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She lost her way that night.
She wasn’t a Valkyrie first and foremost. She was awoman.
Who ached and yearned andcaredfor a man.
She must have dozed off sometime in the early morning, for he was gone from their barn when she finally awoke.
He was gone when she joined others in the longhouse to break her fast. Gone, when she patrolled the area on a morning ride.
It was mid-afternoon when she finally came upon him. He and Sorin were partnering together to train the men of the village in combat. A few of the women as well. Ere was off with the smithy to redirect work towards making new weapons.
They had decided to stay and fight, apparently.
When Eir confronted Ere about it, he’d shrugged and said:
“Kai isn’t leaving. There’s no way to make him do anything he doesn’t want to do. So, Sorin and I are staying too. Whether you come or go is up to you, Valkyrie.”
Eir stayed.
She told herself she had no choice. This had all the makings of the great battle in which she would finally mark and take him to Valhalla, fulfill her mission and be done with it. Done withhim.
Because he was not of her world, he had to consent to this Fate. He had to choose to go with her. Without any boastfulness on her part, Eir knew she could convince him.
He…wantedher.
She had no doubt she could make him want her enough to join her cause. Even though he wouldn’t necessarily have her as part of the bargain, he’d do it just to please her.
Eir had seduced many a warrior for this purpose. As had all of the Valkyries. Most of the time it wasn’t even necessary to coax and tempt. But when they had to be morepersuasive, they never failed.
She’d seduced Kai as well. She’d made his body more than want her. Heneededher. It was basic animal urges and attraction. Like a beast imprinting on its mate.
What she didn’t count on was that she’d been seduced herself in the process. Which had never happened before.
And now she was staying with this motley crew in an ice village at the edge of worlds, preparing to fight a bad-tempered Frost Giant. Not just because of Odin’s task, but because shewantedto.
This was already the sixth day of their stay.
Each day went the same…
Sorin and Kai trained the villagers to defend their home, while Ere rallied those who couldn’t fight to prepare for the invasion. Setting up traps where they could. Fortifying the best hideouts for the old, small and weak.
Eir stayed mostly on the sidelines observing. She could take her steed to fly elsewhere and come back for the final showdown, but she didn’t. Once in a while, she’d give her input to the smithy and even help in the forge.
She specialized in spears of all kinds and was quite handy at making them. She’d apprenticed for a time with the dwarven blacksmiths, Eitri, Brok, and Buri. The very ones who made Thor’s hammer. She’d honed her own spear, Dragonsbane, with aid from the dwarves. It was her most prized possession apart from her steed, Nightmare.
Each night, Kai retired to their barn after she did, well-worn from the day’s exertions.
He always took his supper with the villagers in the longhouse. Though he never participated in their rowdy discussions and storytelling, he sat within their circle, no longer on the sidelines.
Eir continued to stay apart from everyone else. She never wore the dress again, back in her own battle gear. But she didn’t don her armor over the close-fitted tunic and trousers at night. Once in a while, she even let down her hair.
She sat in the shadows and watched. More often than not, her eyes strayed to one man in particular.
He didn’t look back.
Since that drunken night, he always avoided her eyes.
It was as if he was trying to convince himself she didn’t exist. That if he didn’t see her, he wouldn’t have to acknowledge her.
