The rest of the visit to the smaller palace went by without incident, and it soon came time to return to the great palace in the city once more. The carriage you travelled in was filled with tension; you shared it with Frederick, Wilhelm, and Rebekkah, all of whom were looking among themselves, not saying anything, but only one topic on everyone's mind. You just stared at your hands, not wanting to even think about it, but only being able to.
"We have arrived."
You looked at Prince Thor's hand servant, thinking him to be joking, you had only been in the carriage a few hours; it was not possible for the journey to be over yet. Emerging from the carriage, you realised you were at a small, quaint inn in the centre of a woods. Looking to Wilhelm, you hoped to get an explanation.
"We are staying here tonight. The royal family are going to stay with a close friend of the Allmother's, but there is not room enough for us all, and we are surplus to requirement, so we are going to stay here."
"We had better not be sharing rooms," Rebekkah stated.
"Does this place look as though it can fit us all separately you silly cow?" Frederick snapped. "Norn's, how did you get the good chambermaid and I get stuck with that useless tart?" Frederick demanded to Wilhelm from the side of his mouth. Rebekkah scowled at him. "That face is an improvement of the one you usually have." The other hand servant commented.
"I am not staying in the same room as a thief." She declared loudly, knowing people around them would hear.
"That may be a physical difficulty," Wilhelm commented with a knowing grin on his face. "Girlie, do you care if we share a room?" You shrugged.
"Wait, why do I have to share a room with Rebekkah?" Frederick groaned. "I had to spend the past ten days sharing a common area with her."
"Why should either of us suffer her?" Wilhelm argued.
"I am right here." Rebekkah declared angrily.
"I think that is the issue." The words left your lips before you could stop yourself, causing the hand servants to chuckle.
She glared at you spitefully. "Forget you lot, I will stay with the Allmother's maids." She declared leaving them behind.
"What did any of them to deserve that?" Wilhelm commented.
"Who cares, she is not our problem now. The sooner she is gone, the sooner we can get on with our lives." Frederick sighed, walking into the inn.
"Is she planning on leaving?" Wilhelm asked.
"She made the point to tell me she plans on getting the head of housekeeping position." You added, following the men.
"Not this side of Ragnarok she is not. I have heard there is something is afoot." Frederick stated.
"Your source?" Wilhelm asked sceptically.
"Adelaide."
"That's good, there is a chance it is true so." Wilhelm sighed in relief.
"And the sooner the better."
You had to agree with Frederick.
The meal was delicious, and the other maids sat with you and the two hand servants, talking about all matter of things, especially the upcoming games that would be held in the city. Rebekkah decided not to join the group. You sat listening, not knowing what they were talking about.
Seeing this, one of the Queen's maids, Josephine decided to explain it to you. "Every year, there is a week of games, of all manner of sport, mostly combat to determine who is the best of the Aesir at several things. Needless to say, others are permitted to enter from other realms, but as the realm with the greatest warrior force, we surpass all others, and of all our warrior's, one surpasses them all."
"Prince Thor?" You wagered.
"Prince Thor is good, but there is something to Prince Loki, I dare say the day is close approaching where he will surpass his brother." Another maid, Anya declared.
"No, the Allfather will make sure that never happens." Wilhelm shook his head as he spoke.
"You are biased, Wilhelm." Frederick disregarded.
"Then why is it, coming up to every tournament, Loki is magically required for all manner of work bar training, in fact, four years running he has been sent off realm, why, why that week my friend?" Wilhelm challenged, Frederick could not answer. "You see, even the Allfather knows Loki is getting too good to allow in competition with his beloved heir."
"And with that, I am going to bed for myself." Anya rose to her feet, Frigga's other maids following suit.
"I have a suspicion that if I stay here, I will be dragged into a conversation I am not knowledgeable enough for." You smiled as you too rose to your feet.
"You are by yourself for the night are you not?" Josephine asked you.
"I believe so as my supposed roommate refuses to stay with me, yes." You replied.
"Thank the Norn's; you do not mind if I go in with you, do you, lass?" She asked.
You smiled at the older maid. "If you are alright with sharing a bed."
"I come from a time and place where a bed would have been a luxury, I am not one for complaining, and you are such a slip of a thing, it will not be like there is anyone else there."
You smiled and led the way to the room. "So you are the Allmother's head maid is it?" You asked as you began to get out what you needed for the night from your case.
