Vali promised he would protect her from Odin, but what power did he have against the Allfather? What authority did he have to fight the fate marred into his flesh? She could not ask him to choose between her or his realm, his family.
She chose her words carefully, only admitting enough to not count as a lie.
“There is a Crow who watches over the Tether. It has been tempting me to release the power into the realms all along. The perils we faced on our journey, the lightning that struck you and nearly killed you, they even tried to write my name in rune language to force the binding of the power to my soul. Each time I bit off a taste, I used a piece of its magic, like it was testing me to see if I was a good match. But this last time I interrupted the binding and it pulled me to the First Realm to… warn me.”
Rind stepped behind her son, the pair wearing mirrored scowls of concern. Vali squeezed her hand gently. “What warning did it give you?”
Ailsa let him deduct his own conclusions based on the knowing look she offered. “The curse will take me soon. We must finish this bargain with Odin quickly.”
The color in Vali’s cheeks paled a morose shade. “That isn’t a warning, Ailsa, that is a threat.”
Ailsa nodded once. Her gaze dropped to avoid the pain brimming in his eyes. “One we should heed before it is too late.”
“But that means you will die!” His jaw opened and closed, trying to conceptualize the idea. “How can you be okay with this?”
She silenced his building argument by rubbing her thumb in small circles along his palm. “I’ve been dying my whole life,Sólskin.I am not afraid. You must keep your deal with Odin so we can save this realm and you can be free. That is the reason you took me all this way, correct? You must complete your purpose before the curse takes me or this will all have been for nothing.”
“To Hel with Odin!” he cursed. “No one writes my destiny but me, and I chooseyou,Ailsa. I’ll skin these runes off my chest to keep you—"
“What you want will not change my fate. Stop thinking about the future for once, Vali. I am here now, and we are together. Let what we have be enough.” Her voice broke even as she spat the words from the most bitter place of her heart.
Lady Rind slipped away, sensing this was no longer a conversation that involved her. The healers pretended to be captivated with their laundry. Vali’s gaze settled on her like a heavy stone on her chest. “But we barely had any time…” he could hardly whisper the words.
With a great effort, she sat up from the support of the pillows to close the distance between them, numb hands stroked his face, stealing his warmth. “Remember what you told me in Thyrm’s dungeon? Vali, a day being yoursvásswas better than all the days before it. And while I still draw breath, I will seize every moment I have with you.”
He kissed her softly behind the gossamer curtains, her tears brining the sweetest lie she ever told. “Then let’s get you well,Stiarna,so I may give you all my moments.”
“Odin knows you’re here, Vali. I see his raven flying day and night over our land. You need to decide what to do with her.”
He followed his mother into her private chambers after making sure Ailsa had eaten something and taken her tonics. Greer had all but thrown him out the hospital wing, insisting she needed rest, and he reluctantly submitted to the healer’s demands only after vowing he would promptly return afterwards, whether she was resting or not.
He was hooked on seeing her alive, addicted to her breath and her movements. Watching her die was starting to wear on him, pulling him deeper with every close call and fainted pulse. His blood used to reach for her, but now it craved her. Being apart for a moment irritated him to the point of genocide. He understood what his mother was asking him, the hidden question dangling between her words.
“I cannot keep her from Odin, but I also seem unable to let her go.” The runes pilling down his back cheated against the desires of his heart. Just thinking about deceiving Odin made his skin crawl. “I need to speak with him. I need to see if we can come to an arrangement, if he can heal her or take the power without—"
“Odin will not care about her life,” Lady Rind said. She stood near a towering window bordering the balcony. Beyond the twisted metal was a long stretch of Alfheim. The dwarves’ mountains shadowed in the distance, their peaks invertedly pointing to the underground realm.
“Then we lie to him,” he decided. “We stir up trouble with the Dark Elves and Frey, start a civil unrest, create a diversion—”
“That will buy you time Ailsa does not have,” she interrupted whatever bullshit he was about to come up with. “The girl is dying, and no amount of your caring will stop it. Do not dishonor her wishes and what she has been through just because it feels beyond what you can bear. You will endure this just like every other suffering you have been through.”
He didn’t want to speak of this anymore. Twice he had almost lost her and each time it ripped away a piece of him that would never grow back the same—like a scar on his soul. If he lost her a final time, there wouldn’t be anything left to resemble who he once was. “If you truly believe that, then maybe you don’t know me at all.”
The weight of his mother’s gaze lessened on him significantly. She pushed off the window to sit next to him on the velvet couch, placing a warm hand on his shoulder. “I hate to ask this of you, Vali. But I’m afraid we don’t have another choice if we wish to save this realm. We must give her to him. Odin is getting desperate. With every solstice, the Allfather becomes more anxious to bring Baldur back from Helheim and prevent the ending the Norns have prepared for him. If we play this right, we can use his desperation to our advantage. Perhaps we can get more out of this deal than previously arranged.”
Vali slipped a long sigh and leaned back in his seat. “What did you have in mind?”
“Your name in the stars, Vali. So, no god can ever rule you or me ever again.”
“Where are we going?” Ailsa asked, not bothering to hide her excitement. She’d been locked in the hospital wing for almost a week now regaining her strength and resupplying her blood stock. When Vali told Greer he was taking her out to the gardens for the day, she knew he had other plans in mind.
Vali hated gardens.
“Do you think you’re strong enough to carry a short blade? Not a long sword, of course, but perhaps a hand and a half?” he asked as they rounded the corner from the hospital wing.
“I think a short sword would make me feel like myself again,” she beamed. With a spark of hope she added, “And maybe some trousers?”
He pulled her down a stairwell leading to a darkened depth. “I’ll see what I can do,” he replied with a wink.