The Islands of the Blessed

“It depends on how Severus reacts. First, I very much want to know what’s become of my daughter. I regularly send swallows to check up on her. They report that she has become increasingly unhappy.”

Jack wasn’t surprised. Ethne was half-elf and had spent most of her life enjoying pleasures humans could only dream of. He couldn’t see her living as a nun.

“For the past two months the swallows haven’t been able to find her at all. I tried farseeing and had only a brief vision of her in a small, dark room. It’s worrying.”

But when Egil’s ship cast off, a crisis developed. Schlaup suddenly realized that the Tanners were departing and demanded to be taken along. “No, Schlaup. Stay,” ordered Skakki.

“I want my troll-flower,” the giant bellowed. “I want her for a wife.”

Mrs. Tanner and her daughters were hiding behind a heap of baskets on Egil’s ship, and Jack realized she had hoped to slip away before Schlaup noticed.

“You can’t go into Bebba’s Town. They’ll kill you,” Skakki explained.

“Not me,” said the giant, thumping his chest.

“Yes, you. And me. We can’t stand against a whole town.”

“Then she stays!” Schlaup suddenly seemed a lot larger. Jack remembered how Frith shape-shifted when she fell into a snit and worried about what form the giant was capable of taking. The Northmen backed away. The Bard raised his staff. But it was Mrs. Tanner who saved the day.

“Bad Schlaup!” she screamed from the ship. “I’ll come back when I’ve finished my shopping trip. If you cause any more trouble, I’ll come over there and box your ears!”

This would take some doing, Jack thought, because she could hardly reach them.

Schlaup gave in at once. “I’m sorry, troll-flower. Don’t be mad.” His lip quivered.

“That’s better,” said Mrs. Tanner. “If you’re a good lout, I’ll bring you a treat from Bebba’s Town. Now sit down and behave.” The giant crouched obediently on the dock as the ship pulled away, and Jack could see his shape long after the other people faded from view.

He found the Bard standing at the prow, gazing at the waves dividing to either side. “Excuse me, sir,” he said. “What’s going to happen if Mrs. Tanner doesn’t come back? I don’t think she means to.”

“I imagine Schlaup will be upset,” the Bard said.

“Yes, but what will he do?”

“He won’t harm us. It’s not in his nature.” The old man sat down on one of the chests from the Roman house. It was filled with jars of Beelzebub’s Remedy Against Flies.

“On the shore just now,” the boy said, unsure how to describe it, “Schlaup looked different. Bigger. I remembered Frith…”

“Ah! So that’s what you’re worried about. The answer is yes, Schlaup can shape-shift if he falls into a snit, but he would never attack friends. He’s anchored by Olaf’s solid character. He has his father’s openheartedness and his troll mother’s inability to lie. It’s bad luck that he’s managed to fall in love with someone who doesn’t know the meaning of truth.”

“Love?” said Jack, appalled.

“I’m afraid so. And you’re quite right: Mrs. Tanner hasn’t the slightest intention of coming back. Schlaup may well fall into a snit when he discovers he’s been lied to, but we’ll have to deal with it when the time comes. Do you know how he earned his name?”

Jack shook his head. He sat down across from the Bard and felt the mist being cast up by the prow. Egil’s figurehead, an eagle with wings upraised and beak opened to scream, was circled by a delicate rainbow where the sun shone on the spray.

“There’s an island in the far north with a mountain completely encased in ice,” said the Bard. “Rivers that flowed down its sides have frozen, and snow adds to its height every year. The peak can be seen for many miles, and even when it isn’t visible, it casts a bright reflection against the sky.”

“Rune told me about that island. He said the Northmen use it for navigation.”

“I’ve been there,” said the old man. “Rune has visited it several times in search of sea ivory. But this mountain has a fire inside. Rune says it contains a dragon, but I’m more inclined to think there’s a crack leading down to Muspelheim, the world of fire.”

A seagull floated idly past, did a double take, and turned back to land by the Bard. It settled down as tame as you please, and the old man stroked its feathers. Just like St. Cuthbert, thought Jack.

“At any rate, the fire occasionally breaks through,” the Bard continued. “It melts the ice from below until suddenly the whole side of the mountain comes loose and roars down in one glorious, gigantic avalanche. That’s what the Northmen call a schlaup. And that, apparently, is what our friend looks like when he falls into a snit. I’d like time alone now to think, lad. We’re getting close to Bebba’s Town.”

On the way to the stern, Jack passed the Tanners, who were huddled in a tight group with their many bags around them like a fortress. They reminded him of a flock of ravens guarding the carcass of a deer. 

Chapter Seventeen THE PINK PALACE