Ever After (13 page)

Athena glared. “Yes,
that
. I lost three centaurs and two minotaurs.”

“I lost two fauns,” Mercury muttered.

Horus said nothing about his mummies and wadjets.

Around them, the others gods looked on with disapproval.

“Freya, I thought we were treasured guests. This goes against good hospitality.
And
against the rules.” Sedna shook her head, her eyes sad as they rested on Avarr and Hall.

“Rules? You want to talk about rules?” Eira snapped.

“Eira, not now,” Hall tried.

“Fuck yes, now.” Their Little Snow stepped in front of them, her arms crossed over her tunic. She looked powerful, enraged, and so damn beautiful his heart ached. He’d do anything for her, including taking the punishment sure to head their way.

Eira continued. “I was taking a nice bath in one of the lakes in the forest when a bunch of dickless centaurs and fauns showed up with a challenge. I met that, even when two minotaurs showed along with mummies and wadjets. And that annoying fuck-all priest.”

“Watch your tone,” Horus advised, his voice soft.

Hall and Avarr stepped close to Eira, prepared to protect. Avarr’s battle-cat hissed inside him, and he heard Hall’s do the same. The energy that bound them together earlier extended to Eira. And it remained. 

“I will
not
watch my tone. You bring your kind to our halls and attack us?”

“They meant no more than play,” Athena countered.

“They got what they deserved.”

“Death? Please.” Mercury buffed his nails on his tunic. “So a few of my randy fellows wanted to have some fun. Is fucking a valkyrie really off limits, Freya? I thought they were hard up for anything with a sword.”

“Fuck you.” Eira spat at him.

“Oh, little maiden, you couldn’t handle me if you tried,” Mercury said with a smile that boded ill. Though normally even-tempered, Mercury could fly into a rage that completely wiped out villages in seconds. A man of mercurial moods for certain—hence the name.

Avarr had a bad feeling the fight earlier had been staged for some purpose other than just fucking with Freya’s valkyrie. This went deeper. Striking at the goddess’s soft spot. All knew of her love for her female warriors especially.

Hall grabbed his arm when he would have advanced on the god, then he nodded at Eira “Stay close,” he advised in a low voice. “I’m needed elsewhere.”

Realizing Hall meant to provide their unguarded goddess with support, Avarr agreed. He stepped back and took Eira with him.

“What—?”

“Shh. Something is amiss.”

She quieted and watched their goddess grapple with some inner decision. Hall reached Freya’s throne and stepped to the side of it, just in time to catch an arrow aimed for Freya’s head. He batted it away and stood resolute.

“Well well. Arrows from thin air. Minions playing with Freya’s maidens without permission. Something’s afoot,” Sedna murmured.

“Innocent fun.” Lugh snorted. “We maul and maim for fun at my palace all the time. Wounds heal, and our warriors gain much from the sport.” The Celtic war god would think that. “Then again, we do not kill our own. Enemies, however…” He shot Avarr and Hall a glance of what looked like appreciation.

“Hey. It wasn’t out and out murder.” Eira and her big mouth. “I was up against close to ten opponents. Not that I couldn’t have held my own, but Avarr and Hall came to my defense. As Freya’s guards, they’re bound to help those in her charge. And they thought I needed help. I loved the fight,” she said bluntly. “But forced sex by a bunch of horny fauns and centaurs isn’t my idea of a good time.”

“All could be forgiven, I suppose.” Athena sighed. “I do love my centaurs, but I’m not pleased with brutes who would force themselves on a maiden.”

Avarr refrained from educating Athena on Eira’s less-than-maidenly status.

Hall coughed to hide the smirk no doubt on his face.

“Thanks, I think.” Eira frowned.

Still, Freya said nothing.

“The loss of my scarab is nothing to play about.” Horus glared, and a mini tornado appeared next to him. It hovered with destructive rage, waiting to suck Avarr and Eira gods knew where.

“A good point,” Freya said quietly, waved a hand, and the tornado disappeared. “However, I’d like to know why it was in my woods to begin with.”

Horus shrugged. “My priest called him. I can speak with Anubis and have him get us answers if you desire.” Anubis, god of the Egyptian underworld, could connect with the dead.

Freya pointed to Eira. “Come here, girl.”

“Girl?” Eira muttered.

Avarr nudged her. “Go. And wipe that frown off your face,” he whispered.

She walked forward and stopped before Freya, standing tall and proud before she knelt with reverence. “My lady.”

