Nordic Fairies
By Saga Berg
This is the first part in the novella series Nordic Fairies. Other parts published in the same series:
Disclaimers and Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places or incidents are product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons is entirely coincidental.
3d Edition
Copyright 2012 by Saga Berg All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing by the author Saga Berg, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Front image by George Mayer.
License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Chapter 1
Svala froze. This was it.
Viggo sat between his co-stars, behind a desk at the end of the mall. The line of fans waiting to get their pictures autographed stretched so far it would take hours to reach him.
Hidden behind a herd of teenage girls, Svala observed the front table. Viggo’s female co-star, Amanda Jones, was beautiful. His male co-star with his crew-cut anonymous hair color and predictable good looks made no lasting impression next to Viggo. Then again, it wasn’t a fair comparison. The boy was undoubtedly a mortal.
“I can’t believe we finally get to meet Viggo Storm.” Megan shifted her feet and glanced past the crowd. “Do you think they’ll throw me out if I try to kiss him?”
“So worth it if they do,” said Sarah with a mischievous smile.
At his movie premiere the night before, Viggo had been surrounded by security and journalists, impossible to get close to. One girl tried. She managed to get past two dark suits, but the third stopped her and threw her out of the theater. After her stunt, no one dared anything of the sort. Not even Svala, though her main concern was not the threat of being thrown out by security.
“Oh God, there he is!” Sarah clasped the glossy promotional picture in her hand so hard it wrinkled. For a moment, she looked like she would pass out. Jen and Megan stared at Viggo and gasped.
Svala clutched her picture with both hands, no longer sure she wanted to know what she had come to find out. She’d taken a big risk being here.
Viggo offered the girl in front of him a half-hearted smile and handed her the signed picture. His fairy-blue eyes flickered over the mall. Svala ducked behind the girl in front of her while Megan, Jen and Sarah stepped out from the line and tip-toed for a better view. The girl in front of Svala wore eight inch heels and wobbled to the side while attempting to peek over the crowd.
Viggo continued scanning the room. His eyes narrowed, his brows drew together. He peered over the mall until his male co-star nudged him. Viggo ran a hand through his chestnut-colored hair and forced a smile to the girl standing in front of him. The girl handed him a picture.
Megan consulted her watch. “I’ll absolutely die if I don’t get up there. I’ve already practiced what to say. Do you want to hear?”
The girls nodded with enthusiasm and moved forward as the line progressed. Megan presented her speech, Svala tried to focus on what she said, but her thoughts drifted to the consequences of failure. She glanced at the entrance. There was still time to leave, but if she did, it might be years before she found out what was going on, and by then it might be too late.
“Amanda Jones is so lucky.” Sarah studied Viggo’s female co-star with a pout. “It’s unfair. She’s not even that pretty.”
“Oh, really?” Jen crossed her arms over her chest.
Svala chose to not get involved. The thought of Amanda Jones made her insides turn, and her dark thoughts were not suitable for a Liosálfar.
“I’m entitled to my opinion, and I don’t think she’s that pretty.” Sarah tried to sound confident but fiddled with her hair, pulling a strand of the blonde bob hair cut behind her ear.
“Viggo seems to think she is,” said Megan.
“That’s just a rumor. They’re pretending to be together. It’s a publicity stunt.” Sarah rolled her eyes.
Svala glanced over at Amanda Jones. The actress leaned over the table and signed a picture with slow, methodic strokes. Her long, straight, raven-black hair fell over her arm and onto the desk. When she handed back the photo, she tossed her hair and smiled, exposing a row of perfect white teeth. Her delicate features made her look like a doll. She was stunning.
Eight weeks had passed since Svala pretended to have won the tickets to the premiere of Moonlight in Venice. The movie was a success before it premiered, thanks to Viggo Storm in the leading role as Colin Hunter, the rich heir who falls in love with the wrong girl. Just your standard love story. Suffice it to say it wasn’t the plot that made teenage girls go into a frenzy every time someone mentioned the movie.
The seventeen-year-old wonder boy, with his intense blue eyes and contrasting dark hair, appeared out of nowhere. After a small but significant role in a prime-time TV show, his popularity had sky-rocketed overnight. Svala couldn’t go anywhere without running into his smiling face on the front page of a magazine or up on a billboard. Now he sat only a few feet away, behind a herd of girls who had come for the sole purpose of meeting him. In that respect, Svala was no exception.
“God, look at him.” Sarah gaped. “I didn’t think it possible to be that gorgeous.”
Svala looked at Viggo in silence. Her heart pounded. Viggo searched the room again and most of the girls stretched and tried to catch his attention. He looked back down, a line crossing his forehead. Svala’s heart continued to race, and a growing feeling of nausea intensified. Maybe not knowing was better after all.
“I honestly thought they’d tampered with his pictures. I didn’t think his eyes were actually that blue. Like, where did he come from?” Jen said.
“I’ve read he’s Swedish,” Megan said.
“He’s said that?” Svala asked.
“Yeah, in an interview ... In Cosmo, I think.” Megan frowned. “Why? Shouldn’t he have? You have something against Swedes?”
Svala smirked. “No.” What in God’s name was he up to? “I just didn’t know that.”
“Your family is Swedish too, aren’t they?” Sarah asked.
“Yeah, way back though,” Svala said.
“Maybe you’re related then.Like a hundred years back in time or so.” Jen grinned.
“Yeah.” Svala looked away. “Maybe.”
A hundred years back in time equaled an eternity for her friends. She smiled to herself and glanced at Viggo. The temptation to tell mortals the truth never arose, but she sometimes wondered how they would react if she did.
Chapter 2
Svala had been fourteen years of age when Trym, her mentor, came to her the first time in the 10th century. She sat by the surf in the Swedish village of Birka, crying, her long blonde hair covering her face. Her father had left for another long trip out at sea, but not before he forbade her to meet that boy ever again. That boy who was only one year older and perfect for her.
