming this way. Elin clung to her mother’s neck and willed herself not to cry. Caren knew what her daughter was feeling. She squeezed her tight and then gave her back a firm little pat. "Well," she forced herself to say brightly “What an adventure."

  "We have to go," Gunnar said gently. There were kisses to give and assurances to be spoken, and then they walked back to the saddled moose and the cart full of spies.

  The cart moved surprisingly quickly due to the strength of the team of reindeer. There was nothing comfortable about it for Elin. She was jostled and jounced. Intently, she stared and tried to memorize these familiar woods that she was afraid she wouldn’t see again. Gunnar and the moose led the way. It was remarkable how easily Gunnar sat on the huge animal. The path narrowed, and now on top of being bounced around like grain being winnowed, Elin was slapped with branches as they mowed through the forest. Eventually, Elin managed to fall asleep despite the cacophony of the wheels. She woke up when the wagon came to a stop. Ake and Ragnifer broke out the cheese and passed around some beer. It was warm and bitter. Elin tried to be polite.

  Gunnar had swung off the moose and helped Elin out of the cart. "I will take her and Hako to find a stream."

  "Hako is it? How do you know?" said Ragnifer in a frosty tone.

  "I just do. It’s a king’s name, and he is a king."

  "Well, you aren’t wrong about that, I’ve thought of him as a Hermann myself."

  "No," answered Elin firmly. "The moose is not named Hermann." She couldn’t have explained why she had such strong feelings about it. Elin and Gunnar
walked hand in hand through the grass, with her rubbing her aching knees and rump and Hako ambling behind them. They found a stream and the moose wandered into it and moved downstream. Elin greedily quenched her thirst. She stood up only to feel her husband’s strong arms wrapped around her. She could feel his erect cock pressing into her back.

  "I actually like warm beer, I just needed to get you alone,” he whispered.

  She eyed him, “You could not possibly like warm beer, “she retorted.

  He nuzzled up against her hair, “Are you calling me a liar?" he teased.

  "Hmmm," she reached back and stroked his cock. "Maybe I am," she darted away but only made it a few steps before he picked her up and carried her to a mossy spot

  She giggled nervously, "What if someone sees us?"

  He shimmied her dress up over her hips and nonchalantly replied, “They can't- too short to see over the tall grass." Elin laughed more. "What about Hako?"

  Gunnar had his trousers untied and barely had time to say, “He can watch, that’s fine with me," before slamming into her. The snap of a breaking twig made Elin gasp and look over Gunnar’s shoulder. The waves of pleasure pulsating over her made it hard for her to focus her eyes. She thought that she saw no one and then she decided that she didn’t care and gave herself over to the orgasm. Gunnar was nowhere near finished, and he rode her, savoring moving in and out of her. He pinned her wrists to the grass and taunted her, he was high above her and would nearly totally withdraw from her aching need before forcefully thrusting back into her. “Come for me, again” he whispered.

  Elin was about to say, “I don’t think I can,” when she felt as if sparks detonated deep within her belly and flew to all the corners of her body. She felt the orgasm in her fingers, her toes, her hair.