Grænir Reitir
Chapter 18: Grænir Reitir
The first thing you became aware of was the heat on your skin, the second was the sound of foreign birds signing and the third was the fact that your eyes were firmly closed. As soon as you opened them, you regretted it. It felt as if you had lost your stomach on the way and it was rapidly catching up on you. You pressed your lips together and hoped that the Norns would save you some kind of dignity and not let you puke in front of the whole travel party. You focused on your breathing, in out, in out. And when you thought it was safe enough, that you were out of the danger zone, the realisation hit you like a tidal wave.
You had done it. This was Alfheim and you had just travelled with the Bifröst! You couldn’t help but let a barely audible ‘wow’ escape from your lips. The sight before you was more than gorgeous. It looked like you had walked into one of the tapestries that hung in the corridors of the palace, but instead of it being frozen in time, this place was bustling with life. The birds that flew over your head and filled the hot air with their song, were vibrant in colour and had the most intriguing shapes, the air was filled with a sweet aroma that you couldn’t quite place and the green fields before you seemed to be endless as they stretched as far as the eye could see.
“Gorgeous, isn’t it?” A voice next to you said and when you turned your head, another realisation hit you. Lady Sif had been talking to you ever since you left the palace and she was now looking at you with a knowing smirk on her face.
“I… I don’t know what to say.” You all but mumbled.
“Then don’t. To be honest I’m surprised to see you so awed. Most people don’t have time for that as they’re too busy emptying their stomachs.” You blushed and sheepishly looked away. “Ah, I see. Well at least you managed to keep it safely inside.” Sif said and you could almost hear the amusement in her voice.
“Let’s move out!” Prince Thor suddenly shouted and the whole train of horses began to move.
“Have you been here before, lady Sif?” You asked after you had spurred Léttfeti on to move as well.
“I have, but then we went to the mountains to visit the royal family. It’s the same road as we’re taking now, only difference is that we’re stopping at prince Frey’s residence and not venture any further.” She then looked at you with a warm smile. “You may call me Sif if you like, Svinnr.” You really were on a role with all the nobles granting you certain privileges.
“I’d like that, my lady. I mean, Sif.” You tried to hide your embarrassment by chuckling and you were happy to see that Sif was smiling too. “So you have met the royal family of Alfheim?”
“Oh yes. Nuvian Faelamin, the king of Alfheim, is simply royalty in the flesh. He always has his head held high and walks so graciously that you would think he’s floating over the floor. His wife is from Nifflheim. Don’t ask how their marriage got arranged, because I don’t know and the rest of the nine don’t seem to understand the union either. Móðguðr is a giantess with tattoos all over her body. She paints the half of her face blue most of the time, which is some sort of tradition on Nifflheim. Their four children are as different as night and day. Malon is the eldest. She will probably join us on the hunt, given that she has quite the talent for it. Where her father is the face of royalty, she is the face of freedom. She has her own estate that’s populated by women only. I belief she had her inspiration taken from the Valkyries of Asgard. Then there is Tassarion. He’s the court’s favourite, but don’t let that fool you. He’s as thick as a bilgesnipe and as treacherous as a Margygur. Then there is Arlayna who’s head is filled with dreams of having the greatest collection of dresses and jewellery the nine have ever seen. Olavaris is the youngest and just likes to play and steal tarts from the kitchens.” That was a lot and you were stunned by her carefree way of speaking. Sif was of noble birth, so she could permit herself some form of carelessness, but surely not when speaking of a royal family?
“Will all of them be present at the feast?” You asked.
“I’m not sure. Olavaris might be too young to attend and his mother might stay behind with him, but the others would probably be there.”
“Well there goes the change to meet someone from Nifflheim.” You thought with a grimace.
“And the places we’re going to stay at? What are they like?” Sif gave you a mischievous look as her mouth twitched up into a smirk.
“That is for you to find out, of course.”
You shifted in the saddle for perhaps the fourth time. You had been travelling for hours and the beautiful rolling hills that had you in awe when you had first arrived, were now frustrating you. They truly were stretching as far as the eye could see given that the sight before you hadn’t changed one bit in all the time the horses had strutted forward. You wondered if perhaps some evil wizard had laid a curse on the land, but then you shook your head in disbelief. Maybe you were simply going mad. It was incredibly hot which made your shirt and trousers cling to your body, you were bored ever since Sif was called over by lord Volstagg to ride beside him and none of Egil’s lessons had prepared you for the horrible raw feeling of your bum being in the saddle for hours.
You shifted once more to relief some of the pain, but you knew it was futile. If you were able to distract yourself it wouldn’t be as bad, but given that the scenery had been the same for hours you had nothing to distract you with. You had thought about grabbing the notebook you had bought with some of the money you had gotten from your second pay check, to sketch some of the birds you saw, but you were afraid that Léttfeti might stray from the group without you knowing about it until it was already too late. You had tried to focus on the soft thudding of Léttfeti’s feet on the dirt road between the green fields, but that only seemed to lull you to sleep which was even more dangerous than the distraction of the notebook.
So here you were, reeking of sweat, bored to pieces and with increasing pain in your bum. You hadn’t even noticed one of the nobles nudging his horse to ride closer to you, nor the looks his friends were giving him.
“I’m happy to see that a Valkyrie has chosen to accompany us on this journey.” The man said with a puffed up chest as he rode elegantly on his beautiful steed. He however, looked anything but elegant or beautiful. His clothes were ill-fitting and seemed rather worn out, his hair was greasy and his face had scars from pox or something alike. The worst thing about him though was his tactless flirting. It had been obvious as soon as he approached you what his intentions were.
“I’m sorry, my lord. I think you have someone else in mind given that I am in no way a Valkyrie.” The man faked his surprise at hearing your words.
