Fate of the Gods 01 - Forged by Fate (11 page)

“You
dare
to chastise me?” Part of him recognized he was shouting more loudly than the thunder that still rolled overhead, but he could not quiet his voice. “You
dare
to allow that filthy
rakki
between your legs?”

Sif righted herself and stood, proud in all her naked glory. Her golden hair cascaded down her shoulders to her navel, covering her left breast. She closed her hands into fists and raised her chin in defiance.

“You couldn’t even be bothered to wait until I had arrived before satisfying your curiosity about these feeble creatures, and you object to the fact that I found my own interests in your absence?”

“I was ordered, you fool! By Odin’s command!” He grabbed her again by her arms and shook her. He was barely able to moderate his tone, but when he continued, it was with a volume which did not cause the walls to shudder. “To return home to this betrayal! This faithlessness!”

“As if you weren’t planting your seed among the mortals while you were away,” she sneered.

He found himself growling again, and his hands tightened involuntarily on her body until she hissed. Thor forced himself to relax, open his hands, release her. He took a deep breath and stepped back.

“Unlike you, Sif, I do not cast aside my vows so easily for the first pleasure which presents itself. Could you not have chosen someone less offensive, at least? He is not even Aesir!”

Her eyes flashed gold in her anger. “Loki’s reputation as a lover is hardly undeserved, as he proved to me repeatedly.”

His hands balled into fists and he clenched his teeth so hard that the bones creaked under the stress. “Get. Dressed.”

She glared at him. “And if I refuse to take orders from a man who abandoned me for more than three centuries?”

“I’m your husband!” The window rattled, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care if all of Asgard was listening to their argument. He would not suffer this. Would not accept it.

“Are you?”

The coldness in her voice was like a knife in his stomach, and he felt his knuckles crack as he stepped toward her, as if her words were a challenge and he must fight. It was all he could do to transport himself out of the house to keep from striking her in the rage that consumed him at the blow of her words, but he managed. Just. Lightning flashed brilliant white, crawling over his skin and dissolving the walls around him, the stone floor beneath his feet, and Sif. Out of his reach at last.

Valaskjalf materialized around him, with servants in the midst of the preparations for his homecoming.

Odin looked up, the gray eyebrow of his false eye rising. He had lost the eye long ago, but he did not often show the scar. Twice in his life, Thor had seen the gaping black hole where the eye should have been, both times deliberate reminders of Odin’s right to rule. But Thor had yet to master his father’s trick of utter calm, and his own eyes bled white, burning hot.

“Ah,” Odin said. “Yes. Perhaps I should have warned you to knock.”

He stood and crossed the room, causing the large raven on his shoulder to launch itself into the rafters of the building with a loud croak. Odin guided Thor to a seat and called for drink.

“I will kill them both with my bare hands.”

Odin shook his head. “You will not.”

A serving girl appeared at Thor’s elbow with a mug of mead. He wrenched the mug from her hand and brought it to his mouth so quickly the drink did not have time to slosh. He held the empty mug out to her, glaring, for more. She filled it again at once.

“And why not?” Thor did not immediately pour this second dose down his throat, but stared into the amber liquid. “It is my right. She is my wife. Loki has given me grave insult.”

Odin shooed the girl away and when Thor looked up, his father’s expression was unmoved. “You will not, for it is not my wish to have two of my number struck down before I am sure of our safety in this world. Loki will be forbidden to touch your wife again, and cast to the earth to walk among men for a century, unable to touch their women as well. Sif’s punishment I leave in your hands, but it will not be death. This is my command, Thor.”

He downed the second cup of mead and glowered at his father. “You ask much of me.”

“You will obey, nonetheless.”

Thor threw the mug across the room. It crashed into the far wall and clanged against the floor, sending the other servants bolting for the kitchen. “Then I must go.”

“You’ve only just arrived, Thor. The banquet is already being prepared.”

“I do not trust myself not to kill him. If you wish me to obey, I must leave. My fingers itch to encircle his throat even now and I will not sit with him at table and share food and drink!”

Odin sighed. “And Sif’s punishment?”

Sif. Faithless Sif. He found his hands in fists again. After all this time, she would turn from him? Deny their marriage? “Cut off her hair. And let no god touch her until I have returned.”

“As you wish.” Odin studied him for a long moment, his expression still reluctant. “Return as swiftly as you can. I am anxious to learn what you have discovered.”

Thor stood, relieved that he would not have to stay a moment longer. “Thank you, Odin-Father.”

Odin gripped his shoulder once more in farewell, and then released him. “Go. Find what peace you may.”

Thor closed his eyes, searching the earth for the bright light of her familiar presence, not knowing what it would bring him, but needing at least that much purpose, at least that much distraction. And then the lightning wrapped around him and he was gone.

Her back to him, she knelt along the bank of a stream, scrubbing cloth against stones to remove the filth. She hummed softly to herself. Thor watched her for a long moment, the way her hair caught the sunlight as it danced between the branches of the trees, the way her body moved with grace even while working at such a menial task. She sat back and he realized she was washing her own clothing, naked from the waist up but for what modesty her hair allowed. He inhaled deeply, catching the scent of juniper and sunshine, and the tension left his shoulders.

