SHADOW OF DEATH
Chapter 31: Venom
Loki couldn't help but cringe and turn away. The frozen banana palm tree before them showed the efficacy of the glowing Casket he held in his now blue hands, but the very hue of his fingers proved the reason he had not further explored the potential powers inherent within the Jotun treasure. He felt Jane's curious eyes on him and he sought to sink further into the shadowed forest to avoid detection in this form. She didn't mention it, but he felt the weight of her questions on him as if they were formed of lead.
She instead turned to stare at the now frozen tree, its leaves perfectly encased in solid ice from the ground to its highest peak. She ran one finger along an edge and startled slightly as the leave broke in half and fell at her feet.
"One more time, please," she asked. She hefted Mjolnir into her hands again and Loki saw she meant to focus her new powers in understanding what she could of the Casket's capabilities. He reluctantly approved of her intention and pointed the Casket towards a small tree stump nearby. He felt the power flow from the ancient relic and, more unsettling, through him. He felt it search him out and call to him and sift inside of him as if seeking a conduit. He grit his teeth and tried not to think upon how his red eyes now saw everything before him through tinted hues.
Jane turned her brilliantly glowing face upon him and he shuddered to think what she would see now. He placed the Casket down upon the damp grass, ceasing the flow of power from its turbulent heart.
She tried to reach out and touch the azure and cerulean swirling box with her bare fingers. Loki shouted for her to stop, though he dared not touch her as he waited for his skin to fade from Jotun to Aesir.
"It will burn your skin with its cold!" he said. She gave him a dismissive glance and tore a piece of cloth from her shirt. She used this to shield her skin from the now darkening box and ran her hand along one of its metallic casings. Without turning to look back at him, Jane spoke.
"You weren't quite right…Back when you said this is your 'true' form. It is and it isn't. Both forms are just as much you."
She didn't wait for a response but left him to linger in her words.
"Did you ever figure out how to use it to transport you from place to place?" she asked.
He shook his head.
"I have some ideas," she said with a pensive, lost expression she so often wore when she was deep in thought. "Can we keep it in the lab for a few days?"
He nodded and covered the Casket with his cape to carry it back across the border. To his relief, his hands showed a return to his "normal" pale as porcelain coloring.
Oooooooo
"So, you told me about Thor, but you didn't tell me about yourself," Jane asked him as they resumed the long, winding walk back through the tunnels and into Birnin Zana.
"What about myself?" he asked warily. He disliked speaking of himself, most especially knowing any untruths would evaporate like dew in the morning sun.
"Are you married?" she asked.
"No."
"Have you been?"
"Of course. I told you. Princes are wed as soon as we come of age. Our first marriages are always affairs of state and carefully chosen for the benefits of the realm and Asgard."
"That sounds so boring. What about love?"
"Ah, yes, I have heard parts of Midgard have a preoccupation with hormone and lust-induced passion which fades as quickly as the novelty of a new toy. Tell me, Jane, how well do marriages fare in your home country? Does your preoccupation with 'romance' and 'love' lead to highly satisfactory and long-lasting alliances? What is the rate of marital dissolution?" he asked more curtly than he should have.
"But….," she began.
"No, Lady Jane. For royalty and the elite in Asgard, marriage is a role that one fills. There are specific obligations and understandings between partners. It builds new families and family lines, aligns kingdoms and peoples, and provides continuity of values to the next generation. When one wishes to hire a general, the general need not enjoy being a general at all times to make a good one. One must simply vow to uphold their role and fulfill their duties with all their heart, regardless of the challenges they face. Some days, they may enjoy their tasks and find meaning and fulfillment in them and in others, they may find it challenging, but they faithfully adhere to their commitment regardless."
"That sounds so cold and heartless."
"I guarantee you, Jane, it is not so…especially on a cold winter's night and behind closed doors," Loki said with a smirk. Jane blushed, as he intended.
"Jane-you come from one specific time period and history and your traditions of marriage reflect the society in which you were grown."
