Kneeling in the wet sand, Brandr picked up the small, abandoned infant, and clutched it to his chest. Nine months he had waited to meet his daughter, and she finally came - alone. Green eyes searching the foam, he came to resolution that the woman he waited for, Jarnsaxa, was never going to come. He had assumed as much the day she told him she was pregnant; She and her other eight sisters were the brides of Odin, and the mothers of Heimdall. 'Maidens of the Sea' they were called, and their beauty, while rarely observed by the typical Asgardian, proved to be deadly. They were the daughters of Aegir and Ran, and did not hesitate to allure foolish men to their death. Why Brandr was different, he did not know.
Brandr was nothing but a blacksmith, a poor blacksmith, one who could not afford to raise the child himself. Slowly, he stood himself up, eyes glazing over as he turned away from the sea and towards the moonlit city. Asgard had a warm, golden demeanor, but on this night, it was cold. At least for the new young father. Finally bringing himself to look down at the bundle in his arms, he gasped. Bright blue eyes stared straight up at him, from a soft round face, already graced by soft blonde fuzz. Brandr chuckled, his cheeks soaked from the moisture of his tears, both happy and sad. No, he could not raise the child himself. Besides, what if she grew to be like her mother? A seductress, a cold...creature? Bitterness planted itself in his stomach, and he grew contempt at the thought of the injustice brought upon him. Thinking, he looked to him home for the answer - contemplating the quiet rooftops, the sky full of constellations and Realms he would never see, the Bifrost he would nev-
The Bifrost.
Heimdall.
Looking again at his child, he wrapped her maroon swaddling blanket tighter around her, and made his way towards Himinbjorg, the hall of Heimdall.
He would watch his daughter become a woman with the Gods, and she would never know of the shameful union that brought her into this Realm.