"You have called for me, Guardian?" An elderly voice called out.
The great Heimdall frowned with slight confusion. "Mia?"
She appeared cautious. "You remember me? Why?"
His frown deepened. "You know I loved you. I would have stayed with you if my position allowed it. Explain your current state."
"My state?" there was a hint of humour around her wizened eyes.
"I do not understand your age. Last we met you were in the prime of your youth. Now you appear to be in your final years. What sorcery has changed you?"
"I was much older than my body betrayed back then. I hid beneath a mask of beauty and youth." A small smile of pride.
"You are a magic user? Why were you not found? You could have attained royal employment, also!"
"My magic is not of Asgard. And, like the prince you cannot fully see, the King equally cannot see me for what I truly am."
Heimdall cut his eyes at her. "Why do you hide in the shadows then? Why not come forth?"
She barked a harsh laugh that turned to a hacking cough. "Though the magic in me comes from very distant blood, many ancestors back, it is from a world where the threat of war was always imminent. No, I was not willing to risk my exile for the sake of employment."
He thought over what had been said. "You and your daughter are part Jotun, and can apparently sense Loki like a beacon of light. But he is full-blooded Jotun and cannot sense you?"
A smirk. "Our Jotun blood is very dilute by now."
He nodded. Curious that some magic would remain strong where other magic would diminish with the dilution of blood. Time for the conversation to take a more personal turn. "Why did you not tell me of the existence of my own daughter? I have visited you from time to time, and there has been no trace of her existence. How did you hide her so?"
The elderly woman's shoulders sagged visibly. "I gave her up."
Heimdall's eyes widened in shock. "What?"
"My half-brother and his wife took her in as their own. They were more than happy to receive her as they could not bear a child of their own. She grew up knowing them as her parents, and they never knew her father. My brother was aware of the magic and blood I had inherited from my father, so kept a close eye on Fey, but he never noticed the signs of her magic and believed her to have escaped the effects of the Jotun blood in her veins."
The dark man sighed and sat on his stone steps, motioning for the lady before him – his past lover – to do the same. She remained where she was. "It was a dangerous thing to do. She could have given herself away and many questions would have been asked."
"No, she was unaware herself for a long time. Well until she was old enough to realise what it would mean if she had magic and no one knew. She grew ill one day, gravely ill. The healer's believed she would not live, so my brother sought me out. I gave my remaining magic to give her new life."
"So you can no longer keep up your youthful appearance?" Heimdall guessed.
"That is correct. I fear that my magic may have awakened hers however, because after that it began to develop rapidly. She is talented and possesses not only the Jotun ability for illusion, but also carries your sight. Combined with her Jotun senses she can see even the darkest corners of the universe as though there were before us under the light of day."
This sparked a new fear into the great man's heart. "She sounds very powerful. Where does her allegiance lie? Under what circumstances did she discover her parentage?"
A slight flash of worry crossed the woman's face, but then vanished. "I told her myself when I learned she had begun to develop her abilities in secret. It was important that she was not alone. That is what my father had told me when I learned of my magic. It was important to remember I was not the only one. Generations of our ancestors had carried this burden, and we carried it for a purpose, unknown to us still."
"You think that she, Fey, is the purpose." It was a statement.
"She believes that she is. She is very powerful, but I believe that her intentions are good. She has shown a great interest in Loki for she feels a strong similarity with him, she will stand by him."
"Loki is a trickster. He was supposed to be dead. None but us know that he indeed lives. He is dangerous." His fists clenched. "I do not know what I should do."
The older woman smiled. "Have faith in your daughter. She may carry the deception of the frost, but she bears also your pure heart. I believe it is sufficient to keep the ice in her veins at bay. Deep down, I believe that Fey is far more Heimdall than she is Frost Giant."
