Chapter 3: Adventures Alone

"What on Midgard was that all about?!" I asked, throwing my hands in the air and sitting down on the end of Loki's bed.

Loki paused his pacing around the room to give me a smirk. He liked it when I used Asgard's terms around him. It showed that I was open to learning about other realms than just the one I was born on. He placed a kiss on my forehead before returning to circling the room, thinking hard about something.

I sighed and leaned back, throwing myself down upon the black sheets. "You weren't kidding before when you told me how your father was. I'm sorry, Loki. I can only imagine what growing up with him was like…"

He pursed his lips and absently muttered, "Now is not a time for pity and sentiment, Laurel. I have the upper hand here, do you not see?"

I frowned and tilted my head, "No. I don't, actually. Care to explain?"

Loki leaned against the wall and held his hands together, lining up his fingertips against each other in an act of concentration. His mouth was pressed firmly in a line as he debated something internally. Finally, after moments of complete silence, he spoke.

"The Allfather underestimates me."

A crease formed in between my eyes, "Yes…it sounds like he has pretty much all of your life. How is that any different now?"

"Odin does not suspect that I actually have a plan for taking Jotunheim. He simply believes that I want the throne and haven't thought far enough ahead to actually start planning yet. He thinks that my words are empty. Yet, I have the upper hand here. Odin will believe that I have no further plans when in reality, I will talk quietly with the warriors and see if I can persuade them into changing their allegiance from Odin to myself. If we win Jotunheim, they can take some spoils of war with them. He surely is not going to lend me an army all on his own, so this gives me time to build one behind his back," he elaborated.

"If the hen wont give up its eggs, then the fox will simply take them when no one is looking," I whispered, rising to a sitting position.

"Precisely."

I stood up off the mattress and approached him. I looked up and locked my cool grey eyes onto his shining green ones. A fire danced behind his eyes, passion, and I hated to be the one to extinguish it. But it had to be done. This plan wasn't safe.

"Loki, you have said to me before that Thor is the brother quickest to start a fight. You are the more rational of the two of you. Remember that?" I asked. He nodded slowly and I continued, "You've come so far. Please don't let it all be in vain. If you steal the king's army, it will only reap his wrath and no true victory for you will be achieved. You need to find another way—we will find a way. Make a formal announcement! Tell the people of Asgard that you are Loki Laufeyson and that you seek help for obtaining your birthright. Form an alliance between the people of Asgard and yourself. Not a feud by upsetting the king," I murmured softly, brushing his hair behind his ears.

Loki remained silent.

I dropped my gaze, worried. I hoped he didn't take my words the wrong way. I didn't want to anger him by disagreeing with his current plan. The period of silence between us grew to be increasingly more uncomfortable.

A surprised gasp escaped my lips as he took my chin in between his thumb and forfinger, tilting my head, so that he could capture my lips with his. His mouth moved against mine like waves of the ocean, pushing and letting go from the shore. My eyes closed as I reveled in the way he held me. He was definitely not upset with me by the way he was reacting now.

When he pulled away, I was left breathless.

"You are an incredible woman and I am reminded of that every day. Thank you, Laurel," he breathed.

"Wha—what did I do?" I asked, confused, as I brought a hand up to touch my lips. Electricity seemed to radiate through my entire body.

He pushed his hair back out of his face and chuckled, "We are not even married yet and you are already giving me sound advice when my anger tells me to act without reason. You shall make a fine queen someday."

I smiled and muttered shyly, "I'm just trying to keep you out of trouble."

He placed his hands on top of my shoulders and kissed my forehead before rushing across the room to grab a bag. I looked at him curiously and he glanced back at me after opening the main door of our quarters.

"I will be at the castle's private library. If you feel the need to go anywhere, get a member of the castle staff to call Sif for you. I do not want you getting lost because you were too stubborn to take someone along. I will be back by dinner!" he called before bustling out into the main corridor.

A small scoff of disbelief left my mouth. My words must have brought forwards an idea in Loki's mind if he was in such a hurry. But why would he be going to the library now? Research for new plans, perhaps?

I frowned and looked around the room expectantly. What was I to do? Any time Loki had left my presence, I'd usually sleep, take a bath, or talk to Sif—or Loki's family if they were around. I wasn't tired or in need of a bath now. I also had no idea where to find anyone at this time of day. The castle was quite large and I still couldn't find my way around this floor, let alone the entire grounds.

I was still so new to this realm that I didn't know what to do when Loki was gone. I needed a hobby or a job—something!