"Fine. So, your first marriage was arranged. What happened?" she said.
He sighed. "Must I bore you with such a 'cold and heartless' tale?"
She gave him a firm glance which clearly communicated she would not be deterred and he gave up dissuading her.
"My first wife, Angrboda, was a pretty Vanir princess with a shrewd mind and high ambition, but she is long dead and I refused any other marriages," he answered shortly, hoping it was enough to quell her curiosity.
"Do you have children," Jane asked.
Loki hesitated. "Yes, but not by Angrboda. They grew to adulthood many centuries ago and their descendants remain on Alfheim."
He groaned as he noted this only piqued Jane's interest more.
"Elves?" she asked.
"Some have intermarried with elves, but not all," he answered.
"No-I mean you-was their, uh, mother an elf?" she asked.
"No."
She groaned. "Loki, you are being purposefully obtuse," she said. "Do I need to play twenty questions to get you to tell me more?"
"If I say 'yes' will it discourage you from prying?"
"Do you dislike talking about it that much?" she asked, growing more serious. "I will drop it if you really don't want to talk about it."
Loki could see her curiosity warring her with politeness and he stopped to consider. What did he have to lose from speaking the truth?
"My second wife…who could never be formally recognized by Asgardian society…was of Midgard," he finally said.
The look of surprise on Jane's face rewarded him enough for his admission and he grinned.
"I was quite young, only a hundred, when I first married, and Angrboda had only seen four more centuries than myself. We were both discovering what it meant to be lovers, to be royalty, to be adults of society. She was carefully chosen by Odin and Frigga and they chose well. We were so similar-quick minds, fiery tempers, loyal to a fault, and passionate about all we put our minds to, but with our shared strengths, we shared each other's weaknesses. We have a saying: 'two suns will scorch the earth,' meaning, there needs be a sun and a moon, day and night, and any joining of peoples needs to have different skill sets to create balance. We did not and we scorched the earth.
"For the first few hundred years, we blossomed together. When she arrived in her innocence and youth, we grew together well. She was beautiful, captivating, and mesmerizing. We joined forces for Asgard and learned to play the game of politics together. Many a secret she scurried out and utilized. Many a politician came into power through her alliance and support. Many a law grew out of her tireless efforts.
"We were happy, but it could not last. She grew hungry and discontent. Her own avarice and limitless lust for power grew to rob her of any appreciation of what she had and turned her eyes to what she did not. Her lusts and insecurities influenced my own and our shared weaknesses were multiplied in each other's company.
"One day, she showed signs of being with child. It shook us both greatly. It was still three hundred years until the next Harvest, barely two hundred years into our marriage. It should not have been possible, even for a Vanir, as they are close kindred cousins to the Aesir and their Harvests parallel ours closely. The only occasions where such unusually lapses in order occur are when the mother proves less than not fully Aesir or Vanir. The only possible genetic mixes that produce such circumstances are when there is Midgardian or Jotun blood. In either case, it is a shame upon the ancestry of the mother and her offspring.
"Angrboda felt overcome with shame and chose to remain in seclusion until our daughter was born. Then, when she bore our daughter, we knew something was wrong. She came too early and was born too small. She did not last a year before she joined our ancestors and we grieved deeply. Angrboda was doubly devastated.
"Palace gossip was not kind to her and assumptions of her heritage began to be whispered about. Angrboda struggled with the knowledge that she, most likely, had a Jotun grandparent on her mother's side. While her father was the king of Vanaheim, her mother was his third wife and one of a large number of Vanir queens. Her mother never revealed any tales of unusual parentage to her daughter and had since joined the halls of her ancestors. It would not have been obvious to the king as he only visited his queens irregularly-he had so many to keep track of, he could hardly be bothered as long as they pleased him.
"Later inquiries discovered her Angrboda's grandmother, Skadi, was of Jotunheim and was claimed as bride by a Vanir chief during a past era when interactions between realms were still permitted. Angrboda, the only daughter of her mother, was born during the Harvest before the Ice War so no one suspected her mother of other origins and the peoples of Vanaheim had less distaste for the Jotnar than the Aesir harbored since the Ice War.
