Today, Artemis was finally going to get the chance to be herself. It was a chance to be free, to be an individual, to be happy. Today, she was going hunting.
It had been Thor's idea to do it. Apparently, after listening to all the wonderful stories that Artemis and her handmaidens had accumulated over the years, he thought it would be an exciting way to spend an afternoon as a group. He had proposed the idea over dinner the night before, a private dinner that had been organized for just the two of them, and it took every ounce of her self-restraint not to leap across the table and kiss him. Mind you, she had no real desire to kiss him, but when he presented her with the idea of an afternoon hunting trip, the urge was quite overwhelming. However, it was a gesture of gratitude that she wished to portray, not attraction.
It wasn't to say that Artemis wasn't attracted to Thor. Physically, she could appreciate him as a man, and he certainly had some handsome features to his physique, much like Orion did. However, it was his personality that she felt was their main source for the lack of chemistry. Yes, he was very friendly, outgoing, and always one to step forth should a task need to be done. However, it was the stereotypical brute behaviour that threw her off. She could tolerate men acting like men – in fact, there had been a time where she encouraged it. When they did behave in such a way, unfortunately, Artemis found herself gravitating toward them with friendship in mind. Now, friendship was a necessity for a good marriage, and if that was her trajectory, then so be it. However, it would have been better if there had been some romantic spark to catch her interest immediately, but perhaps it would grow with time. Artemis knew she could be patient if she wished, and her relationship with Thor might require a great deal of patience if she was going to endure it.
Artemis had been on Asgard for almost three months at this point, and she found herself much less lonely. It had become much easier to fall into Thor's inner circle of friends when she stopped segregating her spare time from them. At first, it had been all too easy to drag her handmaidens away and spend her days in solitude with no one else at her side. It was as if she did not want to even begin to set down roots in Asgard, worried that she would lose her ties to Olympus if she let anyone else into her private world.
However, Callisto finally took her aside and insisted on the importance of making strong connections with her husband's companions, as they would be infinitely helpful in her future should she ever need anything. Besides, the Warriors Three had their own charming qualities that she could appreciate, particularly when they stopped placing her on a pedestal in the training arena, as though she might break apart at the first blow. When she proved that she was just as good at handling an axe as Volstagg, or almost as skilled as Hogun when it came to knife wielding, Artemis was wholly accepted into the training arena without a complaint.
The Lady Sif was similar to her in personality, and Artemis found it easiest to bond with her over a moderately sized glass of wine and a deck of cards. The Asgardian woman seemed to handle Thor with ease, and Artemis planned to take advantage of their obvious friendship – which had developed since childhood, apparently – when it came closer to the time of her wedding. Men knew little of the true desires of women, and should Artemis be concerned about how her intended may react or not in certain situations, she was sure she could count on Lady Sif to give her pointers. Her interactions with Thor might be perceived as flirtatious, especially if they had been drinking, but Artemis merely shrugged it off. No jealousy emerged should she catch Sif clutching Thor's arm during a jest; her reaction was usually quite the opposite – pleasure that someone else distracted Thor's focus. Men and women were always going to share an energy that underlined some more basic desires, but Artemis had never once thought for more than a second that her intended and the Lady Sif went beyond their childhood friendship into something deeper.
If they had done so in the past, that was hardly her concern – she was not the virgin she pretended to be, no matter what her father thought. Therefore, Thor's previous sexual relationships were hardly any of her business, and she had no intention of ever prying.
Now, it took her a few weeks to truly find herself settled among Thor's friends, but before that she felt as though her friendship with Loki had been settled. Just as Thor had Sif to lean on in group settings, Artemis was sure her fiancé would be pleased that his brother was there to distract Artemis whenever the desire took him. The Asgardian god was different than any man she had ever associated with before, and it was shockingly refreshing. Thor and his companions had never been a mystery to her, not from the second she arrived in the realm. However, Loki continued to elude her understanding, though it was fairly obvious why he was labeled the Trickster of Asgard. He had a bit of a skill for pranks, and sometimes she saw them in action, while other times he merely filled her in on them later when they sat together at dinner. Her usual response was to scold him lightly, but the mirth in her eyes made it plain that she appreciated the humour. When they were alone, Loki was interesting, intelligent, and clearly keen on keeping their budding friendship going.
