Liv smiled then, her instant like for the family overpowering the previous hesitation she had at their arrival. Sigurd chuckled at Finn's side, his eyes sad for a moment before he shook away the emotion. Liv's chest tightened at how his life was about to drastically change. She needed to get him alone.
"Well, Finn and Frida, I'll have your rooms set up next to Sigurd's and one of our soldiers will escort you there now so you can rest. I'll come check in on you and introduce you to the King of Shadows later, okay?" Liv said as she waved over one of the Elven standing guard at the doors.
Finn looked like he was going to protest at the dismissal, but Frida put a hand on her husband's arm and shushed him. She gave Liv a knowing look before glancing to Sigurd and pulling Finn away from them. As the family headed away from them, Liv motioned for Sigurd to follow her.
"Finn can be difficult to get to know, but he is fiercely loyal to those he loves and our cause," Sigurd explained with a sigh.
Liv smiled. "I like him. I like his wife more, though."
Sigurd laughed then. "Yes, Frida is the main reason we can reign him in at all."
"They're lovely," Liv said genuinely.
"And what of the prisoners you freed? Have they started to recover from their captivity?" he asked her as Liv started to lead them away from the crowds. "I'm sure they've settled in well?"
Liv cleared her throat. "Actually, that is something I wish to discuss with you."
She led them to a side door that led to the kitchens, the hall acting as a sort of servant's corridor for those who worked in the palace. The hall would exit where Liv and her friends' rooms were. The same hall where Sigurd's family were currently residing in.
As they walked through the silent corridor, Liv studied the pit keepers. He was travel weary— his clothes rumpled but clean, and his beard was a little unruly, but otherwise, he looked the same. The only real difference was in his eyes.
When she had seen him last, he had been jaded and angry. Now, while that anger over Helvig's injustices would always linger, he seemed energized. He had a purpose these last few years and had been smuggling outvitkifor years, but now he was doing more than just being the go-between man.
They reached the end and exited into the plush hallway that housed their rooms. As they reached the door that would alter Sigurd's life as soon as she opened it, Liv placed a hand on his arm and slowed him to a stop.
"You asked me about the prisoners we freed," Liv said slowly. "And they have all been settled in well since arriving in Nida. Thanks to your efforts, we were able to free everyone that had been kept in those dungeons— including Herrick."
Sigurd nodded, his face weary as he realized Liv was trying to prepare him for something. His icy blue eyes were sharp as she spoke, but she steeled her nerves and continued.
"One of the prisoners who helped us escape was a woman who can wield earthgalder."
He tried to hide it, but Liv caught the slight widening of his eyes before he shuttered his hope away.
"She has been incredibly helpful by supplying information on Helvig that no one had access to until now," Liv said. "Without her, we would have been blind to what was happening for years in Logi…"
Liv trailed off, her fingers knotting together in front of her. How was she supposed to explain this to him in a way that wouldn't crumble his entire world?
"Out with it, Liv," Sigurd said roughly. "You're not one to beat around the bush."
Liv opened her mouth to speak when the door opened. Wild-eyed and chest heaving, Astrid stood in the open door like she'd just run a great distance. Though she was still thinner than she should be, Sigurd's wife had recovered remarkably well. Her eyes were no longer sunken in, her skin had a healthier glow to it, and her hair now shone a bright golden blonde.
Sigurd, on the other hand, looked like he was seeing the dead rise. The air left him as soon as he laid eyes on his wife, his skin paling until his silver-white hair made him look like he'd been iced over in his shock. The two stared at each other, their frozen forms as still as the statues in the palace gardens.
"Astrid."
"Sigurd."
The whispered names drifted into the Void, the stillness of the air around them building with something other. The Norns held their breath as they watched the fate they wove.
Liv stepped back when, all at once, the two fell into each other. Catching the other in their arms, they sunk to the floor as their shared grief and joy permeated every surface of the hall. Hands grasped faces, breathless thanks to Odin were whispered as tears carved their way down to soak the carpet under their knees.
"Papa!"
Two young voices came from behind Astrid as the children sprinted to their father and nearly tackled him. Each parent opened their embrace in time until both daughter and son were wrapped in their arms, their bodies shaking from years of sorrow released as laughter chimed in the hall. His daughter flung her arms around Sigurd's neck and squeezed as his son buried his slim face into his chest.
"Runa," Sigurd choked as he rested his cheek against his daughter's silver hair and cupped the back of his son's head. "Finnr."
Vines from the open windows started to slowly creep closer to them as they knelt in the hall, the small, fragrant jasmine petals blooming brightly until they shone under the soft torchlight like hundreds of full moons. One by one, the vines started to curve around the family until they were encased in a cocoon of forest green and night-blooming flowers.
