Macha's Journey

It was Tyr"s idea that Macha let a few guild members work at the shop between jobs. Many pregnant women liked this option and jumped at the chance to make some extra money while they waited for their delivery date. Some men also requested to work part-time if their wives left them at home watching the kids while they went on a mission.

Since it was the first week, Macha wanted to do the deliveries herself. She thought it would be good for business if she got to know the customers. Her last delivery was to Jarnvid. He ordered twenty pies and Macha had to go back to the shop to pick them up. The wagon was just large enough to hold the large order, and she worried that a box might slide out of the wagon. To prevent this from happening, she tied a rope around the wagon to secure the cases.

After loading up the pies, she made her way to the Carnelian k.u.mas headquarters and looked around. They built this guild headquarters with marble and stonework. The buildings in this area had more of an old-world feel to them. Many of the people here dressed nicely and seemed to walk around with a lot of self-importance.

Freyr was headed back to the palace after meeting with a few of the more prominent merchants in the city. They wanted to complain about the recent dip in their profits because of the Phocée agreements that took effect. He tapped his fingers on his leg as he sat in his carriage while humming a tune. Looking out of the carriage window, he spotted Macha dismounting in front of the Carnelian k.u.mas headquarters.

His fingers stopped their tapping as Freyr thought it was odd that Macha would be there. He was unaware of her being acquainted with anyone from this guild. He leaned forward and knocked on the front of the carriage, instructing the driver to slow down. As the carriage slowed, he saw her give a small wave and he looked towards the entrance. Jarnvid walked down the stairs to meet her. Seeing this, Freyr stood up and yelled for the driver to stop.

Jarnvid helped Macha carry the pies and they headed into the building. As they walked, he explained, "My office is on the ground floor. I prefer being able to come and go easily." He gave her a pleasant smile and lead her to a large double doored room. The doors stood twice his height and had been engraved with his guild"s crest. The handles were made of gold and fashioned in the shape of bears.

After they entered, he kicked the doors closed and signaled for her to put the pies down on his desk in the back. He followed Macha and put the pies he carried down beside hers. "How have you been?" he inquired as he moved to make some tea.

Macha did not expect to stay and chat for too long, but this was her last delivery for the day so she took a seat. Jarnvid acted like a respectable person today, so she was willing to stay. "I"ve been doing well. I took your advice and sent our best pies to the other guild leaders. Doing that resulted in us getting many orders we would not have had otherwise. Thank you for the suggestion."

Jarnvid smirked, he knew his ideas would work. If he wanted to, he could make his guild even stronger than it already was, but that would require too much of his time. Life only existed for enjoyment and there was no reason to try harder than need be. He placed the teacups down on the table and sat beside Macha. He casually placed his arm behind her and turned his body towards her. "Why didn"t you sent me a pie as well?" he teased while giving her a wink.

Macha chuckled, "You said you were going to order as soon as the shop opened. I made an extra special pie just for you today as a thank you." Now she thought Jarnvid sat too close to her. His thigh pressed against hers, so she used this as an excuse to get up. She made her way to his desk and searched through the boxes until she found the one she had marked with a star.

After she got up, he gave a small frown and walked across the room to join her. He leaned his head over her shoulder to get a closer look at what she held. The warmth of her body pressed against his and the soft smell of lavender touched his nose.

Macha took a step to the side and opened the box. In it was a pie that had an intricately braided crust with decorative flowers and leaves on it. She had spent over an hour creating a beautiful crust to thank Jarnvid for his suggestion. In a friendly tone, she beamed, "I hope you like it. Thank you."

He glanced down at the pie. It was very thoughtful of Macha to make that for him, but it was not the type of thank you he wanted. His green eyes caught her attention as he took a step closer. He put the pie down and caressed her hand while giving her a sensual smile. His silky voice purred, "I know a way you could thank me."

A cold shiver flew down her back. The atmosphere had changed, and she withdrew her hand. In a business-like voice, she declared, "I think I should go. The pies are one gold each, so it comes out to twenty gold pieces please." Macha felt Jarnvid"s stare was too intense, so she looked at the boxes that were stacked up on his desk.

He gazed at Macha"s long ears. She wore expensive ear-cuffs, and he wondered if Tyr or Freyr gave them to her. He circled behind her and decided he did not want to wait for her affection. It was just the two of them and he could easily overpower her.

