The TARDIS landed in a wide, open flat space, at the feet of an enormous ice wall. The ground was covered with thick snow, seven or eight-inch high. On the opposite side of the machine, a huge cliff opened, whose slopes were so steep and smooth even the best climber would have a hard time going up. Behind the machine, the ice wall was solid, and shone with countless shades in the sunlight of the long Jotunheim summer.

The woman found it wonderful. Despite of what people thought, she had a sense of beauty, and was capable of appreciating things other than Death; what's more, she spent centuries gazing into the pitch black darkness of her hellish prison. As she turned away from the wall, her gaze fell on the wide patch of snow-white land, stretching out from the cliff they were standing on. In its natural white, unmoved by the lack of wind, her eyes found traces of every colour of the rainbow: a peaceful, calm, serene sight. She smiled.

"You'd better wear heavier clothes, Your Majesty" her companion said, handing to her a black fur coat. "Even in summer, this is still Jotunheim."

She accepted: her black suit with green stripes, though it hung gracefully around her natural curves, was too thin for that cold weather. She briefly considered whether to evoke her helmet, but then decided not to: she liked the feeling of the breeze against her hair.

"What about you, Master?"

"My jacket has its own regulator for internal temperature. I will be fine" smiled the Master, with a little bow, to which she answered with a flattered smile. The more time she spent in her company, the more she liked the man, and in more ways than one, she found out. He didn't look young (although you could never tell with Time Lords): his hair, moustaches and goatee beard were streaked with gray; but in spite of that, he emanated such an energy it would suffice for twenty younglings. His swarthy complexion, deep brown eyes and elegant posture made him a fascinating man. His voice was clear, but with wonderful dark undertones, and it oozed with so much determination and willpower, that she was sure it had taken its due toll of victims (once again, in more ways than one). His clothes were simple: a black mandarin collar jacket, black trousers, a cuff-linked shirt and black gloves. Simple, but effective.

"If you wish, we could stay here awhile before going to the palace" he proposed. "Maybe you want to enjoy the view?"

"No, we'd better go. It won't take long to Asgard to find out I escaped, and if I linger too much, I won't be able to ask the Right of the Suppliant. You ensure me that ..."

"The Giant king is waiting for you, and I can already tell you he is honoured you grant him your trust."

"Honoured?" she snickered. "He should be more careful. An honour by the Goddess of Death could be too much for him."

"You could tell him so yourself in a little while" the Master grinned. His new associate was indeed a pleasant company. "Shall we go, then?"

"Oh, it's freezing!" complained Romana, coming out of the TARDIS, for the Doctor's amusement.

"I told you to bring heavier clothes" he joked, handing her the white coat fur she left on the TARDIS' coat rack. They just spent a good twenty minutes arguing how heavy she should dress, and in the end she (the thickhead) just strolled out, thinking that her regulator for internal temperature would be enough: big mistake. As the Doctor learned, it took months and months of travel for the regulator to adapt to the climates of other planets.

"Where to, now?" asked Romana, now wrapped in her fur. The Doctor closed the TARDIS and took a look around.

They landed on the top of a small hill, covered with snow like the rest of the planet, not far from a great mountain, whose peak proudly stood against the sky. At the feet of the mountain, in the crystal-clear air, the Doctor could make out some buildings; one in particular, similar to a circle of ice blades, was much higher than the rest.

"That way, I think. If my memory and the maps serve me well, that should be the Giants' capital. Are you all right?" he asked, noticing Romana was blinking very rapidly.

"Y-yes, it's just ... all this white is blinding! I did not expect Jotunheim to be this ... sunny!"

"It's summer, of course it's sunny. Jotunheim only knows two season, Suntime and Icetime, both lasting six months, like on Earth's poles. You could use some sunglasses, I should have a pair of them in the TARDIS."

"No, no, I'm okay. I need just a minute to get used to the light. Then again, you didn't take sunglasses either!"

"I have a hat" the Doctor made her notice, slightly bending one of its layers. "That's enough. But we could stop here for a minute, I don't think ..."

BOOM!

The sky opened over them, and with the roar of a thunder a beam of multicolour light ripped the atmosphere and crashed on the ground, a few feet from the hill they were standing. The earth shook, and Romana fell; the Doctor barely managed to stand by grabbing the TARDIS wall, and he still had to raise an arm to shield his eyes from the blinding light.

After shining brightly for a moment, the light vanished, leaving on the burned ground traces of melted snow and what looked like arcane symbols, disposed in a circle. At the middle of it, two women stood, of medium height, armed from head to foot with a silver armour, a long blue coat hanging from their shoulders.

"Valkyries ..." the Doctor whispered excited, recognizing the uniform. "The Asgardian military corps, proud and glory of their army! They are all women, you know?"

