31 The Letter

Throughout dinner, everyone at the table ignored Macha. Luna and Freyr sat at the head of the table with the rest of their family and Macha sat at the other end.

Macha found out that Luna and Tyr had a sister named Skadi. She was surprised that the sister was not in the family portrait and wondered why. Skadi did not have the dark brown hair that Tyr and Luna had, but took after Hrod. She inherited Hrod's red hair and green eyes. Her facial features gave her a serious look, and her temperament also matched her mother's.

Many of the women at the table gave Macha cruel looks. They noticed her walk in with Freyr and immediately disliked her. The men pretended she did not exist; they did not want to ruin their chances with the women at the table.

Macha listened to the guest's gossip about the weather and other people. She found out that Freyr was the king of Marseille. This news surprised her because he seemed so nice. Macha had expected the king to be snobbish and older.

Macha also overheard the men and women gossiping about her. Some of them mentioned how strange she looked. None of the comments about her appearance bothered her, the ones that hurt were the lies. Macha did not know where they heard that she tried to sleep her way to the top, or that she caused Fenrir to leave Tyr, but all of those lies hurt her feelings.

Macha understood why Tyr preferred to stay in his room. He would find this environment suffocating. She did not care for it either and wanted to leave. She wished to defend herself but did not want to make a scene at the table. Macha understood her presence was unwanted by Hrod, so she did not want to cause trouble for Tyr or Luna.

She overheard a snide comment about her table manners. Macha was unsure what table etiquette demanded, so she tried her best to copy what the other guests did. There were many tools and utensils at the table and she worried about which utensil was for which dish. She wished Tyr or Luna had trained her in this and decided that was one more thing she must master.

Macha's only comfort at dinner was admiring the beautiful fashions worn by the people at the table. Many of the guests wore unique dresses or jackets in styles she had not seen before. Macha thought some of them were hideous, but others were uniquely pretty. She would never wear the styles but saw them more like worn art. Her favorite was a dress made out of mirrors. It reflected the light whenever the woman moved.

After dinner, Macha returned to her room to prepare for her midnight training. She did not want to follow the rest of the guests to the parlor. She could tell they would continue to ignore her. Macha did not want to bother wasting her time trying to get those sorts of people to like her.

Freyr hoped that Macha would join them after dinner. It disappointed him when everyone made their way to the parlor, and she turned the other way to retire to her room. He watched her throughout dinner and knew the other guests had ignored her. He moved to follow her, but a group of women came up to talk to him.

Macha freshened up and checked her gear. She realized that she had not cleaned her daggers well after the fight with the boar, so she took the time to do some maintenance on her equipment.

Macha took out a black cloth that she had bought. The cloth felt like high-grit sandpaper in her hands. Macha infused her energy into it as she cleaned her gear. The black cloth glowed and ran over the metal, polishing away the blood and dirt. Macha cleaned and shined her daggers until they looked like new. After she finished, she went to the bathroom to wash the cloth out and lay it by the fire to dry.

Macha looked at the time and saw that it was still an hour before midnight. She was excited to have someone to talk to again, so she decided to leave early. Macha hoped that Tyr was bored as well and would meet her at the lake before the designated time.

Macha made her way down to the lake and sat on the grass. The fireflies buzzed around the lake. Their twinkling bodies made her imagine that she was in a sea of stars. She leaned back to enjoy the view. The fireflies shone brightly as they danced around her, blinking their lights while looking for a mate.

Freyr walked out into the cool autumn night. He spotted Macha lying down by the lake. She looked like a fairy with fireflies dancing around her. He squeezed the letter in his breast pocket. When he returned to his room this evening, he found an envelope on his bed. It asked him to come to the lake at midnight. He had been through this scenario many times. He already understood the person wanted to confess their feelings to him.

When Freyr initially read the letter he was saddened to receive it. He hated to turn women down. Seeing them cry pained his heart. Most times he could not refuse their pleas. He would date them for a few years before convincing them that they wanted to break-up with him. The vision of Macha sitting by the lake waiting for him made his heart flutter. She was the first woman he ever liked, so having her write this letter filled him with happiness.

He jogged over to Macha. She had sat up to looked at the two moons reflect their light onto the lake. Freyr sat down beside her. He blushed at the thought of what she was about to say. "Macha, were you waiting long?" he asked softly.

