CHAPTER 9 - BEREFT

Hela sighed in exasperation. "How should he know how Skadi is, Father? She's in Asgard, and Ullr is here. With me," she added pointedly.

Ullr ran his hands through his hair. "Greetings, Bringer of Discord," he said to Loki. "And what brings you here this fine day?"

"Well, I bring you tales of Asgard, God of Snow. Rumor has it that Skadi has burned your belongings in the city square."

Uller's jaw dropped open. "What?" he sputtered.

For Skadi was Ullr's wife, goddess of winter and the hunt, and a giantess at that. She had disposed of her first husband Njord by

divorce, and it now appeared that getting rid of another might be in her future. Or would it?

"Actually, I'm joking," Loki chuckled, sitting down and putting his feet up on a nearby ottoman. "She didn't burn anything because she doesn't know anything. I, of course, could enlighten her upon my return to Asgard but suspect you would want to personally fill her in on how you've been fooling around with my daughter."

Hela strode over to him, knocking his feet off the ottoman with a well-placed kick. "It's none of your business, Father. All you do is meddle and pick! Leave Ullr alone, and leave me alone. Get out of here."

"Is that a royal command, my disobedient child? Just like Odin's command that you cool your heels here in this dank pit for the rest of your unhappy days instead of gallivanting around the land of Man with your – " Loki's nose wrinkled with distaste - " - boyfriend?"

"Don't forget that you are one of the biggest philanderers in the Nine Worlds, Father," Hela hissed. "It makes my head hurt to think of how many unknown brothers and sisters I have drifting around Jotunheim and Midgard."

"Despite the pot calling the kettle black, I have news for the both of you," said Loki in his most annoying tone. "Ullr, your exile in this dark realm is at an end. Allfather Odin has forgiven you and wants you to come back – home," he added, archly.

Neither Ullr nor Hela said a word. Inside, the queen of death felt her fragile heart shatter.

For the first time in her life she fainted, and fell to the floor of her luxurious palace.

Hela's hatred of Odin increase a thousandfold after Ullr packed his meager belongings and headed through Modgud's gate back to the land of those who draw air.

Their parting was heartbreaking. Hela thought she would die. Ullr swore he would return to her once he told Skadi.

Did he mean it? Hela didn't know. She hoped so, but was used to being lied to by the men in her life. Namely, her father. She had been so enraged by his cowardly treachery that she had bounced a vase off his horned helmet with every ounce of strength in her thin body. She dreamt about killing him slowly enough for her to enjoy it. This was unlike her, and troubled her heart. Not that she had much heart left to trouble.

The joy had left her life, and she felt a great deal like the depressed and deformed child who arrived in Niflheim years ago.

Funny, how a little happiness could fool a woman into thinking she was alive, and vibrant, and worthy of love. Hela felt the pain of separation from Ullr as sharply as an addict suffers from withdrawal. Ullr was her kind connection to the world and was the only soul she would ever trust. She cried and cried until her eyes were swollen shut.

She sat on her throne as she usually did, listless and disinterested. Her old depression settled on her like a suffocating layer of fog. She ate so little her servants were afraid that she would starve to death. She slept even less, lying awake hugging the bedclothing which still smelled like Ullr. She wondered what he was doing, thinking, saying. And what of Skadi?

Hela did not know the winter goddess, as she had arrived in Asgard after her exile. Skadi's father Thiassi the giant had been slain by the Aesir and she traveled to Asgard demanding recompense. Instead, the hardy woman was given her choice of husbands, but was only allowed to look at their feet. She wanted Baldur; she ended up instead with tired old Njord. It wasn't long before she got rid of him and landed Ullr instead.

Imagine that stupid woman, forswearing her vengeance for a man!

Hela couldn't help but smile at her own hypocrisy as she was entirely willing to toss away everything she owned, everything she commanded, and all of her powers in exchange for the love of her winter god.

She sat on her throne day after day in a trance almost like sleep, dreaming of living with Ullr in Asgard. Such thoughts were not healthy for her because she knew full well that a death goddess was not meant to dream; not meant to be happy; not meant to love anyone.

Ultimately, Hela stopped getting out of bed.

Once again, Ratatoskr sent chattering word to the daylight world about Niflheim's grinding halt.

Once again Loki was sent down to the land of the dead at Odin's behest to set things right.

"Arise and greet the day, daughter mine!" Loki sang as he entered her chambers, stripping the blanket from her thin frame.

"If you were close enough to touch, I would strike you dead, Trickster," she answered, her mouth full of pillow and refusing to move. She shrieked as he grabbed her ankles and dragged her out of bed. She hit the floor rather hard.

"Get out of here! Leave me alone!" Hela shrieked.

"Not until you get up and have me fed," Loki replied, helping her up and covering her shoulders with the upended blanket as she was beginning to shiver. "I have news, my dear. Now, won't you see me to the dining hall?"

Once the trickster had devoured more than his share of meat and bread, he looked up at Hela's face.

"You look terrible."

"And I love you too, Father. It's such a pleasure to watch you gobble like a boar in a cornfield. What do you want?"

"Two things," Loki said, sitting up smartly and wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "First, it seems that Ullr has come to some sort of arrangement with both Odin and Skadi. Since the Midgardians in Greenland were complaining about their land freezing over, Odin has decided to have Ullr spend the time from the spring to the autumnal equinox down here in Niflheim."

Hela's goblet clanged to the floor.

"Oh dear," Loki remarked, dabbing at his clothing. "You've gotten my cloak wet." Within seconds, his daughter was in his arms, weeping so hard with joy that within moments his shoulder was just as saturated as his cloak. He blinked hard, remembering how she had cried in his arms before she was consigned to this gloomy place.

"There, there," Loki said, rubbing her on the back. "You really should eat something," he added, straightening her up. "I can feel every bone in your spine. Anyway, I don't know how long it will last, but he will be here within the month. I think Skadi is a fool but then again I always did."

It took Hela several moments to catch her breath and regain her composure. "She never cared much for you either, from what I hear," she responded, wiping her streaming eyes.

Loki laughed out loud. "You should have heard the names she called you, my dear! She said she wished she had you up in Asgard so she could snap your skinny arms and tear out the rest of your hair."

Hela frowned, troubled by Skadi's reference to her unpleasant appearance. "If she tried, I would strike her dead."

"But then she'd be down here to bother you both."

"Not if I sent her to Nastrond," Hela replied, every inch the icy queen of death, even sitting in her nightgown.

"You make me shudder, girl," Loki said. "Well. So much for your love life. I have more news yet. I have designs on Baldur. He is Allfather Odin's favorite and I'm sure his death would cut the old man to the quick. Now, here is where you come in, child – "

Both put their heads together as Hela listened to her father's plot. Odin had done nothing but harm her ever since he became aware of her existence. He had destroyed her life. He had even taken her Ullr away.

He would pay. Yes indeed. Odin and his son Baldur the Beautiful would pay.

Hela Half-Rotted didn't care. At least she would have Ullr with her once again.