“Huh,” Paula said. “That was considerate of her.”
“At any rate,” Juliette said as she reached up to adjust her cowboy hat. “I have a very important job to do: nap until we pop out of warpdrive so I can hit the button to send us into hyperdrive. You all should go do whatever it is you want to do somewhere that isn’t here until I tell you that I need you.”
“Elana and I will head to the kitchen,” I said. “I’ll see you all in a few hours.”
“Or not,” Juliette muttered as she covered her head with her hat. “Nothing much going on for a while. Damn, I forgot how much I love being a pilot.”
We all left Juliette and crammed into the elevator. Zea, Eve, Paula, Kasta, and Aasne chatted about what they were going to do to occupy themselves for the next few hours, and they quickly decided to play some card games. Elana and I parted ways from them as soon as the elevator dropped us off at the lower level, and we both walked to the kitchen.
The galley was about a third of the size of Persephone, but it was well appointed. There was a six burner stove, a large sink, and a fridge that could have serviced a ship twice the size. The dining room table in the center of the room had ten chairs, and the center island of the kitchen had four barstools. The counters were a white quartz with flecks of gold and silver in the material, and Elana ran her hands along the smooth surface before she opened the fridge.
“Can you make dinner work?” I asked as I locked the door to the kitchen.
“Yes, my lord,” she said as she started pulling boxes of vegetables and cartons of eggs out of the fridge. “I would prefer some more time to prepare--”
“I can leave if you want,” I said with a shrug.
“No!” she gasped. “That’s fine. Please, I want to spend time with you. Please stay. I am just a bit embarrassed.”
“Why?” I asked as I sat at one of the barstools.
“Why? Because you are you, and I am me, my lord.”
“Huh?”
“Until a week ago, I had spent my entire life pretending to be a man. No one ever looked at me, or cared about me. I had no choice but to follow my father’s wishes, and I knew that I would go back to the shadows as soon as he took control over Idonan. Now I get to wear dresses…” Elana’s words drifted away as she ran her fingers down the long garment that she wore. “I’m married to the most powerful man in the galaxy, and he is handsome and kind to me. Even though I never thought I would be a wife, I’ve planned this meal hundreds of times in my head, but what will happen if he doesn’t like the food I make? Will he cast me aside? I somewhat expect it, but--”
“I’m sure it will be wonderful,” I said. “Besides, I know that this is a Nordar custom, but I just want to spend the time with you so that we get to know each other better.”
“Ahh,” she said, and the slender woman’s cheeks darkened a few shades of red. “I would enjoy that. You are so kind to me. It was more than I could have asked for since I would have come to you either way.”
“What do you mean?” I asked as she began to heat some butter in the pans on the stove.
“I submitted to you at the wedding,” she said with a shrug.
“But it seemed like you wanted to,” I replied.
“Of course,” she said with a light laugh. “What else was I supposed to do? You had just killed everyone in the room, and I figured that I would be next after you killed my father, but then you helped Leara, and I wondered if you were actually kind.”
“You know the answer to that now,” I said.
“Yes,” she agreed, and she shot me a quick smile from over her shoulder. “Nordar women are taught to cook and care for their husbands, but I was raised as a boy. I realize the competition for your time is fierce, and I’m embarrassed because I know this will not be the best meal you have ever eaten.”
“Like I said, I just want to spend time with you.”
“That also causes me concern,” she laughed. “Me? I am a boy named Alrick. Or at least that’s how I have lived my life. Elana was born when you said I could be her, but how can that woman be married to you? How can she compete for attention with the Prime Valkyrie?” Elana laughed and shook her head. “The Prime Valkyrie? It is unbelievable that she would ever submit to a man, and now that man is also my husband. Sivaha was queen of the Skyad, your other wives are beautiful, intelligent, and amazing. I don’t even know how to act like a woman.” Elana looked down at her dress again and cleared her throat. “It doesn’t sound like a very Nordar topic of conversation. I’ll stop now. Shall we toast with Aquavit? I think I need half a bottle to calm down.”
“Sure,” I laughed, and the short-haired brunette pulled a bottle out of the fridge and two small glasses from the cupboards.
“Skol,” we whispered to each other as we raised our glasses. Elana tossed hers back like it was water, gasped with satisfaction, and then turned back to her cooking. The scent of the butter was mixing with garlic and onions, and I poured us another glass while I watched her move over the pots and pans.
“Did you ever want to become a Valkyrie?” I asked after a few moments of silence.
“I think every girl does at some point,” Elana laughed. “Then they realize that they have to give up boys, and most change their mind. I was in a strange situation since my father wanted me to pretend that I was a man. But yeah, for many years I thought that I could escape to Oskmay and be free of my father.”
“Why didn’t you try?” I asked.
“A few reasons,” she began as she started to cut a chicken open. “First is that Valkyries are our best warriors. A woman must be skilled in all forms of combat. I find that I have a great eye for shooting, especially long range, but I never much cared for physical combat. I tend to tense up when sparring or wrestling. I tried to overcome it for a few years, but I just never settled.”
“Ahh,” I said as I remembered her reaching for the scoped rifle in Persephone’s armory. “What are the other reasons?”
“Even if I did somehow get accepted into the order, and I passed their tests, and I became a Valkyrie, I would still have to return to my father.”
“I thought that you got a bit of autonomy once you were a Valkyrie?”
“We still must serve our king and queen.” Elana shrugged. “Maybe the Prime Valkyrie can make her own rules, but I believe Madalena still followed her father’s orders.”
“Yeah,” I admitted. “So you didn’t want to become a Valkyrie because it wouldn’t have changed much.”
“My life wasn’t terrible,” Elana chuckled. “My father was still the king. I still wanted for little besides his affection and attention. I assume it is the same with most Nordar princesses; we are emotionally distant from our fathers. Aasne did not want to marry me, so she tried to flee.”
“It’s pretty ironic,” I said.
“Women just want a man to love them,” Elana said as her eyes quickly glanced over to mine. “At least, the women that I know.”
“I will love you,” I said.
“You don’t know me yet, my lord.” Elana nodded her head, but her lips curled up into a bit of a smile.
“You protest, but you still want my love?” I grinned.
“Yes,” she whispered. “More than anything in my entire life. So, I better get back to cooking. You are distracting me.”