The gauntlet had been thrown, only the latest of what might number in the eventual thousands. Such a blatant challenge hadn't first started in the garden, Lenneth finding the fires of resistance had been forged inside her from the moments before she had ever been forced to swallow down Odin's potion. That spark of fury, that rigid determination to deny it, to defy the fate set out before her, had given way like kindling to a flame, an inferno blazing bright inside her. With it's power, Lenneth had rebelled, had fought to retain some semblance of her true self.

It was the impossible that she had sought. The chance, as unlikely as it should have been, to try and change the path that had been forced on her. With tooth and nail had Lenneth fought, it and the injustice of what had befallen her and that of her sisters, all its unfairness that which had given the platinum haired Valkyrie just a small kernel of the strength needed. That sliver thin source a remnant of the woman, the Goddess, she had once been, it was not some love addled mortal who had awakened to Lezard Valeth's kiss.

That had been her SECOND act of defiance, the rejection of the man, the husband, who sought to claim her body and her heart. It hadn't been easy. It still wasn't, the love potion's effects still taking a toll on her. Even as she balked against it taking a complete hold of her, those slivers of love wound their way through her thoughts and into her heart. It left Lenneth to be on constant guard, fighting against the feelings that pressed their demand on her. The urges that tried to soften her towards playing Lezard's ideal.

Refusing it all, the man and the woman Lezard would have her be, the King and the magic that would see her enslaved, Lenneth's existence was that of an open rebellion. A protest, the woman laying a challenge down to both her God and her husband to be. She'd fight, both them and herself, Lenneth determined to not roll over so easily to the love that was now a poison in her veins.

Made sick by it, and by what it would have her do, it was an uphill battle that Lenneth has waged, some moments more difficult than others. That insipid love, those traitorous desires, the urges that they both had inspired, left Lenneth dangling on the precipice. Those moments when she has had to pull back, where she has had to fight harder than ever to resist, should have been a breaking point. It had left her angry instead, Lenneth made mad and seeing red. It was that anger that had gotten her through so much, that had kept her from falling into love's endless abyss.

That mad fury raging on inside her, it's existence was made all the more potent and powerful with every tidbit of information that Lenneth managed to glean, the horrors of the truth that now surrounded her. Nothing had the power to enrage her any further than that of her husband to be. The NECROMANCER that shouldn't have even been suffered to live. His criminal nature was a direct affront to every belief and truth Lenneth had ever held, the man's sins such that his soul was made black with them. Offended by it, by him, by the touch of him on her, the Valkyrie had had no qualms in letting him know of her ardent displeasure. Of her DISGUST. It had been just another gauntlet thrown, the defiance and derision such, that Lezard should have crumpled before it. He had NOT, the man taking the blow to his ego, and offering one up of his own. A threat, thinly veiled though it might have been, Lenneth the one made chilled by the words. By the opportunity that Lezard voiced thought to use, the advantage he thought to take.

She had gone cold inside, that ice the only thing that could account for the shaking her body had done. The trembling, Lenneth all a quiver with her unease. In that moment, she had been more bark than bite, making one last defiant stand as the hostile warning had spilled across her lips.

"I'll fight it, and I'll fight you." Lenneth had said. She had been both woman and Valkyrie in that moment, holding the worry of one and the fury of the other, both halves of her nature in agreement against Lezard. So united in thought and intent, it had been their hostility that had shown in her eyes. That resentment, that of every last Valkyrie forced and the innate fear that was born in the soul of every woman to have ever existed, Lenneth ready to take it all out on Lezard.

It was a fight that Lenneth had known that she couldn't have won, not as she now was, a mortal pitted against his magic. That soft vulnerability a weakness for any to exploit, Lenneth also had not been able to back down from the challenge that she had offered him. The words she had spoken, the disgust and derision that she had shown him. The Valkyrie had been prepared for brutality, for abuse, but not the sadness of his smile, or the tired bitterness creeping into the man's expression.

It wasn't a loss, but neither was it a win, the stark emotion that had laid vulnerable on his face, gutting something inside Lenneth. It was Odin's magic upon her, it's touch leaving her weak, to Lezard and his softer feelings, the Valkyrie held at bay by its leash. Its love his advantage, Lenneth had only been able to stand rigid with her attempt to fight off the worst of it's effects.

It was difficult, so so difficult, and not even the truth of just WHAT he was, could make it any less. That love that tried to take hold of her, that tried to squeeze down on Lenneth with its all encompassing grip. It pushed and it prodded at her, tried and tested any weakness found, the love slipping in past many of the Valkyrie's defenses. Not even her disgust could stand strong against it, the anger that fueled the fire inside her unable to outright hate him. She could loathe Lezard, despise him, even fear him, but the one thing she was helpless against, was the love that refused to take her no for an answer. It didn't just lay in wait, it actively fought against her, tempering the worst of what she could give him.

Vigilance was the key. The dividing line between victory and defeat, and hers was a tireless opponent. That love had the advantage over her, and would ALWAYS have it. Ultimately, the Valkyrie was fighting a battle that not one of her kind had ever been able to win, Odin's will and his alchemic genius absolute. The inevitable was before her, and yet Lenneth still wouldn't give in. She couldn't, everything, her honor, her sense of self, her very beliefs, would be lost otherwise.

It was a futile battle but it wasn't without point. Her pride was on the line, Lenneth refusing to go meekly to her fate. She'd not easily become his doll, his play thing to mold and use as his desire saw fit. The Goddess waged a war that she could not hope to win, but for now? Now Lenneth would be content to win the more immediate battle. And the ones after, a whole succession of them, that might just last a day, or it might last a few weeks. Even a second more free was precious, Lenneth savoring every moment, every thought and feeling that was HERS and not that of Odin's wretched enchantment.

The sapphire shade of her eyes blazed, a willful defiance and stubborn determination visible to all who cared to truly see. Tortured she might be, but the one thing Lenneth was not, was a woman who was completely love addled. It was a fierce loveliness that only added to her beauty and worth, the Valkyrie unwittingly becoming even more of a temptation than the first time that Lezard had sighted her.

Like a moth to a flame, it drew him near, his expression tight with some emotion that she could not outwardly acknowledge. The bitterness and the sadness was at war with the longing alight in that amethyst colored gaze, and she was in denial, Lenneth choosing to interpret that reverent awe as nothing more than a sexual hunger.

