Between the Lines

Echoes in the Deep

May 5th, 2012

          With the threats of ripping Odin's tongue from his head if Eibhlin was harmed still echoed around me in the catacombs beneath the golden palace, I could only rage. Seething with anger, a burst of energy leaped from my hands; the glass of my new cage shuddering as the spells etched into it glowed brighter. I had accepted my fate; I knew this was the corollary of my actions- a far kinder outcome than I deserved after all that I had done. Never though, not in all the centuries of life I still had left to live, had I thought that Eibhlin might suffer a similar fate as I. As I paced in my cell once more, having already stood in this very place hours before while awaiting my biased trial, I could only pray that Mother and Thor would be able to protect her where I had failed.

    That prayer went unanswered though as two guards held tightly to Eibhlin's arms, their fingers digging into her flesh beneath her dress as they carried her toward me. I hurried toward the window, stopping myself from touching the enchanted glass as I watched, horrified, as she was manhandled toward a cell past mine. We were perfectly angled where we would be able to catch glimpses of one another but nothing more. I could hear Mother begging them to be careful, Thor pausing near my cell as he looked at me woefully. This was madness... It wasn't supposed to be like this.

    "For heaven's sake, put her down," Mother cried as she reached for her terrified daughter. "Can you not see how frightened she is!"

    "All-Father's orders, All-Mother, she cannot be released until we have placed her within her cell." The cell they took her toward was one of the center ones, smaller than those on the edges of the rows like mine. While it felt wise for them to have placed me in such a cell where they could easily see me from multiple angles, to put Eibhlin in a small cell seemed almost cruelly calculated.

    I wanted to demand that she be placed closer to me, yet I knew this, too, was Odin's doing. "Thor, Brother... Do something!" I pleaded; my desperation reflected in the glass before me. Thor sighed, bowing his head from me as Eibhlin was tossed like a sack of flour into her cell, her whimper making me sick to my stomach.

    Thor walked away, unable to watch any longer; a move that enraged me further as I demanded he come back while I tried to see my little dove. I shouted for her to stop as she ran toward the glass, waving my arms as Mother urged her to stop as well, but it was too late. The enchantment burst against her, sending her careening backwards and out of my view; the sound of her body hitting the floor sending a shiver of fear down my spine. "Help her! Mother, please," I begged, attempting to teleport out of the cell and into hers, the magic embedded in the glass searing my flesh each time I tried. I became frantic, calling her name over and over as I helplessly watched from my cage as she attempted to get free once more; the sound of her terrified screams was something I would never be able to forget for the rest of my long life.

    As she disappeared from my view, a sickening sound came from her cell. I demanded answers as Mother raced forward. She commanded them to open Eibhlin's gate, her voice firm and beautifully terrifying as only a mother's could be. "Is she alright? Mother, someone, tell me she's alright!"

    No answer came though. Not for several agonizing minutes.

    I watched Mother exit the cell, her head bowed toward one of the guards as she moved to stand just outside of my cage, a grim look on her face as her blue eyes followed the guards as they left; the one she had spoken with hurrying up the stairs two at a time, no doubt on her order. She sighed, her slender shoulders shuddering with the weight of her grief as she looked up at me. Our eyes met, the silence between us saying so much more than ever before. Slowly, she nodded at me.

    "She is alright. Though I have sent Bjørn to fetch Eir, just to be cautious." I nodded, unsure of how to thank her. I opened my mouth several times, only to close it once more as I began to pace in my cell. Her sigh caught my attention, though I did not look at her. "What are we to do with you, my son? Tell me, how have I failed you all these years that you could become so blinded to the truth that lies before your eyes, so lost to all that you have?"