Arm in arm Angrboða and Thorsten walk into the town square. All the carts from the vendors had been boarded up or hauled away for the night and the commons area took on a different feel than it had during the daytime. Thorsten looked at the beautiful young woman on his arm and thought to himself how lucky he was.

Angrboða looked around in wonder at the city surrounding them lit up by candles along the path. Their light glinted off the snow and glistened against the frozen flakes upon the ground. Angrboða had heard of love in stories. She even told of love in the stories she would recite to the children back in their old home. However, she had never felt this way before and based on all those tales of romance what she was feeling had to be love – the romantic sort of love shared between lords and ladies. This was unlike anything Angrboða had ever experienced and this first taste of love was exhilarating. She was hungry for more.

Thorsten could see the hunger in her eyes. Knowing she had a full belly of warm food, he knew this hunger of hers was not for more nutritional sustenance but of a more carnal nature. He wanted her too. That desire to kiss her deeply and passionately welled up within him, but he wanted to wait until the moment was not only just right. He wanted their first kiss to be perfect – so the young man held his tongue.

A chill whipped through the square and Angrboða moved her body closer to his. She enjoyed the feeling of his warm body pressed against her as her mind filled with thoughts that were unchaste. She couldn’t help but blush and he couldn’t help but notice, but still he held his tongue and only smiled to himself at her purity and loveliness.

Together they walked through the city of Naantali. He pointed out the sights for her and shops she would likely frequent. She was grateful for the tour and for the guide who led her through these strange city streets. Most of the population lived on the mainland, Thorsten explained. There were a few smaller fishing communities on the outlying islands that were still considered to be part of Naantali. They walked along the docks and Thorsten pointed out his ship, the Arcturus. Then he told her to look up and led her gaze to the star of the same name.

This was the moment he is going to kiss me, Angrboða thought as she looked up with wonderment and anticipation of feeling his warm lips pressed against hers. However, this was merely a near-perfect moment and Thorsten held his tongue yet again. Angrboða looked back at him with love light in her eyes. Here in this place beside the Baltic Sea with a sky full of stars overhead she knew beyond all doubt that her life and her heart would be forever bound to his. She made a wish on a shooting star to never be parted from his side.

From the docks, the candlelit path led back into town and wound through a quiet neighborhood and down a back alleyway. It seemed to Angrboða that the path was leading nowhere special, but then the came around the bend.

Turning the corner, the center of the nighttime festival came into view. In the center was a burning bonfire that was taller than any man. Surrounding the fire were a handful of shopkeeper carts serving candied almonds, popped kernels of corn, and a warm beverage people referred to as “varm sjokolade” which Angrboða was eager to try.

Ever eager to please his woman, they strode right to the varm sjokolade cart and he bought her a mug with a dollop of heavy cream on top which was then sprinkled with ground cinnamon and cloves – a pair of most exotic spices. The drink seemed indulgent, but Thorsten did not hesitate to hand her the cup. She sipped it carefully wanting to savor every flavor of the drink as it rolled across her tongue. Angrboða looked at Thorsten and smiled with the pleasurable sensations she experienced in her mouth. When she swallowed the warm concoction, Thorsten put his hand on hers and slowly leaned towards her soft and tender lips.

This kiss was more than a kiss. This was a kiss to be coveted by all lovers before them and hence. This kiss beckoned the winged Valkries of Valhalla to take flight. This kiss banished all demons to Hel and shook the great tree Ygdrassil to its core. All at once Angrboða became one with the universe and everything in it. She felt hersef expand and condense in the same moment. Thorsten felt this too and he trembled with terror and awe of this beautiful love they had brought into Midgard. The two of them together had created a new world with this one kiss.

Angrboða became weak in the knees and she clung to Thorsten even more tightly. Her hand dropped the mug of varm sjokolade and as it clattered to the ground, she lifted her freed hand to his face which she caressed ardently. With her other hand she grasped his tunic and pulled him into her even closer. She kissed him back with a passion she did not know she had possessed. He held her up as she lifted one foot from the ground. Angrboða felt as though she had wings and at any moment could take flight, lifting them both into the air.

With the way the pair was carrying on, they did not notice the attention they had drawn to themselves and an audience of amused onlookers had their gaze drawn to the two lovers intertwined in this intimate moment. Older couples looked at each other knowingly, remembering fondly that first blush of new love. Children pointed and giggled amongst themselves quietly as mothers shushed them to stay silent and not interrupt the young couple. These mothers were well aware of how moments like that were all too fleeting.

It was an older child who ended the moment with a swift snowball to Thorsten’s face. Abruptly, he looked in the direction of the assailant and upon seeing it was a child he laughed. Then he looked down at Angrboða and she too began to laugh. Her body shook with joy and amusement. He held her close as he could feel her knees were still weakened by his kiss. The world was different now and they both knew it to be true. Nothing would ever again be the same as their lives were now bonded by the very gods themselves. Freya smiled down upon the city of Nanntali that night and all who bore witness to the kiss knew that the young lovers were the reason why.