Gods (13 page)

I frowned. “Hayden didn’t seem affected when she healed her mother.”

“That’s because she used a spell. The same spell your grandmother used on the Witches bodies.”

I didn’t want to hear it. I needed something to ease Celestia’s worries. “How does the life force healing work?”

“I don’t know.” Echo pushed his tray aside. “That’s the kind of knowledge only healers would have and they passed it on to the next healer. Someone once said the healer in our village poured his life force into the sick and caused their bodies to heal. If the person is dead, the soul becomes attracted to the body once it has enough life force, and rejoins it. Of course, the soul has to be close by or any soul would jump into the body.” Echo picked up his drink and sipped. “Our healer would become drained once he offered part of his life force. The longer it took to heal someone, the more drained he became. A few times, he slipped into a deep sleep. Depending on how much he used, he could stay like that for hours. When he healed that dying boy in our village, he slept for a week. But like I said that ability is very rare and often abused.”

Hayden hadn’t fallen asleep after healing Tammy, which meant she’d used the spell. Damn.

“How does the healing take place? Is it in the physical plane or astral plane?”

“Physical. In most healing cases, the healer touched the sick person. My people believed the life force left the body through the feet, which is why we burned our dead without shoes, so the life force could escape. But there are centers of energy along the body through which the life force can enter the body—the crown, the forehead, the throat and along the center of the body. They must touch and connect with these centers.”

Hayden had definitely used a spell. Since I had no idea how long Mother and Celestia were going to take, I went to my room, changed, and hit the gym.

CELESTIA

I walked around the rooms, imagining how they’d look once decorated. There were four possible bedrooms—the master bedroom with a large bathroom and three with smaller bathrooms. Unlike the goddess and Baldur’s quarters, this one didn’t have many pillars, except the two separating the living room from the dining area.

I glanced at the goddess. She hadn’t spoken since we arrived, but on our way, she’d grilled me about how I was feeling, my father, and school—when I was going back and when I’d be done, and of course my future plans. By the time I finished explaining college, she’d led me past the rotunda near their quarters and entered a hallway I’d never used before.

“Whose is this?” I asked.

“Eirik’s quarters. He’s too old to have only his bedroom, and uh, Anne Marie needs to move out of the nursery. We changed the décor, but it’s part of our quarters and offers no privacy. She can have Eirik’s room.”

Okay. That made sense. “So why am I here?”

She chuckled, the sound surprising. “I like your directness. I need your opinion. You know how Earth homes are decorated. I want you to help decorate these quarters for him.”

I gawked at her. “Me?”

“Yes, you. You know him better than anyone.” She led the way back to the dining room and waved her hand. “I need murals on the ceiling and walls in here, and in the bedrooms, but I don’t know what he likes.”

“Mirrors,” I mumbled and cringed. Once again, she surprised me by chuckling.

“Yes, he does love to admire himself when he’s shifted. But I’ve told him no shifting indoors even though we adjusted the ceiling in case he does. He’s very unpredictable. And no mirrors, it’s too tacky.”

“I was just kidding.”

“Good. Do you think you can help?”

She was asking, and we were finally having a conversation without me sweating or mentally sticking my tongue out at her. “Yes. He loves to swim, so I know a mural of the beach would be perfect here.” I pointed at a wall, and she nodded. “He takes pictures of nature. I haven’t seen them yet, but he brags about them. Your muralist could use some of them.”

“Wonderful. I’ll leave everything in your capable hands. You still sketch?”

“Whenever I can,” I said even though I hadn’t picked up a pad except for last night after the two visions. Too much had been happening.

“Then sketch each room with color schemes, furnishings, and décor from carpet to ceiling. There’s the dining room, sitting room, and the master bedroom. The other three rooms are guest rooms for his close friends when they visit. Your father would not have been happy had he known you and Eirik shared a bedroom.”

“I was in a trance,” I said a little defensively.

“You were not during your first stay here.”

So I liked to sleep with the guy. He made me feel safe. “I was officially a soul then.”

The goddess chuckled. “You didn’t fool me. When you have everything ready, I’ll introduce you to my muralist and decorator, so you can share your vision. Stand up to Vali. That’s my decorator. He tends to be bossy. Of course, you cannot tell Eirik what we are doing. It’s supposed to be a surprise.” She glanced at me. “You can keep a secret from him?”

