Tove came to him while they were stopped, nervous to say anything. “I am sorry.”
Erik held in a breath, unsure what he was supposed to feel. He let it go all at once. “I don’t know what to say, Tove. I don’t know what any of it means. She said you’d be destroyed.”
She nodded. “And likely, you will be mocked for having tried to bring someone unwilling.” She perked up, forcing a smile. “But I intend on being worthy!”
“And if you’re not?”
The thought of it seemed to rush over her, replaced by the same forced smile. “I have you. You are amazing, Erik. You seem to know innately what you must do, even Göll has admitted it. She said she felt you more strongly. It’s proof! I will follow you and work to live as you do.”
Erik weakly worked out an exhausted laugh. “I know what to do, right. That’s pure fantasy. I just do whatever stupid thing flies into my brain.”
She punched him, more firmly than she had before. “Do not talk ill of my warchief.”
He smiled and Tove did as well, a genuine smile. She returned to the cart ahead of him, sinking back into the rear, a look of worry settling on her face. Göll said nothing when he came back to his seat. She had heard the entire conversation, he knew that much, but she only slapped the reins and let the horses begin to do their work.
As evening came on, the leaves had begun to turn to yellow and light green. It was perhaps a few hours before dark when Göll pulled the horses to a stop.
She stood and stepped down to the road below, looking up at him. “We are near enough to walk.”
chapter|18
They had walked two hours away from the road when Tove couldn’t walk well enough to continue. She was surprised when Erik offered to pick her up and carry her as long as he could manage. It was nearly dawn when his legs started to falter underneath him. The forest was thicker by far where they were than it had been by the road.
He stopped, putting Tove down near a tree. She leaned against it and Erik went to Göll who was watching the woods with cautious eyes. The terrain had turned to large hills and it was no longer a matter of simply walking along flat ground.
“Is there a reason we can’t rest?”
“No.” She answered without pulling her eyes away from the trees. “There should be no problem with a short rest.”
“What about food and water?”
She shrugged. “There is none.”
Erik took a breath, trying to maintain his patience. He’d talked to Tove for the bulk of the trip and that had done little to improve Göll’s mood, it seemed. She hadn’t said anything specific about where they were headed. “Somewhere safe” was all she had managed to offer up. It wasn’t exactly the sort of answer he wanted, but what could he do about it? Starting a fight with her would be pointless. Tove didn’t know the area, so it wasn’t as though they could abandon her either and Erik didn’t want to. Whatever Göll was, she was another sword that would be pointed at any valkyries who showed up.
“Why don’t you tell me anything?”
She kept scanning the woods, letting the question hang in the air.
He wasn’t willing to let it lie. “Seriously, why can’t I know this shit? If you’d said something at the motel, I might have known that I was supposed to stay in the room. And now we’re talking somewhere, who the fuck knows where, and I’m back to the same state. I don’t know shit and maybe I’m walking toward getting my chest split open again.” He slapped at his chest. “Again! Is that how this works? Are you even on my side?”
She spun around when the question hit her ears, her eyes locked to his. His face dropped and the anger fell out of his body when he saw her. She looked like she was holding back the weight of a mountain and that it was killing her.
“You are one of Odin’s chosen.” She choked the words through gritted teeth, her eyes crying out that they weren’t the words she wanted to say. “I have come to guide you to Valhalla.”
Erik frowned for a half second before forcing his face to straighten. He put a hand on her shoulder and the tension fell out of her muscles. The normal stoic air returned around her and she nodded at him.
“I’m sorry.” She said the words casually.
He understood well enough to guess what had happened. “I won’t ask again.”
She turned her eyes back to the woods. He started back toward Tove when she spoke, more softly than he’d ever heard. “Haki Erik Styrsson… thank you.”
He nodded without turning back and sat himself by the tree next to Tove. She looked at him.
“Why did you forgive me?”
Erik laughed for the first time in what felt like forever. “You’re not even going to lead in with anything? Just straight to that?”
She furrowed her brow. “Why are you laughing? I need to know! I’ve wronged you.”
He gave an exaggerated sigh. “When I was a kid, there was this set of cards. You were supposed to collect them, for a game. They had little pictures and I managed to collect all of them. It was the first thing I ever felt like I’d ever accomplished in my life. My mom…” He paused, not having thought of his mother in longer than he realized. “She…” He shook his head. “She threw them out one summer because she said I was spending too much time with them.
