2 | 𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐃 ▹ LOKI LAUFEYSON

xxxii. the secret

Amora chuckled at the surprised look on his face as he blinked up at her. Straightening, she adjusted the strap of her bag over her shoulder and moved towards the golden barrier.

Before leaving, she glanced back over her shoulder, a smile spreading across her face. "We will talk more about this later, mischief."

* * *

A M O R A

Walking into Frigga's personal study, Amora was practically buzzing. She had to force herself not to absentmindedly touch her lips or grin like an idiot. Fortunately, Frigga did not notice, or at least did not mention it.

The queen seemed oddly occupied with something. Amora eyed her mentor curiously. "What did you want to speak to me about?"

"I found something that I thought you would find interesting," Frigga said with a small smile.

Amora perked slightly before craning her neck to gaze up at the massive doors to the Hall of Yggdrasil. The doors opened to a great tree in the middle of the room, galaxies nestled in its branches.

Frigga stopped at a nearby table with a small collection of holopads and ancient parchments. "Since you told me about your seidr," the queen explained, "I have been doing some searching. You wish to pursue this gift, yes?"

Amora nodded hesitantly. It was such a powerful pursuit and she could not help but be intimidated by the prospect.

Shuffling through the different parchments, Frigga picked up one particularly fragile piece depicting three cloaked figures under a massive tree. "Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld; the strongest practitioners of seidr. They are three extremely powerful sorceresses charged by the Celestials to manipulate and shape fate."

The queen moved her attention to a holopad displaying a map of what Amora recognized as the Nine Realms. However, an emphasis was put on a distant planet that the woman had never noticed before and sat a distance from the cluster that the Realms made.

"As you know, the Nine Realms are connected through the constellation that they create: Yggdrasil, the World Tree. However, the name is derived from the planet where the "roots" lie," Frigga said, pointing at the distant planet and then motioned toward the base of the tree before them. The roots raised from the ground and unfurled to reveal an image of a lone planet.

"Yggdrasil is where the Three Norns live, shaping fate by weaving the Strings of Life and carving runes into the oak that shares the planet's namesake."

Amora watched silently as Frigga shifted to another holopad with a directional map of Asgard and Nornheim; her mind raced to process every word as the queen spoke. "Now, before you pursue anything like that, you must first learn how to use runes to manipulate fate. There is a village in Nornheim where Norn women go to learn such a practice."

Frigga finally looked directly at Amora with a small smile. "If you wish to go, this is a map to that village. I have already spoken to the witch over the teaching."

Witch.

Amora took a step back from the holopad that Frigga offered to her. All of her life, she had avoided that title; it only made her think of Karnilla and the fearful contempt in the voice of those that accused her of being one. "I'm not a witch," she said as though on instinct.

A look of sympathy passed over Frigga's face and she carefully set the holopad down and took Amora's hands. "I know you have only heard that title spoken in hate, but it is so much more than that. Witches are women of immense power, regardless of how they use it. If you ask me, the galaxy needs more witches like you."