Macha's Journey

Hrod"s green eyes looked down her nose as she waited for Macha"s reply. It was obvious that the small woman shifted around uncomfortably. She thought about how her son became enamored with a child who probably did not understand what true worth was.

Macha fidgeted in her chair, struggling to get comfortable. Her legs could not touch the floor, so it always made it awkward sitting in larger chairs.

After moving into a position she thought looked as proper as possible, she recounted her efforts, "I"ve been training every day, even during the war. I also practiced the correct way to speak to other n.o.bles with Freyr and Ullr. While I still have a long road ahead, I"m trying to read all the books that Tyr and Luna studied during their school days."

For a nearly a century the young n.o.bility attended school. To Macha this seemed ridiculous. People where she was from were lucky to live to ninety. Macha knew she could catch up with what these people called "basic education" but was dismayed at how long it would take. What she really disliked was the rote memorization of the n.o.bility so one would know their relative position to others.

Hrod"s cold green eyes scrutinized the woman sitting next to her. She had noticed Macha spoke to her using the correct dialect. When she first met the small woman, it had been offensive to hear Macha speak. Now, at least it was tolerable, despite the accent. Perhaps one day she would be able to convince Tyr to hire a speech therapist to get rid of that terrible manner of speaking.

A worker entered the room and served them drinks. Their conversation stopped and Hrod turned her attention to the staff member. She took decorating this armory seriously. It was important that her son own at least one room that was worthy of his station in life.

****

A few days later, Macha dragged her feet as she opened the door. She make her way into the apartment and gave a heavy sigh as she put her purse down.

The fatigue in her movements caused Tyr to become alarmed. Today she spent the day with his mother, visiting different stores for the armory they were decorating. He had been unable to go because of a few business meetings.

He put down the gla.s.s of wine he was drinking, "How did it go?" he ventured to ask.

Her lips twitched for a moment. The afternoon had been full of verbal abuse and upon reflection, it was pretty terrible. His mother"s pa.s.sive aggressive nature left Macha feeling like she spent the whole day swimming against a riptide. Macha honestly had more fun during the Kochi war, walking around the disgusting tunnels and eating dirt.

She moved to get some juice for herself. The steady flow of the opaque amber liquid pouring into the gla.s.s helped to relax her. After taking a sip of the cool juice, she felt a little better. The sweet pear juice calmed her after a day of being bitter.

Macha forced a smile onto her face, "Your mother taught me quite a bit about quality purchases. She is quite informed on that subject."

The tight grin that was plastered on her face made it obvious that she had a terrible time. Tyr moved to the kitchen and lifted her up on the dining table. He sat down on a chair in front of her and began ma.s.saging her cute feet.

"I wish you didn"t have to go alone today. What did she say to you?"

Her feet were tired from standing in heels all day, so his hands helped to sooth them. Macha gave the juice a little swirl in her cup.

"Nothing," she lied.

The things Hrod mentioned made her feel like less of a person and she did not want to bring them up. It also did not seem smart to draw attention to her flaws.

Tyr knew his mother had a special talent when it came to words. She could always find the perfect combination to get into your head. There was no way he believed his mother had been a perfect person today. That was impossible.

Unsure how to comfort her, he shrugged his shoulders, "If you say so."

He moved his hands to Macha"s other foot. Looking up, he gave a boyish grin, "At least the banshee is going home tomorrow."

The comment made her smile a little, but she quickly hid it. It was a terrible thing to say about one"s own mother.

She wiggled her lips to rid them of the mirth that was still in them, "You shouldn"t talk like that about her. She helped so much this past week with the decorating."

Tyr gave a dissatisfied grunt.

The armory looked good, but like always, Hrod spent a ridiculous amount of money. She never thought practically about whether she needed the handles to be made of adamantine or gold. In his opinion, adamantine looked the same as silver and it was not as if they would be fighting with the k.n.o.bs.