“You cry because you are honest.”
Trym’s voice had been unexpected, his words even more so. Svala wiped her face with the back of her hand. A stranger stood on a rock a few feet away. She eased back and pursed her lips together, not sure of his intentions.
“Your father would never know if you met the boy while he’s gone, and yet you cry because you know you won’t disobey.”
His strange insight into her life made her tears subside. She opened her mouth to speak but not a sound came out. Instead, she stared at him. He was tall, wearing the traditional brown Viking attire but with a long silvery cloak over his shoulders. It was out of place, almost regal.
“I’ve been looking for you, Svala.”
“How do you know my name?”
In retrospect this was the least questionable thing in the whole scenario.
He squinted at the sun before he knelt beside her. When he studied her the light reflected off the water and onto his face. His skin was smooth and perfect; his blond hair fell like silk over his blue eyes.
“Do you want to be with this boy for eternity?”
She frowned.
“Do you love this boy?” He rephrased.
She nodded.
“You’re only fourteen. How do you know this?”
She looked at her hands and thought about it. How could you put words to something which could not be described?
“I don’t know. I just feel it.”
Trym smiled, like her answer pleased him. “I have an offer for you, Svala. I think you’ll like it.”
Svala never hesitated nor did she ever regret her decision. Trym told her what he was and what she would become if she agreed to his terms. She hadn’t grasped the whole concept at first, only the simplified version. Nordic fairies divided into light and dark; Liosálfar and Döckálfar. Trym recruited her on behalf of the Liosálfar. Given her honesty and pure heart, he considered her the perfect candidate. She was to help keep the balance in the mortal world; do good and uphold a sense of honesty.
Her incentive was Viggo. He had gone through the test and agreed to the same deal. His Liosálfar companion was a fairy named Alva.
From that day, Svala’s life always started at the age of fourteen, Viggo’s at fifteen, and continued for as long as the High Council decided. They aged, like any other mortal, but rarely reached old age before their lives started over. In the beginning of each life, Viggo and Svala were kept apart, forbidden to meet. They were driven by a need to unite, but if they initiated their relationship before they finalized their assignments there would be consequences. Punishment. Only when they had proven themselves worthy, could they be together for whatever period of time the High Council decided.
Their time together usually lasted for years, on rare occasions months, once only a few weeks. They always remembered their past lives and experiences, but no mortal ever remembered them.
“Everything needs to be earned and should never be taken for granted,” Trym often reminded her from time to time.
She lived with Trym until she fulfilled her assignments. He took orders from the High Council, and made sure Svala didn’t connect with Viggo before it was time.
“Why would we be punished for our love, and what would happen if we failed?”
“You must focus on the assignments. That is what’s most important. If we don’t try to make this world a better place, the balance is lost. The Döckálfar might take over,” Trym explained.
“And what will happen if we disobey?”
“Then you risk losing each other forever.” He must have picked up on her terrified expression because he put a hand on her shoulder and added. “Don’t worry. You’ll soon find the time apart a small price to pay for eternal love.”
Today, it had been two years since Svala had last seen Viggo. Their previous assignment took over six years to accomplish, yet their union had lasted only three weeks, making the time apart feel closer to eight years than two.
***
Several months before Svala stood in line at the mall, she slouched on the living room couch back in Washington D.C. and dug her spoon into an almost empty container of chocolate ice cream. She zapped through channels but stopped when Viggo appeared on the screen. She froze with her hand clutched around the remote control, and the ice cream slowly slid off the spoon and back into the box.
Her gaze fixed on the screen as she shouted in a high-pitched, panicked voice, “Trym!”
Trym emerged from the kitchen, wearing an old apron and clutching two potholders in each hand. His face filled with worry and he opened his mouth to speak, but paused at the sight of Viggo on the screen. The color drained from his face. He turned around and backed up against the couch until he reached it and sat with a thud.
Together they watched in tense silence as Viggo walked over at tiled Italian terrace and up to a large swimming pool on the screen.
“My God, what is he doing?” Trym asked.
Svala stared at the screen, and her eyes welled up. “I don’t understand. What does this mean?”
Trym watched her with concern then turned back to the TV where Viggo took off his shirt, exposing a tattoo they both recognized, on his left shoulder blade. The wind caught hold of his short hair, and Svala ached to run her hands through the soft strands.
“I don’t know,” Trym said. “There could be a number of reasons.”
“Shouldn’t we do something?”
The remains of the ice cream had turned into a slow moving liquid at the bottom of the carton, and the cold condensed in her hand. Svala placed the carton on the coffee table and kept staring at the screen.
“We have to find out what this means.” Trym said, a worried frown on his face. “And we have to be very careful.”
They waited for Viggo’s next move, the movie premiere. Once they announced the release date, Trym made the necessary arrangements. No one would be suspicious of four sixteen-year-old girls going to the premiere of a movie most teenage girls were dying to see.
***
“I know it’s difficult, but try to stay out of his sight. The more you can find out without contacting him, the better.” Trym offered a stern look.
They stood in her room while Svala packed for their trip. She fingered a red dress she planned to wear to the premiere. Running a hand over the smooth fabric, she sighed. “That’s asking a lot.”
“I know, but you must.”
“Would you? I mean if it was...” She trailed off, ashamed for bringing it up.
Trym let it pass and they both grew silent.
“I would suggest you wear something less... eye catching.” He nodded to the dress. “And dye your hair. Dark.”
“How dark?” She didn’t want to meet his gaze again, too upset with him for pointing out what she already knew.
“Just dark.”
Svala grabbed the end of her blonde hair and groaned. She didn’t mind going dark, but Viggo would not scan the room for a brunette.
