I had eventually fallen asleep after over an hour of tossing and turning only to be met with a horrifying dream.
I was sitting on the throne of Asgard. But it didn't look quite right, it looked wispy and cold, and everything had a tint of blue in it. I could see myself from a distance and I heard myself yell 'Bring him in!' The massive golden double doors opened, and two 8-foot-tall frost giants dragged a dishevelled-looking old man into the throne room, his ankles bound in bronze shackles and his grubby clothes torn and tattered. 'You can see where he is, Odin.' My gaze fixed on the person sitting on the throne. This wasn't me—was it? 'Where did you send him!' I yelled, and the whole room shook, hairline fractures etched on the walls, I assumed all the nine realms would shake with the severity in my voice.
'I-…I-I don't know…' The old man groaned and breathed heavily.
'Oh, but you do. See, I know your story. Your blind eye sees all. Now where. Is. Rami.' I said to him, standing from my throne and stepping towards him with each word, my steps slow and calculated. Even the frost giants' faces tensed, they looked scared of me, I didn't know frost giants could be afraid.
'M-My Queen?' The Giant on the left muttered, and my jaw dropped as I realized he was addressing me.
'What is it, Thrym?' I saw myself say, scowling at him. Even though he's three feet taller than me, I still terrified the Hela out of him.
'My Queen, should we put him in the cage with the Stymphalian birds again?' He says with a slight grin, but the look of terror had not left his eyes. I remembered reading about them in the archives—metallic nightmares with wings.
Odin cried in protest 'No…Please, NO!'
I see myself smirk wickedly 'Yes, wonderful idea, Thrym.' Why did I look...so proud?
I watched as I walked back to the throne and sat down, the two giants still holding Odin captive, as if waiting to be dismissed.
'This will be fun.' The frost giant on the right spoke up, timidly.
'Yes. Yes, it will be fun, Hrimthur.' I waved my hand at them dismissively and they began dragging Odin from the throne room as he kicked and screamed, I heard myself laughing maniacally and the sound of ice cracking, I looked around at the golden walls, the hairline fractures were growing.
The walls were cracking and shattering, big golden cracks. I was trying to run as a piece of the ceiling collapsed and fell on top of me.
***
I woke with a scream, my breathing heavy and ragged, I was sobbing, and I didn't know why. My mind raced, and I tried to make sense of my dream. I looked around frantically, but I couldn't see anything in the dark before I heard someone running through.
A faint glow appeared through our door, and there he was. My knight in shining armor, Rami sat down on the bed beside me and took my hand.
'Calm down, it was only a dream…it wasn't real…' He said softly, I looked up at him wearily, his tired voice whispered softly 'Do you want me to stay with you?'
At first, I shook my head, but I always slept better when Rami was close by, I nodded softly and he climbed into the bed beside me, the little light disappearing from his hand but I didn't care.
I buried my head in and he wrapped his arms around me, his hands running over my hair that was tied back in two braids that Cora and Azia had done for me before bed, I felt his muscles flexing as he held me tightly, the faint scent of his cologne still lingering on his neck from that day, his warm skin keeping me safe, my breathing became steady and even again as he held me and kissed my head softly. Whispering in my ear 'I'll always be here for you, Frosty. Always.' Before placing his head on my pillow and closing his eyes, I felt so secure in his warm and cozy embrace. The clutches of sleep took control again, and I drifted off, my body relaxing, the tension leaving my shoulders as I felt Rami's warm, gentle hands on my back.
That morning I woke up to find Rami laying beside me, playing with my braids, his hands gently running over them, and tracing the curves. When he finally realised I was awake, he blushed and looked away from me.
'What are you doing?'
'Trying to figure out how braids work actually…I gave up about five minutes ago, and now I'm just playing with them…' he laughs softly and flicks them up gently as they fall behind me.
'As one does' I say sarcastically, I sit up and look at him, wearing my fluffy pink pyjamas that have strawberries all over them. I tucked a few loose curls behind my ear and smiled 'Thank you for staying with me last night.'
