Dead Embers (35 page)

Of course, that could just be the Mead.

"You alright?" I gripped his arm.

He nodded, although even that slight movement looked shaky.
After clearing his throat, he said, "Yeah. I'm fine." And then he
proved it by standing on his own two feet and brushing my hand off.

Before I could think about being hurt by his rejection, the
chatter of a rather noisy group of people approaching the hall disturbed us.
They crossed the huge threshold, which could easily have accommodated eight
abreast, and I grinned at the sight of Fen and Joshua and the rest of the scout
team. Deep in conversation, they ambled down the aisle, their muted words echoing
softly in the gigantic hall.

Their discussion came to a grinding halt as soon as they
caught sight of us. Joshua and Aimee ran forward, and a flurry of hugs and
excited questions ensued. Aidan received a round of slaps on the back as the
Craven kids celebrated his return to the land of the living.

Behind me, someone cleared his throat. I turned to face Fen
and met his enigmatic gaze.

"Hello, Brynhildr." His expression remained cool,
almost aloof. "I see you have had a successful mission."

I felt a stab of guilt that Fen had had no part in my
mission; he was, after all, my superior, and I hadn't even told him my plans.
Would Thor or Odin have passed him a message? I hoped he wouldn't hold it
against me.

I pasted a bit of happiness on my face. "Yes. Aidan is
well, and the Nidhogg's daughter will be well soon enough."

In the lull of laughter and questions, Fen injected a
question that wreathed the room in tense silence. "Brynhildr, what
happened in Swartelfheim?" An odd frown formed on his face.

I bristled, my own guilt making Odin's expression accusatory
instead of enquiring. I gave the group a condensed version of the events,
skimming quickly over Mika's attack and her death at my hands, hoping they
wouldn't ask for more details. I should have hoped harder. At the mention of
her death, everyone in the team exchanged strange glances, their faces seeming
to burst with further questions.

"What did you say about Mika?"

I thought it would've been Fen who asked that question, Mika
being his child, but the speaker's voice boomed around the hall, and the
chattering group fell silent.

I bowed to Odin before I answered. "My lord, I was
forced to defend myself against my Ulfr partner when she attacked me and tried
to take the goblet from me. She was so desperate for me not to have it that she
destroyed it."

Odin mulled over my answer, his face a granite profile. He
said, "Fenrir, is Mika able to walk?"

I almost choked at the god's question. Mika able to walk?
Was he crazy? Mika was dead.

I'd killed her.

I was sure I'd killed her.

I glanced at Fen over my shoulder, disbelief pasted on my
face, but he just patted my arm and answered Odin. "Yes, my lord. She is
well enough to walk." Odin nodded and turned to a Huldra, who trotted off,
probably to fetch Mika. Inside my chest, my heart catapulted. Mika had been
very dead when I'd left her on the floor of Odin's hall.

"Is she really okay?" I asked Fen, terrified that
he would bite my head off, literally. I'd mortally wounded his daughter. Or so
I'd thought. Apparently I'd been mistaken in thinking myself a murderer.

"Yes, Brynhildr. It is a natural ability of the Ulfr.
We are fast, strong, and we heal faster than humans do. Faster than Valkyries
do, too."

"But she was dead." I shook my head, still unable
to process what he was saying.

"Not dead. Our bodies go into a stasis. We regenerate,
healing damage to organs, regaining our health. Mika will be weak. But she will
soon be healthy again." And though his voice held a touch of comfort for
me, the tone was all business, and one hundred percent fury.

I wasn't sure what to say. About to respond, I met Joshua's
suddenly angry eyes over Aimee's shoulder and stopped. Now what the hell was
that about? Sure, I'd sliced and diced the love of his life, but she'd meant to
kill me. Was I suddenly not allowed to defend my life, just because Joshua had
the hots for my traitorous friend? But as angry as I was, Joshua's anger hurt
more than anything else did. I never thought I'd ever see such resentment in my
best friend's eyes. My heart ached.

Mika's entrance into the hall distracted me from my
self-pitying thoughts. The Huldra servant led her to the dais, where she stood
before Odin, awaiting his word. Her skin gleamed a milky, colorless hue, while
her face appeared demure.