"Not exactly." The woman stated. "I was, at one stage, but my daughter had her first child, my first grandchild, so I took a lesser role so I could help her, the child took a lot from her, so she needed the assistance, of course, Frigga did not hesitate to allow it, she is such a good woman, but then, she birthed a considerable child herself."
"Yes, Prince Thor is more like an ox than an Aesir." You agreed.
"That is an understatement." She chuckled. "She was not well for some time after that."
"I see. The maid that is with child, she did not come, is she alright?"
"Tara is too heavy with child to come, it would be too great a strain on her, she only does half day's work at present, and only because she herself insists it, the Allmother does not wish for her to over-exert herself."
"You enjoy working for the Allmother, do you not?" You asked.
"How could anyone not, she is a good woman." She smiled. "I have been working for her for two thousand years, and there has not been one day I wished to be anywhere else."
Your eyes widened at that. "That is a long time."
"It is." She agreed, "And in that time, I have seen every sort of worker and person come through the staff, some are good, more are bad, and most are mediocre. There have also been too many that are not trustworthy." You looked at her sadly. "But you, you are not one such maid, you are a good worker. I hear Prince Loki is very pleased with you."
"He seems to be."
"Seems to be? Lass he has demanded you be given an increase already. Not two months his maid and you are being given the same salary as that useless wench Rebekkah."
"I thought she has been here years?" You asked.
"There is one way to describe that girl," Josephine stated. "If there was work in the bed, she would sleep on the floor."
You bit your lips together to stop yourself laughing, but you failed miserably. "That was rude," you self-reprimanded.
"Perhaps, but it is true. Night lass."
"Goodnight." you smiled, getting into the bed on your side and curled up to go to sleep.
The next day was uneventful; a few smart comments from Rebekkah with regards Josephine checking her belongings, but other than that, nothing of note, and finally, you were able to return to the palace and in turn, your usual routine.
You were carrying a jug and fresh fruit back to Loki's rooms, minding your own business, when Josephine came towards you.
"Hey, lass. I need you to come with me."
"I...what?" You were completely at a loss at what she was saying.
"The Allmother wishes to speak with you for a moment." She explained. "Bring those to the prince's rooms and we'll head together." She offered.
You did just that, the older maid silently walking along with you. Neither Loki nor Wilhelm were in his rooms, so you placed what you had with you where they belonged and walked back out again, terrified as to what you were walking towards. You knew that there was only the slightest journey between Loki's rooms and his mothers. "Josephine, am I in trouble for something?" You asked, your voice shaking with fear.
"I cannot tell lass, all I was told was to find you and bring you to the Allmother." She replied. "She did seem to be in a concerned mood, but not a bad one."
You inhaled deeply, it could be a lot worse, concerned did not mean angry, and that was something. "Right." You exhaled again as you came to a beautifully ornate door.
"Do not stress lass, if there was something afoot to really concern yourself with, you would have known in your own mind beforehand," Josephine smiled, opening it, and walking inside, you followed dutifully.
Inside were a few of the maids you had been with for the time at the country palace, along with a few you knew to see around the palace. They watched you come in curiously, but nothing in any of their demeanours suggested any judgement or animosity. Josephine walked you through the room and came to a halt close to where you suspected there was a balcony behind a large curtain. You could hear voices outside, one male and one female, their words mere mufflings through the thick curtains.
"See that he does, I want this matter dealt with as soon as possible." The male voice commented, just on the other side of the curtain. It pulled back and you felt your head rise to see the towering figure over you. He seemed almost as broad as he was tall, his hair long grey with age, and where should have resided his right blue eye, was a golden patch in its stead, and in his hand, he held a huge golden staff, bigger even than himself. Immediately, you knew who it was that you were in the presence of; you had finally seen Odin himself in the flesh.
"And this is coincidently the only time this can be done," Frigga asked, her voice somewhat challenging to her husband.
"Meaning?"
"You think he cannot see what you are doing, five consecutive years this will be dear, he is too intelligent to not realise it. Why not, for one year, have Thor be gone, that way when Loki wins the games, people will think it is only because Thor is not here, and you can still hold him above his brother, and not have it be Thor as perpetual champion, or perhaps it is time they are able to face each other publically." Odin turned to face his wife, his anger apparent. "What is so wrong with the public seeing that Loki is the better fighter, he is to be Thor's right-hand man, his top general, surely to witness his abilities can only be a good thing."
