‘Four nights. That sounds like a bargain,’ said Odin in his cold, silky voice. ‘Ivaldi’s sons got a good deal.’

Freyja’s expression hardened. ‘You don’t own me, Odin,’ she said. ‘You can’t tell me what to do. The necklace is mine. I paid for it. Now give it back.’

He did not reply. On his shoulder, one of the birds scratched its dark head with a claw. Nothing else moved. The Old Man might have been carved from granite.

Freyja started to cry then. She could do that at will, golden tears to melt the heart of the sternest of men. ‘Please,’ she said. ‘I’ll do anything . . .’

‘I think we’ve established that,’ I said.

Odin gave a little smile. It wasn’t a good smile, but Freyja must have taken it as a sign of capitulation. She draped herself on Odin’s arm and peered at him through her lashes.

‘I’m yours,’ she said. ‘If you want me . . .’

The smile became a skull’s grin.

‘Oh yes,’ said Odin. ‘I want you. But that rune you bear – the rune Fé – is more than just the desire for gold. I’m giving you a new Aspect, Freyja. Desire cuts both ways, like a double blade. It can mean love. But it’s also the lust that drives a man to his own death, the lust for blood and violence. Henceforth, you will spread that desire everywhere in the Middle Worlds; you’ll set men against each other, you’ll lie, you’ll use your charms to deceive, to betray, and even then they’ll worship you. Even as they bleed and die, they’ll only want you even more, with a desire that only Death can satisfy for ever.’

‘What about my necklace?’ Freyja said.

‘Yes, I’ll give it back,’ he said. ‘In fact, you’ll never take it off. I want you to wear it so neither of us will ever forget what happened here.’

‘Whatever,’ said Freyja. ‘The necklace, please.’

Odin handed it over.

And that’s why the Goddess of Desire has two Aspects: the Maiden, ripe and beautiful as a golden peach in summertime; and the Crone, the carrion demon of battle, hideously beautiful, gloved in blood to her armpits and screaming with unsatisfied lust.

Lesson 2 Apples

LESSON 2

Apples

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. No one’s immune to bribery.

Lokabrenna