Page 54 of Between Broomsticks and Beating Wings
Kari’s eyes widened, her hands on her chest. I wanted to skip this next part, to spare her of it, but I couldn’t lie any longer. Keeping it to myself wouldn’t help her. I truly believed the only thing she wanted from me now was my truth, so I’d give it to her, untainted.
“I watched as you found their bodies. Your mom, dad, three sisters, and Tove. I hadn’t believed there’d been any survivors. I thought you were merely a neighbor coming by to see what all the fuss had been about, but when you fell to your knees, I knew otherwise. I didn’t take any of their souls, and I stopped all valkyries who came by each time from taking them either. I wanted to give you more time. I promised Haddy I would give it to you.”
“Haddy? You spoke with her?” Kari slid to the edge of her seat, and, as if her unrest called Tove forth, he jumped up onto her lap. I told Kari about my time with her youngest sister, the conversations we would have about Kari and what was going on inside the longhouse I couldn’t see.
“It wasn’t until Haddy told me about what your other sisters had done that I decided it was time for someone from the Helheim sect to collect them. Haddy asked to go first. She didn’t want to watch the others go.”
Kari let out a soft sob, and all I wanted to do was pull her into my lap. My hands twitched and balled into fists so I wouldn’t reach out and disrespect her wishes. There was nothing I could do to comfort her except tell her all about the good moments too.
“She loved Apple. I’m sure she’ll be happy to see her. The two of them always got along so well, and oftentimes, I had Apple distract her after too many rounds of hide and go seek so I could see what you were up to. It was wrong of me, I know, but…”
“You played with her? Haddy? You kept her company?” Kari asked with a sob of release.
“I did. I wanted to tell you so many times, but I didn’t know how to explain how I even met her, or why I was at your longhouse,” I said. “She’s sweet. I look forward to seeing her again.”
“Thank you,” Kari whispered.
“Why are you thanking me, seeress?”
“Thank you for keeping her company when it was too painful for me to do so. She deserved, still deserves, to be happy, and you helped give that to her until her time on Midgard was over. I know she’s playing around here somewhere, collecting flowers that poke out from beneath the snow, but I just wish she could’ve grown up first, you know? I guess I never will either—grow old with someone, and…I don’t know, it’s stupid.”
“Far from it. When Odin brought me to Valhalla, I was eighteen. After my first decade in Valhalla, I stopped aging all together, other than my hair, of course. My face has remained the same for so many years, and it can be unsettling seeing the face of a twenty-eight year old when you’ve been alive for over six centuries. We expect to grow old someday, to have the people around us grow grey and wrinkly too.”
Kari looked over at me and gave me a weird, hiccup-y laugh. “I guess all my favorite people,” she hugged Tove tighter, “and creatures won't be aging with me.”
Favorite people?Surely, she couldn’t mean me.
Her eyes lingered on me for a long time, and then she finally said, “I’ve had a few weeks now to sit with the knowledge that you’ve been watching me. We both know this isn’t news, just new that you’re admitting it. Truth be told, I sensed someone watching me long before I met you. There was always a strange presence in the forest at night that I could tell wasn’t a spirit. Sometimes, it was an odd thump on my roof, or a flash of white after I’d woken from a horrible vision.”
I shifted in my seat, exhaling as I began unfastening my armor. My heart was hidden under far too many layers, and this woman before me deserved to have it close to the surface, raw and bleeding for her. Kari watched me as I went, but I didn’t rush what I was going to say next. I didn’t wait to tell her, only to butcher it now.
“After discovering Hel had been seeing through your eyes, I’m ashamed to admit, she wasn’t the only one watching. The months after your family was taken to Helheim, you were so alone. I was the only one there to know you were laughing at Tove and not the bloodflies. I was the only one dabbing the sweat off your brow when your visions took hold of you. I was the only one there to see you falling to your knees and breaking down on the 8th of every lunar cycle.”
Kari’s mouth opened then shut, and she pushed her curly, strawberry hair over her shoulder.
“I always felt so alone, like no one understood me. No onesawme,” she choked out. “But you did, didn’t you?”
Dry tears remained under her eyes, and the salt in them sparkled like crushed crystals in the candlelight. Nine realms, she was beautiful. I wanted to kiss away those tears and savor the taste of them. It was a privilege to have her raw like this in my presence. It was an honor to sit here with her, even if I’d been the one to pull forth those tears, even if there was someone else she’d rather be sitting with.
I nodded, my gaze burning into hers.
I made a promise to myself long ago that I would protect her, and my will to do so had only ever grown. She could despise me, she could fear me, but I would never give up on her, my sweet mortal.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
DOUBLE THE SOCKS
Kari
Once again, I was left with a valkyrie in my bed. This time, we were freshly bathed and swathed in black silks we found in the room’s wardrobe. Rune’s was long, but it dipped low, and the damned mesmerizing material of the nightgown made her look as if she could take Hel’s spot upon her throne. I wasn’t used to seeing her outside of her leathers, and this dress was a dark sea of temptation.
Snap out of it, Kari.I squeezed my eyes shut as I tried to clear the images of her climbing into bed from my mind.
“What are you thinking about, seeress?” Rune’s voice called to me in the dark room, smoke still lingering in the air in swirling patterns from the candles we snuffed out. “Your breathing is heavy.”
For the love of the Gods.
“I was just starting to fall asleep,” I lied, my back facing her as we laid under the luxurious sheets.
