It wasn’t until much later, when I was back in the circle of tents, sitting around the fire with Loki and the other girls that I realized what had really happened. When I looked up, they were all staring at me with wide eyes, as if they were expecting me to explode or something. A shiver of panic ran through me, “Guys! I can’t do this!”

Charlotte’s eyes were glowing. “Yes, you can! Megan, you should have heard the speech you just gave! You sounded like a leader! I would have followed you into battle right then and there!”

“Same,” Margaret said. “That was amazing.”

Loki put his hand on my arm, “Single handedly, you got an entire group of stubborn frost jotun to agree to come to Muspellheim. That’s no easy feat.”

I sputtered, “but…I’m not…Queen…” words weren’t coming out properly.

“That would be so cool.” Charlotte shrugged and pretended to appear casual. “Yeah, my best friend is the Queen, no biggie.”

“Let’s put it this way,” Stacy spoke up. “You cannot possible do a worse job than Eira. You’ll look amazing by comparison.”

“Thanks,” I muttered. Subconsciously my hand tightened on the hilt of my katana. I had attached the scabbard to a belt that Erik had loaned me, and it’s comforting present at my hip made me feel just a little bit better.

“We leave in the morning,” Loki said happily. “It will take a day and a half to travel there, maybe two. I can’t wait to get back there,” his eyes suddenly seemed to focus on something far away, reliving memories, “Ah, I missed it. You’ll love Muspellheim. The crackling fire, the music, the giant feasts! And a never ending flow of ale…” He trailed off, a dreamy look on his face.

We were all silent for a minute, and the noise of the camp reached me. People were getting ready to leave tomorrow, they were packing up their belongings, rattling pots and pans and shaking out blankets, yelling to one another, and far off on the other side I could hear the high clinking of one of the horses being reshoed. I caught sight of Erik running here and there through the camp, giving orders and yelling instructions. It was odd to see him here, in his element and so obviously in charge. The rebel camp was so different from the cool grandiosity of the ice palace, and he seemed to fit so effortlessly in with both. It was starting to get dark in earnest now, and the campfires glowed orange amongst the tents, more being built as I looked on. When I looked back down at the fire I noticed that Loki had vanished into his tent, and my stomach sank a little. He’d gone without even saying goodnight?

“I wonder how we’ll get to the other place.” Margaret was staring into the fire, mesmerized. “I mean, I wonder if the dimensions are attached to one another, or what…”

Stacy shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.”

Something warm and heavy draped over my shoulders suddenly, and I stiffened. Soft fur brushed my cheek as I looked over my shoulder. Loki was sitting back down beside me. He’d gone to get me a blanket.

“Thanks,” I murmured.

“You looked cold.” 

We both knew that was a lie, but it was cute, so I pretended, curling the blanket tighter around my shoulders. Thankfully the girls were still talking, and it was getting really dark now, so they didn’t seem to notice when Loki reached out and took my hand in his, stroking his thumb over my palm, sending tingles over my skin.

                Eventually the warmth of the blanket and the hypnotic dance of the flames in front of me made my eyes droop, and I found myself leaning on him. Closing my eyes I allowed myself to drift, inhaling his scent with each deep breath I took. Feeling the rise and fall of his chest and hearing his heartbeat.

                Movement around me. I opened my eyes to see the girls getting up from the fire, stretching with sleepy moans. Loki nudged me gently.

                “Guess we should get to bed, huh? Early morning tomorrow.”

                Tired, but reluctant to tear myself away, I nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.”

He stood up and offered me a hand, pulling me off the ground. When I was on my feet he held onto my hand for a second longer. “Goodnight.” He turned to the other girls. “Sweet dreams, ladies. I’ll see you all in the morning.”

                I sighed, following Charlotte into the tent. The furs were ridiculously comfortable, and Charlotte was out almost instantly, her soft breathing becoming regulated and steady. Too many thought were racing around in my head though. The feeling of Loki’s hand on mine, his lips on my lips earlier, the speech I’d given and the crowd cheering. Erik’s speech about appointing me as Queen….how could I be a Queen? I didn’t even know how to drive yet, how was I supposed to rule a kingdom? It was all so ridiculous!

