"All rise! The Thyng is now open! All praise to Odin All-Father, King of Asgard, Emperor of the Nine, and God of Justice! Come forward, ye who seek justice, and ye shall be heard!"

The courtroom rang with the announcer's words, but Carol barely registered them. Her head was still spinning, and not just from the recent blow to her head.

Asgard.

Thor.

Loki.

Baldr.

Eir.

Odin.

Frigga.

ASGARD.

Carol wasn't even on EARTH. How could she be on another planet? She had been ready to accept some sort of military base, or a secret society tucked away north of Reykjavik. The world was a big place, and there were plenty of odd things (and people) in it. Technology changed all the time...

Thinking was making her head spin again. Lady Eir placed a comforting hand on Carol's arm and murmured something in the young woman's ear. Dazzled by the splendor of the Valholl court, and surrounded by the press of Aesir citizens, Carol didn't hear her. She was still trying to process the information given her when Thor had come to her rescue in the House of Eir, as well as her surroundings. It was a lot to take in. A tug at her arm made her wince, however, and Carol gave Eir her full attention.

"I apologize, Lady Eir. This be a lot to take in so quickly. What was it you said?"

Lady Eir tutted at her. "Pay attention, lass. I said, no matter how strong the compulsion, that you must not look the All-Father in the eye. He has but one, and it blazes like the sun. T'would be overwhelming for a Midgardian such as yourself, to be so exposed to the All-Father's magic."

Carol nodded. "I've had all the overwhelming I can take, Lady Eir. Thank you."

It was hard standing for so long, but somehow Carol managed. The court was full, and her hands twitched with nerves. She busied them adjusting the white dress Lady Eir had loaned her for the occasion, or tucking the wispy hair that had begun to grow underneath her headscarf. Carol wasn't used to being so covered. She felt a bit like a nun, but appreciated the camouflage. She didn't want people staring at the scars that glared red on her dark skin.

The cases ahead of them went swiftly. Two farmers argued over a cow that had broken down a fence and trampled a family garden. Odin gave the cow back to the original owner, but declared that the man must share the produce of his own garden to soften the blow of the family's loss, and give his neighbor the cow's next calf. A married landlord who had seduced his tenant's daughter was ordered flogged, and property rights given to her father as recompense for her deflowering. (Carol was grateful the flogging was not carried out in the court.) A farmhand was awarded a goat for wages held back by his employer. A vicious gossip was sentenced to two days confinement in the public stocks. "That she may appreciate what it is to have others wag their heads at her in shame, as she has done to others, so shall it be done to her," Odin declared.

Finally it was their turn. The battered and bruised merchant stepped forward, dividing his glances between Carol (spiteful) and Thor (fearful). His daughter, Edelstenn, clung to his side, wide-eyed as Carol at being in the royal court.

"State your name, hometown, occupation, and charges," boomed the court announcer.

"I am Ragir Ofbeldison, your Majesty. I come from Outer Glysping, where I am a merchant and a landowner. I was assaulted unjustly by your son, Prince Thor, as I was retrieving my dottir from the House of Eir only yesterday."

There was a murmur in the crowd. Thor Odinson's temper was widely known, and an altercation between the crown prince and a fat merchant could hardly be a fair fight.

"I do not wish to say aught against the crown, your Majesty, but seek only recompense for the injury wrongly given me by a lad who does not know how to control his temper," Ragir continued.

Odin raised an eyebrow. "Hmmm. Thor, son of Odin, what say you to this? Did you indeed strike this man?"

Thor glowered at the shrinking merchant before turning to his father. "I did, Father."

"Why did you do so? And in front of his child in the House of Eir, a place of healing?" Odin pulled at his beard idly, looking thoughtfully at his son.

"I was summoned by Lady Eir to her office, as trouble was brewing," Thor stated. "When I walked into the office, I saw this Ragur..."

"Ragir!" The merchant corrected him indignantly.

