Ch. 5

Thor

Thor woke up on the first of April and he felt, almost instantaneously, that something was wrong. He looked over at Jane, snoring softly next to him, oblivious to the world. He got up gently so as not to rouse her. She had spent most of the night at the healer's rooms, looking over the soulforge.

Her fascination with the scientific advancements of Asgard was the overriding passion of her life. She had a thirst for knowledge that was almost unquenchable. She would spend days holed up in the library or experimenting in a makeshift laboratory to try to understand the workings of Asgardian technology. She often visited Heimdall to grill him on the Bifrost or what he could suss out about the advancements on different realms.

He wished, sometimes, that her devotion to affairs of the state was as profound. However, he understood that not all queens took to rule as readily as others. He was glad of Jane's close friendship with Darcy as the sisters-in-law were nearly inseparable. Darcy, whether because of her studies of Midgardian political systems or just her innate abilities, seemed at ease around the heads of state from different realms, where Jane seemed hesitant, unsure of herself. However, Jane was learning more and more about the political systems of Asgard and the Nine Realms and Thor was sure that it would become second nature in time.

Thor stood up and surveyed the room, trying to suss out the cause of his unease. Something was out of place or perhaps something was missing.

Missing. That was it.

He had placed Mjolnir near the bed before turning in the night before, but as he frantically searched the room, he could find it nowhere. After a few minutes of rifling through the room as quietly as he could, Jane's head popped up from her pillow.

"Thor, what's the matter?"

"Mjolnir. It's gone." Thor's tone was grave as he looked under the bed.

"Gone. How can it be gone? I thought you were the only one who could move it."

Thor shook his head. "I should be. One must be worthy to lift it. The only one in this realm would be father."

Jane sat up in bed and slowly rose, yawning as she did. It was evident that she had hardly slept the night before and Thor felt guilty for having woken her.

"So," she said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, "could your dad have taken it?"

"I do not know what would possess him to do such a thing."

"Has he ever taken it before?" Jane asked as she shrugged on a light robe.

"Once. When I was banished to Earth." Thor had begun to refer to Midgard by Jane's chosen term, noticing it put her at ease to do so.

"But he was mad at you then. He's not angry at you now, is he?"

Thor searched his mind replaying the events from the past few days. Ever since Odin had ceded the throne to Thor, he had done his best to live up to his father's example. Since he had little skill at foreign diplomacy, Odin gave Thor's adoptive brother, Loki, the position of external envoy. In practical terms, Thor dealt with all the internal problems on Asgard, while Loki dealt with relations with the other eight realms. The system worked fairly well and played to the brothers' strengths. Thor was known to be straight-forward and fair, while Loki had an incredible knack for negotiating with even the most difficult of foreign officials.

Thor could find no glaring problem or crisis in the recent past that would cause his father to grow angry with him or with the way that he ran the realm. There had been a dispute about water rights in one region of the realm, but Thor felt he had settled it equitably among all parties. There was also a contentious debate about the tariffs placed on certain types of grains, but again, Thor was sure that he had reached an agreement that was fair to all concerned. "I do not believe so, Jane. But, I am perplexed. If Father is the only one in this realm that could have taken Mjolnir and he has no reason to do so, where could it be?"

Thor was so anxious and concerned that he didn't hear a low chuckle from a nearby doorway.

Author's Note- Next up, Darcy has a little talk with Loki about his shenanigans.