CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Once again, the travellers found themselves in the great hall of Gladsheim. Dusty beams of afternoon sunlight poured in through the high windows, falling on a strange scene. The room had been converted into a sort of courtroom, with chairs and benches lining two sides. Odinn’s throne was placed at one end and three stools stood forlornly out in the middle, facing the king of the Gods. This time, there were more than just a few gods in attendance – every seat was full. The entire Æsir and several of what Jade called the Vanir – other kinds of gods, evidently - were present for their trial.
Phoenix gazed at the assembled pantheon in awe. They were all shapes and sizes. Many were giants, thirty feet tall, or half- and quarter-giants. Not just gods, either; goddesses were in attendance, too. Both sexes were muscular, beautiful and barbaric-looking in iron-studded leather; cloaks and long, blond or red hair.
Loki was one of the exceptions. Dressed entirely in black leather, with his dark hair slicked back, he strode into the hall like he owned it. Finding a front-row seat, he raised an eyebrow at the current owner, who grumbled but moved away. Sitting gracefully, Loki sent Phoenix a cool smile and proceeded to inspect his fingernails with supreme disregard for his fellow deities.
Their guard prodded the three companions until they unwillingly sat on the stools provided. Several gods and goddesses muttered, frowning and pointing as the accused sat down.
“Silence!”
All three jumped as Thor’s enormous voice boomed across the hall.
“All rise for Odinn, King of Asgard!” He growled, glaring at anyone who took too long to get up. There was a quick scraping of chairs as everyone stood.
Phoenix hastily hauled Jade to her feet when she didn’t react swiftly enough. A rapid look at her face told him she was far from recovered. The circles beneath her green eyes were dark bruises and her expression almost vague. She blinked slowly, frowning again. For a moment he wondered if she’d somehow managed to find some more of that dratted lily plant. Then he dismissed the thought as unworthy. She was just exhausted from the effort of being killed twice within three days and protecting him and Marcus.
Odinn walked slowly into the room. Surveying the assembled beings with his one, bright blue eye, he eased himself onto the throne and leaned back.
“Begin,” he said quietly. Somehow his voice carried to every ear.
Thor rose. He stood at least fifteen feet tall and had to be almost half that across the shoulders. The man – god – was enormous. In one massive, iron-gloved hand he gripped a war-hammer and on his head perched an iron helmet. Much of his face hid behind a reddish beard. When he moved, though, it was with surprising grace and silence. He moved like a warrior; a fierce animal restrained only by his intelligence. Frankly, he was scary.
“Father,” he boomed, “these mortals dared to abduct my daughter and hold her hostage – putting our whole world in danger of the Chaos that is Ragnarok. They have also conspired to steal Mjölnir!” He brandished the hammer over his head and the crowd of deities muttered angrily.
“And...” he waved for quiet, “and they murdered my battle-companion and friend, Hrothgar, king of the Svear people. Here is Blódbál, the very sword I gave to Hrothgar in friendship.” Thor hooked his hammer onto his belt and drew out the sword. It looked like a toothpick in his huge hands. He gazed sorrowfully down at it and then placed it on a table close beside Odinn’s throne.
His great head snapped up and he glared at the three companions.
“For any one of these crimes, they should be sacrificed.” Facing his father again, he drew himself up to his full, imposing height. “Pass judgment now, father, for there is no doubt of their guilt.”
Odinn nodded slowly. Phoenix felt his heart leap into his mouth. Sliding his eyes sideways, he tried to see if there was any possible escape. Guards stood close by on all sides and the exits were similarly blocked. His heart sank.
The king of the gods opened his mouth.
“My lord.” Jade stood up.
Phoenix gaped up at her. She looked fully alert and perfectly fine; in fact, better than fine. Her clothes and skin were inexplicably clean; her hair tidy and unsinged; her Elven features oddly accentuated. What the...? She must have drawn the dregs of her energy to cast an illusion spell on herself.
For a moment, he was stunned at her sheer vanity. What did it matter how she looked? Then it dawned on him that she was right – snap judgments were made on how people looked. Even the gods had to be guilty of that. Right now, Jade looked like a true, noble Light-elf, not some half-dead homeless nobody.
“My lord, I humbly request you grant us the right to speak,” Jade repeated as the gods’ voices swelled in outrage.
“Who are you to make such a request, mortal?” Odinn asked coolly.
Jade dipped him a deep curtsy but kept her head high. “I am Jade, daughter of Freyr, lord of the Ljósálfar.”