I glanced at the strange, Asgardian clock on the wall. It was hour fifty and thirty minutes. There were less than five hours until sunset. Two hours until dinner.

Maybe it was time for an adventure?

XXX

I slipped my shoes back on, straightened out my pretty but simplistic gown, and opened the main door of Loki's many interconnected chambers to exit into the main hall of the palace. Despite Loki expressing his wishes that I send someone to get Sif to follow me around the castle if I wanted to leave his chambers, I figured that was too much of a hastle. Sif was probably busy training—something she did quite often as a warrior. Why should I disturb her lessons just so she could babysit me as I frolic about the castle like a child at Disneyland?

Peeking out into the corridor, only a handful of strangers were walking about. So far, nobody noticed me as I slipped into the hallway and quietly shut the door behind me.

The only occasions when I was recognized as a mortal had to be when I was with Loki. Last week, word had spread through the castle that Loki had brought an injured mortal woman from Midgard to Asgard because he cared for her. Loki pretty much accompanied me everywhere around the grounds, hinting to others my true identity, and Sif was with me when Loki was busy somewhere else. I wasn't as easily identified by strangers that passed me by when it was just Sif and I. My clothes from back home were gone—probably disposed of in some way since they were covered in my blood, so I only wore the beautiful Asgardian clothing now. With the new cosmetics and shampoos the servant maids gifted to me, I suppose I could fit right in—that is, until my speech patterns and mannerisms gave me away.

Despite the fact that I currently went unnoticed in the grand corridor, I felt awkward and misplaced here. I was the only mortal in the entire realm, masquerading as just another young woman in the kingdom with my flowing gowns and fancy shoes. I kind of liked the anonymity of being without Loki for once—free to roam the grounds and explore all on my own. I wondered how far I could travel about without being noticed by someone close to the royal family.

I felt sneaky.

I kept my gaze low and shuffled off to the right, randomly choosing a direction.

The giant hallway was the main passage throughout the entire castle—according to Loki. He once told me that a person could follow it from the front gate all the way through the main heart of castle and then it would circle back around to the front where it started. From this hall, many smaller and average sized hallways branched off of it to lead to more private areas of the building.

In my mind, the structure of the castle was like the circulatory system of a living, breathing body. The center of the entire castle, the throne room, was the heart. The main hallway I currently walked in was both the aorta and the vena cava—the largest artery and then the largest vein both branching directly from the heart as the main blood vessels. The smaller hallways were like the arterioles and venules. The castle's many rooms were the capillaries. I wanted to explore them.

Left turn here.

Right turn there.

Down a flight of stairs.

Around the corner…

I memorized where I was going in order to find my way back to Loki's many rooms that made up his living quarters. Getting lost would do me ill here.

Turning down another corridor, I spotted a painting that interested me, and then discovered more and more beautiful works of art as the hallway went onwards. I moved from one painting to the next, taking as long as I wanted to study the delicate brush strokes, the blend of colors, the details, and the life-like quality of each one. Asgardian artists were skilled beyond comprehension. Without taking my eyes off the walls, I blindly shuffled further and further down the corridor and around the corner.

And then I got lost.

At first, I thought that I had just turned a corner and I could easily go back to the original hallway, but I went down the wrong hallway—believing it to be the previous one. Then trying to correct the mistake, I ended up going down an entirely different corridor without any paintings at all. In the midst of all my traveling, I had forgotten to notice the fact that less and less people were walking about the halls. I was now alone and completely lost somewhere in the gigantic hallway of a castle in a foreign realm.

I sighed, wondering what time it was. My stomach growled and I hoped it wasn't close to dinner time. Loki had mentioned that he would be back at his chambers by then. He'd know I hadn't listened to him and wandered off by myself.

My shoes tapped lightly against the tile as my quick, worried stride slowed down to a despondent crawl throughout the halls. Now entirely lost, I meandered around at random, hoping to run into someone I could ask for directions from.

I passed a wall of windows, my first glance outside in over an hour. My heart plummeted as I realized that I couldn't tell time by the amount of sunlight outside like I could on Earth. Our realms were different.

With my eyes still glancing out at the grand view, I almost ran into the tall form in front of me.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I'm just—"

"Lost?" the deep, rumbling voice interrupted me. I looked up his massively tall body to look into his eyes. They were the most intriguing color: gold.

I nodded timidly in response. The man let out a hearty chuckle, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. His skin was dark and it made his lively eyes stand out in contrast. His hair was shaved down close to his scalp and golden armor covered him from neck to toe—his helmet being in his grasp, at the moment.

