chapter three:
the girl awoke
Loki sat by the bed of the woman his mother was tending. It had been a full fortnight since Thor, Fandral, and himself brought her in. Due to his mother's personal healing hands and the gifts of Asgard, she was progressing quickly. The cuts that littered her, drenching her dark skin in blood were no more than a memory. Her scars stood out plainly but had gone down from their previous swollen state. Her head still wore a white dressing cloth across her missing right eye. A jagged scar went from her scalp, down through her eye to the middle of her cheek. It made him smirk at the humor of having two in the castle with missing right eyes.
"Loki," his mother soothed, running her hand over his cheek after she finished examining the girl.
Loki closed the tome he had dived into, soaking in his mother's attention. He loathed how the girl consumed so much of her time recently. "Yes?"
She nodded to the woman, drawing Loki's attention. "She wakes."
He observed the sleeping figure. Her breathing was no longer labored, nor deep like she was trapped in eternal slumber. Loki rose from his seat and stepped away from the bed. He watched his mother tentatively rearrange pillows beneath the woman to ensure she was propped up when she awoke.
She moved before her eyes opened, shifting in bed. He smirked at the way her small nose twitched like a mouse's. When her shifting became violent shaking, his mother rushed to move away anything she'd knock over to hurt herself.
"What can I do?" Loki questioned, seeing the concern in his mother's eyes.
She shook her head. "She is just having a fit. Give her a moment to wake up."
Loki and his mother waited for the minute to tick by. Soon the sleeping woman's quaking ceased and her good eye began fluttering open. Frigga quickly grabbed a vial of amber liquid and tilted it to the woman's lips before she became fully conscious.
The girl recorded as her eyes focused on her surroundings. She scrambled haphazardly out of the bed, tumbling onto the ground. Loki stepped back to allow his mother to soothe her.
The Queen knelt in front of the girl and offered her hand. "I am Frigga. What is your name, dear?"
The girl opened her mouth to speak then seemed to think better of it, simply staring with a wide-eye at Frigga. It took a moment for her hand to finally slip into his mother's and they stood up. The girl seemed to rely heavily on the support of Frigga, having not used her legs for weeks. Frigga eases her back into the bed and drew the sheets back up to the girl's waist. The startled mouse seemed even more shocked by the simple white healing gown she wore. Her fingers pinched the fabric on her sides and she frowned, brows furrowing as she tilted her head.
His mother carefully sat on the bed and took the girl's hands in hers. "I know you are afraid, but do not fret, child. I am the Queen of Asgard, this realm. My sons were sent to rescue you." She looked back at Loki and the girl's eye followed curiously. "This is my second-born, Loki."
Loki smirked and reached to take one of the girl's hands only to have her flinch. He tried giving her a smile instead, eyes softening, and slowly took her hand in his. His lips politely kissed the back of her hand, the scars tingling from his touch. "Pleasure to meet you."
The girl's cheeks flamed and her left eye widened. She pulled away from both of them, still not granting a smile. Her eyes caught the scars on her hands and she held out her arms, tediously examining the long, pale scars the crookedly dragged up her skin. Her eye welled as she rested her hands on her lap, one hand slowly came up to feel the wrap around her missing eye.
Frigga got up and grabbed a small mirror off one of the tables nearby. She handed it to the girl and frowned as she watched the girl freeze. The mouse began trying to remove it until Frigga carefully removed her hand and undressed the cloth for her. A barren hole remained where an eye had once rested. Loki noticed the bright, sparkling green her left eye shone, the same shame as the green on his clothing.
"Loki," his mother whispered, "go tell the servants to prepare her a room by your and Thor's chambers." She turned her gaze back to the frightened mouse. "I would have you two help her, personally."
Loki bowed to his mother and cast one more observatory look to the girl. She was pretty, he mused. Her raven hair framed her face in thick, curly locks much like his when he did not grease it back. There were permanent bags under eyes, though they'd been more telling when she'd first arrived. Her hands were soft yet there was a large nodule on the middle finger of her left hand, the tell of an advent writer.
Loki left the healing room to inform one of the Einherjar posted to pass on the information his mother had given him. He peeked back through the door to watch his mother coax the mouse to eat. He sighed at her fear-wracked body and turned away, knowing his mother was fully capable of getting her to relax.
"Brother!" Thor boomed, strutting down the gold-embezzled hall with the walk of a large, stupid dog.
Loki rolled his eyes and braced himself for the rough pat on his back that Thor delivered. "Yes?" He sighed.
"I have heard the puny girl is awake." Thor began to head through the door but Loki shot out his arm to halt the God of Thunder.
He noticed how the mouse was more at ease without him in the room. He wasn't surprised, she was tortured viciously by males. The last thing she needed was the giant and touchy Thor to bombard her. "Brother, I think it would be wise to allow her to process what has happened before you go in there," Loki suggested.
His brother seemed to merrily take it in stride. "Very well, then we shall go inform the Warriors Three and Sif."
Before Loki could protest, Thor had his tree trunk of an arm around his shoulders and was dragging Loki along with him.
