“But he has not slain me.”
“No, but only because he suspects you have a powerful ally.”
“Freya is not my ally.”
“There are many in
Asgard
who have reasons to keep Loki from slaying you instantly.
Maybe even Loki himself, for he knows you would be granted a seat at the highest table in
Valhalla
.”
Nils sighed.
“My quest to regain honor is not yet completed.
That place at Odin’s table might not be mine.”
“Whether it is or not is for the Allfather to decide.
However, Loki is wily, and he is determined to have his way.
He cares little who suffers when he is determined to prove that he is right.”
She turned her icy blue gaze toward Linnea.
“Take care with all decisions you make, Nils Bjornsson.”
She put the crystal in his hands.
It was not icy cold as he had expected.
Instead, it was warm as if she had been holding it for a long time.
“What is this?”
“There are those who acknowledge your bravery and your sacrifice in denying yourself a hero’s welcome in
Valhalla
.
I was asked to bring this to you.”
“By Frigga, Odin’s wife?”
Vjofn smiled.
“Your
That is why I have brought you this.”
“What is it?”
“Whatever you want it to be.
It has been sent to you as a reward.”
“A glass ball?”
He was confused.
Searching his mind, he tried to recall when he had ever heard of one of Frigga’s handmaidens carrying such a thing.
He could not remember, and he wondered if there were stories that even mortals were not privy to about the world of the gods.
“If Loki sent you with this—”
Her smile did not change, but he sensed her fury.
“I do not come here for Loki.
I never do his service.”
“Forgive me.”
“You have reason to be concerned, Nils Bjornsson, but you should know that the treasures Odin possesses are not only made of gold.”
“Why are you talking about Loki and Odin?” Linnea asked, as she put her hand on his arm, startling him.
“I don’t know what else you are saying, but I recognize their names.”
“Hush, Linnea.”
He patted her hand, but he continued to stare at the woman whose robes swirled around her even though the night breeze was gone.
“I must think.”
“About what?
What can be more important than the fact that this woman knows your real name?”
“You can see her?”
He stared at Linnea in disbelief.
“You can hear her?”
“Of course.”
Linnea was tempted to put her hand up to discover if Nils was suffering from a fever.
“Why shouldn’t I see someone who is right there?”
She gestured toward the woman, then gasped.
The woman was gone!
She looked both ways along the pool.
“Where is she?”
“Not here.”
His voice was grim again.
“
Niles
!” she gasped, careful not to speak his true name, although she was certain she had heard the woman use it.
“That is not my name.”
He gripped her arm and brought her to him.
“By Thor’s hammer, that is not my name.
I tire of this charade of pretending to be someone I am not.
When I saw Vjofn here...”
“Who?”
“Vjofn, one of Frigga’s handmaidens.”
Linnea struggled to speak past her shock.
“Frigga?
Odin’s wife?
Like in the myths?”
“How can you call the truth a myth when Vjofn was here speaking with you?”
“You are making no sense.”
Her vexation focused on him.
Nothing had been the way it should be tonight.
Mayhap he was frustrated with hiding the truth behind his façade of being an English peer, but she hated the lies, too.
His hand slid up from her shoulder to cup her cheek.
He held it so his gaze locked with hers.
“I want to know why you can see Vjofn when you do not believe in the old ways.”
“I don’t know.
I was sitting on the bench, thinking, when she walked up to me and began talking.”
“Thinking?
Of what?”
She hoped the moonlight hid the flush climbing her cheeks.
“Of all that has happened since I found you on the beach.”
“So you called her.”
“Called her?
I told you.
I was thinking.
I did not call to anyone.
I...”
She stared up at him as he slowly nodded.
“What you are suggesting is impossible.
Even if the old gods ever existed, why would one of them come here to speak with me?
I am not of the
Norrfoolk
.”
He smiled.
“Your accent is becoming less intolerable, Linnea.”
“How kind of you to notice!”
She walked away from him along the pool.
Did its serene surface hide many raging storms like the ones whirling about inside her head?
“Are you going to ignore the truth?” Nils asked from behind her.
“I know I was sitting here, and I know a woman I did not recognize came to speak with me.
The rest is skimble-skamble.”
“Call it silly, if you wish, but the truth is before you.”
He paused, then said, “It
was
here before you.”
“But what you are suggesting is simply impossible.”
“As it is impossible for me to be here?”
Linnea walked back to where he was standing by the bench.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“I still am not sure I believe you are here.”
“Sometimes, I wonder about that myself.”
“And other times?”
“Other times, I do this.”
His mouth captured hers as his hand holding the crystal globe swept around her waist, enfolding her to him.
Her hands tightened on his back to keep from being swept away by the tempest of her longing.
He kissed her until she melted against him.
He held her, teasing them both with the passion neither could deny.
Without his arms around her, she doubted if her unsteady knees could have supported her.
She wanted to touch him, to have him caress her.
With his lips grazing the skin along her neck, she admitted the truth she had been hiding from herself.
She had let him lure her into his arms so she could encourage him to love her like this.
No longer could she pretend to be oblivious to the need which had kept her from sleeping.
All yearning to push him away vanished along with her foolish belief that she could halt this love from devouring her in its need to be satisfied.
So long she had hidden her longings behind the screen of propriety while she fought his easy assumption that their love was inevitable.
She had not wanted to admit he was correct, but he was.
In defeat, she found the sweetest victory she could imagine.
“Nils...”
“Do not speak,
unnasta
.
Let me savor your lips against mine.”
It took every bit of her strength to push him away when she wanted to pull him even closer.
“I must.
I must know.
Why did she come here?”
“To give me a warning.”
“About what?”
“Loki.
He is angry with me.”
“Why?”
Nils wanted to tell her that it was not important, that all he wanted now was to make love with her.
He could not lie to her now, not when lying with her was what every inch of his body craved.
“My blood-oath was heard by Freya, who would have sent the
Valkyrja
to carry me to
Valhalla
.
It apparently was also heard by Loki.”
“The god of mischief.”
He smiled.
“You have been studying the old stories, I see.”
“But they are only stories.”
“Maybe now that is all they are, but when I first stepped foot on this shore, the
Norrfoolk
knew well the names of their gods and feared what each of them could do to a careless mortal who did not respect their power.”
He stroked her back in slow circles.
“Then the gods lived much closer to mankind.”
“You have seen and spoken with them before now?”
“No, but that did not keep me from believing the
sagas
of those who had seen the gods.”
His fingers closed into a fist against her back.
“Now I know why those who had seen the gods were frightened.
The games played by those who live in
Asgard
are not for us here in this world.”
“Nils,” she whispered, “are you frightened, too?
I cannot believe that some story would scare you.”
“It is not a story when Loki is looking for someone else to amuse him, because my adventures here in this century no longer do.
He has had every chance to kill me with his magic, but he has not.
I have been wondering why, but I suspect it is because he is enjoying the chance to taunt me and threaten those around me.”