When Brun winced at the pain, Freya lightly danced over the marks.They faded into Brun's skin and the throbbing pain faded into a dull ache.
"I will follow you faithfully all my life, and teach my children to honor you as well," Brun said as she fell to one knee and bowed her head.
"I expect nothing less," the goddess said with another tinkle of laughter before she disappeared again.
Brun stared at the space where she'd been, musing if it had all been a dream.The marks had faded from view and there was nothing to confirm her slumber hadn't spun a tale to bring her comfort.
Their lovemaking on the eve of this battle that would decide the fate of the each uisge kingdom had been defiant.They stood side by side at the head of their army, hands entangled and hearts beating in unison with excitement and dread.Brun could feel the flutter of Tor’s pulse in his wrist, and hers leapt in response.
When the kraken horde rushed into the valley like the tide over sand, she almost reared back.Their contorted visages and monstrous screams must have affected the soldiers behind them, because Tor raised a closed fist above his head and snarled, “Hold fast.”
Brun sensed the legion behind them shifting their weight restlessly from foot to foot, and heard the occasional impatient thump of a spear on the rocky ground.
“Hold,” Tor repeated as their tentacled foes moved closer, scrambling over the rocks that lay in their path.Their faces contorted as they screamed and she resisted the urge to clap her hands over her ears to ward against their paralyzing battle cry.
A steady hum rose behind her, like the sound of bees among blossoms, like the sound of the beating, inexorable heart of the ocean.The hum became a triumphant, lyrical crescendo that drowned out the kraken war cry and Brun was filled with a sense of calm even as the adrenaline rushed through her veins.
She proudly watched as her mate grimly carved a path through the enemy army, his sword like a scythe.She carved her own path, her axes nothing more than a blur as she cleaved tentacled heads from shoulders and gutted the snarling sea wolf mercenaries.
Toran had nearly reached the imperious leader, who’d remained detached from the fray instead of joining it, when the kraken leapt off the rock and charged.The charge caught Tor unaware, and the kraken was able to pin him to the ground.She propelled herself forward, her heart in her throat.
Just as Nidhogg snarled something into Tor’s face, and dipped one of his tentacles toward him with menacing intent, Brun landed at its feet.
It didn’t glance in her direction, consumed by its pursuit of Tor, and Brun crouched while its attention was diverted, thrusting her skeggox into its side.The ax head slid cleanly through flesh and bone, and sliced the torso in half.The monster’s roar of anger was cut short as the severed sections fell to the blood-soaked ground.The tentacles wavered for a moment, as if they were rebelling against death, and finally lay still.
Tor rose to his feet and cupped her face in his broad palms.“You saved my life.Again.The third time."
Brun kissed him, mindless of the blood and mud spattered over them both, or the sounds of battle that dwindled around them as the kraken army realized its leader had fallen.“No, mate, you saved mine,” she said as she bit his bottom lip.
She gripped his wrist and lowered it to her still flat stomach.“Freyja came to me last night and told me your seed has taken root and I will soon bear you a son.”
He closed his eyes, his face full of reverence, and dropped a kiss on her forehead.“I’ve known you were my true mate since our binding ceremony, but feared you would run rather than accept our bond.”
“I will run nowhere but into your arms, and together we will deal with my father’s betrayal.”
"You would fight for my cause against those you've known all your life?"
"Aye, husband.For they have given me not even a fraction of your compassion.You take me as I am, thorns and all.You care for me even when I want nothing more than to deny what lies between us and push you away."
"The prophecy rings true, Fireheart.You have saved me and this kingdom with your courage, and I will never forget it.You are my true mate in every sense of the word."
Just like the kiss they'd shared on the edges of the razed village, this one consumed them both.
When they finally let go to draw in breath, she grasped his wrist and laid his palm against her stomach."The seer told me my womb would quicken with your seed, and even now an each uisge prince or princess grows here."
He closed his eyes and dropped his forehead to hers."There is no greater gift than knowing the love I bear for you has borne fruit."
"The love you bear for me?"She hadn't dared hope the nebulous feelings she harbored were returned.
He cupped her cheek and tilted her face toward his."Aye.From the first moment you challenged me on the decks of your ship.My heart is wholly yours, my fierce Valkyrie warrior."
Epilogue
Seventeen Years Later
Thefourchildrenwereunaware that the king and queen were watching them from the window above.
Eachann and Callum raised their wooden swords and tried to glower at one another.As Sabhinion watched her thirteen-year-old brothers, she mused that her younger brother Callum's snarl was much more convincing than Eachann's.