I didn’t know what to expect of Brenna’s big ‘reveal’, but I certainly didn’t expect her to emerge with giant bird’s wings. Or in shiny metallic undergarments that revealed an uncomfortable amount of her flawless skin.
I understood that this was her armor, and that it covered the important parts.
But it certainly left a lot of parts exposed. I couldn’t stop my eyes from raking over every inch of skin that a man rarely saw on anyone but his wife. Bare knees, the curve of her waist below the breastplate, a fair amount of flesh above that same piece, and even the tender skin of her upper thighs.
Sweat broke out on my upper lip, and I swallowed uncomfortably. It took every ounce of willpower I had, but I dragged my eyes away from the juncture of her legs and forced myself to focus on the massive wings, which I knew were the biggest part of this secret.
They were beautiful, brown like a hawk’s wings but flecked with metallic hints of gold that reflected the muted sunlight in the barn. As we watched, lost for words, Brenna stretched her wings out and revealed their true expanse. The feathers closest to her back reached nearly to her ankles, the outer tips even longer. Standing in front of the ship, I realized her wingspan was nearly half the length of a boat meant to carry ten men.
“Brenna,” Leif’s voice was barely more than a whisper, the worship in his voice evident. “You are magnificent.” If he’d been intrigued by her before, now she had absolutely bewitched him.
Björn hadn’t moved a muscle since Brenna came back around the ship. He continued to stare, eyes wide, as if he were afraid he’d blink and she’d disappear.
Brenna’s eyes tracked from Leif, to whom she smiled softly, then to Björn, and finally she met my gaze. The clear grey of her storm cloud eyes was like solid crystal, bottomless and faceted with light. In fact, she seemed to shine subtly in the afternoon sunshine that flooded the barn through the windows, as if she made her own magical glow.
“Do you believe me now, Søren?” Her voice carried the authority of command, a single note of hurt threaded subtly throughout. My doubt bothered her, even if she didn’t want to admit it.
I didn’t doubt her any more. “I believe you, Brenna. Thank you for telling us the truth, and sharing this secret with us. I will not betray you to anyone.”
Björn and Leif rushed to affirm their promises of keeping her secrets.
Brenna explained more details about how her magical armor worked as Leif peppered her with questions. I hung back, mainly working on trying to calm my overt physical reaction to the sudden exposure of so much feminine skin.
She was beautiful; there was no doubt about it. And the power she exuded, the absolute truth and ferocity of her very being when she was, as she called it, ‘whole’, was enough to make my knees weak and mouth water.
But that instinct that drove me, that guided me, told me this was it: the piece I was looking for. I didn’t know how yet, but Brenna was the key to our success.
Now I just had to figure out how she fit.
*
Leif
*
I knew there was something special, almost ethereal, about Brenna the first day I laid eyes on her in the sunlight. Now, seeing her in her full glory, it was like having the clouds removed and seeing the power of the sun for the first time. I nearly dropped to my knees and bowed before her when she spread those magnificent wings and revealed her true majesty.
Eventually, she ducked back behind the ship and removed the breastplate that made her wings appear, donning her dress and removing the rest of her armor. It made her slightly less intimidating, to see her in a simple woolen gown, but I would forever hold the image close to my heart: Brenna in gleaming armor, wings spread and sword in hand, powerful and terrifying and heartbreakingly beautiful.
It didn’t matter that she couldn’t have children or settle a home—I wanted none of it. I wanted—I needed—to be with Brenna. I would follow her to the ends of world and beyond, to the halls of Valhalla despite all the terrible things she’d told us about the place, just to be near her.
For all of my life there wasn’t a single girl who had drawn my interest, and I finally understood why: my destiny was to be with such a creature as men had never seen except in their dreams.
Björn was burdened with a ready-made family and home, but one look at his face told me he felt the same as I did. His eyes danced with conflicting emotions; desire and absolute devotion warred with duty and guilt. I pitied him, but was secretly pleased I had no such problems.
I was one-hundred percent free to offer myself to Brenna and accept her exactly as she was. No requirements, no complications, no limitations.
Søren’s attitude had shifted. He was no longer disbelieving; he couldn’t refute what Brenna had shown us so clearly.
However, he still hung back, thinking as his eyes gazed, unseeing, in her direction. Søren lived so much of his life within his own head, it was difficult for me to read his expression and understand what he was thinking. Björn knew him a little better, but not much. Søren was an enigma to both of us sometimes, and we simply trusted that he would tell us the information we needed to know.
And for the most part, he did. Sometimes he held on to details he didn’t think we needed, or bits he revealed at a later time for reasons that often eluded me. However, he was always right.
So I wasn’t surprised that he had withdrawn, thinking, even now.
I just hoped he wasn’t suddenly thinking he was interested in Brenna as well.
I didn’t want to fight Björn for her, and I definitely didn’t want to face the same ordeal with Søren.
But whatever it took, I knew in the end she would choose me.
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