Chapter 7.
The next morning I ran the halls of the castle swearing under my breath after oversleeping. I used my teeth to tie off a gold bracer on my left arm, and skidded around the corner of the narrow hall and nearly lost my footing as I ran. My royal purple short jacket rode up a bit as I crouched to finish lacing up my boot and I quickly tied the leather cording that held it in place. I finished adjusting the boot and continued to run through the halls and skidded to a halt short of knocking a woman over who was carrying a large stack of papers. She scowled at me in open annoyance, and I shrugged as I recovered and ran on.
Aimee let me sleep a bit longer thank I wanted, and I was impatient as she insisted on styling my hair in another elaborate bun and secured it using a dragonfly shaped comb. Loki was going to be pissed at my being late, and I crashed through a door at the end of one hall nearly knocking over a guard as I tried no to fall over myself. I used the moment to try and catch my breath, and rested against the wall as he stared, obviously annoyed at me.
"Sorry." I gasped out. "Training Yard…which way? I asked and he gave me elaborate directions to follow and I sighed at how far it was. I began running again without thanking the guard, and jumped up onto a railing to slide down it skateboard style and the smooth arches of my boots to avoid the people on the stairs, my running style became a mix of Parkour and Oh Shit as I dodged around slower people as I continued on.
Me? Weird? Nah…
Seeing the walkway I wanted approximately two floors below me through an open archway, I planned my descent and took the chance, bracing my hand against the wall as I ran across the hall toward the open window.
People must have been shocked by what they witnessed next, as I ran through the breezeway and hit a pillar and continued to use my momentum to spring back to bounce off the castle wall and landed hard on the walkway below. Rolling into my landing and absorbing the inertia of my impact as I continued. The gold shoulder guard glinted in the sunlight on my right, and I looked up at some shocked faces above me. I stood up and tested my legs. Nothing was injured, so I kept running and vaulted a railing shouting that I was late over my shoulder with a half hearted apology. If I had paid attention, I would have seen Sif and Fandral trying to get my attention from the breezeway, but I was hell bent on not being any later than I already was.
I vaulted another railing and jumped the rose bush that was in my way as I cut through the garden, possibly freaking out a couple of women as they sat on a bench talking to each other quietly in the morning sun. I then vaulted another railing and hit the stone path, catching my balance and headed directly for the stairs that took me down to the Training Yard. I then saw two men walking up the stairs toward me in full armor, and my momentum was to fast to stop without hurting someone or myself. I sped up and headed straight for them as they stared in shock, my brain formed the plan of avoiding hurting anyone as I propelled myself forward.
They took in the mad woman coming at them, and looked at me like I was an out of control Scud Missile. They both froze in panic as I hoped they would.
"Incoming!" I shouted as one of them dropped to his knee and I used his thigh and shoulder along with my momentum to jump the both of them and grabbed an archway. I swung my legs out to build more inertia to swing over to the edge of another archway. I then grabbed the side with my gloved hands, locking the arches of my feet to control my descent sliding down it to the ground.
At the bottom, I calmed my breathing and straightened my jacket and walked through the doors to the Training Yard and found it empty. Pressing my lips together, I heard two persons running down the stairs and turned to see Sif and Fandral rushing down the stairs after me and I groaned.
"We couldn't keep up, Fandral laughed leaning onto his knees to catch his breath. "Your shortcuts, while interesting, caused a bit of excitement."
Sif smiled at me and Thor and Volstagg slammed through the door, knocking Fandral into the wall painfully behind it. Sif pushed the door back quickly to help him back up and he groaned in pain as he adjusted his cloak around his shoulders.
"It would have been helpful to know you could run like that." Thor said and I rolled my eyes. "We nearly lost you when you went through the window."
"It's called Parkour, great for the stamina." I said and we all collapsed into laughter, moving to the side of the ring as two men walked by and looked at me slyly. I accepted a cup from Sif and drank some water from it and steadied myself from all the exertion.
"It is also helpful when you need to be creative when escaping someone, they can't beat you up if they can't catch you." I smirked and Loki came through the door out of breath and looked at me wide eyed.
"Did you jump through a second floor window?" He asked me shocked at what he had probably heard on his way to meet us and I doubled over as I laughed. Sif laughed as Thor gave a deep throated chuckle at Loki's response. Fandral leaned against the wall and twitched his mustache as Volstagg just stood back and looked amused.
