Five days with Freyr

Odin led Dreufey down the country lane. The bearded man with his rugged features and eye patch was carrying Dreufey's suitcase like a true gentleman. His two ravens hung in the air above them. On reaching a curve in the road, Dreufey could see the town of Munich in the distance with the sun rising behind it.

"I've arranged for Freyr to come and meet us," Odin said. "I can't take you into town myself because my appearance would draw untoward attention to you."
"But is Freyr any better?"
"He most definitely is. He has had the same help with his appearance from his sister as you've had. He's practically a German, and a well to do German at that."

The hum of an engine could be heard in the distance.

"That's probably him," Odin said. "Let's see what Hugin and Munin have to say."

Odin's two ravens dove down towards the oncoming engine roar. Then they circled up again towards the tall blue sky.

"That's the 'all clear'. We got nothing to worry about."

Moments later, Freyr came racing towards them in a dark green sports-car. It had a long snout with lanterns that looked like eyes to either side, a flat windshield, a canvas top, and a short round rump.

The car slowed down and came to a complete stop next to Odin and Dreufey. The door on the driver's side opened, and Freyr stepped out.

Dreufey hardly recognized the man. His beard had been trimmed to a minimum. His hair was short. He wore a grey suite with a vest.

It was all very stylish, but not at all like his regular style.

"You must be Dreufey," he said, his blue eyes peering into hers.
"Pleased to meet you," Dreufey replied.

She extended a hand for Freyr to kiss, as is the habit among gods, but Freyer gave her a firm handshake instead. "This is how we do things here in Germany," he explained. "I guess there's a few things I'll have to teach you before I let you loose in Munich."

Freyr turned to Odin. They greeted each other with a hearty handshake.

"You got past Jormungandr in one piece, I see. He's a real pain these days. Difficult to get past, and it's only getting worse. We should've killed him while we still had the chance."
"I know. But the situation back then was different. We were still hoping to get Loki over on our side."
"But that's not going to happen, is it?"
"No, it doesn't look like it."
"So, here we are with Jormungandr growing bigger and more dangerous by the day, and with no hope of getting Loki over on our side. It's a real mess."
"And if we don't stop Loki from stirring up a war down here, we'll be even worse off."
"You're right, so let's not waste any more time."

Odin handed Dreufey's suitcase to Freyr who put it into the back of his car. Then he turned his attention back to Dreufey.

"That completes my work for now," he said. "I'll pick you up when you've completed your mission. You know what signs to look for when the time comes?"
"I do."

Odin looked at Dreufey with fondness.

"Goodbye," he said.

Dreufey bent her knee and extended a hand to Odin. "Bye, my lord."

The old man took her hand in his, bowed down, and kissed it. "Take good care of yourself."

He took a final look at Dreufey before he released her hand. "Good bye," he said again. This time to both Dreufey and Freyr. Then he stepped away from the two. He turned away from the rising sun. There was a flash and a rumble, and Odin was again transformed into an eagle. With a forceful flap of his wings he took off towards the heavens, flanked by his two ravens.

Freyer came up behind Dreufey.

"It never fails to impress me," he said in a hushed tone. "I wonder how he does that."
"Does he even know it himself?"

The two stood for a while in silence, admiring the landscape.

"May I have the pleasure of taking you for a ride?" Freyr asked.
"That's very kind of you. Where are you taking me?"
"To your apartment in Munich. Then for a spin around town."
"That sounds wonderful."

They got into Freyer's car, and set off for Munich.

"You got your bag of gold coins with you?" Freyr asked.
"It's in my suitcase."
"You know you can't use gold coins as payment here in Munich?"
"So, I've heard. But why not?"
"That's a long story, and a little beside the point. The point is that you need to exchange your coins for local currency. They use paper notes and base metal coinage."

Dreufey found it a little curious but trusted that Freyr was telling the truth.

"I suggest you sell your coins one by one in various gold smiths around town, and you only sell them when you need local currency. The whole paper currency thing is going to implode, and you don't want to be caught with a pile of worthless paper. Besides, selling a bunch of gold coins all at the same time will draw the wrong kind of attention to you."

"Speaking of which, you need to learn German. A few days of intensive training should do. You're a Vanir goddess after all. We tend to learn things fast and with little trouble."

"I figure the best way for you to learn the local language is to jump right into it. I'll show you around town, introduce you to people, and get you properly integrated. If anyone asks, you're my niece from Iceland. Your father is a German fish trader in Reykjavik. His name is Hans von Haven."

Freyr went on to talk about all sorts of wonderful and strange things. He told of local habits, customs and traditions. He talked about kitchen appliances, machines of various kinds, hot water, plumbing and electricity.

"You know an awful lot about Germany. Have you been here before?" Dreufey asked.
"Many times, I'm afraid. This is a country that keeps going from one catastrophe to another, and I'm down here regularly to sort things out."
"Always with success, I pray?"
"Not always. We've just had this huge and senseless war that I was unable to prevent."
"But you seem to like Germany."
"I love it. It's just a shame that they keep getting involved in terrible projects from which nothing good ever comes."