Thor had no idea where he was in the world, did not care in the slightest. He pulled the language of the area directly from Eve’s own mind, and he bent to the ground to darken his hair and his skin with dirt as well as he was able. Perhaps he should have begged Odin to alter his appearance before he left, but it was too late now, and he hadn’t really known what he was doing until he arrived here. He would make do. As long as he remained calm, his eyes would stay an un-alarming shade of blue.

He stepped out from the cover of the trees and called a soft greeting.

Eve spun, her humming abruptly cut off, and looked at him with wide eyes. She pulled the garment from the water and covered herself with it.

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, still keeping his voice gentle.

She searched his face, and Thor stayed where he was, trying not to scare her further. He wasn’t sure what he was doing. But it felt right. More so than anything else he could have done.

After a moment, she relaxed enough to smile. “If you would turn around, please, so I can dress.”

Thor nodded and turned his back to her, concentrating on his reflection in the water. The surface rippled, and he frowned as he saw his hair darken from the dirty red-gold, to a natural light brown. There was movement reflected in the trees and he searched for the source. A raven croaked. Odin, then. The rest of his body altered as his hair had, his skin darkening to a bronze tan over paler skin.

Why?
he asked, silently.

Find what peace you may, and return. Until then, do what you must. None will be able to find you until you reach once again for Asgard.

Odin was gone as quickly as he had come and Thor studied himself in the water. The changes were enough. No god of the North would recognize him at once. But there was something more to the change than just his appearance. The sky did not respond to his touch. There would be no flash of lightning to give him away if he lost his temper. No dark clouds forming in a clear blue sky to alert anyone of his location. He lacked the powers which marked him as a god.

“You can turn around, now,” she said.

He turned immediately, and there she was. Eve. Lovely, loyal Eve. “I’ve never seen someone as beautiful as you.”

She smiled again, her cheeks dimpling, and a flush creeping up her neck into her face. “You’re a stranger to us.”

“Yes.” He had to stop himself from reaching out to her. Touching her just to reassure himself that she was real, and he was present. “I’ve traveled from the north.”

“Will you stay very long?”

“If I am welcome, I believe I will.” It wasn’t until he said it that he realized it was true. He would stay with her, for her. He wanted so much to know her, as he could not have until this moment. He smiled. “I am skilled in the art of crafting. Have your people any need for boats?”

Her eyes lit and she took his hand. “Come. My father will want to speak with you. You are like a gift from the gods.”

How she managed to speak so casually of other gods, he wasn’t sure. The House of Lions had shown him she believed none of it, but it sounded natural from her lips.

She led him through the trees, and with a shock, he saw the same small fishing village laid out before him, the hill upon which he and Odin had stood just that morning in the distance. Women sat together in the sun, mending nets with quick fingers. Men laughed raucously, drinking mead and wine, before going out to work in the fields, while others left with spear and bow to hunt. No wonder Odin had changed him, hiding his godhead. In the heart of the Northlands, it was the only way to keep Sif from knowing where he had gone, and Loki from searching him out.

She glanced back at him when his steps slowed and smiled encouragement. “We will be grateful for any help you can offer us. Please. My father will make a place for you here.”

Thor returned her smile and matched his pace to hers. He would have time to consider the ramifications of his actions later. For now, he was with Eve and she seemed to be pleased to have him there. Her hand was warm within his and his heart eased. Perhaps, at least, they could know one another, and some good could come from all of this.

Chapter Ten: Present

Eve hugged her mother and father, kissing their cheeks. Her parents were the last of the line of well-wishers who had filtered through the house and out into the courtyard for the wedding rehearsal. A broad white canopy shaded the guests from the sun, and what looked suspiciously like storm clouds in the distance. The small chapel at the other end of the yard stood with its doors wide open, and Garrit’s father, René, was laughing with the priest. He was a friend of the family, she’d been told, not at all acquainted with the peculiar beliefs of the House of Lions. As a rule, the DeLeons were not religious, but the Catholic Church had held influence over France for a very long time and allying themselves with it had been the prudent choice. Eve couldn’t blame them, even now, and avoided speaking to the man altogether when it was possible. When it wasn’t, she limited herself to comments on the weather.

But guarding against offering some accidental heresy in conversation was almost a pleasant distraction from fearing for her sanity. Almost. Thankfully, she hadn’t seen anymore ghosts framed by lightning, and she wasn’t aware that Garrit had either.

“How was your trip, Mum?” Eve asked.

“Pleasantly uneventful,” her father replied, waving off the question. Her mother had already turned to Garrit, hugging and kissing him.

“Garrit, the wedding will be so lovely. We’re so thrilled to have you join our family. Abby has been so lucky to have found you,” her mother said. Anne Watson had little love for France, nor did she care much for the French themselves or anyone who claimed to be Catholic. Eve tried not to wonder if her mother would have loved her new son-in-law quite so much if he hadn’t been so wealthy.

Her father grinned and shook Garrit’s hand. “Glad to have you, son. Glad to have you.” His nose was already beginning to turn pink with the pre-dinner drinks.

“Mum, Dad, why don’t you go sit down? I want to just double check and be sure we have everyone.”