"Maybe." I replied and smiled wide.
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My lessons went roughly in the beginning, like really rough, I got frustrated and blew up a training dummy showering the ring with bits of straw and pieces of wood and cloth. The two men in the next ring jumped and stared at me as I shrugged and hung my head. Loki looked at me annoyed and I sighed as he approached me. I looked down and kicked at the loose dirt under my feet, trying not to let my failure bother me too much.
"Why is it you can make a bird or transport yourself across a room effortlessly, even jump out a window on a whim and not break both your legs, but this alludes you?" Loki said and turned his back on me and I looked sadly at Volstagg wrapped in heavy padding and sweating in his cocoon, he smiled at me and gave me a wink.
"Actually Loki." Volstagg said and Loki turned to him. "Perhaps it is a good thing she canne, I think I would be unhappy ta be blown up." The rest of the group laughed and I felt frustrated tears coming on at the open teasing.
"Knock him off his feet Little Mouse." Loki said, shooting everyone a look of annoyance. "Take control of your powers and emotions, give him a shove."
I sighed and took in a few breaths as I concentrated and let my breath out. I slowly built up the energy as instructed as Volstagg nervously closed his eyes, I felt my power build in my chest and flicked my hand out to release it and Volstagg was greeted with a light breeze.
"FUCK!" I screamed in frustration and kicked one of the buckets Loki used to mark where he wanted me to stand, and nearly started crying when I saw something shiny fly at me out of the corner of my eye. I jumped and reappeared behind Volstagg and saw a knife embedded in the wall behind where I was standing.
"Watch our tongue girl." Loki growled as I glared at him. "Useless! Pathetic! Girl!"
He spat and my fists clenched as everyone became dead quiet around us, I ducked back and hid behind Volstagg as Thor started to issue a protest on my behalf.
"You see this pathetic, stupid creature." He shouted as he pointed and glared at me. "She is not even clever enough to shine my boots! Cowering Little Mouse, please tell me, is that what you plan to do your entire life? Hide behind greater beings, or do you just plan to be a sad little creature. Lost and all alone with no one to care about you?"
He walked toward me purposely, storming toward me and swinging his arms aggressively as he approached, and I yelped out and panicked in fear of being hit.
"Look at you, everyone says you are so powerful, but all I see is a stupid, useless, and pathetic excuse for a little girl. You are an embarrassment!" He screamed and I shivered.
"Shut up! I screamed at him and extended my hand over Volstaggs shoulder knocking Loki off his feet with my power, one of his bracers went flying across our section of the Training Yard as he fell into a table and came to a rest as splinters of wood settled. Everyone looked at me and I ducked behind the padded Volstagg again as I looked over his shoulder in shock.
"I hope ya killed em." Volstagg said and I felt queasy at the idea of killing someone. Even if it was Loki.
"Loki?" Thor said as I picked up the bracer and walked over turning it over in my hands scared, and the whole group joined me as I walked forward cautiously.
"Oh please tell me I didn't kill him." I said as we all looked at him expectantly, but he lay very still among the debris. We waited on baited breath as he opened his eyes and looked up at us and groaned.
"I knew if I made you mad, you would do it." He groaned and I sighed in relief.
"Did you kill em?" Volstagg asked behind us from his spot because the padding prevented him from moving. Thor helped him stand up and I handed him the bracer nervously, he took it from me and I swallowed hard as I backed away. Retreating to a safe distance.
"Still alive, I see that, Pity." Volstagg said answering his own question and Loki shot him a look that shut him up. He straightened himself and slipped his arm back into the bracer as I leaned against the opposite wall and waited to get chewed out, my hand going to scratch at the other nervously.
He stood back as I looked up and smiled at me proudly.
"Remind me not to provoke you again, but you needed to be shown you could do the task."
"You threw a knife at me, please tell me that is not the usual way you provoke people?" I said and he crossed his arms. "Seriously, don't be a douche!"
"Use that anger in you, and try again." He said and pointed at Volstagg as he rubbed his back, wincing at the pain.
I stood across from Volstagg and he pinched his eyes shut again in nervous anticipation, I allowed the power to build in me. All my anger and frustration flowed into my center and then I swung my body around and threw my hand out and poor Volstagg was lifted off his feet and into the wall behind him.
