The Lost Valkyrie Ch. 09

"Gone? She can't be gone!" And she rushed over to Thyra's room as if the girl would still be there and that this was all just a mistake.

"Weren't you watching her," Thyra asked as they entered her room. Yes, the girl was still gone.

The King's sister was in a panic and felt close to tears. Now she'd never get to even talk to the girl, and her feelings came through as she talked to Liv.

"You were supposed to keep an eye on her! How could you let this happen?!?!"

The other woman frowned at Thyra. "Now see, here, young Lady. I have more to do than just sit there and babysit a sleeping girl, the same as you! If you wanted her watched night and day, you needed to do the extra watching!"

And the sturdy maid put her hands on her considerable hips and glared at the young Princess. This brought Thyra up short in her accusation, and she sighed in frustration.

"You're right, Liv, I'm sorry. I'm just upset. I can't believe she's disappeared without a word to any of us." Now she felt like crying more than ever. Thyra had hoped the girl would be her trainer and her friend. She'd imagined how it would be over the days the shieldmaiden had lain in bed. The warrior girl was going to show Thyra all her sword-fighting techniques.

Thyra had trained a lot with her brother when they were little, and she'd loved it. The Princess just knew the shieldmaiden could help her take the next step: to be a master with her blade. It wasn't easy to find a man willing to work with her, and Ulf was too busy being King.

She'd had it all planned in her mind, and now all her hopes were dashed. The warrior girl was GONE.

Meanwhile, Liv could see how much it meant to the King's sister, and she softened, approaching her and laying a hand on her arm.

"There's no need to be upset, my Lady, let's at least look around, first. You check the rest of the village, and I'll check around the house. If she's here wandering around, we'll find her!" And the older woman put a hopeful expression on her face.

This speech had the desired effect. Thyra took a deep breath, calming herself. "OK, yes, good idea. I'll check the village."

With that, she and Liv split up, Liv bustling off to see if the girl was wandering around the house, somewhere, while Thyra rushed outside to see if anyone had seen the shieldmaiden there.

******************

King Ulf and the Captain were meeting in the throne room with a couple of the senior guards from other villages, discussing ways to protect the kingdom's borders and warn of demon encroachments. They were gathered around a large table.

The plan was to use carrier birds to warn villagers of a demon nearby.

"The bird will be given a red-colored note to signal the villages to be on alert," the Captain explained. "Guards on duty will have to be trained in how to care for and use the birds properly, of course."

Everyone liked the idea. Too often the demon attacks had come as complete surprises.

"This could really help, Captain," the King said with a pleased look. "Let's get right on this. Arrange the training."

The Captain nodded. "Yes, my Lord, it will be done."

Ulf looked at the bird-master. "Do we have enough birds?"

As the aviary master was about to answer, the door to the throne room opened, and in walked the warrior girl without any ceremony, announcement, or escort.

The men all fell silent at her appearance. She was dressed in her battle clothing and armor, her blade slung behind her back, headdress on and framing her long, flowing blonde hair. The girl seemed almost to glow, her blue eyes shining as she moved over to the part of the wall the demon had crashed through in its haste to escape the fight.

She seemed to examine the recent repairs to the wall, running her hand over them.

"The demon went this way. Did it die? Did it escape? Has it returned? How long has it been? If it still lives, I must kill it," she said matter-of-factly.

Finally, the King stepped toward her. "My Lady, it has been five days since the demon attack. We don't think it is dead, but we have seen nothing since then."

The girl nodded. "I came to kill the demon. If the demon still lives, my job is not finished. What direction did it go?" She looked ready to depart immediately.

"Wait, please, my Lady," the King said as the girl took a couple of steps towards the door and then looked back at him. Suddenly feeling much like Thyra, Ulf found himself wanting her to stay.

"Please," he continued, "We have not had a chance to thank you for saving us from the last attack. You've not eaten in days. Won't you stay and let us feed you?"

The shieldmaiden looked confused for a moment, but then everyone in the room could hear her stomach growling suddenly.

"I AM hungry," she said. "Maybe some food would be good before I fight again. Thank you for your kindness." With that, she moved over and sat on the King's throne, waiting. This drew a guffaw from the Captain.

The King smiled as the other men present came closer to see better. "Very good, but we should be thanking you, not the other way around. How did you manage it? That demon was very strong!"

Liv appeared at that moment. "Have any of you seen the girl," she asked, and then saw her there on the throne. "There you are! Are you sure you should be out of bed?" She came over solicitously, trying to see if the girl was OK or not.

"Liv, our guest is hungry," the King interjected. "Could you bring her something from the kitchen?"

"Oh yes, you must be starving, poor thing," Liv responded. "You just stay right here and I'll bring you something right away. Don't MOVE." To the King, she said, "Should I send for the Physician, too, my Lord?"

Ulf nodded as he smiled at the girl. "Good idea, thank you, Liv."

The Captain moved forward to stand next to his King. "My Lady, I am the Captain, and this is the King, King Ulf. Do you remember us? Can you tell us your name?"

The girl smiled as the Captain re-introduced himself. "You have a name, but you cannot remember it anymore, because everyone calls you 'Captain.' Yes, I remember you. My name is..."

And she paused, then frowned.

"I don't know my name," she said after a few moments. "What's happened to me," she asked with a mix of curiosity and worry on her face.