“Can I trust you?” Trym asked.
She nodded, her focus still on the dress. Trym sighed. “You have to be stronger than this. You know that.”
She managed another nod and looked at him. Her eyes teared and Trym looked helpless. His shoulders slouched, and his gaze never settled. She knew he only wanted to protect her from what he had been forced to go through. She was unfair.
“You can trust me. I’m sorry, I...” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I just miss him so much.”
***
They flew to New York for the premiere. Trym told her friends’ parents he would accompany them and make sure they returned safe. To Svala’s friends, Trym was her uncle who raised her since her parents died in an accident when she was five. They’d used that version the last two hundred years, and it worked well. Trym was too young to be her father and too old to be anything else.
“Mr. Linné, do we have to go back to the hotel right after the movie, or can we stay out a bit longer?” Jen turned to Trym in the cab, on the way from La Guardia airport to their hotel in central Manhattan.
“I’m afraid I promised your parents I’d have you back in bed by eleven o clock. I won’t be able to go with you to the premiere, so I trust you do as I say.” Trym let his gaze wander over Svala. She turned to the window, hiding her tense expression.
Trym wasn’t her uncle, but he still decided what she was allowed to do.
“But what if there is a party after?” Sarah asked. “Could we go?”
“No.” Trym eased the rejection with a smile. “I need you to come back to the hotel.”
“But what if we get to meet Viggo Storm in person?” Jen insisted.
Svala bit her tongue and evaded Trym’s worried gaze.
“Then definitely no,” he said.
Her friends looked surprised. Trym was usually more easygoing than the other parents; he didn’t give them a hard time for coming home late or smelling of cigarettes. That was only because he didn’t think of Svala as a teenage girl and sometimes forgot her friends were.
Svala glanced out over the New York skyline when the cab closed in. The city held so many memories, good and bad. This was where she and Viggo first arrived when they moved to the States during World War I, and where she’d lived most of her lives. If Viggo expected her to seek him out, he’d know this was where she’d come.
***
Once the other girls unpacked, Trym took Svala aside in the hotel room. He had rented a suite at the top floor of a five-star hotel, a way to compensate for what she went through. She appreciated the gesture, but he should have known her better than to think it mattered.
“Are you sure you can handle this?” he asked.
Her mood shifted the moment they entered the city, and they both knew why.
“You need to find out what is going on before you approach him.”
“I know what to do.” Her response came out more annoyed than she intended.
Trym leaned closer and lowered his voice. “If he is only trying to meet you, you have to be stronger. You have to walk away. You understand that, don’t you?”
“You don’t have to keep telling me. I know.”
Trym stepped back, crossed his arms over his chest and sighed out loud. “I know you do, but I don’t think you know what you’re up against. If he has been compromised by the Döckálfar, and if we don’t handle this right, we might lose him to them.”
“And if I approach him, I might not be strong enough to resist him and then...” She couldn’t finish the sentence.
“Then you’ll risk losing him too. Especially after what the two of you did.”
A light tap on the door interrupted their conversation. Svala and Trym turned. It was Jen.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt.” Her gaze flickered between the two of them.
Trym took a step back. “No problem. She’s all yours.” He reached out and stroked Svala’s arm before he walked out.
Chapter 3
With time to spare before the premiere, Svala and her friends headed out for a day in New York. After two hours of shopping, followed by a stroll down Broadway, they ended up at Dean & DeLuca. Svala ordered a tall Cappuccino and a chocolate-chip cookie, then took the seat next to Sarah by the window. Outside, people hurried past with their suit cases and paper cups, missing the whole point of living.
Svala followed a middle aged lady in a red coat rush down the street while she listened to her friends’ expectations on the upcoming evening. She thought of her. She could be one of the people walking by, and Svala wouldn’t know it.
“I wonder how close we can get to him.” Jen pushed her long brown hair from her face.
The lady outside answered her cell phone as she crossed the street, then disappeared down the stairs to the subway station. Svala turned to her friend as Sarah placed her cup on the table and pursed her lips together. “What if...” Her gaze shifted to the ceiling, and a short pause followed. “What if I tripped and fell on him. Then he’d have to catch me and fall desperately in love with me.” She met the others’ doubtful faces. “That could happen.”
“How could that happen?” Jen tone of voice indicated that Sarah was an idiot.
Svala remained silent through her friends conversation, and her thoughts soon drifted to the last time she had been with Viggo, two years ago. At the time, she appeared to be twenty years old, but was closer to nine hundred. Three weeks earlier they’d finished a six year long assignment and had reunited. Usually, their union happened much faster. At one time, it had taken only three months to get back together, though normally it took between one to three years. Six years was a long time to wait to be with the one you loved and three weeks not nearly enough to satisfy their need.
This time, Svala moved to Viggo’s life. He’d lived in Los Angles during their six years apart, finishing his Masters Degree in Economics. His assignment had been connected to the current financial situation, and he’d been involved in the work of Ellinor Ostrom, the 2009 year’s Nobel Prize winner in Economics. Svala spent her six years working with environmental issues in the Antarctic, and didn’t mind moving from the cold to sunny Los Angeles to be with the man she loved.
She remembered Viggo stepping out from the large tiled shower in their Hollywood mansion. They lived in an enormous house, surrounded by the rich and famous, with a bathroom larger than their first mutual home. Everything about the house was a bit over the top.
Svala stood by the sink, finished brushing her teeth and met Viggo’s gaze in the mirror above her. Viggo held her gaze and reached for a white cotton towel, perfectly folded on a shelf beside the shower. He wrapped it around his waist.
“Do you want to get married this time around?” he asked.
Svala placed her electric toothbrush on the sink, then met his reflection in the mirror again and smiled. His blue eyes sparkled and water dripped from his hair onto his shoulder.