Hackles raised, Lenneth was spoiling for a fight. For the soothing solace that she had only ever been able to truly find in the midst of battle. She was ill equipped for it now, having neither weapon to hold, nor armor to shield her, and words alone had never been the Valkyrie's strong point. She was blind in the moment, unable to see, to reason, let alone realize the effect her response was truly having on that man. She hurt him without even trying, that kernel of fear, that outright loathing, all a rejection that had Lezard sagging in place as though wounded.

For one second, he lay defeated, and then Lezard was drawing himself upright, all rigid and tall and ever so determined. With an unyielding grace, one long, elegant looking finger, pushed at his gold rimmed glasses. Was that HIS metaphoric armor sliding into place, the man seeming to draw strength with his regained composure.

"I can see that you are still tired."

She couldn't stop the derisive sound from escaping her, Lenneth scoffing at the very idea. "I have slept more than enough to last me several lifetimes."

"That may be….but tired doesn't always equate to needing sleep." He told her. "There has been a lot to take in, a lot of shocks and unpleasantness, your whole world as you have known it, changed in an instant."

That was such an understatement in Lenneth's opinion, the woman giving a vicious nod of her head. She was still so on guard, too busy anticipating the worst to expect any bit of kindness from the man who was to be her husband.

"My entire existence has been destroyed." She informed him with scathing tones. "There is nothing and no one that can make that fact better." It was a wounding truth, Lenneth's soul screaming an agonized protest over all that had been lost.

"Won't you let ME try?" His was an absolutely serious expression, Lezard stepping closer towards her.

"You!?" Lenneth all but sneered, giving him and the hand that he had thrust towards her a wide berth.

"Why not me?" That infinite seeming patience couldn't last, Lenneth shaking her head no in denial.

"You are one of Hel's own, a blasphemer, a sinner, a NECROMANCER."

"I am also your betrothed." He reminded her. "The one Odin gave you to for a reason."

"Yes, to be my punishment." She all but spat out the word, all her open hostility laying naked in the glare that the Valkyrie gave him. He actually sighed in response, that put upon, exasperated sound grating on the woman's last nerve.

"I wish you wouldn't think of me like that…" Again that scoff of sound from her, that indignant disbelief expressed as Lenneth wondered just how else Lezard could expect her to think of him.

"Taint on my soul aside...would life as my partner, really be so bad?" It was no idle question, but blinded as she was by her upset, Lenneth couldn't think to see the bigger picture in the moment. To her, there was no advantages to be found, the Valkyrie only able to recognize in him the taunting truth of her spectacular failure.

"You would—will be cared for, no need or want neglected." It was a cajoling tone that he tried to seduce her with, the wealth and the power that Lezard subtly tried to flaunt. "My life is such that you would be comfortable, free to explore any avenue, pursue any interest without worry..."

Again a step forward, Lezard almost within reach of her. "So little would be asked of you, your duties as few or as grand as you would deem fit...think of it Lenneth. Think of the freedom life as my wife would give you."

"Freedom!?" She practically choked on the word, on the anger and disbelief she could not suppress. It was absolutely absurd to even imply, this life of a love that would chain her, that would see her will enslaved, her every thought and action molded in turn by it anything but freeing.

"How is THIS freedom!?" Anger hissed out of her, Lenneth abandoning all desire to be wary. Instead aggression thrashed through her, all attempt to be civil and in control lost as the leash around her feelings, her thoughts, snapped apart in the moment. "When I have no choice or real desire to be here!? This place, this life, these people...none of it of my own choosing!"

There was the rapid blink of his eyes, that amethyst color shaded with trouble. She wouldn't heed it, she couldn't, Lenneth taking a step towards him, and then another. "How can you ever hope that THIS life could compare to what I had in the Heavens? The home I had, the respect, and most of all, the purpose! You are mad, truly and utterly, if you so much as think a life spent warming your bed could soothe away the sting of what I have lost!"

"You're right, it can't." THAT admission got her to draw up short, Lenneth wide eyed for one split second, and then her eyes narrowed.

"Then...!?"

"That is why I offer you so much MORE." She couldn't help it, couldn't stop the derisive sound that escaped her. Or the look of disbelief that mocked him so. His was a strained smile that hinted at the end of a less than infinite patience that was rapidly running out.

"I DO." For all his attempt to not come off exasperated, Lezard's smile betrayed him. There was a tension in that expression, no light to chase away the unhappy darkness of his eyes. "I've the wealth, the resources, the people and the opportunities to lay before you feet, just about anything and everything that you could ever desire to do, made available to you. It's a whole kingdom I've opened up to you, the awe and admiration of thousands, their devotion ready to number in the legion. You'd not want from lack of respect or purpose, the nation of Flenceburg yours to command, to make a home of, and find your happiness in."

"The only thing that I have ever expressed a desire towards ruling over is that of the battlefield." She informed him coldly. "I live...and I would have gladly died by the sword….if only…." She could not finish that thought, her face not as closed up and guarded as Lenneth would have liked, her anger hollowed out by the poignant pain of a memory. Of a tangible humiliation delivered to her by a fist that had not seen fit to put her out of her misery.

Brahms. His was a hated specter in her thoughts, that imposing menace utterly despised of long before he had ever stolen Silmeria from her family. He and his kind had run rampant for countless millennia, vermin that not even the best efforts of the Valkyries, had been able to completely stamp out. Their numbers simply grew at too alarming a rate, the curse and affliction that plague the undead, all too quick and easy to pass on. A cut here, a bite there, and anything that the undead didn't outright consume, changed and not for the better.

This time the agitation that shook through her slim frame had nothing to do with the necromancer, nothing to do with him or his queen. Hel actually slipped free of Lenneth's thoughts, the Valkyrie remembering her sister, and what had been forced on her, the crime that had been committed. The pain of it, the memory and the knowledge of what young Silmeria would awaken as and to, it left its tortured impression on Lenneth's soul, its pain and the guilt such, that it expressed itself in the tortured sheen of her eyes.

She was in hell. Both figuratively, and ever one step closer to literally, the pain and the remorse, the failure, all playing their part in Lenneth's self condemnation. The guilt that the woman felt, the immense sorrow and regret, it and the fact that she had been allowed to still live, it all was too much, no crueler fate to be found, than for the Valkyrie to continue on with her grief. With the awareness, those faults and missteps, Lenneth too little, too slow, too weak to have done Silmeria any real good. It wasn't a kindness that Brahms had done the platinum haired Valkyrie, it wasn't even a true mercy, Lenneth tortured by what she had done.