After a short half hour of driving, Freyer parked his car outside an apartment building close to the city centre. The building was one of several similar size buildings strung together in a row. All facing a wide road with similar looking buildings along the other side. The arrangement was wide enough for sidewalks with trees planted with regular intervals.

"This is it," Freyr declared. "This is where I've found an apartment for you."

He stepped out of his car, hurried around to Dreufeys side, and helped her out of her seat. Then he picked up Dreufey's suitcase before leading her to the main entrance.

"These are the keys to the house. This one is for this door facing the street, and this other one is for your apartment. There's not much trust in this society, so everyone locks their doors, and so should you."

Dreufey's apartment was situated on the third floor, which gave it an ethereal feel, as if it was elevated above and beyond the everyday hustle and bustle of city life.

The apartment was lavishly furnished with fine art on the walls, comfortable chairs and sofas, polished wood cabinets and lush curtains.

"You bought all of this for me?"
"I did. We want you to be properly settled here in town. If anyone asks, it's bough with money from your father. He wants to set you off on a good footing here in Germany."
"That's very kind of you. But how did you get time to do all this in just one day?"
"One day? I've spent almost two weeks on this. I've had busy days."
"But how did you know I was coming to Munich?"

Freyr smiled.

"My sister and I have ways of finding things out in advance. We see things coming."
"Like Voluspa, the seeress?"
"Yes, a little like her. That's the power of our Seidr magic. But surely, you know about this."
"I do, but I didn't know you were this good at it. Do you also know how my mission will end?"

Freyr shook his head.

"We're good, but we're not that good, and the outcome is uncertain. It depends on you. Will you be able to alter the course of history by applying our craft? Only time will tell. But let's not get too hung up in this. You should get yourself some rest. Settle in. I'll come back in the afternoon, and I'll show you around town."

What followed was five days of much activity. Freyr took Dreufey shopping for clothes. He took her to the theatre, to parties, restaurants and nightclubs. He introduced her to all sorts of people. He even taught her how to drive his car.

Freyr was not only knowledgeable about German society, but he was also an absolute scream to be around. Dreufey had oodles of fun, and the best thing about it was that she was learning so much on the way. She picked up German so fast that she was fluent by the time Freyr had to leave. Her knowledge of German etiquette and manners was also considerable.

On his last day in Munich, Freyr gave Dreufey the keys to his car as well as his own set of keys to Dreufey's apartment. Then he told her to come with him for a last excursion.

Freyr took Dreufey to an art gallery in the centre of town. It featured the works of several different artists, but Freyr was only interested in one of them. He asked an attendant, smartly dressed in a brown uniform, to show them paintings by an artist of the name Adolf. The attendant obliged and took them over to a corner reserved for this artist's paintings.

"What do you think, dear Eva?" Freyr asked.
"I'm not sure. He seems obsessed with architecture. Doesn't he do anything but buildings and cityscapes?"

The attendant responded by directing the couple's attention to a painting of a man flirting with a woman and another painting depicting a woman with a child in her arms. But the paintings were flat and lacking in elegance. They were not much to look at compared to what she had hanging on her walls in her apartment.

"I think Adolf needs to loosen up," Dreufey said with disdain.
"You don't want to buy any of these paintings?" Freyr asked.
"No, I'd rather spend my money on other things."

Freyr turned to the attendant and thanked him for his assistance.

Once outside, Freyr explained that Adolf was Dreufey's target. That was the man that she had to distract from any interests other than his private sphere and his art. "Anything other than family, friends and his art must remain a no go for the rest of his life."

"You mean I have to seduce him?"
"Who said anything about seduction?"
"Oh, come on. In what other way am I to distract him?"
"Well... Can't you at least give it a try? I mean... are you going to defy the wishes of Odin and my sister?"

Freyr led Dreufey up a hill to a small park with tall trees.

"You have to come up with a plan" Freyr continued. "We can't let this wait much longer, so you better get going. Why not start off as a patron? Maybe that's all that's required. Some extra income for the starving artist so that he remains focused on his work."
"That's an idea," Dreufey replied. "I'm Eva von Haven, after all. My father is a rich fish merchant, and I'm here to socialize and leave a mark on the city in his honour. Being a patron of the arts is a part of that."
"Exactly."

Half way up the hill, Freyr told Dreufey to stay behind and let him walk to the top on his own.

They said goodbye. Freyer walked up towards a tall tree near the top of the hill. He pulled a dark brown cloak out of a bag he had carried with him from Dreufey's apartment. The cloak was covered in feathers. The last thing Dreufey saw of him before he disappeared behind the tree was a swift move of his hand to bring the cloak to rest over his shoulders.

Shortly after, a falcon could be seen flying up towards the sky. Dreufey followed it with her eyes until it disappeared in the distance.

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