Legendary

I decided that Tony was right and that probably nothing bad would happen if I took a few days for myself. And nothing did. I slept in, read, did some knitting, napped, and gradually the ache in my chest went away. After a couple of days of this, I got bored and went back up to the smithies and started to work on my swords again. The master who had finished up the last stage for me pointed out a few places where my technique wasn't as good as it should be and gave me advice for fixing the errors. I did this, and continued folding the metal, carefully, and finally it was time to refine the shape. Then I took advantage of my first master's training and inserted a core of soft steel along the spine to help reduce the possibility of breakage. Then I cleaned the blades up and engraved a pattern similar to the design that had been on Ra's al Guhl's sword, the one Damian had claimed from him. I liked the feeling of connection it gave me. Then I first went to the scabbard makers with the remains of the original. One of them liked the challenge and measured the new blades. We talked about the hilts; I was just planning on using the cherrywood from my original swords, but was talked into consulting another specialist. This artist had the idea of inlaying an elegant swoop of fiery labradorite into the cherrywood for a little extra pizazz. It seemed a little much, what with the engraving on the blades, but when the blade was sheathed, the handle was visible and when I was holding the sword, the handle was concealed and the design visible, so it wasn't going to be too busy. Then I handed the blades to a finisher and I was done until everything was ready.

That was going to take some time, so I poked around the store room, finding the roving, and decided to dye and spin some yarn. Gretchen had time to teach me how to make the thick rugs for which she was famous (hers were beautiful, mine we'd just have to wait and see) so I spun up the yardage she'd specified and handpainted the dye on the skeins, greens, blues and purples for the weft, a solid dark purple for the warp. Gretchen loved the colors; handpainting wasn't a traditional valkyrie approach to dying, but I'd seen it done in the fairs in Pennsylvania that I'd gone to as a kid. The pretty yarn made my rug look more interesting than it was, and Gretchen said it was a good rug, especially for a first attempt, and that what I needed was practice. So to thank her, I dyed some skeins for her, black, gray, and red, a dramatic combination that she loved and would doubtless become a masterwork in her hands. Tony thought my rug was great, so I warped another loom and made one for him in shades of red. It was full winter here, and the stone floors were cold. Gretchen got together a number of former valkyries and had a class where she taught them as well. The rugs, for which I used handpainted yarn instead of actual technique to create interest, wove up pretty quickly and I made a few more for myself and Tony before making some for my uncle, Cap, Emma, and Bruce. As an afterthought, I made one for Peter so he wouldn't feel left out. He was spending more time with the women of Hela's domain, finding a place for himself, and I didn't see him much.

When I went back to pick up my swords, I was amazed at just how beautiful they were. The polisher had brought up a perfect finish and had carefully enhanced my engraving with a little refinement here and there and a keen edge had been produced. The hiltmaker had added a swoop of steel as a handguard, looking for all the world like a gigantic talon from some legendary beast. The cherrywood was polished with a blend of oils and beeswax for a soft shine, complementing the play of light from the beautiful inlay of labradorite, accented with a few carefully placed curves of copper, and was crowned by an elegantly shaped steel pommel. The scabbard had a body of cherrywood too, reinforced with caps on the end and a ribbon of steel winding around it for strength and looks, engraved with the same design on the blades. It was the most elegant set I thought I'd ever seen. I was so inspired that I went back and created a few knives to harmonize--a folding pocketknife and a larger dagger for everyday. After that, I felt more cheerful, like myself before that last meeting with Odin.

"Now that you're armed to the teeth again?" Tony quipped later that night, but I didn't mind. Everybody's normal is different.

A couple of days later, nervously, I poofed to Asgard with my new swords. My student was having lunch when I arrived, but a servitor scuttled off at the sight of me. Huh. I must have impressed the last time I was there. I sat on a bench and waited. I didn't have long to wait; Thor himself came out to greet me and took me back to where his family and friends were finishing their meal. Magni had grown a foot since I'd seen him and was now slightly taller than me. Sif was glad to see another woman; she was finally in the home stretch of her pregnancy and was more than ready to become not pregnant.

