A few pairs of training clothes lay on a table. Freya quickly picked a pair that looked as if they would fit. She pulled on the grey pants which fitted tightly to her legs and pulled on a pair of tall boots overtop before pulling on the shirt, which flowed loosely around her. Not something she would have chosen.

Freya looked around and spotted a chest plate lying on one of the many benches in the room. She picked it up, about to fit it over her shirt when another woman entered, scowling. "Put that down."

She was tall, as I was, though much more athletically built. Her long golden hair was pulled into a high ponytail and secured with a leather cord. Sif. She was nearly fully dressed in armor- not the training clothes Freya wore. Freya realized how silly she must look.

"That is not yours, Princess. You are no longer in Vanaheim. Go embroider something. Learn your place. If you think you're special because Loki has taken a liking to you, you are sadly mistaken," she said, tugging the chest plate from my grasp. "It simply means that you are a useful pawn in one of his schemes. You mean nothing to him."

Freya felt as if she had been slapped. She had only just met this girl a few days prior and yet the girl seemed to hate her so thoroughly. Sif turned, nose in the air, and left, letting the door slam behind her.

Freya took a deep breath, letting her shoulders slump. She missed Vanaheim more in that moment than ever. She had once enjoyed training nearly more than any of her other studies. It seemed those days too were over.

She had already known that Sif disliked her. It wasn't as if she hadn't made it a secret. Still, Sif's biting words cut her, more than she'd ever like to admit, even to herself. She didn't need to be reminded once more where her place was in Asgard.

Most of all, her assessment of Loki's feelings stung the worst. Perhaps because they were Freya's own fears. If she wasn't so afraid of being entirely alone, would her heart still ache at Sif's words? Was that a sign of her own weakness?

Freya leaned back against the wall and wrapped her arms around her knees. She didn't trust herself to go outside and keep up the façade. She knew that the moment she stepped outside, her pride would take over, ruining any chance of holding onto the poor lost princess Loki wanted her to be. Needed her to be. She owed him that, she supposed.

She nearly laughed at the thought. A year ago, if anyone had told her that she owed something to an Aesir, never mind to their prince, she would have laughed and called their jest. Yet here she sat, in retreat, so as not to disappoint him.

Freya looked up as she heard the gentle squeak of the door, bracing heerself for another barrage of Sif's sharp remarks.

But it was Loki, wearing gleaming golden armor who stood in the doorway. A golden horned helm was clutched under his arm. He hesitated there, letting the door click shut behind him.

"Freya," he asked tentatively, "Are you okay? Did Sif do something to offend you?"

"It was nothing, my prince," Freya said softly. Loki crossed to the bench and sat next to her without a word. She turned to him, surprised, before focusing her gaze once more on her feet. "You do not have to waste your time sitting here with me, I will be fine here while you train."

"Will you not finish dressing and join me? I was looking forward to training with someone who presented a challenge."

Freya looked up at Loki, her brows furrowed, trying to discern if he was serious. After a moment she nodded and stood.

"What of the rest of your armor?"

"There is none available."

"I shall find you some—"

"I will go without. It shall offer more motivation," she said stoically. In truth she did not want to be any more of a burden to him. Loki stared at her for a moment before nodding and leading the way out onto the field. The same drum of battered and blunted practice swords lay at its entrance. She began to root through but paused when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Loki wordlessly took a sword from his belt. It was gold and shorter than the one that she was used to wielding, but it was well balanced and of fine craftsmanship. Freya took it with a murmured thanks before following him to his part of the field.

Thor turned to her as she approached, easily deflecting a blow from Fandral with a block of his war hammer. He smiled as he eyed the sword in her hands before turning to Loki. "Finally there is some use to be had from that sword, eh, brother?"

Thor's grin faded slightly as he surveyed Freya in her training clothes. "Princess, surely you need to wear armor in order to train. We do not use blunted weapons in the ring at this level. Surely you were unaware—"

"I thank you for your concern, your highness, but I am fine as I am."

"Princess, would you take mine? Perhaps it would be large on your slender frame, but I would hate to see your beauty marred in any way. What a crime that would be," Fandral said, sweeping into a low bow.

"I shall be fine, I assure you," Freya said, inclining her head towards him. Loki had grown impatient. She could tell from the set of his shoulders. She guessed that Fandral's attention bothered him in some way, though she was not sure why.

She stepped away and began following Loki to the far end of the field. He hefted his helm onto his head. Freya smiled behind him as he did so. His features were well suited to the helm. He turned before she could wipe the expression from her face.

"What is it?" he asked, a defensive edge to his voice.

Freyadecided on honesty. "I was admiring your helm, it is well suited to you."

The corner of his mouth twisted upward, only slightly, and only for a moment. Then his hand went to his belt.

There was one thing to be said for her lack of armor—she was able to move much faster. By the time Loki's dagger set loose she was far gone. They continued their dance, Loki throwing with deadly precision, Freya dodging, though it became slightly more difficult when Loki began anticipating where she would move.

In many ways they were ill suited to fight one another. Loki preferred fighting at a distance whereas Freya had always favored close combat. Thus they simply kept a distance between one another until they were stopped by the Swordmaster.

"This is doing nothing to improve your skills. You each favor much different styles," he said, shaking his head. "However, I am intrigued. I know that you both possess magic—discard your weapons and let us see if that will yield a more interesting fight."