There were other facets to his personality, naturally. He looked up to Thor, that much was obvious, and Artemis could detect moments of jealousy and annoyance whenever the darker of the princely brothers was overlooked by their father. In a way, she could understand the frustration, particularly since she grew up in the shadow of more impressive sisters. It wasn't something she would discuss with him unless he brought it up, as she noticed he went to great lengths to conceal his more negative emotions regarding Thor's behaviour or Odin's ignorance to his actions. Besides, men usually did not appreciate their weaknesses brought up in regular conversation, and while he may have been vexing, Loki was still a man at his core, and Artemis had no desire to ever embarrass him.
Out of all her new friends in Asgard, Loki was the one she wanted to be with the most. Whenever they were together, she had absolutely no idea where they would end up, and in a way, it was exciting. Whenever she was alone with Thor, she could almost plan out her conversation topics in advance, and all of them would be covered with minimal detail, and then the two would go their separate ways. They spoke much more freely when they were in a group setting, which contrasted her relationship with his brother; she and Loki spoke of all things in private – family, friends, pets, the economic and social customs of Asgard… Not everything was interesting, mind you, but it was the way they shaped their discussions that kept Artemis coming back for more. Loki was playful in private, and respectful in public, and she appreciated that.
After all, the pair spent a great deal of time together with and without a pair of chaperones. People were bound to notice their closeness, the way they could both silently laugh at something ridiculous with a mere raising of an eyebrow and a look – well, people were bound to talk. Thor seemed to hardly bat an eye at the friendship, and was always pleased to wander in on the two of them alone in a garden chatting. Never once had her intended expressed a dislike for either of their behaviour. In fact, no one that mattered had discouraged her relationship with Loki, so she had no intentions of limiting the way she interacted with him for the sake of the gossips.
Oh, and there were gossips. Artemis finally cornered Nomia one morning and demanded to know what had been said about her, mostly for her own curiosity. The human handmaiden was always the first to break under a direct order, and that time had been no exception. The servants thought her frigid with Thor, but curiously amiable otherwise, though the demands she had for Echo could sometimes be taxing. The nobles were displeased that Artemis never followed Frigga around at social gatherings, though it was mostly the women that had this complaint. The man, on the other hand, dismissed her as a second Lady Sif: full of fight, masculine energy, and a desire to blend in with Thor's men. Nomia knew less about the people of Asgard, but Artemis barely had a reputation beyond the palace – which was both a blessing and a curse, as it meant no one would start up ridiculous rumours about her, but eventually she would need to make a name for herself in association with Thor if she was destined to be queen.
Nothing that the gossips said had affected her, even though she knew she ought to care what people thought. However, Artemis had never been in a position before that required her to be concerned with what other people thought of her. She never forced cities to make her their patron goddess, nor did she pay much attention to what her family members thought of her opinions on the High Council. However, to be another person of a ruling pair… Well, sometime in the future she ought to start caring what the popular opinion of her was, but not today.
No, today she was going hunting.
The excitement had been building since the night before, and Artemis actually found it difficult to force herself to go to sleep. Somehow she managed, and met up with everyone for a late breakfast. Apparently, the animals were most sluggish in the warm afternoons in Asgard, and since hunting wasn't a custom amongst the people, the creatures were slow to react when encroached upon. In a way, that made the thrill of the hunt diminish a tad – why chase something that doesn't have the sense to run? However, she wasn't about to complain about anything and spoil the day, so she kept her mouth shut and nodded along as the men boasted about their own experiences hunting. From what she could gather, Hogun was the one who had hunted for necessity, Fandral for sport, and Volstagg for fine food, but their ventures were few and far between.
It was surprising that the royal family did not participate in any sort of hunting, and it was a tradition she planned to change once she was queen; her husband would hunt, she would hunt, and their children would be pristine hunters by the time they reached childhood.
After a leisurely breakfast in the main hall with the entire group, Artemis returned to her room to begin prepping with her handmaidens. They adorned themselves in knee-length riding dresses that connected between their legs in order to facilitate movement; she never understood women who only hunted in dresses, and then whined about losing their dignity when the skirt flew up in pursuit. There was also no room for jewels or fancy hairstyles, and Artemis reveled in the simplistic look that Callisto conjured as she braided a crown of hair around her head. No make-up, no perfumes, no nothing. This day was about getting back into nature, even if it was a natural world that Artemis was not wholly familiar with.