"Thor has told us much of the goings-on in the underworlds," Volstagg said, for once serious and not condescending.

"Quite lively, it must be," Fandral added.

"I was sorry to hear that your swords were ruined," Hogun said, downcast. I smiled at him.

"Well, that part at least could be fixed," I said cheerfully, and took off my swordbelt to hand the new scabbard to him. All the warriors were very interested.

"They're pretty enough," Fandral said doubtfully. I smiled at him and he cringed just slightly.

"A thing can be beautiful and deadly at the same time," I said mildly. Hogun drew the swords and smiled as he stood and practiced some forms with them.

"The balance on the blades is outstanding," he said. "They have both flexibility and strength. I worry that my own will not stand up to a practice bout. Who made these?"

"I did," I said, taking the scabbard back and belting it around my waist. "I made the blades, that is. They were polished and the edge created by a master, and other masters created the scabbard and the hilt."

"What is the design on it?" Sif asked, and I showed it to her more closely.

"My husband defeated his grandfather and took his sword," I said. "The design is similar to what I remember."

"That's honorable," Volstagg muttered.

"Damian wasn't even ten when he fought his grandfather," I said, annoyance tinging the edge of my words. "And Ra's wasn't a normal old guy. He had a way to resurrect himself when he died, so he was over a thousand years old at the time of the fight, with all those years of experience and strong and fit. Hardly a walk in the park."

"Wow," Magni said eagerly.

"It's not a real good career goal," I told him dryly. "For one thing, your grandfather is already dead. Can't kill the dead, and in any case, it's best to reserve the sword for when diplomacy breaks down." Sif smiled at me.

"But you stabbed Odin," Magni said stubbornly, and I winced.

"That was not meant for your ears," Thor told his son sternly. "You should have been in bed."

"But how am I going to find out the interesting things if I go to bed?" Magni asked, and Thor sighed.

"I did stab him, with one of my ruined blades," I said flatly. "And it ended up costing me dearly. I am no longer welcome in Valhalla." I studied him. The kid was still too excited about the whole stabby thing. I drew out my new dagger, tossed the scabbard on the table, and flipped it up in the air. The dagger thunked into the table point down and quivered. "Before you can be a general, you have to be a soldier first, then a lieutenant, then a captain. Learn to lead, lead well using your brain rather than your blood lust, and that dagger is yours. I made the blade myself." I nodded permission, and Magni pulled it out of the table and examined it. It was as beautiful as my swords, elegant and just as lethal.

"This could be mine?" he said, looking hopeful.

"Earn it and it's yours. Your father will tell you--if you choose to listen--that there is much more to kingship than charging into a fight, no matter how satisfying that may be. Responsibility is a heavy weight that is always with you and you must always think of your subjects first. Learn your history, not just of Asgard but of other realms. Everything can teach you. Figure out why great leaders were great in their own times and determine how you can use your own unique, considerable gifts." I slid the scabbard back onto the blade. We discussed resuming our hand to hand lessons, and when I got up to go, Thor and Sif walked me out.

"That is a handsome bribe," Thor said, grinning at me.

"It's not magic, but not everybody can say they have a blade made by an ex-valkyrie," I shrugged.

"Perhaps it will make him more attentive to his studies," Sif said. "He dreams of glory."

"Who doesn't?" I asked and both SIf and Thor smiled. "Maybe tricky Uncle Loki could provide some additional incentive to broaden his perspective." Thor looked mildly alarmed, then nodded.

"Magni can learn from our mistakes," he said, and we reached the steps in the bright sunshine. It felt nice after the cold from Hela's realm. We said goodbye, and I poofed back home.

