Page 21 of Between Broomsticks and Beating Wings
Torches lined the entrance to the gap in the mountain we soared through, and Apple took the tight quarters as a challenge as she maneuvered through rock and vines on moonlight and memory alone.
When the rock opened to a clearing, the moon cast glittering rays through rushing water cascading down from the mountain top. Apple and I flew under the waterfall, just for the fun of it, before taking a nosedive to a ledge along the mountainside.
Light emanated from the cliffside, illuminating a stone building made of mountain rock. It was covered in red ivy and had not-so-modest windows that gave us glimpses into the cozy structure. A fire roared from the hearth within, and I saw two figures lurking inside before the curtains were drawn shut by the smaller of the two.
Apple landed upon a patch of grass planted purely for pegasuses so they didn’t crack a hoof as they came down. Once dismounted, I tossed an apple into the air. Epli let out an excited whinny and caught it between her pink and black lips. I patted her on her rear before straightening my bags and heading for the front entrance. My knuckles didn’t rap on the door; I simply walked in and headed for the two figures sitting by the hearth.
Kari’s head swung to me, and her eyes lit up when they landed on mine. An intense flutter in my stomach had my hand instinctively moving over the skin above it to quiet the excitable flurries. Those intriguing little buggers hadn’t visited me once during my long stay in Valhalla. I’d remember them as a girl, a teen, and a young woman, gifted to me by various people over the years—men and women alike—but how long ago had that been?
“Look who finally decided to join us,” a gruff voice followed by a hearty chuckle brought my attention to the person behind Kari. My reason for being here almost slipped my heavy mind. “Grab yourself a cup of tea and come on over, girl.”
Áma.
I offered the hag a wry smile before making my way to the kitchen on the far side of the room. As I pulled a mug from the wooden cupboards and began filling it with the still steaming water from the kettle on the stove, I heard soft mummers from the women by the fire. I set my tea to brew and hung back for a moment as I watched the old woman across from Kari grab the seeress’ hands.
There weren’t many places shielded from Odin’s vision or influence. Asgard was his realm, and as the Allfather, he had eyes almost everywhere, thanks to his ravens, but even he couldn’t see beyond the mist. The seidr of the wand-wed here was too strong, and war would break out in his realm if he evertried to take this place back. He’d accepted long ago that the valley was off limits to even him.
When I first arrived in Valhalla, I’d been young, stupid, and confused. In my mortal life, I never aimed to be a valkyrie, and there was certainly no way to plan for such a fate, but I’d found myself in golden halls with dozens of new sisters all the same. Even then, I didn’t like the feeling of being watched, of having his eyes prying into my life no matter where I was or what I was doing. It had taken me years to find the valley beyond the mist, but eventually, my efforts of searching for a place beyond Odin had been successful.
“Come join us,” Áma croaked, removing her hand from Kari’s long enough to wave me over. Grabbing my tea, I maneuvered through the fire-lit space and joined them in the sitting room. I claimed the high back chair next to the padded bench the two of them sat upon, noticing Kari had already had time for an outfit change. She no longer wore the white and gold dress stained with blood. She wore a modest gown with a robe overtop. I didn’t miss the bandages peeking out from under the light fabric, and relief washed over me, knowing Áma had brought her in without question and wasted no time taking care of her.
“Hello, Áma,” I said, meeting the gaze of the crone. “It’s nice to see you.”
“You stupid girl.” She clicked her tongue, not caring as wiry grey hair fell into her left eye. “You should have brought her here right away. What were you thinking, taking her to the House of Wings—to Valhalla?”
Kari’s arms were crossed, also waiting for an answer I couldn't give—that I didn’t want to. I lifted my hand and motioned to the two of them, “I’m not liking the two of you teaming up. And thank you for such a warm greeting, by the way.”
“I’m sure you don’t,” Áma said with a huff. “You don’t want to admit you were wrong. You never do. I’m still waiting for an apology regarding Apple taking a chunk out of my roof.”
“I didn’t bring her here so you could debate the will of the valkyrie.” I straightened my spine and cast my gaze down upon both women, as if I had some secret plan they weren’t privy to—like I hadn’t screwed up. “And Apple does what she pleases. Let’s not pretend I have any control over her. It was your fault for leaving a basket of fruit up there.”
Áma shook her head with a roll of her eyes. “Don’t act like this is part of Odin’s plan, girl. You wouldn’t have run if it were.”
“I didn’t run?—”
‘You did!” she cut off my verbal denial, seeing right through me. “I’m four thousand years old, and you are but a child. You don’t create a land away from the Allfather’s eye without the motivation or the knowledge to do so. I had to know what he is to know to hide from him. And because I know him like I do, I know he would have never told you to steal amortalfrom Midgard.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, avoiding Áma’s knowing gaze for the first time since I’d sat down.
Gods, the Asgardian woman could see right through me. What did I think would happen if I brought Kari here?
“They were going to kill you,” I gritted through my teeth, ignoring Áma completely. This wasn’t about her, not really. She was just how fate decided to force my hand.
Kari’s eyes burned into me as she said, “And?”
My lip twitched as if a fly had landed upon them. My brows pulled in, and I looked her over. “And what?”
“How is that a reason? You see death nightly. It’s your entire existence,” she said, the light of the fire flicking through her gaze, as if her anger transmuted into pure heat.
I stared at her, tracing the edge of her dress with my gaze as I did. My attention fixed on that little corner of the bandage sticking out, and I wondered how much pain she was still in, if any. It’d been so long since I’d had a wound of my own. My fingers pinched the exposed flesh of my neck to remember the sensation of pain, but also to wake me from this trance she always seemed to send me into.
Her words rang in my mind, sending waves of awareness through me. My life was death. If death was my very existence, wouldn’t I know better than anyone that the future I altered on her behalf was warranted?
“You didn’t deserve to die,” I finally muttered.
“Did the thousands of people who you brought into Valhalla over the years deserve to die?” she asked.
“Well, no, but most of them died before I arrived. I couldn’t intervene.”
