Odin is masking what he says, but I can hear his response through the bond, though it’s hard to do without alerting her to my presence. You weren’t there, Freya. I was. You have to trust me on this.
And you haven’t spoken to Veralden Radien. I have! She sounds so exultant it makes me want to cry. It’s been almost a week since she laid that rainbow iridescent egg, and the madness hasn’t receded at all. It’s making me wonder whether it’s not egg-induced madness at all.
Does she really think this is the way to proceed? Or has all the time she’s spent with the heart warped her mind?
Freya, I was there when Veralden Radien loved Jörð. I was among the first sky children he created. And I was there when he chose to leave.
Freya beams. And now you’ll be here when he comes back.
You don’t understand. He left because we cost him power. He left because above all else, he wouldn’t tolerate any sort of loss or diminishment. At his core, he’s a creature that takes, a creature that conquers. Staying here with Jörð, with us, it was draining him. He was becoming less day by day. Odin drops his voice, making it even harder for me to hear. He left us, and if you drag him back, you won’t like what he does. If we make demands, if we ask him to help us, he’ll kill us all. It’s what he does. He spared us only because of Jörð’s pleading.
You’re wrong. Freya shrugs. Or even if you’re not, Jörð’s still here. She’ll intercede for us again, and he’ll be happy to see her. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Even if you had a way to get him here, and I don’t believe you do, he will spell our doom—your prophecy already made that clear. The reason our eggs won’t hatch is that he didn’t want the vanir and æsir to unite or become strong. He wanted us to destroy ourselves given enough time. We only have one path here, and I found us a place to escape our creator’s plan for our demise.
Freya freezes. What?
I told you I was portaling for quick trips to places farther and farther out, and I found another world for us. It’s beautiful, there’s plenty to eat, there are streams and forests, oceans and savannah. There are mountains and valleys, and the atmosphere is rich.
What about our earth children bonded?
Odin grimaces.
I won’t go without Gullveig. I love her.
Leaving her is what’s best for your people and hers, Odin says. Think about it. Without us to fight, the vanir will cease these wars. The very thing Veralden didn’t want will happen—the earth children can live in peace with the sky, because the sky children will stop their fighting.
Are you saying we’re the problem? Freya asks. As much as the vanir?
I love how she’s forgotten that technically she’s vanir.
Strike blessed shriek by the window outside. They’re here, Ephesus says. The vanir have portalled in on the south side of Valhalla.
The surge of joy from Freya makes me very, very nervous. You better go, Freya says. I won’t keep you here.
Odin twines his neck around hers. I love you, Freya. Don’t do anything now, please. Come with me after this war, and look at the place I’ve found. It’s a place for our future, and I’m sure I can convince you of it.
She closes her eyes and presses her head against his, and then she watches as he flies away. After she shifts into her human form, I can barely hear her whisper. “We have no future, because even after all this time, after all we’ve shared, you have no faith in me.”
I realize, in that moment, that she’s doing it now.
Come to me. Her broadcast is loud, and strong, but targeted. She’s sending that message to a handful of æsir. As they begin to answer, she summons more. And more. Everyone with any strength at all should be flying south with Odin to fight. But many, many of the æsir and even a few of the vanir Freya has won over begin to gather outside.
“Wait.” I step into the room. “Freya, Odin asked you to wait. Can’t you hold off? They attack often. You could see this place he found, and then you can decide?—”
“You were listening to us?” Freya looks wounded. “You could’ve come in and defended me. You could have told him that you’ve seen me talk to Veralden Radien. You could have told him that my plan will work.”
I want to tell her that I don’t believe it will. I want to tell her my doubts, but I know that if I do, she’ll cut me off, same as she did with Odin. And that means I’m the only person who might be able to stop this madness. So I watch, and I wait, and I try to figure out any path out of the madness.
Maybe, I hope, nothing will happen when she tries to call Veralden. Maybe her plan will come to nothing. But as more and more æsir gather outside, I have to wonder who’s fighting beside Odin.
“How many supporters have you gathered?”
“Not half of our people,” Freya says. “But close.” She smiles. “When he comes, Odin will understand. Then he’ll see.” She reaches into the chamberpot in the corner of the room and pulls out the egg. Inside a chamber pot? I shudder. It’s diabolical. I would never have thought to look there for something so precious.
She walks across the room and places it in an empty wash basin that’s resting on the top of the windowsill, and then she removes the heart from the thong around her neck and lifts it into the light from the rising moon.
Tonight, the vanir are attacking us yet again, she shouts. But you, my dear allies, you are here with me. You are looking for a better way, and I have found one for all of us.