He gave me that lopsided smile, and I felt my cheeks get warmer. 'Of course, and, I needed to make sure you were up in time to go to the festival today, Frosty.' I looked at him for a moment with confusion, but my eyes then widened in realization 'Tell me you didn't forget our tradition. Frosty, I'm wounded.' he smirks at me, placing a hand on his bare chest as if trying to act hurt.
I blushed, I had completely forgotten about the festival. I didn't even have anything to wear to it! I mean, I had the outfit I made last year with the help of Liv, a daughter of Bragi who is incredibly artsy. My mind started racing, and I jumped out of my bed, realizing everyone else was still asleep. Well, Aelia was sitting reading, but she didn't pay us any attention.
I started scavenging through my wardrobe, trying to find something to wear for the festival when I felt his hands gripping my shoulders softly. 'Wear your blouse and your long beige skirt.' he winked at me.
'But that's what I wore last year.'
'Yeah, you looked good in it…meet me at the border in an hour?'
'An hour and a half,' I corrected him, pulling my blouse from my closet, and he tilted his head at me. 'I have to fix my hair.' I complain, and he rolls his eyes playfully.
'An hour and a half…' he walks out and leaves me to get dressed.
I pull on the white blouse and my beige skirt, grabbing my corset too, and tightening that around my waist. I grabbed my brush and my bobbles and went to the bathroom, the cold floor underneath my feet. I took my hair out of the braids and it was a mess, all frizzy and crazy, I saw the mini braids the girls had put in my hair before they put the big braids in and couldn't help but smile, I undid them carefully, wrapped a towel around my shoulders so to not get my blouse wet, and began spraying my hair with salt spray.
The spray dampened my curls as I tried to tame them. My fingers ached from styling the curls, but they looked great, so I couldn't complain.
I knew it was risky turning on my diffuser but I wasn't about to walk out of the camp with crazy hair, so I flipped my hair over the side and started diffusing it. I hated how loud it was, not enough to hear it from the barracks but enough to wake up-.
'Are you trying to be noisy?' My thoughts were interrupted by Cora standing in the doorway, her dressing gown hanging loose over her blue silk pyjama set, her heatless curler still in her hair from last night when we all did each other's hair.
'No?' I say while laughing softly 'sorry if I woke you, I completely forgot that the festival was today so I'm trying to make my hair look better before I leave but it's just…Ahhh…' She laughs softly and I shake some of my curls, sighing.
'Here, I'll help.' Cora walks behind me and shakes out my curls. She twists a few and then pulls them over my shoulders, she sits me down on the toilet and starts doing little twist braids in my hair, before taking little butterfly clips from our drawers in the bathroom and clipping them into place. She hummed softly as she did my hair, I smiled as I realised she was humming 'Honey, Honey' I started singing along, our voices matching perfectly.
It was my favourite feeling, singing in the bathroom with my friends and doing each other's hair. It was almost magical.
I mean if I wasn't a demigod and knew about gods, magic, monsters, and frost giants then I'd say that my life was peaceful, at least when I was tucked away in the safety of camp or spending the day escaping to the city with Rami.
Cora had twisted my curls perfectly, doing a little braid crown across my hair with a few curls at the front, I blew them upwards, and she laughed, a sweet, genuine laugh.
I pulled off the towel I had around my shoulders and placed it on the radiator, my hand lingering on the cool metal for a moment, I spun slowly, my skirt flowing and my hair whipping around over my right shoulder. 'So?' I ask her gently.
'Perfect' she agrees. 'You look perfect.' I walked over to the mirror and looked in, Cora placed her head on my shoulder and I leaned against her, smiling gently 'I mean your hair is the best part of the outfit if I'm honest…' she jokes.
'Oh, really brainiac?' I laugh softly.
'yeah! I mean it's just a bonus that I did it for you frost-bite' She smiles and wraps her arms around my waist, hugging me tightly, I squeeze her back and she sighs 'Don't get in trouble today, I don't wanna have to haul myself out into the city to rescue you and Sun-boy'
I laugh 'Me? Trouble? Nah. Never' she rolls her eyes and I smile 'I promise, no trouble' She tilted her head at me.