No matter… There would be time for that today. Her mood was understandably chipper as she flitted about the room, and it was infectious enough to bring all of her handmaidens up to her level. Aora seemed the most thrilled to be hunting as a party, and Artemis was pleased to see the nymph embracing the art more so here on Asgard than she ever did on Earth.
She was forced to calm herself as she neared the stables, as her energy was bound to either spook or excite her borrow horse, and neither were needed on a hunt. They thought they were the first to arrive, but Artemis was pleasantly mistaken when she saw Loki emerge from one of the stalls.
"Good afternoon," he greeted, squinting a little when he stepped out in the sun. She smiled happily as he approached her, and then leaned upward to accept a chaste kiss on her cheek. This was how they had come to greet one another as of late, and Artemis thought nothing of it. After all, they were going to be family soon enough – if Thor was the one receiving a kiss from her, then it was hardly an issue for her to receive one from (but not give one to) Loki.
His eyes drifted out toward her handmaidens, who were eager to choose a horse of their own, and he dipped his head a little, "Ladies."
A chorus of responses filtered out after, and Artemis rolled her eyes at the strain in their voices, "All right, go pick a horse then!"
She laughed a little as the women hurried off to a line of unclaimed horses, ignoring those on the opposite side of the stable as they already belonged to another.
"Excited, aren't they?" Loki chuckled, arms folded across his chest as he surveyed her handmaidens with her through careful eyes.
"Yes, they'll give their horses quite the scare if they don't control themselves," Artemis droned. She arched an eyebrow when Loki shot her a bit of a look, and she shrugged, "What?"
"You," he insisted as he nudged her. "I'm sure if you had less control, you would be far worse than all three of them combined."
Her cheeks pinked at the thought of being read so easily, and then shook her head in an attempt to appear nonchalant.
"I haven't any idea what you're talking about," she spouted snottily, and then shot him a sly grin when he chuckled. "This is going to be the best day I've had so far… I can tell."
"Oh," he breathed, touching a hand to his heart as his chest crumbled inward, "and here I thought your best day had been that night on the bridge, sprawled beneath the stars in drunken bliss with me-"
"Stop that," she ordered, poking him sharply enough to make him back away as he laughed. "We do not talk about that night."
"Oh, I shall come here every night," he purred in a sing-song voice, twirling his finger as he gestured up toward the sky. He went to sing more, but her poke turned into a punch soon enough, and he had to recoil away in order to not get another, hands up defensively. "All right, all right… You'll crack a rib, my lady."
"Hardly," she scoffed, ears perking when she detected the familiar sound of an approaching party. Artemis glanced over her shoulder, and she immediately spotted Thor strolling through the entrance of the stable, clad in a plethora of metal and chainmail. Artemis kept herself from shaking her head, but honestly… he wasn't going to war, he was going to hunt.
"No Echo today, my lady?" he asked as he neared, pausing to let her kiss his cheek before clapping his brother on the arm. Loki grinned in return, affection quite obvious between the pair.
"Oh, she's far too small to run with all these horses," Artemis commented as she stepped around Loki, trailing after Thor as her excitement bubbled. "Perhaps in a few weeks… maybe a month."
"Yes, well, I suspect she will have plenty of opportunities to show her worth," Thor chuckled. She watched him open the gate to his horse's stall, a magnificent black steed, and then get to work saddling the beast. It was a continued surprise that the princes did not have servants waiting to ready their horses, but perhaps they preferred to handle such tasks themselves.
"Does that mean there will be more hunting trips?" Artemis inquired hopefully, and she heard Thor chuckle in response from the other side of his horse.
"As many as would make you happy, my lady."
An infinite number then. Artemis grinned at the thought, and then felt Loki tug at her arm in order to get her attention back. He gestured toward a brown steed in the stall next to Thor's.
"I've taken the liberty of selecting a horse for you," he explained as she approached the gate, eyeing the beast with a calculating gaze. "He is young, but incredibly fast."