"Where are you from," the Captain continued, testing. "How about who sent you?"

The shieldmaiden shook her head slowly after a few more moments. "I am sorry. I do not know that."

The Captain and Ulf looked at each other as the Physician came into the throne room.

"Maybe tell us what you DO remember," the King offered.

The girl considered this as the Physician looked her over. "I remember I came to destroy the demon. I tracked it through your land, to the next village south down the road from this one. I fought the demon there and stabbed it, but it escaped and came here. I followed it, but it was fast."

She looked uncertain, then, like something she remembered didn't quite make sense. Then - whatever it was - it passed.

"I arrived to find it attacking you and your people. The demon was fast and strong, but a girl here helped me defeat the beast..."

At that moment, the throne room door opened again, and Liv came bustling back in with meat and cheese and bread and ale. And she was followed by Thyra!

The warrior continued as they came in.

"... She distracted it at the right moment, and I got a good thrust in with my blade. You owe her your thanks, too. The demon WAS strong, stronger than any I'd seen before..."

And she smiled big as she recognized Thyra. "Here she is!"

The King noted that, after starting almost blank in her tone and expression, the girl was getting more animated and 'present' the more she interacted with them. Maybe having people to talk to would help her.

"HI!" Thyra said, beaming. "You're awake! We were worried about you!"

Liv served the girl a plate from the fare she'd brought, which she started eating immediately.

"Thank you so much, you're right, I am hungry," the shieldmaiden told them, looking over at Liv.

The King listened to all this patiently but then spoke up. "So, you don't know your name, where you're from, or who sent you. You know you came to fight the demon and you know you followed it, here. Is that it?"

The girl nodded as she continued eating, responding with a mouthful of food. "What's wrong with me?" She looked at the Physician.

"You were suffering from demon sickness, my Lady," the old man explained. "Many never wake up. Those that do often face a variety of effects after. Hopefully, your memory will return, in time."

The girl nodded a little forlornly. "I hope so. Until then, I won't know where my home is once I've killed that demon..." she started.

"Stay with us," Thyra burst out. "Please. Until you are all better, at least." She didn't look at her brother, afraid he'd find a reason to say 'no,' but said sidelong to him, "She can share my room!"

"Sure, stay with us," Ulf agreed with a laugh. Thyra shouldn't have worried: the King was quite happy to have the warrior girl stay with them awhile.

"I could pay for the care you've given me and for letting me stay. I seem to have plenty of money," the girl offered. "Or..." she paused and then continued, looking at the Captain.

"Or I could train your men in techniques for fighting demons."

Thyra clapped her hands together in excitement, and the King looked pleased. However, the Captain arched his brow.

"I wonder if the men would accept training from a woman," he said.

But the King laughed. "You mean, could YOU and your ego accept training from a woman," and everyone laughed.

Everyone but the Captain, who frowned. He found it required some effort to bite back a testy reply, but he managed to go the diplomatic route, instead.

"If she can best me in a sparring session, she can train the men." And he smiled his most charming smile at the girl, who smiled back, with a blush.

"Oh," he thought to himself happily as he noticed the girl's blush. "This is going to be fun." He couldn't wait to see her abilities, and the training would give him plenty of opportunities to be close to the lovely shieldmaiden!

It was enough of a pleasant thought, that he forgot the flash of anger he'd felt at his friend.

"It is settled, then," the King agreed with another laugh, privately annoyed with his best friend the Captain, who seemed barely able to tolerate a joke. But also pleased that the girl would be staying with them for some time. She was beautiful, and Ulf hoped to get to know her better.

Some day, maybe soon, Ulf might have to marry for political reasons. But that had not happened, yet. Until then, if he wanted to get to know a pretty girl, he would. And, he could use a good fighter!

Thyra was elated. Now she'd be able to get to know the shieldmaiden. And have someone with whom she could train. She hoped!

"But, what shall we call you, my Lady," she asked.

This was a good question. Everyone there wondered what the girl might say.

She appeared to think about it for a few moments.

"Call me Tyna. For I am lost and forgotten. Whoever sent me has either lost me or forgotten me. And I have lost and forgotten myself."

It was a melancholy saying for a melancholy situation, which was why it pleased the King, nonetheless.

"Very well," he said with a good-natured smile. "Welcome to the Kingdom of Bollurgard, my Lady Tyna. The Captain will oversee your training work, and you may continue to share a bedchamber with my sister if you like."

****************

From the shadows, completely concealed from his targets, the demon watched with growing pleasure as events unfolded in the throne room. The coma-like sickness and loss of memory were not the only "gifts" he'd left behind for the Valkyrie and the Midgardians as he had fled the village.

And it was a good thing for him, too. Even with no memory to guide her, after two encounters, he could see how much of a threat the Valkyrie was: she would be difficult to defeat.

"Where did they get THAT one from," the demon asked himself, his hatred seething as he watched her. "She adapted to my every tactic, the little bitch."

The fiend's thoughts were not without grudging admiration, though.

"That bastard, Odin! Only if he'd sent Thor himself could my opponent be more dangerous!"

But now the demon had a new strategy - one the girl would be powerless to fight. In fact, with a little luck, she would actually HELP bring them all to ruin!

And he gloated as he foresaw how it would all come to pass. Because that's what villains do!