"I did it!" I yelled and jumped and turned on Loki. "You saw it! I totally did it." I clapped my hands and jumped again, stopping when I heard Volstagg groan, I ended my celebration as I felt bad for hurting my new friend.
"On man, Volstagg, are you O.K? I asked, my excitement dropping into the dirt floor. I was rewarded with another groan and I rolled my eyes and laughed.
"Shake it off man, Loki handled his hit better you big Viking Baby." I put my hands on my hips and Fandral started laughing hard at my chastisement. Loki smiled amused and raised his eyebrows, crossing his arms over his chest and started laughing to himself.
"Do it again." Loki chuckled and challenged me, pointing at Volstagg who was being stood back up right by Sif and Thor, Fandral continued laughing and holding his stomach as he doubled over. I gave Loki a little wink and a sly smile as I pointed at Fandral so only he could see it, he smiled wickedly and I went to my spot in the center of the ring as Fandral collected himself and leaned back against the railing that separated the ring from the walkway.
I waited for Thor and Sif to retreat to a safe distance, and I took in a breath and felt myself build the energy back up again.
"I prefer when Loki is in my place." Volstagg groaned and I let myself pull in a bit more energy and I turned to release it, pivoting on the ball of my foot. But at the last moment, I released it and Fandral flipped up and over the railing. Volstagg turned his head and saw Fandral on his back, I feigned shock and Thor and Sif went to check on him.
"I really wanted to mess your hair up, maybe knock your mustache off," I said laughing. "Guess I put too much attitude in it."
"She has struck me down." Fandral said and stood up gingerly. "Beauty, a fierceness few shall know, but I still fight the good fight."
He bowed to me and winked, looking a bit off balance as he tried to right himself. His curly hair flopped over his eyes and he frowned at it.
"Still flirting?" I said and rolled my eyes. I slipped one foot behind me quickly for balance, and let a flame appear in my outstretched palm, Fandral saw what was happening and ducked behind Volstagg whose eyes widened at the threat.
"I would like ta protest this." Volstagg said and I let the flame shoot out from my hand in an arc that went over Volstagg and singed the ground behind him as Fandral ran for his life. Thor and Sif laughed as I sent out a flame and it missed him again, he ducked through an arch to another part of the yard and continued running.
"Hold still geek!" I yelled and he ran across the next dirt covered arena. Volstagg watched the whole spectacle and then began shedding padding and shaking his head, he wiggled his arms free and started walking away.
"Fire is where I quit." He said and pulled off the cover from his chest. "I will not be riskin' me beard to be of help. Sweet child I wish ya luck with tha' learning, but I canne offer myself any more."
I laughed loudly and Volstagg looked at me and smiled as he joined Sif and Thor who had gone to catch Fandral.
"I look forward ta seein ye on the field of battle. And I hope ye are on our side Lady." He added as his weathered face crinkled in amusement.
"Good luck catching the Lady Killer guys. I think he is on another planet by now." I said as everyone left, I walked over and picked up some of the padding and started returning it to the cubby we got it from.
"You are beginning to impressively master your gifts." Loki said and I cut him off by slapping him across the face. My palm stung from the contact, and he looked at me and frowned. I picked up the last of the padding and put it up with a huff and shoved it back into the shelf.
"For throwing a knife at me." I said and he rolled his eyes and I felt some satisfaction when I saw the red hand print on his pale cheek.
"Understandable," He said and poured himself a cup of water from a pitcher nearby and walked over to the railing.
"As I was saying, you are gaining more control , but you must control your emotions and the power at the same time." He said and moved to a bench where he sat down.
"What do you want me to do?" I asked him taking a breath and trying to be Zen, he smiled and patted the bench next to him and I reluctantly sat down. But put more distance between us as I settled.
"You carry around a lot of hurt and anger; it can affect how you wield your powers. It is evident in how you carry yourself, and how you react to others around you." He said and I tried to outwardly blow him off, but he was right.
"Well if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black." I said and he looked at me. "And for the sake of argument, so what. Ninety percent of my life has been one shitty situation after another, at least I didn't take it out on everyone who didn't deserve it."
