THE SHE-WOLF AND THE RAVEN
Chapter 20: Wedding Ring
Once there was another Sun and another Moon; a different Sun and a different Moon from the ones we see now. Sol was the name of that Sun and Mani was the name of that Moon. But always behind Sol and Mani wolves went, a wolf behind each. The wolves caught on them at last and they devoured Sol and Mani. And then the world was in darkness and cold…
At that time, too, there were men and women in the world. But before the Sun and the Moon were devoured and before the Gods were destroyed, terrible things happened in the world. Snow fell on the four corners of the earth and kept on falling for three seasons. Winds came and blew everything away. And the people of the world who had lived on in spite of the snow and the cold and the winds fought each other, brother killing brother, until all the people were destroyed.
Also there was another earth at that time, an earth green and beautiful. But the terrible winds that blew leveled down forests and hills and dwellings. Then fire came and burnt the earth. There was darkness, for the Sun and the Moon were devoured. The Gods had met with their doom. And the time in which all these things happened was called Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods.
Then a new Sun and a new Moon appeared and went traveling through the heavens; they were more lovely than Sol and Mani, and no wolves followed behind them in chase. The earth became green and beautiful again, and in a deep forest that the fire had not burnt a woman and a man wakened up. They had been hidden there by Odin and left to sleep during Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods.
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Seth and his bride fixed their attention on the man projecting his voice throughout the busy feasting hall. The Midgardians in their festival garments quieted their rabble to listen as the man called for their attention.
Fenris fought back a yawn before turning back to stare at the much more interesting table behind him.
"Stop it," the she-wolf whispered. He grinned as he caught the wave of irritation rolling off her. He paused to admire how her dark eyes flashed and her high cheekbones flushed as she glared at him.
"Stop what?"
"You know what," she answered with a toss of her head that made her long, gold earrings jingle.
"If I knew, why would I be asking?"
He felt her high heel kick his ankle beneath the banquet table and he glanced over at her again. In her deep purple gown, draped across her exposed collarbones like iris petals, she was a vision. Her upswept black hair shone in the dim lights of the wedding feast hall and revealed the elegant curve of her neck and he leaned over to place another lingering kiss beneath her ear. She tried to maintain a disinterested smile on her face with her attention fixed straight ahead. Fenris could not permit her apathetic response. He clicked his tongue disapprovingly and kicked her back.
"Such violence does not befit this sacred ceremony, good lady," he whispered into her ear. He nodded his head in the direction of where a warrior-companion of the groom held his cup aloft and compelled the revelers' ears to drown in his barrage of tales and praises honoring the groom. Fenris, long wearied by the uneloquent speeches, had allowed his thoughts to freely wander the crowded feasting hall...and possibly plot some small ways to alleviate his boredom.
"Then stop it. You are intentionally messing with them and they are all staring at you," his lady responded.
"Much preferable to letting their greedy eyes linger on you as they were before. You are much too ravishingly beautiful for public display," he began. From beneath the table, he slipped his hand through the slit in her dress to where his dagger lay strapped to her thigh. He ran one finger across the sheath and he lowered his voice further. "I think it time we return to our lodgings and I alone am permitted to admire you," he said, but a solid kick on his ankle silenced him again.
"Stop," she hissed. Her lips twitched into the briefest hint of a smile and she failed to remove his hand as it tested the boundaries of propriety even further.
"Hmmm. How your sentiments have shifted from this dawn! I do not believe you once told me to cease my advances this morn as we woke," he whispered.
"You realize they can probably all hear you, even when you whisper," she said as her face flushed further. She gave a cautious glance at the table in question before turning to watch her brother again.
"Oh, I am counting on it," he answered and he broke into an almost predatory grin. He lifted a menacing glare across the feasting hall to the table inhabited by the strange, preternaturally still creatures with golden eyes. Their faces remained impassive, though their eyes kept drifting over to where the newly established House of Fenris colonized an entire table.
They were powerful, he could not deny it. They would doubtless prove formidable foes on a field of battle, but they were mired in a stagnant, unchanging magic which failed to generate novelty or life. Theirs was the magic of Odin's Undead Army which drank from the spirits of the living in order to grant immortal power to those meant for Valhalla.
Fenris, chilled from the wintry aura he felt settle on his senses from his perusal of these "Cold Ones," nestled himself into the exposed neck of the she-wolf. The regenerative warmth emanating from her magic thawed him from the outside in. He let the comforting tethers of their bond wash over him like the finest of heated meads after a snowstorm and it left him just as pleasantly intoxicated. He felt her amusement slowly conquer her irritation.