“What?” he asked amused.
She admired the view, content to have him there. “Nothing.”
Viggo walked up and wrapped his arms around her small frame. The back of her thin silk robe, blue with a Japanese print, clung to his wet chest. Svala closed her eyes as his lips pressed against her neck and his hands slid in underneath her robe.
“I love you,” he whispered and inhaled her scent in one sharp breath.
She turned her head and his unshaven cheek brushed against her smooth skin. He kissed the tip of her nose and placed a hand on her hip. She turned, and circled his neck with both arms. The movement made her robe slide slightly ajar and Viggo looked down with a shy smile. “I think I’m going to have to stay home today after all.”
She chuckled and he pulled her closer. His body was firm, the hair in the back of his neck still wet, dripping onto her hands.
“You’ve been away from work for almost three weeks. If you don’t go back soon, they might fire you.”
He nodded and rested his forehead against hers. “I know, it’s just... Six years is a long time.” Clasping her face in both hands, he tilted her head back. “I’m terrified you won’t be here when I get back home.”
She reached up and caressed his face, and his bristles scraped against her hand. “I’m sure they’ll give us enough time to compensate. We’ve learned our lesson.”
He pulled her into a kiss. Soft yet determined, his tongue found hers. She kissed him back, and allowed him to push her against the sink. She didn’t want him to leave either, but they had to live their lives like normal people now. They had to be responsible.
She placed a hand on his chest and broke the kiss. He eased back and tucked away a blonde string of hair from her face. In this life, she had cut her hair in a bob.
“Promise you’ll be here when I get back?” he said.
She stood on her toes and planted a soft kiss on his lips. “I promise.”
He lingered on her lips, then pulled away and turned to the sink. Svala tied her robe and walked toward the door that lead out to the master bedroom.
“You never answered my question,” Viggo said
She turned and leaned against the door frame. “What question?”
“Will you marry me?”
She chuckled and met his beautiful eyes. “Of course, honey. Always.”
“Aren’t you going to eat that?”
Svala snapped out of her day dreaming as Jen pointed at the chocolate chip cookie on her plate. Svala clasped her Cappuccino in both hands, the cup full, the content lukewarm. She released the cup and pushed the cookie toward Jen. “No, go ahead.”
Jen shook her head. “Uh-uh. I need to look gorgeous in my new dress tonight. There is simply no room for dessert.”
Svala consulted her watch. Six hours until the premiere. Her heart skipped a beat.
“We should head back to the hotel, get some rest.” Sarah collected her shopping bags under the table.
Jen glanced at the clock on the wall. “Yeah, we should get some sleep. There is only so much make-up can accomplish.” She leaned in under the table for her bags and got up.
Out in the hot summer day a warm wind swept through the street. After a short debate about the direction of their hotel, Jen pulled out a map and settled the argument. Svala lingered at the end of the group. With six hours to spare, she had time to do something she had been itching to do ever since they arrived in New York. The girls walked down Broadway Street and Svala followed behind a couple of blocks then made up her mind, and stopped.
“Listen guys, you go ahead. I have something I need to do.”
The girls turned to her in the middle of the crowded sidewalk. Megan’s brows shot up, and the other two girls mirrored her expression. Svala wanted to kick herself for being so impatient. She should have waited and snuck out when they had fallen asleep.
“What?” Megan asked when Svala didn’t elaborate.
Svala came up with nothing good enough to work as an excuse. She told them the truth. “I found this shop on the internet. I wanted to check it out.”
“What kind of shop?”
She shrugged. “It’s a shop that sells gemstones. You don’t have to come with me. Go back. Get your beauty sleep. I don’t mind going on my own.”
“Gemstones?” Sarah frowned.
Svala stayed composed but grew annoyed by the tone in Sarah’s voice.
“Yeah.” She shrugged again, like she realized it was a stupid thing to take an interest in. “But seriously, you don’t have to come with me.”
Jen looked at her wristwatch. “We still have six hours. You shouldn’t have to go alone.” She looked at the others.
“Of course. We’ll come with you.” Sarah agreed.
The small silver bell at the top of the door chimed when the four girls entered the shop, and a comforting scent of incense met them inside. Svala’s friends looked around, then turned to Svala with forced smiles, their discomfort shining through.
Along the shop wall stood a long table with small wooden boxes filled to the brim with different gemstones. In the middle of the room stood a cabinet with similar boxes filled with silver ornaments. Necklaces and earrings hung from tiny wooden constructions on the table. They resembled miniature leafless trees.
The middle-aged woman behind the register read from a book when the girls came in. At the sight of costumers, she removed a pair of black-framed reading glasses, and closed her book. “Welcome. Please let me know if you need any help.”
Svala nodded a silent thanks, forced herself to look away, and went over to the display by the window. The woman placed her book on the counter, and studied Svala.
Fairies remembered everything from every life they lived, but the people in their lives did not. To them, it was as if they’d never existed. Even so, this woman kept studying Svala, like she was trying to place her.
Svala walked over to the gemstones by the window and focused on breathing normal. Her hands trembled. This had been a bad idea from the start.
Her friends remained quiet. They walked over to the table with the silver necklaces, pretending to take an interest. She ignored their silent ridicule as they picked up a pair of earrings and exchanged looks of amusement. In a way, it was a good thing they came along. It prevented Svala from initiating contact.
A bright amber necklace caught Svala’s eye. The sun outside the window reflected against the necklace’s heart and made it glimmer in a familiar way. Svala reached out and ran her finger over the smooth surface. As a child, she thought amber the prettiest thing in the world. Her mother had a necklace made of this particular gemstone, though much smaller.
She removed the jewelry from the posture and let it weigh in her hand. “How much for this?”
The woman walked out from behind the register. Her heels clicked against the wooden floor and the heavy set of necklaces around her neck clattered to the beat of her heals.