His nostrils flared and I scooted out of striking distance quickly, he stood up and began walking at me as I jumped up and cornered myself as he slammed a hand into the wall over my head. I cringed away, and covered my face with my hands to protect it on instinct as a thousand bad memories flooded back. He looked down at me with intense eyes. Studying my reaction, and I shook a bit and looked up at him. I was trying not to let my fear show, but it burst through in all its glory. I looked at him and cringed into the wall behind me, trying to melt through it and wishing Thor or Sif had not left.
He moved away suddenly, and I relaxed letting out the breath I had been holding, letting the muscles in my stomach relax. I was shaking as I wrapped my arms around myself.
"Fear like that is learned." He said and he relaxed as I leaned back on the wall, wiping my sweaty palms on my coat. We stayed quiet for a long time, and I sighed to clear the bad memories from my head.
"You are bigger than me," I said and I sighed again and thought of a way to change the subject. "So you want me to be more Zen, find my center and all that."
He turned and raised his eyebrows at me, and I walked back to the bench and sat down, putting a comfortable distance between us.
"Create something, anything and show it to me." He said and I made a large tarantula appear in my hand, he looked at it as it crawled with hairy legs up my arm, and I carefully scooped it up in my other hand, cradling the creature that others found frightening.
"I am getting a lot better at this, I may have practiced for a bit last night." I said and let the large spider crawl over the back of my hand, he looked at me and I offered it to him. He looked at the creature but did not reach out, he just watched as I changed the shape in to a boa constrictor and its tail wrapped around my arm as I ran the tips of my fingers down its cold body. I then made it disappear, and leaned back against the wall behind us and looked out at the yard.
"Biggest I can do is a dog though." I said and sighed.
"Knock the buckets over now that you have calmed." He challenged me and I flicked my power out and both buckets tipped over easily, he smiled impressed at me and I yawned behind my hand. He put his hand on my knee, and I cringed away from the touch, he removed his hand from my leather covered knee.
"It was a little too familiar for me." I said and relaxed back again, feeling tired and wanting to sink into a hot bath.
"My apologies." He said and turned his body on the bench to face me. "You have done much today, perhaps you should rest and study more of the book I gave to you."
"Yeah," I said but did not move. I debated a question on my mind, remembering his reaction to my previous outburst. So I just sat quietly and watched as he rubbed his palms together, the clang of steel in the background was the only sound. I leaned forward and pressed my lips together.
"Something on your mind Little Mouse?" He asked me finally and I nervously licked my lips and took in a breath.
"Why did you do it?" I asked him, blurting it out and he closed his eyes knowing exactly what I referred to. He pinched the bridge of his nose and looked up at the two men in the adjoining yard, he looked back at me.
"I want to be a King." He said looking me in the eye and I saw the hesitation cross his face before he answered, betraying the lie.
"You are lying." I said, and he stood up quickly in shock and glared down at me, I cringed back preparing for him to rage at me. I put my arm up instinctively and shook a bit in fear, he saw my reaction and calmed a bit as he paced for a second.
"Some things I do not want to talk about with you, you are a foolish girl to try to walk some roads without being invited, and I owe you nothing." He spat at me and began to walk away and I relaxed, I looked out at the yard and calmed the wild animal in my chest that was trying to escape. I saw his shoulders relax as he stopped, and I backed up again against the wall on instinct alone.
"Sorry." I said with a shaky voice. "I didn't mean to push, keep it to yourself." He looked at me and sighed sadly as I stood up and looked down at my feet.
"There are things I never wish to discuss with anyone." He said and turned to leave again. "You wouldn't understand them, and they are quite unpleasant."
I watched him cautiously, hoping that he would just leave and I could go find somewhere to hide and I looked down at my feet and nodded.
"Do you let these things define you? Or do you just build a wall around them and let them become a toxic sludge for your soul?" I pressed gently as he began walking away, pausing briefly as he entered the archway and I closed my mouth suddenly and backed up again and looked at his back.
"Be here tomorrow morning, and make an effort to not jump out of any windows on the way here. I have no desire to report that you have broken an arm or a leg, or spilled your brain onto the ground for that matter." He said over his shoulder and disappeared through the archway.
I stood shaking for a few moments when two men in armor walked through the door and looked at me, a thousand bad nights and memories flooding through my head involuntarily as I clenched a fist and tried to focus on my breathing. My body trembled a bit as memories of closed fists and my cries for help echoed through my head, I took in one deep breath after another and closed my eyes silently.