"Small," Artemis noted, her eyes wandering down to his legs as she pursed her lips. She flinched a little when she felt Loki's warm breath tickle her ear.
"Ah, but the forests beyond the mountains are thick," he murmured. She glanced to her side, eyes wandering down to his lips, and then followed the direction of his nod, "Large horses struggle through the woodlands… I think yours will fare well."
Thor's beast was remarkably large… It was bound to walk heavy and frighten away any game in sight. Mind you, the same could be said for its rider.
"Apparently you've done me a wonderful favour," Artemis noted softly, "yet again."
"I think I happen to like you," Loki informed her, which made her smirk, "but only a little. My horse is the best of the group."
Artemis laughed a little, and then watched him depart from her side, disappearing moments later into the depths of his personal stall. From there, she decided to be much more appreciative of a small steed, and carefully made her way inside to investigate further. He was a chocolate brown with light eyes with a near blond hue to his mane and tail. Sturdy, small, and already stomping at his impatience to get free from the stable: Artemis could certainly work with this. However, what she could not work with was the cumbersome saddle and riding gear that had been provided. Sometimes she went with a saddle, but generally preferred to go bareback. So, she merely added the bridle and reins, and then took a few moments to give the horse a good brushing. His limbs quivered excitedly at the prospect of a ride, and Artemis smiled; she knew exactly how he felt.
The Warriors Three and Lady Sif arrived some time shortly after Thor, just as she led her horse out of his stall. Loki had done the same at her left, and she reached out to run her hand along his mare's side. The creature snorted happily in response.
"She's lovely," Artemis observed as she strolled around to the creature's head, tickling her nose with a finger and grinning. Loki joined her, the reins tucked neatly in one palm as he took gave his beast an appreciative smile. "She seems so calm and gentle… very lovely."
"Much like her rider," Volstagg snorted as he passed, pushing Loki a little in the process. She watched Loki's eyes narrow at the man's back, and moments later, as the massive man tried to drag himself up and onto an already saddled white horse, the stirrup snapped noisily and Volstagg toppled to the ground.
"Drunk already, Volstagg?" Lady Sif droned as she sauntered by, rolling her eyes a little. She also ignored the man's extended hand in favour of readying her own horse, and Artemis heard Loki chuckle under his breath as the man tried to roll to his feet.
"Did you do that?" she demanded quietly, shooting him a bit of a look when he smirked impishly. "Unfair fight!"
"Oh, Volstagg weighs triple of what I do," Loki insisted lightly. "For all we know, his immense mass may have been his undoing."
"Liar," she muttered, giggling a little when he poked her side with a thin finger.
"Prove it."
"Oh, I shall," she told him, her eyes narrowing down as a threat while he sauntered around to the other side of his horse.
Artemis resumed stroking her own horse's nose, hoping to establish a good connection before they ventured out together, and she saw Thor help hoist Lady Sif up onto her horse. She might have appreciated the gesture, but when her fiancé turned in Artemis' direction, she hastily leapt up onto her horse's bare back, never in need of any assistance to do so.
"No saddle, my lady?" Thor inquired as he urged his horse toward hers, eyes wandering along the creature's body. "Won't that make today tedious?"
"I learned to ride bareback," Artemis insisted, grinning down at Callisto as the nymph appeared at her side to hand her a standard bow and quiver of arrows. She slid the strap of the quiver across her body, followed shortly by the bow. It was a comfortable, familiar position, to be certain. "I suspect you will start to feel the strains of riding long before I do."
"I have no doubt," Thor chuckled, and she watched him urge his horse forward toward the gate of the stables. The few servants that milled around nearby hurried out of the way as she brought her horse around to follow, and moments later the sound of eight other sets of hooves thundered after her. It was truly a glorious sound, one that made her heart warm, and as they raced through the back gate of the palace, Artemis felt as though she was finally free.
Her horse's thin frame may have been a little bony, which made the bareback a tad uncomfortable, but Artemis found it easy to push through and ignore. The familiar rhythm of movement kept her focused, grounded in reality, and it seemed as though she was flying. Onward, outward, and away from the palace, she inhaled deeply as the group pummeled through the long grasses in the fields that led away from the main city. Mountains loomed in the distance, ancient and overbearing, and Artemis quickly realized the natural elements of this realm would fascinate her almost as much as they did back home. Just as the city of Olympus felt more airy than Asgard, so too did the trees and rivers; the waters were a much richer, darker blue, while the trees that taunted her along the soft rolling hills in the distance were a dark green, thick in bush – vibrant. Olympus and its landscape were so light and breezy, so wonderful in its own light, and yet Asgard was truly a place to marvel at.
