As she followed her sisters she glanced around, glimpsing all the days of her existence in the silvery windows around her. She saw Luke there, as a child, as a teenager, as a college student, as a man, every episode of his life... And she saw herself, as a child, as a teenager, as a woman, always there, always watching him longingly.
She became aware of Val staring daggers at her, and Lena took her arm, gently steering her forward.
The three Eternals were seated on silver thrones in the center of the hall, around a giant silver loom, where every day they wove the Web of Fate.
Aurora felt fear and calm equally in their presence; they were beautiful and terrifying, as old and as powerful, as the tree Ygddrasil itself. Urd, Verdandi and Skuld: That Which Was, That Which Is and That Which Will Be. Urd, with her spindle to spin the threads of life; Verdandi, who wove the cloth on the loom; and Skuld, hovering silently with her scissors to cut the threads at the end of mortal life. Urd was all in white, promising endless possibility, Verdandi in red, reflecting the heat of life, and Skuld was all in black, signifying the end of life, and always veiled, so none could know her secrets.
Now Urd looked up from her spindle and glanced toward the younger Norns, raised a hand, summoning them. “Come, daughters.”
Aurora swallowed and followed her sisters forward across the mosaic floor. They stopped before the semicircle of thrones and bowed to the Eternals; Urd nodded acceptance of the homage and then spread her hands, a question and a reproof.
“Come and see,” she said, and passed a hand over the tapestry on the loom. The sisters moved forward slowly, and looked down at the shimmering, multicolored weave.
The fabric seemed alive, constantly changing. Aurora could see forests, cities, families, lovers—a carousel of images of the world, past, present and future. She was captivated.
And then Skuld raised a black-gloved hand and silently pointed.
There, in the middle of the tapestry, a golden thread was broken and twisted, a glaring flaw in the perfection of the weave.
Aurora stared down in confusion and dismay. It looked like an ugly rip in the fabric of life itself.
She looked up—and saw that all three of the Eternals were regarding her silently. With a jolt, Aurora realized what she was seeing.
“I did that?” she whispered.
Verdandi sighed. “The web is closely woven. One man’s fate cannot simply stop without all others being affected.”
As they watched, another thread popped, creating another hole in the delicate tapestry.
Val shot Aurora a look of triumph, then stepped forward with a deference that Aurora knew to be absolutely false humility. “Your Highnesses, if I may speak...”
Urd motioned to her, and Val barreled forward. “At his birth, I claimed the mortal Luke Mars for Odin. He has been a warrior all his life, in every aspect of his life. He was to have died gloriously in battle—last night, by earth’s time. Now while Odin awaits his service in Valhalla, the mortal’s whole life has stopped, which is affecting the Weave of Life.”
The Eternals turned their eyes toward Aurora and she faltered under the power of that triple gaze. But she thought of Luke, of his passion and fire, and she lifted her head and said nothing.
Urd, the Norn of the Past, touched her fingers lightly to the tapestry in several places as she looked deeply into it.
“Child, you have overstepped your bounds with this mortal before,” she said.
Aurora dropped her eyes. “I only tried to help...when he was in trouble...”
“She has interfered over and over and over again,” Val argued indignantly.
Aurora felt she was dying inside. I won’t let her take him, she thought in anguish. He has so much to live for.
She had to make the Eternals see. But how?
In desperation she stepped forward. “Are not mortals allowed to choose their own fate?” she asked, and her voice seemed breathless, but steady.
The Eternals glanced at one another. It was Verdandi who spoke. “Not only allowed, it is always to be so. If a mortal dares, all of the universe must support that choice.”
Aurora lifted her head, straightened her shoulders. “Then I ask that Luke Mars be allowed to choose his fate.”
Val practically exploded beside her. “He’s a man. You don’t even know that he wants to choose his fate...” Lena nudged her and Val fell silent.
Urd frowned, and the Eternals looked around at one another again. The three elegant giantesses leaned forward on their thrones to confer.
Aurora waited in suspended agony. They must let him live, they must...
Finally Verdandi stood and moved forward. Waves of radiance and power flowed from her.
“Mortals must be able to choose their own destinies, if they so dare.” Her luminous eyes looked straight down into Aurora’s, and Aurora felt her breath suspend. “We give you one day, daughter.”
Aurora’s heart lifted, then Verdandi said sternly, “You must unstop Time for him.”
Aurora bowed her head. “I will, Highness.”
“And then you have a day. One earth day, from dawn till dawn. The mortal Luke Mars may choose his own destiny—if he desires. He will make his decision, and all of the cosmos, including you, will abide by it.”
“Yes, Verdandi,” Aurora managed.
“Yes, Verdandi,” Lena murmured, and elbowed Val so that she muttered, “Yes, Verdandi.”
“Go now,” Verdandi said. “Fortune be with you.” And she sat, taking up the spindle once more, and the three Eternal sisters wove their cloth.
Lena put gentle but inexorable hands on Aurora’s and Val’s backs, keeping them safely apart, one on each side of her, as they walked through the hall with their own constantly shifting reflections stretching to infinity around them.
The three sisters stepped out into the sunlight, into the cool and live air beneath the massive tree. The peace of its great presence surrounded them; a soft breeze played with their hair. For a moment none of them could speak.
“It could have been worse,” Lena said finally.
“It’s so unfair,” Val seethed. “Stopping Time. It’s cheating and you both know it. And you saw what she did to the Tapestry.”
“It’s not up to us to decide,” Lena started, trying as usual to unruffle her. But Val was having none of it.
“You always take her side,” she raged. Which was totally wrong, Aurora thought. Lena was more fair than anyone in the Nine Realms, and Val knew it. But before she could say anything, Val turned on her.
“It’s never going to work, anyway. What can you do in a day?” The thought seemed to relax her and she smiled, that smug, entitled smile that had always infuriated Aurora. “He’s mine and he always has been. He’s a warrior—he’ll choose to fight. I’ll see you at dawn.”
Val tossed back her gleaming black hair and flounced off, back toward the guardhouse and the bridge.
Lena watched her, her face troubled. Then she sighed and turned to Aurora, with her soft dress rippling in the wind. “I really do think...”
Aurora shook her head. “Oh, please, Lena, don’t lecture me. I couldn’t let Val take him. Why should he have to fight and die so young? I know it’s not right for him.”
“You mean, she’s not right for him?” Lena suggested gently. Aurora didn’t have to speak;