"You are the mortal," he mused.

I laughed awkwardly. "Is it that obvious?"

"No," his voice reverberated in his chest. "I just know you, Laurel."

My eyebrows drew together in confusion. I had never seen this man before in my life. How did he know me? He must surely be mistaken.

"Forgive me for being rude. I am Heimdall, the gatekeeper of the Bifrost. I see all—every soul and every realm. I know you because of these gifts of all sight," he explained in a calm, serene tone. His eyes were shining brighter almost as if pools of yellow, metallic element flowed through them.

Recognition lit my features. I now remembered him from the stories Loki had told me. "Oh my goodness! Of course! Thank you, by the way, for everything. Without you…Loki and I would have never met!" I exclaimed.

It was because of Heimdall that Loki knew my name. When Loki had fallen through the portal that the destruction of the first Bifrost had created, Loki had thought of me. The Bifrost sensed his thoughts and wishes, then proceeded to transport him to my house. I was just seventeen. Now I was twenty-four. Loki and I had been through a lot in the past seven years.

The man laughed lightly and nodded. "Yes, and I am glad that the two of you did meet. I have seen many scenarios in my mind and am relieved to experience one of the more pleasant ones."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Heimdall expanded on his last statement, "I see all—every living soul and every event. Past, present, and future are available to my eyes. Many events are always possible, but only one can truly come to pass."

I pursed my lips and asked, "If you can see the past, the present, and the future…why do negative events still occur? How is Asgard not entirely safe from war and enemies? Forgive me if that sounds rude, but I'm just curious. Odin could use your gifts to make sure that Asgard is always out of war's reach…but Loki has told me that battles still occur from time to time."

He chuckled, "I can only see what I am looking for. The universe is full of many different outcomes and I am just one man. If I do not know what to look for, I cannot always find it until something is at our doorstep. However, if Odin warns me that another realm is acting rather suspiciously…then I can watch them for advancing threats."

"So if you are wary or guessing that something bad is going to happen, then you can be on the lookout?" I clarified.

"Precisely."

"But you still miss stuff sometimes? Things can slip through?"

He nodded, "Indeed. If I am busy looking some place in time, that leaves many unwatched doors available for entry."

I pressed my lips into a tight line and tilted my head—thinking of so many questions about my future with Loki. My mind was swimming with copious possibilities. What was going to happen?

"Do you know if I am going to become immortal—like Loki? Will we find out how it is possible? Will we succeed?" I asked, my voice becoming high now with worry.

Heimdall inhaled, looked off to the side and avoiding eye contact with me. When he looked back to meet my gaze, he appeared troubled. "That is more up to you, Laurel. I cannot provide answers to that, for it is a slippery slope and any interferance from me could topple your decisions into a less favorable one."

I frowned, finding no comfort in his words.

"Nonetheless," he continued, "I can inform you that I do know that you and the younger prince intend to conquor Jotunheim. I also know that it is imperative that I pass along a message for Loki. Tell that god of mischief that he must speak to a warrior by the name of Arndor. He usually tends to the airships."

I gave him a small smile, hiding my confusion. It didn't seem like much information, but anything was helpful. Who knows, maybe it could start a cascade of many positive events for us. It could lead anywhere.

"Thank you, Heimdall."

"You are welcome, Lady Laurel. Do not look so unnerved. I know that I cannot help you with your mortality problem, but if you give this new information to your betrothed when he returns from the library…then good things will come from this."

A giggle escaped my lips, "You saw that we were engaged due to your gifts, didn't you?" My response was addressing his words. He had called Loki my 'betrothed' before any formal announcements to the realm had occurred.

"No, I just saw the gem on your finger."

"Oh…"

He laughed, "But I did see Loki about to leave the library just a moment ago and I know he would be rather cross with you if he knew you were traveling alone in the unfamiliar halls of the castle." My eyes widened and my face paled in realization while he continued, "Turn around and make a left at the second doorway. Behind the lion tapestry is another door—a hidden entry. You will come to a flight of stairs that lead to Loki's chambers. It is a shortcut he invented. You'd better hurry, he is more than halfway there."

My eyes lit up and I hurried off to beat Loki back to the rooms before he caught me. I thanked Heimdall profusely for his help, both with giving me directions and the name. The name I had forgotten…Andr—something similar. Arndro? Ardro?

"Arndor!" he called after me as I lifted my skirts and shuffled down the hall.

"Thank you!" I shouted once more as I rounded the corner.

With this new information, I had a spark of optimism.