16 - A Disappointment

I peered around the room and counted five wolves. Five, was this a joke? I looked at Vidar and was just about to pull his arm to stop him and ask about it, when I met the eyes of my lover, Tyr. One look and he told me to wait, this was not the time to start a fight.

He was right. We had many things to discuss, but I was the only one who had encountered Bjarke, and knew what we were up against. So I decided to start a small conversation with the wolf who was holding my hand again. "When you entered the woods, when you came looking for me, could you feel his magic?"

"Like a foul stench in the air," he said, and his words calmed me a little.

"So you understand why we asked you to come here?" Tyr asked, joining the conversation as he walked up by my side.

"I do," the taller one sighed, looking somewhat bored, but I knew he was just acting hard to please.

One thing that I loved so much about Tyr, was his way of reading people. It took him one glance at Vidar and he instantly knew what kind of person he was. "Let's take this talk to a calmer place?" he offered and guided us to a table in a more secluded area of the main hall.

"Neither you or my maður needs to worry, the seven of us will be enough." He leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms before his bare chest. "Your warriors can focus on protecting the village in the meantime."

"Protecting it from what?" Tyr asked with a frown. "He's alone. Right, Love?" He asked me and raised an eyebrow.

"I believe he is," I said but knew what Vidar was referring to, "but it seems like he can controle living beings. I found dead birds, Tyr, and by the looks of them he didn't kill them, but made them take their own lives."

At that, Tyr rose to his feet so suddenly that his chair fell backwards and its back hit the floor, creating a loud thack which made everyone stop talking and turned to look at us.

Realising all eyes were on him, he calmed himself. Then raised the chair back up and sat himself down, leaning forward on the table to catch Vidar's eyes and whispered through his teeth, "so, if you are in your wolf-form, can he take similar controle over you?" His hand moved towards mine and he held it tightly as he turned to look at me. "Freke, is that what happened to you when you were away all those weeks?"

I could feel a wave of worry wash over me, but the feeling was not mine. It was Vidar's. "We need to talk," he hissed, narrowing his eyes at me.

"Yes, you do," Tyr agreed, "but you can do it now, here with me."

I saw the suppressed anger in Vidar's eyes and I knew how much he disliked speaking about our magic and our ways around their kind. But Tyr was not any other human, and I needed Vidar to understand that. "Vidar, Tyr needs to know these things to help us." I winked at the blond man, "but I think he already knows most of it anyway."

Tyr nodded, "Vidar, we grew up together. Freke learned their magic while I stood by their side trying to wield a sword." He turned and winked back at me, "but instead I just stood there transfixed and admired you," he snickered.

These words seemed to affect Vidar in a way, "yes, I forgot how close you two really are. Or actually, I had no idea." He added and peered at me, as if to make me feel guilty about not mentioning my relationship with Tyr.

"If it makes you feel any better, he never told me about you either," Tyr chuckled and grabbed one of the mugs of beer that the servants offered us.

"Why?" Vidar asked curiously and glanced at me.

"I felt as if the two worlds I was living in couldn't be combined. That I had to separate them from each other," I explained warely.

"But?" my maður asked.

"But I was wrong, we're stronger together."

"Yes, and now we're here. But only until this matter is solved," Vidar muttered restlessly, "and then I have to take Freke with me to our home for a while," he added and met Tyr's eyes. "There's a lot to solve and take care of after their mother's death."

I could hear Tyr gasp for air and rise to his feet, instantly grabbing me and pulling me up into his embrace. "Your mother died? I'm so sorry, min skatt, so sorry," he whispered against my hair.

"I just found out," I told him and sighed deeply. I felt empty. I had cried so much already and I needed time to process my loss.

"I know we have a lot of work to do," he said, placing both his palms on each of my cheeks, "but I will always have time for you if you need me."

"I know," I said with a smile and tiptoed to give him a gentle kiss. "Thank you."

I could hear a disapproving grunt from the table, but nothing more. And before we had a chance to discuss anything further, our table was joined by Ivar, Liv, Dag, and a wolf I knew was my distant cousin. But my brother was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is Calder?" I turned to ask Vidar.

My maður sighed and placed a hand on my shoulder to calm me, "he wanted to stay and look after the rest of the pack while I'm gone."

And that's when I knew why he wanted us to finish up quickly and travel home together. He feared that Calder would try to take his place as leader of our pack.

"I see," I muttered, knowing far too well what kind of a person my brother was. Which also was the reason why Vidar was the successor after my mother's passing. My mother had favoured him before her own son, and even if it wasn't her choice to make, I was sure that the pack had listened to her and followed her advice, electing him as alpha. "Did he challenge you?"

"No, he knows he's not strong enough."

I rubbed my forehead with the tips of my fingers and shook my head. "I love my brother, but he always acts before he thinks."

Vidar agreed, "he would have been a good asset here in this fight."

I peered at the other wolf who sat with his head low and avoided my gaze until I addressed him. "You and I are cousins, right?"

"We are," the youngling said, giving me a quick eyeover.

"Arvid's my apprentice," Vidar explained and my eyes widened as I studied the young wolf, who was merely a pup. Arvid's eyes were moving nervously back and forth between everyone, unsure of human customs, for sure. This place must be overwhelming for him in comparison to our calm forest. I felt bad for him when he tried to hide behind the thick fringe of hair. It had the same colour as fire, hiding his pale skin, which was covered in freckles, and his eyes that were a pale green.

"Welcome to Skal, Arvid," I said, and offered him a smile. He was just about to smile back at me when Ivar reached for a mug of mead and the skittish young wolf jumped in his seat and almost fell off the chair.

I did my best to hide a chuckle as Ivar tried to calm the boy by placing a hand, which was meant to be comforting, on his shoulder. But as a result I could hear Arvid's panicking heartbeat inside his chest.

"He'll get used to it in a few days' time," Vidar mumbled beside me and I reached for his hand under the table, suddenly craving his touch. As our fingers intertwined I noticed his body relaxing within seconds.

"Isn't it time we talk about the important things?" Liv sighed and stared at Tyr, as if she held some sort of grudge with him.

"Yes, so please be quiet," Tyr responded harshly and pointed daggers at her, making me wonder what had happened while I was in the woods with Vidar.

Tyr cleared his throat and turned towards Vidar, choosing to speak directly to him. "When we first arrived at this town, everything seemed well, but after a few weeks we noticed the crops starting to rot and there was no natural explanation for it."

"Some thought the gods were unhappy," Ivar added and Tyr agreed.

"Yes, that's why we made offerings and other things to please them."

"But nothing helped?" Vidar asked, and I knew this was my cue.

"I spoke to the spirits and they told me to cleanse the land. We placed images of the gods around the village and it helped a little. But not enough."

"That's when Freke left." Tyr sighed and licked his lips, "and we had no idea what was going on with them until they suddenly returned," Tyr paused and I could clearly see the pain it caused him as he spoke of it. And one look at Vidar told me that he saw the same thing. "When Freke came back they were a different person. They spoke in riddles and were not acting as themself."

After hearing that Vidar grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the table, casting a glance at Tyr as we passed him, "let's talk about this in private, shall we?"