In surviving, she had brought shame to her family's name, had earned her King's displeasure, and been damned in the process. None of it compared to the guilt that she had, Lenneth desperate to go after Silmeria even NOW. It would have been suicide to even try, her mortality a curse that in no way left her a match for even a newly made fledgling.

A part of her still wanted to try. That part wasn't silenced by fright, for Lenneth did not fear her own death. She in fact would have welcomed it, the solace of knowing nothing infinitely better than the torture that the Valkyrie continued to relive. Haunted by it, by the memories and that of her present reality, it was Odin's enchantment that both damned and tamed the worst of the woman's dark destructive impulses. It couldn't ease the resentment, the betrayed feeling that spiked in her whenever she thought too long on Odin.

Wondering again if her failure had truly been great enough to justify the God's abandonment of his Valkyrie, Lenneth couldn't stop the internal screaming that her soul was doing. That mournful wail that existed as the very beat of her now mortal heart. The pain of it was alight in the agony on her face, those blue eyes absolutely tortured. This was all her fault, her stubborn nature, and her love for her sister such that Lenneth had fought the enchantment, instead of allowing the magic to reshape her. Instead of the absolution that would have been found in love obliterating her very self, Lenneth had found a hollow victory in retaining her thoughts, her memories, and her many painful feelings. Run ragged by all that was raging on inside her, both the real and the manufactured, Lenneth wondered if she would go absolutely mad from the process.

She might already be halfway there, Lenneth suddenly gasping. She was wide eyed and startled, Lezard close, far too close, and she couldn't muster up the strength to mind. Not when it was his hand touching her, a light touch on the arm that turned gripping when the Valkyrie made the attempt to step back. She couldn't escape it, she couldn't escape HIM, and it was then that Lenneth realized what HIS touch had invited. The manufactured love that she was bespelled under making a renewed attempt, those soft and weak feelings surging stronger, Lenneth's anger beat back with a sigh. It was a sound so unlike her, not one of exasperation or of impatience, but more this breathless, womanly sound of appreciation. Her back stiffened at hearing it, yet still she could make no move to pull away. The love tried to wind tighter around her, and the former Goddess was suffocating for it's attempts.

"Please." She was barely aware of saying it, of thinking it. Her soul did its frantic wail, her erratic heart beat growing ever more wild. Her pride gave way to panic, Lenneth crazed, and lashing out. Without even thinking it, without even deciding to put action to thought, she had slapped him, Lezard's face turned to the side for one instant.

Lenneth couldn't even enjoy what she had done, the woman instead staring appalled at him. "I'm…." But what could she be, what did she truly feel, the potion wreaking havoc on her at his touch. She couldn't explain it, she wouldn't, Lenneth's sneaking suspicion such that it left her heart sinking. She hadn't the nerve to test it out, for the first time in her life the Goddess a coward.

Again his face became this mask that hid his true thoughts and feelings from her. Lenneth braced herself, expecting his worst, but not getting it.

"Forgive me."

Her eyes could not get any wider with her surprise, Lenneth staring agape at Lezard. Her lips actually parted, but no real sound came out, the woman almost unable to understand what he was saying, what he was getting at! She then licked her lips nervously, not failing to notice the way that subtle action drew his eyes to her mouth. The Valkyrie quickly spoke, her tone ever still so cautious and guarded.

"For?"

He looked uncomfortable then, the red imprint of her hand on his pale cheek a stark accusation of Lenneth's own misdeeds. He let go of her arm to bring that hand to his face with a wince, and told her that he had deserved that. She didn't know what to do, what to say, the Valkyrie standing there a bit flabbergasted, shocked that he would excuse her violence towards him.

"I was not trying to overstep." Lezard continued. There was a feeling there, some unidentified emotion that Lenneth couldn't hope to place, the woman looking at him with eyes that were made soft with her confusion and by the lingering effects of the potion. The love was what tried to overwhelm her, that smothered her attempts at a true anger, the touch too soon, too recent, for Lenneth to fight back effectively. The worst of her anger dispersed to the fright and confusion, Lenneth could only struggle and flounder amid a tide of receding love.

It waxed and waned in strength, was fought back when the Valkyrie was at her angriest. It had also surged stronger at that simple touch done her, Lenneth realizing that this too was a weakness. One she could not afford to expose herself to, or let Lezard manipulate to his advantage.

"Then what were you trying to do?" Her voice was still too soft for her liking, the Valkyrie too shaken to be anything like her divine self. She still retained that presence of mind, still had the warrior's instinct to be on guard, Lenneth betraying nothing when it came to his touch and the true effect it had had on her.

Again that uncomfortable look, as though he was embarrassed. "You seemed so distressed in the moment...so lost to everything but the pain of your thoughts..." Lenneth couldn't deny it, the truth such that it had left her open to the touch that he had taken. Her lashes lowered somewhat, then lifted again at his next words.

"I AM sorry about your sister." He said. "I am sorry about what has happened, to her, and to you." He then paused, as though Lezard was bracing himself for another onslaught of hate. "But what I CANNOT be sorry for, is the fact that you survived."

God help her, but that insipid love inspired a traitorous beat of her heat, the anger simply not strong enough to fight this. It was the enchantment that weakened her so, that made her soft to false sentiments and remorse, Lenneth just standing there, quiet and intent on his words.

"Your life is precious…." continued Lezard, with a sad sort of smile. "Infinitely so. Be you Goddess, or mortal, you are solely your own. A unique being of the cosmos, the universe itself would weep at your loss."

"All life is precious." Lenneth managed to speak enough to correct him. "It's why we Valkyrie fight so hard to….to protect the realms."

"It's a great service that you do..." He agreed. "That need not end entirely, now that you are here."

Her face burned then with shame, a humiliated color to her skin. "Yes, I know what Odin expects of me…."

"Forget about that, forget about HIM." Lezard said. "What would you like to do?"

"Go after Silmeria." She hadn't even had to think, that desire an urgent press on her soul. "But...but as I am now…I wouldn't stand a chance..."

"Not many mortals would…" He pointed out. "Even the strongest of Flenceburg's mages would have a difficult time united against a just a few of the undead. Not without an assist from the divine."

