All out of love - Finally!

I

She ran through the woods back to the castle. Morvenna could have teleported herself, but she was so full of exuberant, overwhelming, happy energy that she tried to channel it with running...

Colt was already waiting for her outside, worried because she had been absent for so long. She ran to him and jumped into his arms, he lifted her high and she wrapped her legs around his waist, her hands wrapped around his neck. She looked deeply, with a big, happy smile on her face, into his beautiful silver-green eyes and let her mouth drop on his. “It worked," she murmured to his mouth, smiling, before they lost themselves in the kiss.

***

Maisie couldn't take it anymore. It also seemed like she never got warm again. On the inside, not on the outside. Another person she loved had passed away and she knew that they were born again in a beautiful place, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt terribly. And that she was going to miss them again. This had been her story for two hundred years, and she was tired of it.

She was born exactly in the year 1800, on 1-8 at 6:00 p.m., a sign to her father that she was a special child. From the age of twenty-three, it was really clear that she had gifts. She didn't show them all, but on the islands of Orkney, Àrcaibh, she worked as a healer. She traveled between the islands to help and heal everyone. She helped with births, with broken bones, nasty illnesses and no one was afraid of her.

She was not considered a witch or sorceress, as she preferred to call herself, but as the people saw her: as a shamanic seer, in primeval Norse völva. Actually, the term was incorrect, because she was not a seer. But she didn't show those things that made her a sorceress, which is why she was seen here as a völva, a shamanka. Völva meant a lot of skill, someone who could do a lot and was also in possession of the arts of Seidr, in possession of magic, galdr, incantatory chants and spákona, divinatory gifts, something she did not possess, fortunately!

She didn't do magic songs either, although it was thought that she did so while walking among the stones. Maybe some rituals, but everyone had those. She liked to walk near those upright stones. The energy felt so good there, she could relax and recharge, especially during a full moon. That could be seen as performing a ritual.

Now, here, she was just showing her healing powers. She didn't show that she could summon, or travel without transportation, cast spells that actually worked, or that she could move very quickly. Fortunately, she didn't need the latter. Because that might mean dodging or fleeing. That wasn't the case, she was happy, it was a nice life. For now.

***

A writer had come to live in Àrcaibh, the Orkney Islands. A beautiful man with Norwegian blonde locks and a beautiful neatly trimmed beard. You didn't see that often here, they were usually wild beards. She sometimes saw him sitting with his back against a tree or stone. He would sit and write and wear glasses. Every now and then they chatted, his deep brown eyes twinkling behind his glasses. Secretly, she had fallen a little in love with him, but she didn't dare to show it. And by the way, she was an islander and he was a civilized man. How did she come to believe that he might be interested in her?

No idea where he came from, she guessed Norway. He still spoke the language, primeval Norse, a language that was increasingly mixed with Scots these days.

She had done her chores for the day, collected herbs, cleaned up the house, filled mason jars with her mother and now she was sitting in the sun, musing, with her black cat - how cliché - Kola, which meant radiant in primeval Norse, on her lap. She had been given the name because of her bright yellow eyes.

Kola was resting after clearing the kitchen of mice. Then she had cast an incantation over it, which was supposed to prevent mice from ever coming into the house again. Yikes, how dirty and sad she thought it was. It was lax of her, she should have done it much earlier, and now, she didn't know how many mice were dead. So sad. But Kola was purring, she had had the time of her life. She was stroking her soft, warm fur when the gate suddenly slammed shut.

Maisie's head shot to the entrance of the garden. Kola remained unperturbed, she was not easily disturbed. The writer's landlady, Mrs. Aaberg, came running to her. "Maisie, I'm so glad you're home. Aldrik is not feeling well, he has a fever and his lips are very white, almost blue.”

Maisie was frightened, plucked her cat from her lap, put her on her chair, and ran with the woman to her house on the hill. Mrs. Aaberg showed her the way to his room. It was dark and it didn't smell fresh at all. She could already feel what was going on: his heart.

