Aslaug bounds through the deep snow toward me, and I kneel in a true genuflection for her.
“How are you?” I softly ask, stroking her clean fur. Feeling her stomach, I can tell she healed well, and fur is already growing over the scars. She arches her back and rubs my legs with her strong body.
“I am sorry, Aslaug. I wasn’t ready. Bring me to the tomb?” She purrs. Deep rumbling emits from her square head and broad, furry chest. I don’t care that the sun won’t set for another few hours. There is no one that will dare venture out on the ice, and the village will be preoccupied with the trial.
My boots crunch in the snow as the massive cat nimbly trots through the untouched, white powder. The reflection of the mountain range on the icy fjord is the piece of the puzzle Aslaug wasn’t able to explain to Rasha.
The Immortal Realm sits equal to the realm of men, but in between lies the Vanheim. In that limbo, Skadi’s tomb exists because she existed in both realms. The soul of a mortal cannot pass through the Vanheim, even though I am learning that maybe the soul of a mortal can find the doorway.
I have waited so long to be able to return home. I need Skadi’s bow to cross through since it is the relic that cast me out. Without honoring my penance, the scales are tipped against me, and I have never been willing to bring a partner into my problems. Maybe it has been my own foolishness that caused me to withdraw myself from the clan for all these years.
Rasha is different; she is more than I could have ever asked for. Ican only pray she will not hate me for the ritual I am about to begin. Finding where she spilled her own precious blood is easy. The ice suspended her offering, waiting for me to return. Aslaug slides on her padded paws over to me with a mouthful of kindling, and I light a small fire to heat the edges of my seax knife.
“It is nice to have you next to me,” I murmur to the cat while we wait for the fire to grow hot enough. Scratching her head, I peer down into the bottom of the fjord with Aslaug where the top of the stone tomb has lain untouched for a thousand years.
Heating the edges of the knife, I cut the ice around where Rasha’s blood is encased and take out the empty amulet. I handmade the smaller, more intricate piece to hold what I thought would be my blood one day. Sliding the filigree cover off, I lay it down and put the blood-filled ice over top.
Aslaug and I sit while I stoke the fire until the sun is barely visible over the tall trees, and the heavy clouds start to release fat snowflakes. Sitting with the great lynx reminds me of our struggles in the first weeks of being cast out. There were many cold nights in a body I didn’t know was so fragile and many hungry days when I lost my way in the Sacred Forest, but Aslaug never left me.
“I am sorry for the pain I have caused you. For the loneliness I brought to you when it was only me to blame,” I whisper against her thick, insulated fur. She leans her body against my legs, and I feel the journey coming to an end. But what will become of me when Rasha gains the bow?
A spark skates across the ice, and I sit up, watching the ice dissolve into water. Rasha’s thick blood fills the well in the amulet. Between the bracelet I gave her with my hidden chain inside and the amulet now containing the blood of the virgin chosen by her people, she should have what she needs to claim Skadi’s bow.
I still have the bone runes in my pocket. Taking the one out that Rasha didn’t see last night, I turn it over in my hand.
Rebirth.
Aslaug’s amber eyes stare up at me, and I grind my jaw, knowing exactly what she’s thinking.
“I can’t tell her. That defeats the ritual.” Taking the rest of thebone runes out of the pouch, I smash them to powder with the end of the seax knife against the ice. Like I am adding root vegetables to stew, I scoop up the shaky dust and add the bits to her blood, swirling it till it mixes inside the small amulet.
“That should coagulate things so this works. If it doesn’t, we will both die, and I don’t know what that would mean for you,” I say to the cat. She sticks close as I smother the fire.
Gazing at the trees, I ponder leaving Rasha the amulet and heading back to my cabin, knowing that either way, I will eventually hear what took place. But I asked her to wait for me at the Wild Hunt, and I still need my map.
The thought of her aroused and running towards me, when we both know my restraint hangs by a frayed thread, causes my cock to twitch. In a mask, I will be able to let out a fraction of who I am, but some urges are too primal to be quelled. She will need to stay a virgin longer than she thinks. Once she learns my true purpose, will I run the risk of damning the relationship I hope we have?
16
RASHA
Awinter storm halts Yule for three days. Wind howls outside the stronghold, picking up snow and ice, till I can’t see the wall or the trees beyond. Joanna and Katrine are in my room, fussing over our hair and masks for tonight’s Wild Hunt. I told Katrine to rest and skip it, but she’s determined to forget what happened to her in that room.
After the fight with Bjorn, I ran to Jorvik’s room and told him everything. In truth, I readied myself for an outburst for my betrayal of spending time with Shaw, but it never came. Surprisingly, Jorvik was forthright in showing me the map, which is nothing like I thought. It’s an antler with tiny drops of silver that form a constellation that appears in the night sky when the Northern Lights appear.
I stayed behind a locked door while they punished Bjorn and whoever his accomplices were. I didn’t ask what happened to Shaw. I didn’t utter his name after Jorvik showed me the map, and I certainly didn’t allude to knowing anything about what went on when I was seated with Harald the next day for a somber midday meal.
The snow gave everyone a welcomed break, but my mind constantly thought of Shaw. He didn’t come to my room, and Ididn’t leave the confines of the stupid square fortress, keeping my promise. This morning we woke to clear skies, but I fear everyone’s emotions are still fraught.
“I know you are nervous, but this is supposed to be the best night of Yule. If nothing else, do it for me. I need new memories,” Katrine pleas, laying on my bed and attaching tiny pieces of metal to her head piece. Her bruises have faded, and her lip is nearly healed.
“When you put it that way. Promise me when you go home, you’ll tell your father everything?” I ask Katrine while we tie the front of my cream dress.
“I promise. Stop being the serious huntress for a second.” Katrine hides her worry with a girlish grin, pushing up my cleavage in the bodice.
“She’s right!” Joanna finds her excitement, bringing our crowns. “In the shadows, maybe Shaw will steal a kiss from his woman.”
“I am not his woman.” I push them away, hiding a laugh, and fix my red hair over the pointed antler crown around my head. I know this will be a pivotal moment no matter what happens. The eligible women who want to participate will have the opportunity to form a union with eligible men, and if Harald catches me, my chances of getting out of my own marriage will be almost non-existent.