I also resumed practicing hand to hand with my uncle, always a pleasure. Bucky had the physiological advantage of strength and was a little faster than I was, but I was trickier and my style combined elements from all sorts of combat traditions. For fun, I started intentionally practicing the lessons I'd learned from my ninjutsu teacher and revisited the lessons in capoeira, lerdrit, and bakom. Between the two of us, we were pretty evenly matched, and our bouts soon started drawing a crowd. It started with Tony and Steve, Bruce started coming, then the valkyries, then other denizens of Hel who enjoyed watching a good fight.

It wasn't long before we were asked to teach. A lot of people tried it but when they realized how much dedication and practice was required, the class size shrunk a lot. We ended up having a good chunk of the valkyries, some men, and Steve and Tony. Tony had an advantage in that he'd studied martial arts in life, but Steve was faster in combining what he learned with his personal brawling style. It was interesting.

I continued to work on my swordsmanship; there were several different styles to learn. I kept up the practice with my beautiful katana, and Tony quickly learned to stay in bed first thing in the morning while I practiced the forms. I didn't want to accidentally cut him, even if it wouldn't have killed him and the wounds would have healed. Fortunately for me, there was no shortage of practitioners in different styles and many of them were happy to teach their skills. There wasn't the intense interest in them that there was in Valhalla, so they had less demand for their expertise. I picked up the rapier and shamshir, in addition to what Sif was teaching me about the Asgardian broadsword technique. More interesting, actually were non-sword weapons. I really liked the cestus, a kind of fingerless glove that at its simplest was made from strips of leather and worked like wraps for boxing, but could also reach up the arm to protect from blades. At its more complex, metal plates could be added to make a pretty comfortable brass knuckles analog, or spikes could also be fitted. Historically, I was told that bouts between cestus fighters were outlawed before 400 CE due to the brutality of the matches. There was also the katar, a push dagger from India that made combat with it essentially boxing with a big knife over your knuckles. My agility and flexibility made this a good weapon for me to use. There was a Korean war fan, which was a lot trickier than the Japanese tessen in that it had sharpened blades along the edges, concealed by feathers, to inflict raking cuts and my teacher showed me examples that had small bladders for the dispersal of poisons or irritants when snapped open and wafted at the opponent, or concealed small projectiles that could be released with a really hard snap. The sai, essentially a long dagger with what amounts to the crossguard curved in the same direction as the blade and sharpened, used in pairs, was a natural weapon for me, and the kerambit, a wicked little curved dagger, originally from Western Sumatra and little sickles were also fun to learn. I learned how to throw the javelin and got more serious about archery, where I also learned how to make my own recurve bow and make and fletch my own arrows. And I started practicing with shuriken again.

I used my improving competency with the Asgardian sword to teach Steve. He'd just sort of picked it up, the same way Bucky had, but Bucky was more used to drilling with weapons and had done better. I had to insist on him learning the basic drills, but he was quickly embarrassed at how fast he would lose each bout we had and complied. Once he saw the benefits, it was easier to beat a level of increased competency into him. I also taught him how to use his shield better as a shield, effectively, in addition to his physics-defying Big Frisbee tosses. We learned javelin together, and while I had the edge in precision, he got longer range, so we each could lay claim to skill with this weapon too.

I personally was having a ball in this afterlife; there was so much to learn and so many people to learn technique from that it was like candyland. I worried about Tony, though; he was a high tech man in a low-tech world. One night when we were getting ready for bed, I asked when he was going to start engineering again.

He rolled his eyes. "There's no electricity here," he pointed out, with only a slight barb on the edge of his words.

I grinned at him. "You're too hide-bound," I chided him lightly. "That big brain of yours must be atrophying, getting flaccid." I slid my hand inside his pants. "Unlike other parts, which get a regular workout... Traditional electricity, from coal and other fossil fuels, nuclear, solar, you're right, that isn't part of the afterlife. But magic works here, Sparky, and there are many sources of energy which in theory could be harnessed. We don't need the full Industrial Revolution here, but surely you can see high tech applications that will fit in with this world as it is."

"Flaccid?" he growled at me. I'd kind of hoped that he'd have focused on the rest of what I was saying. "I'll show you flaccid."