                I thought I would never sleep, but the rhythm of Charlotte’s breathing beside me and the soft furs finally seemed to drag me down into dreams.

                A flurry of activity greeted us the next morning.  The jotun were loading up the horses and kicking snow over their fires, getting ready to move out. Marian, the mute woman, came by. She brought fresh clothes for Margaret, Becca, Stacy and Loki, since Charlotte and I were the only ones that had been able to bring any supplies with us. They thanked her, and she bowed silently and swept away, her long skirts dragging over the snow. She was one of the only jotun women here that wore skirts, I noticed, the rest of them seemed content to dress exactly as the men did. Probably better for fighting in. Loki vanished into his tent, coming out a minute later in a brown leather jerkin over top a long sleeved white shirt and black jeans. The jerkin was tight on his shoulders and chest, accentuating his slim,  muscular torso. Instantly all I could think about was that in the bed and breakfast, when I’d caught a glimpse of his naked back. His curly hair was tousled from pulling the shirts over his head. I couldn’t seem to keep my stomach from fluttering as he shot me a wide grin and turned in circles, arms held aloft. “Well, what do you think?”

                “Good,” I stammered. “It looks good.” My face was burning. I sounded like a total moron. Luckily Loki didn’t seem to notice, although Charlotte was grinning at me like an idiot. I shot her a stern look that said she’d better not say a word.

                “Ready?”

                We turned to see Erik at the edge of our tents. He’d obviously just washed up, since his hair was still wet. “Everyone good to go? All packed up?”

                We said we were. Margaret, Stacy and Becca emerged from their tent in that moment, dressed in black leather jerkins and long sleeved shirts, obviously loaned by the women of the camp.

                “You guys fit right in.” Erik grinned at them. “Now, let’s go. Everyone’s getting all saddled up.”

                It was strange to go through the camp and see it so empty. All the tents had been cleaned out, the campfire coals scattered and extinguished. I tilted my head back to see the clothes lines bare of their colorful flags and the city in the trees empty of life. It was sad, in a way. They had built a life for themselves here, and now they were leaving it behind.  Other jotun joined as we walked through, carrying sacks over their shoulders, some burdened with rattling carts they pulled through the snow. The other side of the camp was bustling with activity as the horses were saddled, loaded and hitched to carts. Erik stopped at the end of the tethering station, pointing to the horses at the end.

                “Those are all pretty docile. Pick whichever one you like.”

                My eyes were wide as I stared at them, and I had to try to swallow the lump that suddenly appeared in my throat. I had to ride a horse by myself? What if it hated me and tried to kick me off? I still remembered how uncomfortable the ride had been.

                “Here, I’ll help you with that.” Erik took my bundle full of clothes from me, knotting the clothe ends to the saddle so that I didn’t have to carry it. He grinned at me. “That way you can concentrate on just hanging on.”

                I grimaced back at him. “You picked up on that last time, huh?”

                Erik shrugged. “You’ll have to get used to it. It’s how we get around, at least…here.”

                He walked away down the line of horses before I could ask him what that meant. Everyone was mounting their horses, so I took a deep breath and put one foot in the stirrup, swinging my other leg over. There. I was on top of the horse. Now what?

                “Move out!” Erik called. “My end of the line first, all others follow after the person in front of you. We’re going to make good time today, so settle in folks.”

                My groan was lost under the rumble of multiple carts rattling forward.  Erik peeled away from the line first, leading us away from the camp. The line followed, leaving my group the tail end of the expedition.  Loki kicked his heels into his horses’ sides, and away he went in front of me. I repeated the gesture, and my horse lurched forward. Clenching my teeth so hard it hurt my jaw, I hung on as tightly as I could, feeling like I was going to be jostled off any minute. Behind me Charlotte was yelling back over her shoulder at the other girls.

                “Isn’t this fun? I love riding!”

                I hope the stupid thing throws her…

                The landscape was beautiful though, so I did my best to concentrate on the snow covered forest around us, marveling over the huge lacy flakes that were falling around us as we traveled through the trees. In the distance blue mountains rose from the tree line, capped with white. Aside from the noise we made as the line of horses traveled through the forest, our surroundings were utterly quiet, blanketed into silence by the thick fall of snow.  Ahead of me the snowflakes settled into Loki’s dark hair, dotting his curls with white. I watched the silvery clouds of mist that rose up behind him each time he exhaled. His natural body temperature created far more heat than the average person. I got a pleasant little shiver thinking about how hot his skin was on mine, the warmth of his fingers when he touched my arm.