She quickly slid open the curtains and the window. Then she put her hands on his heart until the color came back to his face. She put her ear to his heart, it pounded a reassuring rhythm again. His breathing was no longer so high and was a lot calmer. She asked his landlady if she could get some water and some soup. Aldrik tried to sit up. "Madam, what are you doing here?" It sounded hoarse, and he swallowed to moisten his dry mouth. How bad of her that she thought it was sexy and there were jitters walking down her spine.

"Lie down, sir, you have been very ill. How do you feel?"

"Just good actually. Not sick at all, how do you get to it?" Fortunately, the landlady came in with the water.

"The soup is coming. Fortunately, I already had something ready for tonight, but I still have to warm it." Maisie took the cup of water.

"Have a drink here." He took it without protest, his mouth felt very dry.

"What are you doing here? Mrs. Aaberg, what's the matter?"

"Aldrik, you've been so sick. I had to call in Maisie, you just didn't recover."

Now it began to dawn on him that he had felt a bit nauseous and a bit tight in his chest. He took her hand.

"Sorry for my behavior, so I have to thank you very much!"

"You don't have to, I'm glad you're feeling well again."

"Madam, I am eternally indebted to you."

"Oh, no, this is what I do, I'm the healer here at Àrcaibh. This is what I'm doing, I'll send you the bill," she grinned.

"Paying that bill is the least I can do, I..." He grabbed her hand, his voice full of emotion.

Since then, he visited her regularly and they walked to the coast together. He to write, she to look at him when he didn't see it and otherwise she looked at the waves of the beautiful sea in musing and listened to the screams of the seagulls. They developed a beautiful friendship, he told her about stories he wrote in his books and she about her work as a healer. But there was nothing she could tell that he would feel more for her than friendship.

Six months after she healed him, she had to leave. She didn't know how long, because she had to supervise a delivery on the next island. “I'll be away for a while, it could be a few weeks, but it could also be a month," she told Aldrik. It seemed as if she saw something of disappointment flickering in his eyes, she would have imagined it. It hurt her, she didn't want to at all, but yes, this was what she did.

In general, there were plenty of women on the islands who could help with a birth, but this was a good friend, they had promised as teenagers that they would be at each other's births. Aldrik gave her a squeeze of her hand. “Before you know it, you'll be back home and we'll be enjoying ourselves together again." She smiled. When it was time to go home, he pressed a kiss on her cheek. She had to suppress the urge to put her hand on her cheek. If this felt so good... “Have a good trip, wish your girlfriend a healthy baby from me." She nodded and looked into his beautiful eyes.

When she wanted to turn around, she changed her mind, quickly turned around and pressed a kiss to his lips. Without looking at him, she quickly ran away. That she had dared to do that! She would never forget this feeling. This was the first kiss she had ever given to a man, just as that kiss on her cheek was the first she had received from a young man. Twenty-three, jeez, and as green as grass.

The trip went well. She had cheated and teleported herself to Broch of Gurness where the boat was moored. When she arrived at Bay of Westness, she found a sheltered spot and transported herself to about a mile from her friend's house. Beforehand she had looked with her inner eye to make sure no one was around. When she walked into the garden, her friend Hildia came running outside, as far as she could run with her huge belly. Maisie immediately suspected twins, but it was her second child, so it could just be a big belly. She also suspected that with such a big belly, it wouldn't be long before labor would set in.

She ran to her friend, glad she had come, even though she missed Aldrik already. They hugged each other and screamed like young girls, happy to see each other again after two years. Writing was very different from chatting and getting an immediate answer. They had had a week to catch up when the contractions began. Her friend's husband had just stepped into the kitchen from work when Hildia walked up to him to greet him and her water broke.

In the afternoon she had already told Maisie that she was having some contractions, but now it was really going to start. It was an unbelievably easy birth, it was almost too fast and a cute, sturdy boy was born who she named Bôdrún after his father Boderuin. She stayed there for another week to help. Then she really wanted to go home, but she was asked for help when another woman from the village went into labor and the midwife was called away to another place.

After being there for almost three weeks, she went home. She said goodbye to the little man and his big sister. She had already said goodbye to Boderuin that morning. He had promised to take Hildia and his children for a visit to Maisie and her family as soon as possible.