"Ragir, strike down another patient of Lady Eir: a woman of Midgard already under the protection of the Royal House. She could not defend herself, nor did she try to escape the blow. The blow I gave Ragir," the God of Thunder glowered down at the merchant, who shrank from him, "was given in her defense."

"I didn't know it belonged to the court!" The merchant protested. "I only sought to teach it a lesson for its wicked tongue!"

"You knew she was somebody's ward," Thor growled. "You should have taken any matter of slander up with her guardian!"

"I did it no real harm! T'was just a slap! It had it coming! You nearly took off my head!"

"T'was such a slap I gave you," Thor pointed out. "Perhaps you should spar with men, and not women and children, and grow aught besides glass in your jaw!"

"ENOUGH," Odin rumbled, and the floor shook. "Where is the maiden in question?"

Lady Eir gave her a prod, and Carol stepped forward. "I am here, your Majesty," she said, bowing.

"State your name, family, and hometown for the record," insisted the court recorder.

Lady Eir had coached her on what to say. "I am Carol, daughter of James, fourth of that name, of the Dahl Clan. My family resides south of Dublin, in Ireland, on Earth, which you call Midgard."

The crowd muttered. Apparently it had been a long time since anyone from Midgard had visited Asgard.

Odin looked thoughtful. "Karl is a strange name for a maid," he said, stroking his beard, "and the report I have states you came from the Iseland, and not the Ireland," he pointed out.

Carol had run into this often in Iceland. Their alphabet did not have the letter 'C', using only 'K' for the hard 'C' sound, and 'S' where the softer form was needed. Hearing the hard 'C', people often mistook her name for the masculine 'Karl'. She bowed again. "My name is properly pronounced 'Kare-ol', your Majesty. In my country, the word indicates a song sung for the winter holidays. In your tongue, it is 'Julesang'. As for where I was found," she paused, and a shudder ran through her. Her voice, when she spoke again, was hoarse. "I were rescued from Iseland, where some sought to kill me, but my family lives indeed in Ireland."

Odin frowned, looking thoughtfully at Carol, and nodded. "Karol, called Yulesang, Jamesdottir, of the house of Dahl," he declared, and then turned to the merchant, Ragir.

"Is this the maiden you struck?"

"It is, your Majesty," Ragir said, sneering in her direction, "though I doubt it deserves the title, given the barbarity of its people."

Odin frowned even deeper. "Your bigotry is duly noted, merchant. Midgard and her people are under the protection of Asgard, as you may recall. Her people are people indeed, though much younger. They are not base creatures, to be so dismissed. You claim the right in striking her. Why?"

The merchant sneered. "She slandered me, and would not be silent when corrected. A snarling dog, or child for that matter, may expect a slap from its betters. I gave her no less than what her actions warranted."

Carol flushed with anger, and only Eir's steadying hand on her elbow made her hold her tongue. The bright eye of Odin turned to her next, though, and Carol had to avert her eyes.

"Ragir speaks some sense, though we feel there is more to the story. Did you indeed slander this man to his face?"

Carol bowed. "I am a stranger in a strange land, your Majesty. Please tell me what is slander here, and I will answer."

"You hear for yourself her impudence! She dares to direct the king!" Ragir shouted.

Odin held up a hand, and Ragir fell silent. "The child may ask for clarification, without fault," he growled at the merchant. Turning back to Carol, he smiled patiently. "Art more clever than you let on, though, child. The word translated to you as 'slander' in the All-Tongue is the same in My lands as it is in yours: a defamatory statement, made public or in front of witnesses, which the speaker knew, or should have known, was false. Did you make such a statement of Ragir's person or character?"

Carol bowed. "No, your Majesty. I did not."

"LIES!" Ragir bellowed. "You named me coward and liar to the entire House of Eir!"

Odin raised an eyebrow. "Is this true?" He demanded of Carol.

"It is, your Majesty."

"And why do you say this is not slander?"

"The statements I made were true," Carol asserted. "They are therefore, by definition, not slander: only unwelcome and unwanted."