"Thor is to be King, and a King must be seen as above all others," Odin argued.
"That is debatable." Frigga countered, her tone matching his. "You cannot treat him like this; he will only become colder if you do."
"That is a trait a general has to possess."
"A coldness to one's enemies, those who wish to harm those you, love, yes, but not to those you are supposed to love. Let him compete." Frigga beseeched.
"It has been arranged already, there is no going back on our word now, clearly you do not remember the fickleness of the Ljósálfar, they would take it as an insult and we will not be able to rectify it for centuries. They are nothing if not resentful." It was at that moment he turned and looked at his wife's maids in front of him, and then down at you, as you were directly in front of him. "Speaking of which, what is this?"
"Well to state you said 'speaking of which' you know it is an elfin maiden," Frigga stated coldly. "She is Loki's chambermaid."
"Loki has an elfin chambermaid?" Odin frowned at her. "Since when?"
"With nigh on two months." His wife shook her head in exasperation. "What does it matter?"
"Since when have we had elves working here?"
"I think we currently have six on staff in total," Frigga stated indifferently, not too sure what her husband was getting so irked by.
"Five your majesty." Anya corrected.
"Five then."
"And this one is Loki's?"
"She works for Loki, she is not a possession, he does not own her." His wife corrected.
"Do not get into semantics Frigga, you know well what I meant," Odin growled. "I must speak with Adelaide; have her sent to my rooms." He growled to Josephine, the maid gave her employer a momentary glance, the queen nodded, and the maid made her way to the door once more. You looked nervously at the king, who seemed almost fascinated by you. "You have my pity dealing with my contrary son daily, that is all I can say." He stated, before leaving the room.
"Norn's that man can be a headache." You heard Frigga sigh as she rubbed her fingers to her temple. "I am sorry to call you from your chores, but I wished to speak with you for a moment or two."
"Is everything alright with my work, Your Majesty?" You asked fearfully.
The Queen looked at you sadly. "Yes, according to my son, your work has been more than satisfactory, so much so that he is after requesting you a pay rise already and anytime I have come to his rooms, I have witnessed myself your good work." She gave an encouraging smile. "Come out onto the balcony with me." She moved to go back to where she had just been with her husband, you followed dutifully, looking around wide-eyed at the beautiful view she had from it. "You seem to think everything you do is about to be ridiculed." She commented.
"I work for the royal family of Asgard, everything is expected to be perfect." You answered politely.
The Queen nodded slightly at that. "That is almost true, perfection is something all strive for, but I doubt many with any form of intelligence will state exists. We request brilliance, it is true, but perfection is not something any can achieve."
"Then why...?"
"You have had a less than pleasurable time of it of late." You looked at her fearfully. "I have been informed of what someone has done to you. My son knows that you were in no way involved in the terrible act you were accused of doing, and I too believe it."
"Thank you Your Majesty." You felt your heart skip a beat in relief at her words.
She gave a smile at your reaction. "How are you doing? He is not the easiest person to deal with."
You frowned. "Honestly Your Majesty, I have not had a single issue with your son." The Queen cocked her head slightly at you. "He has been nothing but pleasant to me and I enjoy working for him. He is meticulous, yes, I would never state otherwise, but so am I, as is Wilhelm, it leads to there not being any conflict with regards my work."
"I am glad to hear that." She smiled.
"Can I be bold your Majesty?" The Queen nodded. "Why is Loki being seen as being a better fighter than Prince Thor not allowed?"
"I honestly do not know." She stated, her upset blatant.
"It cannot be easy to be forced to watch your sons be pitted against each other as they are."
"It breaks my heart."
"How can Loki ever be his brother's right-hand man if he is forced to be made hate him?"
The Queen swallowed, looking at you fearfully. "You think he will?"
"How can he not?"
"In so little time, you have figured my Loki out, has Wilhelm been of help with that?"
"He does not have to, even the blind could see it."
"If that was so, you would think even with one eye, my husband would see that." Frigga sighed.
"He is blinded by something that is not lack of sight." You commented.
"You are such a good fit for my son." She smiled. "You best go back to your chores."
"When is he to be told he is leaving?"
"I had best do it soon, get some of his favourite foods from the kitchens, he is not going to like this. Prepare yourself, you are about to see Loki at his worst."