Chapter 4

I went back up to the palace and found Loki and two servants reorganizing his chambers. They were cleaning the room with my bed in it. I stepped past them and threw my backpack on my bed.

"Were your parents okay with this arrangement?" Loki asked when he saw me.

"I don't want to talk about it," I whispered, wiping my eyes.

"Was there a problem?"

"My mom just doesn't understand. Nobody can understand," I looked at him. "You gave me a once in a lifetime opportunity. I had to take it. They don't get that."

"No, they do not. I am glad you decided to stay, Ashley," he said, smiling at me.

The next three weeks were pretty repetitive. We would eat breakfast together some days, other days he would already be gone when I woke up, and then I would go explore the palace. After a week, I was brave enough to go explore the city. After that, I went out there every day. I ate in the market, met tons of people, and went to the arena to watch the warriors training. Then I would go back to the palace a sundown, we would eat supper, and then we would just sit out on the balcony and talk. By the fourth week I was there, he knew more about me than I did. But he very rarely would talk about himself. Finally, I asked why.

It was midday, and we were in Frigga's garden again. We were sitting next to each other, just talking.

"Tell me about your school," Loki said, holding my hand. He did that a lot, which was nice. It always caused a deep tingling feeling in my stomach, though, and made me blush like crazy.

"I did last week."

"Tell me more."

I laughed. "There's no more to tell! Why don't you tell me about yourself? It's about time I got to know you a little bit, don't you think?"

He looked away from me, and then squeezed my hand. "Alright, I will tell you about myself. But from what you have told me, you know quite a bit already.

"As you know, I am not a son of Odin. I was born a Jötunn. Odin... kidnapped me from Laufey's castle when I was a baby. He raised me as his own son. But when he was about to crown Thor as king, I let a few Frost Giants into the weapons vault and ruined his big day. After Odin banished Thor, he revealed to me I was a Frost Giant. Well, you know what happens next. After Odin awoke, I faked my death and was trained by the Chitauri in new ways of fighting.

"I do not wish to talk about the failure I faced in New York. When Odin jailed me and Thor broke me out, I found another chance to escape from him. I faked my death again and returned to Asgard, disguised as a guard, and made Odin believe I was dead. However, this news, along with the death of Frigga and the war with the Dark Elves, was too much for him, and he perished in his sleep. I then disguised myself as Odin, just until Thor returned, and after he decided to stay on Midgard, I revealed to Asgard that I was their new King.

"At first, they were shocked at the news that I was alive. Then, they were angry. But, they eventually came to terms with the fact, and now I rule Asgard as their rightful King," he finished, not looking at me. I felt tears on my cheeks, and as I looked at him, I swore I could see a tear forming in the corner of his eye. He blinked, and it disappeared. He looked back at me. "Is that better?"

Of course, I knew most of this, but I still wiped tears off my face, and looked at my boots. "Communication..."

"Communication?"

"Communication is key. If I'm going to live here, shouldn't we have an open communication?" I looked up at him, and he stared into my eyes. Slowly, he nodded.

Loki sighed. A guard walked up behind him and whispered something in his ear. Loki nodded to him, stood up, and excused himself to the throne room. I decided to go out into the city. I walked out of the gates and went to the huge, circular arena. It was interesting to watch Sif and the other warriors training. I went into the spectators seats, looked for Sif, and sat in the front row nearest to her. She was training with the Warriors Three. She had begun to notice me watching her the last few days, and today she whispered something to the Warriors before turning towards me.

Fandral came up the stairs into the seats, walked up to me, and held out his hand for me to shake. "I don't believe we have been properly introduced," he said sweetly. "I am Fandral the Dashing. And you are...?"

"Ashley," I smiled, shaking his hand. He pulled me onto my feet.

"Ashley," he started to pull me to the stairs back down into the arena, "Lady Sif would like to have a word with you."

"Oh, um, alright," I said, shocked. I let him lead me down the stairs, as if I had much of a choice.

As we walked up to them, Volstagg and Hogun bowed and Sif shook my hand. I introduced myself.

"Ashley, where are you from?" Sif asked.

"Midgard, ma'am."

"What are you doing here, then?"

"Loki invited me to come, and I kind of moved here."

"Ah," she looked at Volstagg, who nodded. She turned back to me. "We have noticed you watching us train these last few days," she smiled.

I smiled and looked at my boots. "I think it's interesting to watch you fight."

"Have you ever fought with these sorts of weapons before?"

I looked at her suspiciously. "No, ma'am..."

"Would you like to learn?"

I was shocked. "Really?" I asked, thinking they were playing a joke on me.

Volstagg laughed. "You think we jest, child? Yes, 'really'! If you are going to sit here and watch us every day, you may as well do something!"

"Would you like to?" Sif asked again. "Of course, you do not have to, but..."

"No! I will! If you're offering, then of course I'll learn! I mean, I'll probably be terrible, because I'm really clumsy and out of shape, but..."

"We will fix that," Sif said, smiling. I thought she was happy there would be another girl fighting.

"What weapon do you think would suit her, Lady Sif? I was thinking, maybe, a sword?" Fandral said, handing me a sword. "She strikes me as a sword type of girl."

I gripped the sword with both hands and held it out in front of me. It was pretty heavy, and my hands were shaking a little as I held it. I turned it upside down and put the tip on the ground.

"Well, hold on!" Sif sighed. "She cannot fight in that dress!" She took the sword and handed back to Fandral, and then motioned for me to follow her. "I may have extra armor that will fit you," she said to me.

"Thank you, Lady Sif," I said. "This is really very sweet of you."

"It is no trouble," she smiled. "It will be nice to have another woman fighting."

We walked a short way into town, and into a decent sized house. I followed Sif through her very neat and organized living room, down a bare-white hallway, and into a bedroom. Sif had me sit on the bed, and she started to rifle through her closet.

She pulled out a red tunic, a pair of black leggings, and pair of short black combat boots. She handed them to me, and I changed into them quickly.

"They fit perfectly," I said, looking in a floor-length mirror behind her door. The tunic was slimming, and the boots were really cute.

"Yes," Sif said, already out in the hall. I followed her.

She rummaged through a closet in the hallway, and pulled out a bunch of random pieces of silver armor. Then she started fitting them onto me. There were shin guards, forearm guards, and a vest she fitted over my head that covered my whole torso, back and shoulders. After she got it all on me, it must have weighed 15 pounds.

"It's... a little... heavy..." I panted, trying not to fall over.

She laughed. "Not very strong, are you? We will build your strength. Let us go back to the arena," she walked out her front door, and I followed, with my dress and boots under my arm.

I am actually going to be learning to fight with Sif and the Warriors Three, I thought, dumbstruck. How is my life suddenly this awesome?