The tumult that arose from her statement was deafening. Loki started half out of his chair, his eyes narrow and jaw clenched. Odinn waved her forward and nodded. Now Phoenix understood why Jade had refused to tell their names. Names did have power, even if it wasn’t always magical. Did they have a hope now? Was Freyr an important enough name to drop here? Could he be called as a witness?
Phoenix dug his nails into his palms. He wanted to jump up and yell at them all; force them to believe. He gripped the chair seat hard, pinning himself down so he wouldn’t wreck everything with his stupid impulsiveness.
Jade rode out the furore with queenly hauteur, ignoring the audience as she glided forward into the centre of the room. Phoenix admired her guts but he was afraid she might collapse in the middle. He had a feeling she was running on sheer adrenalin now.
“My lord,” she drew a breath, obviously considering her words, “there is no evidence to support my lord Thor’s accusations. Hrothgar himself, in gratitude for services rendered, gave Blódbál to my companion.” She had to shout to make herself heard as the room again erupted into talk. “Hrothgar was killed by a troll, not us. Freyr and all of Hrothgar’s village can attest to that. Thrudr is safely returned to you and will tell you herself that we did not abduct her.”
Beside him, Marcus stiffened and gripped Phoenix’s arm tightly. He sat rigidly upright, staring at Loki.
“What is it?” Phoenix whispered.
“That man, sitting next to Loki.” Marcus jerked his head.
Phoenix saw a sallow-skinned, slender man leaning in to speak with the god of mischief. With his face turned away, only the back of his dark head could be seen. He wore a close-fitting black cap with decorated tassels sticking out on either side and his long black hair braided into an intricate knot at the back. His floor-length robes of black were decorated with gold embroidery. He seemed strangely out of place amongst the fur-and-leather clad gods.
“What about him?”
“It’s Zhudai!”
At that moment, every god and goddess in the room leapt to their feet, shouting denials and angry comments. Phoenix looked up to see Jade standing in a beam of sunlight, pointing dramatically at Loki’s calm, smiling figure. Obviously she’d just named him as Truda’s kidnapper and it wasn’t being well-received. Jade seemed to be doing what she could, so Phoenix turned his attention back to Marcus. She’d probably sweet talk them better than he would anyway. Where the heck was Brynn when they needed a silver tongue?
“Are you absolutely sure?”
Marcus sent him a look of complete, unshakeable certainty. Phoenix held up a hand in acknowledgement. The deities resumed their seats and Phoenix could now see their arch-enemy again whispering into Loki’s ear.
“Damn. That changes things – for the worse, I might add.”
“Agreed. There’s no telling what Zhudai is saying to Loki.”
“And no doubting who’s running the show now,” Phoenix muttered.
Marcus sent him a quick, confused
look. “How could Zhudai be controlling a god?”
“You’ll just have to trust me on this,” Phoenix said, “he is – somehow.”
“What can we do?”
Phoenix gritted his teeth. “As much as I hate to say it, I think we have to wait. Jade seems to be at least giving Odinn something to think about. The best we can hope for is some luck - maybe Brynn will turn up with Truda at just the right time.”
Marcus bowed his head slightly, his eyes hard. “I prefer to make my own luck. Just get me close to Zhudai and I will find a way to kill him and end this right now.” His fingers flexed as though gripping an invisible dagger.
Phoenix grabbed his hand. “Don’t be stupid. We’re in a room full of people with divine powers and Zhudai himself is an arch-wizard. You don’t stand a chance.”
The Roman met his gaze, his face stony. “This counsel from you?” He relaxed a little and nodded. “Very well. Let’s hope you’re right then and the real Truda shows up. Otherwise,” he glanced at the impassive face of Odinn, “I don’t think we’re getting out of here alive. Look.”
Phoenix turned back to the trial. As he watched, Loki nodded in response to some question from Odinn, rose and left the room. Possibly only Phoenix and Marcus caught the significant look that passed between the god and the Chinese villain. Zhudai closed his eyes. His lips moved briefly and his hands shifted in a slight, graceful gesture – as though he formed the outline of something in the air in front of him.
“What’s he doing?”
Marcus didn’t reply. His eyes were slitted in hatred.
They found out when Truda entered the room – with Loki striding beside her. If Loki was there, it had to be the real Truda but why was she with him? Phoenix started to rise. A guard pushed him roughly back down. Jade cast an anxious look back at them but Phoenix could only shrug his own disbelief. She bit her lip, frowning at Truda and Loki. Then she tilted her head to one side, staring harder. As Phoenix watched, Jade’s eyes narrowed and her jaw firmed. Something magical was going on if he read the signs right, but what?