“Well forgive me for thinking so, my lady, but your beauty is out of this world so I thought I might have died and you were here to bring me to Valhalla.” You couldn’t help but cringe. This must have been the worst line a man had ever used on you. He was also much older than you which made it even more perverted.
“The lady is not interested, Hunbogi. I suggest you keep your impressive ways of wooing a woman for the feast.” A cold voice spoke and you immediately knew who the owner of it was. Hunbogi looked horrified as the colour drained out of his face as he bowed for the prince before nudging his horse to join his group of friends.
“Thank you for saving me, my prince.” You told prince Loki with a smile which he returned in a barely detectable twitch of his lips.
“How are you liking Alfheim so far?” You shifted once more in the saddle.
“I didn’t expect it to be so hot.” That made him chuckle.
“You grew up on Vanaheim, Svinnr.” He said while shaking his head in disbelief. He was right of course. The temperature on Vanaheim was always fluctuating between warm and hot, so you should be used to this kind of heat. Yet it felt different, as if this hot weather was somehow unbearable compared to the one from your homeland.
“Do you know where we are exactly, my prince?”
“Grænir Reitir. The ever green fields.”
“Yes, well, they sure seem to go on forever.” When prince Loki laughed almost all the heads of the travel party turned your way as if they had never heard him do so before. But by the look of their horror-struck and confused faces, that might very well be true. After all prince Loki was feared by all and seeing someone who is supposedly evil and mad doing something so mundane didn’t make any sense at all. An involuntary pang shot through your chest when you saw the prince become aware of the stares and then turned stoic again.
“These are holy fields.” He explained with joy absent from his voice. “They’re probably fertile, but no one is allowed to farm on them given that so many lost their lives here millennia ago due to a battle that lasted exactly one hundred days. This was in the time when Ljósálfheim was at war with itself, because two powerful families had the same ambition: winning the throne.”
“What happened?” You couldn’t help yourself but ask. You had never heard of such a battle and you desperately wanted to know more. The prince didn’t seem to be offended by your prying as the corners of his lips twitched upwards once more.
“Well, in the beginning the two families deceived each other constantly. The Erbella family was older and noble many years before the Faelamin’s, who had pretty much bought their way into nobility. With their wealth the Faelamin’s managed to climb the social ladder all the way up to the top. They made it difficult for other nobles by enforcing various laws that were not in their favour, for example placing a heavier tax on them. The Erbella’s quickly found support among other high born families to make it difficult for the Faelamin’s instead. This went on for many years until one day the Erbella family managed to kill the brother of the current head of the Faelamin family. They had tried to kill him too, but he managed to escape and with his survival he managed to get the support of the people who turned against the other family all at once. The Erbella family was destroyed. The remaining members who were far removed cousins of the core family were banished and all their possessions were confiscated.” Prince Loki explained.
“The last stand of the Erbella’s took place here, when all the distant cousins had managed to raise an army. They believed they would be offered support from some of the noble families that had lost a great deal when the Faelamin’s had gotten the upper hand, but alas, most of them had already declared themselves loyal to the house of Faelamin and others were planning on doing so in the near future. They all found their deaths on these grounds and as a reminder of the absolute power of the royal family, these fields are to remain uncultivated for all eternity.”
“How long was this ago?”
“Oh, many, many years ago, little one.” He leaned closer to you, so that he could whisper for only you to hear. “They say that if you listen closely, you can still hear the wailing, screaming and whimpering of the soldiers who found their graves here.” A shiver went down your spine as you listened closely. You focused your gaze on the fields and when a breeze fanned over your face, you heard them. It was faint, but you were sure you heard a piercing scream and some whimpering in the distance. You shrieked and nearly jumped out of the saddle when you felt a hand on your back. Prince Loki laughed loudly and you quickly felt your cheeks redden with embarrassment as all the others had turned their heads once again to look at you. How foolish you had been to listen to anything the trickster had said.
“Brother!” Prince Thor suddenly roared as he trotted his horse closer. “What did you do?” He all but hissed. Prince Loki’s smile had disappeared as soon as Thor had yelled and he looked absolutely murderous as he glared at the crown prince.
“Nothing.” He spat as he nudged his horse to leave your side and gallop to the front of the party. Prince Thor sighed and closed his eyes for a second before turning his head to glare at the people who had stopped their horses and were looking at the two of you with confused, angry and scared faces.
“Did I give the order for you to halt?” He said with clear authority in his voice and everyone quickly nudged their horses to move along again. Thor sighed once more and rubbed a hand against his forehead.
“I’m sorry, girl. Loki, he’s …. Well it’s no secret that my brother loves his tricks.” Prince Thor said and he actually looked sorry.
“It’s… alright, my prince. Besides, it’s not your fault. I was the one who was foolish enough to be tricked as easily as that.” You chuckled a bit nervously to lessen the tension. The crown prince gave you a warm smile as he patted your back soothingly.
“Well, know that I won’t stand for him using you for sport.” Your cheeks reddened even more. That sounded every bit as wrong as the twisted prince himself.
“Thank you, my prince.” You managed to get out. Prince Thor gave you another warm smile and was about to leave, but that didn’t really sit right with you. Afterall prince Loki hadn’t really done anything bad.
“My prince?” Prince Thor turned his head again to look at you. “It was harmless really. Prince Loki hasn’t done anything wrong.” Prince Thor looked very much as confused as you felt, before he gave you a firm nod and trotted his horse back to the front.
As soon as he was far enough away from you, you let out a deep breath. You had just defended the trickster, the dark prince, the silver tongue, the mad son of Odin! And you did so against his own brother, the crown prince of Asgard. Yet if felt right given that he truly hadn’t done anything bad.
“Maybe”, You thought, “Maybe, the evil one isn’t as evil as everyone thinks.”