Actually, what he showed me was the opposite of flaccid, but the fire had been lit. After we finished, he cackled. "I should find a way to harness sexual energy. When I come with you, it feels like a bomb goes off. That should power some light bulbs. Candle light isn't bright enough for work although it's romantic." He grunted and his brain started to tick as he started to figure out what he needed to know about magic. He kissed me passionately after breakfast and charged off.

I started working on a pair of swords for Hogun; his prediction that his swords weren't going to last against mine was proving accurate, and I didn't want to give up the fun of bouting with him. Sif told me that Odin was having a hissy about me continuing to train Magni, but Thor brushed it off. "It was his idea in the first place," he said. "And the reasons why you should teach him are the same. Magni will need to be strong in body and mind to follow me as King, and his fighting skills will be needed. He listens to you and practices what you teach, which is more attention than he gives his swordmaster." He shook his head. "All he can do is rattle on about how you and Hogun fight."

"So why can't he learn the two swords?" I asked. "Use it as a carrot. If he listens to his Asgardian master and works hard, that can be a reward. Hogun is an excellent teacher, if he's willing."

Sif sighed. "He'd much prefer you to be his teacher. He would moon after you, if he wasn't so afraid of your skill."

"Well, I've got my hands full with Tony, so that's not going to happen," I said dismissively. "And as I said, Hogun is an excellent teacher. Not even an heir to a might kingdom should get his way all the time."

Thor flushed and Sif laughed. "It would be an honor for Hogun to teach the next king," Sif said briskly, and Thor agreed to use it as incentive.

The next time I went to Asgard, Sif had delivered her child, finally. A daughter, with her mother's inky hair. They had named her Torunn, meaning "Thor's love"--accurate, if uninspired. Thor doted on her, reminding me of his vow to have me train her too.

"When she's old enough," Sif said in exasperation. I grinned.

"And then we shall work on another brother for her," Thor said, and Sif sighed.

"One more only," she said grudgingly. "You're not the one who has to carry the babes for so long. If you want more past the final child, you will have to bear it yourself." I laughed at the expression on his face.

It was good that I had that nice interval. When I got back to Helheim, a page took me directly to a meeting in progress. I walked into a silent room. The valkyries lined the sides of a table, with Odin and Frigga at the foot. Hela rose from her seat at the head gracefully when I came in and nudged me toward the chair. "Odin has come to speak with the valkyries about their return to Valhalla, but they refuse to speak; they have appointed you their voice. But first," and her voice was rich with amusement, "You must surrender your weapons." She signaled a page, who came forward with a tray. I rolled my eyes and placed my scabbard on the tray, then my pocket knife, the dagger from my boot, a handful of shuriken, and the steel-reinforced cestuses that I had begun wearing during swordwork. Hela laughed, the valkyries smirked, and Odin glowered. The page retreated to place the tray on a table against the wall, and I sat down in Hela's vacated place.

"Have the terms and conditions that were explained to you at the last meeting been complied with?" I asked Odin briskly.

"Not entirely," he said, gritting his teeth. I shook my head.

"I told you there would be no negotiation and no return until all the terms that were yours to complete were finished." I spoke calmly, though the place where the valkyrie bond had been was beginning to ache and throb.

"I seek a visit from the representative to judge how well work is proceeding," he said through clenched teeth.

"It is a reasonable request," I had to admit. "In return for a visit, I require an oath that neither Odin nor anyone working on his behalf or on his directions will seek to impede me from returning to Helheim after the inspection."

Odin looked furious, but Frigga, to my surprise, admitted that my request was also reasonable, and Odin had to choke out the oath. "If something unforeseen should happen, I will come to your assistance myself," Hela told me quietly, so I felt bold enough to go.

