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There was nothing like the east wind back home. The way it whistled through the treetops or how it scaled the mountainside where our clan made our hidden village. The soft touch as it breezed past my cheeks and welcomed me back.
I took a deep breath, allowing the familiar smells to return to me. There was a slightly sulphuric scent to the landscape, probably from the surrounding copper, but I’d grown to love it. No matter how much I loved the Academy, this was home.
If only the reason for my visit was more pleasant than Grandmamma’s summon. Then I could’ve really enjoyed the scenery.
I sighed.
“Come on, Bryn. You can do it,” I encouraged myself, patting my cheeks. “Woman up.”
With straightened shoulders, I passed the magic border that protected and shielded our home from unfriendly eyes. The same kind of magic that surrounded the Academy.
My hometown was small, but it had some distinct features. The large school where all the kids went to. The open field where my friends and I pretended to be Valkyries. And of course, the most memorable of them all: the big spire of the East Mansion. The place where I grew up.
Home.
I descended down into the town, allowing the smells and familiar sensations back in. It was strange returning here after being at the Academy so long. Everything was different and yet, it was like I’d never left.
I passed the baker on my right and a small shop on the other side. The faces on the streets were all familiar, people from my youth. Not all of them had the privilege of growing up to be Valkyries. Many of them took on normal, less esteemed jobs. Yet, without them, this village would stop turning.
Soon, I’d be one of them. And I was quite okay with that.
Nerves prickled the back of my head as I approached the East Mansion. The building was bigger and more pronounced than any of the others. The stately pillars framing the entrance were meant to intimidate and the marble floor was a sign of wealth. There was only one family that ever lived here.
The Matriarch’s.
I gulped. There was nothing more intimidating than coming home.
My shoes clacked on the stone floor, the sound echoing into the grand entrance hall. The clock struck five to twelve on the dot. Even if there hadn’t been a specific time on my summon, I knew this was the only acceptable hour to appear.
Grandmamma was not a woman to anger.
With closed eyes, I took one last, calming breath. Everything would be okay. Everything would be okay. Everything—
“Brynhild.”
“Matriarch.” I kneeled down in front of the older woman, my knees hitting the cold, marble floor. “You summoned me.”
“You’re late.” Grandmamma’s voice held the same power and strength I remembered growing up. “You look terrible.”
I touched my face, aware of the dark bags under my eyes. I hadn’t been sleeping well. “I know.”
She clicked her tongue, a sigh of displeasure. “I taught you better than this.”
There was nobody that could make me feel this small, but one look from Grandmamma and I was a scolded child again. “I know.”
“That’s not why I called you here.” She gestured to follow me and we ventured to her office. She pointed at the sturdy chair on my side of the ornate desk and took place on the other side. “Let’s talk about your reputation.”
Just thinking about the storm and how I acted made the embarrassment in me well up. I hung my head down, the shame washing over me. “About that...”
“Unfortunate,” Grandmamma interrupted. “Word returned from your school. People were not pleased.”
“I know and—”
“But after a meeting with the Elders and discussing your position, we’ve concluded that not all is lost.”
“Huh?”
“We can overcome this small setback.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. “Small?”
“I convinced them they should be impressed with your promise as a Valkyrie. You managed to reach the Veil when all the others couldn’t. That shows you’re ahead of all your peers.”
“Yes, but I fled. I—”
She stood up from her chair and turned her back to me. “I believe it’s imperative you win the Valkyrie Games. After that, nobody will remember this little inconvenience.”
“Inconvenience? People almost died. Heike lost her wings! How can you call this an inconven—”
“Inconvenience,” she interrupted in her matter-of-fact tone. “You agree, don’t you?”
When she sounded like that, there was no use in talking back. The past years had taught me that.
She sat back down, the sun highlighting the deep lines running through her face. Some were honorary Valkyrie markings, others were tells of time. She was a well-respected woman and I looked up to her, while fearing her. She was a hard woman.
I bowed my head. “Yes, Grandmamma.”
Grandmamma glared at me. “Then it’s decided. You’ll win the Valkyrie Games and all this mess will just go away.”
I braced myself for the rest of it, for the anger, disappointment, the disowning, but it never came. I waited, uncertain of her reaction. She wasn’t disowning me?
