The morning glare burned her tired eyes awake.
Ailsa shifted in the bed, but her body was heavy, like her limbs were tied to sacks of grain. Her lips were parched, and her skin was freezing despite having been nearly burned alive the night before. But her breath was easy, and her chest was light. She smelled familiar herbs staining the air with their earthy scent.
When she opened her eyes, she was in a place she had never seen before. A bed with a sheer canopy draped over each side, giving her privacy from the bodies stirring beyond the white veil. A window poured light across the fresh linen sheets she was tucked beneath. The stained glass masked her sheets various shades of greens and golds in the shape of a sun.
Alfheim.
They had made it. She looked around for her crew but didn’t find a single fae she recognized. She was alone in a bed surrounded by strangers who hadn’t noticed she was awake—until one of them pulled back the gossamer curtain.
“Oh!” the woman yelped in surprise. She was dressed in dark green robes and held a glass pitcher filled with water that shimmered in the unfiltered sunlight. Her face was a deep umber that framed her sharp features in a beautiful picture. She broke out in a wide smile, revealing a row of white teeth. “You’re awake! Dallia, go find Master Greer! And someone needs to tell the High Lady and His Grace!”
An obscure figure behind the opposite curtain drew back the covering to peek at her. Before Ailsa could gain a glimpse of the curious elfin, she took off.
“Would you like some water, Miss Ailsa? I’ve just bought a new pitcher. Your companion, Ivor, just came back from the river to fetch you a fresh batch of our healing waters.”
Ailsa nodded and accepted the cup from the healer. Once her tongue was pliable enough to form words she tried to speak. “Where is she? Or Vali? Seela?”
“The wolven was threatening to kill everyone with her teeth, so she had to be locked in a room, but she has since calmed down after you lived past the first night. I think I saw her in the gardens with Commander Seela not too long ago.”
“First night?” she asked, skeptical. “How long have I been here?”
“Four days,” someone spoke from the foot of her bed. A white hand pulled back the canopy. “I am Master Greer, the head healer. It is a relief to see you awake, Miss Ailsa. Would you mind if I ran a quick assessment to evaluate your status?”
Ailsa shook her head at the woman whose white hair had been nearly shaved down to her skull. Harsh teal eyes glowed against her pale complexion. Her years were not marked by the ageless appearance of her skin, but the trained eye and calculating hands that studied her like a specimen.
“Can you wiggle your fingers and toes?” she asked after pulling back the covers. Ailsa attempted the feat with a sluggish response. Greer nodded in satisfaction. “You lost a lot of blood, but once you start eating you will gain strength, and we have tonics that will help speed up your recovery.”
“Can you put the covers back?” she asked as a shiver ran over her skin.
“Of course. Dallia, put some blankets by the fire and give her a warm one once they are hot.” Dallia, the obvious healer’s assistant nodded and disappeared once more. “Has the High Lady been summoned?”
“Yes, she has.” A woman with skin like a marble statue floated into view. Ailsa’s breath caught at her beauty. Something was familiar about her, from the straight, ink black hair that spilled beneath a gold circulate. Her face was set into an impeccable bone structure that resembled someone else she knew. But her eyes were all wrong. The dark centers were hard on her, lingering over her face as they scanned her body now hidden beneath the sheets.
“I’m Lady Rind,” she said. “It is with warmest sympathies to find you well, my dear. I thought my son was going to lose his mind along with his heart.” Ailsa’s eyes widened, connecting the semblances. It was obvious this was Vali’s mother.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Lady Rind.” She somehow found words to speak through her nerves. “I’d greet you formally, but the blood has not returned to my hands yet.”
“I still have most of it on my shirt if you’d like some of it back,” another voice manifested beyond the curtain. It pulled back to reveal Vali, his hair messy like he had just returned from a long ride, his cheeks pink from windburn.
Ailsa couldn’t fight the beaming grin crossing her cheeks when she saw him. “I told you I’d ruin that shirt.”
“Mmmm, you also promised I would like it, and I definitely did not appreciate watching you nearly die.” His hand slid beneath the blanket and clasped her own, and he was gloriously warm. She wished he would slip his whole self beneath the sheets and cover her with his heat. “How are you,sváss?”
Beloved.
Ailsa glanced toward Lady Rind to assess her reaction to such a term of endearment. The regal woman betrayed no surprise in her gaze nor sign of disapproval. She looked back at Vali, the exhaustion in her bones overflowing into her voice. “I feel like I just came back from the dead. And… I think I possibly did. You won’t believe the dream I had. Where I’ve been.”
Memories of the First Realm came rushing back. The space between fire and ice, hidden in a deep place long forgotten by the rest of the realms. If she tried hard enough, she thought she could still smell the burning brimstone combined with the cold sting of snow. The Crow’s warning echoed in her mind, reminding her of a choice still needed to be made. One that would decide her very life.
Vali sat on the edge of her bed, propping his knee on the edge and never letting go of her hand. “What happened?” he asked.
She wanted to tell him everything, but something held her back. The whisper of the Crow’s phantom in her ear, reciting its demands.
Odin cannot have the Tether.
One more chance to complete the binding.
Break your curse, Last Daughter.