The three gods and I materialized in Valhalla's great hall. A few tables were positioned in the center, with some of the valkyries' personal possessions on them. I pulled out my copy of the list that everyone had compiled, and began to sort through the meager items, placing each individual's items together on an empty table I dragged over, looking them over and comparing them to the description. If any damage had been preexisting, it was noted in the description. I set aside a couple of cloak pins and brooches that had been damaged and checked off the items that had been returned in good condition. After I had sorted through the things that the looters had thought nice enough to steal, I returned to the gods with the list and pointed out where things had been damaged and the things that had not been returned, including all of the clothing. The bent brooches and pins would be easy enough to fix, but the missing things were a different problem.

"What do you expect me to do?" Odin said, with the anger of a man out of his depth. I shrugged.

"It is your realm, your responsibility," I said, and crossed my arms, waiting.

"You might summon a goldsmith to fix the jewelry that was damaged," Hela said helpfully.

"You must summon your people and demand their compliance," Frigga counseled her husband. She seemed much less antagonistic than she'd been the last time I'd seen her.

Odin sighed, and did as the two goddesses advised. The three cloak pins and two brooches were sent off with one of the goldsmiths, and warriors were summoned. The hall had a sizeable crowd, but by far not all the inhabitants of Valhalla were summoned to account, I noticed. I held my tongue and watched as Odin demanded that his people account for everything that had been damaged, destroyed, or stolen and not returned.

There was some backtalk, which shocked me and maddened Odin. He skewered the mouthiest one who claimed that plunder belonged to the looter, and in any case, who was he to let a woman tell him what to do? His wording was a lot more insulting and implied that Odin was being emasculated by grasping whores. The wound was like the one Frigga had inflicted on me, non-healing, and I tried to find some sympathy for the man but couldn't. In a voice that vibrated with the power he could command, he made everyone go bring the possessions that had not been returned and prepare for an accounting of the things that had been ruined. We waited in tense silence until warriors started returning, beginning with the goldsmith, who had easily fixed the jewelry. I placed them with the other possessions and crossed them off the list. One by one, the others returned and placed items like combs, jewelry, small chests, a jeweled knife, a few rugs and tapestries, a beautiful sword belt on the tables. Smiths returned the valkyrie arms and armor, and one man threw my magnificent fur apology cloak on the floor and spat on me. I held myself still; there was a provision that valkyries could dispense their own justice, but I wasn't a valkyrie any more and I didn't dare jeopardize the terms that I'd set forth. But Odin stepped up and threw the guy into a wall as I wiped the spit off with disgust. He yelled at the warriors, doing a fair job of demanding the display of respect and compliance with his orders. I gave him credit for his attempt at reeducation.

Everybody watched me warily as I checked things off the list. All the valuables had been returned, leaving only more common goods like my knitting needles and combs that I knew had been broken. I inspected the armor, finding that a few things were missing, like one gauntlet to a pair that Aldis wore. Some of the spear shafts had been broken. I lined up everything against the wall; shields together, spears, swords, helmets, all in groups, then turned back to the tables and quickly wrapped each woman's belongings in rags and put the bundles into bags I'd brought with me. I pointed out the damage to the armor. "Aren't you taking the armor back too?" Odin asked, and for the first time since we left he didn't sound pissed at me.

"That armor belongs to the valkyries. I can no longer claim any, and the other women have yet to decide to return." Odin looked like he'd bitten into a lemon at my words. He told me I could leave the bags in the hall while we were busy elsewhere, and we began our tour. First to the smithy, where Reginn assured me that it was understood by all the smiths that any work to be done for the valkyries would be done first. Then we went out to a building site in the forest, a nice distance from the main hall, where good progress had been made on a new complex. I spoke with the architect, who took me through the building in progress, pointing out where the library would go, spacious public rooms, a courtyard where a well had been dug, large store rooms, and the first of the private rooms, each with its own bathroom. He indicated activity to the side where lengths of timber were being shaped to permit barring the great main doors and each door in the complex. "Impressive," I said, and it was. When it was done, it would be a wonderful place for the valkyries. From the complex, we walked a distance to a staging area where building materials were being assembled that could be used to construct the obstacle course. From there, we went to the store rooms, where yardage was stacked and leather was rolled up; there weren't any finished dresses, pants, or shirts to replace what had been torn up as rags, but the clothing could be replaced. I was next taken to the wood shop, where I got to see the craftsmen working on beds, chests, tables, and chairs for the new complex. They were capable of beautiful work, we'd just never seen it for our benefit, but that looked to change. I was given a box that contained replacements for the knitting needles, spindles, shuttles, and the rest of the wooden goods that had been smashed.