Hildia and Maisie had rewarded him with a big hug. “Wouldn't it be great if there weren't another two years in between? And strange, really, because the journey isn't too bad." You should know, Maisie thought. She was ashamed because for her the journey was a piece of cake. But the days flew by. Now again, so she had to say goodbye to Hildia again.

"See you soon then. I'll write soon," Maisie shouted, waving and disappearing from sight.

When she didn't see anyone, she indulged herself and transported herself to the tree where Aldrik was sitting at this time of day. He wasn't there. Then she went to the stones, and she walked to his house. In the distance, she saw Mrs. Aaberg hanging up the laundry. She started running. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Aaberg, how are you... are you all right?" asked Maisie, startled when she saw Mrs. Aaberg's tearful face.

"Maisie, oh Maisie." Now the landlady really began to cry.

"What's going on? Where is Aldrik, shall I go and get him?" She knew that the landlady was like a mother to him, since he no longer had any family of his own.

"Oh, Maisie." Maisie took the broken woman in her arms. "It's Aldrik, he's gone!" She sobbed out.

"He's gone? Where did he go then? To his publisher? He'll come back, won't he?"

"No, no, he got sick again. Less than a week after you left. He didn't feel well and a few days later he died in his sleep." Maisie thought she didn't hear it right.

"No, it can't be. It can't! I had made his heart. Where is he, don't be so silly!" She began to cry loudly. "I never said how much I care about him." She almost sank to her knees.

"Maisie, sush sweetie, he knew it, he knew it. Shhh." Now it was Mrs. Aaberg who comforted her. "He left a letter, and I had to give you his diary and his last manuscript as well. He felt he wasn't going to make it, he just hoped you'd be home already."

"I was held up," she cried.

"Come in with me, and we'll have some tea with a splash of drinks in it. He's only been gone for a short time, but I miss him so much."

"Oh, Mrs. Aaberg, how incredibly selfish of me."

"No, girl, don't say it. That is not the case. It hits you so raw on your roof. Such a young man too. Such a sweetheart." She was busy with the tea while Maisie tried to contain it. She would never see him again. She began to cry again and laid her head on the table. Actually, she wanted to go home to her mother, but she knew that the landlady needed her too. The woman was also alone. She grabbed a half-full bottle of whiskey and grinned a little sheepishly. "It was full last week." Maisie smiled back tiredly.

"If you are struggling, you should come to us. Don't sit alone."

"That's what your mother said. You're sweet."

"Do it, then."

"Yes, maybe..." Mrs. Aaberg walked over to the cupboard and took out a stack of papers and a booklet. "Here, I had to give this to you." They both started crying again.

It was hard to leave, but she wanted her mother's comfort. She hugged the landlady for a moment as if they didn't want to let go of each other, seeking comfort in their embrace that they couldn't really find in it. The grief was still too raw.

"Let me hold you for a moment, I can relieve the pain."

She put her hands on the woman's heart, she needed the healing of the grief so badly. At home, she would try to help herself. Judging by the landlady's sigh, the healing had been successful. The woman immediately looked a lot better without the guilt and pain, only the memories remained. She could remember Aldrik with a warm heart.

"Jeez, Maisie, thank you!" she said, wide-eyed. "You don't want to know how happy I am with this, I got swallowed up in it every now and then. It was so quiet in the house and the fact that I couldn't do anything for him I found horrifying." She gave Maisie a kiss on the cheek and pulled her against her. "Thank you, again. I hope you do the same for yourself." Maisie nodded, she had to, even though she didn't want to use her gifts for herself, because that pain... She hadn't experienced it before... gladly. You don't want this, do you? From then on she decided to avoid men.

At home, she immediately ran to her mother. “Hey girl, are you home yet, how was Hildia? Did her delivery go well? How is her daughter, her husband and what has the new baby become? Is it healthy?" Her mother's waterfall distracted her for a moment. Then it hit hard again and she started crying. “Jeez, Maisie! What's the matter?"

"Aldrik, has died!"

