“Her mother has passed, I am assuming?”
Ivor nodded, placing the burning paper on a wet towel next to the bed. “She died when she was a few years older than Ailsa now, around her twenty ninth year. It was before I came around and they never spoke about her much.”
Vali sat on the leather couch sitting beneath the cabin’s lone window. Ivor arched her brow in his direction as he made himself comfortable. “So, she’s alone? No husband or partner?”
“She has me,” the wolven clipped. “But no, she was not wed. No man wanted toweakentheir family line seeing as her condition is hereditary, and her father was very particular about the men who came around his daughters.”
Vali’s breath sang between his teeth. “Like there is anything to weaken in the first place.” The way she faced him on the shores of her home, the look in her eyes when a sea monster was staring back—she was viciously brave. Terrifyingly so, even if her bravery bordered on reckless.
“For once I agree with you,” Ivor mumbled as she rolled up the rest of the herbs. “Why are you here?”
He bit the inside of his lip, pondering the same. “I wanted to make sure she was all right. She must be kept safe andaliveuntil the gods are able to unbind the power from her. If she dies, it loses its Tether, and could be lost for another century.”
The wolven snorted. “Of course, theTether. I should have known your motives were purely selfish.”
He replied with a dry laugh. “I’ve spent most of my long life searching for this, Ivor. I’m not letting her out of my sight. Too many have died for this moment to let her slip away.”
Ivor slammed the rolled pack on top of the dresser with impatience. “And what of her life? Do not pretend this will end well for Ailsa.”
He surrendered from the disdain in her gaze, knowing her hatred was validated. But this was no longer something he could control, and he would not add Ailsa to his already long list of things to be ashamed of. “I do not know how it will end for her, but it was not my choice to bind the power to her. She sealed her own fate, and I will not alter my own plans because of it.”
Ailsa roused in her sleep, catching his eye. Her skin tone had warmed from sitting in the nest the past few days, turning it into a deep tan that, combined with her dark hair, made her appear all the more exotic. The delicate arches of her cheekbones and the point of her nose were slightly burned, providing a kiss of color to her flawless complexion. At any moment now, she could stir in her dreams and the sheets might fall a little lower. The thought sent his imagination reeling.
Vali smoothed his palms down his thighs and stood, suddenly feeling the need to do anything but remain in this room. The smoke from the incense was starting to make him lightheaded. “Just tell her when she wakes… tell her thank you for me. For what she did today. It was completely ridiculous and reckless, but she saved us all.”
“You’re welcome,” Ailsa mumbled. A smug smile pressed across her lips. Her eye peeked open and she trapped a giggle forming in her throat. Vali’s cheeks colored, realizing she had been faking her slumber this entire time.
“Oh, good,” he said flatly. “You’re awake.”
“Any more monsters I need to slay for you, Captain?” She stretched and the blanket fell slightly from her shoulders, revealing an expanse of honey sweet skin that did not help the blood clear from his cheeks.
“Plenty to come, Jarl Ailsa.” Before he slipped out the door he said, “We’ll be coming up on the Edge soon, so if I were you, I’d get dressed and meet me on deck.”
The Edge of the World was a place where Midgard met the void between realms, where the Tree connected them all and filled the space with its cosmic passage. Every man, whether it was their shift or not, lined the edges of the ship. Ailsa and Ivor stood near the front, meeting Vali and Seela as the pair stood on either side of the dragon figurehead daring the way ahead.
The sun had not risen despite the moon setting. The sky was darker than she’d ever seen before, more stars numbered above, and she felt so close to the cosmos she could feel their starlight warm her face. The ocean stilled into a glossy black mirror, reflecting the constellations so precisely Ailsa couldn’t tell where the water stopped, and the sky began. They were no longer sailing—but flying.
“Ailsa,” Seela whispered. Her silver hair practically glowed in the moonlight. She beckoned to join her near the bow, giving them both an extensive view of The Edge.
About a hundred meters from where the ship drifted, the still ocean was disturbed by a great fall, a turbulent force of water rushing over the end of the world and into an abyss. Ivor dug her nails into the wooden flesh of the boat, her eyes widening as they looked upon The Edge of the World.
“That’s not what it looks like, is it?” Ailsa muttered to the elfin commander. Seela smirked.
“You mean a giant waterfall that will most likely reduce this ship to splinters should we traverse over its edge? That is precisely what it is.”
“Then why are we sailingtowardit?”
“Relax, Jarl Ailsa. It is much easier to show you than explain.”
“Show me what exactly?” she hissed. But Seela was looking beyond her now, and Ailsa had no choice but to watch helplessly as they drew closer to the fall, clinging to Ivor and the railing in a vain attempt to prepare herself.
The elves whispered behind her. Their voices soft yet joining together to form a dull roar. She could not make out their words, only that the language was cryptic and vaguely like the ancient language of the gods.
She turned to see Vali standing in the middle of the deck, his lips muttering the same words as his companions. But he was separated from the fae lining the perimeter. And while the other men were still, his hands were outstretched, palms facing the sky. The skin beneath his linen shirt glowed, the inky runes she skimmed just days before with her fingers now shining like molten gold.
He was mystical, standing there in an ethereal glow, dark hair tousled gently by the building breeze. How such a beast could survive inside a cage as beautiful as the one containing Vali was lost on her. Eventually a monster would have to scratch or blemish its enclosure, revealing a hint of the kind lying inside. But with him, it wasn’t so. He was perfect on the outside, completely unscathed by the dangerous soul festering behind his faultless complexion.
The wind picked back up, combining with the violent sound of rushing water falling from the face of the earth and rumbling against the quiet. She dared one more look to the horizon, the glossy top of the sea now churning over the jagged rocks mutilating the face of the Edge.