Page 88 of Between Broomsticks and Beating Wings
“The price of immortality for those on my council is their truth. My council is a circle of trusted advisors, but without faith and loyalty, it means nothing. Trust is earned, yes, but I cannot take my chances with something so precious. If you join my council and become my attendant, you will lose the ability to deceive me. Your actions will be your own, but your words will always hold truth when speaking with me and on my behalf. What say you, Kari Kettlesdotter?”
I swallowed hard, staring up at the goddess from where she sat upon her throne. Her golden hair gleamed in the sunlight, and my knees felt weak from staring directly into her powerful gaze for so long. It would be an honor of the highest order to sit upon her wand-wed council, but even if it weren’t, I’d accept all the same. My truth was far too little of a price to earn me an eternity with the woman I was falling undeniably in love with.
“I accept, Goddess,” I said, lowering to the floor in reverence of my one true queen. “It will be my honor to serve you on your council, and my truth is yours to keep.”
Freyja rose from her throne, her gown a pool of the finest silks as she stepped down from her dais. I still bowed as she made her way toward me, and only when she said, “Rise,” did my feet find solid ground.
I stood before the beautiful woman, and my stomach coiled into the tightest knots as she approached me. Freyja placed a hand on either side of my cheek, then pressed a gentle kiss upon my forehead. As soon as her soft lips met my flushed skin, my throat tightened, burned, and then everything went black.
I woke in Rune’s arms with a gasp. My hand flew to my throat, which no longer felt as though I’d swallowed coals. Freyja still stood before me, the lighting in the room unchanged. I must have woken shortly after I fell from consciousness.
Whispering a thank you to Rune, I gently pushed off her to stand before Freyja once more. To test what she promised was true, I tried to tell the goddess her eyes were as black as night, and through my lips, I bellowed, “Your eyes are as silver as stars!”
For Valhalla’s sake! Did I just scream in Freyja’s face?
I stared at her in horror, my entire body as heavy as stone.
Freyja’s lips quirked, and then she laughed. The goddesslaughed, golden tears forming in the corner of her eyes. The sound was sweet as a harp, and as she wiped the escaped tear away, she said, “Previous members of my council waited until they were desperate to try to lie to me, but you did it upon waking. I love it!” she clapped. “You’ve learned quickly that not only can you not lie to me, but if you do, your truth will come out, and it will come for all to hear.”
“Lesson learned very quickly, indeed,” I said with an embarrassed chuckle. “Uh, my goddess.”
“Oh, you may stop with the formalities.” She waved her hand at me, spinning on her heel to claim her throne once more. “I understand finding my husband was no easy feat. Rest, recover. We may introduce you to the others after you do. Odr and I have some, well,catching upto do anyway. Come back to me in one week’s time,” she said before tacking on, “Oh, and Rune? You ought to be there as well. I believe you have a test to take, my dear.”
My heart leaped into my throat, and I turned to face Rune. She was battling a look of shock, but she cooled her features far faster than I ever could. She bowed her head in response, and when she looked upon Freyja, her lips parting to speak, Freyja beat her to it.
“You really didn’t think I was going to let you leave without making you mine, did you?” the goddess said. “Offerings be damned. You were a Valhalla valkyrie for half a millennia, and you were the best Odin had. If he’s going to throw you away, I certainly won’t waste such a brilliant opportunity. You still have to take your test of loyalty, of course, but if you pass, the position of head trainer is yours if you desire it. My girls could use a little refresher on what it means to be a valkyrie, and Hel tells me you made quite the difference in your short time in Helheim.”
“It would be my honor, Goddess. I admire your sect and would love nothing more than to aid its sisters—and be back with my own as well.”
“Ah, yes, I’m certainly pleased to have Rayna in my midst once more. I was so disappointed when Odin requested her transfer all those years ago. Such an intense little creature, isn’t she?” Freyja’s eyes flared, and her lips curved up into a bright smile. “Well, off you both go. I hear you have a feast to throw. Do keep it down, yes? This isn’t Valhalla.”
“Of course,” Rune and I echoed each other. “Thank you, Goddess.”
As it was customary, we left before Freyja did, never turning our backs to her. Just as we crossed through the entry to her throne room, her felines, Bygul and Trjegul, rose from their stations on either side of her throne. They stretched, licked their paws, and then Freyja too rose from her throne.
I caught a familiar-looking man out of the corner of my eye as he stepped forward through the back entrance to his wife’s throne room. The two of them shared a look of love that spanned the millennia, and I found myself wanting to stay with them. My heart was now connected to them both, and, as fresh as these connections were, they were stronger than any faith in the gods I’d ever had on Midgard.
“Let’s go, seeress,” Rune said when she caught me lingering. “Or we’ll be late to our very own feast.”
Rune’s words shook me out of the odd haze, and I gently closed the double doors behind me. I spun, then leapt into her arms. Rune’s laugh mixed with mine, our chests beating against each other as I kissed her. “We did it!”
“I still have a test to pass.Youdid it,” Rune said. She pecked my cheek, then my forehead, and, finally, my lips. “My beautiful seeress, you did it.”
“I’m Freyja’s attendant,” I said, in complete awe of this moment and every one that led to this incredible twist in my fate. “And I never would have been if you hadn’t saved me.”
“How does it feel to be immortal?” Rune said with a waggle of her brows.
I slowly rubbed my hands together, closing my eyes to get in touch with every part of my being. My skin hummed and my heart beat rhythmically, steadily, despite the butterflies raiding my belly.
“The same, for the most part, but I do feel calm, steady.”
“Well, you’re Freyja’s now, in her hall of tranquility. You're still you, and your emotions are yours, but this place will have a pull on you, just as Valhalla once had a pull on me.”
“I still can’t believe it,” I said, lacing my fingers with hers as we began to walk down the sunny hall. Birds chipped and played, darting through open windows and between stone pillars. “But there’s still one answer I don’t have.”
“What’s that?” Rune asked.
“Freyja accepted me as hers, which means Hel held up her end of the deal, but what was Freyja’s?”