I winced, remembering the one I was already keeping. “I’ll try.”

“Not that I encourage you to lie to my son or keep secrets from him. Secrets hurt and fester if left for too long, and no relationship can last when one thinks he or she knows what’s best for the other. From your face, I know you’ll never fall into that trap. This should only last a couple of weeks. Dwarves are very skilled artisans. Once you have your sketches, it will take them a matter of days to have everything ready. So what do you say?”

I shrugged, but I was excited. “I think I’m going to have fun.”

“That means you have to be here every weekend. Or during the week to consult with Vali.”

“Okay. What do I tell Eirik?”

“That you are visiting me for a cup of my famous apple juice. Not the one Maera serves everyone. Mine has a secret ingredient.”

Right. I’d never seen her in the kitchen pressing apples. “And what is that?”

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret anymore, would it? Come along,
dýrr mín
. I’ve worked up quite a thirst from all this talking.” She swept out of the room. “Let’s sit down and have something to drink while we talk.”

I followed her and tried not to grin. She just called me “my dear.” Maybe Eirik had been right about her sitting with me when I was sick. I couldn’t believe I’d called her cruel and evil. She was turning out to be nicer than my own flesh and blood. The new Marguerite didn’t count.

Inside her quarters, she led the way to her den and waved me to a chair. Someone had already brought pastries, a bowl of sliced, golden apples, and juice and left them by the chairs. There were three glasses, but she only poured the juice in two. I felt weird sitting there while she played hostess. She was a goddess while I was nobody from Earth. She put my tumbler within reach and sat back. Her scepter stayed upright by her right hand and I couldn’t help but wonder if she was controlling it.

“Eat,” she ordered, then sipped her juice and leaned back, her eyes closing.

I took a pastry that looked like croissant but was filled with cream and took a bite. It was sweet yet tart. I finished and realized that the goddess hadn’t moved. I glanced at her and found her watching me.

“Don’t mind me. I have questions, but they’ll wait until you’re done. Have some fresh apples, too. You’ve lost weight and have shadows under your eyes. Are you worried about something?”

My throat closed at the genuine concern in her voice. “School. I was gone for three weeks and have some catching up to do.”

“Eirik tells me you are quite smart. I’m sure you’ll have no problem catching up. Eat more of Maera’s offering or I won’t hear the last of it. The brew she fed you while you were in a coma might have kept you alive, but it was barely enough sustenance for a young lady.”

“I must remember to thank her, or buy her something nice tomorrow.”

I didn’t realize I’d voiced my thought until the goddess said, “That’s a good idea. She loves colorful scarves and jewelry. The Grimnirs are fond of bringing back trinkets for the staff, so I’ve noticed her collection of scarves. Now take Modgie. She loves shiny things. Gold and silver.”

She took one of the pastries, but instead of eating it, she kept up the monologue, confirming that nothing around the hall ever escaped her. The apples were amazing. I ate more until I couldn’t eat another bite.

“The apples are really good,” I said apologetically when I realized I’d eaten almost all the slices.

“I told you I had a secret ingredient in my juice. I add a few of those. I’ll send you home with some, but do not give any to your father.”

I stared at her with round eyes. “Are they from Idun’s tree?”

She smiled. “Of course. My father gave me a couple of her trees and Maera takes very good care of them in her green house. Dwarves’ magic can sometimes be more potent than the gods’. I never want to see you hurt again, so I don’t want to hear an argument from you. An apple a day will quicken your transition. When the Dwarf forging your artavo gets done, you can add whatever runes you want. I don’t think it’s necessary, but young people love abilities like my reapers. The final decision depends on you.” She picked up the scepter. “Of course, you might decide you want one of these. It took two brothers several years to create this for me because Dwarves take such pride in the final product. And as you are very special to us, Lavion is taking extra care with your artavo. When he delivers them, you can decide whether you want a staff too. They are pretty convenient.” She let go of her scepter and patted my hand. “Now,
dýrr mín
, I want you to be honest about what happened between you and Einmyria. Eirik insists he doesn’t know, but that’s my son, stubborn like his father. Trudy tends to speak her mind, except for this time. I’ve ordered her to tell me the truth and even threatened to lock her in the dungeons, but she won’t budge.”

