INTRO
 
Welcome to CHAPTER 5 of the Kinsmen Die podcast, home of fantasy fiction based on Norse mythology that’s written and read by me, Matt Bishop.
 
I’ve written two novels – Kinsmen Die and Dark Grows the Sun. They are the first two books in my series called And the Heavens Burn. 
 
In this podcast I will read both books and, when it’s finally finished, that third, concluding book in the series. Right now, I’m planning to read one chapter per week. Every five episodes will be a combination recap and explication of how I incorporated the myths and why I made the choices I did.
 
My goal is to share my love of Norse mythology and, obviously, my books. I believe I’ve done something unique when it comes to the retelling those old stories because the point of view characters are the Aesir themselves. 
 
In the last few chapters we’ve met Frigg and Odin, Vidar and Hodr. Note that while Hodr is the son of Odin and Frigg, Vidar is the son of Odin only. But more on that in the recap episode. 

In this chapter we finally meet Loki Laufeyson himself.
 
Everything you’ll hear is based on my interpretation of the source materials – the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, along with a stack of books that discuss the myths … and another stack of academic articles that do the same.
    
So, my friends, Loki has two sons with his second wife, and three children with his first. And then there’s his tryst with the Builder’s horse. But again, more later.

 
Let’s do this.

Chapter Five
Loki
Loki leaned back against the warm wall of his longhouse, eyes closed, listening to the clink of pots, the fire’s crackle, and the honest rasp of honing blades. He hadn’t been home in far too long. When Sigyn set a wooden platter down beside him, he wrapped an arm round her waist and dragged her onto his lap. She laughed, pretending to resist, but he got the kiss he sought.
“Stop, Loki, there’s more food to bring.” More happiness radiated from her smile than heat from the fire before him. It was a shame he’d be leaving tomorrow. She squeezed his hand as she extricated herself.
Vali and Narfi had grown too quickly and were Jotunn men in their own right, having passed their trials. Trials he’d missed seeing because of his travels.
Loki forced himself to meet his sons’ eyes, bright like the unmarred skymetal of a shield boss. His fingers danced through the patterns of the Jotunn hand speech. “I thought you two would be gone already, off to join Helveg.”
Sigyn returned with platters for Vali and Narfi, set them down on the tables that jutted from the longhouse walls, then moved back to the cooking area, in a warm swirl of poached fish and steamed potatoes. She returned with a platter for herself.
Vali, fair and lean like his mother, answered, his fingers flickering. “We were given a month before reporting to Helveg.”
Narfi just grunted, brought a spoonful of stew to his lips and blew on it.
“Well, that’s surprising. I’d thought his kindness was gone,” Loki said with his fingers. After his sister had been taken by Freyr, Beli had lost what few soft edges he’d ever had.
“It wasn’t kindness so much as practicality,” Vali said, his fingers dancing. “We couldn’t have caught up with them even if we’d left right away. But they’re looping down near Jotunheim before heading into the northwest. We’ll meet them there—outside Jotunheim, I mean.”
An interesting direction to be headed for the Jotunn’s most effective warband. What was up in the northwest, which was even more desolate than the rest of Utgard, that would interest the Skrymir and Vafthrudnir? One of the sites he’d heard so few specifics about? Or perhaps it was another of those mysterious doorways Vafthrudnir had discovered.
“You’ll have time to get back across the Breach?” Loki asked.
Narfi grunted again. Narfi was dark of skin, hair, and eyes. Stout, too, but not fat. He favored Farbauti, Loki’s father, more than he himself did. If he dwelled on the resemblance too much, it sent a shiver right down his back. Farbauti had not been a pleasant man.
“There are still a few secret ways across,” Narfi gestured, “and we can ride openly until Ifington. We’ll leave the horses there with one of our people.”
Loki knew he meant one of the Jotunn sympathizers who lived in Ifington, the trade town at the tip of the peninsula that stretched out toward the Breach. Ifington was a good place to blend in, as there were always new faces moving through on the ships sailing up the coast from Vanaheim and Alvheim in the southeast. Across the narrow strait from Ifington sat the Fortress at the Breach. Built and manned by Gladsheim’s army at the only break in the mountains that ringed Utgard, the fortress was the stopper in the wineskin that kept the Jotunn from leaving Utgard.
Sigyn bumped him with her shoulder and spoke aloud. “Eat while it’s all still hot.”
 