She had not explored much of Earth beyond the Mediterranean, as it was the birthplace of her ancient worship, but she had gone north into Europe on a few hunting trips. It was there that she thought to make the comparison to Asgard, though Asgard was much grander than anything she might have seen on Earth. The greens were richer, the air was crisper, and the dirt that sounded beneath the hooves of her horse was much more constant. The pines were familiar, as were the rock formations, and Artemis soon realized that Odin and his ilk's reputations were born from that realm on Earth, from those northern European and Scandinavian countries, and that was why she noticed the similarities. Perhaps it ought to be the other way around; those places on Earth were modeled after Asgard, just as Greece – for a time – had been fitted to represent Olympus.
Once they were in the open plains, the lengthy grasses tickling her sandaled foot, Artemis and her handmaidens spread out, laughing gaily as they urged their horses forward with much urgency, a private race to see who might make it to the dark treeline fastest. In the end, Aora beat Callisto by a hair, and Artemis lingered a little so that Nomia would not feel so terrible for losing; it seemed she had chosen the slowest horse of the group, which appeared deeply off-putting to the young human.
"We ought to go by foot," Artemis insisted when the rest of the group caught up with them, her eyes peering deep into the bowels of the dark forest ahead of her. "It appears too thick for horses to travel."
Callisto slid down from her horse first, and Hogun followed shortly after. Thor seemed to want to protest the decision, but as Loki eased himself down from his beast, her fiancé followed shortly after.
Did he think the horse would carry the weight of his metal and steel for the duration of this trip? Perhaps now he would realize why she and her girls had dressed so light – to hunt was to become one with the forest, to move as light as air, and as silent as a shadow, Volstagg, and Fandral were all dressed in heavy garments that would make noise, and she quickly deduced that this would be an unsuccessful hunt if they were not careful.
Swinging her leg to the other side, Artemis fell gracefully from her horse, her legs burning a little. It had been quite some time since her last ride, and the sheer power behind this horse had worn her down already. No matter. She would build up her endurance once more – this would not be the last day that she would race through these meadows, touch the pine needles.
They left the horses to graze in the grasses nearby, and Artemis made sure she removed her horse's bit before leaving him to his own devices. He seemed the most content of all the beasts, pleased to not have a saddle covering his back, though she wondered if the warm Asgardian sun may start to get at him. Shade brimmed from the treeline, and she hoped the beast would be intelligent enough to wait for her in the shade should it grow weary in the heat.
Hogun was designated as the tracker, coupled with Callisto and Lady Sif, as they entered the forest realm. Artemis was a skilled tracker herself, but she did not want the focus of this day to be on her. Yes, the reason they were hunting at all was because she had such an affinity for it, but she took care not to seem like a spoiled child for whom the world revolved around. So, she lingered back as the tracking began, settled between the two Asgardian princes, Thor in front of her and Loki behind. The forest was beautiful and dark, though it grew more and more quiet as the group traipsed through. She quickly realized that almost every living creature was aware of their presence.
Thor explained that they were going to hunt a creature quite similar to Earth's deer, though the Asgardian version had three horns spouting from its head, and was much larger. Artemis was eager to try her hand at Asgardian wildlife, keen to let loose an arrow into the skin of a creature she was not familiar with. Unfortunately, not everyone shared her focus for the hunt, and after an hour or so of marching through the trees, she noticed Thor and the Warriors Three had become bored with the quest. Their strides were much more relaxed, ignorant to the rocks they uprooted or the branches they snapped, and their jests started to grow louder with each passing minute. This clearly wasn't a serious venture for them, whereas Artemis had built her life around the hunt, and occasionally felt a little insulted that they took it so lightheartedly.
"Wait," Callisto ordered sharply, her voice breathy as she ducked down to the ground, her slim fingers trailing through the dirt. "They are near… The prints are fresh."