'We'll see,' Cora muttered, fixing my hair one last time before making me spin as she drowned me in perfume and hairspray. The sweet scent of honey and salted caramel fills the room. I take one more look at Cora before she smiles.
'Go,' she said, ushering me towards the door as I pulled on my shoes 'Lover-boy's waiting for you.' she jokes, and I rolled my eyes, but I could feel a soft blush creeping up my cheeks.
I rushed toward the camp boundary where Rami was propped up against a tree waiting for me, his skin almost glowing in the morning sunlight. 'Hey,' he said smoothly, his voice drifting softly towards me 'you're early.'
I chuckled gently and stopped in front of him 'Surprise'
'By…' he checked his wrist as if there was a watch there, but he never needed one, with Ra being his father he always knew what time it was no matter what, it was a little annoying when he was so persistent on being on time, he used to joke about me being late if I got to training even a few seconds after the start time had passed 'seven minutes, I'm impressed actually' I smirked and he towered over me, standing up straight, his arms flexing softly as his hands moved into his pockets 'you wanna go get a coffee before the taxi gets here?'
'Is that even a question?'
'Of course' He chuckled and looked me up and down. 'You look good, by the way, I mean, you always do, but just-…You know what I mean.'
'Thank you' I said sweetly as he smiled. He walked to the border and placed his hand to the air, and muttered the password.
'Lýsigeta, 𓇌𓅂𓃭𓃭𓅱𓅃, Ἠχώ, Flos.' which in English was 'Lantern, Yellow, Echo, Flower' the first amba- ssadors made these words to protect the barrier from just anyone passing through, they needed a way to protect the camp and so they decided to choose one word each and create the password.
The border parted in front of us like a translucent curtain, shimmering in thin air, not opening too wide, but enough for us to get through. Rami's hand slipped into mine, and he led me through the barrier. I put my hand to the shimmer and repeated the words in backward order so that it closed.
'Let's go get that coffee' I smiled at Rami and we walked through the woods to the highway cafe, we got a table outside and Rami used the landline phone inside to call us a taxi, while I ordered our drinks.
'Taxi will be here in 5 minutes' Rami said as he sat opposite me, he was wearing a Renaissance-style shirt that opens at the front, baggy beige parachute pants, and he had a silly hat on.
'Good thing I ordered us to-go cups,' I said as I took in his outfit. 'Are you a jester? or some sort of village idiot?' I joked. I knew he was dressed as a lord from the medieval era, but it was so funny winding him up.
'Ha, Ha, Ha…' He rolled his eyes, and the waitress brought over our coffees, he sipped his slowly before smirking 'You know one of your main skills is getting on my nerves'
'It's one of my best qualities.' I hadn't realized it, but I was staring at him. When his eyes met mine, I could feel my cheeks getting warmer, I pulled my eyes away and sipped my drink again.
'What are you thinking 'bout frosty?'
'Hm? Oh, nothing…the sun is pretty this morning, though. Your dad must be in a good mood.'
'Huh, yeah I suppose he is' He chuckled gently as he gazed into the sunlight, it didn't affect him like it affected others, he could stare directly at the sun for a few minutes before it started to hurt him, whereas I had to shield my eyes if I even tried to look at the sun for longer than a second 'I had a dream last night…about us.'
'Oh?' I couldn't help but smile.
'Yeah, we were sitting on a porch swing outside a big ol' house, looking out at the sunset, holding hands, we were older like in our fifties, and three little kids were running around in the front yard yelling "Nana! Pop-pop! Look what I can do!" Trying to get our attention.
I laughed gently, 'We were grandparents?'
He nodded and smiled 'You aged beautifully by the way,' He smirked 'In case you were wondering…'
I stared into my drink, I couldn't stop smiling, the thought of Rami and I growing old together, having kidsーgrand- kids even, it was the most peaceful thought I've had in a while.
'We would be happy,' I muttered half to myself.
'Yeah… we would be…' He said softly.
