Page 1 of Her World In His Hands

CHAPTERONE

Long,long ago…

Njord followedthe creature through the narrow opening and swum into the deep waters of Oslofjorden. It appeared to trust him after the time he’d spent swimming alongside, or behind, the ancient behemoth. He believed the animal dated back to the beginning of time, perhaps before the formation of the Gods, although as a God himself that was a sacrilege he would never repeat aloud. He sensed the sea monster’s loneliness. He could have changed his appearance to one of the prehistoric creature’s species, but decided it would be cruel to allow the animal to think it was no longer the last of its kind. As God of the sea, it behoved him to care for the creatures under his domain.

Njord knew where the lonely beast was heading and joined him in order to witness once again the fair maiden who somehow managed to communicate with this unique being from a bygone age.

Reaching the shore, he leapt surefootedly onto the land, despite the darkness of the night. Before his feet touched the soil, his legs emerged from the fin of the merman shape he’d shifted into which propelled him through water with such grace and speed.

As a God he wasn’t suspect to cold, but he chose to hide his naked form within a dark cloak, wishing to remain camouflaged in the shadows until the maiden he’d come to watch had communed with the creature from the deep. Soon he planned to reveal himself to her, as a man, not as a God.

He heard her light whispering steps approaching. The fresh floral scent of her perfumed the air, as intoxicating to him as any liquor. The moon emerged, casting a pale shimmering path of silver across the dark waters of the Fjord. The pale light kissed the maid’s auburn curls, turning them pale copper. Her hair cascaded down her back lifting in the breeze causing tendrils to swirl behind her head in a halo of glinting licks of flame. Moonlight held her in its silvery embrace causing the young woman to glow with an otherworldliness which gave him pause, he wondered if she was indeed mortal? Despite her svelte form, she held a commanding presence standing on the edge of the jetty, arms outstretched over the inky waters of the fjord.

“Come to me my friend, come, allow me to bring you solace,” her soft lilting voice flowed across the watery abyss carried on the gentle gusts of sea air even though she spoke so low. With a rising of bubbles the despairing animal rose from its watery depths. A large scaled head emerged supported by a long neck which, as he watched, arched towards her. Undaunted the ethereal young woman reached out and gently wound her pale, slender arms around the beast’s thick throat.

With his superb hearing, Njord listened to her sweetly crooned words of comfort and sympathy, as she offered affection to the ugly behemoth. The sight moved him as nothing else had done in a very long time.

The girl and beast stayed thus entwined for some silent moments before it slipped gracefully from her arms to disappear back down into the river. The girl turned and began to walk back the way she’d come.

Njord waited until she’d reached her small wooden house before he stepped forward into the bright patch of moonlight.

Recoiling,Sassa frowned at the large man suddenly blocking her path. Where had he appeared from?

“There is no need to be afeared, sweet maid. I only wish to talk with you.”

“I don’t do readings at night. Come back in daylight.” Circling him, she hastened to her small dwelling, but he was there, blocking the entrance to her home. “How did you do that?” Her heart palpitated with shock.

“The speed and stealth of a warrior,” he replied giving a shrug.

Pulling up her shawl she clasped it tight about her. Nervously glancing about for a means of escape. “What is it that you want from me?” she asked suspiciously.

Stretching out his hand he lifted a strand of her bright hair, entwining it about his finger. “Ah, Sassa, so soft and lovely like your name. ’Tis like spun copper,” he muttered to himself.

A vision swiftly filled her mind. She was intimately embracing him.

“Who are you?” Sassa insisted. Her gift projected the suspicion she knew him; there was certainly something familiar about him. “Have we met before?” With such a handsome face of strong lines marked by a dark golden beard, coupled with a regal bearing, this man could pass as a God.

Removing his hand from her hair, his finger he traced the outline of her cheek. “I do not believe so, but perhaps in another time, another place, who knows?”

She stepped backward, out of his reach. The touch of his flesh on hers instantly produced another mirage of jumbled images. Uninvoked visions always unsettled her. “You are a strange one…What is your name?”

“I’m sorry it was not my intention to scare you, beautiful maiden. I shall return in daylight and we shall talk some more.”

“Your name,” she pressed, but he’d already vanished. Sassa blinked. How could he have disappeared so quickly? Unsettled by the visit from such an extremely strange visitor she hurried inside her little house and barred her door, something she rarely felt the need to do.

Njord arrived midmorningto find Sassa seated outside her dwelling. A circle of people sat on the ground waiting patiently for their turn with her. Watching from the forest, he again cloaked himself in shadows so not to be seen by humans.

With his exceptional hearing he listened intently to each of her consultations. Clarity dawned; the maid was a volva, a seer. Sassa treated each and every person with the same courtesy. Every vision she took the trouble to explain with respect, telling her individual visions in tones of a benediction. Each visitor left her an offering by way of payment, these they placed in a large woven basket set beside her stool. Someone left her a knitted shawl, another a loaf of bread.

As her final client turned away a large man entered the glade and swaggered up to her. “People tell me you are a seer… What I want to know is this, who in this godforsaken place has the most gold and silver hidden away.”

“My gift does not work that way. I can only see what I am shown by the fates that have gifted me,” She explained in her soft melodious voice.

The man snatched Sassa’s thick braid of auburn hair which hung to her waist. He tugged her head forward to meet his snarling gaze.

“Don’t play games with me, maid, unless you have death-wish?” His spital sprayed her face.

Njord growled enraged and aspirated, placing himself between the two of them. The man’s expression of shock might have been comical had the situation been different.

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