Artemis ducked down to share the investigation, eyes scrutinizing the marks left behind, and then grinning at their size. Oh, this beast would be a beautiful challenge, and it would be honoured by her once it surrendered to her bow.
"Well, onward then!" Fandral insisted, and Artemis watched with narrowed eyes as Aora shot him a bit of a look. It wasn't as flirtatious as it could have been, but there were underlying tones that made Artemis uneasy.
"No," she said, her voice full of fervor and passion, yet soft enough so that those around her must strain to hear, "we are downwind from them."
"How do you know?" Loki inquired thoughtfully, his voice the softest of the group. Actually, Lady Sif was the softest, but that was because she had not said much since they entered the wood, merely laughed along with her companions.
"I can see them," Artemis insisted, pointing up a gentle slope. In the distance, she had spotted the rustling of leaves, and when the group finally fell silent, they could hear the heavy footsteps of their prey. Just as Thor had mentioned, the beasts were unaccustomed to a hunting presence in the forest, and since they were so large, they clearly lacked natural enemies. It made them bold, to wander so near. However, they would surely smell them coming from their current location.
"We are downwind," Nomia noted, plucking at the string of her bow as she tried to see what the gods did with her weak human eyes. "They are merely tolerating us… for now."
"Yes, they will certainly smell our approach," Artemis noted. "We must get upwind should we stand a chance…"
"Well, off we go then!" Volstagg grunted, surging forward through the undergrowth quickly. "At last, something to do!"
She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from snapping at them, at all of them, as they hurried along after him. At this point, it was only Callisto and Artemis that seemed to appreciate the true skills one needed to hunt. Nomia seemed a little tired from all the walking, perhaps because she too was out of shape from their break, and Aora was once again keen to travel alongside Fandral. Once again, Loki and Lady Sif seemed to be the best of the bunch, but that hardly mattered when the rest thundered along without a care for their footwork.
As she suspected, the group of beasts had dispersed once they reached the top of the gentle slope, and she could hear Volstagg's disappointment at the effort he expended to get there. However, a soft sound caught Artemis' ear, and she glanced over her shoulder to spy a small beast ambling away from them. It was a young male with three developing horns atop his head, but it was surely the size of a full-grown male deer on Earth. She smirked a little, and then carefully loaded her bow. There was no attention on her, not with the rest of the group investigating the spot where there must have been several of the creatures earlier. Artemis moved without making a sound, eyes trained on the beast as the rest of her body avoided branches, twigs, and rocks without distracting her. She then raised her bow, poised to loosen the arrow, only to hesitate when the creature stilled at the sound of Thor's booming laughter from behind a bush.
She sighed as the young buck raced off into the woods, clearly aware that someone had been stalking him away from the noisy group, and Artemis let her bow drop wordlessly.
Frustration came easily as she stalked back to the group, but she forced herself to relax as she watched them chat and make jokes as though nothing else was wrong. She quickly realized that as maddening as this venture had been, the rest of them had simply been pleased with the company. Callisto may have been slightly annoyed too, but it was plain that she was trying very hard not to laugh at a joke told by Thor with Volstagg acting out the gesture dramatically. This day had simply been a different way that these friends spent time together – that was the point of the day. Artemis went on a hunt because she had an objective, and yet it seemed that while this day had been tailored to her, it was also an outing similar to that of a day at the beach or an afternoon in the arena.
If she truly wanted to hunt, she would gather her handmaidens, Loki, and Lady Sif, and the five of them could have a serious day of pursuit. At that point, it would be best to leave the boys at home, oddly enough. Perhaps one day she might train Thor to become a better hunter, as it would make him a better warrior, but that day seemed quite distant as she watched him push branches aside and leave a path miles wide in his wake.
There was no grace to the march back, and at this point no one cared about whether or not the animals nearby heard them. The hunt was finished for the day as soon as hunger began to gnaw at them, and Artemis decided she ought to have her girls pack food for the next time; she would love to carry on and hunt by moonlight. However, she was resigned to the fact that this was all they would do today.
"So," Loki murmured, catching her arm gently to urge her to slow her pace and match his, "was this everything you could have hoped for and more?"
She detected the sauciness in his question, the sarcasm, and she shot him a look. The Asgardian grinned widely, and then chuckled, "Ah, as I thought."