"Then we are at an impasse," said Odin, settling back in his chair. "The Maid of Midgard asserts that what she said is true and not slander. If such is the case, then Ragir's strike against her was without warrant, and Thor Odinson's defense is valid. If what the Maid said was without warrant, then the strike to her was deserved, though delivered improperly, and Thor Odinson stands guilty of assault and battery." The king looked down at the trio and frowned. "Maid of Midgard: what led you to accuse the Merchant of Outer Glysping of such foulness as cowardice and lying?"

Carol bowed again. "Your Majesty, the Merchant gave his daughter-a child of only 6 years-a grave injury for a child's mistake, and then lied to the entire House of Eir as to how it happened, and did coach the child to lie as well, to cover his deed."

"YOU LYING WENCH! YOU DARE SLANDER ME TO THE COURT?!" Ragir roared with indignation. "I'LL HAVE YOU PUT IN THE STOCKS FOR THIS!"

A glare from Odin silenced the inflating merchant, and the King of Asgard turned to Lady Eir.

"With what injury was the Ragirdottir consigned to your house?"

Lady Eir stepped forward and bowed. "Edelstenn Ragirdottir was brought to me with a badly broken arm. She needed surgery to re-set the bones, and was in need of constant care afterward. She has been in my House now for just over a fortnight, my Lord."

"And to what did Ofbeldison attribute this injury?"

"My Lord, he said t'was from a fall from a horse. The child has said as much in the fortnight since her arrival."

"Do you have reason to doubt this explanation?"

Lady Eir hesitated.

"You are before your King, Lady Eir. Keep silent you may not," Odin chided.

The Healer sighed. "I do doubt this tale, my Lord. The fractures sustained by this child," she motioned to the still-casted Edelstenn, "are inconsistent with such a fall. Only a dual-twisting motion would produce such a break. Had her arm broken in a fall, the break pattern would be different."

"A dual-twisting motion...such as when one wrings out a rag?" Odin's face began to redden.

"Yes, my Lord."

"Ofbeldison," the king growled, "how do you account for this?"

"My...my child fell from her horse, my Lord," the merchant stammered, "and as she fell, her arm caught in the saddle, and twisted until it broke!"

Carol thought that Odin's glare turned radioactive. The merchant seemed to shrink for a moment as everyone's eyes turned on him, but then he puffed up again.

"And no one can say differently, for only I saw the accident!" Ragir huffed.

"Edelstenn knows what happened," Carol offered, "and she has said differently."

Ragir's eyes, trained on Carol, were full of hate.

"My child cannot speak in the Royal Court, wench. You'll not call my own body and flesh against me!"

"And yet, if the child indeed told a different story, t'would explain the Midgardian's accusation against you," Odin said thoughtfully, and then turned to Carol. "I presume you did not see the images of Ragirdottir's bones, prior to confronting him?"

"I dinna, your Majesty," Carol admitted. "Edelstenn confessed to me privately o' her father's actions. I then spoke to the Lady Eir, who confirmed it."

Ragir turned a blood-red face down to his daughter. "YOU are the cause of all this trouble? By the Crown, you shall pay for your wickedness!" The man was apoplectic. "Just you wait until we get home, mother's-bane!"

Edelstenn's tiny face drained of color, and she began to wail with fear. "No, Papa! Please! Please!"

"What will ye do to her now, merchant? Break her other arm? Her jaw, perhaps?" Carol was livid. "What excuse will you use then with Lady Eir?"

"You stay out of this, Midgardian wretch! How I discipline my child is my own business, and not even the King can say otherwise!" Ofbeldison roared back.

"BEG...TO...DIFFER!" Odin's statement made the floor shake, and the merchant, paling, turned to face his King.

"You broke your dottir's arm." There was no question now in Odin's voice.

"She...the clumsy spawn dropped my late wife's favorite vase...and broke it...I meant to teach her to be careful..." Ragir stammered.

"And you lied to Lady Eir about it, endangering your own dottir's care," the King continued, quietly.

