FORBIDDEN TALENTS (2 page)

“
Is my sister good to you?
”
Ragni asked.

Saeun’s smile banished the momentary surprise that flashed in her eyes.
“
Oh, yes! Baldur blessed me the day Lady Kaidlin asked me to attend her. And I love little Bjorn.
”

“
I hate to take you from her then. Or perhaps you would choose both—to remain among her ladies and become my
elskerinne
?
”

A wave of joy rolled off her and Ragni opened himself to it. It intoxicated and fizzed through his blood. Riding its crest, he let it blend with his own happiness.

Then the sharp spike of her fear slammed into him, like a blow to his belly. Reflexively he jerked away from her and closed off his Talent.

“
What?
”
he gasped.
“
What’s wrong? I thought you’d be pleased.
”

“
I am, I am. You
know
I am.
”
Saeun stared at him, daring him to deny it.

The pain quickly faded. He nodded an acknowledgment.
“
But you’re also afraid. Why?
”

She looked away. Carefully, Ragni reached out with his Talent.
Uncertainty. Longing. Love. Fear
. Dark, twisting fear.

A long minute stretched by while Ragni waited for an answer. He knew she wouldn’t lie. It wasn’t her nature. And she knew he could smell the deception behind a falsehood. He didn’t let many people know the specifics of his Talent. Saeun was one of the few. He’d learned early that others felt uncomfortable knowing he could read more than they wanted him to know, wanted anyone to know. So he shielded most people from the knowledge. And he’d learned to be patient. Most carried a tangled knot of emotions that even they couldn’t unravel easily.

The minute stretched into two. She was still half turned from him, and Ragni wished he could read her thoughts as well as her emotions. He felt her distress knotting and twisting within her.

“
Saeun.
”
He reached out to push a strand of hair away from her cheek.
“
Tell me.
”

She turned a sad, determined face toward him.
“
No.
”

He hadn’t expected flat refusal. It struck like a slap, but his years as a priest and being a son of the Kon had taught him to keep his expression still.

She lay a soft hand on his shoulder.
“
I won’t offer you insult by lying, Ragni. But I’ll not burden you with this, either. My concerns may come to nothing in the end.
”

That’s almost true, but she doesn’t believe it
.
“
Small or large, you know I’ll gladly share your troubles.
”

“
Thank you.
”
She smiled ruefully.
“
Now go. Kon Neven awaits you.
”

He didn’t want to leave it there, but she was right. Ragni nodded and threw back the covers as he stood. He scooped her underdress off the floor and handed it to her before retrieving his trews from under the bed. He watched the delicate shift ripple over her body to cover her curves and his admiration rose.
Soft and tender, but with a core of steel
. Her determination was clear even without the use of his Talent. But he could be determined, too. If Saeun wouldn’t tell him what made her so afraid, he’d find out on his own. He wouldn’t let her face it alone.

They parted with a light kiss that made the new distance between them more keenly felt.

Halfway down the corridor, Ragni realized she’d never answered his proposal.

*

Saeun paced the floor for nearly an hour after Ragni left, torn betwixt hope and fear. Ragni had asked her to be his
elskerinne
! She’d never looked for such happiness. But the scrying she’d done two days earlier now tangled her thoughts and darkened her joy. She’d tried to push it away. She should have known better; such warnings couldn’t easily be ignored. The faster you ran from them, the faster they pursued.

And now her fear had touched Ragni. She’d been a fool to think she could hide it from him, but she couldn’t tell him why she was afraid. What could she do?

There was only one person she knew she could trust, one who knew Ragni better than most.

Minutes later, Saeun’s shoulders slumped as she told Thora about her vision. The older woman shook her head as Saeun finished her tale.
“
You silly girl, you’ve been worrying yourself over nothing.
”
Her smile took the sting out of her words.

“
Over nothing? How can you say that?
”

“
Of course it’s nothing. Your visions see little more than a day ahead. It’s been twice that and more and you’re still here and safe and beloved by Father Ragnar. Your vision was either false or something turned it aside. You needn’t cling to your fear any longer.
”

Saeun shook her head.
“
No, you don’t understand. I used a different ritual than before. Why would I look only a day into the future? What good would that do me? I invoked a Far Scrying. I tried to open a window beyond tomorrow, into next year.
”

Thora’s indulgent, mildly mocking smile dissolved.
“
Oh, you foolish girl! I thought you’d been better taught than that! That sort of magic is dangerous. Did you have someone to stand by you, to make sure the vision didn’t swallow your mind?
”

She barely shook her head, not meeting Thora’s eyes.

“
No, of course not! You knew what you were doing was stupid.
”
Thora stood silent for several long moments, her back to Saeun.
“
You should have come to me before,
”
Thora said, crossing to the door in swift strides. She turned the iron key in the door lock with a reassuring clank, ensuring their privacy.
“
Perhaps the stones will ease your fears. You’ve had Freya’s Cup worth of luck these last six months. Surely she’ll grant you another sip.
”

Saeun raised her eyes, thankful for Thora’s practical turn of mind. She
had
been lucky, but the gods sometimes grew jealous of mortals who were too happy.
“
I shouldn’t have questioned my good fortune, or looked for more. If I hadn’t tried to scry our future I wouldn’t have seen—
”

“
Put it aside for now,
”
Thora interrupted.
“
That’s what the stones are for. To give perspective and guidance. You’ve seen something dark. Why should you fear it? We all pass through darkness as well as light in life.
”

Thora went to the back of her small chamber. It was a sign of her standing that, though a servant, she had a room to herself. She opened a cabinet built into the wall and moved aside the clothes lying folded there. Reaching deep inside, she pushed on the seemingly solid back until a small section slid upward. Saeun watched as Thora withdrew a small bag and a roll of leather from the space beyond, honored that the older woman would reveal her hiding place to her.

