Valkyrie of Desire

35. Savior

Let me weave a spell

A riddle of love and loss

Let me pour my heart into it

So I can arrest time

Freeze a moment to keep for myself

Let me have my mother

Let me have her longer

I am a boy still

—Baldr Hildrson

Filthy fancy dress and a shaved head, Hildr draws wide eyes and whispers as she pushes through the morning bustle. Phantom hairs on her neck stand on end. She swivels her head about, but if there is a Pale spy, they do not reveal themselves.

Meepsin dodges careless human boots to reach her. "No bad soldiers at the house. Baelu outside in a blouse."

Hildr pulls her knife from her hip. Tip at her hem, she smirks at a blushing older man. He pulls his eyes away from her cleavage, and she cuts the blue fabric up to her knees.

Legs free, she slips off her platform shoes. Sheathing her blade, she puts her hands into the shoes and smacks the studded soles together. The clunking sound draws more eyes. She nods. They are weapons now.

Hildr sprints. Bare feet slapping muck on cobblestones, she weaves through the traffic without slowing. An older woman stumbles out of the way, and a stray hand reaches for Hildr. She slaps it aside with her shoe. The voice of a young woman yelps and curses after her.

She skids, turning a corner. Huffing, she slows at the row of townhouses.

The burly landlord leans out of his window. "If you stop paying. I will be taking dat girl back."

He still dares to threaten Baelu! Hildr hunches her shoulders. She should not. It is tempting, but she should not.

"You be hearing?" he says. "Dat girl will be mine and properly dis time."

Shit logs. Hildr gives him a thumbs up. The burly man squints and nods. She smiles and presses her thumb against her forehead. Skin warm, she has a fever of hate under her mask of civility.

Meepsin catches up.

She bends down to the brownie. "When I have left this townhouse row for other chores, wait for that bad man to come by his window again. He wants to hurt Baelu. Spin your sling and brain him."

" 'Brain' mean to kill? Crack bone and trill?"

"Kill, yes. Trill, no. Keep it quiet. No witnesses. Hide in our house after. Protect Baelu and her family."

"They our tribe now. Protect, I vow."

Such a soft heart for a ruthless fae boy. Hildr pats his mossy head with the back of her hand. No plan etched in stone survives the stress of strife. What will go wrong?

She firms her shoulders and marches to her shared home, smiling at the curly-haired maiden hanging laundry in front of it.

Baelu claps her hands. "Auntie! You're back. We were worried."

"Is Rosy Cheeks inside?"

"Mr Seedwick is—"

"Call him Apple or something insulting when speaking to me. Save the respect for strangers."

"Oh. Is-isn't he your friend?"

Hildr sighs, takes her shoe off her hand and grips the girl's shoulder. "Be nice to your enemies and cruel to your friends. Master this balance and control your relationships."