Standing in a sea of men, you had somehow managed to convince the registrar you were male, and that had to mean the disguise was some bit convincing surely. Each man was given some basic plain armouring and thankfully you did not have to remove the tunic to put it on. Many men decided to forego their tunics and it took all your power not to blush as more than a few walked by, as naked as a newborn. It was not how you wished to finally see what lay within a man's undergarments, and after that experience, you doubted you would ever want to again.
Many of the men shook in fear; others in eager anticipation, there were also the few fools who welcomed battle. Your father had told you of those sorts from his days in the army, they were either quickly put in their place in training, or usually the first to die on the battlefield, there is little room for cockiness in war. Some of the men were physically ill and there was a foul stench of vomit from more than a few of them. Your nose crunched in disgust as you surveyed them. Another thought of your father's words entered your mind. These were the men you would be depending on to help keep you alive, looking around; you did not like your odds.
An order was give and each man stood in line. Standing to attention, you kept an eye on the tent that stood at the front of the group, knowing that whomever was training you, was no doubt about to emerge from inside. A moment later, the tent door brushed aside, and your eyes widened in fear as Prince Loki stood in tall looking around him. If anyone would see through your charade, it would be him in a heartbeat; after all he was the God of Lies. He began to make his way through the men, surveying each one individually. Though he kept his face completely neutral, his emerald green eyes gave away his thoughts, he shared your opinion on the men you were surrounded by, most of them were in no way fit for training, much less war.
As he neared, it took everything in your power to try and calm your breathing, he would surely take more time to assess you were you to appear to have something to hide.
When his eye fell upon you, you remembered how tall he was from the one other time in your life you had met him, and just how petite you were. Even in a line of all-sorts, you knew you were small. You did not fail to notice his eyebrows twitch slightly before he continued on through the line of men. That slight movement struck fear into you, but he said nothing and gave no indication to the Einharjar with him to take you away, he merely continued on.
"For the next month, all you will have to do is get fit. There is no point in me teaching you how to hold a weapon if you are going to tire within minutes of taking hold of it. You will train for several hours, and when you are on the brink of exhaustion, I will train you harder. Some of you may join the many ranks of the prestigious Einharjar, some of you may make an illustrious career in the general army, and some of you may decide to fall on your swords rather than endure what I put you through any longer." Many of the men looked around worriedly at those words; you on the other hand, were forced to hold back a chuckle. Loki reminded you in some part of your father, not one to sugar coat a situation; it was an admirable trait in a leader in your opinion, it was better to know the truth than to harbour false hope.
"I will be assessing you all individually over time and if any of you show any great talent that surpasses the rest, it will be nurtured. Asgard is at war with those who have many dark gifts of their own, be under no illusion, you will have to listen to every last piece of advice I give you if you want to even chance returning to your families, and even then I cannot guarantee your return. But Asgard needs us. Your mothers, sisters and daughters need us to defend them, because if we do not, Asgard will fall and I can guarantee you, the fate they risk if the Frost Giants or Dark Elves get near them does not bear thinking about." Loki stood surveying the men in front of him. There was a palpable tension as a result of what he had just said. He had struck the men in a manner that riled them up. ."Now, if you young ladies are ready, I suggest you suck in your guts and run until you reach the summit of that hill."
You looked behind you to where Loki was pointing at and groaned internally. Having not slept and walked to the Golden City, then to the training village, you were already weary. The vast majority of the men began running at a fairly brisk pace toward the hill the prince had pointed to, but you started a slow jog, cursing the raven haired royal as he mounted his horse. The horse cantered passed you to join the main group, but you did not hasten your pace.
By the time you reached the stony path that led up the hill, you had passed many men that had ran fast to begin with, but were now too exhausted to go faster than a walk. Sweat dripped rapidly down your brow and you felt as though you would never walk again without your thighs being in agony, but you continued on.
The sound of hooves made you look up momentarily before looking to the ground again. "You are slow." The prince commented.
"But consistent." You countered, trying to deepen your voice slightly, though you were gasping for breathe.
"True, but is that wise?"
"There is no camp on this hill, it is too exposed, and you have not got any provisions on your horse, nor are any being brought on another one for you, which tells me we have to return to camp too, so I have to preserve some energy for that." You found it incredibly difficult to talk and jog, but adrenaline coursed through you as you were forced to spend more time conversing with the prince, knowing the more you did, the more of a chance there was that he would figure you out.
"Very observant." You could almost hear the smile on his face. "Though why are you looking to the ground and not ahead of you?"
"The hill is steep, and that is a daunting to look at, and with such an uneven terrain, there is more chance of injury, so it is best to continue looking to where I plan to step." You replied, pleading internally to the Norns, that he would be satisfied and finally move on.
"You have more sense than any other here, what is your name?"
"Bjórrdod…son, Ragnar Bjórrson." You stated, hoping the prince would think your stutter was a product of your exertion. The name sounded ridiculous, but you had mere moments to think of it, so it would have to suffice.