As he ma.s.saged her feet, Macha"s thoughts drifted to the other parts of her day. Earlier in the morning, she received a letter from Unai, asking her to stop by the pie shop tomorrow morning. This made it so she would not be able to meet Hrod at the docks.

She tilted her head and her dark hair rolled off her shoulders, "Tomorrow you will have to see your mother off by yourself. I have some business at the pie shop. Is that all right?"

This was actually convenient because he wanted to remind Hrod to behave. He would follow through with his threat to cut her finances if she ever acted up again.

It surprised him when he inherited all the family businesses and funds. Some of them were in trusts, so that was understandable, but others would usually have been left to his mother after his father died.

The day they went over the will, his mother was furious. The lawyer said that Hymir did this because Tyr proved himself to be a capable man. It was difficult for the lawyer to deal with Hrod, so in the end, he blatantly stated that her husband did not trust her with the finances.

Tyr nodded his head at Macha"s words. "Luckily, I"ll forgive you if you bring back another one of those triple chocolate pies. It"s been a week since you got one."

It was obvious why she did not bring home a pie for the past week. Tyr could eat a whole pie in one sitting, without sharing a single spoonful with her. Although they exercised and trained daily, she still did not want him to survive solely on sugar.

"I promise to bring you back a slice."

This promise caused Tyr to let go of her foot. "One slice to you is like a bite to me. Your slices are always so small."

Every time he had her divvy up the food or slice a cake, she constantly gave a sliver instead of a slice. He could barely taste anything. That was why he always did the portioning, not that he minded.

A laugh escaped her lips. He looked so betrayed.

She wiggled her toes, indicating that he should continue with the ma.s.sage. "Fine! I"ll bring a whole pie back, but we"re giving half to Krystof and Luna."

****

The next day, Tyr picked his mother up from the hotel and took her to the docks using the family carriage. The carriage moved through the streets, but inside, a heavy silence lingered. Tyr stared out the window, wondering what his mother thought about.

After they reached the docks, and they were walking to the airship, he nonchalantly mentioned, "Your apology was barely an apology, but Macha appreciated it. I"m happy that we could sort out our differences civilly this time. I would hate to cut your funds or force you to live with Krystof and Luna."

Things progressed how she a.s.sumed they would. Now that she paid some attention to Macha, she wondered if she could get a new airship. The allowance he provided her was not enough to make big purchases.

While she visited the city, she called on the Lichnowsky family. Krystof"s mother mentioned how they had just bought a new airship, so she wanted to see it. When they gave her a tour of it, Hrod realized that it looked better than the one her family owned. The cutting edge technology made her ship seem as if a tortoise powered it.

Hrod gave her son a beautiful smile, "Since I was so pleasant this time. You should get a new airship. We need two now."

Hearing his mother state that they needed two airships shocked him. His eyes brows came together, "What?"

It was beyond Tyr how she even came to that conclusion. Her trail of logic leading up to a large purchase was not surprising, but it was also not logical.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, "Indulge me. In what world would we need two airships?"

Hrod pursed her lips for a moment. She forgot to mention Macha in her request. It was difficult to remember that slip of a woman.

A lock of hair came loose from her coiffure, and she tucked it back into place, "Are you really going to require Macha to travel through the Outer-Reaches whenever I ask her over?"

Of course, Tyr did not want Macha to roam around the Outer-Reaches, but she would always be able to use the airship he had.

His hands rested on his hips now. "If that happens, then she could use the Valois one. That still does not account for our family needing two. Only the Rosenkrantz household needs more than one because Thor has multiple wives."

Her eyes narrowed. Tyr was making things difficult, like always. She wished he would be as good-natured as Luna. Luna was always the most agreeable out of all her children.

Hrod gave a delicate sigh. "Yes, well. You are serious about Macha, aren"t you? If you are, then I will need mine for personal use and she will need one so you two can go on vacations or visit me."

Saying the words disgusted her. While she loved her husband, she was furious that he forced her to beg their son for things like this.