“Grandmamma...” I hesitated before continuing. “I’m still the Heir?”
She let out a loud scoff. “Of course. You’re my flesh and blood, this is your birthright.”
I stared at her, the confusion making my head spin. What was going on? She heard about the incident, she summoned me, there had to be more consequences than this?
“Then... Why did you summon me?”
The older woman looked up at me, her hard eyes even harder than I remembered. “It’s about your mother.”
“Mamma?” Surprise coloured my voice. “What about her?”
“She’s ascending.”
“What?”
Grandmamma shrugged. “She insisted I brought you home for this. I don’t know why we bother with her. She’s always been a disappointment.”
“I...” I didn’t know how to respond to that. My relationship with my mother was complicated and it hadn’t become any easier when Grandmamma passed her over and made me her Heir.
I sighed. “Is she serious or is it like last time?”
“It’s hard to tell with her, isn’t it?” Grandmamma pulled a sheet from her desk and clicked her tongue. “It says she’s already said her goodbyes to her friends. Just family now. Anyway, you’ll need to sign some documents as her surviving kin.”
“That’s what all this is about?” I studied the file she handed me, my eyes speeding over the words and sentences. “I thought...”
“Brynhild, I’m very busy.” She tapped the sheet on multiple places. “You need to initial here, here, and here.”
“Right.”
I called upon the wind in my heart, channelling it through my veins. It sizzled and crackled as it tore the paper and stamped it with a mark unique to my magic. An irreplicable signature.
Grandmamma nodded. “Good. That’s sorted then. Now there’s just the matter of her dusk wolf, of course. Either she’ll ascend with her to Valhalla or you can take ownership over it.”
I stared at the second sheet she presented me. Mamma’s dusk wolf was as much her companion as Grey was to me. We wouldn’t part even if the world ended.
I pushed the piece of paper back to her. “I’m not taking her dusk wolf away from her.”
“Noble.” She pressed her own signature down on the paper, her tear much larger than mine. “Then that’s settled. Now, if there’s nothing else?”
“Actually...” I could tell from her expression that she was already irritated by me asking for extra time. “There’s something I want to talk about.”
Grandmamma rolled her eyes as she flicked through a stack of paper. “Is it urgent? I’m buried in work, Brynhild.”
She always was.
“It’s to do with the storm. I overheard a conversation at the Academy between the Headmaster and Stina.”
She put her pen down. “Stina? Sena’s granddaughter?”
“Yes, her. From what she said, it sounded like the tornado was orchestrated by them.”
Grandmamma chuckled and return to her admin. “Their family is strong, but not powerful enough to conjure tornados. You must’ve misunderstood.”
“No, I don’t think so. She also said it was her who ripped Heike’s wings off. It wasn’t an accident and it wasn’t my fault.”
Her expression darkened. “Is this your way of avoiding responsibility, Brynhild? That’s not how I raised you.”
I bit my tongue. She didn’t raise me, but that wasn’t the problem here.
My hands balled into fists. “I’m not avoiding anything. I’m just telling you what I heard. They’re scheming against me and they hurt someone from our clan.”
“Hmmm...” Grandmamma pushed her thin glasses back up her nose and returned to her stack of administrative duties. She’d always taken those seriously, even more than her responsibilities as a parent or a grandparent.
I waited impatiently, until I burst. “Well?”
She sighed and folded the legs of her glasses down. “Well nothing. Sena is an old family friend. I’m sure her granddaughter would never betray us like that.”
“But—”
“I won’t hear another word about it, Brynhild.”
A lump formed in my throat, but I swallowed it away. “I know what I heard.”
Grandmamma slammed her fist down on the desk, rattling the pens and cups. “I said enough!”
The anger raged through me, but it had nowhere to go. She wouldn’t allow it and it was better for everyone if I stayed silent. I had to solve my Stina problem on my own.
I rose from the seat, my hands trembling, but I hid them behind my back. “I’ll take my leave now.”
“Hmmm.” She was no longer paying attention to me. Whatever was on her desk was more important, just like always. The top of her head was a sight I grew up with.
I bowed slightly. “Matriarch.”
She didn’t even reply.