Giants of the Frost by Kim Wilkins

Author:Kim Wilkins [Wilkins, Kim]
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science fiction, General, Fiction, Science Fiction - General, Fantasy, Contemporary, Fantasy fiction, Fiction - Fantasy, Fantasy - Contemporary, Romance, Horror, English Science Fiction And Fantasy, Romance - Gothic, Gothic, Fantasy fiction; Australian, Mythology; Norse, Women scientists
ISBN: 9780446617284
Publisher: Warner Books
Published: 2006-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Wanton woman, you have awakened the grim wrath of the gods.

— For Scírnis

Chapter Nineteen

[Midgard]

Carsten ordered five days of rest, and at first that seemed like it would never be enough. I was absolutely flattened. I felt sore and afraid. I wanted to go home very badly and if it hadn't been for the hope that Vidar might return, I probably would have. My world had been twisted on its axis and I couldn't make sense of what had happened to me. Beliefs can hold their integrity through a lot, but chip away and chip away at them, and eventually they start to shiver and dissolve. How much faith we maintain in them becomes dependent only on how tight we hold on. I was white-knuckling by then. As my body recovered, I dealt with my fear by not thinking about it. I pulled all my notes into bed with me and worked at my thesis with white-hot single-mindedness. When I couldn't read anymore, I lay there with my eyes closed, performing meaningless calculations by importing Mum's lottery numbers into some of my key formulae. By Wednesday, I couldn't bear the thought of another day in bed. So when Gunnar dropped by to tell me that an afternoon tea for Gordon's fiftieth birthday was planned for four o'clock, I insisted that my missing it because of illness would be petty considering the percentage of Gordon's entire life so far which an hour's tea break represented. I got up and dressed.

"Hear that?" Gunnar called to me from the lounge room while I wriggled into my panty hose in my bedroom.

"What?"

"The Jonsok. That's the sound of Matthias and Nina leaving."

"So soon?" I called, with a fake tremor of sadness in my voice. I pulled on a turtleneck and a pinafore, carefully tucking the good luck charm out of sight.

"They'll be back, don't worry. They come four times a year."

I was a little shaky on my legs, but I was certain that was attributable to being so long in bed. I joined Gunnar in the lounge room. "Once every thirteen weeks precisely, or at irregular intervals?" I asked.

"Are you sure you're all right?" he said.

"I feel fine."

"You look very pale."

"I'm naturally that way," I said self-consciously. "Do you think Carsten will be cross with me?"

"Attending an afternoon tea isn't particularly taxing," he replied as we closed the cabin door behind us.

"I'm sure he'll understand."

Carsten stopped me in the office and insisted on listening to my lungs before letting me go to the rec hall for afternoon tea. By this time, Gunnar had already gone ahead and Magnus accosted me in the galley.

"You're better, then?" he asked gruffly.

It was the first I'd seen him since the accident and I was taken aback by his lack of warmth.

"I'm feeling a lot better, thank you," I said warily.

"Good. I need you back at work on Friday."

"Friday? But you promised five days off."

"You've had four," he said, looking genuinely puzzled.

"Yes, four sick days."

"It's not my fault you were sick on your days off.

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