"Are you well Maiden?" One of the men asked me politely, and I smiled at him with his brown hair and blue eyes.
"Yes, just a few ghosts that haunt me coming back." I said and left the Training Yard quietly.
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Troubled, Loki walked the halls and back to his chambers.
The girl had pressed too far for his comfort and he hoped he would never have to answer any of her questions. He wished to never have to answer for his actions and explain them or the darkness that caused them all, they were his memories and he guarded them closely out of fear of being seen as weak. In the back of his mind, a scream following the sound of pain being administered to flesh ripped through his head. He pushed the echo of the past aside quickly and turned his thoughts to her reaction at his anger.
The way she automatically cowered like a whipped dog from him, her arms up to protect herself. There was more to her reaction than just self preservation, that was a physical reaction to someone who intimately knew pain, suffering, and genuine fear. The reaction someone who had looked into darkness over and over again and respected as well as feared the pain that came with it, someone who was intimate with brutality and would cower away from it every chance they could.
He knew however, that she would still press for her answers and now had a key to silence her. Approach her aggressively and she would back away. In order to be kind and to keep his secrets, he would have to be cruel.
He sat back in the high backed chair near his desk and looked at the empty wall across from him and thought about her question, his hand idly toying with the purple stone as he thought about what to do further should she keep wanting her curiosity satisfied and should further threat of cruelty stop working. It eventually would too, she would become conditioned to his reactions and learn that he would not strike her. Frustrated, he could not come up with a clever lie for her, and imagined himself being overly cruel to her to silence her and it bothered a part of him to think that way.
A sudden knock at the door jerked him out of his thoughts and he looked up at the door opened and mentally growled.
"Yes, what is it boy." He said, not hiding his annoyance at the intrusion as the Page cautiously entered the room. His lack of courtesy and a bow irritated him further and his hand curled around the stone tightly.
"My King requests your presence; he wishes a report on the Lady Lilliana Rose immediately." The boy said and backed out the door nervously, Loki sighed and rolled the stone a bit.
"Gods teeth." Loki grumbled as her released the stone and pushed up from the chair, the Paige looked at him in confusion at his reaction. Had the boy seen something cross his face at the mention of her name?
"That vexing girl, not even full power and everyone worships at her little feet. They should make her Queen and then she can have Asgard as a glorious toy to amuse herself, her empty little head can smile and be pretty all she wishes then." He said and smoothed his clothes, changing them to something more casual but formal enough to go before Odin.
The boy moved to the side to allow Loki to pass, but he still gave him a shove as he walked past and down the hall.
"Close the door boy." He said over his shoulder as he turned the corner and walked purposefully toward the throne room.
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I read in my room alone after eating from a tray of food Aimee had left out for my return.
The book mostly covered calming oneself and finding balance and harmony between thoughts and emotions. It was vaguely Shintoist in the teachings with some Buddhism thrown in for good measure, and I was reading a passage of the warrior and the bond between the self and the weapon, comparing it mentally to the Japanese art of Kendo. The belief of the sword having a soul in it, and the person who uses the sword is just an extension of the Katana. I sat back and thought about the smooth movements of the two men I had once watched spar on the streets of Seattle in a demonstration in front of Uwajamaya during a celebration for the Moon Festival. Their grace and control made the entire staged fight seem like a dance, as they turned and moved about each other as two bodies in a beautiful and terrible spectacle. I remembered the graceful Katana, and smiled when one of them let me hold one, remembering how light it was in my hand, curiously so, for something do deadly.
The man had taken a piece of cloth as I held the blade facing up and he and dropped it over the edge, I smiled amazed at how it effortlessly cut the cotton in half and the two halves fell to the floor no sign of mar on the finish of the shining steel. He showed me a few basic moves, and told me of books about the respect of nature and the balance of warrior and soul that one must achieve before becoming an effective Samurai. I remembered sitting in the library and reading them as I curled in an overstuffed chair and finding so many more interesting texts on various belief systems.
My grandmother would have been appalled if she were alive to see me now, she would have made me be more of a lady and probably have gone Super Japanese Grandmother on me. Probably chasing me around with a switch of some kind for not being respectful.