"Oh yes, that young man, that writer. Terrible, Mrs. Aaberg was completely upset. But I see you are too. I didn't know you knew him so well?"

"I sat with him by the sea every afternoon for the six months after I had healed his heart."

"Maisie! I didn't know that."

"I hadn't told him because I didn't want to give away that I had grown to love him, when he just saw me as a girlfriend." She began to cry again and her mother embraced her in her strong arms.

"I don't understand... I had healed his heart. It was right again. How could he have died of it now?"

"God knows better, sweetheart, you had already given him more time, but apparently he was done here." She stroked Maisie's white hair comfortingly and sighed. She wanted to spare her daughter everything, but she couldn't. "Shall I make tea?"

"No, I've already had tea with Mrs. Aaberg. She gave me this," she held out the stack of papers and the diary, "I'm going to put it upstairs."

"Come downstairs and we'll cook together." Maisie nodded and walked to the stairs.

When she placed the pile on her desk, she saw that there was a letter on top. ‘Dear Maisie’ it said. She squeezed her eyes shut. Now or later? Could she handle what he had written to her? After dinner she would, because now she felt like she had to hurry, because her mother thought she was going to come downstairs in a minute. She couldn’t read at ease that way. She put the letter under her pillow and ran out of her room down the stairs.

It wasn't after dinner, but right before bed. Her father had received a long letter from her brother, who had gone to live with his wife on the mainland of Scotland. They were doing well, to make a long story short. He wrote to tell them that his wife was pregnant and if they wanted to come and see them soon. Then they wrote him back. A short piece each. She had promised that she would take him to the post office tomorrow.

And now she was lying on the bed. She didn't know if it was wise to read it before bed. She would hear his voice in his words and make her cry again. She turned the letter over and over but put it back under her pillow. As soon as she woke up, the first thing she would do was read his letter. She was devastated and what she didn't expect happened, she fell asleep like a log. God gave her a beautiful dream: a final conversation with Aldrin.

He called to her. She walked outside to where they sat every afternoon when the weather permitted. She heard him calling and searched the area, but did not see him.

“Sorry Maisie, I'm not there. I'm there where you can't see me, but from where I'm still with you. I'm sorry my body didn't last a little longer. I wanted to tell you that I love you as soon as you got back home. I realized it the next day, when you didn't come. I immediately started writing that letter when I felt unwell. I love you Maisie."

She felt his arms around her. His voice grew softer and softer, as he repeated the last phrase and let go of her. It seemed as if he was touching her lips with his. The kiss felt even better than the one she had given him.

When she woke up the next morning, she felt a lot lighter than when she went to sleep. Her heart still felt like there was a hole in it, but it didn't hurt as much, especially after she remembered the dream. A sense of regret took its place. If only they had... But then it might have been even more painful. She picked up the letter from under her pillow, broke the seal, and began to read.

Dear Maisie,

If you're reading this, I'm gone. My heart is spent, already. As a child, my heart wasn't very strong anymore after a bad flu. Fortunately, I still had the chance to write a lot and get to know you. Thanks to you, I had a wonderful time and I wish I had found out that I love you sooner. I have left the manuscript for you. You can send it to my publisher, bringing it might be better. My publisher is in Kirkwall, Àrcaibh - an address followed - that's why I started writing here.

Since I no longer have any family, I want to leave you the manuscript and all the rights. My publisher knows my handwriting, so if you bring this letter, my manuscript and my diary, you will have all the proof that I am leaving this to you. My diary contains my bank and account number and signed permission to close the account.

I love you and want to thank you.

Dear Maisie, I hope you will be very happy and don't be too sad. I'm sure I'll be very happy where I am now.

Kiss, Aldrik.

Tears streamed down her cheeks. She missed him so much. The pouring tears turned into a heartbreaking sobbing as she sat alone in her room. She cried so loudly that her father came up to her, pulled her close and stroked her white hair gently. When she had calmed down, she gave him the letter. After reading it, he looked at her. His eyes full of understanding, he pulled her tightly against him again. "We're going together," was all he said. Then he pulled her off the bed and took her downstairs for breakfast. Start