“Stand.” After Eira stood, Freya said, “You engaged with others in battle. Correct?”

“Yes, but—”

“You killed when you knew the penalties for killing. Did you not?”

Eira didn’t look back at him, but he imagined she glanced at Hall before answering. “Yes, I did.”

He tried to refute her but found himself unable to move or speak. Hall, too, seemed frozen. Avarr needed to defend Eira. He and Hall had killed the others. Not her.

“A blessed scarab, one of the Egyptians’ most valued treasures, is no more. A result of your actions, is that not true?”

Eira looked ramrod-stiff as she answered, “Yes, Freya. It’s all true.”

“Then you must be punished.”

The other gods seemed to settle, Horus in particular, at seeing Freya taking accountability for her valkyrie’s actions.

“Would you seek her life?” Freya asked Horus.

The god studied her, his bird eyes unblinking. “I would not. Any maiden that can defeat a scarab, even using your battle-cats to do so, deserves respect.”

Lugh nodded. “Hear, hear.”

“But an example must be made,” Horus continued. “We do not engage on another’s lands. I will find out why mine fought with yours, Freya. However, as none of my people killed yours, the fault is a minor one, and completely within the rules of legitimacy.”

“True.” Athena nodded. “I am of the same mind. We will talk to our people about settling down. However, reparations must be made.”

“If I am not to kill the one responsible, then how about the next best thing?” Freya asked.

Avarr’s heart raced, his fear for his mate overpowering.

Freya smiled, and her eyes flashed with power. Blue bolts of lightning crackled around the room. “Banishment should suffice.”

“No,” Eira whispered. “This is my home.”

“No longer. You disappoint me, girl. Killing without permission is not to be tolerated.” She snapped her fingers, and Eira vanished.

Avarr struggled against his muted, frozen status. To no avail.

Then Freya turned her gaze on him. “You two. I know you thought you were helping, but you’ve hindered far more than you know.” She snapped again, and he and Hall suddenly transformed into their battle-cats, fear for their mate overwhelming all else. In a rage, he sought to end the ones responsible. 

Athena, Mercury, and Horus.

Before he could attack, he fell hard into…a dark chamber? He saw Hall, in human form, hanging unconscious. Shackled and braced against a dark wall, Hall didn’t move. The heat was stifling, especially in his dark fur, but Avarr felt only panic. Yet it was an odd sense. Instinctively he worried for his mates, but he felt in his heart they were safe.

He roared and tried to reach Hall. He couldn’t shift to human, and despite running, he grew no closer to his mate. And where the fuck was Eira?

A figure blurred into existence to the left of him, and he hissed as Hel’s form took shape. The queen of the underworld had the magnificent upper torso of a beautiful woman with long dark hair and blue eyes. Yet her lower half, wreathed in swathes, remained skeletal.

“Why, hello there, Avarr. Come to visit Fenris?” Hel winked. As if he’d spend any time with that demon dog. The thing thought it could end the world by chewing through the gods. What a monster. “Kidding. So why are you here?”

He growled and pawed in Hall’s direction.

“Oh, right. Sorry. Just a sec. I think Freya’s on her way.”

Avarr sweated until he thought he’d pass out, and finally, Freya appeared next to Hel. He’d always figured the underworld of Niflheim to be full of cold, where the dead passed to their new lives. So he must have skipped on to Muspell because the heat was enough to rival the sun. He heard the clang of metal. Definitely Muspell then, where the fire giants toiled, readying to war against the gods when the time was right.

He’d planned on being by Freya’s side when that happened, defending his goddess to the end of time. He didn’t think he’d get the chance. He still loved her, still wanted to protect her, but he couldn’t understand why she hadn’t asked for their side of story. Condemned without a trial. That would make sense were it any other deity but Freya.

“Oh, good. We’re all here.”

Constricting energy sloughed off him, and he gratefully shifted back to human. “All but Eira.”

Freya murmured a few words, and then Hall appeared dressed and awake and aware right next to Avarr.

Avarr took him in his arms and hugged him. “You’re fine then?”

Hall hugged him back then pushed free, looking angrier than Avarr had ever seen him. “Where is Eira?” he asked Freya, ignoring Avarr.

“I believe your mate asked you a question.” Freya watched Avarr with a smile.

“I asked where Eira is.
I want to know.
” Hall had never, ever, raised his voice to Freya before.

She frowned—she didn’t seem to like it.