“There is something special about amber, isn’t there?” The woman’s blue eyes lit up. She had been stunning in her younger days, and still had an elegant charm about her. The lines on her face and the streaks of grey in her blonde hair only emphasized her beauty.
“It’s always been my favorite,” Svala said.
Their eyes met, and the woman tilted her head to the side. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but you aren’t one of those teen celebrities, are you?” her smile grew hesitant.
Svala bit her lower lip. Her friends caught the odd question and turned to listen.
“No.” Svala shook her head.
The woman kept observing her, obviously not convinced. “It’s so strange, I could have sworn I’d seen you somewhere. Are you from around here?”
“No.”
A moment of silence passed, their eyes met again. Svala looked back at the necklace to focus on something other than the woman’s eyes.
“I’ll take this.” She closed her hand around the amber stone.
The woman studied her a while longer, then turned toward the register. “Good choice,” she said, walking across the room.
Svala’s friends eyed each other as she went over to the register, necklace in hand. The woman reached under the counter and retrieved a small paper box. When she came back up, she paused again and shook her head. “Don’t you just hate it when you can’t place people? You’re the second one today.”
A chill went through Svala.
“The last one was a boy, a very handsome boy. Must have thought I was checking him out the way I stared at him, trying to place him. He bought an amber necklace too.” She reached for Svala’s hand gripping the necklace.
Svala couldn’t move.
“Your necklace dear.”
Svala reached out and handed her the gemstone.
The woman let the necklace fall into a paper box. “That’s why I asked you if you were a celebrity. Turned out, he was some big movie star. I’d probably seen his face on TV. Now, what was his name again?” She gazed up at the ceiling trying to remember, but fell short, and turned toward a door in the back. “Emma, what was the name of the boy who came in before, the movie star?”
A girl appeared in the doorway. “Is he back?” She scanned the shop, eyes large with expectation.
The girl’s black hair contrasted her eyes, an unnatural shade of blue, like the sky on a clear summer day. Svala couldn’t tear her eyes off her.
“No sweetie, he’s not back. What was his name?”
“Mom!” Emma rolled her eyes. “I told you, it was Viggo Storm.”
Chapter 4
“Viggo Storm was here?” Sarah approached the register, the other two girls in tow.
“Yeah, like an hour ago,” Emma beamed.
Svala couldn’t breathe. She shouldn’t be this surprised to find out. After all, she was here too, wasn’t she?
“How was he?” Megan looked around the shop again like she too hoped he would come back.
“Oh, he was so charming,” the woman said. “And very kind. Not at all like I would imagine a big movie star. He seemed so modest. Very interested in the neighborhood and this shop. He knew a lot about gemstones too. About their origins. And he insisted on tipping me a generous amount for the necklace he bought.”
“He told me I was beautiful,” Emma burst with pride. “Didn’t he mom?”
The woman smiled at her daughter, and nodded. Svala had to bite her tongue not to tell the girl she agreed.
“Did he say anything else?” she asked instead.
“Well, he did say something a bit strange. Before he left, he told me to take good care of my loved ones when they needed me and then...” She trailed out like she doubted her own memory. “Then he told me to trust my heart to do the right thing.” She frowned and then smiled. “I thought that a bit odd, don’t you?”
Svala nodded, and swallowed hard.
“He said that?” Sarah frowned.
The three girls avoided looking at each other but pursed their lips together in doubt. Svala met the woman’s blue eyes again and smiled.
***
Later, when the girls prepared for their big night, Trym took Svala aside to talk.
“Look for Alva. If she’s there, she’ll be able to fill you in. I tried to get a hold of her. I don’t understand why she’s not responding.”
Trym and Alva weren’t supposed to stay in contact during Svala and Viggo’s assignments either, but they had ways of contacting each other if needed. The fact that Alva didn’t respond unsettled her.
“What if she’s not there?”
“Then you observe. Read his face, look around to see if he’s being monitored by anyone, but keep your distance. Don’t let him or anyone catch you. If the Döckálfar is involved, you can’t let them see who you are.”
Svala fastened a pin on her black dress and studied herself in the full-length mirror. Her deep-blue eyes against the auburn colored hair was almost as eye catching as the red dress she’d left at home. She reached for her brown contact lenses.
“If you feel tempted to approach him, think of the consequences,” Trym said and watched her put on the contacts.
Svala blinked three times then looked herself over in the mirror and straightened out her dress. Her heart pounded.
“If you are the slightest bit unsure, don’t do anything at all. If you feel you can’t control it, leave.”
Adjusting the pin again she inhaled and closed her eyes. She had to be strong, for everyone.
***
The red carpet outside the movie theatre continued onto the street. Beautiful men and women in designer outfits posed in front of the photographers. A group of security guards stood in front of a golden fence, meant to keep the public out.
“I feel like a celebrity.” Jen beamed when a guard let them inside.
No one wanted to take their picture though, and the flashes subsided while they strolled down the red carpet toward the entrance.
Sarah grabbed Megan’s arm and pointed at a blond girl in a sparkling short dress. “Oh, look, is that...?”
“Oh my God, I think it is.” Megan gasped and tried to see pass the crowd blocking the woman.
“Seriously.” Jen rolled her eyes, and continued toward the entrance. “Try to act like you’re not complete idiots.” She reached out for Svala. “Come on, let’s go inside and look for Viggo.”
Jen had just finished her sentence when a long white limousine pulled up outside the theater. All the photographers turned to the car, and a sea of flashes filled the night sky. The limo stood still a couple of seconds, the flashes subsided, and all the teenage girls waiting outside crowded in for a better view.
The door opened and out stepped Amanda Jones. The flashes from the cameras increased in intensity. Amanda’s long red dress flooded over her perfect body, her black hair tucked up in an impressive knot on the back of her head. She smiled at the cameras as if she loved the attention.
