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Fen crossed her arms. "You think I would be so stupid? I've known people like her and Nektos. I can taste their lies in the air. You're many things, Khan, but not a liar."
"You can taste lies?" Khan asked curiously. "What else can you do?"
Fen's golden eyes glittered with mischief. "Oh, lots of things, my prince. I have scary barbarian magic that you can only dream about."
Khan laughed unexpectedly. "Sounds terrifying. You can tell me more about it while we eat."
Khan didn't usually eat his meals with anyone else unless he had to. He had a bad habit of eating whatever the servants left him while he worked on something, not caring what he was sticking into his mouth. It was something that Sargon had always warned him against, even though the years of studying created the routine to begin with.
Khan sat down with Fen and poured her some freshly squeezed juice. She looked at the food so curiously that it made Khan wonder how it differed from what she was used to. She tried the juice, golden eyes widening in delight. She really did have wolf eyes, which sparked a question.
"Why did Kashmet call youwolf that destroys the world?"
Fen picked up a piece of dragon fruit, studying its bright pink flesh. "It's whatFenrysmeans. Fenrys is a gigantic wolf, a monstrous child of the shape-shifting god, Loki. It is prophesied that one day, Fenrys will bring about the destruction of the gods and the world."
"And your parents thought this was a good name for a child?" Khan asked with a concerned frown.
Fen shrugged. "My mother always claimed that my father was Loki in disguise, so she named me after his child. I was born with wolf eyes and a wolf soul, so to her, it made sense."
"You're the child of a god?"
Fen looked at him like he was an idiot. "I really doubt it. A lot of women like to say that it was a god that seduced them when their men run out on them."
"Still, it is a strange thing to name a child. The meaning of names can have power," Khan replied.
"I know, but it was a fierce name, and my people value that." Fen chewed the dragon fruit thoughtfully. "What does your name mean?"
"King," Khan said.
"Of course it does."
"My parents wanted to be sure that everyone knew what I would become one day," he said, looking back down at his plate. "They never wanted me to forget it either."
"You don't want to be a king?" Fen sounded surprised.
"I don't know if I would be a good one, for a start, and I resent not having the choice." Khan tore a piece of flatbread with his fingers and passed her some. "Now, Fenrys the wolf. You've told me how your world is meant to end. Why don't you tell me how it began?"
Thirteen
Fen ate some of the bread that Khan had given her, trying to think of where to start the story he had requested. She liked that Khan didn't seem to be concerned by the meaning of her name. She had always intimidated people, and yet, he wasn't in the slightest. He seemed patient, calmly eating and offering her things to try while he waited.
Fen knew that even in this strange world, Khan wasn't acting like the king he was meant to be. She had never seen a king or a jarl serve anyone food and pour them drinks before.
"In my world, death and life began at the same time." Fen twisted a round fruit between her fingers. "At the beginning of all things, there was only the darkness and chaos of the great abyss between the worlds, Ginnungagap. Ice and fire mingled in this void, and from them came the great giant Ymir. It needed no consort and could birth other giants in its sleep. As the frost of the void continued to melt, a great cow, Audhumla, also appeared, and she fed Ymir with her milk. From the ice, she licked Buri, the first of the gods."
Fen drank some sweet juice and waited to see if Khan would question her. He didn't; he just looked attentive, like he was absorbing everything she said. He didn't interrupt her, which made her like him a little bit more.
"Buri's son, Bor, married Bestla, and together they had three sons, Odin, Vili, and Ve. They decided that a new world needed to be created, so the three brothers slew the giant Ymir. They used his muscles and skin to create and fertilize the soils and land; his bones created the mountains, and his blood became the rivers and oceans. Finally, they capped the world with the sky made from his skull and brains."
Khan's dark eyes were wide. "So bloodthirsty. What did the brothers do next?"
"They set about creating mankind to fill their new world. They found two ash trees that had been washed up on the shore. They carved one into the form of a man and the other into a woman. Odin breathed into them, filling them with life andhugr,a soul. Vili gifted them intelligence, and Ve gave them speech, hearing, and sight. They were named Ask and Embla, and from them, the new world, Midgard, was populated. Odin is also known as the All-Father because from him, all life in Midgard flowed."
Fen brushed a lock of Khan's black hair back and touched the tattoo at his temple. "This rune mark is his,Algiz."
"Is he the god you worship the most because of your tattoo?" Khan asked.
Fen's throat went tight. "He was one of them, yes. All of my people pay homage to the All-Father.Algizmeans other things, too. It is a protection rune and can help you make a spiritual connection to the gods. Not that it protected me when I needed it to." She didn't mean to sound bitter, but it came out that way anyway.
