Page 117 of Storm of Fury
Morning came and with it,the need to be on the road. Bryn packed their bags and hauled them down the ladder in the barn. Tormund had gone ahead to ready the horses. She hadn’t seen him since she sparred with Mille, though he and Leah had leaned on the fence and watched the pair of them hack at each other.
And maybe it was for the best.
If I had one wish in the world, it would be this….
She stood breathlessly at the base of the ladder, clinging to the last rung. Every smile he flashed made her heart skip a beat. Every time she heard his deep voice, a little shiver ran through her. Every kiss, every caress, every whisper of his skin on hers…. All of it sought to ruin her.
But it was those words that did the most damage.
Because, curse her for a fool, they weakened her more than he could ever know.
“Lift your shield,” the sound of her mother’s voice barked in her memories. “Do you want to be weak? Who are you? Some pathetic mortal girl who can barely swing a sword? Ormydaughter? Kára of Valmar’s daughter? Are you Valkyrie? Or a sniveling human?”
Each ringing blow of her sword had forged her future.
“I am Valkyrie,”she had screamed, as she swung the sword again and again and again.
Bryn opened her eyes, swallowing hard. “Who are you?” she whispered into the darkness of the barn.
But there was no answer.
Except for the faint shuffle of footsteps behind her.
Bryn swung around, clapping a hand to her chest as one of Tormund’s cousins appeared in the shadows. “By all the gods, girl. You nearly gave me a seizure. What are you doing here?”
A tumble of red curls gleamed in the sunlight that streamed through the barred windows as the girl flashed her sword a determined look. “I wanted to see your sword.”
She couldn’t have been more than eight or nine.
Kari, if Bryn remembered correctly.
Bryn knelt, drawing her sword from her sheath. “It’s very sharp.”
The little girl focused on the blade, tracing her fingers over the hilt, before they dipped to the runes etched into the steel.
“You probably shouldn’t touch that,” Bryn murmured, though she was loathe to take the sword away. The child seemed absorbed by the runes.
“What are these?” Kari asked.
Bryn tilted the sword to display them properly. “They’re a blessing from the gods,” she said, pointing to a pair. “This begs for strength from Freyja, so your shield arm will always be strong. And this is Odin’s mark, a sign that he is watching over you….” She worked her way down each rune.Strength. Speed. Boldness. Courage.Valor.
And above all,honor.
To honor your gods. To honor your sisters. To honor yourself. It was this mark alone which was tattooed on the spine of every Valkyrie. Bryn’s finger slowed. They’d burned that tattoo from her skin. No matter how many years passed, she still felt the shame of her past twist deep within her.
“I do not know this language,” Kari said with a frown, her little finger tracing the rune for courage. “I know Elder Futhark. And Younger Futhark. But not this.”
“That’s because it is the language of the gods, and not meant for mortal eyes.”
The little girl’s red curls tumbled over her forehead, and she wore an expression of such seriousness that Bryn instinctively reached out and traced the rune for protection on her forehead. Kari stilled. And as Bryn’s finger finished the last flourish, she swore the rune flared gold and then sank within the girl’s skin.
Both of them stared at each other in shock, though Kari’s gaze darted away.
But it was the catch of breath in her chest that froze Bryn.
Freyja’s touch. She could almost feel the goddess breathing down her spine, feel the power tingling in her finger. There was no sign of the goddess’s magic when she turned her hand this way and that, but she’d seen it glittering along her fingers. She could have sworn she’d seen it.
Which meant the goddess had not forsaken her, after all.
