Chapter 8

Lagertha's face was tearstained as she stood at the edge of the village. Her hair and dress were dishevelled as she had made good on her promise and had made Thor's job of bringing her to her father again as difficult as she physically could, and even for their drastic size difference, she had inflicted some albeit superficial wounds to the King. In the end it was only Thor's superior strength that had permitted him to force to come with him.

She knew from Loki's face and demeanour as Thor forced her away that he too had wished for her to stay, but she could tell he was still feeling guilty for hurting her. Something she had no doubt Thor had used to convince Loki she would be better off away from him, so Loki remained silent as he watched Thor take her away.

Her father was tearful as he embraced her, thanking Thor endlessly for saving his daughter and returning her to him. Thor smiled and dismissed the gratitude, stating that he was only too glad to help. Lagertha glared at Thor and his smile faltered, an action that was missed by her father, but not by the Warrior's Three and Sif, who had accompanied Thor to the village. She recalled over and over in her mind the supposed words of caution Thor had bestowed on her. "You do not know the true Loki Lady Lagertha; he is a liar, and a good one. He always has been, and he always will."

Her father ushered her home without letting her try and walk unaided, rambling on about unimportant matters the entire time. She ignored him for the most part, not wanting to speak, instead only thinking of the abandoned prince of Asgard, not an afternoon's walk away, who she found to have been the only stimulating company she had held in some time.

"Go get some rest Lagertha, you need to recoup after what you have endured." Her father ordered when they got into their home.

"The only enduring I have had to bear is being roughly manhandled by the King." Lagertha growled.

"You should be grateful to King Thor Lagertha, he brought you home. He got you away from that monster of a brother of his. Just look at what he did to you."

Lagertha's eye shot straight to her injured forearm only to realise the burn was temporarily covered by her clothing, looking to her father, she followed his line of sight to see him staring at her torn sleeve and bruised arm. She laughed slightly as she looked back to him. "Believe me or not Father, that is the work of none other than the King you adore so blindly."

Æðelstan looked from the markings to his daughter's face. "Lagertha, what has happened to you?" he asked almost fearfully. "What did that monster do to you to make you speak such a way about King Thor?"

"Nothing, he never once did anything to ever hurt me. He is no monster, he is just a lonely being who was so anxious to finally perhaps have some company again that he went about obtaining said company the wrong way." Lagertha explained.

"Do you not hear yourself?" You sound like a foolish simpleton. 'Company' you think that that monster only wanted some company? He is a killer, have you any idea how many people he has killed?"

"From what I have read, and we both know I have read extensively on most every battle Asgard has been in; King Thor has killed even more men than Loki in both his war efforts and his other antics combined when they are compared." Lagertha argued.

"What is going on with you?" Æðelstan shook his head as he spoke in disbelief.

"With due respect father, I know more of Prince Loki than you on this matter. I have spoken with him; I have seen how he can be both good and bad. Do not get me wrong, I will never condone what he did in Midgard and Jötunheim or even pretend to understand fully his reasoning for doing such, and I know he is capable of acts of immense darkness, but he is not just that. He is capable of as many different actions as you and I."

Æðelstan looked fearfully at his daughter. "I am calling back King Thor." He insisted, heading for the door.

Lagertha took a moment to comprehend what her father was saying. "Whatever for? I am sure the great King of the Aesir wishes to return to his delightful big bright palace and is no doubt already making headway there and away from this small little backwater as we speak as there is nothing here to hold his interest."

"The monster has cast a spell on you or worse, poisoned your mind, how are you not able to see it Lagertha? You are usually so bright."

"Poisoned my…Father, forgive my bluntness, but it is not I that has taken leave of my senses but you if you think such."

Æðelstan looked at Lagertha in furious disgust. "I am glad your mother is not alive to see the disappointment you have become."

Lagertha stood open mouthed at the cruel words that her father just said. Without saying anything, she turned and allowed her tears fall as she ran from the house, ignoring her father's remorse filled calls for her to return.

She ran through the village, not paying much heed to where she was going, colliding with someone as she went. As though her day could not get worse. "Well now, this is a pleasant surprise, I knew the day would come that you would come running into my arms." Lagertha shuddered as she recognised the sickly slimy voice of Jarl.

She struggled to get out of his grip. "Jarl, leave me alone." She wriggled and squirmed, but he was muscularly built, nothing as big as Thor, but he was still far too strong for her to fend off. "Let go of me." She half begged. "Jarl."

The sound of a sword being unsheathed came to Lagertha's ears. "Are you hard of hearing? She said leave her be." A woman snarled.

"This is none of your concern" Jarl dismissed, though his gripped loosened considerably.

Lagertha opened her eyes to see a dark haired woman with a sword to Jarls throat. It took only a few moments for Lagertha to place her. It was Lady Sif, the warrior woman. "I will not warn you again pig, release her and let her on her way." Sif threatened. Jarl seemed to take a moment to consider her threat before leaving go of Lagertha's arms. She hissed slightly as she felt even more bruises adding to those that Thor had given her earlier. "Are you alright?"

She turned to see Sif looking at her in concern. She looked down at herself and could not argue her worrying, her dress was torn, both her arms mottled in marks, she had no doubt her hair was tousled terribly, and as she could still feel her tears on her face, she knew that was a wreck too. "I am fine; I am just having a bad day."

Sif looked her up and down as she attempted to assess whether Lagertha was being sarcastic or not. As her eyes skimmed over the dishevelled appearance, Sif noticed the burn mark on her arm. "You're…"

Lagertha looked to her arm again, trying to pull the cloth of her tattered sleeve to cover it. "Yes." She sighed in resignation.

"You've had a bad few weeks if that's the case."

"No, the past few weeks were fine, today was the difficult one."

"Fine? Did Loki not harm you?"

"Why does everyone assume he hurt me? He never did anything to me. The only harm he ever inflicted on me was unintentional, and it was meant for Thor because he was hurting me. Loki was only trying to defend me." Lagertha stated in exasperation, sick of the incessant repeating of her words.

Sif eyed her carefully. "Perhaps there is still some good in Loki." She commented to herself.

"He is nowhere near perfect, but he was by no means cruel or dangerous."

"Sif, come we are…Lady Lagertha?" Thor looked at the tousled woman in front of him, looking even worse than when he left her with her father. "Should you not be at home?"

"Where I am is none of your concern." She growled angrily. "I told you where I wished to be and you blatantly ignored me."

The Warrior's Three stood behind their king, looking at the woman in front of them as though she was mad. Sif took a moment to look between Lagertha and Thor before she stood beside the other woman. "Thor, you said yourself you wanted Loki to go back to how he was, there was risk of that happening and you took it away again. You are my closest friend and my King, but by the Gods are you an idiot." She stated matter-of-factly. She turned to Lagertha. "Can you ride?" Lagertha shook her head. "Fine." She untied her horse and jumped up. She extended her arm and helped Lagertha to get up behind her as the men stood staring in shock. "Just hold on, think you can do that?"

"Definitely. Why are you helping me?" She asked as Sif turned the horse and got it to canter off.

"Loki was not always as angry as he is now, the right maybe company will bring out that side of him again. That and I can hardly ignore the plight of another who is forced to deal with Thor's occasional lack of good sense, and who is more than capable of calling him up on it. Is this what you wish?"

"Yes."

"Well then, we will take no time at this rate."

Lagertha voiced her gratitude as they continued to ride on. Her heart pounding hard in her chest as the Winter Palace came into view.