Bored, I set the book aside and decided to go for a walk. It was my first time alone in Asgard, and it would probably be my only chance to explore on my own and I was not going to waste it in my room.
I unplugged my phone from the portable charger and put my ear buds in, checking the black power inverter to see how much more charge it had and found it had four more uses before it would be completely shot and needed to be plugged in before another use itself. I turned the screen on and scrolled through the selections, and chose Florence and the Machine before darkening the screen and tucking it in the waistband of my pants and pulling the short jacket over it to keep it safe.
"Jumping out of windows." I whispered and snorted as I opened the door and peeked around it for Fandral, but did not see anyone outside. I turned and headed for the center of the castle and the master staircase that lead out to the courtyard.
"Throw another knife at me and I'll throw you out a window." I grumbled as I walked the hall alone. Fuming to myself as I walked and trying to relax more as I moved. I didn't want to run into Loki either, the jerk probably would order me locked in my room or something.
I got turned around a few times, but eventually found the courtyard and the Guards watched me as I walked past them alone singing Breath of Life as I walked on, turning on my heel and balancing on the edge of a water fountain before hopping down and looking around me. I then turned to one of the armored men and pulled my ear buds out and smiled at him like a pretty little girl, turning up the charm as I bit my lip in a flirt.
Yeah, I know. But really, I was trying to catch more flies with honey, you know that great shit?
I was internally proud of myself when he looked down at me and I smiled a bit wider, I folded my hands in front of my chest.
"You are really tall." I said and I bit my lip and bounced in the balls of my feet. "I don't mean to bother you, but I want to go for a nice walk Sir, is there anything you think I may like?"
He made as if he was ignoring me and looked over my head and I turned thinking I had failed and pouted a bit as I stood in front of him. He took a deep breath and I looked up at him, and his face was in thought. I then put on extra sugar and let my face look pouty, and looked down.
"Sorry to bother you." I said and took a step back.
"If you walk the road to the right, you will find the Market and the City Center, if you choose to walk the flagstone footpath to the left you will find the palace gardens. All the young maidens like to walk there as they are lovely. The road to the center leads to the Bifrost and is off limits unless you have permission from the Allfather, so you should avoid it." He smiled down at me and I returned it softly, stepping up on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek and bumped my nose on his helmet and giggled a bit as I rubbed it.
I could have skipped the kiss, but I wanted him distracted, and if he was anything like Fandral, he would be good and distracted.
"Thank you," I said and put my ear buds back in my ears and walked off and waved as I turned right pretending to not be able to hear them as they teased the guard about my kiss. I heard him try to convince them that he was the actual lucky one for getting the affection and I took my chance, I bolted through the trees and continued quietly down the center road.
I never was one to follow rules, and from my hiding spot behind a tree I glanced back and saw that I was not seen. I started the music again and continued on my way and randomly stopped to smell a bush overfull with Jasmine flowers and Picked some and made a crown of them using the stems, weaving in some fragrant lavender and put it up on the top of my head and admired myself in a pool of water.
I continued walking and danced a bit as I walked, and studied some of the statues that lined the road as I walked. I turned on the balls of my feet and threw my arms out as I sang along with the music in my ears, a strange echo carrying my voice back to me from beyond the gates that opened on a bridge over the water and saw the sparkling of a multitude of stars against velvet night that surrounded the domed structure I had arrived in.
I looked down at the shimmering bridge and wondered if it would hurt me to walk on it, but remembered the horses. Even so, I still took the crown of flowers off my head and dropped it carefully onto the bridge deck and nothing happened. I then put my hand flat on it, finding it was smooth as glass and watched as the shimmering energy pulsed around my hand I then put my foot out and took a leap of faith as I stood on the bridge. I picked up my flowers and walked on down the bridge to the end of the line.
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"Would you say her progress is satisfactory?" Odin inquired as he paced before Loki, Thor standing by and possibly waiting for him to flinch or some other form of betrayal toward the Allfather, also watching the exchange with interest.
"Her progress is actually a bit more advanced given one day of proper instruction." Loki replied coolly with his hands behind his back as he tried to hide his irritation at the question. He glanced over at Thor who was strangely stoic and wondered what the oaf had told Odin about the day. He glared at the future King and took in a breath through is nose. Keeping his guarded exterior up, hiding his emotions in a way that only careful practice over the years gave him.