When we returned to the main hall, the fabric had been brought over and added to the bags of goods. I set down the box on top of that and watched as people began configuring the tables and chairs for the night meal. Places were laid at the tables, and it looked like the meals were buffet style still. "I think I've seen enough," I said to Odin, and we returned to the hall in Helheim where the valkyries were waiting, along with the goods. From the way the women lit up, I could tell that most of them hadn't expected much. They went back to the table as I passed out everybody's bundles. There were some tears as some treasures that they never expected to see again were returned, and I smiled. I saw Odin looking embarrassed as he and Frigga seated themselves again. I sat down too, and faces that were in brighter humors turned toward me.

"I have a brief report for you all, so let me tell you what I saw and my thoughts, and let's save any questions for after the report," I said, and the women nodded. "First, I saw the construction site for the new complex. It's farther along than I would have expected, and it's very impressive. Those of you who return will be very pleased, I think. It includes a private well, capacious store rooms, the library, nice large private quarters with bathrooms. There are construction materials being put aside for the obstacle course. Reginn assured me that they will perform work for the valkyries before any other work, and when I showed up at the store rooms, the cloth and leather were waiting for me and I saw the construction of fine furniture at the wood shop. All the possessions on the list were returned. Some had to have repairs, and things that were destroyed were replaced, or the materials provided." I gestured toward the fabric. "So these were the things that were done well and should only need to be checked when the building is complete, and for continued compliance with the terms. Some of the terms on the list are for us--the valkyries, I mean-- to fulfill--choosing the slain and the weaving, and that is of course the responsibility of those who will return. Food service seems to be done by buffet, so this has changed. Some things were not addressed in my visit, such as whether the valkyries will be allowed to fight in the scrimmages on a regular basis, the provisions regarding Hela, whether the valkyries will be allowed to punish any who harm them." I drew a deep breath. "As far as changing the culture in regard to the valkyries, I acknowledge that it is apparent that Odin has spoken with the warriors. The problem is that many of them do not seem to have really gotten the message. There was a lot of attitude. So as far as the demands regarding command responsibility, the atmosphere of respect and dignified treatment, and the permanence of the changes, I can't say that these terms have been met yet, although most of the warriors I saw in the shops or the building site were polite and respectful."

"Where is our armor, Alex?" Gefn asked.

"The armor of the valkyries remains at Valhalla," I said firmly. "Some of it needs to be repaired, but this will be done. Those who return to Valhalla can pick it up upon their return, otherwise you won't be needing it." There were nods at that.

"Is the All-Father prepared to swear to the treatment of Hela, participation in the scrimmages, our ability to exact our punishment from those who harm us, that the changes will be permanent?" Eir asked, her voice hard. Odin wasn't happy, but he swore to it.

Hildr nodded. "In that case, I am prepared to acknowledge the progress being made to fulfill the conditions, and I am prepared to hold my decision whether to return or not until a final inspection is made to determine the full compliance, which will allow the All-Father time to... adjust the views of the warriors." She looked around the table, sharp looks at the older valkyries who had pretty much already said that they would not be returning. She got back grudging agreement. Odin managed to thank them for their continuing consideration, and he and Frigga went away.

"What about all this fabric?" Heidi asked.

"I had a thought about that," I said. "We've all been well supplied here, by the grace of Hela and I doubt that we really need the fabric. I propose that we offer it to the store rooms here as consideration for what has been given to us." The valkyries were pleased with that idea and Hela, smiling, sent for people to take the stacks away.