After Amanda, came Viggo, wearing a black tuxedo, looking gorgeous. Svala gasped for air and reached up to grasp the column beside her.
A bright spotlight was directed at the two movie stars. Viggo squinted and gazed over the crowd, then turned and reached for his co-star. Their hands intertwined, and the camera flashes intensified yet again. Svala stared at their hands, a stab to her chest. She took a step back to let the shadow from the column disguise her face.
The girls outside the theatre screamed Viggo’s name, then screamed straight out like they had gone mad. Viggo turned, acknowledged their presence for two seconds, and then turned back to Amanda. The short attention increased the volume of their admiration.
Amanda leaned against Viggo’s frame and whispered something into his ear. When their eyes met they smiled, and turned back to the cameras.
Svala’s three friends froze in place. While staring at Viggo in the spotlight, they didn’t notice her move into the background. Viggo looked at the cameras, unaffected by the attention.
Slowly, Svala took a step forward. Viggo abandoned the cameras and scanned the place. He squinted again as the spotlight blinded him, and when their eyes met, Svala wasn’t sure he had seen her with the light in his eyes. But she’d looked into his eyes, and she was no longer sure she could do this.
Chapter 5
A group of security guards cleared the way for Viggo and Amanda when they walked toward the theatre. Occasionally, they stopped, allowed more pictures to be taken, or for journalists to ask questions. Their hands stayed intertwined all the while.
Svala stood in the shadow watching them, her gaze drawn to their hands. It was too much. She tore her gaze away and searched the crowd for Alva, but couldn’t find her anywhere.
Again, Viggo abandoned the cameras and the journalists to look around. Svala wondered if he sensed her. She felt him so strongly it almost took over everything else, but she was aware of his presence. He was not aware of her.
“Come on, Svala. Let’s get over to the other side.” Jen reached for her. Sarah and Megan already started walking.
“Actually, I think I need to go to the bathroom.”
Jen frowned. “Are you serious? Now? We might not get another chance to see him up close.”
“I’ll be right back. Go ahead. I’ll look for you.”
With her friends gone, Svala stepped further into the shadow and studied Viggo’s face. He scanned the crowd, eyes still narrowed. He looked worried, but he would have regardless of his reasons for being there.
She longed to go up to him, put her hand on his hip and lean in to whisper how much she missed him. She hadn’t been there in their Hollywood Mansion when he came home from work that day, and they didn’t get married. After she turned her back on him and walked into the bedroom, she ended up somewhere else. She didn’t walk into their bedroom and she no longer found herself in their new life. Instead she ended up in a room, in a house, in Washington. She was fourteen years old and starting all over.
Viggo’s hand tightened the grip on Amanda’s. Svala blinked back the tears. Crying in a public place would draw too much attention. She blinked again, excessively this time, but the tears would not obey. Frustrated over her inability to control her emotions, she hurried inside the theatre and continued into the bathroom. Once the door closed behind her, the heartache subsided. She leaned against the door with a deep sigh.
She was not alone in there. At the end of the long sink a woman applied more lipstick to her already cherry-red lips, another fixed her hair, and a third observed her cleavage from the side, pushing her breasts together with a firm grip. They all looked up when she came inside, but soon returned to what they had been doing.
Svala held her head down and walked up to the sink, digging into her purse for her lip gloss, just to keep herself occupied and not draw attention. She leaned over the sink, closer to the mirror, and lifted the brush to her lips. The spotlight from the upper edge mirror fell on her face, exposing her perfect fairy skin. She froze with the brush inches from her lips and her eyes widened. One contact had disappeared and she stared into one brown and one blue eye.
The woman beside her stopped fixing her hair, and looked at her for a good long while. Svala eased back from the mirror, away from the light. She lowered her head, and removed the other contact. Different colored eyes would draw even more attention than her unnatural blue eyes.
The woman turned to face her, and placed a hand on her skinny hip. “Are you someone’s daughter?” She lifted her chin to study Svala closer.
Svala knew what the woman meant, but couldn’t stop herself from the obvious answer. “Well, yes, of course. Aren’t you?”
The woman smirked, but let her gaze linger. Then her smirk grew uncertain, her lips twitched at the corner. Svala’s cocky reply didn’t rule out the possibility she was someone important.
Further down the powder room, the woman with the lipstick leaned back. She glanced over at them with an amused smile. The third woman offered them a quick bored look, like she didn’t care either way.
Svala opened her bag and dropped her lip gloss back inside. The woman still studied her and it made her nervous.
“Look, I’m no one important. I won the ticket.” She tried to keep her voice calm.
The woman stared at Svala. Her lips pressed into a thin line, like she was insulted and about to make a dramatic exit. Then, something changed in her eyes and her gaze shifted from annoyed to intrigued.
“Your eyes...” She leaned closer. “And your skin... You look like...”
Svala lowered her gaze in a beat.
“Are you related to Viggo Storm?”
Svala chortled. “I wish.” She tapped her fingers against the side of her body. “Or not, you know.” She rolled her eyes and raised her shoulders in feigned insecurity.
When the woman didn’t reply, Svala changed her tactic. “I have to...” She nodded toward the door. “My friends are waiting.”
The women in the bathroom looked after her as she scurried out, almost tripping over her own feet. Svala’s heart drummed so hard, it resonated in her head. She had to focus on why she was there.
The theatre was crowded. She spotted Viggo and Amanda by one of the large movie posters. On the poster, Viggo held Amanda in his arms, gazing longingly into her eyes. Rather tacky and predictable, Svala thought, with self-noted jealousy.