"Mika, daughter of Fenrir." Odin boomed the words
as if they were more an accusation than a statement of her lineage. "You
have been accused of sabotaging the mission of your partner, the Valkyrie
Brynhildr. You have also been accused of betraying your father. We have heard from
Brynhildr that you willingly and knowingly followed the word of the god Loki,
thus betraying your father, your general and your duty as an Ulfr of
Asgard."

Mika tilted her chin, the tiny movement all the confirmation
I needed to know she was as guilty as the night was dark. And that my actions
were unimpeachable. Even if they were murderous.

"Mika, daughter of Fenrir, what have you to say?"
Odin growled, the severity of his accusation revealed in the cold vibration of
his voice. That same severity and tension replayed in every face in the room.
Fenrir stood just behind me, so I couldn't see his expression, but a strange
vibration touched my skin and teased my eardrums, not dissimilar to the
rumbling vibration from the night that Fen had taken me to retrieve Aidan from
a dark and lonely Craven stream.

I shivered at the thought that perhaps Fen's anger now would
be directed at me instead. I wasn't keen to test the full fire of Fenrir's
fury.

Mika stood very still, eyes fixed on the floor, the picture
of humility. I wasn't convinced. The hall reverberated with the sounds of tense
breathing. Blood thrummed through my ears, and every sound seemed louder,
clearer. Fear jackhammered in my chest. But what did I have to be afraid of?
Mika had tried to sabotage my mission.

A little voice inside me reminded me it was her word against
mine.

"Speak, Mika. You stand accused of a terrible
crime." Odin rose and suddenly he towered over us, his frame increasing to
his gigantic godly proportions. He stepped forward and the whole building
trembled.

Mika flinched but held her ground. She flung her head back
and stared up at Odin; her jaw worked and I could imagine the flashing anger in
her eyes.

"I have committed no crime," she said. Her voice
rang almost as loud as Odin's did. I felt eyes on me, and a quick sideward
glance confirmed Joshua, Aimee and Aidan sending suspicious looks back at me.

I flushed, my heart twisting in my chest. A strange
combination of embarrassment and hurt. How could they believe I'd lied about
everything? How could they take her word over mine? My vision blurred and my
lip quivered. How stupid could I have been? I clenched my fists, wrenching my
thoughts away from the depth of my pain. But it didn't work. I still hurt all
over.

The ensuing silence just made my agony worse, coloring it
every shade of pain.

A soft hand slipped into the crook of my arm. It hurt to
turn my head, but I did. And stared straight into Sigrun's eyes. With a small,
encouraging smile and a firm squeeze of my arm, she helped my pain to recede a
little.

Sigrun must have walked right past Fen to come to me, making
her act of support all the more special. Despite her love for him, she still
chose to stand by me. I smiled at her, my eyes moist with my gratitude.

Odin took another step forward, and the vibration drew my
attention back to the dais. I ignored my friends from Craven until I felt a
warmth beside me at my right. I knew without looking that it was Aidan. He
didn't touch me, just stood beside me, and that was enough.

Odin's movement spurred Mika to speak again. "I have
done nothing wrong besides following my beliefs."

"So you admit to the attempt to thwart Brynhildr's
mission, endangering the lives of both Aidan and the daughter of the
Nidhogg?"

Mika didn't flinch. "Yes. I did as Loki asked. My god
guides me, and I do not question his requests of me." Her back remained
stiff and unrelenting.

"So you admit to your loyalty to the god Loki."
Black thunder roiled in the All-Father's voice.

"I follow the one true path." Mika laughed.
"I have done everything he has asked of me. But it was the Mead that was
the most important."

I gasped. So Mika had been the one who poisoned the Mead
we'd used on our search for Brisingamen. The same Mead that Aidan had drunk to
sustain his health, which had instead delayed his recovery. And she had managed
to insinuate herself into our team, fix herself to my side as friend and
partner. It had all been a lie. But I guess things made a different sort of
sense in her mind.

Odin laughed bitterly, the sound hollow and dead. "True
path? You think your worship of Loki is the true path?"

"He is true to destiny. He does not wish to thwart what
is meant to be."

"Is this what he has told you? That destiny and fate
are so firm that one cannot and should not attempt to change it?"