Odinn greeted his granddaughter with a gentle smile and a request to tell him exactly what had happened over the last few months. Phoenix and Marcus listened with increasing horror as the girl described an entirely fictitious abduction, months of imprisonment in Albion and a harrowing trip back to Svealand.
“Then,” Truda’s lip trembled and a tear slid down her cheek as she pointed to Phoenix and Marcus, “those two found Grendel, the troll, had died in the sunlight and they pretended they had done it, so Hrothgar would be nice to them. That’s why Hrothgar gave them Blódbál. Then they left the village so Grendel’s mother could come along and kill Hrothgar as they’d planned together.”
Phoenix wished he could strangle the kid – or give her the Oscar for best actress. After all they’d done for her she was betraying them! Frowning, he remembered the Binding spell Jade had put on the companions back in England. She’d said that if any of the group betrayed them, they would all get a sharp pain in the hand and the vine she’d used to ‘bind’ them would reappear. So where was it?
Sick realisation hit. Truda hadn’t been part of their group when Jade had done the Binding ceremony. She wasn’t constrained by that particular magic. There was nothing to stop her deceiving them.
Had she been working with Loki and Zhudai all along? Was this all some elaborate trap? Phoenix’s head spun as he tried to wrap his brain around all the ‘what ifs’ and ‘but thens’ of the situation. It just didn’t make sense.
“My lord!” Jade shouted over the hubbub that followed Truda’s testimony.
Truda now sat quietly beside her father, looking the picture of injured innocence. Loki sat next to Zhudai, neither speaking nor moving. Odinn frowned at Jade but waved the audience quiet again. Phoenix wondered what on earth she could do after that little performance. As far as he could tell, they were so toast it was a wonder they hadn’t already been sliced up.
“That is not Thrudr.” Jade pointed at Truda.
This time, Odinn quelled the uproar before it even started.
“Explain yourself, mortal,” the king of the gods growled.
Thor laid a protective hand on Truda’s head.
Jade drew a deep breath. “If I can prove I speak the truth, will you listen? If you bring me two small items, I promise you will see what is real and who is lying.”
Odinn hesitated, obviously annoyed.
“Please,” she begged. “This girl is not who you think she is.”
Phoenix held his breath. So did the entire room. Odinn glanced narrowly back and forth between Truda, Jade and Thor. Thor shrugged slightly. Odinn nodded.
“Very well. What do you need?”
“Just one small seed and a handful of wet soil.” Jade’s lips drew back in a fierce, glittering smile.
Truda gasped. Phoenix and Marcus exchanged puzzled looks. What on earth did she need a seed for?
After a flurry of discussion and argument, a guard brought a bucket of soil and some sort of seed and dropped it into Jade’s hand. She gestured toward Truda, who shook her head and shrank back against her father.
“Come, daughter,” Thor prompted. “You are well protected here. There is nothing to fear from this mortal. Let her fail her little experiment and we can get on with sacrificing them.” He pushed her in the small of the back and she stumbled out into the room.
Jade knelt on the floor. She tipped dirt out and poked a finger into the top of the pile. Understanding lit up Phoenix’s brain. Marcus nudged him and pointed toward Zhudai and Loki. While Loki still sat like a statue, Zhudai frowned, clearly unsure what was going on.
Jade dropped the seed into the hole and patted it closed. She stood up, glaring at Truda.
“Make it grow.”
The assembled gods gasped as enlightenment hit. Truda was a goddess of spring growth. If this girl was Truda then she should be able to make the seed grow into a plant.
Phoenix looked again at Zhudai. His face was a mask of fury. His lips moved as he stared fiercely at the small pile of dirt. Phoenix blinked in surprise. Loki had, just for a second, flickered like a bad special effect in a movie. It happened again. What the...?
Jade grabbed another handful of dirt. In one smooth move, she threw it at Loki and Zhudai. Zhudai flung up his hands to shield his face. Loki simply sat there, unresponsive. The dirt flew straight through his body, falling to splatter on the people behind and the floor around. Still, he didn’t move.
There was stunned silence as the assembled gods tried to work out what was happening.
“That is an illusion cast by him,” Jade yelled, pointing at Loki and Zhudai. “This girl is the true Loki, Shapeshifter and Master of Deceit. They are your enemy, not us!”
With a cry of frustration, Truda/Loki morphed mindbendingly back into his familiar shape. The illusion Loki dissolved. Zhudai stood and tried to slide out through the confused crowd. He came up against the huge, hard body of Thor and stopped dead. Loki snatched Jade into his arms. H spun her about, a long, wicked-looking blade to her throat.
Phoenix grinned. Time to move. Jade had done her part, now it was time for his.