Seela’s lips turned down into a frown. “Who is this seamstress?”
Vali glanced at Ailsa, silently inquiring if he was allowed to tell her. They hadn’t discussed taking whatever this was between them to a public level.
“I made it for him,” she finally said. Ivor stiffened against her before shoving her away like she was on fire.
“Youwhat?” Ivor hissed.
“I made him the shirt,” she repeated with a defensive tilt of her chin. Though, it did nothing to help Seela understand.
“You made him a shirt?” she asked. The look on Ivor’s face made her disgust plain. “How could you, Ailsa? After everything he’s done—”
“I’m sorry, can someone explain to me what the big deal is?” Seela asked. Vali stepped beside her and mumbled something in her ear, explaining the significance of her gift and why he was wearing it. Seela’s eyes widened with understanding, her lips fighting a grin.
“Oh,” she only said.
“It’s different now,” Ailsa explained to her wolven. “It’s not like I didn’t try to fight this, Ivor. I wanted to hate him. I intentionally pushed him away every time I felt something other than animosity. But it just… happened.”
“Whathappened?” she asked her.
Her eyes shifted to Vali for a beat, who had neither spoken for her nor made the indication of doing so. This was her choice to make alone, what she would tell all of them. Because what she would say next would seal them both to this bond by her public confession. Make it real. He only nodded in encouragement, gave that same twisted smile that was destined to be her demise.
Ailsa shrugged weakly. “I fell for him.”
Ivor scoffed and turned her back to her, unable to face what felt like a personal betrayal to the wolven who had become her family. “What would your father say? What would your clan say to you courting the man who slaughtered their families?”
“My father,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes. “I will never let him influence my choices ever again. How many times in our history has a woman been married off to an enemy as a peace deal? War is not personal, Ivor. And I probably would have committed the same horrible things he has if it meant saving my world and my people.”
She shook her head with a heartless laugh. “You make excuses to justify his crimes. But he is a murderer—”
“I am a murderer! I killed a Vanir when he shot Sorrin down. Will you hate me as well or do I just have to kill peopleyoucare about?”
“That is different—”
“It is not!” Ailsa shouted. “This thing inside me isn’t choosing sides, Ivor. The road behind us is littered with bodies of every race and realm and the devastating sacrifice of those who gave their lives so that this power would not fall into the wrong hands!” She stepped in front of her friend—her family—to make her understand how serious she took her situation. “In the end, which one of us is actually right or wrong, good or evil? Are we all not just trying our best to exist and make our mark on the world? Each day my lungs get worse, I need my herbs more often, and I can literally feel my end coming soon. Am I not allowed to live my last days the way Iwantto live them?”
The wolven went quiet, her shoulders drooping in defeat. She spoke quietly, “Will he put your well-being before his realm? Before his family and his people?”
“I cannot ask him to do such a thing,” she replied.
“Then he doesn’t deserve you.” She turned her face to Vali and glared at him, even as she continued to speak to her. “As long as he treats you like a pawn, you will never mean anything more to him. He is deceiving you with false affirmations of devotion like he has deceived you about everything else. Do not come crawling to me for help when he gives you to Odin.” She pushed past Ailsa with a harsh brush of her shoulder, knocking her back a step. Her bitterness palpable in the bruising blow.
“Well, now that we have all the crew back together, shall we continue the last leg of our journey?” Seela broke the uncomfortable silence.
Ailsa turned away from them all, wiping tears she wouldn’t let them see. She had guessed Ivor would be upset, but nothing this severe. The throbbing in her shoulder was a poor competitor against the pain in her heart. A hand smoothed down her spine. “Are you okay?” he asked in her ear.
She took a breath to lock away the tears fighting for release and nodded. Vali stepped in front of her with a softened gaze and softer fingers, stroking the seam of her gown draped over her shoulders. “If you want to take the shirt back—take us back—I’ll understand. Ivor will not be the first we receive resistance from.”
She slipped her arms around his waist and fell into his returned embrace, reminding herself why he was worth the backlash. “No, I want you to keep it.”
“Good, because my other one isn’t dry yet.” She let loose a small laugh that pushed away the heaviness crushing her chest. He lifted her chin to look her in the eyes as he spoke. His voice covered by a breeze that shook the trees behind him. “And I have completely fallen for you as well.” She lifted to her toes and grazed him across his lips, uncaring who saw them.
“If you two do not get in this boat in the next five seconds, I will leave both of you in Jotunheim!” Seela shouted from the vessel.
“Come on,” Ailsa sighed and pulled him back to the boat. “Let’s get this over with.”
* * *
The boat ridewas agonizingly quiet as they pushed upstream toward the Highest Branch where Alfheim sat above all the Nine Realms. The weather was perfect for once. The skies clear with patches of clouds to shield them from the glaring sun. Vali rested for the first time in days with his head in her lap. She combed the shaggy length with her fingers, at bliss from the ease of it all.