When Ailsa imagined her last hours, it didn’t include sitting at a feast with literal gods.
She was seated next to Vali’s mother at the head of the table. Odin and his son Thor sat on one side, accompanied by a few others she did not recognize. They sat beneath a glass dome, the stars blinking down at them from their home in the sky. Her eyes drifted to Thor’s waist, discovering his hammer had been returned, and she wondered the fates of the giants she had grown fond of.
Frey sat to her left. His golden hair was braided long down his back. The skin of his chin smooth and barren of stubble. His hands were delicate and almost feminine, showing off painted violet nails as he cut his meat with a fork and knife, unlike Thor whose fist seemed to be constantly filled with something. Ailsa winced as she watched him devour an entire pig by himself, the bones carted away by a servant to make room on his plate. The spectacle ruined her appetite.
An awkward silence settled the room when they were finished before Odin spoke. “Where is Vali?”
“Did you need him for something?” Lady Rind asked. “I believe this arrangement was strictly between us, Odin.”
“I’ve heard the rumors, Rind,” he replied. “I am surprised he wouldn’t see her off. I know my son has been quite…takenwith the vessel.”
“Mynameis Ailsa. And I am not a vessel, I am a woman.” Ailsa’s outburst startled even herself. Odin only looked at her through his one good eye, but his glare was intense enough to challenge her newfound confidence.
Frey cleared his throat next to her. “Are you ready to leave Alfheim and see Asgard, Miss Ailsa? Even the mortals we accept into Valhalla and Folkvang do not get to see the God’s Realm. You will be the first.” he said. His voice was higher than she expected from the towering man. Softer than the silky drapes of her gown.
“No,” she replied and stared at her untouched plate of food.
“I’m sure your displeasure wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain Son of Odin.”
Ailsa didn’t need to so much as turn her head to know Loki had sauntered into the room. His emerald robes swept the floor in a regal display. “Never fear, Ailsa darling, once we find a way to get this ancient power out of your silly little hands, you can run right back to Vali. Well, if you survive it. How are your lungs, by the way?”
Ailsa’s nails made crescent moons in her palms. “Has anyone ever told you, you’re a condescending little shit?”
Loki bristled as he hovered near an empty seat, gesturing to himself in feign offense. “Me?Never.” His conniving smile curled on his lips. “Asgard is going to eat you alive, girl.”
“Then I’ll make sure it chokes.”
Frey coughed on his drink, concealing a giggle.
“I’ll ask once more, and if I don’t get an answer, I will leave without honoring my end of the bargain.” Odin was not here for food or banter. His eyes settled on Rind, who barely looked his way as he spoke.
“He is not coming,” Lady Rind answered.
Odin’s fist slammed on the table. “Why not?”
“Because he did his duty to you, Odin. He doesn’t have to hand her to you on a silver platter. The Tether is right in front of you, why do you care for my son?”
Ailsa felt the tension like a wave of heat from a bonfire. Odin was out of his seat in a second, a meaty fist pinching the High Lady’s throat. She clutched his arm, her eyes spilled tears.
“Let go of her!” Ailsa shouted, not caring she was ordering a god. “What is wrong with you? Just take me and leave already!”
“The day I bend to elves is the day Fenrir claims me at last,” he spat as he spoke. “If I make deals with you, all the realms will think they can cheat me out of favors. That powerbelongsto me, Rind. As does Vali since the day you let me write my runes on his skin.”
“You were never going to help us,” Rind gasped.
“I’m a god of my word,” he murmured. “I will take Frey from this land, but I never said it would restore your realm, nor will it stop the darkness from spreading. I will continue to usemy sonto lead the fae in my name. Even if I must mark every spare inch of his skin, he will serve me. So be it, your kind will never be godless again.”
Just as the High Lady’s lips were blanching a shade of blue, Ailsa felt a burning pain in her hand. She leapt from her seat in the chair, pulling off her glove to watch the back of her palm grow a vicious red. She wailed as it bubbled before her eyes, blisters forming from a fire she could not see.
“Vali!” she whimpered, clutching her wrist and the rune mark being scorched. “Gods below, he’s being burned alive!”
Odin released the High Lady to approach Ailsa. She staggered away from him before he could snatch her. “Where is Vali?” he demanded to know.
She shook her head, fighting to ignore the pain reaching up her arm. “I don’t know, honestly. He went missing only hours ago!”
Odin mumbled something aboutdoing everything himself. He lifted the patch covering his eye, revealing a hole puttied with soft skin. The spot glowed a white light as the god looked for Vali, his all-seeing eye replaced the physical one torn from its socket long ago.
“He’s not burning,” he mumbled. “He is in a dark room, but I smell a great amount of blood and burning flesh. There is a woman there, dark skinned with silver hair. Do you know her?” Ailsa lied with the shake of her head, apparently not convincing enough. “I don’t believe you, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll find another way to rule this realm. You’re right, Rind, I don’t need Vali anymore.”