Winter's Hearts

Chapter 34

You woke the day after your trial before dawn and had one thing to do before you could head home. There was a small room in the hall of the trials and you and your mother went there at first light. The Trial Mistress was waiting for you there.

"You have passed your trials with flying colors," she told you proudly and you couldn't help beaming in pride. "Welcome to the ranks of the Valkyrie, Y/N, daughter of Sigun. Let us make it official," she told you and opened the door to the small room and the tattoo artist inside. The mark of the Valkyrie was inscribed on your wrist in ink as well as the spell of assignment, etched in magic. The mark of assignment was blank and would remain so until the ceremony that evening, but the marks there there and so they would remain for all of your days.

You were officially a full Valkyrie with all the rights and rank that entailed.

After that was taken care of, you headed straight to the stables with your mother to ride back to the palace. Conversation was sparse. You wanted to get back to the palace, back to Loki. You missed him terribly after your year apart; before this you'd barely spent as much time without him as it took to sleep.

You were nervous the entire trip back to the palace, anxiety and fear convincing you that you weren't going to get the assignment you so desperately wanted. Anxiety made no sense when you had literally broken every single trial record, including the record for the grand trial. There was no way you weren't getting whatever position you wanted, though no one bothered to ask. They all knew that you wanted to be assigned to Loki.

You prayed you would be assigned to Loki instead of your services being claimed by one of the other members of the royal family. That was your real concern. Any of them could claim the services of you and Loki couldn't fight their claim.

So you fretted and worried the entire trip home and rode your horses as fast as you dared. "You'll be assigned to Prince Loki, daughter," your mother tried to reassure you when you stopped for lunch. You wouldn't have stopped even this long, but you had to for the horses sake. You were pushing them hard to make it to the palace to prepare for the ceremony that evening. Most of the other Valkyrie took a few days to make their appearance before Odin to determine their futures. You were being assigned as soon as possible.

You rode hard to make it to the palace as quickly as possible. There was a lot of work to do when you made it back to the palace.

*

A long ride later and you finally made it to the palace stables where the hostlers took your horses. You were disappointed when Loki wasn't waiting there for you. You'd expected him to be here the second you got home.

He wasn't here.

You didn't have time to worry as you were swept into preparations for the ceremony the second you dismounted. You were fitted for a formal uniform first.

You had your hair cut and styled for the first time in ages. Your maids had their work cut out for them. They had to make you presentable for court after a year of trials. It wasn't easy on them either, especially the day after the grand trial without any recovery time. They hid the bags under your eyes with makeup, braided your hair elegantly, and brushed out and cleaned your wings. Your new armor was delivered and for the first time you dressed in your white formal uniform.

You couldn't help staring at yourself in the mirror. You hadn't thought anything would change, but you looked the part of a full Valkyrie, decked out in your formal finery. You couldn't believe you had finally done it. You finally looked the part of a real Valkyrie. You finally were one.