Carol thought that quiet Odin was even scarier that loud Odin.

"I...I didn't want to distract the woman's tender mind with tales that didn't concern her..." Ragir continued lamely, whining.

"And you have lied in open court to your King."

Ragir paled and swallowed a large lump that suddenly formed in his throat. The rest of the court was eerily silent. Odin turned suddenly to Carol.

"Karol, called Julesang, Jamesdottir of the house of Dahl, you are cleared of the charge of slander," Odin said regally. "The blow you endured was given to you unjustly. I also think," he peered at her thoughtfully, "that you endured it on purpose. Is that so?"

Carol bowed. "That is true, your Majesty. It were the only way I could think o', to get the Ofbeldison before a magistrate. Lady Eir did tell me that the child could nae speak to a judge on her own behalf," she admitted. "But I thought that I could press charges, were he to strike me, an' he did."

"Very clever," Odin said, nodding. "Thor, son of Odin," he continued, turning to the blond giant in the middle of the floor, "you are cleared of assault and battery, and as your king and father, I do commend you for your action in protecting the Maid of Midgard."

"Thank you, All-Father," Thor said, placing his right hand over his chest and bowing his head.

"The blow Ragir gave to the Maid was unjust, but it has been properly avenged by Thor's counter-strike," Odin declared. "The scales tip even here."

Carol's heart sank, and she stole a glance at the weeping child across the room. Ragir was still staring at her with hatred.

"But it appears there is another matter within this case, that is brought to the Thyng," Odin declared. "What shall we do with the Ofbeldison, who has lied to the King, and the King's agents, and who has harmed the King's ward? For all of the children of Asgard belong to the Crown, LET ALL MY PEOPLE KNOW IT!" Odin thundered, and the crowd shrank back.

"THOR!" Odin shouted.

Thor's head snapped up: surprised. "Yes, Father?" His voice was low, and thunder rolled outside.

"LOKI!" Odin's voice shook the building.

A flash of green fire brought a man with long, dark hair to stand next to the blond giant. "Yes, Father?"

"BALDER!" Odin's voice rang like a bell.

"Yes, Father?" Another blond giant, this one not quite as tall as Thor, appeared with a flash of white light, and his presence light up the Thyng.

"HODR!" Odin's voice, black and threatening, twisted through the Hall.

"Yes, Father?" A tall man, clad all in black and with short, dark red hair, stepped out of a shadow. He tapped with a long stick, for he was blind, and the people shrank from him. The God of Darkness was feared indeed.

"TYRE!" Odin's voice crashed like ringing swords.

"Yes, Father?" Another red-headed giant appeared, seeming to shimmer up from the ground itself, like a sword pulled out of its sheath. His left arm ended in a stump, and was covered with a metal band where his hand should have been.

"My SONS," Odin declared, "turn about and see your people! Gods of Thunder, of Mischief and Magic, of Light, of Darkness, and of War, see the people of Asgard! People of Asgard: behold my SONS."

The five princes were each chiseled images of male perfection, and there was a lot of sighing among the women in the crowd. What a pity, thought Carol to herself, that I dinna want a man any longer. Odin's sons are hot indeed.

"Father isn't trying to marry one of us off again, is he?" Baldr said in a quiet aside to Loki.

Loki only shrugged.

But the King wasn't finished. Glaring down at the cowering merchant, he gestured to the five princes between them.

"Just over a thousand years have I been a father," King Odin declared, "and I defy any man to raise a brood like this," he continued coldly, "and not call it a challenge. But despite all that, I NEVER HAD TO BREAK A BONE. You, son of Ofbeldi, are a poor father, and a cowardly man: a disgrace to my realm."

Ragir Ofbeldison quailed before the King.

"You lack any care or even empathy for your own flesh and blood. I am minded to strip you of your parental rights, until such time as I am convinced of your repentance and true concern for her welfare," Odin declared. "Lady Eir: is there room in your house yet for this child?" The King asked softly.