"Good." Odin replied and nodded his approval. "And you are not overly cruel to the girl are you?" He turned and faced Loki, he allowed his face to betray nothing but looked at Thor and seethed in anger.
"No." Loki sighed and shook his head. "She does need further guidance however, to control her emotions. Nonetheless, I find her quite gifted and able to reason, her mind is rather interesting in that respect."
"Continue." Odin said sharply, a look of general surprise on his old face at the compliment given toward the girl.
"She is observant in intelligent," Loki said. "The Li…..Lady Lilliana Rose desires to excel at all things, and it is helpful that she can read the old language, perhaps some guidance from Sif in swordplay and combat will help her to release some of her frustrations and calm her further in that respect. If only help her focus more, her natural energies and short temper will get her into dangerous situations should she not have an outlet."
"Interesting." Odin said. "I did hear of her display this morning, it caused quite a stir and I agree with you. Lilliana Rose possesses an untamed heart and a willful nature, not overly bad traits to have within the young, but it does lead them to arrogance and trouble." Odin said and he looked at Thor, and Loki grinned internally.
Thor nodded his agreement and Odin thought for a moment before continuing.
"Have Lady Sif give her some guidance in swordplay." He said to Thor and turned to Loki.
"I will advise you both to not leave her unattended until she learns of our ways, she is still a stranger here and she has a nature that may be strange to all of Asgard, as you are aware." Odin said addressing them both. "Nurture her inquisitive mind, and allow her some mistakes with patience, from the assessment you have both given me I believe you two may do well with listening to her when she speaks."
Loki thought of her then, the way she explored the night sky with open curiosity and how earnest she was to explore the ruins for any hidden knowledge she could find. She did not show an outward care for the material, but a true lust for the experience of discovery. There was something more to it, he appreciated her hunger to collect knowledge and smiled at the places he could show her to guide her on her quest.
"She does have an interest in the sciences." Loki said and Odin nodded at the revelation.
"I could gather that from what I was told about her from Lady Sif, her desire to teach Sif of the stars and the galaxy." Odin sighed sadly. "She reminds me of Frigga in her quest to understand all the workings of the Nine Realms."
Loki felt a pain at hearing the name of the woman who raised him, and despite his flaws and sins loved him as a son. No matter what shortcomings in the eyes of Odin he carried, Frigga was there with encouragement and as a true mother who nurtured him and respected him. He regretted his final words to her and carried bitterness toward himself and his pride for being so cruel to her in her final days.
He remembered when he was brought back to Asgard in chains, unable because of his pride to reveal the truth about what has poisoned his mind, and it was a greater torture to see her there as judgment was passed on him. He did not care how he had disappointed Odin, the old man could rot for all he cared, but to see the sadness and fear for him on her face was a knife in his soul.
"She is beautiful." Odin mused, pulling him away from his thoughts and looked at Thor who nodded in agreement, and looked down. "She will be talked of for a long time, and have many who wish to be near her."
"Beauty is fragile armor," Loki said, further shaking off his thoughts. "Porcelain thin and easily broken, leaving the bearer in great peril."
"Agreed." Thor said. "We must continue to instruct her in her own defenses, and hope that she can protect herself in our absence."
Loki agreed internally with Thor on that matter, but did not allow it to show externally. Odin turned and regarded the council, thinking deep he nodded his agreement.
"In five days, bring me another report of her progress. I do not know what will happen to creation should she fall…." Odin's thoughts ended abruptly and he closed his eyes to listen to a ghost of a voice, irritation crossing his face.
"Lady Lilliana is at the Bifrost, Heimdall has reported it to me directly. May I suggest you collect her before she gets it into her head to leave Asgard?" Odin said and dismissed them both.
Loki felt irritation at having to collect the girl, but he also cursed himself on failing to instruct the girl on the dangers of exploring alone. He could not have predicted that she would leave her rooms this evening, but it was still his fault for underestimating her nature. Thor opened the doors to the chamber, and was greeted by Volstagg and Loki held them to address Odin.
"Have Heimdall indulge her curiosity, but tell him to not allow her to leave Asgard." Loki said and turned to leave. "She may be out there to indulge her curious nature and nothing more."
"Let us hope you are right." Odin said as Loki walked through the door and the three men began running toward the Bifrost.