"After that, she threw herself even more forcefully into her political schemes. She determined that I needed to gain more respect and prestige and encouraged me to train more fiercely, to increase my skills as a warrior, and accompany Thor more often on his quests. I complied simply to make her happy, though I much preferred to stay at home and keep to my books and studies of magic.
"She grew impossible to please. No matter how hard I worked, how I schemed, how I fought, I could no longer earn her favor. Instead of being my companion and helpmate, she grew to be a constant goad in my side. She mocked my weaknesses and failings and compared me mercilessly to the other Aesir warriors. Within a hundred years of the death of our firstborn, her love transformed to scorn and I sought to protect myself under my own shield of silence and sarcasm.
"When she chose to share my bed again, she immediately conceived. She had no reason to fear the eyes of Asgard on her this time as it was well-known that Vanir's Harvest had begun. Thus, she could walk in pride as our child grew. Yet, when Angrboda gave birth to a stillborn son after only three years gestation, instead of the customary seven, she fell into hysterics and nearly had to be restrained in her grief.
"I said words I should not have spoken. As a princess of the realm, her status carried more weight than her blood in the eyes of the Aesir until her failure to birth viable young began to cast doubts on her blood due to her background. She was shamed despicably by the Aesir and ostracized and despite my empty words of support, I failed to truly be the husband that she required, too caught up in my own schemes and insecurities.
"She forbid me to be in her presence and spoke such words as I would never repeat in the presence of my worst enemy. She flew into a rage and nearly tore apart our wing of the palace. She refused me entry to her chambers and refused to see me or speak to me. Eir, the head healer, recommended I spend some time away from her to help her calm.
"Thus, I traveled to Alfheim for some time. I went to study under some of the elven mages. After so much political intrigue and grief, I did not wish to join in the politics of the elven elite in the capital and withdrew to the countryside. I obtained a small cottage in the mountains, hid my identity and stayed to myself except when I sought my tutors.
"I paid frequent visits to Asgard and wished greatly to assist my wife in her healing, as I did still care for her, but she refused me again and again. I received reports of her behaving erratically, flying into tempers, and sometimes refusing to leave her chambers for days and other times refusing to return to her chambers to rest for days. Yet she would not speak to me and sent me away each time I sought her company or tried to make amends.
"I spent another decade or so on Alfheim in this manner before I received a surprise visit from my wife in the capital of Alfheim. She came in her finest of clothes, overflowing with joy and affection to see me, despite her refusal to so much as speak to me for years. She said she longed to tour Alfheim with me and I thought perhaps she was healed and genuine and all would be well again.
"But she flew into a rage with me when I refused to bed her. I told her I did not wish to give her more grief and she began to curse at me and blame me for all our troubles and wish I was more like my brother and that I was a shame to all Asgard and Asgard was better off without me.
"Her words-so aptly digging into my insecurities-those I had willingly shared with her when I considered her a shield-maiden-now were used as weapons to despise me. It became obvious that whatever love she may have once held for me had been destroyed through her grief.
"We have a saying in Asgard about being 'tied under a serpent' and that means to be enslaved to grief. For us, the serpent symbolizes death and the venom of death is the bitterness of heart that can accompany the unhealed losses that can attend one for so many thousands of years when the love of one truly valued is lost. Aesir have been known to go mad when death's venom is poured onto their breast.
"When Angrboda stormed out and returned to Asgard, I was at a loss. I followed after her in an attempt to make amends but she refused me. In a few months' time, I discovered the reason she had first sought me out. She was with child and sought to pass it off as mine. Angrboda determined she would be with the child's father instead of with me but this proved complicated."
"Why?" Jane asked.
"Because Thor was the father."
"What!"