Rami reached over and took my hand in his, we sat in a comfortable silence for the next minute or two, simply staring at the cars, the people passing by guessing the situations the people are in and watching what they're doing.
The taxi pulled up and Rami opened the door for me, 'Milady,' he bowed and couldn't help but laugh, I curtseyed and went inside the car, he climbed in beside me and put his arm around my shoulder.
'Kam?' The driver asked us in Czech.
'Město, prosím?' Rami replied it was relaxing just hearing him say 'the city, please' like everything was extremely normal, the car started and as if by magic it was always the same song on the radio the last few times Rami and I got a taxi towards the city, and we knew all the words almost perfectly, the melody of pistácie filling the taxi as we drove into the city.
I looked out the window, the trees blurring past, birds flying around - then I saw them, the eyes.
The same ones that I saw all those years ago. I knew what the eyes belonged to now. But that didn't lessen my anxiety, I moved closer to the window, and Rami rubbed his hand on my back softly.
'Hey,' he muttered gently 'What is it? What did you see?'
I shook my head gently 'N-nothing, I just thought I did…' I said with a smile and shrugged it off.
We reached Český Krumlov just after 10 AM and headed to the square. People were already milling around, and the atmosphere was already electric.
Children were running around in medieval-type clothes with colorful ribbons, Staročeské lívance (which are delicious little pancakes topped either with jam or honey, and I was already scoping out the stalls that were selling them), and Trdelník (which are cinnamon-sugar pastries, which I would also be buying a stash of later)
I grabbed Rami's hand and dragged him over to the stalls that were making food, and we got ourselves some Staročeské lívance for breakfast. We were talking with some of the locals, tasting the wonderful food and the rich culture of this wonderful little city.
By noon, the people had congregated around the square, and there was a man who was dressed as a jester, standing on a jousting podium, waving his hands over the crowd.
'Lidé! Lidé! přijďte a dejte své jméno do ringu turnaje Rytíř!' which we translated to 'People! People! Come forth and put your name in the ring for the jousting tournament!' sharing a glance before smiling and sharing an unspoken agreement.
We made our way over to the signup sheet and put our names down for it.
'I wanna see if we can beat our records. What was yours again? Like eight rounds?'
'Nine actually,' I remind him, 'Yours is seven, I know that for sure…'
Rami chuckled and started pretending to be offended. 'You know I let the other guy win last year. He was like twelve, and had a homemade wooden sword.'
I chuckled lightly, 'Sure, you let him win,' I said with a teasing grin, licking the sweet honey off my fingers from the last lívanec. 'And I suppose you'll also say you didn't mean to trip over your own feet in front of half the town?'
'I was distracted!' he protested with a smile on his face. 'Your fault, by the way. You cheered too loud.'
'Admit it, Sunny. I scare you in a joust.'
'You scare me in general,' he muttered with a cheeky smile. 'But in the best way.' he added slightly sarcastically.
I blinked repeatedly, slightly caught off guard by how soft his voice had gotten. The chaotic buzz of the festival around us seemed to fade into the background. All the music, laughter, smells of roasted garlic, and sweet pastry. They all dulled for a moment as we just looked at each other.
'I mean it, Astrid,' he said, a little more serious now. 'Every time you swing a sword, or just… walk into a room like you own the place. It's kind of terrifying. But it's beautiful too. Mostly beautiful.'
I could feel the blush rising in my cheeks again. 'Are you trying to throw me off my game before I win again?'
'Oh, I'm definitely trying to throw you off,' he laughed lazily and grinned mischievously. 'But also…' He hesitated, leaned in close, and brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. 'I just really like seeing you happy. You deserve a day like this.'
Before I could answer, a horn sounded across the square. The tournament was about to begin.
We were given lightweight but sturdy foam lances since this was the family-friendly version of a joust. Not quite like the kind we trained for at Camp.
The rush of competition filled my mind as I strapped on the leather armor they gave us over my blouse, a wide grin tugging at my lips as I mounted the wooden horse prop that slid along rails with every push of the lever.