He turned his attention back to the motionless sets of golden eyes and watched them with unabashed curiosity.
"I can't hear him," the young one said in a low voice to the large one beside him. "And his scent- what is he?"
"Not food," the large one replied with a wrinkle of disgust.
"I've never come across a scent like it," the young one answered. He then frowned. "I can't hear any of them, not even Leah. One of them has to have some kind of shield."
His controlled expression belied the frustration beneath, but Fenris still saw it in the way his brows creased and his face darkened.
Fenris hid his smirk in Leah's hair and played with the clasp of the Asgardian necklace she wore.
"Did you put some kind of magic shield around us?" she whispered, obviously as guilty of eavesdropping as he.
"Of course. I wished for no foe to discover my location or movements so I hid you and the pups within the same enchantment that cloaked me."
She untangled him from her hair as she turned to face him, her interest piqued. "Is that why none of the pack could hear my thoughts?"
"I am unsure. It is possible."
She nodded and resumed her obviously wavering attempt to fix her attention on where the man in the wedding garb still held his cup aloft.
The young pups, freshly washed and bearing festive ribbons around their necks, had long since left the banquet hall to chase the other children on the beach outside. Sarah and Isaac whispered quietly to their uncle and eagerly partook of third helpings of cake.
Fenris sighed and wished again for the long-winded words to cease and more revels to begin. For a people so short-lived, they did not spend nearly enough time enjoying what little moments the Norns granted them.
"Why, pray tell, have they been served cake when they do not wish to partake of it?" Fenris asked as he watched the Cold Ones again. "Surely it is more hospitable to serve them sustenance they can ingest."
"No one is supposed to know they aren't human. They pretend to eat and live like everyone else."
"You jest, milady. Even I do not presume Midgardians to be so unintelligent as to fall for such an obvious charade."
The she-wolf shrugged. "I guess it works for them."
Fenris could feel the curious ears of their topic of conversation also eavesdropping. When he glanced up at them again to ensure their attention remained on him, he subtly shifted forms.
Leah stifled a surprised gasp as the hand improperly placed on her leg decreased in temperature and grew as hard as stone. She grimaced and threw the offending appendage away from her as if scalded.
"Oh no. You did not just do that," she hissed as she stared at his face in undisguised disgust.
He watched carefully as all eight Cold Ones allowed their discomposure to show on their pale faces and he gave another menacing smile through what were now sharp, venom-laced teeth. Then he shifted back to his Aesir form.
"What the hell just happened?" the big one said, his eyes wide. "Am I the only one that saw that?"
"I didn't need to see it, I smelled it," said a golden-haired creature beside him. "Whatever thing the dog brought just became like us."
"But he's back to what he was before. Look, his eyes are not black anymore and his scent changed. Dude, what is he?" the big one said.
"I don't like it," the female answered with a frown.
"Shhh. I think they can all hear you," exhorted a small female. The table fell still and silent again.
"Ugh, how do your Cold Ones manage that?" he whispered to the she-wolf with a scowl. "The burn in my throat was far worse than drinking from a Muspel Fire Geyser."
"You smelled like Pepto Bismol fermented with cotton candy," his lady answered and wrinkled her nose.
"You praise me too highly. If you wish to bask in my scent in that form further, you will have to wait until we are alone so I am not tempted to indulge myself on the wedding guests in attendance."
"That wasn't a compliment. If you ever take on that form again, I will kill you myself."
Fenris barked a laugh. "What of your famed unconditional bond, oh wolf-maid? Are you now going to institute limits on your affections? Must I develop a list of forms which will lead to my exclusion from your imprint magic?" he asked as he resumed playing with a lock of her hair. Leah groaned and he was rewarded with a light smack across his chest.
"Again, milady? Such fury is unwarranted...until we are in the privacy of our chambers."
"Brother, stop tormenting the good lady," Thor chimed in from across the table. "You are disturbing the solemnity of this occasion with your mischief."
Unfortunately, the God of Thunder did not earn his title with his capacity for subtle whispers and half the tables around them turned to glare. Fenris' answering snicker did not help.
The she-wolf sighed and leaned back in her chair in an attempt to distance herself from Fenris. Her expression clearly encouraged him to remain silent as the female companions of the bride rose to commence on more tales and sagas in honor of the bride.
Fenris rolled his eyes in disappointment as the she-wolf refused to entertain him further. He pretended to listen again, while he covertly conjured a single tiny (but very noisy) Muspel beetle dragon in his palm. He directed it properly before releasing it. Then he watched in amusement as the Cold Ones struggled to maintain their impassive expressions as they endured the insufferable sounds of the tiny dragon humming in their sensitive ears.