"It is not what I had hoped for," Artemis told him as they strolled along together, "but it is what I should have expected."
"Yes, you are at fault for having such high expectations," Loki mused. "Did you ever think Volstagg could be graceful in the wood?"
"He is graceful in battle," Artemis noted, which earned another deep chuckle.
"Well, we are all graceful when lopping the heads off our foes," he insisted. "Like dancers."
It was her turn to laugh now, and they hurried to catch up with the rest of the group. Just as she had hoped, the horses lingered in the fields to graze. She found her horse's gear hanging from the tree where she had left it, and then smiled when the creature sauntered over to her without needing to be called. As she readjusted the reins and bit, she watched a flock of large birds shoot out from the canopy of the nearby trees, shrieking angrily as they went. The suddenness made her horse a little nervous, ears twitching this way and that, and Artemis was quick to soothe him.
However, moments later, a chorus of wolfish howls emerged from the treeline, and Artemis only barely managed to keep hold of the reins as her horse reared back. The other horses around her did the same, and only Loki was unlucky enough not to grab hold of his beast in time. The mare reared and frantically danced out of reach, bolting back toward the city as Loki shouted after her.
"What is that?" Nomia demanded as Volstagg somehow managed to control both of their horses, the human too weak to manhandle a frightened Asgardian steed.
"Odin's wolves," Lady Sif replied as she wrestled her own horse back to a calm state.
"My father must have sent them to remind us not to linger too long out here," Thor insisted as the clamor of horses died down. "Trolls, among other creatures, emerge at dusk."
Artemis frowned; what had they to fear of trolls?
"My brother tends to be goaded into conflict," Loki ground out irritably as he passed, "and we have only just finished a treaty with the mountain trolls…"
Perhaps the All-father was wiser than she had ever anticipated. Artemis nodded her head, her attentions on her horse as she tried to slow its heavy breathing.
"It seems you are without a beast, brother," Thor laughed when the horses had finally settled. All eyes turned to Loki as he stood there, arms folded and glaring at the horizon, "Perhaps a gentle horse is not suited for hunting."
"They all panicked," Loki spat, clearly irritated that the Warriors Three chuckled at his misfortune, "but she managed to bolt before I could grab her… It might have happened to any of you."
"And yet, we are all with horses," Lady Sif mused as she leapt up onto her beast. "Will the Silver-Tongued prince walk back to Asgard?"
"Oh, what a sight," Thor chuckled. "Though it would be a much needed lesson, brother, that you ought not to lose your horse."
Loki forced out a cold, mirthless laugh as the rest tittered. No one offered to share their horse, and as Artemis watched Thor urge his beast forward, she realized he was serious about making his younger sibling march home. Terrible. Artemis would have never made Apollo endure such humiliation in front of others… Though, in private, she would have tormented him relentlessly.
"You can share my horse," Artemis offered, quite sure the beast could hold both of them, "but only if you can stand to ride without a saddle."
"I cannot say it is my favourite thing to do," Loki muttered as he stalked over to her, ignoring the way Fandral and Volstagg sniggered over the prospect of him riding bareback, "but it seems I do not have a choice."
"Oh, don't pout," Artemis teased, hoping to lighten his mood. "I am wonderful to ride with."
Nomia chimed in her agreement before she raced off to catch up with Volstagg, who had become something of a surrogate father figure for the girl while she was here. It actually pleased Artemis endlessly, even if Volstagg could be a bit tiresome sometimes.
She clambered atop her horse easily, and then held out her hand to help Loki maneuver himself up. He simply stared at her outstretched hand with mild contempt, and then arched an eyebrow.
"Really?" he demanded, "I am to ride behind you like some woman-"
"It will be much more painful for you," she ground out, her eyes darting down to his groin, "as a man, if you are to sit on the shoulders. I am sparing you pain… You can still walk back, if you would like."
His glare intensified, but she knew the anger was not directed at her. Finally, he accepted her help and swung himself gracefully up behind her, and Artemis soon found herself nestled between his legs and against his chest. The closeness made her cheeks threaten to pink, but she managed to push through as she urged her horse forward. They brought up the rear of the group, and would surely reached Asgard last. Artemis kept the horse moving at a steady, but fairly slow pace in order to save Loki any unnecessary pain from riding without a saddle.
