Servant of Jotunheim

Contents

After saying my goodbyes to everyone and shedding many tears over my departure, I am returned to Earth through the Bifrost portal by Heimdall himself.

I arrive in a field not too far outside of town so I take the short walk to the diner and find Hank standing there behind the counter as always.

Hank: "I can't believe you're back so soon. The way you were talking the other day, I was starting to worry you weren't ever coming back. What happened?"

Me: "My friend died".

Hank: "I'm sorry to hear that. Are you okay?"

Me: "Not really. Is it alright with you if I take a couple of days off? I am not ready to work just yet".

Hank: "Sure. You take all the time you need".

I go back to my apartment and rest for a while. The past few days had been a crazy dream that I am not yet certain if I wished to forget or remember.

Reaching over to grab my bag that I had brought back with me, something falls out with a loud thud. I then see the book on the floor that the King had gifted to me this morning.

I make myself a coffee, pick it up and begin reading as I am eagerly craving the knowledge within. Alfheim sounds like a rather fascinating place.

There are many pictures sketched onto the pages of forests as far as the eye could see, vast flowing rivers, waterfalls, stone palaces and even houses built within the trees themselves.

I reach an intriguing chapter on the current royal family, which states that they only came into power after every member of the previous royal family had perished in a fire.

I find it odd that an entire bloodline, dozens of them in fact, could be wiped out in a single tragic accident.

All of them were gone, leaving no heir to the throne with the exception of one who was still missing, and presumed to have perished in the unforgiving conditions on Jotunheim.

The accident had happened within a month after they had disappeared which I believed was highly suspicious to say the least.

Why would a noble from Alfheim have traveled to Jotunheim to begin with, and why had I never heard of this before now?

As I read on a little further, I realise that all this had occurred before I was born so it no longer surprised me that I had never known of these events.

Continuing to read, I pause for a moment in confusion, out of all the many thousands of books the palace library held within, why had the King given me this book?

There is also a family tree drawn within which references a noble woman of Asgardian heritage that had been betrothed to the god Freyr, the King of Alfheim.

A detailed sketch of them with their names written underneath catches my eye.

Me: "King Freyr and Queen Valanya" I utter to myself and smile.

I suppose this was the reason why the King gave me this particular book as we share the same name after all. She was quite a beautiful Queen and the King was a handsome man.

There are many more pictures of members of that bloodline following theirs, but as I scan through the names, I am deeply saddened to read that most of the latter dates of death match due to the fire that took their lives. Even those of small children.

Further on there is mention of the King and Queen having had a child together, but I cannot find any reference to their death. Was this the soul that had perished on Jotunheim?

This book almost reminds me of one of the drama programs that Darleen would force me to watch with her on the television when I first arrived here on Earth.

Finally, I find what I had been anticipating and discover that they indeed had a daughter who was once betrothed to the Prince of Svartalfheim.

It was none other than King Naris, Princess Dahlia's father that had taken an unwelcome interest in me during the ball which had made me feel so uncomfortable.

With the next turn of a page, I read that it was discovered that this princess had fled in an attempt to escape her upcoming marriage to him.

She was rumoured to have fallen for a young peasant boy named Erik, and that they had fled Alfheim together. His body had been discovered in a cave on Jotunheim, whereas hers never was.

Wishing to not break the peace treaty between themselves and the frost giants, they could not risk being discovered there, trespassing in search of her body.

Upon turning to the next page, I am horrified by the picture I see, throwing the book as far away from where I am as possible so I do not have to look upon it.

I am unable to breathe. This was the reason that I had been given the book, this was what the King had wanted me to see all along.

Having finally caught my breath, I anxiously walk over to where the book is, still face down on the floor and I hesitantly pick it back up.

I turn it over and study the picture, caressing every beautiful detail of her face with my fingertips. She was once so young, vibrant and full of life.

I read the name written beneath aloud in sheer disbelief.

Me: "Princess Azalea of Alfheim".