Yngvild and the Forest of Dreams

Heritage

Lady Helga took Noren and I back to our quarters. Old Bjorn stayed behind to help question people.
'What just happened?' Noren said.
'Someone tried to kill Yngvild.' she said.
'Why? Was it revenge for Leif?' I said.
'No. It's more complicated than that.' she said.
'Please explain it to us.' Noren said.
'Maybe in the morning.' she said.
'I think we need to know tonight.' Noren said.
'It might be best to wait until Old Bjorn joins us, he'll be better able to explain.'
'Can you please start the explanation, and Old Bjorn can fill in any gaps?' said Noren.
Lady Helga kept on walking.
'You did promise to tell me about my heritage.' I said.
'Very well then. But only a bit tonight.' she said.
Linhildr was banking the fire in the room when we got there. The shutters were closed and the drapes on the bed were pulled to on three of the four sides. My clothes had been put away, and the mail had been polished while I was at dinner. Someone had also touched up some of the paint scratches on my shield.
'Linhildr, can you please leave us.' Lady Helga said.
Linhildr nodded, 'would you like anything brought up?' she said.
'No thank you.' Lady Helga said.
Linhildr left the room, closing the door behind her.
Noren and I sat on the bench, and Lady Helga faced us from the sole chair in the room. Instinctively I cuddled into him. I needed all the familiarity that I could find tonight.
'So. What do you know about heroes?' Lady Helga said.
'They do interesting things and get sagas sung about their exploits?' I said.
'Heroes are born, not made.' said Noren. 'They're descended from the Nine.'
'That's fairly accurate, Noren. Although some heroes come from other gods than our Nine.' said Lady Helga.
'What's that got to do with us?' I said.
'I think Lady Helga is trying to tell you that you are one of those heroes, Yngvild.'
'Not just Yngvild, Noren.'
'We're descended from the Gods?' I said.
'Yes. Your father was descended from Fafnir, the god of Justice. That's one of the reasons why you can wield Jafnadr, the sword of Justice.'
'There are other reasons?' Noren said.
'Yes. I'm a great granddaughter of Malfin. Jafnadr was blessed by Malfin, which is why the blade is dark.'
'Couldn't you have wielded Jafnadr?' Noren said.
'No. It can only be wielded by heroes with the blood of both Malfin and Fafnir in them.' she said.
'Who am I descended from?'
'On your father's side Meniaxter. On your mother's side Fafnir and Jorunn.'
'The widow called on Meniaxter to protect her.' I said.
'Well he does cover both war and death.' said Noren.
'I'd thought it was just because she was recently bereaved,' I said. 'but she must have known she was going to attack me.'
'We'll probably never know for sure.' said Noren.
'What does this mean, and why would it lead to someone trying to kill Yngvild?' said Noren.
'Good question. I think Old Bjorn would be a better person to answer it.' said Lady Helga.
'Have a go, please.' I said, my mind was whirling.
'The first, and most obvious thing, is that you are both heroes. That means a lot is expected from you. People will want to make friends and influence you. Others will want you out of the way.'
'Why would they want us out of the way?'
'Heroes destabilise things. They achieve extraordinary things and defy the odds. For some people, that can be bad for business.'
'Enough to kill someone before they've done anything?'
'But you have done some extraordinary things already Yngvild.'
'Like what?'
'You used Jafnadr in combat, and you defied that curse to live.'
'How are those extraordinary?'
'Jafnadr can only be wielded by someone descended from both Malfin and Fafnir. You are the only person currently alive that can use it, as far as I know.' Lady Helga said. 'There's more to it though. Jafnadr is a legendary sword. It was forged for Fafnir by Frijdodr from star steel. Malfin blessed it and gave it to their granddaughter Jafnadr when she came of age. The blessings from both mean that it cannot injure an innocent, yet it will cut through any armour as if it wasn't there on any evil-doer that fights against its wielder.'
'But the widow was correct, her husband wasn't armed. I hadn't intended to kill him.'
'The sword is sentient, it helps those able to wield it, and hinders the unworthy. If it can see that your opponent has evil intent then it will ensure they receive justice.'
'Is that why the King said Jafnadr killed Leif?' said Noren.
'Yes. It's seen as a divine judgement directly from Fafnir. There's no blood price when the gods decide you should die.'
'Is there more that I should know about Jafnadr?'
'I don't know the full extent of its abilities, but Oddmundr used to tell me that it was self-cleaning, and that it sometimes talked to him.'
'Oddmundr?' I said.
'Your father. The last wielder of Jafnadr. We spent a decade together, although I could never work out whether or not he was serious about the sword talking to him.'
'It does. It talks to you, I mean.'
'Jafnadr has talked to you?' Lady Helga said.
'Yes, although I thought it was Malfin because it was a female voice.'
'What did it say?' Noren said.
'It gave me some warnings, and it told me to kill Arald.' I said. 'she said that if I let him escape it would spell my doom.'
'That's what Old Bjorn said about him too.' said Noren.
'Do you think Jafnadr heard?' I said.
'As I understand it, Jafnadr has a way of understanding people's intentions and motivation that's similar to how the King's Justices tell the guilty from the innocent.' Lady Helga said.
'Should we do something about it now?' I said. 'The Mangandlese Ambassador petitioned for him to be released.'
'Don't worry, the process isn't that fast. Someone will look into all the petitions tomorrow and a King's Justice will be asked to make decisions.' Lady Helga stifled a yawn. 'Time for bed.' She stood and made her way out of the room.
I yawned too, and felt a sudden wave of lethargy overtake me.
'Noren, bed.' I said.