                We rode forward in a straight line for what seemed like ages. Erik was steady in the lead position, guiding his horse with utter confidence. Clearly he knew where he was going. The beauty of the landscape wore off quickly, and soon I found myself only concentrating on the jolting and bouncing the horse was causing me, and how quickly my backside was growing sore. I would probably be one big bruise by the time we got to Loki’s place.

                I tried to ignore the jostling and just concentrate on the noise of the horses’ hooves trudging through the snow. It wasn’t long before another sound reached me, a distant chorus of eerie howling that rang through the mountains, echoing in a blood-chilling symphony. The sound was unmistakable, even to me.  Wolves.

                At the front of the convey Erik turned and called over his shoulder, the faint breeze carrying his words to us. “Keep moving, they’re in the mountains and shouldn’t bother us.”

                Shouldn’t bother us. That was reassuring. My fingers were gripping the reigns so tightly that I swear they must have been turning blue, and my entire body was rigid, which made the jostling of the horse even worse. The horses themselves seemed a little spooked upon hearing the cries, some of them scattering out of line until their riders coaxed them back in. We rode on in utter silence now, without laughing and talking, or the playful banter that had been going on between family and friends of the convey. Everyone was silent, heads moving back and forth, eyes searching the snowy landscape for any sign of movement. The wolves continued their noises, sending shivers all across my skin. It didn’t take a genius to know that in the middle of winter they were probably pretty hungry. They were on the hunt and calling to one another. I had never seen a wolf, and I had no desire to see one up close either.

                Erik seemed to be moving us faster now. We were covering more ground, the horses motivated by the sound. I wasn’t an expert, but I was listening closely to the chorus of howls and whines, and it seemed like they were getting closer. Ahead of me, the carts were bumping so violently over the snowy ground that it looked as though the contents would fly out. There was no doubt, Erik had just doubled our speed. How confident was he that the wolves wouldn’t bother us?

                I looked back at the other girls. Charlotte’s face was grim. She didn’t look like she was enjoying the ride anymore. The other girls were in varying states of panic. Stacy, who rode at the very end, was clearly the most frightened. The whites of her eyes were huge, and she was chewing anxiously on her bottom lip. My fingers tightened on my sword and I pulled back on the reigns with one hand, slowly my horse, waving the other girls ahead. Stacy looked at me questioningly when I dropped behind her, and I called out, “I at least have a sword on me.”

She looked relieved.

My hand was practically glued to the handle of my katana. The howls were increasing, the wolves sounded frantic. There was no longer any doubt. The noise was growing louder. The train of jotun picked up the pace even more. And Erik’s voice drifted down to the end where I rode.

                “Nearly there,” his voice was layered with tension, “keep riding hard. We’re nearly at the pass.”

                Whatever the pass was it must have been good, because the jotun ahead of me kicked their feet into the sides of their horses, who in turn, needed very little encouragement. The riders were bent low over the necks of the animals, like jockeys at a race. Up ahead the trees were thinning out, and I could see what he meant by the pass. Twin mountains towered over us, and between them was a path, a road that seemed to start out of nowhere. The light in the pass was playing tricks on my eyes, and there seemed to be a thin, hazy veil at the entrance. It reminded me of when we’d first entered the other dimension with Erik, how everything had seemed to blur and reform before my eyes.

                This had to be it. This was how we would reemerge into the human world. We were leaving Niflheim now.

                The next howl made me jerk upright in my saddle. It was close, far too close. The distant between us and the pass was closing too slowly. Up ahead I saw Erik drop back, waving his people onwards. The first of the horses and riders vanished through the film, disappearing completely. It was shocking to see, but I was far more concerned with the yipping and growling that was coming from the trees behind me.  Erik was riding back down the line, pulling his broadsword from his scabbard, motioning his people onwards, “Go! Go!”

                Loki pulled back and waited till our horses were abreast of one another, “Be ready!” He shouted at me, and that’s when the first black shape burst from the trees behind me.