“What are you smiling about?” I asked him.
“Just looking forward to when this is over, and we’re back home with our women.”
Home. That was the one word that always puts a smile on any warrior’s face. But home had a whole different meaning to me now. Home was simply wherever Allete was.
I didn’t know why I awoke. One minute I was sleeping, dreaming about a small but inviting home with a warm fire and the smell of fresh bread wafting through the air. The next minute my eyes were blinking open. It took several seconds for them to adjust to the darkness in the room. I sat up and pushed my messy braid over my shoulder.
Just as I had the night Myra had come to visit, I felt the otherness in the room, the power that only came from one who had magic.
“Show yourself, Myra,” I said into the dark.
A small woman stepped out of the darkness. She was standing across the room next to my window. “Who are you, and how did you get into my chamber?” I asked.
“I scaled the wall and climbed in the window,” she answered without hesitation.
I was so shocked that I didn’t speak right away and then my senses returned. “Really?”
She turned and looked at me, her silver eyes dancing with mirth. The small smile on her lips made her resemble a child who’d just gotten away with mischief. “No. That would be ridiculous. I walked in through the door like any other old woman would. Could you imagine me, with my frail bones and stiff joints, climbing up the side of a wall?”
“Forgive me, but I do not believe you are as frail as you would like me to believe,” I told her as I took a step sideways, keeping myself close enough to make it to the door if I needed to escape.
“Then you are not as dumb as I first thought,” she chuckled.
Now that was just rude. “You never answered the first question; who are you?” I asked again, this time with a little more bite in my tone.
The woman’s eyes widened as her smile grew larger. “Yes, I think you will do just fine,” she muttered. “I am the Oracle of my people,” she said with a voice much stronger than the one she’d been using. “I am the seer and the teller. I am the healer of the sick and injured. And I am the woman who will teach you to use your magic, as well as hone other abilities you do not even know you have.” She paused. “Oh, and my name is Hilda, and I will also be the grandmother of your offspring.”
“I have no offspring.” The words tumbled out before I could think about how ridiculous they sounded.
“Hmm,” Hilda said as she narrowed her eyes on me. “Perhaps I spoke to soon.”
“What?” Now I was just confused.
“You aren’t dumb. A little dimwitted might be a better description.”
“Bloody hell, woman. I am not dimwitted. I am confused, and maybe in shock. Yes, definitely in shock. But I am not so confused as to know that I don’t have any offspring.”
“Of course, you don’t have any offspring. You still have your maiden head.” Hilda shot me a sharp look. “You do, don’t you? Because I have a feeling my son would be a tad irritated and likely to kill whoever took it if he finds out otherwise.”
I rubbed my hands over my face and let out a groan. At no point during the day had I thought I would be entertaining an Oracle and discussing the matter of my womanhood. “First of all, I do not appreciate my virtue being questioned,” I said, raising a finger. Then, raising a second, I added, “And I have no idea who your son is, nor do I have plans to share a bed with him and bear his children. And third…” I held up another finger. “What do you mean you are going to teach me to use my magic? How do you know what I can do?”
Hilda walked slowly over to one of the chairs next to the small table where I often took my meals when I did not wish to dine with the court. She kept her eyes on me while she took a seat. The woman leaned back as though to get comfortable and then motioned for me to take the seat across from her. When I had done so, she began to speak.
“As I said, I am an Oracle. I come from the North Country, the clan of Hakon.”
I sucked in a breath. “You’re a Viking?”
“I’m a Norsewoman,” she corrected. “But really, I am simply a woman—a woman from another part of this world, child. I am not a foreigner from another world. Like you—a woman from this land—I have all the necessary parts that make me a woman and nothing more. We are no different.”
When she explained it like that, I had to admit it made the differences we claimed to be so unsurmountable seem ridiculous. What did it matter if we were from different parts of the world? Did that somehow make one of us better than the other? Did the fact that I was born in to a family that was royal make me worthier of life than one who was not? If anything, Hilda’s life was more valuable because of her abilities. I might have been able to heal others, but I could not see into the future.
“You said you could help me understand what I can do?” I reminded her.
“Get comfortable, it could take a while.”
I glanced at the door, a motion that did not go unnoticed by her keen eyes.
“He is aware that I am here,” she told me.
“You mean Torben?”
She nodded. “It is driving him crazy that I won’t allow him to come in and listen.”
“You can keep him out?” I asked hesitantly.
“Of course, I can,” she said indignantly.
“How? Do you have more magic than just the healing and seeing?”
She chuckled. “It’s called being a mother and teaching respect. He will not enter because I have asked him not to, and he respects and trusts me.”
My shoulders dropped. “Oh,” I said simply.
“Magic,” Hilda began. “This is an old power that is passed through the blood. It lives in the very cells of a person. It is not exactly clear why some people inherit it in a family while others do not. I would presume to think it is like the fact that some siblings have blonde hair while others have brown. Certain traits are past to certain children. Perhaps the gods know who will be better capable of wielding something that can hurt or help those they encounter.” She paused, looking as though she was anticipating questions. I simply stared right back, waiting for her to continue.
“I’m sure that you have learned certain things about your magic through trial and error since you have not had a tutor. For instance, you’ve learned to chant to use your magic. Your words help draw out the power that lives inside of you. Words are powerful, especially words that are spoken out loud. You must never forget that. Your words not only have the ability to heal, they also have the ability to destroy.”
“Wait,” I held up a hand to stop her. “You mean I could hurt someone?”