Morgan's Fate

“Hail, Urdr. How dost thou fare this day?” It always paid to butter up Urdr by speaking in her chosen tone. The Norn appreciated it, and was far more likely to give him the information he sought without a word battle that could take days.

“I fare well, All-Father, thank you. And you?”

Grimm gritted his teeth. He’d have to endure the pleasantries to get to the root of the problem. No pun intended. “I am well, great Urdr.”

“Then come, Odin. Join us in our repast.” The redhead smiled at him and gestured for him to dismount. “Your companions are welcome to join us as well, for what we have to say may impact them as well.”

Grimm dismounted, helping Rina off Sleipnir. “I fail to see how my horse will affect the outcome of fate, dear Urdr.”

Urdr lifted her hand to hide her smile. “Indeed, Odin. Indeed.” She bowed them beyond the curtain that led to where she and her sisters made their home by the well Urdarbrunnr, the Well of Fate. It was from there the Norns took the water they poured over the roots of Yggdrasil, keeping the World Tree green and healthy.

He’d once toyed with the idea of poisoning the well, but the knowledge of what would happen should he do so had stopped him. He shivered hard. Nothing, not even his impending death, could get him to tamper with Urdarbrunnr. The fallout would be far too great. If Grimm fell in battle with Fenris, at least he would still exist in Valhalla. Some part of him would continue for eternity.

But if he poisoned Urdarbrunnr…

Well. Best not to think on that.

Urdr led them to the base of the tree, where Verdandi sat spinning. “Sister, the All-Father is here.”

Verdandi looked up with an expectant smile. “Odin, Rindr. Nice to see you again.” She glanced behind them and frowned at Urdr. “Where’s Sleipnir?”

Urdr’s welcoming smile faded. “He bides beyond the veil to our home, sister.”

“Oh.” Verdandi shrugged. “His loss.”

“Indeed.” Urdr sat beside her sister and adjusted her skirts. She held out a cup to Rina. “Tea, dear Rindr?”

“Thank you, Urdr.” Rina was charming Urdr the same way she did everyone else. What would have been different had he met her first? Damn Frigg and her ways. Baldur would have been Rina’s child, and the prophecy would have been completely different.

“Tea, Odin?”

Why not? It had been a long trip from Midgard to here. “Thank you, Urdr, you’re too kind.”

“What brings you to us, great Odin? What is it you seek?”

He saw no reason to beat around the bush. They would already know why he was there. “Skuld, of course.”

Verdandi muttered under her breath as Urdr scowled. “Of course. As soon as she was found, we became aware of her presence in the world.”

“Which is not what we told those idiot sons of Thor when they got here.” Verdandi snickered. “You should have seen the looks on their faces.” She batted her lashes at Odin. “Oh, whatever shall we do? The future is missing. We’re doomed.” She placed the back of her hand against her forehead, sagging dramatically before breaking out into giggles.

Odin blinked, startled. “Magni and Modi were here?” If Magnus and Morgan had come here, then the others knew the prophecy had been interpreted wrongly.

No wonder they were holding so tightly to Skuld. The woman hadn’t done any of the usual things she’d done since falling to Midgard, or she would already be his.

“Yes, they were.” Urdr sniffed disdainfully. “Great brutes they are, who seek to take Thor’s place. As if any could.” Verdandi nodded, straightening up and returning to her spinning. “The twin sons of Thor may be fated to wield Mjolnir, but they will never live up to their father’s greatness.”

Grimm nodded sadly, even though he disagreed. Thor had been one disappointment after another, but he could hardly say so to two of his greatest admirers. “I know, and I regret that my blow was the one that took him from us.”

Urdr patted his hand. “It is what it was meant to be, All-Father. Of that, we are certain.”

“What did Magni and Modi ask you, great Urdr?”

Urdr shrugged. “They wished to know the prophecy, great Odin.”

Shit. Just what he didn’t want to hear. “And you sent them away with their wish unfulfilled.”

“Indeed.” Urdr handed Rina a plate of tea cakes. “But we know why you are here. You wish to know why Skuld has lost her memories.”

Verdandi snorted. “Of course he does, because he’s not stupid.”

Urdr scowled at her sister before smiling once more at Grimm. “Skuld sought to change that which will be, and in doing so angered the one who placed us in guardianship over the Well of Fate. Her punishment was to lose that which she most treasured.”

“And that would be?” Odin bit into a surprisingly tasty cake. “This is good.”

“Thanks. I got the recipe off of Martha Stewart’s website.”

“Sister, please.”

Verdandi rolled her eyes. “Fine, fine. Keep thee-ing and thou-ing them to death, I have a life to spin. Pain in my ass.”

“Skuld lost her future.”

Odin choked on the sweet treat. “What?”

Urdr nodded. “She lost that which made her what she is. In tampering with fate, she was lost to it herself.”

“She’s mortal? For real?” Oh, that would be sweet, poetic justice. Odin was certain he knew exactly which prophecy she’d tampered with. The knowledge that she was paying for such a gross abuse of power was sweeter than the cake on his tongue.

“No, not mortal. But…lessened. She shall never again sit beneath the branches of Yggdrasil and sip the cool waters of the well. She has changed her fate by tampering with yours, and the price she pays now is greater than you could possibly imagine.”

Above them, Yggdrasil trembled.

Grimm eyed the swaying of the World Tree’s branches with some misgiving. It was a sign of Ragnarrok that the tree itself moved. “So Tyr can’t find out the true prophecy?” Of course, neither could Grimm, but that was beside the point.

“He can, if she remembers who and what she once was.” Verdandi looked at the life thread she’d spun and frowned. She picked up a pair of shears and snipped the thread, ending the life, a job that had once belonged to Skuld. “If that happens, she’ll be able to interpret the prophecy for them, or at least most of it.” She glanced up at him from under her lashes. “If that happens, they’ll know everything you do.”

Grimm growled. “Then she must die.”

Rina laid her hand on his arm, stilling him. “Why did you want Sleipnir here?”

Good question. They’d been rather upset not to see his horse. “Yes, why?”

“Because what was lost shall once again be found, and when it is, the next step of the prophecy will be fulfilled.”

“And Sleipnir is tied to this somehow?”

Urdr giggled behind her hand. “Intimately.”

“Really?” He’d have to keep a closer eye on his horse. The beast was smarter than most, but had none of the shape-shifting abilities that Loki’s other children had. And he wasn’t spoken of at all in Ragnarrok, while both Jormungandr and Fenris, his half-brothers, were. “Now, isn’t that interesting.”

Sleipnir would be watched. If the last of Loki’s children was going to betray him, then Odin would find a way to do without his services. Permanently.

“How will he be tied to the prophecy?” Rina, bless her heart, had kept her head, asking the question he should have.

“The Guardian shall slay the Trickster.” Urdr ignored Verdandi’s scowl.