“You are a drama queen.”
He smiled. “I should be insulted, my goddess, but since I happen to adore you, I’ll let it pass. Go back to sleep. I’ll keep watch until Mr. Snores wakes up.”
Then something else occurred to me. “Were they here when you two arrived?”
“They as in the goddess and the Golden One? Yes. I told them we were here to help you keep watch.”
I grinned. That was the Echo I knew. He must have decided to stop acting like an ass. “And?”
“They said thank you and gave up the lounge. Your father didn’t even offer to carry you to bed. They just smiled and moseyed out of here.”
“They know about us,” I said.
“I hope so. Have they told you anything?”
“No, but she returned my blanket the last time you spent the night at the farm. She must have seen you. I wonder why she’s not saying anything. Even after the gym, she just asked if you were doing okay. I told them you were being your usual self, stubborn and melodramatic.”
“You told my goddess I’m melodramatic?”
I grinned at his disgruntled tone. “I thought I was your goddess. I searched for you in the halls earlier during my introduction but didn’t see you.”
“I was the first to kneel and pledge to protect you.”
I settled against his chest, grinning. “Then you’d better treat me right. I now have a hall full of reapers and guards to kick your ass if you don’t.”
“And I’d take it because you, Cora Einmyria Jemison, daughter of Hel and Baldur, are mine.” He dropped a kiss on my forehead and tucked me under his chin. “Even when the damn hall drops to its knees and shows allegiance to you, you are mine.”
“Could you two keep it down or get a room?” Syn growled. “Some of us are trying to sleep here.”
Smiling, I closed my eyes and went back to sleep. My Echo was back.
When I woke up, I was in a bed, and it wasn’t mine. Please, let it be Echo’s. I looked around while stretching. There was nothing on the walls, and the décor was bland. Blue everywhere. There was what appeared to be an outline of a mural, but that was it. Blue wasn’t Echo’s color. Voices filtered from outside the room. The second I opened the door, disappointment coursed through me. I was still at Eirik’s.
“Morning,” Trudy called. The others—Jessica, Hayden, and Zack—scrambled to their feet.
“Don’t, guys. Is that coffee?”
Jessica handed me a cup. “Echo told us how you take it.”
“Thanks. I’m starving.” I glanced at the closed bedroom door. “Are they awake?”
“Still asleep,” Trudy said. “If Eir doesn’t come today, I’m offering to go to Asgard and get her.”
“I’m coming with,” Hayden offered.
Trudy scoffed at the idea. “You just want to see Asgard.”
“Red, you are annoying. This is about Celestia, not Asgard,” Hayden retorted.
“Can I come, too?” Jessica asked.
“No one is going anywhere,” the goddess said, sweeping through a portal and into the room. I hadn’t seen the portal open. “We have to get rid of the people out there first.”
The others scrambled to their feet again, and she pinned them with a glare. “Get your mother, Trudy. She’s not answering my summons.”
“Who is out there?” Trudy asked instead of leaving.
“Villagers from Eastern Gj?ll Pass,” the goddess said. “They are here to keep vigil now that word is out about Celestia. I want them gone.”
“Creed asked Eirik if it was okay for the villagers to come and keep vigil, and Eirik said yes,” I said.
Surprise flickered across the goddess’ face. Then she sighed. “Okay. Fine. They can stay for a day. But no more talks about going to Asgard”—her glance swept the faces of the three girls—“until the emissaries I sent return. Trudy, find your mama and tell her we need breakfast. She also needs to make food to feed the villagers.”
The others disappeared, leaving me with the goddess, who still looked slightly annoyed.
“I hope they won’t be a bother,” I said.
“Oh, the villagers are always a bother. I never had visitors until your father came here. And even then, they had to send an emissary asking for an audience first. Then Eirik returned home, and they all wanted to meet him and challenge him. We hosted hundreds of guests for weeks. I tried to ignore them, but some came with little children who went everywhere and asked incessant questions. I couldn’t turn around without bumping into one.” Her expression said she’d thoroughly disliked it.
“Why did they need to challenge Eirik?”
“Because he is a dragon and there are so few of them, he had to prove himself.” She smiled. “That’s the official story I told him. But we knew they all heard he was the future leader of the gods, and everyone with a dragon daughter came to see if he was worthy of marrying their daughter. Some had babies who couldn’t even walk, yet they wanted to offer them to him.”
I laughed. “He must have hated that.”
“He refused to attend the party until I sent Echo to bring Celestia. She was the only one he’d listen to then. As soon as he told them he wasn’t interested, they left.” She frowned. “Getting rid of the villagers won’t be easy because they don’t want anything from me. They’re here for her.”
“So why don’t you like visitors. Your hall is beautiful.”
“Thank you. It does have a certain appeal, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does. The columns are gorgeous, and the details on the ceilings and murals are breathtaking.”
“I do love the architecture, but I tried to make it as unwelcoming as possible.”
I laughed, liking her bluntness. She had a dry sense of humor. “Why unwelcoming?”
“To discourage visitors. I do not have time to receive guests and listen to their silly prattle. They interfere with my work. The souls are my first priority, not entertaining people who are curious about my work or me. Then there are those who want favors. It’s not my job to awaken souls from their rest just so someone can talk to their dead relatives. Unfortunately, your father loves a good party, and I find it hard to deny him anything.”
Litr and Astrid arrived with our breakfast. Once again, I ignored the apple juice even though the goddess insisted, and I focused on the eggs and bacon. The bacon pieces were long.
Afterward, while the goddess attended to souls, I disappeared into my bedroom to shower and change. The long-sleeved, gray knit dress I changed into was new and gorgeous. I added warm leggings and wool socks that came to just above my black, low-healed boots. A quick sweep of the brush through my hair and light makeup, and I was ready. Astrid was waiting for me when I came back to the living room.
“The goddess wants to finish your tour when you are ready, young goddess. She wants you to wait for her here while I get her.”
“My name is C… Einmyria, not young goddess.”
“Yes, young goddess.”
Somehow I didn’t think she’d listen to me. I planned to keep trying until they stopped bowing and used my name. The goddess joined me, and we left to check on Celestia first. Guards trailed behind us the second we left the family quarters. I was surprised when she stopped to ask one of them how his wife was feeling.
“Much better, my goddess. She is in the hall with the villagers. They all hope the young healer recovers soon.”
“Celestia saved her pregnancy last week,” the goddess explained as we crossed the rotunda to Eirik’s quarters.
Eirik looked much better than he had yesterday. He’d even eaten breakfast and changed. We left his room and picked up the tour of the halls from where we’d left off. We headed east to the Banquet Hall and Guest Halls. We went through a tunnel then down the stairs to the dungeons. The goddess didn’t hide the fact that she’d kept Eirik in the dungeon when he first arrived.
“Do I regret it? Yes. It was drastic, but I was petrified his grandfather had suppressed his dragon forever.” She showed me the eastern Resting Halls. They were smaller and each soul was actually in a private room, where they could relive their memories in peace. It didn’t matter that the rooms were the size of a shoebox.