Her True Name: Volume Two: Her True Name

By Donna Milward

Her True Nmae is an open-ended series about the human incarnations of Sage and Virtus, two angels finding their way through the Earthly realm. Each book can be read alone, or consecutively. The gods are often against them, but The Energy will make certain that they will always be together, somehow. 


Three naked travellers arrive at a village in ancient Sweden. They learn the language, and possess talents as unusual as themselves. Agneta is suspicious of them, until Freya soothes her with magicks and stories of a land Agneta has never seen, but longs to experience...again. But the strangers bring betrayal and peril. Can the village trust these new gods? Or will it be the ruin of their peaceful way of life? 

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Donna Milward
• Release date: Feb 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201193218

Book preview

Prologue

Freya stared at the groaning surface beneath her feet, watching in fascination as deep fissures spread like spider’s webs. Not terra firma, she realized. Ice. Fragile frozen water. So Odin’s stories were true.

This world seemed to be covered in pure white, and the air bit into her skin. There were swaying trees—evergreens—in the distance. The sky was just as blue as the skies of Eden, but flat, stretching clouds marred the purity.

More cracks appeared by her feet as two violent thuds announced Odin and Loki’s landings, and the crunching roar made her ears ring long after the echoes faded.

Her orange-haired companion sniffed at the air, his russet colored eyes narrowing. This place stinks of wet pine and rot, Loki grimaced. I may have made an unfortunate decision coming here.

Why? Odin asked, shaking flakes of white precipitation from his black and silver beard. I like the chill, and seasons here are ever changing. Besides, Odin winked at them both. The cold will not last long. Not by our measure.

We should make haste to a drier surface. The bubbles at the edge of Freya’s toes were interesting, but alarming with their growing frequency. Her feet were growing more wet and cold. We seem to have damaged this one. We should go to the trees beyond.  Both men glanced down, agreeing telepathically. A few short, clumsy hops created new confusion. Only then did they notice the smoke, smell the acrid odor of burning protein.

Freya gawked at the shoulders of Odin and Loki. It seems our...departure has cost us our wings. So strange to behold her companions without feathers flowing from their backs, and she knew she must appear as odd.

The price of our betrayal, Odin said. I had not foreseen this outcome. He glanced to the skies, his face twisted in regret and agony.

As terrible as it looked, it hurt worse. Naught left but burns that itched skin and spine, making them sweat. Freya grit her teeth against the unwelcome sensations.

No matter. The pain would pass. Freya accepted her fate, her decision, and the physical discomfort that served to remind her why she came to this realm. We will walk. Lack of flight would not hinder her. The Energy’s punishment would not discourage her. She would be worshipped, revered. And the humans who would become her chosen were a brief journey away. She could already smell their musk.

Chapter One

Kjell couldn’t help but stare. Agneta’s beauty was pure sunlight and every time he saw her, desire threatened to steal his wits. He considered himself a fortunate man to be her chosen, even if life had not started out well for him. Each day in her presence held promise.

He’d been a boy of six summers when trolls raided his village. His mother had hidden her only child under goat’s manure before the misshapen men with clubs reduced everyone he knew to gore. He still heard their screams as he slept, and to this day he could not endure the stink of goat feces without feelings of impotent rage.

Halvur and his people had come to trade. Instead they discovered carnage. It was Halvur, the chieftain, who found him and took him in. Otherwise, Kjell might have died alone from exposure and starvation, shaking and covered in shit. Halvur and Ida housed him, fed him, gave him purpose.  Even though they had a daughter and later a son, they still loved and kept him as one of their own.

He remembered how he pulled Agneta’s braids and splashed her with mud, spreading seeds in her straw-colored hair as he tended the crops. She would squeal in frustration, slap at him. Her anger stung less than mosquito bites, made him laugh. They were children then, but he’d always loved her.

He stopped digging to watch her shape clay. The way stray strands of her sweat-slicked hair stuck to her face warmed his heart. The flutter of her eyelashes stirred new feelings inside of him that he couldn’t explain. Just the way she plied the earth with her bare fingers... His cock stirred in his trousers, embarrassing and exciting.

What are you looking at? Agneta asked, glancing his way with a subtle smile.

Heat rose to Kjell’s cheeks, but... why should he be ashamed? Tragedy had brought him to this village, but years had passed, and it was her who healed his heart.

I am looking at the most beautiful woman in the land, Kjell told her, and smiled when her cheeks turned pink as the Twinflowers that grew in moss.

You never used to think so, she said. You used to call me a yellow goat.

Did I? He grinned at her with mock surprise. Must have been after you threw that rock at my head.

"I threw that rock because you called me—-Oooh!" Her tiny fists clenched and her face reddened. Such ferocity! She would make an excellent wife, and he couldn’t wait to father her children.

Agneta! Kjell! Heimo came running, sweating like a frothing river. "Come quick! Bring father! There are strangers coming!"

What strangers? Kjell forgot his teasing game.  Strangers or trolls?

I do not know, Heimo said. His wide, frightened eyes told Kjell the truth.  Agneta’s brother liked to tell tales, but the boy’s fear was genuine this time. "They are like none I have ever seen. Their eyes are strange colors, and one is tall as a tree, and they are naked."

Agneta gasped and ran for the log house they shared with her parents. Even Heimo wouldn’t make up stories about that, it was too serious a matter. The newcomers might be ill and delusional from cold. They needed immediate help if they were to survive the climate.

Bring me to them. Kjell dusted his hands and chased after Heimo, who was already sprinting away. Aili, Fern—fetch furs and water. As the sodden, melting earth pulled at each step he could only hope others had heard Heimo’s tale and were following behind them. No matter. Agneta would tell Halvur and he would bring folk to their aid.

He saw the female first, a giant of a woman with white hair and eyes so pale and sharp Kjell dropped his gaze, afraid her glare might freeze him. She stood taller than himself by several hands, and he was the largest in the settlement. Beside her were two men, one short, and one tall as him.

The taller man had thick black and grey hair that reached the middle of his back, with beard and eyes to match. The other had blunt orange hair. His eyes...they were the color of blood and dirt, and narrow like the sun setting on the horizon.  He was the smallest of the three, but he had a suspicious demeanor. He reminded Kjell of a rodent with his nose twitching and sniffing at the air. And as Heimo pointed out, all were nude in this brisk chill of early spring, standing ankles deep in snow and mud.

Do you see? Heimo asked. I did not tell tales this time. His lips were tight with determination.

What was Kjell to do with them? Make haste, Halvur. I need your guidance.

Kjell breathed a sigh of relief when he heard crunching footfalls behind him. Agneta had been quick to bring others. Hopefully Halvur was among them. 

He turned to find his chieftain rushing to join them. Halvur, it is good you came so quickly.

What are these people?’ Halvur stomped past Kjell and gawked at the newcomers. Heimo told no tales. These people are strange."

Heimo groaned and blew his brown hair out of his eyes. "I told you. Why does no one believe me?"

His irritation went ignored as Halvur placed a hand on his meaty chest. I am Halvur. This is my village, and my people. He patted his chest again. Halvur.

The man with the streaks in his hair like frost came forth. Odin.

The second man, the one with the maddening eyes imitated his companion’s gesture. Loki.

The