"I know," she whispered. She knew all of this, even if Bragi had never said, in those exact words, that he'd been raised on the sounds of unhappiness. He had told her in different ways, at different times, but now he was saying it. The fighting had been terrible. It had crawled under doors and through cracks in the floorboards. It had broken down all the music that normally filled her husband's head and heart. "I don't ever want to fight with you. But...but we might fight. We're married. It might happen. I'll swear right now, if we fight, it will end in music. I won't ever walk away again. I'll swear it on anything."
But all the swearing she could muster wouldn't matter at all if Bragi let the cold have him. Idun didn't remember what it felt like to slip beneath the blanket of cold, but she wasn't about to let Bragi find out for himself. It was too easy to get lost here. It was too easy to just stop. When he opened his eyes again, Idun realized how deep her terror had run. Even if it only lasted an instant, Idun gained a better idea of what she had put her husband through. That knowledge gnawed quietly in her stomach, and she felt too sick to heave.
This was all her fault.
She was all too eager to take Bragi's hands when he offered them. It was only after he pulled them both to their feet that she realized one of his gloves was off. There was no reason for it, none at all, but she couldn't help but feel guilty for that. She didn't even know why Bragi had taken the glove off, but he had. He was here for her, and his hand was unprotected for her. Bragi wrapped her up in the wolf skin, but rather than reaching to hold it in place immediately, Idun stalled long enough to pull off one of her gloves. Only then did she grip the skin with her gloved hand. The bare one reached for Bragi's. "Looking at you is never a problem, my love."
Idun held Bragi's cold hand even tighter than she held the skins, but she held his gaze the hardest. All the dangers of this place faded away. It was so easy to focus on Bragi now that she had him back. Now that they had each other. "Being legendary doesn't matter," she told him. As long as they kept looking at each other, they'd be fine. Idun believed it because Bragi believed it. She smiled softly, nearly refusing to blink just to keep from looking away.
"I don't want to be legendary. I just want to be yours."