Erik was sure he’d misheard. “You’ll…”
“Cook,” Göll repeated. “I have been in the kitchens of Valhalla. I have seen Andhrímnir do his work.”
“Well, that’s… good? I’ll eat whatever you make. Happily.” He smiled at Göll and she nodded, turning to start her work.
Erik joined Tove at the table. “I’m bathing first after dinner.”
“I think the better swordsman should bathe first.” Tove was still beaming.
“If you keep up like that, I’ll challenge you to a duel.”
“And I’ll accept. So be careful.”
Erik leaned back in his chair. “The thanks I get for rescuing people.”
Göll set to work cooking, finding pork and vegetables. She cooked the food simply, preparing a sauce out of various herbs that she went to gather from the edge of the clearing and wine and the juices in the pan. Tove shouted at the valkyrie when they ate it, accusing her of using magic. It was easily the best food Erik had eaten in Helheim.
“I am not nearly as capable as Andhrímnir.” Göll was modest, but he could see her hide a tiny smile when she turned back to clean a pan she’d used in a bucket of water. He wondered how she’d done so well with the food considering she never ate.
“Why don’t you eat?”
The thought was on his mind so he said it aloud.
“I have no need to.”
“Yeah, but you can eat, right? Why don’t you just eat for the taste? Food tastes good. Some food.”
“I have no need to.”
He recognized the pattern and a flush of anger ran through him but he let it pass and finished the last piece of food on his plate. “Well, thank you for the meal.”
Tove stood up, taking her plate. “Agreed. It was delicious. Whatever you may think of me, Göll, I appreciate you.” She placed her plate down and reached for Göll’s back. The valkyrie leaned away from Tove’s hand.
Erik leaned his chair back and let it come back down, clacking against the floor. “Guess you’ve still got a ways to go Tove.”
She looked at him, letting the awkwardness wash away, replacing it with a smile. “I do.” She darted toward the door. “The spring will fill up if I don’t hurry.” She ran off, leaving the door open. Erik could hear her laughter fade off into the distance.
chapter|21
It was morning again and Völundr hadn’t reappeared in his room when Erik rose. It was just barely light out and Göll hadn’t come to drag him to training just yet. It was a welcome change from the rough morning’s reverie he’d received of late.
Opening the bedroom door, he found Göll standing in her usual place, looking through the open shutters of a window at the front side of the house. She looked over at Erik and then back out the window before finally deciding to walk over to him.
“We will train again today.”
“I had sort of guessed that.” Erik yawned, stretching out. “Tove still sleeping?”
“It’s no business of mine where she is or what she’s doing.”
“So, sleeping?”
Erik headed to the table in the kitchen. There was still some food left from the night before sitting in a dish on it. It had been meant for Völundr but the man hadn’t returned from his work. Curious, Erik opened the door. The smoke from the shop had stopped, but he could still hear the occasional ping of a hammer against metal. That made the food fair game as far as Erik was concerned.
He came back to the table, looking at the dish and giving a conflicted sigh. “Alright, I’ll be fair.”
Göll followed him as he went to the door where Tove had been sleeping. He cracked the door open to find a much nicer room than he’d been sleeping in, with a pair of plush beds only one of which was in use.
Tove was spread out across the entire bed in which she slept. It was a far cry from the way she’d slept in the bedrolls, and an interesting sight to say the least. The bed frames weren’t high off the ground, so Erik crouched beside Tove. She was sleeping in loosely wrapped linen that barely still clung to the areas she’d used them to cover.
Erik poked at her face, mashing in the meat of her cheek. Tove didn’t so much as break the rhythm of her breathing.
“Tove, get up. Breakfast.”
He hadn’t said the words quietly, but it still brought no response from the sleeping girl.
“Alright. Well, I tried.”
He flattened his hand out over her forehead and snapped his wrist down. The satisfying noise of a well-executed slap rang out and Tove’s hands swung up toward the spot he’d hit.
“Ah! What?” She opened her eyes and saw Erik squatting beside the bed and Göll standing in the door. “What is this? Is something happening?”
Erik stood up. “Breakfast.” His eyes rolled down over her and he looked away. “And get dressed.”
Tove looked down at herself and yanked the covers up over her body. “There’s nothing wrong with my current state!”
He shrugged as he walked out of the room. “Hey, you covered it up.”
He could hear her shift toward the table beside the bed. There were things on the table. Not wanting one of those things to collide with the back of his head, Erik shuffled out of the room, ducking and laughing. Göll followed him back to the kitchen where he sat at the table and started eating from the dish. Tove came and joined them, fully dressed. She sat down in a bit of a mood and began picking at the food with a sour look on her face.
“It’s hardly right to sneak into a room while someone sleeps.”
“Sneak? I thought we were a warband? Don’t warbands share everything?”
“Hmph!” She popped a piece of carrot into her mouth and said nothing more on the matter.
Erik was more interested in what Göll had planned for the day anyway. The afternoon before she had begun teaching him more about how to move the sword and the things he was doing wrong rather