***
 
Loki pushed his platter away and patted his stomach. “Thank you, Sigyn,” he said aloud. “It’s been too long.”
“Where have you been, Father?” Vali asked, using the Jotunn hand speech.
“Oh, here and there,” he replied with a wink.
Sigyn rose and began clearing the platters, but he touched her shoulder and she sat back.
“I leave again tomorrow,” he signed. Even if he hadn’t caught the slight slump in her shoulders, disappointment radiated from his sons’ faces. “But I can delay that, depending on what happens back in Gladsheim and elsewhere.”
He paused to savor their immediate relief. Another night, or maybe two, probably couldn’t hurt.
“Things will start moving quickly, and Helveg will be the spear’s tip,” he continued in the hand speech. He held the gaze of Vali and then Narfi, each in turn. “Are you ready for that?”
Vali nodded, quick and sharp. Narfi’s nod came more slowly, after a thoughtful dark-eyed glance at his mother. Loki reached out and gripped Sigyn’s knee, but the worry that had crept into her eyes stayed. A wan smile was her only reply.
His fingers danced again. “And no one except Beli will know you are my sons. Don’t expect special treatment.”
“Or worse,” Narfi said aloud, a grin on his face. Vali just rolled his eyes.
Loki ignored the attempt to lighten the mood. “This, right now, is the point of no return. For me. For all of us.” He edged forward on his chair and moved his fingers more slowly, emphasizing each word. “If we make a mistake, our spirits ride the currents back into the storm. Even if we do everything perfectly, they still may.” He looked them both in the eye.
Their expressions grew serious. They both signed to him, “We’re with you, Father. And the Jotunn.”
Aloud, if quietly, Sigyn said, “I am, too.” She continued in the hand speech. “Every night I make an offering to Rán, that her nets may spare you all.”
“Rán does have a fondness for me, even though I stole a fortune from her once,” Loki said with his fingers. He pulled her into a hug, inhaling the fresh scent of her neck and hair. She had brought him back to himself after his first wife had spent her last years grief-stricken and mad with hatred for the friend who’d taken their children.
He kissed her forehead and whispered into her ear, “Your role is the hardest of all. At least we three will be busy.”
She pulled back so she could look at him and rested a gentle hand on the side of his face.
A knock came at the door and a man’s voice called out, pitched to carry through both wood and above the ever-present, dull roar of the waterfall beyond the longhouse. “Message from town, mistress.”
Loki strode across the house and hid behind the door. His fingers flickered, “I’m not here.”
She nodded, then called, “Just a moment.” She smoothed her dress and stepped to the door, dropped the latch, and hauled it open.
Daylight rushed in, illuminating the tension on his son’s faces. He patted the air, saying with his fingers, “Be calm. It’s just a messenger. You’re supposed to be here.”
“Good morning, Mistress,” the man said.
“And to you, Raudr,” she said. Loki heard the smile in her voice. “What brings you all the way up here so early?”
“Message from Gladsheim, Mistress. For you personally.”
Through the space between door and jamb, Loki watched the man hand her a small runestick.
“The bird also bore another message, Mistress. An announcement, really, meant for everyone.”
“Oh?”
“After twenty winters, the Alfather’s returned. Happy news!”
Loki’s stomach dropped, and the bright room seemed to darken as if the cooking fire had belched black smoke.
Ygg was back?
Now? 

OUTRO
Well, folks, that was CHAPTER 5 of Kinsmen Die. I hope you enjoyed it. 

We met Loki, his second wife Sigyn, and their two sons, Vali and Narfi. Their troubles are only just beginning.
 
I’m a big believer in value for value. So, I have several requests:
1)   Please leave a review on whatever podcast app / platform you use. They really help.
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I’d also enjoy hearing from you. You can email me at mattbishopwrites@gmail.com
 
All the links will be in the show notes.
 
And with that, I will leave you with this thought from the sayings of the High One, Odin himself:
 
This is the Bellows translation, available on Sacred Texts
https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe04.htm
 
 
Verse 5 
 
Wits must he have | who wanders wide,
But all is easy at home;
At the witless man | the wise shall wink
When among such men he sits.