In a cave, a serpent waits.
He waits for the tall, kind hearted Queen to return. It will take a while; he knows this. There are many things he knows.
He knows, for instance, that he and the Queen will not survive their next encounter. He knows that her children, the little Princes, are doomed. He knows that her husband, the coldblooded King, is the one with the power and will to destroy them all.
He has known this for so long that he's not quite certain where he first learned of it. He is an old creature, older than most, and some things were lost to time even for him.
He does know, however, that one day, centuries from now, blood will stain the Queen's skirts and once again she will feel the burn of his venom sliding down her skin. He knows that her husband will scream and writhe against his chains as she turns away to empty the small thing that protects him. He knows that even as she does this, she will be working on the spell that binds them to the cave. The spell that, once she breaks it, will kill her and the serpent.
For who is she, if not the Incantation Fetter, the One Who Unbinds All Fetters, the Beloved of Monsters? Who is she, if not the one that Odin Allfather fears, for her ability to love and love constantly, to change the way people think, to change their hearts? Who is she, if not the one who could turn people against the Allfather and his family, just by inspiring loyalty and love in everyone she graces a warm smile to?
He wishes it did not have to be this way. But the Norns will thread their paths easily, twining their fates easily between their fingers.
The serpent stops to consider that. Perhaps, though, the Queen has the power to unbind even those shackles of destiny. It will not change the ending of this particular Queen and her family-that was a tale put in place long ago.
But death is very rarely permanent for creatures such as themselves.
The serpent considers this, then nods to himself, satisfied. The Queen and her family will continue on, in some form or another, he hopes.
The Incantation Fetter cannot be bound, save for the one person who did bind her: Her husband, and only because she allowed him to.
For now, the serpent waits for her, and for the end of all things that would one day give way to rebirth.