Macha turned and saw Freyr. His sudden appearance surprised her and she smiled, "No, not long. I just got here. I was admiring the view." His company was welcome after the terrible dinner. Tonight his low voice sounded soft and seductive.

Macha opened her palms and a firefly landed on her hand. The glow illuminated her face, and she did not dare to breathe. She was worried that the bug would fly away from her breath. This was the first time she had experienced being around fireflies and she wanted this moment to last forever.

Freyr gazed at Macha. The warm glow of the firefly danced across her face. "Yeah. It's beautiful," he whispered. He didn't need to look at the view, Freyr believed everything else would take away from the beauty that filled his eyes at this moment.

Macha looked over to Freyr and noticed him staring at her. She blushed. She wanted to lighten the mood, so she asked, "Do you like lakes?"

Freyr's hands shook, and he flexed them in an attempt to stop their reaction. He was nervous waiting for her to begin her confession. "Not really, but I think I'll grow to like them more." Freyr decided that he would build a lake in one of the palace gardens. He wanted it to be exactly like this one. He imagined having picnics with Macha every night and being able to savor this moment anytime he wanted.

Tyr was walking towards the lake but spied Macha talking with his cousin Freyr. It was a picturesque view. He softened his steps as he drew closer. He noticed Freyr's hand creep towards Macha's. The sight made his blood boil. Before Freyr touched her hand, a woman came running from the side. She jogged towards his cousin and apologized for being late.

Confusion bounced around in Freyr's mind. His head whipped back towards Macha, who looked at him with surprise. The color drained from his face and he sputtered, "Sorry, I have to go." He realized the letter was not from Macha, but from this woman. He reluctantly followed the woman away from the lake. His heart felt betrayed because he wanted the letter to be from Macha.

Tyr stomped up to Macha after Freyr and the woman disappeared into the distance. "Freyr kept you company?" He had an eyebrow raised and shoved one of his lances into the ground.

Macha got up and dusted the grass off her pants. "Yeah, I think he's on a date now." She glanced over to where the two disappeared.

"I didn't know you met him." Tyr switched his weight to one leg and rested a hand on his belt.

Macha stretched, "I met him earlier today. I actually thought he liked me, but I guess he's a bit of a flirt." She was embarrassed that she had almost fallen for Freyr's attention.

Tyr knew his cousin well. The word flirt was one of the last words he would use to describe Freyr. Tyr understood Freyr's caution about not flirting with women. He did not want them to have the hope of a relationship with him. A jealous lover murdered Freyr's parents. Ever since then, Freyr feared romance and lovers. Whenever his cousin had a girlfriend he would rarely see her. "Why do you say that?" Tyr tightened his grip on his belt.

"Well... he kissed me when he introduced himself. I've met many people, and even Krystof isn't that bad. It's also little things... it's hard to explain." Macha chuckled as changed to a different stretching position.

Tyr clenched his jaw when Macha said Freyr kissed her. His eyes narrowed, and he clarified, "He kissed you?" The night air was cool, but he felt the heat of anger.

Macha saw that Tyr's attitude had changed. "Oh, not on the lips. It was intimate... but on my wrist." She patted the place where Freyr's lips had touched. Macha gave an uneasy smile. Talking about the kiss with Tyr seemed wrong to her.

Tyr knew he should explain that his cousin was not a flirt, but he did not want to. Freyr kissing Macha annoyed him. Tyr tried to rationalize it as his cousin needing to learn how to conduct himself.

Macha looked at Tyr as the fireflies danced around him. She blushed at how handsome he looked in the moonlight. Macha felt her cheeks grow hot. She was glad the night hid how pink her cheeks looked. She turned to view the lake. Macha worried Tyr would be able to read her thoughts.

Tyr noticed her look away and wondered if she dreamed of Freyr. "What are you thinking about?" His voice came out sounding unkind. He cleared his throat, surprised at how harsh the words sounded.

Macha did not want to confess that she admired his beauty, so she lied about her thoughts. "I wanted to apologize. You were right about how terrible the people at the party would be. They refuse to talk to me and gossiped about me when I could hear them."

A cold wave hit Tyr. He felt lousy for not attending the dinner. He realized that he forced Macha to face the gazes and gossip alone.

Tyr walked over to her and pulled her in for a quick hug. "Sorry, I should have been there. I was being selfish. I'm the one who forced you to come, but I abandoned you. I was a poor friend." He patted her head and let her go. "Let's get started."