“A year ago I was a simple high school student. Then Maliina marked me. Last week, I was just an Immortal with the ability to help souls with my medium runes. And now I am…”
“A young goddess and future ruler of this realm,” she finished, stopping.
“What?”
“Elskr mín,” Baldur whispered. “It’s too soon to be discussing such matters. It’s her first day.”
“But I’d rather get it out of the way,” the goddess said firmly.
We were still in the hallway connecting the Throne Hall from the inner rotunda of the private quarters. The guards, including the one carrying the book from the Sorting Hall, were behind us. The goddess glanced at them, and they moved back, giving us more room.
“According to the Norns, you will take over Helheim after Ragnarok. I didn’t plan to tell you on your first day, but I’m a strong believer in getting to the point. When the time is right, I will share that information with the Grimnirs. For now, I don’t see why you shouldn’t know the truth. You and your consort will take over for us,” she added.
My consort. I saw a glimmer of hope. “And I can take anyone as a consort?”
The goddess chuckled. “As many as you want.”
I didn’t want many. Only one.
“But we hope you will have one who will stay by your side at all times,” Baldur said. “No matter how many women your grandfather slept with, your grandmother Frigg was his official consort and she was accorded the respect that came with it.”
I’d already found my one. The invisible line I’d imagined between Echo and me blurred. Grinning, I kissed Baldur on the cheek.
“Thank you, Father.” I turned and kissed the goddess. “And you, too, Mother. Now I’m going to see Eirik and force him to take a break.”
“We’ll stop by later to wish you goodnight,” the goddess said.
“Can I take the book with me?” I indicated the large book with notes from souls still needing closure. A guard was carrying it. “I have an idea, but I want to pass it by Eirik first. It might take his mind off Celestia.”
“The book is yours,” the goddess said while Baldur waved over the guards.
“Thank you,” I told the guard and reached for the book.
“I’ll be honored to carry it for you, my goddess,” he said, bowing. His eagerness was sweet, and I remembered him from when I’d arrived.
“It’s Creed, right?”
“Yes, my goddess.”
“Thank you, Creed.”
The goddess smiled with approval when our eyes met. “I’ll see you later.”
I left with Creed trailing me and glanced back once. The goddess and Baldur were watching us. I waved and disappeared into the rotunda, the inner sanctum guards bowing. I was never going to get used to that. We hurried past them and heard Eirik’s voice before we entered the bedroom. He was reading to Celestia. He looked up and frowned.
“I’ll take over while you rest,” I said, going to stand beside his seat. “Get in beside her, and I’ll keep an eye on both of you.”
“No, you’ll fall asleep and—”
“I just learned how to will fatigue away, Eirik,” I fibbed. “The magic in this place is amazing. Mother showed me how to will things. Knots. Fatigue. Sore feet. I helped welcome the souls and even found some that needed closure.” I didn’t let his disinterest slow me down. “Creed, can I have that?”
The guard placed the book in my hands and stepped back, his eyes going to Celestia. “How is she doing?”
“She’ll be fine, Creed,” Eirik said.
“The villagers want to know if they can come and keep vigil. Sometimes the love and positive energy from many helps,” he said.
Eirik stared at him strangely, and for a brief second I thought he’d bite his head off.
“That’s fine,” Eirik murmured. “I know she’ll appreciate that.”
Creed bowed and exited the room. It was obvious Celestia was loved.
“What’s that?” Eirik asked, staring at the book.
“The book of unfinished business.” I explained how it worked. “I think it would be nice to have students at Mystic Academy help families needing closure. It could be part of their weekly assignments, choosing someone from the book and finding ways to get the message to them from their dead relatives.”
“Are you thinking of teaching there?” he asked.
“No, silly. I’ll be attending it as a senior. I think students would get a kick out of actually helping people. Do you think it’s a good idea? I mean, it’s better than having the reapers do it. Echo, Andris, Syn, Nara, and Rhys have been helping them find closure when I couldn’t. Instead of having reapers do it, the students could. Maybe under the supervision of a teacher.”
“Like who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Andris is interested. Torin talked to me about him. Syn is also interested.” Life flashed in his eyes. “Can I see that?”
We went through the requests. I hadn’t asked for their addresses, yet they were there. The goddess had probably put them there.
“Man, that’s fucked up,” Eirik said.
“What?”
He tapped at the page. “This asshole wants his ex-wife to know he slept with her sister. What kind of a shitty message is that from a dead person?”
“Check the footnote. His wife had left him for his best friend.”
“Ah. Well, it’s still a shitty thing to tell someone when you are dead. Are you going to tell her?”
“No. I agree with you. It’s a crappy thing to pass on.” As I stared at the page, the words faded away. Nice.
Eirik turned the page and read the next one. “Damn, some are sad. Her stepfather belongs behind bars.”
“I know.”
He frowned and threw me a look. “How can you stand listening to such sob stories? I’d want to hurt someone.”
I told him the story of the girl who was bullied at a prep school and ended up dying. “Making the guilty pay and apologize makes the anger go away. Maybe Syn and Andris could be in charge of these field trips. They enjoy making Mortals squirm.”
Eirik nodded. “I think it’s a brilliant idea.” He yawned. “Lavania is open to suggestions, so she might go for it.”
“Get in bed with Celestia and hold her,” I said.
He scowled. “I don’t want to crush her.”
“Do you know why Bald… Father is warm when most souls here are so cold?”
“I didn’t know their skin was cold. Celestia was warm when she astral projected here.” He reached out and stroked her cheek.
“Well, he is warm because of Mother’s touch and love, so crawl in bed and keep your woman warm.” My reasoning was warped, but I wanted him to rest. “I’ll be here, and if I get tired, I’ll will it away. Mother and Father also promised to stop by.”
He still seemed reluctant.
“Listen, Eirik. I trust you. When you came to me and told me I was your sister, I believed you because of that trust. When you told me Celestia could heal Dev, I put my faith in her hands because of that trust. Now I’m asking you to trust me to watch over her while you sleep. If anything goes wrong, I’ll wake you up.”
He sighed and nodded. Without saying a word, he got up, pulled off his shirt, and crawled under the blankets.
“Do you want me to dim the lights?”
“Do you know how?” he asked, sounding too much like the old Eirik.
“No, but I know I can will it.” I stared at the nearest crystal and watched the light dim. Man, magic was cool. Eirik’s eyes were already closed when I reached out to stroke Celestia’s forehead. His eyes flew open.
“She’s fine,” I whispered.
“No, she’s not. I want her back to normal now, laughing and driving me crazy.”
He was impatient like Echo. I returned to reading the requests in the book. I was almost done when the goddess and Baldur arrived with a blanket for me. Without saying a word, they took the lounge across from mine. Watching them, I wished Echo were with me. I kicked off my shoes, tucked the blanket around me, and leaned back.
I must have dozed off because when I woke up someone had moved me to the lounge and all I could see was Eirik’s broad back. Syn was snoring on the chair I’d sat on earlier. I became aware of the warmth against my cheek and the familiar scent of the man I loved. I turned my head, and my eyes met Echo’s.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey back to you.” I palmed his cheek where he still had a bruise. “You okay?”
“For now. Sorry for earlier.”