"Odin won't help me...and neither would your queen." Lenneth retorted, carefully folding her arms across her chest. "She's too eager for this alliance to let my desires put at risk the treaty with such foolishness."

"That she is." Lezard agreed. "She cares nothing about you as a person...or even I. We're all tools towards her goals..."

"You recognize this and yet you willingly still commit countless acts of sins in her name!?"

"Tis treason to do otherwise, and I rather put off my damnation for as long as I can." The man admitted.

"If you had denied her from the start, if you and your parents had had any sense in that regard..." Lenneth began, but stopped up short at the look in Lezard's eyes.

"Damned or doomed, my fate would still be the same." Lezard pointed out. "I can do nothing about where I end..."

"So you choose to play lapdog and curry her favor, to have a better life to enjoy?" scoffed Lenneth. "That is…."

"That is a hard fact of life to those born with promise in one of Hel's holdings." Lezard informed her. "It's not a choice we're given, it's a demand. A calling that we are groomed from an early age to accept. To a hungry child, starving, there is no right and wrong, there is only the have and the have not."

"That's terrible!"

"I don't deny it. But there's never been a true chance for me, my life and my future mapped out at that first instant that my magic sparked." He shrugged then. "I've been doing what I have had to, to survive ever since."

"You look like you do more than just survive." She had uncrossed her arms, sweeping them out in a gesture meant to encompass the building that circled around this garden. "You have thrived."

He didn't turn boasting, but neither did Lezard act ashamed. He merely shrugged, as if it were of no consequence, and maybe to him, it wasn't. Lenneth lowered her arms, given him the regard of her quiet contemplation.

"Are...Are you happy?"

He blinked then, that slow, owlish movement betraying a sliver of surprise in his gaze. She didn't apologize, Lenneth instead just patiently waiting, wanting to hear his answer, whatever it might be.

"I..." A hesitation then. "I am satisfied."

"That is not the same as happiness."

"No, it is not." He agreed. "But it is the best I can do in a circumstance such as this." A breath sighed out of him. "I am sorry to have dragged you into this mess of mine."

"How can you be sorry for something that my King decided?!" Lenneth asked. "It's not as though you asked to be saddled with such a troublesome bride!"

This time when he adjusted his glasses, it gave the impression that he was nervous. "I can't imagine settling for any one else…" A grim smile followed that pause. "Selfish though it is."

"Selfish it is, and not something of your control or MINE." Lenneth retorted. "The bride that you got was dependent on whoever fell in battle. If I hadn't failed, if someone else has been just a little more unfortunate, then they would be here in my place."

He hesitated a beat, hardly looking reassured by what Lenneth had said. "I'm still..." Another pause, as though Lezard was struggling with his words. "Content with just who Odin sent instead."

"Why?" The word sounded harsh, even to her own ears, and Lenneth couldn't truly temper it. She didn't want to, again eyeing him suspiciously, a sneer a twist on her lips as the woman tried to fathom what his answer could be. "It can't be because I am beautiful." stated the Goddess. "Not when ALL Valkyrie are."

"No, it is nothing that shallow." He agreed.

"Well I don't know what else it could be." She admitted. "It's not as if you KNOW me."

"Ah but I have had glimpses of you." Lezard said. "The true you shining bright as she fought against Odin's magic."

"Is THAT your reason?"

"I do like a challenge." He admitted with a slight quirk of his lips. "Anyone who can resist the effects of the Lord God Creator's power, is that shade of impressive that should be admired. Lauded even. I admire your strength and your will, that steel determination that is seeing you through the worst of the tragedy that brought you here, the way you turn up your nose against the magic and your King's decree. You are made magnificent in my eyes, the physical embodiment of my...of Flenceburg's needs."

"Needs?"

"A partner who can rule besides me rather than beneath me." Lezard explained. "What good would a woman be who was made so enamored by love, that she couldn't see to a nation's people? You can do so much for them, be more than just the promise of the treaty fulfilled. You can be a beacon of hope."

"Of hope?" Lenneth arched one platinum brow. "I cannot work miracles, especially NOW."

"Yet you are one all the same." Lezard insisted. "Already there have been whispers among the doomed and the damned, the hopes of the people as to what this alliance may ultimately mean for the afterlife. Just by you being here, they see a chance for salvation, for a redemption for their souls that need not lead them to the eternal torments of Nifleheim."

"Do you all really think there even stands a chance of the afterlife being reformed?" She couldn't stop her stunned response, not sure what was more absurd. That Odin would consider it or that Hel would.

"Anything is possible, now that both sides are in talks with one another." Was Lezard's answer.

"It would be too great a shift in balance, the power that your Queen would lose if she let loose the doomed to paradise."

"Maybe so, but maybe she would not be so greedy as to the souls of those not already dead." countered Lezard. "Hel might not be willing to let go of what she already has, but she might agree to pardoning those considered doomed who have not yet died."

"The bigger question then, is would Odin allow those into paradise?" continued Lezard.

"Not when he considers the heavens a reward for only those he deems worthy." Lenneth exclaimed. "He has been absolutely adamant about THAT."

"Ah but what if the requirements for what is and isn't worthy were to change?" He seemed to be musing that out loud. "Then what...?"

She shook her head no. "It is impossible..."

"Is it?" Lezard questioned. "When the undead mutiple by the dozens upon dozens every day? When the faithful can't produce enough warriors to keep up with the Heaven's demands? What will it take for Odin to admit he is wrong about the rigid structure of his after life's system?"

"Is this all just the desperate's theories?" asked Lenneth. "Or is this really what you as the go between, discuss between Hel and Odin?"

"What is theory about fact?" It was a question for a question, Lezard seeming enlivened to the topic. "Have you not seen it for yourself? The amount of soldiers being lost to Brahms' kind?"

"No army is without casualty…" It wasn't that Lenneth was uncertain, so much as she was cautious, the woman not sure just what this man might already know. "Just as the einherjar fall to the vampire, so too do many of the undead fall to the Valkyrie. It is the way of this war..."

"That may be but in a war as endless as this one has thus far proven to be, every soul matters." Lezard countered. "It is especially thus when one consider the finite resources that Odin himself is working with."