"Thor was beautiful and beloved by all-too beloved as it turned out, with my beautiful and charismatic wife. She sought him out during her unstable time and he was too kind and too generous to doubt her motives. She cast me in the worst of lights with my family and spoke all manner of untruths about me across Asgard.
"Then she determined that, in order to be done with me, she would orchestrate events so that it would appear that I attempted to kill my brother. The penalty of this would have been my life imprisonment or death-either of which would have led to her release from our marriage contract and she would be free to pursue marriage with Thor as soon as he was no longer married to the Princess Nana.
"I believe Thor knew none of this. It was not in his nature to be distrustful or conniving or even to willingly betray his warrior-companions. He was ever convinced that he was the golden savior seeking to comfort the lady wronged by his mercurial and neglectful younger brother. According to her, it was I who refused her and abandoned her and used magic to make her conceive outside of the Harvest in order to shame her and then kept her womb from bearing viable fruit. She blamed me for everything and cast herself in the best possible light.
"However, her plot failed. Her attempts to frame me for attempted murder were prevented by the confessions of some of the servants who observed her plot. When it was discovered that she was the one behind the schemes, she slit her own throat in the night and the guards found her dead at dawn, healthy baby boy nearly at full term within her womb-with hair the exact shade of blond as Thor's, though the true parentage of the babe was known by none but myself.
"Behind closed doors, Asgard said it was her Jotun blood that made her run mad and made her do evil. Of course-what could be expected from such a woman? For a long time, I believed them.
"The grief, the anger-it was all too much for any of us to bear. I left for Alfheim again where I could grieve without the gossip and expectations and watchful eyes all around me. I did not wish to hear my mother weeping or my brother raging or my father's disappointed gaze. I wished to simply grieve alone.
"My family was worried. Mages when 'tied under a serpent' have been known to shake the earth with their grief as their magic is released with their emotions. I simply left and did not give them time to stop me.
"There, in my small cottage in the mountains, I hid away from it all. No more comparison with my brother, no more pleas to be better for my wife, and no parents to disappoint. I reveled in the quiet and the stillness. It was beautiful there. No one else save me and my servant girl and the occasional peddler selling wares from the city.
"When I first arrived in Alfheim, a decade before, the chief of the village at the base of the mountain sent me a gift in tribute to show his thanks for some favor I did on his behalf. He sent me a lovely mortal slave to keep house for me. Sigyn was of Midgard, though she was born on Alfheim. Her mother had been captured illegally by an elf who was conducting his underground business in Midgard. The woman had been with child, but the elf had not noticed (or had not cared) and he captured her and brought her to Alfheim with him. She bore the child there and raised her among the elves. When the child grew to womanhood, the chief who owned the mother, sent her to me.
"I could not refuse for, to refuse such a gift, would have been terribly offensive but neither did I wish for her company. She proved a quiet, capable little thing and minded her own business admirably. She kept a garden and sang to herself and cooked and cleaned and tended me without my interference and so I let her be.
"Though simple and illiterate, she was determined to be happy with her lot in life and she had a natural kindness about her where she could not stand to see a sparrow felled without shedding tears and seeking to intervene. She constantly sought to bring kindness and good to those around her-including to me.
"Until this point, she merely kept my cottage for me, tended my affairs when I was away, and made sure the fire was warm and food prepared when I returned. She never knew my real name or position. After Angrboda's death, I returned a man lost and distraught and, with her large heart, she could not bear to see me sad and made it her personal mission to bring me comfort.
"She succeeded. In the depths of my grief, she shone through as warm as sunshine. Many a late night, she held me as I wept and sang to me till I slept. When I woke, she listened day and night as I spoke of the woman I had lost, the brother I felt betrayed me, and the children I would never know. She planted a tree in honor of each and remembered each their names. She never required anything of me but simply granted me her gentle presence and smiled with her brilliant smile that seemed to fill the entirety of that cottage.
