“Over the course of my time here, I guess you could call it often?”
Raising my eyebrows at him, I climb half the staircase. “Enough times that you carved stairs?”
“It is easier than using a rope to climb through the hole that was once here,” he mocks, following me up. The walls along the staircase are detailed in looped and curved lines that I have come to recognize as Shaw’s favorite design. Grazing my fingers in the deep grooves, I stop at the ledge and look out into the unknown.
27
RASHA
“What do you think?” he whispers at my back. Shivering at his voice, I scoot to the side so he can lead me through the path, winding around massive pieces of the rocks that jut up from the cave floor. Some almost touch the equally sharp rocks that form dagger-like structures coming down from the cave ceilings, and everywhere in between, the iridescent river flows.
“It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” I murmur, careful to step only where he steps.
“The water down here hasn’t been this active and full in years.” Shaw cups his hands under a ledge where the shining water is running like a stream in summer.
“We haven’t seen the Northern Lights in years, so maybe they are connected.” I hesitate to touch the water, wondering if there is magic held within the particles. “Just thinking out loud.”
“They are one in the same.” He beckons me closer.
“What do you mean?”
“The lights are a reflection of the Ivalo River flowing through the mountains. In the coldest months, the magic left by the gods casts the light into the sky, revealing the path to the Vanheim.”
Slowly shifting my gaze to him, I remember opening the shrineand how it felt to move between realms in limbo. The lights I saw the night he rescued me were the first in my lifetime.
“So here we could cross over?” I ask, and his lips part in an effortless breath like he could kiss me.
“You could, maybe. But I have the map to the reindeer because I need them to accept my penance when I cross over,” he reminds me. I shove down my strange need to touch the amulet.
We walk through the cave, letting the magnificence of the underground river guide us. After a while, I understand the colors. Those near the inside of the mountain run pink, and the ones dripping down from the ceiling are yellow. Under our feet, the slow, oozing water is blue, picking up the fragmented colors of the cave. When the stream flows outside to the plants under the snow, the sheen is green.
Shaw is deep in thought, I can tell by how often he rubs his jaw and avoids looking at me. His reservations are making me question if I should be here. I could have stayed with Aslaug and let him get the ore. Have I spent too many nights sleeping soundly next to him that I have forgotten what my purpose is? The thought that maybe taking my virginity doesn’t interest him has crossed my mind more than once.
“Rasha?”
I start to answer, but my throat closes in trepidation.
“Do you want to swing the pickaxe? It’s very satisfying?” he asks, holding it out. A sweet smirk crosses my lips as I take the heavy tool. Dropping the bag from my shoulders, I motion for Shaw to step back, and he does.
“Where should I aim?”
“For the deepest vein, but don’t overthink it.” He gives the instruction, and I slam the pointy tip of the axe into the mountain. Everything shakes like I hit the center of a ceremonial drum.
“Again,” he calls from behind me, and I oblige. The ceiling shakes as tiny drops of water sprinkle over us. The rock bed vibrates. I don’t need him to ask me again as I wait for a pulse in the amulet. I focus on that beautiful strength woven in our blood and aim for the crack in the cave wall. “You did it,” he exclaims.
My chest is heaving as I lower the axe and gaze at the cave floor. Plain shards of stone are everywhere, but the light coming from Shaw’s torch flickers over several shiny, misshaped pieces. We bend down to gather the precious ore, but his hand finds my cheek instead of the silver.
“I don’t know how to say this,” his voice cracks over the words while I sit on the cave floor.
“You never thought a girl could swing an axe like that?” I coo, propping my tired arms on my bent knees.
“That’s not what I was going to say.” He presses his lips together, and I give up. Leaning into his lap, I crash my lips into his. “Rasha,” he murmurs as I break away to find his hazel eyes searching mine.
“Save whatever you want to tell me for these fancy hot springs you keep promising.” I scoop up the remaining pieces of silver and gold. There’s a clear stone that fell from the opened vein in the mountain. He studies it with the torch and then slips it into the pocket against my breast.
Finding the ore seems to have brought us back into our usual rhythm, like I passed an invisible test. My unexpected, brave kiss might have helped us along as well. I am still smiling to myself behind his back when he crosses a narrow stone bridge. Skipping down a few uneven slabs of granite, I follow Shaw around bubbling purple and blue pools of water.
“These are the hot springs?” I balance my bag over my shoulder, waiting for him to say we are stopping, but he continues around the corner. Keeping up with him, I am suddenly hit with fresh, cold air, but we aren’t at the same place where we came in.
