Giants of the Frost by Kim Wilkins Read Free Book Online Page B

his whiskers scratching the callused skin of his palm. Books would be useful, but Loki was unpredictable. His cousin, who lived halfway to Odin's hall, was both part of the Aesir family and a volatile outsider. Vidar couldn't foretell which precarious course his plans might take if he renewed contact with Loki.
    "Why are you so interested in Midgard?" Aud said, leaning forward to slip her shoes on. A late glimmer of sun caught her pale cheek and her skin looked very soft.
    "It's full of beauty," he said, thinking of Halla.
    "It's full of mortals," she countered. "They're exhausting. They move too fast and worry too much."
    "They only have short lives to fill." Vidar was achingly aware of how short.
    "Do you want to go there?"
    "I've been there." He frowned. "A long time ago now."
    "And did you like it?"
    "Yes."
    She shook her head as she straightened. "I don't want to go there. I don't think it's so special." Her dismissiveness irritated him, as though she were maligning Halla herself. "Are you not interested in anywhere other than where you are, Aud?"
    Her dark eyes flicked downward and he immediately regretted his words.
    "I'm sorry," he said, gently touching her hand. "My mouth moved before my mind." Aud was already turning away. "I've troubled you long enough. I'll head home." He watched her go, guilt sour in his throat. Aud was a princess of the Vanir family, longtime rivals of his own family. She had been sentenced to one thousand years of servitude to the Aesir for a crime she had committed in her own land of Vanaheim. Her high birth was complemented by her seidhr, the women's magic she had been forbidden from using while in service.
    For one who had fallen so low, Aud was unshakeable in her acceptance of her lot. Vidar had met her five years ago, on a rare visit to Valaskjálf, where she had just commenced her service in Odin's hall. His father was working her to exhaustion, inventing disgusting tasks to humiliate her, and encouraging the other men to make veiled sexual threats. Stone-faced, she had endured it all. Vidar had taken pity on her and asked his father if he could take her into service. Odin had many servants, Vidar had none, so he agreed. The usual argument had ensued.
    "Why must you live so far away in such poor conditions? When will you return to Valaskjálf and live with the rest of us?" Odin had demanded.
    "I prefer my simple life. I'm happy living at Gammaldal," Vidar replied. He couldn't live with his cruel, decadent family. He couldn't live in the company of the terrifying bully who was his father. He couldn't live with the million shining objects, the rich meals and the endless revelry. He had packed up Aud and taken her away. Was that the last time he had spoken with Odin? Five years was not such a long time. If he were fortunate, Odin wouldn't summon him again for another fifty.
    It had taken Aud three weeks before she relaxed in Vidar's company, before she finally understood that his gentle treatment of her was not the setup for a cruel joke. He never asked what crime she committed, but she had made mention of leaving behind an infant son: Vidar didn't probe too deeply. It was already obvious that she had fallen in love with him, and he had no desire to encourage a mutual intimacy. His heart belonged elsewhere—on the other side of the mists and colored lights of Bifrost. Birds fluttered past overhead, the dappled sunlight warm on their wings. Vidar slid the Midgard book back into his pouch and tried a sentence in English. "Halla, do you remember me?" But of course her name would no longer be Halla. He would have to return to the seeing-water to discover her new name. And he wasn't allowed to ask her outright if she remembered him. The conditions had been quite specific: she would return to Midgard, but he was not to remind her of their shared past until she had fallen in love with him again, and if she didn't fall in love with him, then he had no business interfering in her life. And to woo