Page 77 of Between Broomsticks and Beating Wings
Kari and I lowered to our knees, where we waited to be acknowledged. Rayna spoke first, motioning to where we bowed to her goddess. “As you requested…” she began with a voice that was confident but not commanding, “Kari Kettlesdotter and Rune Dragomir.” Once she announced our presence, Rayna stood to the side to give the goddess a full view of us.
“Ah, and what have you brought for me?” Freyja asked, her voice as smooth as the honey in my hands.
“We have brought you gifts from our time in Helheim, sent with us by the Goddess of Death. She offers not only these delicious offerings, but me as well, a mortal seeress. I come willingly and have sensed only peace surrounding my entrance into Fólkvangr. I hope you accept these offerings and look down upon us with your loving favor.”
A sweet chuckle filled the air. “Yes, yes, but what have you brought for me?”
Kari paused. She’d practiced the same lines over and over, yet we hadn’t planned much for what she’d sayafterher speech. I was tempted to chime in, but we were in Fólkvangr now, and if Kari wanted to stay, she was going to have to accomplish much harder tasks than answering simple questions.
Kari finally spoke, “We have brought you fruit cake, made from the finest berries.” She raised her hands into the air as shehad practiced so many times. Her chin was dipped, eyes pointing to the floor. “And Rune offers the rare Helheim snow blossoms, as well as the sweet honey made from their nectar.”
“How lovely,” Freyja cooed. “I will be sure to thank Hel for her efforts. As for you both, you may rise. Your offerings have been accepted.”
Kari and I rose, and Rayna took the offerings out of our hands, delivering them to the foot of the goddess.
“Thank you, Goddess,” Kari and I echoed each other.
“Kari, I am pleased to hear you come willingly, as I have very little use for a seeress who has no desire to be here. I’m sure Hel has mentioned your purpose as a key element in a little bargain between us. And, well, it is my term that the bargain will only be sealed upon your acceptance into my council. That being said, before you can be accepted, you must perform a task for me.”
“May I ask what kind of task?” Kari said.
“One all others have failed, including myself. I am the mother of seidr itself, yet mine seems to fail me when it comes to this endeavor. The thing I want most.” She laughed bitterly, her kind mask slipping for all but a second. “My husband, Odr, is missing, you see, and he has been for quite some time. I have searched across the nine realms with no such luck, and all I want is to bring him home. If not for myself, then for our daughters.” Golden tears ran down her cheeks as she spoke, splashing upon her chest, solidifying and clinking on the stone floor as they free fell.
“If I succeed in finding your husband, I will join your wand-wed council and become your attendant?” Kari asked, making sure she specified if Freyja would make her an attendant or not.
That’s my brilliant girl.
Freyja hummed. “Yes, well, if you succeed when no one else has, you will surely be the best choice as my next attendant. Mortal lives are so short, so you would be quite useless to meif you remained one. My husband is the god of frenzy and inspiration, after all. This isn’t the first time he’s gone missing over the centuries, and it won’t be the last.”
Kari nodded slowly, and I wondered what was going on in that mind of hers. If I didn’t have to worry about my own immortality, I would have killed for the chance at freeing Kari of her mortal confines and being with her forever.
“But if you fail…” Freyja said, tapping her nails on her wooden throne, as if the thought of this outcome pained her. “You will not join my council, and you will no longer be welcome in my halls. I hear you’ve already been barred from several others, and I suspect after long, your only option will be to go back to your mortal plane to die. You have one week to give me what I desire, Kari—or you can refuse now and claim whatever afterlife is meant for you.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
HANDS LIKE CHARCOAL
Kari
“That’s it, right there,” I moaned, my feet instinctively splashing through the warm, sudsy water as I writhed under Rune’s touch. “Gods, that’s good.”
“If you keep this up, I’m going to have you moaning for a completely different reason,” Rune said as she slid her thumb over the meat of my palm. She slathered more ointment over my charcoal-stained flesh, soothing the tenderness beneath. I’d given up on attempting Midgardian seidr over a lunar cycle ago, fully engrossing myself in underworld seidr, but every form of power had its own consequences.
“Well, I wouldn’t say no to that,” I said with a smirk, sinking further into the tub. “As long as you don’t mind that I’m unable to lift my own arms.”
“I’m more than capable of putting in the work for the both of us.” Rune dipped her head to kiss my wrist. “But you should rest. You’ve been casting far too many spells since we arrived in Sessrúmnir, and you’ll wear yourself out too quickly if you keep this up.”
While the curse that once ravaged my reflection could no longer haunt me, the death seidr’s signature was claiming the skin of my hands. I’d been casting communication spells since we arrived in Fólkvangr and Freyja had given me my task, but the only result was the spreading of the charcoal staining under my fingernails. I hadn’t been able to contact Odr, and my seidr was waning. How could I not continue to try, though, when Freyja had threatened my life, my freedom?
“Resting isn’t nearly as fun, but I guess you’re right,” I conceded, climbing out of the tub. I sat upon the side of it, water dripping to the rug below. Rune lifted me from my spot perched against the copper lip, a yelp escaping my throat as she did. Rune laid me upon a table draped in soft fabrics, then began drying me as if the act was part of a worship ritual.
I laughed as she dabbed at my sensitive, water-warmed skin and said, “My hands and arms may be useless at the moment from casting, but my legs are working just fine.”
“Even so, I like taking care of you,” Rune admitted with a soft grin.
“You have been for a while now, haven’t you?” I peered up at her, her forearm supporting my neck. I thought of all the times she’d put me first, all the times I hadn’t realized she’d been aiding me because I was too angry to see it.
“I’ve tried. Though I admit, my efforts haven’t always… I haven't always gone about it the right way,” she said. “But I intend to now. I hope I can make up for the damage I’ve caused.”