"Yes he has, and it is true." Mika shook her head,
throwing her arms out, palms up as if pleading with Odin. "If only you saw
the truth of it, you would agree with me."

Odin shook his head, the light glinting on his golden
helmet. "Mika, my child. It is so very sad to see that the bright and
beautiful child of Fenrir could have been influenced by Loki's evil."
Despite my anger toward Mika's betrayal, I felt and understood Odin's sadness
for her.

"My lord Loki is not evil. He is a truly beautiful
being. It is only your perception that makes him evil." She cast her eyes
about the hall, desperately seeking someone who would agree. At last she
glanced in Joshua's direction. He, in turn, just shook his head in disbelief,
his eyes filled with disappointment. Mika took the tiniest of steps forward,
and Joshua took an equally tiny step back.

A part of me was so incredibly relieved that he'd chosen to
reject her, but the rest of me just hurt for Joshua. His heart had been
splintered into a million pieces. And Joshua wasn't the only one hurt in this
horrible betrayal.

"Fenrir," Odin called his general, and Fen walked
toward the dais. There was a heaviness to his step as he passed, a droop to his
shoulders that gave him away, despite the implacable expression on his face. He
stood at the dais, surrounded by the pained silence of the gathered group.

My heart thumped as it flooded with sympathy for this
father, who stood betrayed by a daughter. That Mika had even thought of doing
such a thing to this man enraged me. Beside me Sigrun's fingers tightened on my
arm. I turned to see her eyes filled with tears and her throat convulsing as
she shared his pain, no doubt more than I ever would.

Odin addressed his general. "Fenrir. As general of this
Ulfr, and father to this daughter, you will be responsible for deciding the
most suitable punishment."

"My lord, my only suggestion would be to send her to
Hel."

The gathered group gasped, and I was stunned that he made
the decision so automatically, so swiftly.

"Are you certain, Fenrir?" Odin leaned forward.

"Yes, my lord. It is the punishment for desertion and
disloyalty to the regiment. As Mika's father, I believe that particular
punishment is most suitable, and I wouldn't beg lenience in this case. She has
done a great disservice to the Odin's army, to Asgard and to her Valkyrie
partner."

"Fenrir, such is your command, and so shall I
accept." Odin addressed the now white-faced Mika. "Mika, daughter of
Fenrir, your punishment for your crimes is banishment to Helheim. The goddess
Hel will decide the most fitting punishment for you when you arrive in her
presence. You will be removed to Helheim immediately."

The crowd shuffled, probably surprised like me that the
whole thing happened so quickly. Mika's confession may have moved things along.
I glanced at Fen. His profile was granite, lifeless and cold as he stared at
his child. My heart ached for him. I remembered what betrayal tasted like.
Remembering the day Mika had confessed her true affiliations to me, the day
she'd tried to kill me.

Fenrir moved toward Mika, releasing a short, golden chain
from his belt. I recalled a similar chain that he'd used to secure Loki when
the god had been caught after attacking Aidan. Now Fen wrapped the chain around
Mika's hands, binding them within the golden links. Fen gazed at her face, the
pain clear in his hollow eyes. Mika just stared back. Daughter watched father,
unmoving, unaffected at all by the hurt she'd caused, by the intense
disappointment and sadness that her father felt. Mika lifted her chin, showing
a tiny bit of defiance despite knowing she was headed for the frigid bowels of
Hel. Mika acted far too confident for my liking.

Odin stepped off the dais, gradually shrinking in size with
each step as he moved toward Mika and Fen. He touched Fen's shoulder, and just
like that, father and daughter disappeared in a swirling tornado of gusting
air.

When they were gone, Odin faced me. "Brynhildr. Were
you injured at all?" I shook my head, though it was a lie. My heart and my
trust had both been badly damaged by my so-called friend. "Very
well," the All-Father said. "It is time you and your team returned to
Midgard. Fenrir will meet you there." As I turned to leave he added,
"And Brynhildr? Well done. I am aware that it is no easy task to fight
someone you care for, someone you trust."

I managed a half-hearted smile.

Odin inclined his head, and I felt blessed that he
understood how I felt, how much I regretted hurting Mika. How I even regretted
her whole punishment and banishment. If only I could just erase the whole
thing.