Page 50 of Between Broomsticks and Beating Wings
“Seeress?” Garm echoed, his front paw hovering in the air instead of taking its next step onto the snow-covered stone.
It was my turn to speak now. I couldn’t expect Rune to fight this battle for me, because we both knew Hel would expect to hear from me.
I may as well start now.
“Yes,” I said to the light grey wolf. “Part of my curse, I assume.”
“I see.”
Neither Garm nor we spoke for the remainder of the trip across the icy bridge to Hel’s Hall, and it soon became apparent that the palace we walked toward was, in fact, carved of pure onyx.
“Your pegasus companion may take flight. She is not welcome inside Hel’s Hall,” Garm finally said.
Rune patted Apple on the rear, and the pegasus trotted down the bridge before leaping off the side into the air. Her wings snapped out and caught her gracefully, and she became a blur of white across the snowy sky.
When she was gone, Garm continued the rest of the way down the bridge until stopping before its impressive entrance. While eerie at first, the second I stepped into the building, I was surrounded by an otherworldly warmth, as if the stone on all sides of me whispered everything would be okay.
My fear slipped away with each step I took, and as I glanced over at Garm, I realized he was cleaned up, no longer tainted andsplattered with the evidence of violence. I wasn’t sure if what lay outside this place was the illusion, or if something about Hel’s Hall made me see and feel what I wanted.
“Will we be taken directly to Hel?” I asked, peering down at my skirts with little leaves clinging to them. The words Rune spoke to me about looking presentable when I’d first arrived in Valhalla played in my mind.
“She is expecting you now. She won’t like it if we make her wait much longer.”
Great. I look like shit, and I probably smell like it too,I thought to myself, though I’d been relieved I was given the chance to clean the ale off my skin and clothes earlier this morning. I’d rather look like I was rolling around outside as opposed to the floor of a dwarven tavern.
We rounded a corner, and I spotted a wide-set double door. I steadied myself with a deep breath, telling myself I was ready. Hel was a goddess,theGoddess of Death, and in moments, I would be standing before her. I’d thought a million times about what I’d say to her, but it felt as if all the preparation I’d done was fading into an abyss in my mind, leaving me with nothing but “Hey, you cursed my family. Undo it. And give me my cat back while you're at it.”
Garm halted in his tracks as we approached the stunning black doors. They split down the middle, a sliver of light exposing what was on the other side.
“You’ve got this,” Rune whispered as the doors ground to a stop. Garm directed us inward with his snout, and I offered Rune a weary smile, grateful she’d demanded to be here with me.
“Thanks, Garm,” I said as I passed him, noticing how beautiful his big brown eyes were. Out under the light of the moon, his eyes looked like nothing but white orbs. I was once again left wondering what was real and what was a mere fear-inducing hallucination, a warning to turn around and never come back.
Walking through the double doors, Garm stayed behind, but Rune was firmly at my side. Hel was waiting for me on a high backed throne crafted from the same onyx as the floor, as if it had risen from the base of the palace in the shape and size perfect for the goddess.
I didn’t meet her eyes as I approached her, but I kept my shoulders squarely in her direction at all times. When I stood before her throne, I bent the knee, chin pointed to my ribs.
“Rise, Kari Kettlesdotter,” Hel said, and I didn’t wait to follow her command. The soles of my boots found the floor once more, and I raised my gaze to finally look upon the goddess of death and ultimate ruler of the underworld. Half of her hair was ash blonde, the other half as black as the stone she sat upon. On the side of her hair that was black as death, the skin on her face was peeled back to the bone. She was one of the three monsters born of Loki and the giantess, Angrboda, and because of that, I’d imagined her to be far more frightening. The skeleton part to her face was not gory, reminding me of finding a beautiful skull in the forest of Stormheim. Runes were carved into it, but I was too far from her to read what they said.
I realized I was staring at her, and I wasn’t sure if it was my turn to speak, or if I should wait until she told me to. Or maybe she knew exactly why I was here and was about to go on a long tirade about my horrible, curse-worthy ancestors.
“Why have you come to see me, mortal? Why come all this way?” she asked, and that knocked a few theories off my list.
“Greetings, Hel.” I dipped my head again out of respect. “I have travelled across the realms to ask that the ancestral curse placed upon my family be lifted so I may return to Midgard. And…I would like my companion to come back with me.” I heldTove up, and he went limp in my arms when he came face to face with the goddess.
“You defied all odds to stand before me, and I admire that,” she said. “But what you speak of is not a curse.”
“It… With all respect, it feels like a curse,” I said, trying not to let her words rattle me. This was a curse, and I wasn’t leaving until it was fucking lifted.
Hel sighed, flicking black hair over her shoulder. “What you speak of is my gift. And clearly, it has gone to waste on the ungrateful.”
My fists clenched at my sides, and I bit my tongue before I said something I’d regret. I could sense Rune watching me, and I wondered if she was expecting me to lunge at the goddess any minute now. I wouldn’t.
I won’t,I told myself again so the idea would stick.
“A gift?” I asked, keeping my voice light and pleasant. “How so? Maybe I have misunderstood.”
“I did not curse your ancestors to have rotting eyes, as you seem to believe,” she started, and I suddenly grew very weary of this goddess and the knowledge she held. “I can’t place curses. I can bestow gifts. I gifted your ancestor, Norfrid Bosdotter, with eyes of the dead. With this gift, she was able to see the dead as I do, or similarly enough. No one will ever truly see them as I do, but it was as close as a mortal could get. I was kind enough to allow this gift to be passed to each first daughter from thereon. Norfrid’s daughter was born with the same abilities, though I made a minor revision so only she could see the true nature of her appearance. Norfrid rejoined me far too quickly due to her…challenges with the village folk.”