She couldn’t find her friends anywhere. They were probably closer to Viggo, which meant she had to stay away from them. She should try to position herself behind him, the best way to avoid being seen. To get there, she would have to go across the room, and pass him. Since Viggo was occupied with a journalist, that shouldn’t be a problem.
Grabbing her bag with a firm grip, she walked out into the light. She kept her eyes on Viggo, and headed for the back of the room. A row of benches stretched along the wall. At the end of the row, the light had gone out, offering the perfect hiding place. She picked up her pace and walked until Viggo was dangerously close. With a turn of his head he would spot her. Determined to make it past him, she held her breath and took a long stride toward the benches. That was when she fell.
Somewhere in mid-fall, she realized what was happening. Her foot caught on a cord carelessly tossed over the floor, and people yelped in surprise as she lost balance. The loud murmur in the theater ceased, and garments rustled when the crowd turned to see her fall. She dropped her purse and braced herself against the hard floor with both hands.
A man in a tuxedo quickly came to her aid. He knelt down and helped her up. “Are you okay, Miss?” he asked.
“Thanks. I’m fine.” She searched for her bag while the man still held her arm.
“Are you sure?”
Her eyes flickered over the floor, then stopped when she sensed him watching her. Looking up, she meet Viggo’s gaze. He stood only a few feet away, staring straight at her. She stopped breathing, and without noticing, her eyes welled up again. The moment felt like minutes but if she had counted the seconds, she would have stopped at three. Three seconds, then Viggo broke eye contact and continued his discussion with the journalist in front of him. Svala stared at him in shock. His gaze had been blank and uninterested, annoyed even. Like she was nothing but another screaming girl, desperate for his attention.
The man at her side studied her with concern. “Miss, are you sure you’re okay? You look a bit pale.”
“I’m fine,” she managed through a strained breath.
Viggo didn’t turn to look at her again. Instead, he put his arm around Amanda and pulled her closer.
Chapter 6
Svala sat next to Trym on the edge of the bed in the hotel, her eyes swollen, her gaze distant. “He didn’t recognize me. Why didn’t he recognize me?”
Trym put one arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. “I don’t know, sweetie.” He kissed her temple. “Maybe he did. Maybe he only pretended not to.”
She left the theatre in tears after her embarrassing fall and texted her friends she was feeling sick and had to leave.
“No, he looked straight at me, and he was...” She stared into the distance. “There was nothing there. Nothing.”
Trym hugged her tight. His silence worried her as he usually knew the right thing to say.
“Do you think they got to him? Could they have erased me from his memory?”
Trym stroked her hair. “It’ll do you no good, thinking like that.”
She grew silent. He hadn’t answered her question.
“Was this how it was with the two of you?” she asked.
Their eyes met. He offered her a meek smile, then continued stroking her hair. “No.” His voice was firm. “That was very different.”
She studied him, hoping to understand what went through his mind. Trym was the only one she knew who lost someone he loved to the Döckálfar. He didn’t like to talk about it.
“You would tell me, wouldn’t you?” she asked.
“Of course.” He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Try not to worry. We’ll figure out what’s going on. I mean you haven’t done anything you are not supposed to do, right? There is no reason for them to punish you.”
Svala nodded but avoided her nightstand where she’d placed the box with the amber necklace. “No. Of course not.” She swallowed hard.
“Good. Then you have nothing to worry about.”
Trym rose and walked toward the door. For a second, Svala considered telling him she had gone to see her, but quickly decided against it. He had always been against them seeking her out, and he was obliged to report it to the powers that be if she told him.
“Trym?”
He turned around. “Yes?”
“What do we do now?”
When their eyes met, Svala could have sworn Trym saw right through her, and knew she had broken the rules by seeking her out. Then Trym paused and reached up to rub his chin. “There is an autograph signing tomorrow at the mall. I’ll reschedule our flights.”
“What am I going to do there?”
If Viggo didn’t recognize her, or didn’t want to see her, what would it accomplish to seek him out again?
“Try again,” he said. “That is what we do, isn’t it?”
***
The line in the mall moved. They passed a beauty store and a scent of perfume washed over them. Sarah leaned against a sturdy advertisement sign from H&M showing a woman in a red bikini.
“This is going to take forever,” she sighed.
Svala agreed. They’d waited in line for over one hour, and they had hardly moved. She looked at the table up front. Viggo was bored and impatient. To those who didn’t know him he probably gave a different impression, but she could tell. He didn’t want to be here.
“If we don’t make it, I might have to hurt someone,” Jen muttered.
A group of eleven tween girls ahead of them sulked as they abandoned the line. They walked over to a lady waiting by the Gucci store. One of the girls whined and told the woman she was being completely unfair. The woman glanced at her wrist watch and shook her head, then urged the girls to move along.
The line moved.
Viggo signed another picture, smiled at another girl and tapped his fingers against the desk. He didn’t seem to care that everyone was looking at him, he’d always been good at blocking out attention. After signing another picture, he dropped the pen onto the table and flexed his hand. Before he grabbed it again, his hand went up to his neckline. Svala’s heart stopped beating for a few seconds as he grabbed for something that wasn’t there. When realization set in, he smiled to himself and let his hand fall down over his chest.
Svala’s heart started beating faster.
That action had been their sign when he needed her to rescue him out of a social situation. He’d touch the bow of his tie, as if adjusting it, or let his hand smooth over the length of it. Whenever he did that, Svala would come and request his attention elsewhere, thus getting him out of the situation without being rude. It had been especially useful in their life before last when Viggo had run for office and their attendance to dull functions and fund-raising events had seen no end.
Svala smiled. Even if he didn’t recognize her, there was still hope. He remembered something.
Two hours later, they reached the end of the line. Svala urged her friends to go ahead while she turned around and jotted down a message on her hand: the name of her hotel and her room number. She hesitated then added: “Please nod if you recognize me. I’m worried about you.”
