Dead Embers(30)

"Father, has Mimir been able to perform a foretelling? Or, perhaps, Mother?"

Mimir and his visions had always made me curious. And yet I had no desire to meet or converse with a bodyless head, no matter how eager I was to know my future. I suppressed a shudder.

Odin shook his head, the light glinting of his golden helmet. "Mimir grows weak. Too weak. And your mother has had too few visions of late. It is a strange and worrying thing."

I frowned as I digested that piece of news. Mimir was renowned for his predictions and for their accuracy. He was the reason Odin had known about me, the reason he'd sent Sigrun to bring me to Asgard just seconds before Aidan's father's thugs would've shot me to death.

If Mimir could no longer make his predictions, then Odin was losing his upper hand. The power to see at least a little of the future had always given the All-Father the ability to make the wisest choices.

And what of Frigga? How was it possible that she'd lost her ability to sense things? And how would she help to divide the Warriors of Valhalla fairly between Odin's and Freya's armies?

I shivered. The cold winds of change blew around us, ominous and foreboding.

Thor met my eyes for the briefest of seconds before replying to Odin. "Father, I believe I should waste no more time."

He leaned toward Odin, and they conferred in a strange and inexplicable silence, broken only by a painful ringing in my ears, like a thousand miniature alarm clocks in concert. I winced, as it dawned on me that the gods had more mystery in their ways than I’d given them credit for.

Then Odin sat back and turned his single eye to me. "Valkyrie Brynhildr, Thor will speak with you alone. You may consider his words my own." Odin paused, his attention drawn to a commotion at the hall's entrance, and I glanced behind me at the small contingent of Warriors and Ulfr who entered the hall and headed for the dais. "I have other pressing matters to attend to." The All-Father spared me a concerned, sort-of-fatherly gaze, then waved a hand off to the side of the hall.

My gaze followed the direction of his hand. I stepped away, then hesitated, unsure of where to go; I saw no doorway, no room that ran off the hall.

"Follow Thor," Sigrun whispered in my ear. I threw her a grateful glance, dragging my eyes away from the visitors to focus on Thor's retreating back.

***

Thor led the way to a small alcove built into the far wall, hidden so well that it looked very much part of the carvings on one of the hall's many gigantic pillars. A set of doors opened out onto a torch-lit balcony, which looked out toward the valley and the training fields. A slight twinge of guilt twisted within my gut; it had certainly been a while since I'd last visited the fields. I'd gotten special treatment again, allowed to go to Midgard as part of the scout team without proper training.

Waist-high stone pillars spaced a foot apart protected the balcony, miniature versions of the gigantic pillars within the hall, so similar to the ones in Valhalla, which seemed to hold up the roof itself.

Thor reached the balustrade first and waited. As I drew close, I found my attention drawn to the god beside me. When the silence began to stretch beyond comfortable, I cleared my throat and looked away, hoping the encroaching shadows hid my reddened cheeks. Thor was just too easy on the eyes, and he knew it. "So, what do you have to tell me?" I asked.

"I have a very good idea what could help you save your Warrior, Aidan, and now the daughter of the Nidhogg, too." Now it was Thor who stared off into the distance, his eyes inscrutable, though I suspected he wasn't really looking at anything within the valley.

I waited, and before long he spoke again. "The legend of Swartelfheim tells of the Blood Goblet of the Dwarf Queen Huld."

"Dwarf queen? I thought the dwarfs were led by the men of their kind?" I recalled the tales of the tough and manly dwarf kings.

"For a long time, yes, that was the case. But a few hundred years ago, the dwarf queen had her fill of playing the quiet wife. She orchestrated the death of her husband and took over the kingdom."

"She killed her husband?" I didn't realize I'd voiced my disbelief until Thor responded.

"Yes, she had to. Dwarfs are notoriously stubborn, and if imprisoned or exiled, King Brokk would have tried to take back the throne over and over again. So she used the one method guaranteed to kill him: exposure to sunlight." Thor grinned as my jaw dropped, and I hurriedly closed my mouth. "Sunlight has the remarkable ability to turn a dwarf into stone. And now that the King is dead, there is nobody who would dare go against the queen."

"Does she not have sons . . . heirs to the throne?"