“You know, I’ve changed my mind. Hel, use them as you see fit. Work them hard, but not too hard. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Sure thing. Thanks. We have a few walls needing building.” Hel turned to them. “Now are you sure you don’t want to see Fenris first?”

Eira shivered in the cold mountaintop on which she sat. Granted, she’d been through ice and snow before, but in this place, wherever Freya had sent her, she
felt
the cold. Poor Hall and Avarr. They’d been too stiff, too quiet not to have come to her defense. Freya must have frozen them during that mockery of a trial. Hall hadn’t blinked or moved at all, nor had Avarr made a peep.

Though she hadn’t killed as many as she’d been accused of killing, no way would she let her new lovers take the hit. Not after seeing their bravery, their skill, their power. Even now, she felt them with her. It made no sense, but knowing they were alive and well gave her a sense of peace.

Freya suddenly appeared right next to her and startled her into almost toppling off the mountain.

The goddess grabbed her by the edge of her tunic and hauled her back onto her feet.

“Freya…”

“Eira. How fitting. Little Snow sits on top of a little snow.” Freya laughed, and a warm wind washed over them both.

“Where are we?”

“Midgard. In the Cascade Mountains, as a matter of fact. Lovely, isn’t it?”

Eira nodded. After a moment, she asked what she’d been afraid to know. “Avarr and Hall? They are well?”

“Fit to be tied, those two.” Freya narrowed her eyes. “Just what do you think you’re doing cavorting with my personal guard? Don’t think I didn’t know you’ve been mooning over those two for years.”

“Not mooning, exactly.” Her face felt hot.

“Oh? So you don’t care about them?’

“Not at all.” Realizing how that sounded, Eira quickly amended, “I mean, that’s not right. I care about them deeply.”

“Enough to take their punishment? Yes, I know who did all the killing. And I know you were doing your best
not
to kill until Hall and Avarr stumbled into battle rage.”

Eira didn’t want to lie to her goddess, but she couldn’t let anything happen to her lovers. “No. It was all my idea.”

“Oh? You wanted the centaurs and fauns to fuck you?”

“Crude, but no. I hate fauns.”

Freya screwed up her nose. “Me, too. And horses that talk? Centaurs are too full of themselves. But I do like scarabs. Pity my pets had to mess with that one. I bet that was something to see. Aren’t they beautiful in action?” Freya sighed.

“Yes. They are.”

“You love them, don’t you?”

“I do. Wait. What?”

“No takebacks.” Freya laughed. “If you could see your face. For years I’ve watched the lot of you dance around one another. First Avarr and Hall, then you. Yet you, my proud warrior, would rather sacrifice your happiness than take away my finest guardians. Is that right?”

Eira thought about it. Freya needed Avarr and Hall by her side. They loved Asgard. They deserved to be there, with the best. Freya had other valkyries. None so strong as Eira, but she would make do. “That’s right. Send me away, but don’t punish Avarr or Hall for serving you, goddess. Please.” She lowered her head, though it bothered her to do so.

“Would you really beg me to save them?”

Valkyrie didn’t beg. They didn’t surrender. But for her battle-cats, Eira made an exception. “Yes. Please, Freya. Save them.” Eira got down on her knees.

“That is just beautiful.” Freya clapped, and mounds of snow fell from the mountains, starting an avalanche below them. “You know the pair mated you.”

Eira snapped her head up. “What?”

“Didn’t you wonder why your scars have yet to heal? When a battle-cat takes a mate, the scars signal a claiming. Didn’t you feel the power exchange?”

“I thought that was just great sex.” Mated? Her heart raced in gladness and exasperation.

“It was, I imagine.” Freya grinned. “My pets have been in heat for you for way too long. It was high time you fell in lust and in love, my dear.”

Eira couldn’t believe it, but she felt tears in her eyes. “Tell them I’ll miss them.”

“Yes. You have been banished, haven’t you?” Freya nodded. “Mars, that ass. He arranged for the whole fiasco by the lake. You didn’t think the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians would willingly fight for a valkyrie, did you? No offense, dear, but half of the centaurs are gay.”

“Oh.” What did that mean?

“What it means is that I’m not nearly as obtuse as Mars thinks. We can’t interfere in the games. Our mortal pawns control the win, with little help from us. But there are many ways around those rules. You had mortal parents, thus you’re part mortal. A pawn I’m more than willing to use. Granted, those beasts of yours sitting in Muspell are far from mortal, but a mate bond is a mate bond. Nothing I can do to prevent them from following you to your banishment.”