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“I do enjoy the outdoors,” Diego said.
Ùna beamed. “That could explain it.”
Perhaps it was, but I had to admit to myself, something about that conclusion didn’t sit with me as fully correct. I couldn’t say why, maybe it was Valkyrie instinct, maybe it was something else. Either way, it wasn’t like we’d get answers anytime soon.
Diego’s eyes swept over the gathered Berserkers. “There’s a larger male-to-female ratio here. Is that the norm for Berserkers, or just this group?”
“It’s rare for our souls to resonate with the Berserker spirit,” Hilda said. “The shift is taxing on the body, and few female bodies can handle the stress.”
“Odin also never intended for women to inherit the Berserker soul,” Aya supplied. “It was a surprise to us all he even made the first Berserkers capable of producing children, though it ended up being a blessing, given he forgot how to make more, and Berserkers were so prone to dying in battle.”
Diego’s brow furrow. “Why was that a surprise?”
“Because when he made his Valkyries, who were created before the Berserkers, he made them infertile,” Tyr said.
I blinked. I hadn’t even known that.
“He was a paranoid and possessive old bastard,” Aya nearly spat. “He frequently admitted he didn’t want his precious Valkyriestaintedby another man’s seed. Any Valkyrie who took an outside lover also found themselves deemeddisloyal.”
My stomach twisted. What a disgusting man. It made me wonder how much of Kirby’s extreme punishment had to do with his demented thoughts. Then another thought hit me. “Wait, Aya, then how is Magnus pregnant?”
Aya placed a hand on her hip. “Because she’s not one of Odin’s Valkyries. That’s confirmed to us that Kirby and the Valkyrie souls she is unlocking are different from his originals. It’s why I told you to be careful.”
Eyes turned to me. Bjarke tipped his head. “Uh, what?”
I smiled weakly and held up my hands. “Surprise, I’m a real Valkyrie now!”
A clamor of excitement built around me. Naturally, several thought I’d been a Valkyrie in my first life, and I had to explain to them I never was. Then came the requests to see the wings. Aya assured me she’d made subtle slits in my dress to accommodate as a “just in case” so there wouldn’t be any issues showing them off.
If they’d been excited with the news before, it was nothing compared to the moment my wings popped out. It was as if seeing a Valkyrie invigorated their Berserker spirits. I didn’t doubt it. Valkyries and Berserkers had a connection. I suspected it was a reason I had the bonds I did with my Berserkers.
Even if I hadn’t been an official Valkyrie in the past, I strongly surmised my Valkyrie-like tendencies back then that earned me my title were a hint at what my soul was meant to be.
Bjarke eventually calmed everyone down and had Aya spirit them off. I’d caused a slight delay in the schedule, not that anyone minded, but we needed to be sure everyone was in place for all the visitors who would begin entering the festival grounds within the hour.
Bjarke stayed, wanting a rundown of what happened leading up to their involvement in the event. I needed to put my makeup on and invited him inside so we could do both.
Ùna grabbed my hand. “I will do your makeup. We will use fae compounds so you stop poisoning your body with these commercial human brands. It will be good for your magic, too.”
She had insisted this before with me in the past. Something about the makeup the fae used did have a positive effect on me back then. I would have guessed it was because people didn’t understand the toxic properties of the materials they were using, unlike now. But if Ùna still felt that way, I wouldn’t argue.
“How do you know Astrid can use magic?” Diego asked while Ùna pulled out makeup from what looked like thin air.
“Like you, Nature Blessed, there is an aura around Astrid,” Ùna said. “It’s not the same as us fae or you, but common for the few humans who can touch magic and don’t have fae or demon ancestry.”
He leaned on the island counter. “What do you mean by ‘few humans’? No one has seemed surprised Astrid has magic in this life, but it sounds like it should be questioned.”
“We’re not actually sure how Astrid has magic,” Tyr said. “It’s possible the ritual used on her soul has caused her magic to transfer to her new body, or it’s something else.”
“I suspect it’s the ritual,” Ùna said. “That was powerful magic Freya used. And, unless Astrid has a magic ancestor in this life, it is unlikely she is naturally the first of her new blood line. It’s too rare.”
My brow knitted together.Could I have an ancestor who could use magic?It was possible. I didn’t know much about my family history. Dad had told me we had Scandinavian blood, which was evident by our family name, and he had some documents about a few prominent members of the family, but none of them screamed “secret witch” or something.
“Why is it rare?” Diego asked. “If one human can do it, why can’t more?”
Ùna shrugged and started applying a foundation to my face. “A long time ago, before my time, humans could touch magic in great abundance. But, something happened, and now only a rare handful are capable of harnessing that same power.”
My memories told me magic was rare. It was why so many were surprised that my family had been a long line of witches, and continued to be so from what Bjarke mentioned. And yet, this information Ùna gave was a surprise to me. “So, no one knows what happened?”
