Chapter 11
Aidan spoke in hushed tones to his mom and sister behind me as we wound through the halls. I prayed Odin would be available to see us and heaved a sigh of relief when I walked through the doorway to see Odin and Frigga both on their thrones. Their discussion must have been serious from the worried expressions on their faces.
I hurried to the dais, flicking a glance over my shoulder at the small family that trailed me. Aidan's mom was white-faced with shock, but Enya seemed to be taking it all in her stride as she stared around the hall and gaped at the gods on the dais.
"Valkyrie Brynhildr, where have you been?" Odin's voice shook the hall and I could have sworn I heard a ceiling beam creak dangerously above.
"I apologize, my lord. You were busy I didn't want to disturb you. I had promised to help Aidan fetch his mom and sister, so I returned to Midgard." I spoke fast, hoping I could get as much of the story out as possible and maybe Odin would forget how angry he was at my disappearance. "Aidan and I have brought his mom and sister with us. They are looking for refuge here as we think Midgard is too dangerous for them right now."
I moved aside so Odin could see Aidan and his family clearly, and from the god’s silence and Frigga's gasp, I knew they noticed Enya and knew what she was.
"Einmyria," Frigga whispered the name but we all managed to hear her well enough.
"What's Einmyria?" I asked Odin, although my gaze remained on Frigga's shocked expression.
"Einmyria is the daughter of Loki. She is the goddess of Ashes and she is supposed to have died ages ago."
"Daughter of Loki?" I echoed.
"Yes, Loki had two daughters with his Jotunn wife, Glut, goddess of fire. The first child was Eisa the goddess of Embers and the second was Einmyria, who commanded the ashes." Odin paused and I scowled, still confused as to what Loki's daughter had to do with us. "Eisa came to the side of the Aesir, and of course, Loki went into a rage. In his anger, he accidentally killed Einmyria, who was always the weaker of the two sisters. Eisa and Glut both have had nothing to do with Loki since then." Odin rose and walked past me toward Aidan and his family. He paused in front of Enya, who seemed in a trance as the god leaned over her and said, "And now I see what he has done."
My heart thumped against my ribs as I began to suspect what Odin was about to confirm. I stared at Aidan, but he was looking at Odin, waiting as we all were, to hear the god’s next words.
Odin sighed, shook his head and said, "This is Einmyria, goddess of Embers."
"What?" Aidan and his mother said in unison.
"It seems that Loki has done the impossible. He has brought to life a goddess who has been dead for centuries." Odin still stared at Enya, who'd slid down a little in her chair. She wasn't strong enough to deal with all this activity.
Then Odin looked at me and I knew what he was thinking. It wasn’t all that impossible considering my father had performed that very miracle when he created me. The only difference was I wasn't a goddess.
Frigga walked over to the girl. "Had we known it was possible, we would have had our beloved Baldur returned to us."
"I think we may need the services of Eir once more, dear wife. The child seems ill." Odin turned to his Frigga, who nodded and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
She returned moments later with Eir, who gave me a warm smile as she passed. When she reached the wheelchair, she said, "Can you remove her from this contraption?"
Aidan nodded and drew Enya into his arms. He looked around as if unsure if he should just place his sister on the floor for the god’s inspection. Frigga waved her hand and a small cot appeared beside Aidan. He laid Enya down and stepped away.
Eir knelt beside Enya, holding both her hands above the girl’s body. Her hands hovered from head to toe and back up again. She sighed and rose to her feet. "She is ill, and very weak. Am I correct in assuming she is who I think she is?"
Eir also recognized Enya. Dr. Lee had certainly had a real prize hidden within his Florida estate.
Odin nodded. "We are fairly certain." Then he turned to Aidan's mother. "Mrs. Lee, can you tell us a little more about the birth of this child?"
Aidan's mom nodded. "As a baby, she grew and developed normally, but the older she got the more tired and weak she was. The doctor came to look at her and he was very concerned that she was so weak. I was always afraid of losing her."
"Did you have the baby at the hospital, Mrs. Lee?" I asked, hoping Odin would forgive me butting in. A glance at his face showed he seemed interested in her answer.