Eventually, one arm looped around her waist, and she glanced down at it, eyebrows knitting together. However, she said nothing, and assumed he placed it there for balance – that was the easiest explanation, was it not? His grip tightened at one point when her horse navigated down a slightly steeper decline in the grass, but it remained like that even after the way had flattened.
"I think," he murmured in her ear, "that you and I ought to hunt together… I should like to learn to do it properly without those giants stomping about."
"I'd like that," Artemis agreed as her head turned to face him, but then hastily resumed gazing ahead when he licked his lips. She noticed that his hand had come to rest on her leg, the thumb stroking it softly, so gently that she hadn't even felt it before she saw it.
For a moment, she wasn't really sure what to do about it. Had any other man been so forward, she might have threatened to chop the offending digit off. However, with Loki, the words fell short in her throat, and she finally brought the horse to a halt, his hand remaining pressed to her leg.
"Perhaps," she suggested, her tone stiff as she looked at him over her shoulder, "you ought to remember who you are, and who I am?"
"I know exactly who we are," he informed her, the hand sliding back across her figure and resting on her hip, the other hand coming up at the other side.
"Good," she managed to breathe, purposefully ignoring the impish grin that formed on his features. She urged her horse forward, not taking as much care with his trot, and smirked a little when she heard Loki groan softly as they bumped along.
The remainder of the journey was in silence, though his grip on her hips did become a little harder as she rocked beneath him. To this Artemis said nothing, as no protest came to her lips even if she tried. Instead, she simply carried on as though she hadn't noticed, breathing a sigh of relief when they neared the castle's gates, thus forcing him to take his hands away.
The rest of the group applauded dramatically as she rode into the stables, and Artemis couldn't help but grin a little under the attention. Loki slid from the horse first, and then hurried over to his usual stable when a servant informed him that they had settled his mare back in. Artemis, meanwhile, smiled as Callisto opened the gate to her horse's stable, and she nodded when Thor invited her to dine with the family that evening once she was refreshed. The stable quieted as people drifted out, no doubt tired from a day of riding.
"My lady?"
Artemis looked up from the row of hooks on which she had hung her reins, and arched an eyebrow at Callisto. The nymph sidled across the stall, careful not to disturb the horse, and then sighed.
"I wanted to issue a word of caution," she murmured, "with him."
Artemis frowned, and then folded her arms across her chest defensively, "Excuse me?"
"It's only a word," Callisto carried on lightly, "but you should be careful."
"I resent the accusation," Artemis hissed, knowing full well what the nymph had implied. Perhaps it touched a nerve because she knew there was a hint of truth behind it, but she barely let a flicker of recognition cross her face, "For that, you can finish tending to my horse."
"Yes, my lady."
"And you won't speak of it again," she snapped as she stalked out of the stall. She also forced herself to ignore Loki's eyes as they followed her from the stall nearby, and stalked back to the palace in need of a bath.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Sorry for the stretch of time between updates! For those of you who read other stories, you may have heard this speech already, but I will repeat it again here. I've started my fourth year of uni with a full course load, a part-time job, some sort of social life, and I'm working on a deadline to finish a novella for a romance publisher online… All of this is awesome, but all of this will eat up my posting time. I'm not going to stop posting or put anything on hiatus, but it might take more time to get a chapter up. So, instead of updates weekly, I suspect you can anticipate updates a few times a month, especially during October when I'm in a show. That's the way the cookie crumbles, folks!
I was pretty excited to do this chapter, just because Artemis started off so happy. In my head, she seems serious a lot of the time, and it was nice to give her a day where she could be totally happy with what she was going to do. I was also pumped to have Loki be a little more obvious with his flirtation. Artemis is in total denial at the moment, and I think it's also a little flustering for her because she has no idea how to deal with it when she actually likes the attention she's getting from a man – it doesn't happen a lot.
Much love for all the reviews, comments, adds to favourites, and everything else! It's going to get juicy from here on out – I've even worked out the ending AND an epilogue, so the muse is still alive and kicking here! I've got about 14 more basic chapters planned, but that is always subject to change based on new ideas that pop up during updates. Toodles!