"There is, my Lord," Eir said, bowing. "She is a delight, and is most welcome."

"Then shelter her you will, until she is well, and her mother's kindred can be found, or a foster can be located." Odin declared. "Take her from my court."

Eir bowed and complied, comforting the sobbing Edelstenn as they left. Carol smiled.

"Ragir, I strip you of your fatherly rights, since you seem unfit for those duties," Odin continued.

Ragir seemed to relax. He was being delivered from a responsibility he really didn't want. It was hard work, after all, to court another woman with a child already in the home. He actually smiled.

"My King knows best," he simpered, bowing.

"And your King is mindful that you need a lesson in both manners and empathy," Odin said coldly. "One unafraid of lying to his King cannot be trusted with matters of goods, weights, and measures. Your license as a merchant is hereby forfeited, and your property is seized. It shall be held in trust for your dottir's care, until you prove yourself ready to be a father again to her, with better wisdom. If her wedding day comes before such a time appears, then your land and holdings will be transferred to her as her dowry, ne'er to be visited by you again, except by her will."

Ragir gulped again.

"Guards," Odin growled softly, "seize me this merchant and hold him!"

A pair of men in matching armor stepped forward and grabbed the suddenly squirming merchant by the elbows. Odin leaned forward.

"Your lesson in empathy will start with the same pain you gave your six-year-old dottir," Odin said darkly. "You broke her arm, and you broke faith with Me, your King. Baldr and Hodr: gods of Justice and Darkness!"

"Yes, Father," the two men spoke as one.

"Break his arms: one for his dottir's pain, and one for his broken honor. May the pain teach him the value of justice, and may his healing drive the selfish, cowardly darkness out of his heart!"

A tap sounded on the floor as Hodr's walking stick led him to the quavering merchant. The shining god and the shadowy one stepped forward, and each grabbed the merchant by one arm. Two cracks and a pitiful shriek from the merchant later, and the guards dragged his unconscious form from the Thyng.

Carol was shaken. She hadn't expected to see such a brutal sentence carried out; in Ireland the man would have been confined to jail and fined at the most. She suddenly wished for Lady Eir, but the Healer had already left the Hall. Alone, she began to panic. She was surrounded by strangers...

"Karol, called Yulesang, Jamesdottir of the House of Dahl," the king said thoughtfully, looking down at her even as the unconscious merchant was dragged out of the Hall.

"Yes, your Majesty?" Carol couldn't keep the shake out of her voice.

"We have one more problem to address. How came you to Asgard?" Odin asked thoughtfully.

"I dinna know," Carol admitted. "Me last moments in Iceland, I were near death. I woke in Lady Eir's house, an' it were disguised as a hospital."

"Have you any family here?" Odin stopped tugging on his beard, and rested his chin on his fist instead.

Carol shook her head. "None that I know of, your Majesty."

Baldr stepped up. "Father, tests show that the Lady Karol does indeed have Aesir blood in her veins. We have had to focus our efforts on her healing, and have not been able to isolate her family yet."

Odin nodded. "Then until such time as your family here can be found, I do so declare you Karol, called Julesang, Jamesdottir, a ward of the Royal Court. When the Lady Eir declares you healed enough to leave her tending, you shall find refuge in my house and holdings, until your proper family can be found."

Carol bowed her head. "Thank you, your Majesty."

"How knew you that the Ofbeldison was lying?"

The king's question caught her by surprise. "I dinna know, your Majesty," she shrugged. "Only, when I heard the story from Edelstenn and later from Ofbeldison: the truth were not in either's story."

"How knew you this?" The King's question was gentle, but probing.

Carol was at a loss. She didn't know how she knew. She had just...felt it. "I...I dinna know." She shook her head. "I cannae say how I knew. It were sommat I felt, sort o'," she poked a hand at her heart, "here. Sommat twisted, inside, an' I knew. I cannae explain it."

Odin's eyebrows rose. "Art a truthsayer, then?"