"Yes, Doctor, I know" Romana answered dryly. "I followed a course at the Academy, I know Asgard's culture. I would be more interested in what they are doing here."

"You're right, let's ask them!" the Doctor exclaimed, and before Romana could stop him, he walked straight towards the new arrivals, waving his hand in a welcoming gesture. "Hello there! Are you here on vacation too?"

The two women turned towards him and one of them (white, blonde, with long hair gathered in braids) raised her sword in a defence stance, only to be readily stopped by her fellow.

"For Odin's sake, put down your sword, Waltraute! Do they look like Ice Giants to you?"

"Sorry to interrupt, but since you arrived near us, I thought it would be best we introduced. I am the Doctor, and she is ..."

"I am the Lady Romanadvoratnelundar. We are Time Lords from Gallifrey, and we invoke the Non-aggression Pact of July 2016/#JA, part 3, chapter 19, article 47, comma ..."

"How do you switch her off?" the other Valkyrie intervened, with a sarcastic smirk. She had black skin, and her hair of the same hang loosely on her shoulders. Romana immediately shut up, offended, but the Doctor just laughed.

"I shall tell you as soon as I find it out, ma'am!"

"No 'ma'am', I don't like slush. Just call me Brunnhilde, and, as you perhaps heard me shout, this is Waltraute." The Doctor raised his hat for a salute, to which Waltraute answered by simply nodding (not very chatty, the girl). "And what are two Time Lords doing on Jotunheim? You said you are on vacation?"

"Oh, that was just a joke. We are ... on a special mission from the High Council, a secret one, and honestly also rather boring ..."

"Really? That's an interesting coincidence. We too have been sent by Odin to talk to Laufey, the Giant king, for a question of the greatest importance. Maybe it's the same mission?"

"Even if it was," Romana intervened, "the Council's business cannot be discussed with ..."

"Do you mind?" the Doctor cut her off. "We are trying to have a constructive dialogue, here! Please, excuse my companion, she just graduated from the Academy, and apparently they did not teach her diplomacy well again."

"Well, they at least taught me discretion, such as not saying 'We are on a mission from the High Council' to the first person you meet, thus inviting inconvenient questions."

"All right, all right" Brunnhilde raised a hand, claiming their attention. "What do you say we talk about it on the way to the king's palace? I guess you'd still had to talk about it with King Laufey."

"Brunnhilde!" Waltraute hissed, taking her from an arm, only to be gently pushed away. "We shouldn't ..."

"Oh, take it easy, will you? I know this is potentially hostile territory, but we'll not start ambushing random passers-by. It would seem, Doctor, we both have a troublesome companion to bear."

"Don't be too harsh with her, I am sure she is a respectable Valkyrie. Anyway, we accept your offer, it's too cold out here even for my coat. Shall we go then?"

"Welcome to my kingdom, Hela Odinson."

Laufey, the king of the Ice Giants, pronounced these words from the height of his light blue throne, towering on the visitors in the wide room. The walls of the room were filled with engravings, depicting the history of his people: the tale of a primitive tribe of subhuman people learning to speak and uniting after centuries of internal strife under the rule of a dynasty, changing the habitat around them to suit their cold existence. The engravings were simplistic, almost rude, but they had a clarity which made them the opposite of the pompous ostentation Hela was used to in Asgard (the Giants had never been a conceited race). And yet, here it was the same hypocrisy Hela hated so much: every people tells history as he were the protagonist, and everything he did was rightful.

Hela bowed before Laufey, bending her knee until the ground. Centuries earlier she wouldn't even dream to do this, but times changed and, if she wanted her revenge, she had to humiliate herself. There would be enough time to make up for it.

"And I thank you, Your Highness, for receiving me, especially given what it may cost you."

From his throne, Laufey waved for her to rise. He was surprisingly swift for someone of his size.

"The Ice Giants obey no one. We respect Asgard's will, but this doesn't make us their slaves" he said, speaking with a rough, grounding voice; his red eyes, two cracks in his dark face, narrowed even more as he bent towards her. "Even more so if, as the Master says, your presence here could be the start of a fruitful partnership."

"Your Highness, you can be sure of it" the Master spoke from behind Hela. "Odin's daughter promised her help and assistance in exchange for you recognising her the Right of the Suppliant, and granting her political asylum. Even Odin wouldn't dare touch a recognised Suppliant. Of course, you'd have to verify her right to such a treatment, but I am sure there will be no problem."

"You shall have all my understanding" Laufey nodded, with a satisfied grin. "In the meantime, I hope you'll accept my hospitality."

"I would be honoured" Hela answered. "I heard great things of the Ice Giants' hospitality."

"I am certain of it" Laufey laughed at the joke (Ice Giants were not renowned for being very hospitable). "But I can assure you those rumours are outdated. I took special precautions for my guests."

