“He who is last hatched among the deserters, the final heir of the sky king, shall redeem the sky children above and below, and shall cleanse them of their stain and drag them through the darkness and back into the light.”
My mouth gapes open, and my eyes widen, and I’m not sure what to do or say.
Then, as if she didn’t just spout some of the strongest words I’ve ever heard, Freya beams. “The egg is this beautiful because of all the magic I’ve been pouring into it from the heart.” She runs a hand down the side of the multi-color shell. “This egg is Veralden Radien’s magic brought to life. He’ll be so pleased to hear that his power’s still strong here on Jörð’s world.”
I’m not at all sure he’d be pleased at the thought that Freya’s taking the magic she channels from him and weaving it into a new sky child, especially as he told her that he intentionally balanced things between the vanir and æsir to run opposite one another. I doubt it would do much good for me to tell her that, however.
I’ve barely placed the egg in the basket she already prepared when she grabs my arm. “I need your help, Gullveig. There’s no one else I can trust.”
The crazed light in her eyes tells me she’s still stuck firmly in the middle of the egg-laying mania. “Okay.” I just need to keep her from making any decisions until this insane compulsion has passed. They do always pass.
“Odin doesn’t agree with me. He thinks this is all insane, the whole idea of reaching out to our own parent. He wants nothing to do with him. He says that if Veralden left us, it’s for the best, but I can’t watch any more killing. Not senseless killing like it always is. If we can’t shear away the vanir side, then we’ll force Veralden Radien back to do it himself.”
I’m kind of with Odin on this one, but I’m hoping once the egg-laying insanity has faded, she will be too.
“Don’t worry. I’ve already set up almost all the important parts. All I need now is for the vanir to attack, and for Odin to go fully against them, without knowing it’s part of my plan.” She beams. “Then I can use the power of their aggression and the power of our fighters in the call I put out to Veralden. When they’re fighting, the differences between vanir and æsir in energy signatures is entirely clear.” Her eyes are far too bright.
“What exactly do you need me to do?” So I can figure out how not to do it.
Freya smiles. “Just what you have always done best. Keep my secrets, and make Odin believe I laid a normal egg today.”
“But he’ll know as soon as he sees—” But when I look down, the egg she just laid isn’t there. There’s a red egg in its place. I blink.
She winks. “I hid that special one. I’ll need it to call Veralden, you know. When I sacrifice his pure power, and I pull on the strength of the enmity between vanir and æsir, all that magic will be enough to bring him here at last. Trust me.”
I’ve never been less inclined to trust her in my life, but I have two important tasks, apparently. Make sure Odin doesn’t know what she’s doing, and make sure Freya doesn’t know that I mean to stop her any way I possibly can.
Chapter 24
Gullveig
I search for a solid hour and I still can’t find where she put the egg she just laid. With as long as we’ve been bonded, I’m not sure how she managed to hide it from me, but I’m not the only one looking anymore. I had to bring in help, especially with the crazy prophecy Freya spouted about the importance of that egg. When I told my bonded that we needed to keep that egg safe, when I told her what she’s said, it only made Freya more positive that using the egg to power up the summons through the heart would work.
You searched her entire room? Euphrasia asks. Because I can’t go in there. I have no earth child shape, remember?
“Of course,” I say. “I combed through it all twice.”
My mom’s bonded frowns. You’re sure she’s planning to use it to call Veralden Radien? That sounds rash. Surely she’ll rethink that plan. None of us know quite what made him leave, but if he wanted to come back, he certainly already knows how.
“I tried telling her that, but she’s past listening. She’s waiting for the next vanir attack, and then she’s sacrificing that egg to try bringing him here.”
We’re out of options. Euphrasia looks grim. I know how much she likes Freya.
“If I go to Odin with this, she’ll never forgive me,” I say. “How about this? I’ll search her room one more time. Surely there’s a hole or a cubby I just haven’t found.”
Euphrasia looks at the dark clouds rolling toward us. I have a bad feeling.
“Fine, I’ll go to Odin, but you have to do your part. You promised.”
The poor water blessed has become Freya’s closest friend other than me, so ditching her when she’s struggling goes against every instinct Euphrasia has, but someone has to take my children away from all this. I won’t confront Freya and Odin, the two most powerful sky children on earth other than Freja’s bloodthirsty father, unless I know Fagen and my three girls are safe. “And Gorm’s children too,” I say. “You promised.”
Euphrasia nods slowly and drops back into the water.
Now I have to go to Odin and betray my closest friend in the world. I don’t run back to the cliff dwelling where the happy couple lives, and if I’m dragging my feet a little, well. I don’t think anyone can really blame me. But as I draw near, I realize Odin’s not there alone.
—if they’re attacking, it’s time. It’s Freya. She’d usually mask her communications, but she must be too upset. Not many other æsir would be close enough to hear.
I sneak right up to the door, carefully masking my presence. I should figure out what they’re arguing about before showing up so I know what to say.