Megan stood in front of Viggo when Svala turned around. She had forgotten her speech and stared at Viggo with wide eyes. When he handed her the picture back she yelped, but didn’t move along. A security guard nudged her and told her to step aside for the next girl, Sarah.
Svala faced Amanda Jones, Viggo’s new girlfriend. Up close she was even more stunning. Her smile, however, less honest than it had appeared further back in the line. Svala handed Amanda the promotional picture. Amanda signed it and offered Svala the same bored look she’d given the other girls, then broke out smiling. Beside Svala, Sarah lingered with Viggo.
“Move along, miss.” The security guard shoved Sarah to the side.
One step to the left and Svala faced him. She met his calm blue eyes, but his smile didn’t differ from the one he’d offered all the girls before her. She handed him the picture, and her hand trembled while it hovered in the air in front of him.
Viggo looked at her hand, paused for a moment to read, then sighed annoyed and grabbed the picture with some force. She pulled back her hand and waited while he signed the photograph. Slower than before? She couldn’t tell, she was too nervous, too anxious to get his nod of recognition.
The pen ended in a perfect ‘m’. He slid the picture across the table, rather than picking it up and handing it to her, like he had with everyone else. He didn’t look at her. He didn’t even offer her the mandatory smile or the nod she expected. Instead, he leaned back and waited for her to pick up the picture. She waited. He looked past her out over the crowded mall, like he still sought someone out there.
“Miss.” A security guard put his hand on her arm. “Move along.”
Chapter 7
Svala folded her black dress into her suitcase and placed the signed picture of Viggo on top. Her hands trembled. She lifted them to her chest to calm herself, and a deep shudder escaped.
Her friends had gone out, making the best of the last hours in New York before they had to leave. Trym was out too, searching for answers, or so he said. Svala told them she wasn’t feeling well.
She closed her bag when a violent knock cut through the silence, causing her to jerk back. Out in the living room she stopped short and stared at the door, too afraid to hope for him, too desperate not to. Her heart pounded; her hands still trembled.
“I know you’re in there!” Viggo’s voice was deep.
She hesitated, but only for a second. When she opened the door, she couldn’t remember walking up to it or even turning the lock. Relief filled her at the sight of him. He wore the same clothes he had worn at the signing, and he looked tired.
“I recognize you.” His smile was sheepish.
She exhaled, but it came out more like strained laughter. His smile widened and his tensed shoulders relaxed. “May I come in?”
Svala glanced out into the hallway, nodded then stepped aside. The door closed behind him. When he passed her, his arm brushed against hers. They both stopped and closed their eyes. Svala’s heart throbbed, her breathing escalated.
“I’ve missed you.” His voice sounded strained.
They stood perfectly still, her eyes closed as she focused on breathing slower.
“You scared me so much,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry...”
Their breath mixed in the silent room and her own heartbeat resonated in her head like a drum. For a moment, they stood still, sensing each other. Then Svala opened her eyes and lifted her gaze. He watched her, his blue eyes intense with regret and longing.
“Vig...” She swallowed hard. She should’ve stepped back, but couldn’t make herself. “Don’t...”
Viggo’s right hand clasped the left side of her face, his other landed on her hip. With a firm grip he pulled her against him, and leaned his forehead against hers. He caressed her cheek with determined, frustrated strokes. She gasped. His fit seventeen year-old body gave her little to want for.
“You weren’t there when I came back.” His voice turned hoarse.
She moved her face against his hand to feel the smooth surface of his skin against hers. His breath brushed against her face, and her lips parted. His touch robbed her of all sensible thoughts.
“God, I need you.” He clasped her face in both hands and eased back to look at her. His lips parted too, and the distance between them narrowed. The kiss landed on her lips, soft and familiar.
She moved with him. Like always, she didn’t grasp how much she needed him until she felt him. His hands moved up and into her hair, entangling her red strands as the kiss deepened. He pushed her toward the couch.
That’s when she pulled away and placed one hand on his chest. She pushed him away. “We can’t. They’ll keep us apart. We have to be stronger than this.”
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, but didn’t let go of her.
“It’s okay.” She closed her eyes and searched for the strength to resist him.
“No.” He stepped back and rubbed his face with both hands. “It’s not okay. This is exactly what they want. I can’t believe I did that. I can’t control it. I...”
“What who wants?” She interrupted.
She knew the answer, but his confirmation made her shiver.
“The Döckálfar.”
Her face twisted and she took yet another step back. Taking pause she realized. “Oh my God, they got to you, didn’t they? That’s why...”
He closed in on her. “No! No, it’s not like that.”
She raised her hand to ward him off. Their past lives had given her more practice to resist him. It was up to her to save them.
“Then, what?” She lowered her hand.
He stepped back with a resigned look. Pulling one hand through his hair, he leaned against the back of the couch and slouched. “I’m not sure. That’s what I’m trying to find out.”
“I don’t understand.”
He nodded in understanding and glanced up. “I don’t blame you. That’s not why I came, though. I came because I couldn’t stand the look on your face today. I couldn’t have you think I didn’t remember you.” He looked at her. “At the same time I couldn’t have them know it was you.”
“Then why didn’t you just nod? That was all I needed. It’s not like I would have jumped you in the middle of that circus,” she snapped.
Viggo smiled, amused. His reaction annoyed her further. She crossed her arms over her chest. “So you’re not going to tell me what’s going on?”
His eyes darted over her crossed arms, and his smile lingered even though he tried to fight it. She recalled how he had always found her temperament attractive.
Svala glanced at the door. Her friends would be back soon, and she needed to know what this was about before it was too late.
“Vig, come on. Tell me.”
Viggo’s smile faded. He bit down on his lower lip and looked past her.
“Please.”
He stayed in the same position for a while. She shifted her feet and waited.
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