Vallera - chapter 10
Vallera didn't know how she had gotten to bed, nor did she recall Loki putting her under with a sleeping spell. Yet there she was asleep. Dreaming. She dreamt of a time when she was a child, practicing needlepoint in her room. She sat cross-legged on her bed, working on some floral pattern she had long forgotten the detail of.
A young Freyr, mid-teens, walked in as Vallera pricked her finger. She cursed. "Sorry, not ladylike," she apologized, noting her brother's presence.
"No, it's not," her brother chuckled.
"I wish I could just learn fighting like you. At least there you're supposed to stab things," she grumbled sarcastically.
Her brother smiled, seating himself on the edge of her bed. "Perhaps I can teach you some more tonight... If you can sneak out that is..." he said, looking to the shimmering bars on her window.
Vallera smirked. "Already done." Freyr watched as the bars faded from view then returned in a shimmering light.
Freyr shook his head, amused. "You have a gift for magic. I don't know when or how you learn such things, but don't stop. I still cannot produce illusions."
"That's because you're always busy with other things."
"It's not just that. But, yes. I have to be king one day. I have much to learn and do."
Vallera looked down at her hands. "Do you really have to be king?"
He nodded. "If I'm not king, you'll have to be queen."
"We could just leave."
Freyr laughed, believing her to be joking. "Come now, sister. You know I have a duty here. And you wouldn't leave your brother, would you?" he asked with a smile. Vallera smile reassuringly but in her heart, she was already half way out the door.
That had been the first of many such conversations over the years. Freyr always believed her to be jesting. He had been in denial up until the day they found her gone. Looking back, Vallera believed it wasn't the throne they feared, but becoming their parents. Cold. Distant. Obsessed with their rule, their wealth, their image.
Freyr had been her only source of love or affection. She could only imagine the look on his face when she left. The betrayal amd desertion he must have felt. And now he was gone. She had just gotten him back, had just returned to him, and now the only person she had ever loved was gone. Dead on the field of a battle she had seen coming. If she hadn't been so damned preoccupied with Loki she could have saved her brother. Damn him. It was all those Asgardians fault. She had been so focused on them, on getting their help, on Loki's "death". And what had they truly done for them? The fire giants were still strong. They'd be returning. What had those brothers done but get in the way. If she had just come straight to her brother everything would be different. Freyr would be alive. It was all their fault.
Right?
Then again, without them, that mountainous jotun would have killed her. Without Loki's training, she probably wouldn't have even made it that far. Come to think of it, what had Loki been doing while she was sitting in a mourning daze? How had anything gotten done? The only order she had given was to execute the war prisoners.
Vallera's unconscious mind was ripped towards a new scene. It was a world that was both dark and bright. The sky was blacked out by smoke and ash. A great orange wasteland spread out before her, dry and cracked. Red rock and cliffs broke the emptiness. An occasional geyser of fire and steam erupted with a loud burst. Slowly, a battle faded into view in front of her eyes. There, before her, stood a large jotun with a leather band around his forehead. For a moment she thought she reconized him. Then she realized, she was unarmed.
The jotun swung his blade at her. She stepped back to dodge but her foot only met air. She was unarmed, trapped, on a fucking cliff. Lovely. Unable to regain her footing, she was soon falling backward, plummeting towards a river of lava below. As Vallera fell, she thought she could hear her name. But then everything went black.
Vallera sat up in a bed. She wasn't sure which bed. Her room had been destroyed. It appeared to be a guest room somewhere in the inner levels of the castle. She wasn't sure what time it was but she could hear hammers and tools somewhere down the corridor outside the room. She got up and dressed, going to see what was going on.
Carpenters and masons were already hard at work. She wondered if they had started on their own from experience or if someone had given the order. Vallera wandered the halls for a while, unsure of where to go or what to do.
"Lady Vallera," a booming voice greeted. She turned to see Thor. "How do you fare this morning?"
She smiled half-heartedly. "Well enough. How um..." she started to ask, gesturing to the workers around them.
Thor nodded in understanding. "Ah yes. Loki gave the order." He saw the confused look on her face. "Does that offend you? I thought you knew..."
"No, no. It's fine. It's just... I'm suprised is all."
"I as well," Thor nodded.
A high ranking soldier, perhaps a captain Vallera wasn't sure, marched up and bowed before addressing her. "Your grace, your presence is requested in the war room."
Vallera nodded. "Very well." She turned to Thor, "Shall we?"
They arrived at the war room a short walk later. It was a large and still intact room near the center of the castle. Inside were half a dozen high ranking soldiers and a few important members of the council. They mumbled to eachother as they entered. Loki stood at large wooden table engraved with a map of Vanaheim. He nodded in acknowledgment as they made their way to the table. Her brother's general was the first to speak. He updated Vallera on the statistics and casualties of yesterday's battle. Honestly Vallera didn't know whether the facts were good or bad. She had never been trained in war, being a woman, and hadn't had much experience in her stay in the other realms. Thor and Loki seemed to understand perfectly. She would have to trust them.
