Page 21 of Her World In His Hands

“Really? I’d never have guessed,” Thor quipped.

Iona tookthem on a tour of the secret passages and hidey-holes of which Njord counted six. Three led out onto the hillside while the others were simply hidden places to hide in times of danger. Sassa wasn’t to be found in any of them. Njord had three of the Gods block two of the passages from the house because the tunnels were crumbling and in danger of collapse. The viable tunnel carved from granite had a secure lock inside the house to prevent intruders and they all agreed it should remain.

The gong sounded for dinner. They each went to wash up and gathered in the dining room with the other Gods.

Njord watched his daughter as she conversed with Mani, God of the moon, one of Thor’s younger sons, as yet unattached. The two seemed quite taken with one another. He hoped something might come of their meeting. The only way he could see Iona being happy in love was if she fell for another immortal.

CHAPTEREIGHT

Sassa stirred and yawned.She must have slept deeply because she really didn’t want to wake up. Reaching out an arm she stretched reaching for her phone which she always left beside her bed. Unable to locate it by touch she gave a groan of irritation and rolled onto her side cracking open one drowsy eyelid.What the… where the hell is my bedside table?Her eyes widened and looking about she realised she wasn’t lying in her own bed. Scouting up she stared about in shock. Golden bars stretched up all around, curving above her and meeting at a central point. She was in a huge birdcage. Gazing out beyond the gilded bars she saw she was suspended in a cavernous room. Everything outside her cage appeared to be super-sized, a stool and dressing table looked to have been be made for a giant…She froze,or a giantess?

“Where the fuck am I?”

Her words echoed in the space. Flopping back onto the pillows, she stared up at the ornate metal above her and attempted to recall how she’d got here. A fly buzzed irritatingly close to her face annoying her and she flapped a hand in an attempt to drive it away.

“Good you’re awake,” a voice boomed. Startled she squinted towards the far end of the chamber, jumping in surprise as a huge face of a woman peered in at her. She gulped. A giantess indeed.

Self-preservation kicked in and she rolled off the bed, wincing at the pain that shot through her ankle as she landed awkwardly. Quickly she scurried beneath the bed.

A loud bark of laughter caused her gilded prison to sway. Alarmed, Sassa flattened herself to the floor trembling.

She stared out at the huge blue eyes which gazed back.

“Hello Sassa, I’m Skadi, we meet at last.”

“I-I’ve told Njord, I don’t want anything to do with him, honestly, you can keep him!” she called in panic.

Again, loud raucous laughed rocked her golden coop causing a wave of nausea to choke her.

“Honey, I can assure you that neither Njord, or myself want to be together. It just didn’t work out between us, even though we tried. Why don’t you come out from under your bed and we can talk face to face? I’m sorry I scared you, but unlike the Gods I cannot adjust my size, once a giantess – always a giantess.” Skadi chuckled. “Only Odin can reduce my size,” she added.

“How do I know you won’t hurt me?” Sassa asked nervously.

“I just wanted to see the woman who had Njord tied up in knots all these years. I know he’s been to search Midgard, risking Odin’s wrath if he’d been discovered breaking the cardinal rule. I’ve been keeping track of my ex and when I knew he’d found you, I wanted see you for myself and well, I just couldn’t resist causing a little trouble for the other gods at your strange club. The Gods attacked my people and killed my father you know,” Skadi explained.

“I did know, but what has any of that got to do with me?” Sassa asked nervously. Conversing with a giantess was somewhat nerve wracking.

The drone of an insect caught her attention and she batted her hand at the annoying fly which hummed irritatingly about her face.

“I guess nothing really, but since I know Njord loves you it amused me to take you. There is very little to do to pass the time here you know. Anyway, you’re immortal so I cannot actually harm you, I just wanted to tease you a little…Ow, get away you little bugger!” The fly bothering Sassa now flew directly into Skadi’s eye. The giantess reared backwards with a sharp cry.

Sassa’s world went dark with a suddenness that caused her head to spin. Within seconds she found herself standing amongst the heather on the sloping hillside above Loch Ness. “What the…how? Where?”

“You’re safe now, love.”

She turned to stare at the man stood at her side and blinked.It couldn’t possibly be…Closing her eyes to clear the image, she opened them again. He was still there.“Douglas?”she gasped. “But,how?”

“Can we skip over that for a moment; you’re going to be so mad at me when I explain, and I really want to deal with the present situation first,” he began ruefully.

“Go on.” She frowned.

“The thing is all the other Gods think that it is me causing the problems at the club, but it really isn’t. I’ve discovered there is a fault with the electrics, they need looking at — ”

“Douglas, who are you?”

“See it was Skadi who has been tampering with the day to day running of the place. I just want my name to be invoked like all the other Gods and if you change that, I will no longer have any meaning. Odin is still adamant that no God or Goddess can visit earth unless their name is called by someone. It’s all right for Njord, the sea creatures summon his assistance all the time, but the rest of us rely entirely on our names being invoked. Before your club opened it had been hundreds of years since anyone had conjured me by name.”

“Douglas, are telling me that you’re aGod? I refuse to discuss anything else with you until I know who the hell you really are!” her voice rose in frustration.

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