Without warning, he pushed her down on top of his desk and kicked her legs open. He liked the way her skirt hiked up slightly when she was pressed against his desk.

A sharp pain shot up from Macha"s hips as she slammed into the desk. She tried to turn around, but her legs had been kicked apart and Jarnvid pressed her body down. "Get off of me!" she screamed. Her skirt lifted up, and he pressed against her. "Jarnvid!" she warned, but her voice shook and did not sound intimidating.

Her dignity ripped when he tore her underwear off of her. Although she tried to fight him off of her, every time she struggled, he would either yank her hair or rip her clothing.

Jarnvid spanked Macha and stuck his fingers deep into her. He growled, "Trust me, you"ll like it." He began to move his fingers rhythmically, enjoying her struggles. The idea of having something Freyr and Tyr desired made him hard, and he pushed her further up on the desk.

At this point, she was scared and begged him to stop. Her sobbing and tears made her words hard to comprehend.

Freyr had followed Macha and Jarnvid into the building. He saw them go into Jarnvid"s office and the doors closed. He did not trust Jarnvid, especially after the man stole Fenrir from Tyr.

In the end, he decided to wait outside the doors and if they took too long, he would interrupt them. He knew that no one would tell him to go away for loitering because he was the King. Although this was an abuse of his power when Macha was concerned, nothing else mattered.

As Freyr leaned against the door, wondering if he should ask her out for tea when he met her. While contemplating an excuse to be here, he thought he heard a shout. A cold wave washed over him and he held his breath. The lobby was noisy, so he strained to make out what was going on. While he pressed his ear against the door, he could barely make out the sound of crying.

A gold light immediately enveloped Freyr, and he kicked the door open. The doors ripped off of their hinges and tumbled into the room.

Jarnvid looked behind him and saw Freyr"s angry face. The normally friendly and relaxed King had a scowl and golden light enveloped his body. Seeing the King caused his mouth to go dry and he let go of Macha"s hair. He stepped away from her and raised his hands into the air. "We were just playing," he began.

At the same time, Freyr picked up a door and commanded, "Get your filthy hands off of her." He threw the large wooden door at Jarnvid. When it hit him, the wood shattered into thousands of pieces. Behind Freyr, hundreds of swords made of golden light formed in the air.

Jarnvid realized what the King was doing and cried out, "Macha save me!" He had seen the King fight in the war and there was no way he would win. In addition to their gap in skill, by law, if he raised a hand against the King, it would mean death.

Macha stood with tears flowing down her face. Her body shook violently from the attack, but Freyr"s presence awed her and she could not speak. Both the lighted swords and his glowing figure, made him appear like a holy crusader. That mixed with the fact that she had never seen Freyr angry left her speechless. His eyes always looked at her so tenderly that she thought it would be impossible to anger him.

A sword flew in the air and Jarnvid dodged it. The light disappeared but left a deep hole in the marble floor. Macha realized Freyr meant to kill Jarnvid. "Freyr, wait!" she choked out.

Another sword already hung in the air, a finger"s width from Jarnvid"s throat. Freyr"s eyes tore away from the man for a second to look at Macha. Her clothes were torn and her face had tears streaming down them. He made a snarl as forced the sword further, so it pressed against Jarnvid"s throat. A stream of blood ran down the man"s throat.

She noticed Freyr gradually advance the blade forward. Despite the shame and the attack, she had to stop him. She ran to his side and pulled on his sleeve, "Freyr, you stopped him. He"s a terrible person, but I think killing him is too much." Her voice sounded raw and shook. Everything happened so rapidly, but she did not want Jarnvid"s death on her hands. Macha hated Jarnvid now but death seemed too heavy a punishment.

Freyr clenched his jaw. He wanted to kill Jarnvid with every bone in his body, but she had asked him not too. Getting his anger under control, he proclaimed, "If you ever touch Macha again, you will die." He could not stand the sight of Jarnvid anymore so he flung the rest of his swords and destroyed the office.

Freyr took his shirt off and wrapped it around her. He did not want other people to see her bare skin. After he b.u.t.toned the shirt up, he grabbed Macha"s hand and dragged her out of the building.

They entered his carriage and ordered for one of his attendants to take her cart back before slamming the door shut. On the way back to her apartment, he did not know what to say. Right now her hands shook as she held onto his hand. She did not say a word, so he let her continue to hold onto him.