Loki nodded and handed the Swordmaster his belt of remaining knifes while Freya handed him her borrowed sword.

She braced herself. She had no idea what to expect. Freya had never really seen the extent of Loki's magical abilities, nor did she know how far she should go. Loki seemed to sense her hesitation. He advanced on her, smiling in a sort of devilish joy and then suddenly she was surrounded by thirteen of him, all smirking, all advancing.

Freya felt her heart race as her mind tried to keep pace and figure out what to do. This was a balancing act, as everything else was, she was sure. The others had stopped their sparring to watch them, heightening her anxiety. She waited until the last possible second, when Loki was barely more than an arm's length away before calling forth a near invisible wall of magic to shield herself.

The force of the shield knocked Loki backwards, causing his doubles to flicker out. Loki paused, crouched, to survey her, his mouth twisted into a wicked grin.

"So that's how it's going to be?" he asked, his eyes glinting in a challenge. He darted forward, swinging his arms in a wide arc, causing the sand around her feet to fly upward, wrapping her into a vortex.

Freya leapt upward, using the massive cloud for cover and soared behind Loki, landing lightly. In the moment before he realized where she had gone she shot an energy bolt at him, knocking him from his feet. He looked displeased.

A second later, he was face to face with her, his hand at her throat. He moved so quickly that it was hard for her to believe—

She swept his foot out from under him, knocking him off balance. As they both fell forward she brought her elbow upward to pin against his throat when they hit the ground.

However, Loki disappeared a second before making contact with the dirt, leaving Freya to land heavily on one elbow as the real Loki's feet appeared at the edge of her vision. She swung her legs around in order to topple him, but misjudged slightly, leaving herself with too much momentum.

Loki took this opportunity to lunge at Freya, his fingers latching onto her upper arm. She knew that, given a moment, he would arrive victorious. She knew that given her mastery of her magical gifts he needn't ever get that moment, but she hesitated. Surely, it was better still to mask the powers she had yet shown.

Freya waited for Loki to set her in a pin, struggling just enough for it to look as though she was really without the power to stop him. She let sparks fly from my fingertips, a cold wind howl for a moment before she resigned defeat.

Loki stared at her for a moment, eyes narrowed, before he got to his feet and offered her a hand, which she took.

The Swordmaster nodded and dismissed them without a second look. She wasn't sure if that was meant to be good or bad. The others watched with mild interest as they strode back to the gate.

"The Lie Smith and his Shadow," Sif sneered, eyes narrowed.

"That is unkind," Thor rebuked, his brows furrowing. He did not seem to like Sif's tone.

"But not untrue," Sif shot back. "Or perhaps dog is more appropriate that shadow. Only a dog returns after it has been kicked."

Freya could feel magic spring dangerously to her fingertips in her rage. She would have no problem leaving Sif a twitching heap in the dirt, but instead she took a deep breath, trying to steady her emotions. Trying to contain the magic that was welling up inside of her.

Fandral must have thought that Sif had rendered Freya close to tears, for he admonished her harshly. "What sort of thing is that to say, Sif? She has done you no wrong and yet you meet her only with insult?"

"She is not—" Sif began but Thor cut her off.

"She have done you no wrongs Sif. At the very least, leave her be."

Thor smiled reassuringly at Freya. She returned his smile hesitantly. Loki stalked off to the changing rooms without another word. Freya lingered a moment longer before following suit. She found the eyes that followed her slightly disconcerting, as they weren't filled with ire (apart from Sif) or like those that had followed me as she sat in court in Vanaheim. There was something else to them, an almost hungry edge to them that she didn't quite understand.

Loki met her at the changing room door. His expression was hard to discern, though Freya had a feeling that he was annoyed, no doubt with her. They walked in silence back towards the castle. Her head hung. Shame burned in her stomach. She had caused Loki excess grief once more, without even meaning to this time.

Loki stopped abruptly underneath one of the willows that lined the gardens. She ran into him, absorbed as she was with her surveying of the ground. He reached out a hand to steady her, his face still an undecipherable mask.

Finally he spoke, sending her stomach plummeting. "You were holding back today."

Freya's eyes shot up to his. This was not at all what she expected him to say. Her mouth fell slightly open. She had hoped that she had been convincing enough that he hadn't noticed.

She nodded finally. Loki stared at her, eyes slightly narrowed. "You know that that will help neither of us to improve."

Freya nodded once more, unsure of what to say. Loki continued. "Though perhaps it was wise not to engage fully in front of the others. Your restraint in front of Sif was admirable."

Loki smiled faintly at her slightly furrowed brows. "Yes, I did happen to notice. Did you think that I would not?"

Freya remained silent. She wasn't sure what she should say. Loki seemed to sense this. "I believe it would be a good idea for us to hold separate sessions for honing our magical abilities. I know of a place where we won't be disturbed. Where you won't have to hold back."

"If that is what you wish," she said stiffly.

"This training would be just the two of us. There will be no need for the façade. They will exist outside of the game," Loki said, guessing, as he was so often prone to do, just what I was thinking. "What do you say? I for one wouldn't mind at all if you showed me how to harness those energy bolts."

Freya smiled for the first time that day, sincerely. If she were honest there was nothing that sounded better than spending some time away from the castle politics practicing magic that was loathed within its walls. It sang of rebellion.