"Yes, in fact she has two sons. Neither will inherit her throne while she lives." A chill edged Thor's words as he glanced at me. "Her sons have new roles within the dwarf kingdom. They guard the entrance to Swartelfheim."

"So, all these years, why have her sons not at least tried?"

"The queen has them controlled. I am unsure what her strategy is. Guilt, perhaps. Or maybe they do not want to lose the only family they have. Or lose their only link to the throne."

I raised an eyebrow. "So you want me to go to this witch and ask her very nicely if she would lend me the goblet?"

Thor's next words chilled my blood. "No. I am asking you to go to Swartelfheim and kill Queen Huld."

My heart thudded so loud in my ears that I heard nothing else but the rhythmic pounding of utter shock. I must have heard him wrong. "You're kidding, right?" I asked, but the cool expression on his face said it all. He wasn't kidding. "Why do I have to kill her? Surely there is an easier way?"

"I understand your concern, Valkyrie, but there is no other way to retrieve the goblet. It is the life of your Aidan and the dragon-child for the life of Queen Huld." His eyes were inscrutable, his expression so emotionless that in that moment he lost all his sexy charm and became, instead, a being filled with deep and dark secrets. He was, after all, a god.

I remained silent, quelling any urge to refuse, any need to say no. One life in exchange for two was a no-brainer. Thor placed a hand on my shoulder, pulling me from my thoughts. "There is one more thing, Brynhildr. It is important for you to understand whom you are dealing with. Huld is impossibly strong. She is sustained by the power of the goblet, and by the power of her dead husband."

Great. Always a catch, isn’t there?

Thor continued, ignoring the scowl on my face. "Huld made one mistake. She had poisoned the king's grog, but dwarfs are notoriously hard to kill. He fought back, but in his weakened state he could not defend himself against the queen's sword. She drew blood several times, allowing it to mix with the black sand of the realm. After the battle, she melted the sand in the intense heat of the forge, making it malleable, and formed it into an exquisite crystal goblet."

"Why would she do such a thing?"

"We cannot claim to understand the mind of the queen. Perhaps it was a way to show her strength. What we do know is that the queen uses the goblet as a message to anyone who would dare to challenge her reign."

"How does she do that? What kind of power can a goblet have?" I narrowed my eyes at the beautiful god, hoping he'd get to the point sometime soon.

"Huld uses the goblet as a reminder to her subjects of her status and her power. All her subjects know what the goblet is made from. And the queen regularly performs a ceremonial drinking from the goblet." Thor paused, and I could have sworn the silence was only for dramatic effect. "Little does she realize that every time she sips a liquid from the goblet, she sips at her husband's power. And King Brokk . . . well, the King of Swartelfheim's power is not something one should mess with. When you meet her you will see what the dark power has done to Queen Huld. Some say she is deserving of her punishment."

The god removed his hand, and I almost did a double take. The tingly warmth of his palm had been on my shoulder all this time, and I hadn't noticed?

"You must retrieve the goblet, and you must kill the queen." He paused, rubbing his chin, and added, "If you are able to, I suggest you decapitate. Dwarfs are strong and fast-healing, and their tunnels are extensive. You may need to walk far to bring her body to the sun."

"I don't have a choice in the matter, then?" My words clanged the sound of my own death knell.

Thor glanced at my face, his blond hair glinting in the torchlight, while shadows deepened the hollows of his jaw and the sympathy in his eyes. "No, Bryn, unfortunately in this instance there is no choice. The goblet is kept in the queen's chamber. It will be nearly impossible to steal it and escape the realm without her learning who you are. Once she knows you have taken her treasure, if she does not die, she will track you down and kill you. Dwarfs, whether male or female, are innately vengeful creatures. And you do not want the wrath of the queen to be upon you."

I crossed my arms. "Fine, then. I'll do what I have to." I spoke the words almost angrily, not entirely sure I'd go through with it. When had I become an assassin for hire? When the time came, surely I’d find a way to avoid the whole head-chopping, killing situation. But I kept my thoughts to myself.

"Good." He fiddled with something at his waist, but then he thrust his empty arms out toward me. I was beginning to think that Thor was a little soft in the head. "There is something you will need." Thor held his arms higher, offering them to me. I frowned. Was the god Thor offering me a 'cuddle moment' after telling me to kill some evil queen? Or was he taking the Mickey out of me? I didn't dare to question his actions though.