"I dinna know what that rightly is, your Majesty," she hesitated a moment, "but my Da...my father...him 'tis impossible to lie to. He always knows, somehow, an' there be many boys that sought to court me wrongfully that fled from him, methinks. My gran-da were the same way."

Odin smiled. "Tis the mark of a good father, to so take care of his maiden daughter. The gift of truth-saying indeed runs in your blood, Karol Julesang. 'Tis a good indicator of Aesir ancestry, for 'tis a common gift here." He smiled kindly at the forlorn woman. "Art willing to swear fealty to the Crown of Asgard for the duration of your stay, Julesang?"

"I be forbidden from swearing oaths, your Majesty, by my faith and the faith of my family, but if my obedience and faithfulness to your law be your wish, then you shall have it. My aye be aye, and my nay be nay," she declared, shaking a bit.

"T'will serve," Odin nodded his acceptance. "Baldr, you will escort Lady Julesang back to Lady Eir's house."

"Yes, Father." The shining god turned to the maid and extended his hand. "Come, my lady."

Loki, the stern-looking raven-haired god Carol had seen appear in green flames, stepped suddenly up to Baldr and Carol. "Brother, I would accompany you both back to Eir's House. I have wished to interview the woman since her arrival, but have been prevented by her inability to speak. Now that her tongue is loosed, we may find out the truth of her ordeal."

His voice was deep, and though he did not threaten Carol, she still found him foreboding. Suddenly she was very aware of the crowd around her: the press of flesh, the curious stares, even some of the possessive glances thrown her way by some of the men. Lady Eir was the only person, besides Edelstenn, that Carol had known in the building, and now both were gone, leaving her surrounded by strangers. Thor walked up to his brothers, smiled kindly at Carol, and spoke in low tones, but Carol couldn't hear him.

Her throat was tightening, and her lungs constricting. The men in front of her seemed to move in slow motion: one of them reaching for her arm even as he spoke in low tones with the other. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she shrank instinctively away from the grasping fingers. Their words turned into a senseless rumble in her ears...she couldn't breathe, and the only sound she could make out was the pounding of her own heart...the room started to go dark...She wished to run, but there was nowhere to go, and her feet would not move...

WHAP. Hodr's walking stick thumped the trio in the chest. "Hold, my brothers! The maid is terrified of you. Can you not hear the pounding of her heart? Lay off, I say!"

Baldr started and withdrew his hand, looking at Carol's face for the first time. The look in her eyes reminded him of a terrified deer, and he cursed his own insensitivity.

"My apologies, Lady Karol," he soothed, a soft glow radiating from his skin. "Please do not fear us: we mean you no harm," he said gently.

Alone...surrounded...

"Perhaps Mother should be called?" Loki suggested.

"I am here," a golden voice said, and the four tall gods bowed their heads in deference to their mother. "Karol Julesang, Jamesdottir, look on me." The voice was quiet and gentle, soft like silk but strong as steel, and it broke through the fog that was Carol's thinking. "Look on me, now, child."

Carol tore her eyes away from the surrounding giants, and found herself face to face with the Queen of Asgard: a stately woman with red-gold hair, wrapped in a silver gown and wearing a golden circlet on her head. Her eyes were an intense blue, and as she looked into them Carol found her fear evaporating.

"You have had much pain, child, but shalt find rest with us. Let go of your fear, if you can. You are safe here," the Queen soothed, "my sons will do you no harm. Come now, child," she urged, extending her hand, "I would show you to your rooms, and properly introduce you to a friend. Come with me, Karol Julesang: have no fear."

Carol remembered her manners suddenly, and dropped one knee in a clumsy curtsey. "Thank you, my Lady," she whispered, giving Queen Frigga her battered fingers.

Queen Frigga turned to one of her handmaidens. "Set the solarium for luncheon for three," she ordered quietly, then quickly tucked Carol's proffered hand into the crook of her own arm. "Let us go, child, and leave this busy place behind."

Carol could only nod.

TBC