He almost looks like a man.
It breaks my heart.
“I’m here,” I say.“Only one story, though.No more.You know tomorrow’s a big day.”
“Tell us about the wedding,” Brunhilda says.“Is it going to be the most beautiful thing we’ve ever seen?”
“It’s not even a real wedding,” Sif says.“They’re getting married to keep the vanir from attacking.That’s what Rut said.”
“Rut was wrong.”
Sif’s pretty jaded for fourteen years, but I don’t blame her.Losing her dad was hard.Really, really hard.I still have trouble getting up in the morning, and I’m an adult.I had lots of time with my beloved brother, and it still wasn’t enough.
“Odin loves Freya, and she adores him, too.They’re staving off a war, but they’re doing it with happy hearts, and the wedding will be beautiful.”
“Tell us about how it all started, then.”I’m shocked it took Brunhilda so long to ask.She’s usually clamoring for this from the start.“More details this time.I still don’t really understand it.”Her eyes are bright, and her hands are twisted in front of her.
“Fine.”I climb into the bed with them, and I lean back against the wall.Brunhilda scrambles onto my lap, and Sif leans against my side.Only Áki holds his position, but I’m not fooled.He’s just as keen on the story as they are.I can tell.
“In the beginning, there were only earth children who lived under our sun.Jörð created us all to tend to the earth she loved, and she gave us this beautiful place where we could flourish because she loved us.We had trees, grasses, flowers, and grains.Animals were abundant.The earth children were happy and blessed, but we were also lonely.Other than birds, nothing filled the air overhead.Nothing swam in the great waters other than small fish and serpents.”
“And then?”Brunhilda balls her hands into fists, her eyes bright.
“One night, as she was preparing to slumber, Jörð heard something new.She heard a great roaring, like the wind of a mighty storm, but stronger, and the skies overhead were clear of rain.She looked farther upward, marveling at the great expanse of the universe she’d never traveled.When she looked a little farther than ever before, she finally saw him.”
“Veralden!”Sif says.“Right?”
I smile.“Veralden Radian was a god of the sky.He was powerful, and he was fierce, and he had traveled for thousands and thousands of years, and in all that time, he had never discovered anything he could not destroy.Because he had slain all his enemies, he was also lonely.He longed to find something more—he longed to find true beauty.”
“And he did, that very night,” Áki says.
“That’s right,” I say, wondering why they want to hear a story they already know word-perfect.“But when Veralden saw Jörð, he was utterly smitten.As he stared at her, the thunder struck all around, plunging deep into the earth.Wind battered the homes, trees, and vegetation, and the earth children ran and hid.”
“But Jörð wasn’t scared,” Sif says.“Shelikedit.”
I smile.“You’re right that she wasn’t scared.She had finally met someone—somethinglike her.Powerful.Beautiful.Fascinating.As she moved, the earth rotated.The living things all shifted toward her.In her physical form she was small, but she drew on all the strength of her true nature, and as she moved toward Veralden Radian, he could not look away.She was everything warm and full of life that he’d never before seen.”
Brunhilda claps.
“And then,” I say, drawing this part out, “when they finally met, Jörð was drawn to the fierce Veralden.She couldn’t turn away from him either.He was strange and marvelous and powerful, and she was in awe.”
“And then?”Brunhilda shifts so she can see my face.
“Then, Veralden tried to take her with him, as he did with everything he wanted.Jörð laughed, and as she did, the world around them burst into bloom.Her joy filled the world with life and energy, and Veralden Radian was entranced.Instead ofclaiming herlike a possession, for the first time, he wanted to give something of himself instead.For the very first time, Veralden Radian didn’t want to destroy.He wanted to create.He wanted to thank Jörð for the beauty she’d shared.So he leaned over slowly, and he kissed her.”
Even Sif’s smiling, though she’s hiding it with her hand.
“Although they loved one another a great deal, a god like Veralden Radian could not stay—he was made to always move.His power was not in resting, but in conquering, in exploring, and in discovering.Jörð could not go with him—her whole being was tied to earth and home and growth and creation.She could no more follow him than a fish could fly.But when they kissed, something happened.”
“It made the heartstone,” Áki says.
“The most beautiful, most powerful stone in existence,” I say.“It’s the convergence of the power of the earth and the sky.And with its existence, for the first time, the magnificent Veralden Radian created children of his own, and he left them with his beloved Jörð.They could stay with her in a way he never could, thanks to the part of her she had infused in him that night.”
“The children of the sky,” Sif says.“The vanir and the æsir.”
“Even so,” I say.“They watched over the earth children and brought us excitement, magic, and power we had never known before.”
“At first,” Áki says.“But then, the vanir discovered that they could bond with the earth children.Through that bond, they could claim, and they could also destroy.”