"Within a few years, I shook the earth with my grief less and less. She kept the serpent's venom from dripping upon my heart and scorching my soul and I immersed myself in her heart as large as an ocean, the calm simplicity of her spirit, and the warmth of her bosom. I feared I would lose it all one day when she told me she was with child. I barely slept for months, despite her assurances, for she said I had naught to worry over. I was afraid that she would also be stolen by the serpent as surely as Angrboda had been.
"Within a matter of months, she gave birth to a beautiful, healthy boy and, despite my fears, the boy lived and grew quickly and grew strong. His mortal blood proved strong and so he grew much quicker than an Aesir child. A few years later and she gave me a second son.
"Jane, they were so beautiful. My family. I can't express the joy of waking up to their small hands upon my face, their voices calling my name, and Sigyn's quiet songs filling the kitchen. I have never been so happy or at peace.
"But it could not last. Even as I could feel the shortness of their mortal lives pressing upon me and threatening to steal my breath away with theirs, I received a call from Asgard that my time of mourning should be long since passed and I was to return to my duties. I fought the All-Father on it as hard as I could and he blamed me for 'shirking my responsibilities to play with my magic.'
"It was during this time that all travel to Midgard had been abolished and all dalliances with mortals made a punishable offence. I dared not share with whom I truly spent my days for fear that I would be permanently separated from them. So, I kept them secret, and I slipped away from Asgard whenever I could. I could not help but feel bitter as silly quest after silly quest called me away from them-sometimes for as long as a year or two at a time. I felt no desire for politics but simply sought to finish things as quickly as possible so I could return home. This led to my effective ways of solving problems being seen as 'dishonorable' because I sought efficacy over honor. But when they called me to solve a problem, solve it I did. I felt a tool, a disposable object in the hands of Asgard-to be used and then thrown away as required.
"My heart truly sought to be at home on Alfheim and I was often castigated for my ill humors when at home in Asgard. I was also accused of having an unnatural desire to practice my magic instead of pursuing warriors' skills on Asgard. They never knew it was not the sort of magic that they thought which led me to Alfheim.
"The first day I saw Sigyn had grown grey hair, I nearly wept and refused to return to Asgard ever again. I sought as many magical charms and spells I could to maintain her life. It worked. I extended her life for two hundred years and our children lasted a few hundred longer. But even I cannot stop mortality and she succumbed to the jaws of the serpent at last and then I felt my heart truly break.
"Who would stop the venom from striking my soul then? Who would keep the nightmares away? No, the vicious poison, the depth of mortality and loss would slash through my soul and I would shake the grounds with my cries.
"All Alfheim heard me weep the night Sigyn took her last breath in my arms and joined the halls of her ancestors. I sat under her trees for months, refusing to speak or eat until my sons forced me out of my grief. They filled my arms with their children and, later, their grandchildren and I could not succumb entirely to grief with the small hands and full smiles of my descendants filling my heart.
"I lost count of the generations that followed. Their days grew longer as they mixed blood with elves and Vanir and Aesir and Jotnar. They could never be aristocracy but I always felt they were happier as they were-people of the land and forests and streams. But my duties in Asgard grew heavy and my visits to Alfheim grew fewer and fewer and I doubt any of my kin who know my face remain and so I stayed on Asgard."
"Did you ever tell your family?" Jane asked.
"Never. For a prince to take as wife a mortal and a slave is a shame such as none would allow, especially in light of the All-Father's banishment of such behaviors. After Thor gallivanted so freely across the realms, Odin spoke so harshly of such alliances that I never dared speak of my own and thus bring even more ire and shame upon myself than I already experienced.
"My family on Alfheim also remained oblivious to my identity. I never spoke a word of my kin to my mortal woman or her children."
"Why?"
"For what reason? Nothing sours a relationship as politics and power and ambition. I wished for peace and that is what we had. We would have had naught but turmoil and shame if I brought her with me to Asgard."
"I am guessing it would not have gone well if Thor brought me back with him to Asgard," Jane observed.
Loki smirked. "I would not assume so."
"So what happened then?"