Vallera's dark eyes scanned the table and the figurines representing troops when she notice something. "Where did they come from?" she asked mostly to herself but then looked to the general for an answer.
He seemed hesitant to answer. "We don't know your grace. There's no direct path between here and Muspelheim and no other realms have reported an army traveling through."
"Loki?" Vallera asked turning her eyes on him.
Loki's eyes scanned the map before he pointed. "There is a small path here."
"By small you mean...?" she asked.
Loki shook his head. "I can't imagine them being able to fit more than two jotun shoulder to shoulder through at a time."
"That would take far too long," Vallera mused. "There must be another way..." She turned and headed for the door. The general's voice halted her.
"Where are you going, your grace?"
"I'm going to go take a look at this path."
The general shook his head. "It is far too dangerous for you. Let me take some men..."
"No. If the jotun are watching, soldiers so close could cause them to attack. It will be far safer if I go alone. However, if you're so concerned, I can take an escort." The general stepped forward in expectation to recieve the job but Vallera looked to Loki. "Coming?" Loki bowed his head, accepting and they quickly headed out the door.
XxX
Loki and Vallera made their way through the forest. Everything was covered in a wet shine, droplets still dripping from the leaves. The smell of rain permeated the air. Vallera recognized this area of wood as being near where her brother died. They were going to have to pass the exact spot to get to the path.
As they neared, Vallera's pace slowed. The signs of battle were still evident. Scorched earth and dead burnt trees were everywhere. Blood was still caked in crevases that the rain could not reach. Her eyes caught sight of where her brother had lain. She slowly made her way over, pulled from her intended course as if by a magnet. Her brother's body had been removed yesterday, the ground still tampled and muddy. Vallera fell to her knees there in the muck and stared where her brother had lain.
Loki had stopped and watched cautiously as she made her way over and knelt. She was now exactly how he had found her. Loki walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It won't do you any good," he warned. "Moping in the mud." No response. "It's actually rather pathetic. Beneath you." Still nothing. Time to go deeper. "I am impressed, truly. Play the grieving sister and maybe everyone will forget that it was all. your. fault." His tone had darkened and he slowly circled her. Vallera's fists clenched in her lap. Loki didn't let up. "Have I effected you so or is this ploy all you? Do you think if you grieve hard enough it will make up for abandoning him, what was it? Eight hundrend and fifty seven years ago," he drew the number out, emphasizing it. "After all, how much could you truly care for someone you haven't seen in near a millennia?"
In a blink, Vallera stood, whirled on Loki, and slapped him with such force that it echoed in the surrounding forest. Loki's cheek was now a deep red as he smirked and turned towards her. "Finally. A spark." Confusion crossed Vallera's face. "Moping about won't do you any good. Like it or not, you are a queen now. A queen at war. And your people, your brother's people, will look to you for strength." A single tear slowly made its way down Vallera's pale cheek. Loki's voice softened, "Freyr wouldn't want you to mourn. Remember him with joy, not how he died. Turn your sorrow to rage. Take your vengeance and win this war." He placed a hand on her cheek and wiped away the tear with his thumb.
Vallera closed her eyes, breathed deep, then opened her eyes again. "Thank you," she said quietly.
"Come. Let's see to that path."
XxX
Vallera and Loki had gone to the path and found that it had been expanded upon since Loki had last used it. They walked the path carefully to take a quick look around. It exited on a desert that Vallera recognized from her most recent vison. In the distance they could see a jagged castle of black glass. There were no soldiers in the immediate area, for now at least. Vallera guessed they must be at the castle restoring both weapons and soldiers.
They had since returned to Vanaheim, making their way towards the war room. Vallera had called for the other members of that morning's meeting to return when she had entered the city walls.
Thor stood, just down the hall from the war room, watching the pair make their way towards him. He noticed that Vallera behaved different. Instead of slouching, the weight of grief bearing down on her, she stood tall. Her eyes, rather than dull and lifeless, now had a light behind them. Thor knew Loki must have had something to do with her change and knew instantly that he must be up to something.
Thor nodded in acknowledgment to Vallera and clamped a hand hard on Loki's shoulder as he passed, stopping him. Vallera paused and looked at the brothers curiously. Loki saw the expression on Thor's face and nodded for Vallera to go on. She looked them over suspiciously before heading into the war room.
"You look happy to see me, dear brother," Loki smirked.
Thor squeezed his shoulder in warning. "I don't know what you scheme, Loki, but it stops now. That woman is grieving, she hasn't the strength..."
"That woman is stronger than you know," Loki said calmly. Thor's grip lightened and a look of confusion crossed his face. "Shall we?" Loki asked, looking towards the door. Thor searched his brother's face for some sign of deceit or of his intentions. Finding nothing, Thor released him and let Loki brush passed before joining him.
XxX
*Sorry there were no extra chapters this week. All my documents disappeared so I've been trying to rewrite everything I had. Almost caught up so hopefully I can get another chapter out quick.
-Hel*