I wasn’t sure whether the goddess was serious about the dungeon or not, until I saw the twitch on her lips. Eirik was right. She had a weird sense of humor. And she’d said I was special to them, not just to Eirik.
Yay, me.

“Try threatening her with living in Jötunheim,” I said and the goddess chuckled.

“I hadn’t thought of that, but that should do the trick.” A weird expression crossed her face. Because of the black runes covering half her face, I couldn’t tell whether it was pain or nostalgia. From what Skavnir’s mother had said, her childhood had been rough and other children had teased her mercilessly about her half hag body.

“Your honesty is one of the things I like about you, so please, tell me what happened.”

“How did you know something happened? Eirik already healed me before we reached here.”

“Echo told me. His descriptions of your injuries were very disturbing.”

I couldn’t lie to her now. She’d fed me the apples of the gods and said I was special. Then there’s the fact that she had the power to get inside my head and retrieve every detail, yet she chose to ask me instead. It said a lot about the change in our relationship.

So I told her the truth as I knew it, and watched her face. I hesitated when I reached the last part about Einmyria being my sister. I couldn’t reveal something that might actually cast doubts in the goddess’ mind about the girl being her daughter.

The goddess didn’t show any emotions, but the black runes on half her face appeared to move faster and faster. When I finished, her blue eye burned with fury and the core of her black eye seemed to have shrunk to a pinpoint dot.

“My mother had no business messing with that poor child’s head and turning her against Eirik and you. Unfortunately, she is very good at manipulating people.” The goddess sighed. “She turned the girl against me, too. It’s the only explanation for the way the girl behaves.”

“What do you mean?”

“She can barely stand to be in the same room as me. I walk in and she clams up. I try talking to her and she cringes. Last week, I asked her to show me some runes, and she burst into tears. I later learned from Baldur that her guardians barely gave her runes and she’s still learning to control them.”

Could that be why she’d engaged all her runes before attacking me? Maybe she hadn’t even known she had all her runes on. Thoroughly confused, I continued to listen to the goddess.

“She plays mind games with Eirik. They don’t seem to bother him, but I find them very irritating. I want to tell her to stop, yet I’m worried about alienating her more.” She turned and gripped my hand. “I know from personal experience how powerful my mother can be, so I hope you can forgive the girl for the pain she caused you.”

“I already did
.
”
Or rather, I will after I prove she is real.

“Good. I want you to do me a favor. Try to be friends with her. Maybe she can open up to you. I’ve tried, but I can’t seem to reach her. The bond is not there.”

“The bond?” I asked, slowly, still trying to process her request. I didn’t want to be friends with that girl. I wanted to forgive her from a distance, and then expose her once I knew the truth.

“The bond between a mother and a child,” the goddess said. “Once formed it should never be severed. I bonded with Einmyria when she was baby. For three days, she slept in my arms. I studied her little features, looked into her eyes, and listened to her cries. She had lungs on her.” She smiled, but then sadness crept in and replaced it. “I should be able to look into her eyes and recognize her no matter how long we’ve been apart. A good mother
should
.”

I stared at her with wide eyes. This was it. The bond was not there because Einmyria was a fake. I wanted so badly to tell her it wasn’t her fault I had to bite my inner cheeks to stop myself from speaking.

“People change and absence does make the bond grow weak,” I said instead, trying to reassure her. “Once you spend enough time together, you will reconnect.”

Her expression said she doubted it. “The day Eirik came home, I felt him before I reached the hall. Even if he didn’t look like his father, I’d looked into his eyes and known he was my son. It’s different with her. The bond is missing.” She sighed. “This is why I’m hoping you could reach her and make her open up. If I knew what lies my mother fed her, I could reassure her and reconnect with her.”

She sounded so heartbroken, yet I was too chicken to tell her of my suspicions about Einmyria. I scooted closer to her, deciding to distract her instead.

“Has Eirik told you anything about my mother?”

She focused on me, frowning. “No, but I know she’s gone. Your father said it was just the two of you now.”

“It is, but she is not gone as in dead. She is very much alive. She chose to leave us when I was seven and I never saw her again, until the day we left for Jötunheim a few weeks ago.”

The goddess’ frown deepened. “Why would she do that?”

“Because she hated me.”

The goddess shook her head. “No, no, dear. No mother can hate her child. No matter how often they misbehaved, the love never goes away. I’m sure you misunderstood.”