"Finite resources?" It was a sharp, tart tone of voice, Lenneth trying to to come off as unconcerned. "Don't be absurd. There are always more souls to be had." The look that Lezard then gave her, had alarm bells going off in Lenneth's head, for a far more urgent reason, the woman wondering just what the man and his Queen actually knew of souls and the situation in the realm above.

"More souls? When more often than not so many are damned and doomed to Hel? When mortals can't breed fast enough to keep up with the Heaven's demands?"

Unable to deny it, Lenneth was silent.

"What of the undead, that kill and claim what Hel does not? What of their ever growing ranks? Souls aren't only the currency of the gods...they are preyed upon by all factions."

She couldn't hide her growing unease, or how concerned she was by how on the mark Lezard truly was when it came to the imbalance of soul redistribution. Considered the weakest of all the nine realm's races, it was an ironic twist, that humans were also the most valuable when it came to outfitting an army. From the souls of the fallen that the Valkyries culled and cultivated in Lord Odin's name, to the doomed and the damned that Hel kept in tortured line, to the undead who not only killed but changed their prey into becoming monsters of a similar or even worse ilk, all three players in the battle for control of Creation had found use in the humans.

"That too has always been the way..." Lenneth hesitated. "But the shining realm has always prevailed."

"Thus far." Lezard corrected her. There was a dark undertone to his voice, one that made her shiver. "However, Brahms and his undead legions grow by the day, no limit on them as to who is or is not worthy, when it comes to outfitting the Vampire Lord's armies. For each one slain, how many more sprout up to take their place?"

He waited a beat for an answer, one Lenneth didn't dare give voice to. It screamed inside her head though, the thoughts of how there was less and less worthy dying, less and less souls who met Odin's rigid requirements to enter into paradise. As the undead blight spread their plague across the realms, so too did Hel's influence grow, more and more of Midgard lost, and with it, less and less devout that were truly worthy.

It was far too easy to steal souls, to kill and turn turn them into abominations. The underworld itself was made bloated with the unfortunate, the doomed and the damned, those who had shunned Odin to live a blasphemous life full of sin, or those whose only real misdeed had been to die out of battle. It left less and less soldiers for the Heavens, the situation only worsened with each and every einherjar slain. A noticeable drop in the amount of replacements to be had, the Valkyries had thought it hadn't yet reached such catastrophic proportions as to be a deciding factor for Odin to make an exception. To make ANY kind of allowances, and yet here Lenneth was, given away to one of Hel's own, her king seemingly ready to ally with the enemy, and yet that wasn't even the most startling of all.

It was that Odin might be this close to admitting HE had been wrong. About anything, but especially about what might make a soul worthy. So much could and would change, and it wouldn't be just the souls that might find salvation, but the world itself, the balance not only restored, but perhaps tipped over to the Gods favor. That alone might be worth making peace with Hel, might even justify and lend purpose to Lenneth being stationed here.

Her anger still there, that hot burst of fury, was easing away with some of the Goddess' fears and uncertainties. The worst of her doubts, Lenneth relieved to think there stood a chance that some good could come out of HER punishment.

It didn't make it any easier to accept. Not the punishment, and not the man who was the physical manifestation of it, Lezard a disarming sight to behold, with or without Odin's enchantment wreaking its havoc on her heart in its attempt to influence her thoughts and her will. It wasn't that he was anything extraordinary to look at, though she grudgingly supposed he was attractive enough for a mortal. But it was those eyes that were both so potent and devastating to see, a dark heat there that spoke of a barely leashed passion, a desire whose lust was solely focused on HER.

It was so different from any kind she had ever known, this man not lusting for the battle, or for blood, not so much focused on power or greed, but instead blazing primal with a sexual intensity that would and surely had made a lesser woman tremble. Even Lenneth felt that shiver of unease, each time that darkness slipped into his expression, that potent desire such that when combined with Odin's enchantment brought the Goddess this much closer to her sense of self being completely destroyed.

She made an attempt to stave off the worst of it, to hold it and him at bay, by maintaining a distance between them. It made it easier to think that way, to have her own real thoughts, and not some insipid feelings of a love that flustered her at best, and made Lenneth a fool at worse. Made helpless by it, the Valkyrie Goddess was in effect, afraid. Terrified of the man, and the soft fluttering sensation of her heart skipping a beat at the simple sight of his smile. It and the fear helped bolster her resentments, Lenneth angry over such unwanted and unnecessary emotions.

Love and fear had never had a place on the battlefield. Both were now the enemies that waged war on inside her, those tumultuous feelings quick to seize and capitalize on the slightest of weaknesses. They poisoned her heart, chipped away at her resolve, and drew strength from Lezard's touch and his nearness. Their struggle inside her left Lenneth barely able to breathe, the woman all but suffocating on love, and its queer urges.

The Goddess couldn't look at him, yet neither could she afford to look away. Wary of his nearness, of Lezard's penchant for laying his hands on her, Lenneth found she needed to maintain a strict vigilance around him. It left her exhausted, although physically more sleep was the last thing that her body and mind needed. Instead it was comfort, a solace that could not be afforded, neither by him, and neither by her, no peace to be had for a Valkyrie who had lost everything.

It slipped into her expression, that weariness and pain, that inconsolable grief, Lenneth this heart breaking vision that only magnified her otherworldly loveliness. A stronger man than Lezard would have found her impossible to resist, what chance then did a man so weak and so damned, stand of having? The odds were against them both, each having their own blatant struggle, love and lust fighting to overtake the pair.

"Lenneth?" Even that voice of his had a powerful effect, one that had rippled sensation through her, at hearing that name whispered in so throaty a tone. It was paired with an expectant gleam, that amethyst colored gaze intent on the Goddess, the open hunger in his expression enough to make the woman sway an uncertain step back.

"If left unchecked…." She warded off his concern and the touch meant to steady her. "Even the undead will soon find themselves in dire straights."

"Oh?" It was a distracted tone, the man frowning his displeasure over Lenneth's blatant avoidance of his hand.

"If they continue to….replicate as they have...they'll gain numbers, but not the strength needed. Humans aren't just a quick way to boost Brahms' army." Lenneth pointed out. "They are the chief sustenance for so many kinds of his loyal monsters."

He blanched at that. "Won't they just turn their hungers elsewhere?"

"Of course." She gave a firm nod. "But among all of the existences in Creation, there is no easier prey to be had than those of a mortal slant. Finding and hunting a replacement will cost them...though we Valkyrie fight so diligently to ensure it never need reach that point."