The next day the girl awoke with screams, scratching at her arms and shredding the blankets. Soft hands grabbed her shoulders and her eye violently opened wide. Nadira stopped screaming at the sight of the woman who had been there the day before when she'd awakened from her fortnight slumber—Frigga was her name. She covered her face, the painful reminder of what she'd lost under her palm.
"Dear," Frigga whispered, gently pulling her hands down. Her smile was warm and loving, truly unlike any other, Nadira had seen. The people she was raised around had only sneers and lies on their lips. The Queen released her and fetched her some water laced with herbs to calm any pains she suffered from. Frigga then slowly helped her eat some light broth, hoping the simple meal would help her stomach begin getting used to normal foods.
After some time Frigga cleaned up around Nadira. She watched the older woman move with grace and held a sort of enthrallment. Frigga gently held Nadira's hands. "I have other things to attend to. You should sleep some more."
Nadira gave no hint of retaining her words, simply staring up at the Queen with blank eyes. Frigga nodded once and cupped her cheek as she usually did with her own children when they needed her support. She watched Frigga leave the healing room as a few others who were condemned to the exorbitant place began awaking. Others who worked as healers poured in wearing drab cloths meant to be dirtied over their neat blue dresses.
She sighed and turned over, done observing the changes that the morning brought. Nadira's mind swirled behind closed eyes, attempting to piece together the ongoings of the past days. It was a harrowing endeavor due to her lack of knowledge on where she was. At first, she thought it a dream-an escape her mind concocted after being shoved into the cabin from Hell. Nadira dismissed though. The throbbing and soreness of the eye she was missing felt too real to be anything but truth.
Nadira groaned and shot up in her bed violently, startling a few of the other visitors and workers in the room. She vigorously massaged her temples to soothe her aching mind. Frigga had told her she was Queen of Asgard and the way she spoke. . . it was as if she'd been thrown into the past. Though, Nadira had to refute that thought as she was reminded of the odd occurrence of something she could only describe as magic. Her rapt attention went to the healer weaving a bit of mist that seemed to flow from the lady's fingertips. Magic was certainly not something from her world which left a queasy feeling in her stomach as she flirted with an improbable idea, but one that grew with every weave of the woman's hands. Another universe?
"Pardon me, but is this yours?"
Nadira looked up at one of the healers who was pointing at a book on the stand by her bed. It was thick and worn along the spine though the leather-bound tome appeared new, the sign of a constant reader. She almost shook her head but stopped as she remembered seeing it in the hands of Frigga's son. It took her a beat to come up with his name-Loki. Nadira quickly nodded and scooped up the book, ignoring the woman. Her mind buzzed as she glanced through the pages and saw they offered little information that made sense. She picked up the writing materials left there and began annotating the pages. It was in her language but the way it was written was nearly pure math . . . or was it science? Many of the words she knew but it read like a new language had weaved its way into the meaning.
As the hours ticked by she delved further into the book Loki had left behind. Nadira's confusion jarred to a halt as she saw the word "Earth." It was scrawled in elegant cursive, much like the rest of the book, under a boldened title that read "Midgard." Under the writing was a black and white sketch of her planet. She tore through to the next page and was brought face to face with a picture of different worlds. Earth, or Midgard as the book called it, was in the center surrounded by eight other circles. She saw one hastily labeled as Asgard and remembered Frigga having said the name of the place she was in shared the same name as the picture she examined. Nadira's breath caught as she realized she was on a different planet. She almost retaliated publicly but was reminded she was not alone when the clatter of trays echoed.
Nadira glanced up from the book she had curled herself around and saw Frigga approaching. She wiped off the ink that had smudged itself along her hand onto the side of the light dress she wore.
Frigga's smile warmed over Nadira like a rising sun. "Good evening, dear. I have prepared a more permanent space for you to rest. Would you like to try walking?"
Nadira nodded and set the book down with the writing utensils. Her body ached from having laid down for two weeks. The muscles in her legs throbbed and her bones made loud crackings sounds as the joints clicked from being used once more. Frigga proffered her arm to Nadira, making her tilt her head in curiosity. The woman before had never presented any malicious intent and Nadira quite found her amicable. She took the proffering with a kind gleam in her mischievous eyes.
Familiarity passed through Frigga's own gaze capturing Nadira's interest. The Queen patted her hand with a motherly chuckle. "You remind me of one of my sons. He schemes much like you are doing right now." As Nadira came to stand completely, Frigga took notice of the book she was reading and furrowed her brows, plucking it off the bed. "You have read this?"
Nadira paused to consider her answer. She was still processing how to best act around the Asgardians. It would take more time to develop the cover she would use to blend in, it would ensure her safety. Nadira settled for a simple nod and reached to pick up the book, her back sending an annoying pain through the base of her spine. She handed it to Frigga and watched the Queen's confusion grow as she flipped through the pages, occasionally slowing down to examine the notes that Nadira had made.
Frigga snapped the book shut and looked at Nadira with an air of something near pride. "These notes are quite detailed. I am impressed and I believe I know someone else who would be too" She tucked the book into Nadira's free hand "Please, finish it."