My parents told me about that concept, too. Love that goes beyond the normal balances of the world and fate. Hearts bound together that nothing could ever separate.
I always thought they were only talking about themselves.
We halt in front of the throne. “Do you have a mate?”
Her grin slips into something mischievous as she replies, “Yes, Julius.”
I want to recoil at her words.
Julius? The sneering blond guy from earlier?Gross.
But not wanting to offend the only person I know in this realm, I just smile and ask, “How did you know?”
“When you find your mate,” she scrunches her nose as she works to phrase it in a way I might comprehend, “well, there’s no escape. When you know, you know, and that’s it.”
Her words elicit images of Lachlan. Gods, I hope he’s ok.
I wonder if he’s told Gran yet? I don’t know if I want her to be lucid or not. If she is, would she explain to him what happened to me? Would he even believe her, though? Or would he chalk it up to a crazy old lady with dementia? Would it be easier if she didn’t remember me at all?
My thoughts of Gran cause more questions.
“Why did my family leave here?”
Odessa frowns at my words and looks up at the throne. “Queen Skadi abdicated her throne when Bryn became more powerful than her. At the time, the strongest Valkyrie of the royal line ruled. Skadi abdicated peacefully, and to keep from interfering with your mother’s rule, left for the human realm. It’s not uncommon.”
“Oh, but why did my mother leave?”
Odessa inhales through her nose and keeps her eyes directly ahead. “No one knows why exactly, but there were rumors,” she trails off.
A non-answer, a politician’s answer. She seems annoyed with this line of questioning, and I get the feeling it’s not something she would like to discuss further. But the questions plague me. Could I be in danger here? Is that why they never told me? Did they leave because they wanted to, or did they flee?
Odessa must sense my unease because she quickly adds, “I think it was because your mother wanted to live a normal life with your father. He wasn’t from here, and an outsider is frowned upon. She left roughly a century ago.” She waves her hand in a circle.
Her explanation doesn’t make sense, though. Yes, my mother loved my father greatly, but she never would have abandoned her duties. Her stories of this place dance through my mind.There was always an undercurrent of honor and gallantry. There’s no way she would have walked away.
Odessa cuts through my train of thought. “Do you want to look at the dining hall and library, or do you want to check out the training ground?”
There’s a sparkle in her eye when she says the “training ground,” so I opt for the latter.
Her pace is quicker than it was before, and even though we are equal in height, I struggle to keep pace with her. We’re just reaching the opening between the throne room and the terrace when she begins speaking again.
“As I mentioned earlier, this realm was a training ground for Odin’s chosen warriors. He wanted to raise a large army for the Great War that was foretold to take place between the realms.” We walk through the passageway and across the terrace, towards the stairs. “But as time went on and no war came, training for it seemed less vital, and enjoying life as we wished became more desirable. Most of the Valkyries still train daily as a way to observe the old ways and use their magic, what little they have left, but it’s a choice for them. Most of our citizens have no problem adapting to the new ways, especially once injuries took longer to heal.”
“What are the new ways?”
She says that phrase as if it’s a different way of life. My mother raised me in the old ways. I wonder if my upbringing was similar to that of the children here.
“We’ve managed to shift our way of life from focusing on the gods and their archaic traditions to a new world without stuffy customs. We live how we want and appreciate the life we have without offerings or praises.”
“Oh, I guess that makes sense. What are the citizens like here?”
“Our citizens here aren’t just men. Women can be warriors too, obviously.” She grins. “So, inevitably, partnershipshappened between them, and children came along, and the realm has slowly evolved into what it is now.”
We pause at level ground, standing on the path between the terrace and the training grounds, which are now beginning to peek out behind a grove of ash trees. The land here is lush with tall, vibrant green grasses that dance in the gentle breeze. Bright red poppies are scattered among the field with a smaller, star-shaped, white flower I don’t recognize. The sun is high overhead, its warmth kissing my face.
“What is it now?”
“It’s a paradise for the chosen, a world between gods and mortals,” she breathes.