Hela wanted to say something, but the door opened to let another Giant in, one of the king's heralds.

"Your Highness, we have delegates from Asgard. They say they come for the fugitive. There are also two Time Lords from Gallifrey with them."

Out of the corner of her eye, Hela saw that the Master seemed shaken from this news, even though he tried to hide it. She herself was much surprised: delegates from Asgard, she expected, ma Time Lords? What was Gallifrey's interest in this business?

"Let them in" Laufey ordered. "A good chance to start the judgment, don't you think, my lady?" he then asked Hela. She didn't reply and got closer to the Master.

"You didn't tell me your people is involved in this."

"He is not" the Master asserted, his eyes narrowed and his mouth gritted in a worried expression. He immediately relaxed, though, when the group of the new arrivals entered the room, Brunnhilde and Waltraute first, followed by the Doctor and Romana. On the other side of the room, the Doctor too stopped seeing him, surprised by the Master's presence, and like Hela, Romana too felt the tension in her companion's gaze and posture.

"What is it, Doctor?"

"Him" the Doctor answered, pointing to the brown, dark man near Hela. Romana looked at him without understanding.

"Who is he?"

"The Master."

"Who?"

"The Ma ... oh yes, Gallifrey removed every trace of his existence from the Matrix. To make a long story short, if you thought I was a criminal, then he should have a life sentence in the Capitol's dungeons."

"You mean he's a Time Lord? But ..."

"Shush, I shall explain you later" the Doctor cut her off, focusing on what was happening before the throne. Brunnhilde had paid Laufey his due tributes, and was now presenting him Odin's request to hand over Hela; Waltraute stood behind her, not far away from the fugitive, her hand on her sword's hilt.

"... therefore we ask you to give back the criminal Hela to Asgard, so that she shall be judged."

"Nothing would give me more pleasure than obey the orders of the Allfather" Laufey answered, "but unfortunately my hands are tied. Hela Odinson requested the Right of the Suppliant."

"She has no right!" Waltraute shouted, moving forward. "A criminal like her cannot ask for the Right!"

"Criminal?" Hela asked, a cruel irony in her voice. "Criminal ... oh, the hypocrisy of some! That's how Asgard remembers me? Me, their greatest warrior? Me, the head of their army?"

"Asgardians don't even know you exist" Waltraute answered, ignoring Brunnhilde's warning gaze. "And those who do, think you're a myth."

"I'm not surprised. It's how my father handles things: if you can't solve a problem, ignore it. A coward's way."

Waltraute's sword came out of its sheath before Brunnhilde could stop her; a blade came out of Hela's wrist just as quickly, changing into a sword she grabbed. The two weapons clanged against each other in mid-air, and the noise of clashing steel echoed thorough the room.

"Take it back" Waltraute threatened Hela.

"I'd love to, but after centuries in Hel, I'm dying for some exercise, if Your Majesty has not objections."

"I always appreciate a good fight in my throne room," Laufey grinned, "but I have to remind you both that the Right cannot be conceded to someone who commits murder before the judge."

"I'll be careful then" Hela said, before taking a step back, thus unbalancing Waltraute, and moving behind her. Her hand fell down, as she tried to strike her opponent in the back, but Waltraute quickly turned around and blocked her. She then launched herself forward, in an attempt to harm her at the wrist, but Hela blocked every single blow of hers, while backing down a little to the right. In doing so, she moved closer to Brunnhilde, and she took the chance to slip beyond Hela's arm, reach Waltarute and hold her back.

"Waltraute, stop! We didn't come here to fight!"

"She insulted the king!"

"Odin has more than once showed he's not a coward, it would take far more than the words of a renegade to really insult him. And she's nothing but a traitor crawling to a species she herself subjugated to get some charity. She doesn't deserve your sword."

"Your Highness," the Master addressed Laufey, "this is too much. With all due respect for your authority, you can not allow these charges against your guest. If they have something to say they could do at the trial, as the Right of the Suppliant states. It will be then, and only then, that the weight of Her Majesty's guilt will be determined."

"And who's going to defend her? You?" the Doctor asked him, moving forward. "A famous criminal wanted for crimes in at least three galaxies?"

"I'm not the accused party in this, Doctor. My ... client is."

"Client? What are you now, a lawyer?"

"Even if I was, I fail to see why you should be interested. And about that, perhaps you'd like to explain, Doctor, the reason you are here. You see, even admitting the Time Lords are interested to Asgard's internal policy, which I doubt, I have the most serious doubts they'd send you as their delegate."

"I am the delegate" said a female voice behind the Doctor. "I represent the Time Lords here. My name is ..."

"Romanadvoratnelundar" the Master finished for her.

"You know me?" Romana asked, confused.

"You don't?" the Master asked back, seemingly confused. "Interesting, very interesting ..." he then muttered, grinning. "Anyway, the question still stands. Why are you here?"