"No, no. Stephen would never have allowed that. I stayed home the entire pregnancy and the doctor came to me when I was ready to have the baby."
"Were you familiar with the doctor?" I asked.
"No, I'd never actually seen him before. I assumed he was a good friend of Stephen's."
I looked at Odin. "Loki, maybe?"
He nodded. "It is very likely it was Loki. He would have wanted to be right there when she was born."
I looked over at Aidan and felt a pull of empathy for him. His shoulders were hunched and his face was pale. I thought of going over to comfort him, but at that moment, his mother moved over to him and tucked her hand around his arm. He looked at her, and she gave him a soft smile. What a woman. It took a lot for anyone to accept all of this so well. The Bifrost, then Asgard, then Odin, and now Enya. And yet she was strong enough to give her son support. Her son, the einherjar.
It was up to Aidan to tell his mother what he really was. Not to mention how he died in the first place. But I guess if she handled all of this so well, no doubt she'd handle her son being killed as well.
While Odin and I had spoken to Mrs. Lee, Eir had been tending to Enya. She now sat up in the cot, drinking something out of a goblet. No doubt Mead, which would be the best thing to revive her.
"So Loki has kept her hidden with Dr. Lee and his family all this time." Odin spoke more to himself than anyone else. "That is probably one of the reasons she is so weak. Eisa and Einmyria, as twins, were inseparable. They truly exist as a pair. We know that Eisa has been considerably weaker since Loki killed her sister, but it seems that Einmyria is the one who has suffered most."
"Maybe it's because she went through the whole rebirth thing?" I suggested.
"That could be true. You yourself were not reborn the same as your original self, so perhaps it works the same way?" Odin said, tapping his lower lip.
"Maybe," I answered, pausing a bit. "But remember, my father spliced my DNA with his and my mother's. We don't have any idea what Loki did exactly."
"I suppose how he did it is mostly irrelevant now," answered Odin. "What matters most now is what Loki's intentions were. Why did he do it? What was his purpose?"
"Maybe he just regretted killing Einmyria in the first place and wanted to put it right. And since they suspected, correctly, that my father's experimentation had succeeded with me, they followed up on that and managed to repeat the process. And maybe the addition of human DNA to Einmyria’s own Jotunn DNA is what is making her so much weaker." I sucked in a deep breath after my long exposition and looked at Odin.
"It is possible you are correct, Valkyrie Brynhildr. Loki was half-crazed when he realized he’d killed his child. He never really got over it even though it happened centuries ago." The All-Father nodded and walked back to his throne. For a moment he was silent, and then he said, "Lady Eir, how is Einmyria now?"
"I'm feeling much better," Enya answered the god directly. "Can I just ask that you call me Enya? Everything you've just said seems so impossible to me, but even if it’s true, I've still been Enya since I was born. And I've been Enya to my mom and my brother too."
Odin guffawed, the sound loud and infectious. Then he looked at me and said, "Does she not remind you of a certain Valkyrie that told everyone she was not the legendary Brynhildr?" That set him off again, and when he finally got himself under control, he added, "Perhaps Midgard breeds their females with too much spunk."
His laughter soon died out though as he looked at Frigga's narrowed eyes and unsmiling face. He got pretty much the same expression from both Eir and myself. Seeing that none of us were too impressed by his source of amusement, he tried changing the subject. "Lady Eir, is there anything else we can do for the girl to make her feel better? I see the Mead has helped."
"Yes, my lord. The Mead has helped and can continue to be a regular source of strength for her. My only other suggestion would be that Eisa be found and brought to Asgard to spend some time with her sister. I am certain the more time they spend with each other the healthier both will become."
Odin nodded and turned to Frigga. "Do we know where she is?"
"The last we heard she went to visit with Glut," Frigga said.
"Very well, I shall get Thor to fetch her. He is the only one of my sons that Glut likes."
Frigga snorted. "Tell Thor to watch himself or he will find himself very quickly with a wife. Glut likes to get what she wants."
I choked on my laughter and notice the Eir's shoulders shaking too.
Odin grunted and disappeared from his throne. Then Frigga walked over to Mrs. Lee and said, "Let us get you and your daughter to more comfortable quarters."