Fenris was no longer bored.
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"Midgardian weddings are very droll affairs," Fenris remarked as they prepared to return to their small cottage. He had long since removed his Midgardian suit jacket and piled it with Thor's tie and Leah's shoes. He gathered their discarded formalwear and made it all vanish into his storage. Thor carried the sleeping pups into his arms while Leah bade farewell to yet another set of relatives (that she pretended to remember).
"Not a single battle or weapon displayed throughout the entire feast, despite the high number of warriors present. Have you people no honor or valor among you?" Fenris asked the she-wolf as she rejoined them.
"The good Lady Jane once informed me that not even on the first celebration of a Midgardian year-cycle of a House is a battle fought our blood spilled," Thor added in obvious dismay.
Leah's mouth fell open and she shook her head. "Seriously you Space Vikings, not every occasion needs to involve violence and weapons. This is the way we do weddings."
Thor and Fenris shared aghast looks at each other.
"Your brother failed to show his new kin his battle prowess. How will they accept his protection over their daughter?" Thor asked. " And there was no ceremonial dagger."
"Yeah, no. No daggers. They gave each other rings," she said and lifted up one hand to demonstrate the jeweled bands she wore there. "Those show they are now married."
"Ah! I was most befuddled! The chief who presided spoke of the 'wedding ring' and I waited in vain for the battle to begin. It is not like our Battle Ring in the slightest," Thor said.
"Not that kind of ring" Fenris said.
"So I now see. Tell me, sister, what use is a jewel on one's finger in times of peril? Is the jewel enchanted so as to offer wards of protection?" Thor asked.
"No, it is utterly useless and merely a pretty bauble," Fenris said with a scoff. "It is of less use in danger than your filthy stockings. At least those could intimidate an enemy and instill nausea."
"Brother, surely you jest! What new bride asks for soiled stockings as weapon during their sacred ceremony?"
"You dolt. I did not suggest Midgardians should bestow soiled garments of any kind on their brides, but I was attempting to make a point-which you utterly failed to grasp."
"Do these Midgardian rings conjure foul-smelling garments?" Thor asked.
"Of course, Thor," Fenris answered with a long suffering sigh.
"You must acquire such a bauble for your wife, then, so that she has both the protection of your dagger and such a ring."
"A ring to conjure garments...it is an admirable suggestion for a shapeshifter maid, brother," Fenris answered, no longer in jest. He would need to consider how to enchant such an object in future.
"Come on, you all. Let's go," Leah said as she rolled her eyes and took Fenris' arm in her own. The rain fell in a light drizzle around them as they walked back to the cottage where Isaac and Sarah were already waiting.
"I still can't believe you challenged Edward Cullen to a duel," the she-wolf said as they reached the next street.
"Honor battle," Fenris corrected.
"Whatever."
"The coward was well-deserving of the challenge after so insulting the honor of the matriarch of an Asgardian House," Thor added.
"He did not insult my honor, or whatever that is. He simply asked what is wrong with me since he can't hear my thoughts anymore."
"Precisely. How dare the juvenile youth presume to speak to my wife in such a manner-as if you are anything other than the embodiment of pure perfection."
"You were trying to pick a fight because you were curious and bored," she responded with an arched eyebrow.
"It matters little for he failed to accept the challenge and so proved he is no honorable warrior," Fenris answered, still disappointed in the refusal.
"It's a good thing he did, too. None of you are supposed to be parading around how not-human you are."
"Why would we pretend to be what we are not?" Fenris asked with a smirk and in a blink of an eye he transformed into a frail, mortal form.
Leah punched his shoulder and he cringed. He shifted back to the dependable strength of the Aesir.
"More violence upon my person?" he asked in mock affront as he rubbed his shoulder. "We must discuss your temper."
"Ugh. Yeah. There are quite a few things we should discuss. There will definitely be words between us later," she answered.
"As long as that is all that remains between us," he responded with a wink. He tugged on her arm to pull her backwards into his chest. She rolled her eyes and conceded, slowing her pace to match his so they could walk entwined together like a vine on a trellis.
"Trouble-maker," she fondly accused.
"You wound me to the heart," he answered and placed one hand over said organ.
"Good," she answered with her own grin. "I was aiming for your heart."
She placed her hand on top of his to stop him from walking and then she stood on her tiptoes so her lips could meet his.
He allowed her to warmly kiss him for a few moments before he transformed the road under her to ice. He extended his arms to catch her as her bare feet slipped from under her. He let out a hearty laugh at her outraged squawk of protest and kissed her again before carrying her the rest of the way home in his arms.
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Author's note: Myth borrowed from Children of Odin.