"Well Ragnar, I cannot commend you enough, you have figured out the first lesson before the fun even starts." You risked glancing at the prince for a moment, only to see him grinning devilishly down at you before he dug his heels into his steed's ribs and galloped to the top of the hill.
When you finally got to the summit, there were very few men still standing and many seemed to be fit to pass out. It was clear the prince had told them they had to return to camp. Without so much as a moments rest you turned and began the walk back, fearing that if you did sit down, toy would not be capable of getting back up.
The next week continued in the same pattern, many figuring out to pace themselves, though some still thought it a challenge to get to the summit as fast as possible. You simply continued to do as you had done to begin with, with similar results each day, though as time went by, your muscles ached less and less. The only problem was you could sense the prince looking at you each day, his stare unnerving you as he looked down at you from the back of his horse.
After the hill, came dawn until dusk marches, carrying all the armour and weapons that each man would have to carry into battle. Again your thighs screamed in pain, and your shoulders ached from the extra weight around you, but you managed it nonetheless. You felt a little better seeing Loki walk along with the men, his own armour which was all leather and metal was even heavier than what you were carrying, though he made it seem like he was merely on a leisurely stroll.
The following week you noticed you had to wear a belt to hold up your pants, you were only eating basic rations and exercising constantly, if you had a mirror, you were convinced you looked entirely unrecognisable. All you wanted more than anything was a chance to bathe properly, a simple daily splashing of water was all you had managed to obtain in a fortnight, but with the risk of being seen too great, it would have to suffice. Thankfully the stench of sweat was something you had long grown to ignore.
The next torture Loki put you through was sprints up the side of the large hill you had come to detest so greatly. The mere sight of it made your stomach ill, but by now, your legs had come to accept the rigorous brutal training you were putting them through and it was not too difficult.
Finally you were forced to wade through mud and waist high water for hours, weighed down by having to carry two sacks of sand and dirt. Your arms ached worse than your legs ever did until the second day, when you realised you could tie the two sacks together and carry them around your neck, which bore the weight with far greater ease. The act, you realised, did not escape Loki's notice.
As Loki had forewarned, some men did not make it passed his fitness regime, though it had been through desertion and not through suicide, but with the punishment for desertion being death by sword, you could argue it really was the same difference.
Loki did not seem in any way surprised by those developments and continued to push the men as far as he physically could. After the month, every man was trained in using a shield. Apparently the prince was of the opinion that a good offence began with a good defence. The shield was heavy, and hurt your arm where the leather straps pulled on your skin. After the first afternoon you noticed you had welts from them, forcing you to fashion a crude leather gauntlet on your forearm, alleviating much of the strain on your skin.
"What is that?" you jumped at the unexpected voice behind you after a day of training. Turning, you saw Loki looking down at your arm.
"I…It's just something to stop the strap cutting my arm." You explained sheepishly, regretting immediately that you had admitted to being in pain. You watched Loki's expression as he continued to stare at you with an odd look you could not place.
"You are different to every other man here Ragnar." Your heart pounded hard in your chest at his words, worrying that he had found you out. "When presented with a situation that is less than ideal, you strive to find a way to better it. Your ingenuity is unrivalled, both here, and in even more experienced areas of the armies." He commended.
"Thank you my prince." You bowed your head, praying that you were not blushing. "Though I see it as nothing more than trying to use common sense."
Loki erupted into a fit of laughter which terrified you. "I do not know if you have noticed, but common sense is severely lacking here." He replied once he was finished laughing.
You chuckled. "I had noticed actually."
"Your knowledge of a shield is not that of an amateur either I have noticed. Who in your family has served Asgard before you?"
"You really take notice of things don't you?" you laughed in disbelief.
"It is my duty to. So who was it?"
"My father, he fought in the last war against Jötunheim." You responded, wishing that the conversation would end.
Loki nodded thoughtfully. "So you know a little on what we are facing."
"A bit."
"You are not one for talking, are you?" Loki noted. "You do not spend any time around the men, you never start a conversation and your answers to any and all questions are as short as you can make them."
"I am more the silently observe type."
"I gathered." Loki chuckled. "Well you are going to have to get used to talking at length with me, I want to utilise your ingenuity. It will serve Asgard well. Be at my tent at sundown, I want to discuss with you this gauntlet idea of yours, along with other ideas you may have to make training a little less tedious. Contrary to everyone's belief's I do not get as much pleasure out of your torture as is assumed."
"'As much pleasure'"
"Well I would be lying if I did not say I do not enjoy some bit." He grinned. "I did warn you on the first day that any with notable talents would be nurtured."
"I do not have any. I do not have seidr, or the ability to wield an element."
"You have the most able mind, and that is by far the greatest asset we have." Loki explained as he turned to leave. "At sundown Ragnar."
You nodded, cursing yourself to the Gods for ever thinking you could ever try to get away with this charade.