"Ah, yes. There was little else for me to do. I threw myself into the game of politics, for it is all a game, you know. I sought to do as they all wished of me. They wished me to play the game, the game I would play. I knew the hypocrisy of the Aesir court and delighted to expose it. But it is an empty, meaningless game and one which no one can truly win. Courtiers sought my bed simply to gain favor and power. They scorned me as a person but loved my position. They spoke words of praise to my face and then words of scorn behind closed doors in order to curry favor. It is an ugly game which I would avoid entirely if I could, but I determined that if I could not escape it, I would play it better than all the others."
"It sounds like a game of chess but with people's lives."
"Indeed, it is. But that is politics. Are you wishing to argue that Midgard is any different? Lady Jane, even I have read enough of your history to know that is certainly not the case. Your particular era and history may place less emphasis on royalty and bloodline and marital alliances, but yours is in the minority, even on Midgard. You have lived but in one place and in one era and can hardly speak for all Midgard.
"Among those of royalty, more politics are accomplished in the bedchamber than the council room. What cannot be accomplished with an edict or treaty can often be accomplished through bloodline. I tired of being sought as a political tool, a stepping stone to achieve the great ambitions of some courtier or another. They came with warm bodies and cold hearts, ready to use and be used if it would further their great and mighty aims. Many a courtier sought to warm my bed simply in an attempt to gain a claim to my brother's-though I often proved a consolation prize again if that failed as at least I proved adequate boasting material among their comrades."
"Umm, wow."
"Sigyn never saw me as that. True, because of her station and rank, she was hardly free to refuse or make alternate choices, but her bed proved free of politics. She sought to please me and show her devotion and such simplicity proved invaluable. In Alfheim, I farmed, learned to garden, learned to work with my hands, and lived predominately as a commoner. In many ways, it suited me better than all the gilded halls of Asgard.
"When I was forced to return to Asgard, I found myself in the middle of the webs on intrigue and power grabbing and politics and it was as if the life were sucked from my bones. I chose to refrain from further political marriages…but as a prince of Asgard, any marriage would, of course, be political and I did not want to wonder if possible brides sought me or my position. After another such incident where a courtier who had sought me was discovered in the bed of my brother, I decided to refrain from true relational connection.
"I gained more compassion for my first wife the day I saw my skin turn Jotun blue. I understood her rage, her fear, her madness, her doubts, her self-loathing. I understood how quickly she could descend into madness. And she was only partially Jotun. I sought to prove my worth, to prove the opposite, as quickly as I could and when it became apparent that I failed, I sought her same path of relief. I sought to end it all but I even failed at that. Instead I found myself trapped to a monster who sought to kill half the Nine Realms…and he sought the Tesseract from Midgard. If I chose not to go, he would go himself, and he would delight in nothing more than killing billions.
"I could not so dishonor the memory of my beloved Sigyn by letting that fate fall upon her people. I sought to defeat Thanos. Thanos will come to Midgard. That is a surety. If I chose not to attack Midgard, more lives would have been lost. If I chose to win through Thanos' pathetic plan, he would still come. And if I lost, Asgard could intervene and protect Midgard. But then Midgard chose to intervene and crown me as their reluctant ruler."
Jane remained silent for some time as they continued through the halls.
"Thank you for telling me the truth," she finally said.
He nodded without meeting her gaze. Speaking so directly and openly felt as foreign and exposed as seeing his Jotun skin.
"You never told me why you chose Wakanda," Jane said some minutes later. "I mean, I understand the usefulness of this location, however, you didn't seem to know much more about it then I did when we first arrived."
Loki gave her a half smile in appreciation of her shrewd observation. "Indeed, I did not. I was given a set of coordinates by a mysterious prophet who foresaw my future movements before any other could have known how events on Midgard would enfold. The coordinates were left with Mrs. Johnson and given to me on the first day I met the good lady."
"That's how you met Mrs. Johnson," Jane said, as if finally solving a great mystery to herself. "I wondered about that."
Loki nodded.