They did more than just fight, the Valkyries throwing away their own lives in an attempt to staunch the flow of the evil that would pervert all of Creation. Limits were tried and tested, poke at and prodded, and sometimes even surpassed. Those fierce deities battled to their very last, sacrificing blood, sweat, and tears, in a spectacularly violent end to their careers. The lucky ones DIED. The less fortunate however? Disabled, some even savaged, brutalized to the point they'd never not know pain. Lenneth wasn't an exception in this. Her body might be hale and hearty, with nary a scratch on it, but her soul was battered, the shame of her failures coloring her every unhappy thought. Her mind tortured with this, and with the guilt born of surviving, Lenneth clung to and embodied her pain. It was all she had left, it and an anger born of the hopeless. It wasn't just her chances that were taken away, it was nearly all of her CHOICE.

The seeds of resentment were there. For Brahms and for Hel, for the fate of the fallen, the many losses that had incurred. Towards the man she had been given to, and even in part, towards her King. It surged stronger inside her, all that negative energy, its pain and its hopelessness, its anger, and even the guilt, the only defense she had left. Against Lezard and against the love, that enchantment striving to overshadow the last, dying remnants of who she had once been.

If-when that actually happened, the Valkyrie inside her would truly be dead. Lenneth lost, and in her place some addled female who smiled and simpered, and played to the lust, Lezard's desires molding her into HIS perfect ideal. That was what frightened the Goddess the most, the idea of becoming a stranger, one not even her own sisters would be able to recognize let alone accept.

She was just as lost as Silmeria, the woman realized. Except no one would be coming to put an end to Lenneth's own misery. She was disgraced, a failure who hadn't even had the good sense to accept the love that would have brought on the freeing oblivion of bliss. She still couldn't, every feeling inside her heightened to the point that the one time Valkyrie was a trembling wreck. It left the Goddess reeling, fighting tortured thoughts that might drive her insane long before the love could ever set in.

"Maybe I AM tired."

There was that slow blink of his eyes, Lenneth's abrupt admittance perhaps too sudden and too swift a deflection from the topic at hand. She couldn't muster it in her to truly care, the very strength and much of the fight leeching out of her with that reluctant concession. The Goddess could only grasp hold of the last remnants of her true self, wrapping the Valkyrie tight around her as those words called back to his from earlier. The rest that he had said she had needed, the reprieve its seclusion could give her. It wouldn't free the woman from her thoughts, from all those worries and concerns that troubled Lenneth so, but at the very least, it would staunch the flow of any more distressing reveals. For in the moment, there was no room left inside her to deal with any more horrors.

It was in effect a strategic retreat, one meant to buy Lenneth some time to regroup and recover. Maybe then she'd be able to fight free of some of the more potent fears and resentments, to stand strong against the love that threatened near constant to overwhelm her.

"Very well..." His eyes did not betray his thoughts or his feelings, Lezard a complete enigma in the moment. "Then allow me to at least escort you back to your chambers." He had offered his arm to her, as though expecting Lenneth to tuck in close against him. She didn't, she COULDN'T, the Goddess refusing to lay hands on him save to shove him away.

She couldn't refuse him any more than that, Lenneth's normally astute mind, so frazzled by the turn her life had taken, that she hadn't paid strict attention to their surroundings. To the path they had run, the Valkyrie absolutely lost in this man's expansive home.

"All right." She said with the slightest of nods. He was still standing there waiting with an expectant hope she then crushed with a gesture. "Lead on….and I will follow…." She waited a beat, and weathered the sigh that he did not outright voice, before trailing after him.

The eyes that greeted them when they entered back into the kitchen's area, were not just reverent and awed, they were curious. It wasn't a curiosity born of confusion, Lenneth astute enough still to realize there was no shock borne of the sight of their Lord among them. That implied that Lezard had been here before, often enough that what should have been unusual was considered the norm. She wondered then why, wondered at what sad circumstance there could be, for the man to need to hide here that often.

It wasn't the most pressing of mysteries, or even the most urgent of matters. Lenneth easily filed it away as an idle thought, one that could and might be examined at some later time. The what and the where established, there was only the why, and right now the Goddess simply hadn't it in her to worry about anything extra in the moment. Not when she could barely deal with her present, with the way her world had been shattered apart, each broken shard of her existence a cutting piece that bled pain in their wake.

Just as the looks she received cut her as deep, Lenneth not so much flinching from the desperation these people showed her. The worshipful slant to their gaze, the naked hope on their faces, these people hungry for something Lenneth could not give them. Uncomfortable with the promise that she herself embodied, the Goddess was all too happy to leave behind the large kitchen and the people who did their work there.

"Will they talk?"

He stopped up short at that, shoulders sagging for one brief moment. "I don't see how they will NOT." Lezard said, and Lenneth didn't have to see his face, to guess at the displeasure there.

"Then I am sorry." She said. "Your safe haven is lost."

"I've others." He had turned to her, his eyes so serious and dark, so at odds with the quirk of his lips turning upright in the slightest of smiles. "Someday I'll show you…"

Out loud she was without comment, too busy fighting the queer feeling that had arisen from the sight of his smile, The flip flopping turns of her stomach cramping. It didn't stop her from taking note of the sensual shape of his mouth, from the firm fullness of his lips, and the way his whole face was transformed with their curving. His was a very nice smile indeed, and Lenneth despised it. Loathed it and it's power, the feelings that it triggered inside her, the love who magic had manufactured, making her feel attracted to Lezard.

It was an unfair advantage her King had given him, upsetting the balance inside her, as love tried to tip Lenneth over to Lezard's favor. She wouldn't easily betray just how weak this love made her, just how effective it was in wreaking havoc on her heart. The struggle played out inside her, made the stress of it show in the strained expression of her face. The Valkyrie would wave off his concern, the woman again stating that she was tired. A bow of his head would have him acquiesce, and eventually they would get back to what had been deemed Lenneth's chambers.

For one uncertain moment, she lingered in its doorway. The room itself was as grand as so much of his home had already proven to be, no way to feel claustrophobic in the space provided her. There was a large, ornate window, it's silver gilded frame wrought with a complex design. She took note of it with interest, that window perhaps the only other means to escape from this room, even with them being several stories up off the ground.

