Curse Of Blood: Gods & Monsters

Chapter LV (Part II)⎮Heida

Notwithstanding the asseverations of his sons, there appeared no sign that Roth had moved this way. Heida stood some moments scanning the massy hills for any hint of his whereabouts. If his purpose had been to head into the woods, to his hellir, then he would indeed had been visible to the boys from Brenna's cottage, as they'd declared. But it was not yet time to flee into the weald; not till the morrow. What could be his business there now?

Freki, meanwhile, was wriggling too violently for her to maintain a gentle hold on him, and so she released him to amuse himself with Váli and Finn as she took one last longing look for their father. She realized, at last, how long she'd stood on the rise when Aila appeared silently beside her, having herself just come from the völvur cottage.

"He's in the woods," said Heida. "But why so soon, Mother?"

"Perhaps he feels what we feel: something threatening in the air..."

Heida gave a shiver. Whatever the presage encircling the sun, like an ominous glow, she knew that tonight it would imbrue the moon with blood; with death. Just as Brenna had foretold to Katla. It spoke of imminent death. Perhaps not tonight, but certainly tomorrow. They could all feel it. But what horrors the morrow would bring was known only by the Nornir. There was nothing for it but to live for today.

"Come, boys." Aila ushered the children to her side and bade them follow her to the hall. But to Heida she said, "Not you, daughter. Stay and share your happy news with your husband; you can join us anon." She appeared to want to say something more but thought better of it and shook her head with a ruined smile. "I love you, Heida. Remember that always."

"And I you, mother." Heida turned to face her mother fully, her brow contracted as she enfolded Aila in a tight embrace. "But why do I feel as though you're saying farewell."

"My heart misgives me..."

"What is it, Mother?"

Aila wiped her eyes dry and planted her hands at Heida's midriff. "My heart misgives me I might never see the babe grow to womanhood."

"Do not speak of such terrible—"

"No, you are right. We'll say nothing more of these morbid thoughts." Her smile she lifted as best she could. "What shall you name her?"

Without hesitation or forethought, Heida gave her answer. "Laila. After her grandparents."

The answer, uttered with such loving conviction, was too much for Aila to bear with dried cheeks, for the water burst anew from her eyes and she replied that it was mead the child should be named so. It was a good name.

"I want Laila," Heida went on, "to be as strong and wise as her grandmama; and as clever as her grandsire."

"Cunning as her grandsire, you mean." And the women laughed together until Freki plaintively declared his hunger again.

Heida watched as her mother and the boys repaired to the longhouse, followed closely by Váli their ever watchful shadow. For her part, she did as Aila advised and awaited her husband — for husband he was in all but name — at the edge of the woods.

At length her patience was rewarded and he came, his head bent thoughtfully as he emerged from the shadows. The wind, choosing that moment exactly, rose and pressed her gown flush against her back as if urging her to run to him. Wolf that he was, Roth's head snapped up instantly, her scent carried to him swiftly by the playful wind.

With the eager breeze spurring her on, she rushed down the hillside and threw herself into his open arms.

"Have I been gone so long?" He chuckled, clearly relishing her assiduities, for she planted kiss after lively kiss over every inch of his beaming face.

"You have been gone an age, and my heart grew sick with waiting."

"And do you love me that much?" His smile implied that he knew very well what the answer might be.

"Over head and ears am I in love with you, Roth. But tell me" — she glanced behind him into the darkly wooded shadows — "where have you been all this time?"

"I shall do better than that. I'll show you tomorrow," he replied distractedly. "Now tell me why you look so pale. What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong." She gave a teary smile, her heart swelling with joy. "Everything is perfect!"

He stilled, wiping the moisture from the corner of her eyes with a leery finger. "Why then do you cry?"

"Because I am so happy in this moment; and I fear that such felicity can not long be borne without some fatal antinomy rushing to overthrow it."

"Why speak so," he growled, hugging her fiercely to his chest. "Have not we borne our fair share of suffering already?" Without awaiting an answer, he continued, "Yes, say I. Our lives henceforward will be marked only by blessings."

She laughed as she cried, nodding gaily as she pulled his hands from her face and pressed them to her midriff. "And here is the first blessing, my love. I give you life."

For a moment his countenance remained blankly perplexed, but as he conceived of the knowing sparkle she was sure was in her gaze he stepped back and lowered his burgeoning eyes to her abdomen. Then, with a bark of laughter, he lifted her up as though she herself was a wee babe and kissed her soundly, vigorously, until her chest burned with want of air.

"Are you sure?" he finally asked, his voice only a whisper, lest the gods overhear him. "I thought you couldn't..."

"I will explain everything!" She sighed contentedly into his mouth as he brought his lips back to hers for more heartfelt kisses.

Erelong they were lying in the heather together, she on her back and Roth leaning over her to draw runes over her belly with loving fingers. "Now I understand why you felt such a sudden rush of fear and euphoria," he murmured. "I thought I knew what wanting was; but I have never yearned as I now yearn to know this child. A child in whose veins my blood runs alongside yours."

She stretched her hand up to flick a dark lock from his scarred brow. "Do you know how much I love you, Rothgar?"

"Not half so much as I love you, Heida," he countered. Still, the smile was only a shadow of what ought to have been there.

"You fear the future, my love?"

"No, to what purpose? Nothing is truly fixed; least of all futurity. Even the roots of a tree grow in unexpected directions."

"Then why does your smile fall short of your eyes?"

"Because I would rather she grow to be like her mother ... than anything like her father and brothers."

"All will be as it is meant to be," Heida replied. She tapped her lips, a silent command, and he gladly obliged her with another kiss. "Our lives henceforward will be marked only by blessings," said she, giving his own words back to him.

"Ay, would that those words were the runes of the Nornir themselves."

"Either way, we will endure. But do you know what I think?" She pressed a hand over his at her belly. "Past, Present, and Future may weave our lives as they please; but we can still choose the nature of our life threads."

He angled his head askance.

"Your threads and mine," she said, linking their fingers, "will be spun with steel. And a daughter of ours will reflect that mettle. Of that we can be sure." 

🌟This was a little bonus chapter because you all asked to "see" Heida telling Roth about the baby. you're welcome, my lovelies. Anything for you.🌟