"Wait-so the coordinates were to the country itself or to a particular location within Wakanda?"
Loki opened and closed his mouth once before he shook his head. "I suppose they were to a particular location within Wakanda," he said. "Before you ask me which location, I should admit I had not thought of the coordinates again until you mentioned them. I have been so caught up with gaining entry to the country and with all that has occurred since we have arrived, that I assumed that was their purpose."
Jane's eyes burned with her curiosity. "So, you don't know where they lead to exactly?"
"Nay. Somewhere deep within Birnin Zana," he answered. "Not far from the marketplace and the great mosque on one of the main thoroughfares. I have neglected to discover the exact endpoint they refer to."
"Can we…?" Jane asked and stopped when she saw Loki nod his assent. He chuckled to himself when he saw her corresponding enthusiasm to solve another mystery.
"And you don't know anything about who gave them to you?"
"Precious little."
"That's crazy!"
"I am indebted to the foresight of my benefactor for the directions have proven fortuitous in many ways."
They emerged from the final doorway of the tunnel and found Shuri waiting for them with a stern look on her face, as if a mother scolding her children. She took on more the appearance of the child as her stern look morphed into a pout.
"You two went to play science without me!" she complained. "What did you do?"
"Another alien power source," Jane said with a shrug. She laughed at Shuri's offended face in response. "He's had it the whole time and forgot to tell us. We'll play with it in the lab this week."
"Of course he did. Prince Loki probably has the key to immortality hidden somewhere from us as well," she said with an eye roll.
Loki didn't answer. Instead he gave a magnanimous bow that was dripping with too obvious charm and a wide smile. "In apology for our oversight, Princess, would you care to accompany us on another quest?"
Shuri considered him dubiously and turned to Jane with one eyebrow raised. She pointed her head in Loki's direction in a silent question.
"He also forgot to tell us that he was directed to a specific location in Birnin Zana by a mysterious prophet months ago. We are going to find the specific location."
"I see….and you require a Wakandan chaperone to do so," she said in slight disappointment.
"Partially," Loki responded truthfully. "You cannot deny your curiosity to discover the end result is as great as Dr. Foster's."
Shuri attempted indifference for another minute-at least until Loki produced the original message he received from Mrs. Johnson and shared its origin with her. Then her dark eyes grew intent and bright as she calculated within her busy mind the exact end points of the coordinates. She whispered to herself as she thought over it. Then she shook her head and grinned.
"Sawa, sawa. Twende," she said. "I will take you there, but I do not think you fill find the end location very exceptional."
"You know where it goes?" Jane said. "Tell me!"
"And miss seeing your face when we arrive? Hapana, daktari," Shuri replied. "Let us go."
Eyes and whispers followed their movements all through the bustling streets of the city after they emerged from one of the underground tunnels near the marketplace. Two streets away, they came to stop before a two story, rectangular brick building with a busy delivery dock and a number of patrons coming and going from the glass entryway and into a wide, tiled lobby lined with counters.
"Welcome to Birnin Zana's headquarters for postal communications and commerce," Shuri said dryly.
"Wait, is this like a post office?" Jane asked as she struggled to read the Kikanda script in large letters over the door. People walked by them carrying boxes of letters or packages and they gave the visitors wary looks as they came and went.
Shuri nodded.
"The coordinates are quite precise," Shuri said. "They lead to a location within this building."
"You've got to be kidding me," Jane said and Shuri burst into giggles.
ooooo
Author's Note: Alas, this story should probably be discarded and thrown out a window. It's nearing a year in production and each new chapter receives less and less response, which tells me it is not really resonating with readers. However, as I have a bunch of future chapters already written, I want to get through them. Maybe I can cut out some subplots and tie it up quicker just to cross it off as "done" on my bucket list and retire from the "Thor" world for awhile.
This is the last "background/world-making" chapter for a bit. We are back into moving the plot forward.
Translations: Sawa sawa: Ok
Twende: let's go
Hapana daktari: no doctor