"Enough, all of you" Laufey said loudly. He didn't scream, but the acoustics of the room made his voice fill all the empty space. "As much as I enjoy these quarrels, still I can't allow you to go any further. I allow temporarily the Right of the Suppliant to Hela Odinson, but Asgard's delegates shall have their chance to protest against my decision and convince me not to, as the law dictates. Valkyrie, you have three days to prepare your charge."

"It shall be done, Your Highness" Brunnhilde bowed. "Thank you."

"Meanwhile, you too shall be my guests. And now, Doctor, I will ask you the question of the Master. You didn't say what reason brings you here."

"Didn't I?" asked the Doctor. "Oh yeah, I didn't. You see, Your Highness, it's ..."

"We are here for a mission of the greatest importance on behalf of Gallifrey" Romana proclaimed, moving forward. "Something which has nothing to do with your actual predicament. Everything we ask is that you allow us to stay a couple of days here to accomplish it."

"And what mission would it be?"

"There is something, on your planet, which could be dangerous, and we have been charged with taking it into custody. I can guarantee you it's nothing which belongs to the Ice Giants; on the contrary, it's something you'll be more than glad to get rid of."

"Interesting, but this is not enough for me to grant you hospitality. You want to take away something from my kingdom without asking my permission?"

"But we would ask it, that was implicit! Of course we'll ask you, we would never dare to insult you!"

"Then you can also tell me what it is."

"No, we can't. Our mission is secret, and some things we are not authorized to reveal. We are forced to ask you to trust us in this, Your Highness, and we promise in return we do nothing against your people, as stated by Article 89 of the Shadow Procl ..."

"Silence" Laufey hissed, and now his voice was as cold as his habitat. "Some things never change, do they? The Time Lords behave once again with their innate pride. They are convinced they can act as it best pleases them without regard for inferior races' thoughts on the matter. Well, not on Jotunheim. I'm afraid I have to ask you and the Doctor to depart immediately. Come back when your superiors decide to treat a king with the respect it's due to him."

In his corner, the Master laughed satisfied, on his face that sickening grin the Doctor saw so many times on Earth, and always made him angry. "Well, my congratulations, old fellow. Pity, I almost hoped in another challenge between us: you are funny in this body. It shall be for the next time, it seems."

"Wait" the Doctor said. "What if we offer our services for the accusation to Hela Odinson?"

Everyone was taken by surprise by this: the Master, Hela, Laufey, the Valkyries and even Romana looked amazed at the Doctor, while he went to bow down before Brunnhilde.

"An alliance once existed between Gallifrey and Asgard. In the Dark Times, we fought and died together. And if now Asgard is threatened, I, the Doctor, Lord President of the Supreme Council of Gallifrey and All Her Dominions, Holder of the Wisdom of Rassilon, Preserver of the Matrix, Guardian of the Legacy of Omega, will be proud to honour this allegiance."

"President?" the Master huffed amused. "You? You can't mean our people chose you as President! Your Highness, this is a trick! The Doctor ..."

"The Doctor was elected Lord President after the last elections on our planet" Romana intervened. "He chose not to exert his power, but he is still invested with the dignity of the office. Anyway, he offered his services to the Asgardian delegates, and now it is up to them: if they refuse, we shall go."

The eyes of every present turned towards Brunnhilde, who was still silent. In the now quiet hall, her black eyes glanced over everyone. She saw Romana holding back her own irritation, the cruel curiosity of the Giant king, Hela's cold anger, but most of all, she saw how the Master was nervous, how all the muscles of his face were contorted and twisted. And that was it. She had enough time, during their meeting, to look at everyone, and when the Master offered himself as Hela's champion, she understood that he was the real key to everything. And now, the Doctor's mere presence was putting him in trouble. Very well, then ...

"In the name of Odin Borson, King of Asgard, Protector of the Nine Realms, I accept your services, Doctor, and those of your associate. I am glad to renew the allegiance between our two people."

The Doctor thanked her and got up with a smile on his face, to whom Brunnhilde answered with another one, just as wide. Defeated, the Master retreated near to Hela, the only one seemingly not taken by surprise in all of this. As for Laufey, he accepted the decision and, summoned his chamberlain, ordered him to arrange six chambers for the guests. He then dismissed all and invited them all to the dinner he would prepare for them that same evening.

"What were you thinking?" Romana exclaimed as soon as she could freely talk to the Doctor. "We can't interfere with ..."

"Interfere? Of course, we can interfere! Always do what you're best at!" the Doctor happily silenced her. "And what's more ..." he added, with a serious tone, "something tells me the Master is not here by chance. I think he is looking for the Stone too."

NOTES

- I don't know if it is clear from the chapter, but the Master in this chapter if the original incarnation in the TV series, played by Roger Delgado.