Page 40 of The Champion
“I was born this way. Now ask me the question that’s burning in your soul.”
“All right.” Freya looked down and I could see her fiddle with her piece of paper. “Will I… Will I ever marry?”
“No.”
It physically hurt to see the way Freya’s shoulders and face fell.
“Does that mean I’ll never become a mother either?”
Madame Claire turned to look at me before she answered the question. “I see a forked road. The two of you will have to agree on which road to take.”
“We’re not together,” I hurried to say because it would be illegal and because I knew how important it was to Freya that her family didn’t find out about our affair.
Madame Claire’s chuckle was soft and the deep resonance in her voice gave me the impression that she was an older woman. “You forget that I see more than what you show. Your destinies have been intertwined for a long time. I doubt you could untangle your souls if you wanted to.”
“Why though?” Freya’s voice sounded brittle. “It’s not fair that I’m in love with a man I can never fully have. Can you give me hope that we can find a way to be together?”
“Oh, you can be together if you choose to. We all have free will.”
Freya’s eyes were moist when she asked, “Does that mean I’ll move to France?”
“No.”
The hair on my neck stood up. “Will I move to the Northlands?”
Madam Claire shook her head. “I’m sensing it’s a no to that question.”
Freya’s tone rose at the last word. “Are you saying that we’ll live in the Motherlands?”
Tilting her head, Madame Claire took a second before she answered, “That’s a clear no.”
In a resolute movement, I pushed my chair back. “Come on, Freya, this is a waste of our time. She’s talking nonsense.”
“Madame Claire, what do you mean? There are three countries in the world and you’re telling us we can be together but not in France, the Motherlands, or the Northlands.”
“That’s what I’m getting.” Leaning her neck back, she took a moment before she spoke again. “I see you as a queen.”
“So, I’ll be the ruler of the Northlands then?”
“Hmm… It doesn’t feel like it. The energy is different.”
Frustrated with the vague answers that Freya was getting, I got up. “I’ve had enough of this. If you want to ask Linea’s questions go ahead, but I’m waiting outside.”
It took about twenty minutes until Freya came out. By then I had dismissed the whole thing as humbug and felt annoyed to have wasted time.
Freya was quiet as we walked to Victory Park and sat down with an ice cream.
“People like that woman should be ashamed of themselves. Don’t believe a word of what she said,” I advised Freya.
“She knew you were coming, and she saw through our charade.”
“It was a lucky guess, that’s all.”
The way Freya licked her ice cream was so sexy that I stopped and stared for a moment, my desire for her exploding.
How is it possible that I’m still hungry for her when I’ve had her every day for weeks?
“It’s like a riddle.”