The height wouldn't have been a problem for Lenneth had she still retained her divinity. Now however, she was all too conscious of the limits of her mortal frame, and how a slip could be the deciding factor between broken limb and remaining whole and healthy. She wouldn't have cared if it was her neck that had been snapped in such a fall, but one of the things Lenneth could not reconcile herself to was surviving yet again, only to be at even more of disadvantage than she already was. It made her suppress a shudder, Lenneth repulsed at the thought of an injury and it possibly being permanent, but neither could she entirely discount the window as a last effort means for escape.

Not that she thought she had any true pressing need for that in the moment. Her betrothed was playing perfect as the gentleman, nothing too inappropriate, save for a touch here and there, and the occasional invading of the Valkyrie's own personal space. She didn't though believe for a second, that the worse between them had passed, the memory still there and potent, Lenneth swearing she could still feel the warmth of his kiss lingering on her lips.

She had tasted his eagerness then, it and a desire that ran so deep that Lezard could have, and in all likelihood would have taken things further if Lenneth hadn't found the strength to shove free of him. The heat burned it's color into her skin, Lenneth flush faced and angry over what had proven to be her first true brush with a man. It wouldn't be the last, this man's lust such that it could only be put off for a time. Heaven help her then, the Goddess knowing how quickly she'd crumble under a love's assault that only grew stronger with time and touch.

There was no escaping it, the fate that Odin had cursed her with. His magic would have it's victory over her, it's love and the way those manufactured feelings would change her, not half as punishing as her guilt. The burden of her failure, the loss of her sister, and the many others under her command, an offense that would have been horror and shame enough, without the added ordeal of being sent to one of Hels' most prominent nations and afflicted with an enchantment meant to bring the Valkyrie to heel.

She wasn't yet tamed, leashed though the Goddess might now be. The fight was still in her, it lending itself as aid against the frantic flailing of her feelings. It all swarm to vivid life inside her, that maelstrom of thought and emotion a daunting, exhausting thing that she struggled against. She was caught in it's undertow, every step forward seemingly lost to the current that tried to pull her under. Love in all it's forms tried to overwhelm her, tried to make her desperate for and devoted to one man in particular. It was an ironic twist then, that the shape those things took form of, was warped, Lenneth indeed feeling desperation, but it was a desperation whose energy was put in the form of her fight, the woman battling for the right to retain her own self control.

She was just as devoted, hopeless though it might be, Lenneth determined to thwart Odin, his magic, and the man he had deemed a fitting match for her failures. Striving to do the impossible, the Valkyrie girded up for battle, took a cautious step into the room. Nothing happened, aside from the questioning chirp of the song bird. It was still in its cage, off to the side of the room, an excitable little witness to what ever might occur.

On guard against the worst happening, Lenneth drifted deeper into the room. The door closed behind her with a soft click, that sound stiffening her spine though she didn't turn in it's direction. Instead, she met Lezard's eyes, and actually folded her arms together in front of her chest in a gesture meant the convey her implacable will.

He took stock of her manner, before daring to speak. "Tonight was meant to be a celebration." Cheeks ablaze with that angry heat, Lenneth chose to bite back a tart word for in her mind, there was nothing worth celebrating. Not tonight, and not about this situation.

Again that sigh that wasn't voiced, Lezard doing a slow blink of his eyes. "But I see now, that it is simply too soon."

"I am tired." She reminded him. "Overwrought with enough feelings and struggles that I need not add to that burden."

He nodded his head. "I am in complete agreement. I will make the excuses needed, to get them to forgive your lack of appearance at tonight's meal."

"I did not realize skipping out on dinner was such an offense." Lenneth tilted her head to the side. "Is this more than mere mortal etiquette at work here…?"

"Not so much an offense, as it would be a disappointment." clarified Lezard. "Your arrival has been anticipated with much eagerness." He didn't say the next out loud, but the passionate intensity of his gaze practically screamed that Lezard had been and still was the most eager of all.

The flesh of her cheeks burned hotter in response, the fight as it existed insude her still unable to completely protect her from such a look in his eyes. It was a trepidation like beat her heart then did, anxiety cramping her insides in a way that might almost be fright. She could only pray that it did not bleed out into her expression, that vulnerability bad enough without it being exposed to he who stood the most to gain from any such weakness.

That weakness an opportunity, Lenneth unfolded her arms so that she could touch at a stray wisp of hair that had escaped her preferred braid. It was a gesture telling of her nerves, though she didn't yet realize it.

"Do they doubt Odin's intentions that much?"

"Would they have reason to not?" countered Lezard. "Considering we in Hel's keep, have been ignored at best, your King considering us a threat not worth bothering with? Just word of you alone is not enough. We needed proof that we could see, that we could even tangibly touch." He stepped towards her then, as though the man desired to take that touch for himself. "There are many who doubt this alliance as real…your presence here can dispute their misgivings. Whether you mean to or not, you embody the hopes of so many."

"Ironic that..." Lenneth's voice was an agonized murmur of sound. "To be the hope of so many, when I have none to give to myself!"

"That too can change, given enough time."

The change was what she feared, it and time united against her. Together they'd see her transform into something unrecognizable. A woman in love, enslaved by it and desire and all that that entailed. Without meaning to, she shuddered, Lenneth unable to reconcile herself to the sexual submission that would one day be required. Not when she could barely handle a kiss, that mingling of mouths stealing not only her lips, but the very breath from her.

Ill and uneasy, Lenneth did not know much about sex beyond the most rudimentary of basics. Certainly she could not envision finding a true pleasure in such an act, shame and embarrassment a more apt name put to the mysteries of a couple's bedroom.

"Lenneth..." In front of her now, Lezard's fingers caught at that rebellious strand of hair, then gently tucked it over her ear. Such a seemingly innocent touch had her freezing, Lenneth staring at him wide eyed and shaking. Even her lips seemed to do their own tremble, the gasp not quite escaping her, as her mouth fell open with a round o of shock.

His lips quirked in a show of appreciation, that amethyst gaze gleaming with that longing look at her mouth. "Ah, do excuse me this moment of weakness." A thumb flitted a caress over her bottom lip, as fingers took gentle hold of her chin. She had thought he mean to kiss her, but somehow Lezard kept it at just a touch.

It was enough. The love bubbled up within her, coming on stronger so that she gave an involuntary jerk of her body. When next she blinked, she had backed several steps away from him, Lezard standing there with his hand still up.