Thora kept her tools well concealed. Throwing the runestones was forbidden to women, just as Saeun’s use of magic was.

“
Here now,
”
Thora said as she knelt and spread the leather flat on the floor. Old blood stained the ragged edges of the light brown leather, inscribing a circle four hand-spans wide with the runes of the futhark. She stood and held the bag out over the leather at arms’ length.
“
What do you ask?
”

Saeun hesitated as she stood next to Thora, knotting her fingers together. She’d been present when Thora had cast the stones before, but she’d never asked their wisdom for herself. She wanted to know she could remain safe in Ragni’s arms, to be his
elskerinne
. She wanted confirmation that what she’d seen in her scrying was false, or only a short test of her will. But she couldn’t ask so directly. One didn’t demand answers of the gods.

“
As light and dark balance the Nine Worlds, so it balances mortal lives. What path must I walk between the dark and the light?
”

Thora shook the bag. The stones rattled like old bones.
“
May Baldur keep evil from us.
”
She paused to rattle the contents of the soft leather bag again.

Their clatter sounded ominous in Saeun’s ears.

“
May Odin’s sacrifice give us wisdom,
”
Thora intoned, then she shook the bag a third time and overturned it, spilling the runestones over the leather.

Eight stones landed face up within the circle of runes. Sixteen lay face down or outside the circle.
An auspicious number
, Saeun thought.

Thora knelt to peer more closely at the casting. She was silent a long time.

She’s taking too long
. Each passing moment plucked at Saeun like a barbed hook, slowly unraveling her hope. She shifted from one foot to the other and back again, but she didn’t interrupt Thora’s examination of the stones.

She’d begun gnawing on a torn fingernail when Thora finally looked up. Her face was cool and impassive, but her eyes told more than Saeun wanted to know.
She’s not smiling. The news can’t be good
.

“
It’s not all bad,
”
Thora said.

Saeun clenched her hands at her sides.
“
Tell me.
”

*

Dahleven Nevenson, heir to the Kon, stood next to his brother Ragni in the reception chamber while their father continued making polite conversation with Loloma, the Tewakwe Kikmongwi. All of the traditional courtesies had to be observed before the Tewas would begin discussing what had brought them here. Usually Dahleven appreciated the Tewakwe custom of getting reacquainted and reestablishing common ground before diving into the meat of a negotiation. Now he was anxious to get on with it. Not only was he curious to learn what could be so urgent as to bring the Tewas across the mountains on the verge of winter snows, but the sooner this business was done, the sooner he could be alone with Celia. He’d seen his betrothed far too little these last five months.

His eyes sought Celia again. She wore a long, green velvet gown, and her blond hair was braided and pinned in the popular style. She looked like any beautiful Nuvinland woman, but his knowing eye could still see the touch of Midgard on her in the way she held her head and shoulders. Her green eyes shimmered with the strange iridescence that reminded him of sunlight dancing on water, a sign of Fey-marking that only he, also Fey-marked, could see.

Six months ago the gods had summoned Celia from Midgard—that world where men talked with
“
phones
”
and traveled in flying machines but lacked even minimal Talents. Now she belonged here in Alfheim. With him.

She looked at him and her smile made his breath catch.
So beautiful
. And she was his.

Gods, he wished they were alone. He’d been away from Quartzholm most of the summer and fall; he’d barely seen Celia since she’d accepted his offer of marriage. As Neven’s heir, Dahleven needed to establish his own ties of respect and loyalty with those he would someday rule. He’d always enjoyed the time spent traveling from one holding to another, mediating disputes, working in the fields alongside the carls, but this year he’d chafed at the time spent away from Celia. He would have taken her with him, but his mother had insisted his otherworldly bride-to-be remain in Quartzholm to learn the protocol necessary to being the wife of a future Jarl.

Dahleven’s gaze roamed over Celia’s green clad curves. His hands itched with wanting to touch her, but now was not the time. He forced his attention back to the meeting. The gathering was relatively small; not even half of the reception chamber was filled.

The Tewakwe leader Loloma, dressed in finely sewn and beaded leathers, sat in an elaborately carved chair facing Neven. The three women of his delegation sat on cushioned benches to his left. Che’veyo, a shaman, stood to his right. In place of a bow or spear, the shaman carried a staff carved with twining symbols and topped with three feathers, one white, one black, one gray. Twenty warriors accompanied them, relaxed but alert. An equal number of Nuvinland guards stood along either wall of the chamber.

Dahleven shifted and resisted the urge to scratch. The messenger with the surprising news of the Tewa’s approach had reached him at an outlying holding only yesterday at midday. He’d barely made it back to Quartzholm before the Tewakwe arrived, and he’d had no chance to change into clothing appropriate to receive a delegation. He hoped the Tewas wouldn’t take it as an insult.
What in Niflheim brings them here so late in the year
?