I deserved. I shivered and looked down. I
wasn't sure I could trust myself to spar with a friend again.
When I glanced back up, Joshua was still watching me with a
sad yet contemplative expression. He held my gaze, as if trying to comb through
my mind for an explanation for the whole psycho-Bryn episode that morning.
Never was I happier for an interruption than when Fen rose, took his place at
the end of the long table and yelled for silence.
"Very well, team. We have gathered to get acquainted
and to familiarize ourselves with the plan for our visit to Midgard." Fen
launched into an in-depth explanation of our mission: something about North
Africa and the drop in new Warrior recruits and how the scout teams were spread
around the globe in small groups that struggled to find new einherjar .
Eager to get going, I leaned forward to interrupt and ask Fen when we would be
leaving, but he silenced me with a dark scowl. I still wasn't on proper
speaking terms with him, so I clamped my mouth shut and waited.
"We have a team of nine. Each Warrior and Valkyrie has
their respective Ulfr partners. I trust you will take every opportunity to get
to know each other better. Above everything, we need to maintain the utmost
trust in our partners. Our lives may depend on it."
After a few more minutes, Fen rounded up his presentation,
and everyone rose to their feet; the room filled with the rustling of clothing,
the clinking of swords and armor and the scraping of wood on wood as benches
were moved aside. Around me, Warriors and Ulfr paired off with each other.
Everyone except for me.
I frowned. Why the hell was nobody bothering to tell me who
my Ulfr was? The others, deep in conversation with their new partners, walked
two-by-two down the hall to another great table, where a gaggle of Huldra
served food and Mead, along with cheerful grins and smiling eyes. I followed
alone. It reminded me I'd always been alone and should be used to it.
That was the simple truth of it. People left. There are
always some, like my mother, who just up and leave because they want to. And
then there are those who die on you. My fisted fingers trembled beneath the
table, and I stretched and squeezed them, hoping to shake off the strange heat
building beneath my flesh.
At least I still had Joshua. I hoped. Even though he'd also
gone and died on me, thanks to the Fates' intervention he now sat across the
table from me, chatting with his Ulfr partner and wolfing down roasted beef and
fresh-baked bread, as if I'd only imagined the crunching of metal and the
deadly accident.
Nearby, Sigrun grinned and talked to a large, muscle-bound
Ulfr whose chiseled features could only be described as lupine.
A touch at my arm drew my attention to Mika, my Ulfr
sparring partner from a while back. Her smooth, pale skin and almond eyes never
failed to surprise me. She didn't look much like the other Ulfr. Mika seemed
too beautiful for the whole snarling, toothy, hairy wolf thing.
"Hello, Bryn." She sat beside me, sliding a mug
toward me. I wrinkled my nose, not keen on drinking more of the awful Asgard
ale, and she laughed. "What? Don't you like it?"
"Ick. How can you drink that stuff?" I rolled my
eyes and pushed the mug away.
Mika's giggle coaxed a weak smile from me. "Oh, no.
It's not the usual ale," she said. "This is a lovely apple cider that
we buy in the village." She pushed the mug toward me again, but as she
spoke, she flicked her gaze across the table toward Joshua.
Joshua paused in his conversation with his Ulfr partner and
returned her smile, and even in my sour mood I could see the chemistry flash
between them.
Joshua and Mika? No way.
I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Joshua and an Ulfr?
For want of something to do, I wrapped my fingers around the
carved mug, forced them to stop shaking and took a tiny, careful sip at first,
in case it was some kind of trick. But it wasn't. The cider filled my mouth,
teasing my taste buds with pure divine goodness. Not
wasn't sure I could trust myself to spar with a friend again.
When I glanced back up, Joshua was still watching me with a
sad yet contemplative expression. He held my gaze, as if trying to comb through
my mind for an explanation for the whole psycho-Bryn episode that morning.
Never was I happier for an interruption than when Fen rose, took his place at
the end of the long table and yelled for silence.
"Very well, team. We have gathered to get acquainted
and to familiarize ourselves with the plan for our visit to Midgard." Fen
launched into an in-depth explanation of our mission: something about North
Africa and the drop in new Warrior recruits and how the scout teams were spread
around the globe in small groups that struggled to find new einherjar .
Eager to get going, I leaned forward to interrupt and ask Fen when we would be
leaving, but he silenced me with a dark scowl. I still wasn't on proper
speaking terms with him, so I clamped my mouth shut and waited.
"We have a team of nine. Each Warrior and Valkyrie has
their respective Ulfr partners. I trust you will take every opportunity to get
to know each other better. Above everything, we need to maintain the utmost
trust in our partners. Our lives may depend on it."
After a few more minutes, Fen rounded up his presentation,
and everyone rose to their feet; the room filled with the rustling of clothing,
the clinking of swords and armor and the scraping of wood on wood as benches
were moved aside. Around me, Warriors and Ulfr paired off with each other.
Everyone except for me.
I frowned. Why the hell was nobody bothering to tell me who
my Ulfr was? The others, deep in conversation with their new partners, walked
two-by-two down the hall to another great table, where a gaggle of Huldra
served food and Mead, along with cheerful grins and smiling eyes. I followed
alone. It reminded me I'd always been alone and should be used to it.
That was the simple truth of it. People left. There are
always some, like my mother, who just up and leave because they want to. And
then there are those who die on you. My fisted fingers trembled beneath the
table, and I stretched and squeezed them, hoping to shake off the strange heat
building beneath my flesh.
At least I still had Joshua. I hoped. Even though he'd also
gone and died on me, thanks to the Fates' intervention he now sat across the
table from me, chatting with his Ulfr partner and wolfing down roasted beef and
fresh-baked bread, as if I'd only imagined the crunching of metal and the
deadly accident.
Nearby, Sigrun grinned and talked to a large, muscle-bound
Ulfr whose chiseled features could only be described as lupine.
A touch at my arm drew my attention to Mika, my Ulfr
sparring partner from a while back. Her smooth, pale skin and almond eyes never
failed to surprise me. She didn't look much like the other Ulfr. Mika seemed
too beautiful for the whole snarling, toothy, hairy wolf thing.
"Hello, Bryn." She sat beside me, sliding a mug
toward me. I wrinkled my nose, not keen on drinking more of the awful Asgard
ale, and she laughed. "What? Don't you like it?"
"Ick. How can you drink that stuff?" I rolled my
eyes and pushed the mug away.
Mika's giggle coaxed a weak smile from me. "Oh, no.
It's not the usual ale," she said. "This is a lovely apple cider that
we buy in the village." She pushed the mug toward me again, but as she
spoke, she flicked her gaze across the table toward Joshua.
Joshua paused in his conversation with his Ulfr partner and
returned her smile, and even in my sour mood I could see the chemistry flash
between them.
Joshua and Mika? No way.
I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Joshua and an Ulfr?
For want of something to do, I wrapped my fingers around the
carved mug, forced them to stop shaking and took a tiny, careful sip at first,
in case it was some kind of trick. But it wasn't. The cider filled my mouth,
teasing my taste buds with pure divine goodness. Not
Similar Books