"Don't." She snapped. "Do not seek to take advantage of me!"

"That wasn't my intention..."

"Then what WAS?" Lenneth demanded, still shaking. "You know of Odin's enchantment, of what that magic will do to me...why add to my ordeal? Why force on me any more than what you have already!?"

There was guilt in that gaze, Lezard seeming to flinch in response to her question. He offered up no answers, didn't try to make excuses, his only expressed sorry that of the repentant vibe around him.

"The outcome is inevitable. I know and understand that. But there is no need to rush me headlong into what cannot be reversed! When I do fall, I want it to be on MY terms. Not yours, not Odin's, not even Hel's!"

Another rapid blink of his eyes, but at least Lezard was nodded as though in agreement. "It's admirable to want to steer your own course."

"I want more than just to be admired! I want to have a choice! That is the true horror of the wrong Odin has done me…this love stripping me of the free will needed to make my own decisions. That is just ONE reason why I fight the inevitable so hard!"

Save for that inexplicable guilt, he betrayed nothing of his inner thoughts. "I know I can't ultimately win against it..." She continued. "Yet give me the courtesy to at least try!"

"Is Odin's enchantment truly that powerful? Is there truly no way to combat it to the point of breaking it?" Lezard asked.

She blinked, startled at the absurdity of what he was asking. "No Valkyrie has ever..."

"Have any ever even tried?"

That stopped her up short, a consideration given that hadn't been there before. That of the love potion, and how normally it was a choice given, the few Valkyries who had willingly gone down that route, actually wanting it's magic. Those few had never had cause to fight, had never had reason to combat it's effects. They hadn't the anger and resentment and guilt that Lenneth now had.

For one split second, a small kernel of hope bloomed inside her, ridiculous though it was to entertain it. The thoughts still came, the desperate grasping at straws as the Goddess wandered if there was a glimmer of a chance left to her.

That hope given was still dashed, Lenneth shaking her head. "Even if I broke free...then what?" She asked him. "Your Queen and my King still expect us to marry."

"You'd be yourself though." He pointed out. "Rather than a slave to a magically induced love."

"Why would you want that?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Lezard countered. "I've already told you. I want a wife to rule besides me...not under me. You need to retain your wits for that...and for the….intricacies of dealing with my court."

She wondered about that, though Lenneth's thoughts were still too focused on the hope that Lezard was trying to give her.

"Do you really think I stand a chance?"

"I think you've shown the determination and strength to seize hold of your fate and make it your own." That smile of his, so warm and so earnest, softened her upset color to a paler pink. "It's just one more reason for me to admire you..."

She couldn't find the words, thinking it a bit too soon to express a gratitude for the hope given. It beat stronger than ever, that hope nurtured inside her by Lezard's belief. That warmth inside her, inexplicably softened her guarded stance, Lenneth relaxing a margin around him. The Goddess let out a breath, so much tension lost with it's escape.

"I'll leave you to your rest now." She nodded, and actually followed him to the door.

"Is it really okay for me to not put in an appearance at dinner?"

"They will just have to deal with the disappointment." Lezard looked as though he had so much more to say to her. Conversation was shelved for the time being though, the man sketching a quick, respectful bow to her, before disappearing out into the hall. She caught sight of curious green eyes, and quickly shut the door, not wanting anything, anyone, to disrupt the burgeoning hope Lezard had helped give her.

That warmth in her chest, Lenneth fell back against the door with an expressed sigh. Her back against the smooth stone, Lenneth brought her hand over her breast, as though trying to tangibly hold on to that feeling. She was shaking, both figuratively and literally, the hope still not strong enough to allay all her fears. The impossible still loomed over her, Lenneth under the geass of Odin's enchantment. Her will was strong, but would that determination alone be enough? She couldn't answer, anymore than she could allow doubt to resettle its hold on her.

So consumed with her own personal struggles, there wasn't much room in her head for anything else. Not even thoughts for her sisters, Lenneth prepping herself up for the battle that would define her very soul.

To Be Continued…

This one ended up being a "short" chapter too. Long wait for it too. I actually wrote the first ten pages of this back in January. But then I got super sick for most of February, so couldn't work on it. Had to focus on recovering. Well by the time I got better, it was hard to get back into writing...I really struggled with the latter half of this chapter. For the most part I like it, except for like the last page and a half. I could not seem to get it written to my satisfaction and honestly I wanted this chapter over and done with. I MAY come back to tinker with it when my brain doesn't feel so frazzled.

This also ended up being a bonus chapter. I just felt like the way the last Flenceburg chapter ended, that I had to continue the scene...my hardest task was getting them to the point they would finally leave that garden.

Thirteen will also be a bonus chapter, as it's a Lezard POV, where he has a scene of confronting Odin that wasn't in the original version of the story. Which was such a oopsie to neglect, since I realized that if I don't show Lezard in communication with BOTH Gods, it would look weird to suddenly have it happen so late in the fic. But I fear saying anymore, would get me to go into spoiler territory….

Additonal Update: 3/23/2019 I was really unhappy with the last two pages of twelve, so I trashed that, and rewrote it into something I don't cringe over. It ended up being longer too, like just over three pages to replace the initial bad two!

Laters!

Michelle

Zrisc, thank you! :) I just think the Valkyrie Profile section of the site, has gotten really quiet and abandoned like for the most part. Sad...though over on archive of our own, got quite a few meaty reviews there! :)

Wow about wanting to print it out, though I fear it will cost you so much in ink and paper. Seriously, I gathered the first eleven chapters of this version, and putting them all into one file (To make a ebook), well LibreOffice says it's almost 145 pages. And that's only eleven chapters. _

Oh I wanted to correct you on something. Not sure if you misunderstood cause I possibly wrote it wrong. I didn't mean to say Odin has blood thralls. What I was trying to state was that thrall is a bad word, like a slur or curse, that everyone uses for the ones who willingly give their blood to the vampire race. So it's Brahms and his kind that call on people to be blood thralls. It's a complicated matter I WILL be exploring in the story, as it leans into a faction of mortals considered heretics in Odin's eyes!

Then I get overwhelmed again at all I still have to do….so much plot and world building, in addition to developing relationships..plus characters not yet introduced in EITHER version of the story. I've got a lot of plans...just wish I could write as fast as I used to be able to. _