Mia Darien - Good Things

“Yes, you have,” he agreed. “You have earned the right to ask your favor.”

Something inside her was suddenly suspicious. She had earned the right to ask, but he did not say he would grant it. “You know what I want,” she returned, her throat thick with her exhaustion and emotion. “I have passed your tests. Will you grant this?” Desperation seemed to flood her limbs, because she had nothing left to give. She might fall to her knees right at that moment, or die herself if he said no.

He didn’t reply. Instead he stepped until he nearly pushed her back by his presence alone, but she did not relent.

In a flash of movement she barely even saw, his hand was at her throat. She gasped in shock, grappling at his thick wrist but he did not relent. With just enough room to breathe, she still could feel her head growing light. Tears sprung up at the corners of her eyes. She simply had no strength to fight him as he practically slammed her back against one of the empty tables, knocking over mugs and pressing a plate into her back.

“You would do anything,” he demanded, his voice still low yet now flooded with intensity bordering on anger. “Anything at all would you give for this man you say you love.”

“That I do love,” she corrected, practically spitting in his fate. “I would have let the wolf bite off my hand to get here.” Tears flooding her throat made her breath even less, but she would not let go of the fire in her gaze as she stared at this god holding her by the throat. “I swore anything, and I will! Name it! If you say no, I will call upon you again. I’ll call upon Thor and Baldr and Freyr and all of your house until someone grants me this. I will not stop.”

“You would call on Loki?” he said, the intensity suddenly gone.

She didn’t reply right away. “No,” she finally said. “That silver tongue is not to be trusted and I would just as easily end up in Tom’s body and he in mine before I was granted the favor I have wished.”

The stern countenance broke into a knowing smile, slight but real. “I like you, mortal. I will grant you what you ask and will return your man to you, hale and whole.”

Her heart suddenly felt like it might burst, and she practically forgot he held her.

“However—” he continued and she froze inside. “—there can be nothing granted without something given. Your heart is mighty, and it is what will truly grant the favor. From this day forward, the Norns shall weave your thread together will his, and a great deal of any luck they would have favored with you shall be used here. No road taken onward shall ever be easy, and there will be little more than existence for either of you without the other. You must be sure in your answer, for you will be nothing without each other and thus will forever be bound in more ways than your mortal mind could ever conceive.”

She swallowed painfully, fighting against his still iron grip. Staring up into his single, pale-colored eye, she forced herself to not answer right away. She forced herself to envision a hard life with him compared to an easy life without. They were still young and marriages changed, ended, every day. They would wither away without each other, but might wither away with each other...

No. Deep down in the very center of every cell of her body, every corner of her spirit, she knew that wasn’t so. She would be nothing without him, regardless of what the Norns wove.

“I accept,” she whispered. “I want him back and I will live with nothing so long as I have him. Please, grant me the favor I have asked and I will pay that price.”

“I hope you do not regret your choice,” he rumbled.

“I won’t.” She spoke with confidence and her gaze remained unwavering on his.

He smiled, and the world went black. As she fell under, she thought she heard the sound of wooden needles clicking together.

Jesse woke up in the forest where she started.

She found herself on her back and as soon as consciousness entered her body, she sat up hard and fast, gripping her throat and hacking for air. When she finally felt like her throat and lungs were no longer burning, she looked around. It was still night. In fact, it looked like no time at all had passed. She began to doubt herself that it had been anything other than a dream, but her eyes fell on a black feather by her hand.

As she lifted it and examined it, her phone rang.

She answered it, both in a rush and in a daze. She recognized the number of Tom’s boss and she choked up instantly as she answered.

“Where are you?!” he shouted. He seemed to realize that he was being too loud and his next words were quieter, more level. “I’ve been trying to reach you for an hour, but your phone kept going to voicemail.”

“W-what’s wrong? Is i-it Tom?” she stammered.

“Yes,” he replied. “He’s awake!”

She stared ahead in shock for several long moments before she started sobbing. If her hand hadn’t been frozen around her phone, she would’ve dropped it.

“Do you need a ride? Maybe you shouldn’t drive,” Marcus said, although he didn’t sound sure of himself.

Jesse started to say no, but then she thought he might be right. She didn’t care about her car, she could come back for it. She told him where she was. He paused and asked what she was doing out there.

“It’s a long story,” she said, her voice still thick as she pushed herself to her feet.

They hung up and she walked to the street.

Her car was missing. It had been towed.

It took every ounce of self-control that her poor, exhausted body had left in it to keep from sprinting through the reception area. She had to check in and get her visitor’s pass, Marcus right on her heels. She walked, very fast, through the halls to Tom’s room, just barely keeping from knocking people down. She just didn’t care.

She reached his room and stopped in the doorway, trembling again as she found herself fearing it was a mistake. Tom wasn’t awake. It wasn’t okay. Nothing had changed, or worse, it had taken a downward turn.

Swallowing hard and forcing a breath, she once more fought her wooden legs and pushed herself into the room. When she reached his bedside, she found him sitting up. He was alert and awake, talking with a nurse. The nurse turned to Jesse as she gripped the plastic railing at the foot of the bed just to keep from falling down.

“The doctors can’t explain it,” the nurse said before either Tom or Jesse even had the chance to speak. Jesse could only stare at her husband, and he looked back. “The swelling and bleeding have just gone away, and all of his vitals are...normal. He’s a very lucky man.” The young woman paused, like she was waiting for something.

“Thank you,” was all Jesse said.

The nurse seemed to take the hint and left. Jesse moved around to the side of the bed and crawled up beside him. It didn’t occur to her to wonder where Marcus was, but a good guess would’ve been he was giving them privacy. Tom didn’t say anything as he pulled her into his embrace and she burrowed against his chest. The fabric of the gown they’d put him in was coarse against her face, but she didn’t care. She cried. She sobbed.

“I love you. I love you. I love you,” she whispered over and over again, her fingers gripping fabric as if to hold herself to him, like she was afraid to let him go.

“It’s okay,” he murmured into her hair. “You heard the nurse. I’m alright.”

“I know, I know,” she said around a hiccup.

“Everything’s going to be alright now.”

She nodded and sniffed. “I know,” she whispered. “It’s you and me, and everything will be fine. I’m with you until the wheels fall off.”

Somewhere outside the window, she heard the sound of flapping wings, and thanked the gods.