'Try not to cry when I win, pop-pop,' I teased, reminding him of his dream from earlier.
Rami barked out a laugh from another stance. 'Oh, it's on now, Nana!'
We readied to start, and the crowd cheered. The jester counted down in Czech, his voice animated and rising in pitch.
'Three! Dva! Jedna!'
We launched towards our opponents.
The first round was too easy. I had unseated a tall teen with a very flimsy grip. Rami took his opponent down with grace and a bow, of course. We both advanced through the rounds quickly, each match fuelling the playful rivalry between us.
By the final round, it was just me and him.
'Don't think I'm gonna go easy on you,' I said, narrowing my eyes as I pushed my helmet on tighter, smirking gently.
'I'd be offended if you did,' he said, settling into position, gripping the leather reins on his wooden horse.
The final horn sounded, and we sped toward each other.
Time seemed to slow down. My focus narrowed to the tilt of Rami's lance, the angle of his shoulders, and the flash of sunlight in his hair.
We collided, both jabbing at each other.
And I was the one who hit the dirt.
The crowd erupted in gasps and cheers. Rami dropped his lance and jumped off his horse, rushing back to my side.
'You okay?' he asked me, breathless, grinning like an idiot.
I blinked up at him, momentarily stunned. Then I burst out laughing in surprise. 'You beat me.'
'I finally beat you,' he corrected, helping me to my feet. 'Are you crying? I think I see tears.' he said cockily as he tried to suppress his pride.
'Oh shut up,' I said, punching his shoulder lightly and playfully. 'Enjoy it while it lasts, I'll be back for my revenge next year.'
'I'm counting on it.' He smiled, slinging his arm around my shoulder and cheering with the crowd.
We stood there in the town square, surrounded by confetti and cheers, and for a brief moment, despite the prophecy, all the nightmares, and the weight of everything looming—it felt like we were just two teenagers at a festival.
Two normal, stupidly head-over-heels for each other teenagers.
But that moment, like all good things, couldn't last because out of the corner of my eye, I saw the eyes again.
Only this time, they weren't in the trees. They were in the crowd.
Watching me.
Waiting for me to notice.
And of course, they disappeared as quickly as I had found them.
Rami hadn't noticed the eyes or my wandering glance. My eyes met his again, and I forced a little smile, my hand resting on his back gently.
'Come on,' he said with a wide smile as he grabbed my hand and led me towards a stand. I had no clue what he was doing until the kind woman behind the stall handed him a rose.
He didn't have to go up on his tiptoes to put it in my hair, he was already a lot taller than me but he did it anyway and tucked the rose in the twists of my hair 'There…' he smiled warmly, his big brown eyes looking down at me as he stood normally, 'beautiful…' I blushed and took his hand.
It was perfect, the sun shimmering in the sky, the warm breeze blowing through my hair, Rami's gentle hands resting on my hips, he leaned in, and for a moment I wanted him to, he rested his forehead against mine, I might've leaned in a little but we were both caught off guard when the music began playing.
I gasped and jumped a little, Rami laughed softly, we were both blushing, he grabbed my hand, spun me around, and pulled me towards the band.
It was electric, like everyone had become dancers, we knew the dances well by now, we walked over to the people who were dancing and joined in.
Laughing and spinning.
Skipping and twirling.
It was magical.
We danced until our feet gave out, and the townsfolk somehow kept dancing. It was magnificent, even though the sun had started to set. It was still warm and bright, hanging from the street lights were fairy lights, and golden strings of light encircled the square, it looked like it was straight from a fairytale.
We had walked over to a nearby bar and sat outside, Rami leant over and whispered 'Hey, I'm thirsty, you want something to drink?'
I nodded, and he squeezed my hand lightly before going inside the bar. I gazed out at the people dancing, there was an old married couple that I recognized as retired campers who moved to the city, I waved at them and they smiled warmly.
I wondered if that could ever be me and Rami one day, coming to the festival like always, getting a little cottage in the town, close to camp.
Being happy together.
My heart warmed at the thought of us becoming 'Nana & Pop-Pop' together.