“I didn’t stick around to listen to her call your pretty name. But it was nice to know all your talents haven’t left since your exile,” Vidarr teases. I have half a mind to wrestle him over the fucking cliff.
“How’s Vali?” I ask about his twin and my youngest brother.
“He needs you. We all do. He just won’t admit it,” he explains, and I am crestfallen. We meander away from the path, winding through the snow covered trees. Everywhere Vidarr steps, animals stop to watch him. It’s not everyday that someone from beyond the Vanheim walks in the Sacred Forest.
“I am sorry, Vidarr.” My voice is rough with regret.
“That is nice to hear.”
“You can give me all the shit you want. I didn’t handle anything the way I should have. But Rasha is young. She has no idea what is in store for her. Is there a way for me to sever the bond and let her live out her life once I return home?”
Vidarr clasps his hands behind his back, his long, black seal coat billowing behind him and says, “She belongs with you. I was here the first time you traveled to this realm with a partner, and I didn’t feel the same way I do now when I watch her.”
“If you keep talking about watching her, we are going to do more than stroll through the forest.”
“I’d love to stay and rile you up for old times sake, but I cannot keep this form for too long.”
“If she uses the bow, will you be able to track her?” My concern for Rasha’s safety is reaching a new height, but it won’t hurt to have Vidarr keeping an eye out for Harald.
“I’ll do what I can if it gets out of hand. But Shaw…” He stops and blocks my path back to the cabin. Staring my little brother down makes me feel gutted. I should be giving him advice, I should be keeping an eye out, and I shouldn’t need his help. Vidarr waits till I am ready to listen and says, “You cannot tell her the truth about the ritual, or the ritual won’t work. You know that, don’t you?”
“That doesn’t seem fair.” I walk around him, wondering if he’d want to meet her.
“You forfeited fair when you lost your seat. This is the test you agreed to. And if it doesn’t work, the vultures are already circling.”
His coded words boil my blood. In the grand scheme of things, I have never been counted out completely.
“So because I have come out of hiding and it wasn’t me who procured the bow, our line is in jeopardy?”
“You were supposed to retrieve the bow. Skadi died on your watch. Now, your eternal life being bound to that chain, that’s another story.”
“You don’t have to remind me.”
“I do because you failed once. For fuck’s sake, Shaw, don’t fail us now,” he bites with a harsh tone, sending a flurry of snow over us from the skies.
“Vidarr,” I call his name as I would have in our realm, and he straightens, pushing back his shoulders and leveling a respectful stare.
“What else can I tell you?” he asks.
“Tell me everything you can in the time you have left. Tell me about our sister and our mother.” I lean my back against a large tree, folding my arms over my chest, and wait.
His cheeks rise as he smiles like the stately man he is and regales me with details of our home. Half of the time, it’s hard to listen because my soul aches at the nostalgia, pulling me closer to my brother. When he’s done, he takes to the skies as a magnificent eagle, soaring high into the storm clouds and back into the Vanheim.
Welcoming the shift in the air, I feel the breeze as it turns harsh and unrelenting. Snow quickly falls in wet flakes, coating my tunic and face, but I don’t move faster. The afternoon is swallowed by bleak clouds and dropping temperatures. Vidarr’s parting gift to halt Harald’s progress and give Rasha more time to learn to use the bow.
Aslaug darts through the trees, almost invisible with her sleek silver and tan coat against the snow. To the naked eye, no one would see her coming. As I trudge back through the forest, the snow gives even my eyes a challenge. I hear Aslaug again, but I don’t see her.
My ankles are swept out from under me, and I turn as I fall, hitting the ground with a cleaving thud. Ready to swing a punch, I figure it’s Vidarr who can’t resist a moment to knock me on my ass, but red hair flashes over my face. Rasha slams the solid handle of an axe into my chest and throws her legs over my hips.
“You have a brother, and he wants what exactly?” she demands over the howling wind. My hands instantly grip her thighs.
“He wants me to come home.” I try to keep my blood frozen in my veins, but my cock awakens.
“Tell me the fucking truth, or I’ll leave with the chain and bow,” she threatens, and I don’t blame her.
“I haven’t seen Vidarr in many, many years. When you retrieved the bow, it sent a signal to him.”
“A signal from where? You promised no one could find me here.” She pushes the handle higher into my neck till I feel the razor-sharp edge of the axe. My hand roves up her back to the braid she must have secured while she nervously waited. Her clothes are splotched with wet snow, and I can see the shimmering chain hanging around her neck.
