Heartache

The next morning dawned and I went out to the barn as usual. Leif and Briar still
hadn't returned. I didn't think anything of it. Picking out just the right ring for your bride
took time. As did convincing yourself that losing your inheritance and your family's good
opinion didn't matter. But Leif would come round. I had seen the way he looked at Bella.
He truly loved her. Maybe he was composing poetry to propose to her or something.

Belle came rushing into the kitchen, looking about eagerly for her beloved. Her
shoulders slumped when she saw I was the only man in the room. Then she shook her head
and said brightly, "Oh, well. Guess he slept late or something. He'll be along by the
afternoon, no doubt."

I left her choosing fabrics for her wedding gown and went for a ride on Heror. When
I returned it was nearly time for lunch. The house was sparkling clean. Not that it usually
wasn't, but this time there was something extra there, and I suspected Ava of using her
special brand of magic to make the house shine for the betrothal that was sure to be
announced this afternoon. I changed into my favorite emerald green tunic and matching
pants with my black boots. I didn't dare sit down on the chair in the sitting room before
then, Ava would have skinned me for getting horsehair on her cushions.

While my Nis took a nap and Belle dreamed of Leif, I brooded on the best way to not
invite some of my hated relatives to the wedding. Such as Thor and Grim, for instance. Was
there a way to politely request that you and your family stay away until most of the guests
had gone home, so you didn't end up embarrassing your uncle and getting turned into a toad
for it? Maybe I could send them one formal invitation and then put a message in
it—something like ruin my daughter's wedding, and I'll make you regret it for a millennium.
Yes, that might work.

A small brown hand tapped me on the shoulder, bringing me up out of my reverie
with a start. "What is it, Ava?"

The Nis looked grave. "I got a bad feeling in my bones, Master."

"A bad feeling? What did you do, burn the leg of lamb or something? Forget to make
an extra batch of biscuits?"

"Don't make fun of me, Master Loki!" she flared. "I is serious. Something bad is
coming. I can feel it."

"Like what? A storm or something?"

"No, it's not the weather. Just . . . something bad. I don't know what."

"Ava, Ava." I shook my head. "If I had a copper penny every time you got one of
your feelings . . ."

She glared at me. "Master, please! Last time this happened, Belle was nearly eaten
by that rotten nixie."

"What? You never told me that."

"I didn't know what I was feeling then. Now I do and it's the same." She was
wringing her hands. "Something bad is coming, I just know it. My bones are shivering."

"Take it easy, Ava," I said in my most soothing tones. I'd never seen her like
this. She was really agitated and scared. "Why don't you sit down and have a cup of tea?
That always makes me feel better."

"Yes. Perhaps that might help." She hopped on the table and sat cross-legged on a
small cushion. Then she twitched a finger and a cup of tea the size of a doll's cup appeared
in front of her. She sipped it and sighed, closing her eyes.

"Better?"

"A little. But still . . .I know something awful is going to happen."

"Where? Here or somewhere else?"

She shook her head sadly. "I don't know. But it scares me."

"Take a couple of deep breaths." I instructed. "Now drink some more tea."

She obeyed, then stood up. "I feel much better now. Thank you, Master. But please
be careful."

"I will," I assured her, touched by her concern. "Maybe I ought to cook tonight."

"You most certainly will not!" she flared, insulted. "I's not so scared I can't cook
decently, no sir! No Nis ever let a bad feeling stop her from doing her duty, by the Tree and
the Bough." Pots and pans began to fly out of the cupboard and onto the stove.

I left her alone, grumbling, "What does he think I am, some flittery scatterbrained
fairy, huh? Not cook! I'll show him!"

She showed me, all right. Dinner that night would have been fit for a king. It would
have been perfect save that Leif still had not come home. Belle was growing concerned, she
kept glancing out the window every few minutes, listening for the clip clop of Briar's hooves
on the road. She picked at her dinner, and asked me if I thought something might have
happened to Leif.

"Now, don't go borrowing trouble, minx," I soothed. Guess this was the day for
calming nervous females. Maybe it was something in the air. "He probably stayed to talk
to Baldur or maybe he had to order the ring or something. I'm sure he's fine and champing
at the bit thinking about the look on your face when he walks in the door."

She gave me a grateful smile. "I'm being silly, aren't I? Just like one of those stupid
maids in a tale, who worry themselves to death thinking something bad has happened to their
man and instead he was merely delayed on the road. I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason
why he's late. By tomorrow we'll all be laughing at how crazy I was acting."

"No doubt." I helped myself to more salmon in sherry cream sauce. "Ava's outdone
herself tonight. Leif's gonna kick himself for missing out on this dinner."

She seemed to accept my explanation and stopped picking at her food and ate
heartily. But even as I ate, I felt a thin prickle of danger spear itself between my
shoulderblades. I shook my head irritably. Now I was getting as bad as Ava, letting my
imagination run away with me, jumping at shadows like a scared child.

But the next morning brought no sign of Leif. Belle was frantic, insisting something
had happened to him. "Maybe he had an accident, or maybe he got into a fight with Grim
or something."

"Grim wouldn't dare to hurt Leif now," I reminded her. "He's not a bondservant
anymore, he's my apprentice. Even Grim isn't stupid enough to tangle with me again."

