A Whisper to the North

Chapter XX ✠ The Dividing

Una helped Frey gather large branches to pile around the horse as Yvar sat and reminisced over his times with Balder. Yvar decided to leave his saddle and bridle with the horse. There was no use in carrying them with him now. Yvar thought perhaps one of the Gods would like to use his horse in the afterlife. Yvar knew for a fact that Balder would suit the Gods well above himself. Perhaps that's why Balder was a twin. He was supposed to be born to a Goddess's horse but somehow wound up in the womb of an earthly mare. Yvar smiled and thought perhaps it was a gift to them, a worthy sacrifice. He also believed that maybe the Gods gifted Balder to him personally. All he knew now was that his greatest possession was gone, but that would ensure Una's survival and his own if Balder is a sacrifice. Maybe Rhiannon herself has blessed Yvar now for his significant loss. She will protect Una. That's all Yvar wants.

Frey and Una didn't speak. Una urged Frey not to help lift anything. He was severely injured and being in such a frail state. It would be foolish of him to push himself. Frey still insisted, so Una allowed him to carry small branches, but nothing large like Una was holding. Una watched as Yvar was still quietly crying as he has knelt near his beloved Balder, but there was a smile on his face. Una couldn't help but smile too when she saw him like this. She hated when people were sad or angry, it upset her more than they would ever know.

"When we light the fire, I want us to leave. Is that alright with you?" Yvar asked, looking up at Una with a tender smile.

"Of course, we can," Una said softly, smiling back.

Yvar smiled again, but Una watched as it slowly faded when he looked back down at his horse.

"I'd say that this would be enough things to burn. I know it rained when we got here, but this wood feels plenty dry at this point of the day. Let's get this over with, please. I wish to look at him no longer." Yvar pleaded as he bent down and touched his mane.

Una dropped the last bundle next to Yvar and gently stacked the branches over the horse's head. Before she covered the last spot, Una hesitated and turned to Yvar.

"Hand me your knife," Una demanded.

At first, Yvar was scared. He remembered how Una's father skinned Selene after she fell and used her fur as a pelt. People thought he was brave and used it as a status symbol of strength, pretending as if he had slain the rare wolf. When Cynan perished, Una kept this pelt. She didn't want Selene to burn with her father. Una liked her wolf friend to remind her that strength doesn't come from fear. It comes from bravery. Una doesn't wear the pelt, but she keeps it close to remembering what Selene died for, to protect her masters. Likewise, Una must be like Selene.

As Yvar handed Una his blade, she gently pulled up Balder's long braided forelock and sawed it off. She looked up at Yvar, studying why she had just done that, but then he realized she was going to make something out of it when she stuffed it into her cloak pocket. Yvar smiled and bent down, kissing the cold head of his beloved horse. After that, Una took the last few branches and covered the horse head completely. Yvar and Una sat there for a moment in silence. The breeze carried over by the river masked the smell of blood, but you could still see it, seeping into the earth beneath them.

"It will pass, the memories won't, but the way you feel," Una said, looking down at the horse's cloudy eye.

"I'm honestly more in shock. It hasn't hit me yet, but it will when I call out his name on accident, and he doesn't come trotting over." Yvar laughed.

"When you're ready, we'll go," Una said with a smile.

She looked over and saw Frey carrying more branches around.

"Don't worry about those. We have plenty now!" Una shouted over.

Frey stood there sulking in the distance. He threw his hands up, and all the branches fell at his feet. He continued to hold his hands in the air as he turned around and walked over to a nearby rock to sit and catch his breath.