"But what if he did? What if Leif's lying somewhere hurt? I think we need to go and
look for him. He would have been back now, he wouldn't have stayed away this long."

"Calm down. I'll go up to Valhalla and look for him. You stay here in case
he returns while I'm out." I was starting to get a nasty feeling about this. But I said nothing
of that to Bella, who was starting to pace up and down. If she'd been a cat, she'd have been
lashing her tail.

I didn't bother with riding Heror, simply blurred into a wolf and raced all the way
to Valhalla. During my run I extended my magical senses, searching for Leif's magical aura.
Every mage radiates his or her own personal aura, like a signature, and is recognized by
another mage with it. I had scanned Leif's aura dozens of times and even if he were hurt,
I would be able to sense it.

I found traces of his passing, but that was all.

Not good, Loki. Not good at all.

I reached the gates of Valhalla and assumed my normal shape. The guards on duty
waved me through and I went directly to the stalls where the merchants were setting up their
goods for the day. I visited several known jewelers, asking them if a young man of Leif's
description had come by to look at betrothal rings. All but one of them said no. The last
one, a jolly man with an honest countenance, said that he'd spoken to a young man who
matched that description two days ago. He'd been looking at several of his rings but hadn't
purchased any.

So Leif had been here, at least. The question was, where was he now?

I strolled up to the stables, figuring the grooms would know if Briar had been stabled
here, they always kept track of visitors' horses. Their story was the same as the jeweler's.
Yes, they'd seen Leif come here with the cheese and butter. They'd taken care of Briar for
him. But Leif had left the next morning, for Briar was no longer there.

"Did any of you happen to see which way he went? Or hear him mention a ring or
something?" I pressed, the uneasy feeling in my gut increasing.

But they all shook their heads. No one had seen him leave, nor had he seemed in any
hurry to go back where he'd come from. I thanked them and left, then went up to the hall
and spoke to Wulf, who was the head steward and the one who handled the transactions
between Valhalla and myself. But he too admitted to speaking briefly to Leif, paying him
the money for his produce, and then leaving.

"Did he happen to mention anything to you, Wulf? Like a visit to the market or
something?"

"No. Not a thing. Why? Something happen?"

I shook my head. "No. I was just curious. It's not important," I lied.

If Leif had been intending to buy Belle a ring as he'd hinted, why wouldn't he have
mentioned it to anyone? He should have been over the moon about it, like any ordinary
young man in love, and talked about it nonstop to everyone who'd listen. But instead he'd
completed his errand and left again, telling no one about his upcoming betrothal.

There could be only one reason why he hadn't mentioned it.

Because he'd never really intended to go through with it.

I felt sick. Instead of admitting he'd made a mistake and they should wait, he'd
turned shadow, as we thieves say in the business. He'd run off and left without a word,
leaving Belle waiting for a man who would never return.

I cursed and went home, dreading breaking the news to my poor daughter.

I almost wished he had met with an accident, because at least then he'd have an
excuse for abandoning my daughter like that.

At first she refused to listen to me. "No! You're wrong. Something has happened
to him, I just know it. He wouldn't just leave . . .not like that. He loves me. I'll go out
myself and search for him. Then you'll see."

"Belle . . ."

But she ignored me and blurred into falcon shape. She took off like a shot, flying in
the direction of Valhalla. I knew in my heart she would find no trace of him. He'd gone out
of our lives as quickly as he'd come.

She returned sometime close to nightfall, exhausted and disheveled, hurt and
disbelief and denial intermingled in her expressive eyes. "You were right. I called and
called . . .but he didn't answer. He's a telepath too, I know he heard me. He's gone. Gone
back to his blasted family, I'll bet. They'll all have a good laugh over the near escape he
had, almost marrying his master's half-Aesir witch daughter." She swore in several
languages. "I was such a fool."

"So was I. He fooled us both." I said bitterly. "He didn't, uh, sleep with you, did
he?" I asked uncomfortably. If he had, I'd hunt him down and drag him back here by the
scruff of his neck, I vowed.

"No. I wanted to wait until we were married." Belle admitted, tears shimmering in
her eyes. She threw herself into my arms. "I thought he loved me, I really did! But he lied.
He lied!" Then she began to cry.

I held her close, my heart aching. I cursed Leif Malasteinsson to depths of my soul.
True, he hadn't taken my daughter's virginity, but he'd done something far worse. He'd
broken her heart. And unlike the scraped knees and bruises of her childhood, this was one
wound I couldn't fix with potions or magic. All I could do was hold her and pray she'd get
over it in time.

Damn you to hell, Leif, I thought savagely. It's a good thing you aren't here right
now, because if you were I'd make what Thor did to you look like child's play. How dare
you do this to her, you miserable cowardly Vanir bastard? She's worthy twenty of you.

I would never forget this. I could only hope Belle's heart would mend in time. She
was young, she'd get over this eventually. There would be other suitors, better ones. Ones
that I'd make damn sure didn't pull a fast one on her. It could have been worse, I consoled
myself later, after she'd gone to bed. He could have broken more than just her heart. He
could have left her pregnant besides. It had happened before. To my mother, for one. Why
else had she refused to name my father?

Little did we know that he'd stolen more than Belle's heart that day. The next
morning I received a frantic summons from Thor. My deceitful apprentice had also stolen
one of our greatest treasures. Odin's sacred spear, Gungnir. The Spear of War and Death.