Chapter two is quite a bit longer than chapter one, but I didn't feel like splitting it in half.

This is later than I had expected. But I still got it out, and it's twice as long as Chapter One. So enjoy that.

These kids are naughty! XD

I imagine Loki as a devious child, quick to use things to his advantages, but, sadly, well aware of what the world really is.

On the other hand, I see Thor as a reckless, arrogant teenager with no love for authority. (Though I do imagine him as an adorable, sweet kid.)

Also, about Sif, I don't mean to write her as kind of bitchy. I don't see Sif as a bitch at all. It's just that Loki rubs her the wrong way and she doesn't handle her temper that well yet. So please don't think her evil incarnate. If you didn't like Sif though, as lots of people seem to, go ahead and think what you want of her. I don't care and I don't judge. :)

Also, I would really like a beta if anyone feels like volunteering. :) Someone to be a friend and go over my work with a red pen. I'm mostly looking for someone to catch my grammar. If you see any errors in this chapter, feel free to point them out.

~ A Contest of Speed ~

"Ready? One, Two, Threeee." Kigne grunted as he pulled his laced fingers up, pushed his sister into the air by her right foot. Limyr was lifted just high enough to catch the lowest hanging branch of a massive tree. She hung there a moment, securing her grip, before pulling her weight up and swinging onto the branch.

"Got it!" She announced, leaning over the branch to reach down. Kigne took her hand and pulled himself up. Once on the branch, barely big enough for the two of them, they looked up, looked at each other, and nodded. They started up the tree.

Limyr was the first to the top. The top not being where the branches grew too small to support her, but the point that she needed to be. Just high enough to see over the trees and hedges and into the alcove that the Odinsons were in.

"What do you see?" Kigne asked, still a ways down, not nearly as agile as Limyr.

"They're arguing. Yep, at it again." Limyr sighed, they do their damnest to keep those groups apart. Thor's friends and Loki's friends got along about as well as cats and dogs. It was a secret mission of the palace to avoid collisions of the two. Because when they do, all anyone can do is wince and play at damage control. That or do what her, her brother, and a handful of other servants do, take an active interest for the fun of it.

"Really? What a surprise. What else is happening?"

"Quiet! I'm trying to figure that out."

The voices were distant and hard to make out, but she could hear Loki if she strained hard enough. "...three competitions. One chosen by us, one chosen by you, and one chosen by a servant... The winner of two of the rounds gets to stay... deal?" Kigne pulls himself up on a branch just higher and to her left. He got there in time to see Loki and Thor shake hands.

"What happened?"

"They made a bet. Three challenges. The winner of two gets something."

They watched for a while before Limyr spoke up.

"You want to make a bet?"

"Sure, why not. I bet Loki wins."

"I bet they tie."

Kigne looks at her with a raised brow. "How can they tie? It's a three round competition."

Limyr crosses her arms over her chest and huffs. "Do you accept my bet or not?"

"Fine," Kigne shrugs. "I'll take your money. How about... Fifteen copper pieces?"

Limyr whistled, impressed. "Wow, that's a steep bargain."

"Backing out now?"

"Nope."

The children split up into two huddles.

"Was that a smart idea?" Hogun asked. Thor looked at him strangely, unable to puzzle out the question.

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"They get to choose one of the challenges."

"We get to choose the other."

"Yes, but the servants get to pick the last one."

"So?"

"So who do the servants like better?"

Silence fell over them as the realization of this hit home. That it was quite possible that they might lose to favoritism.

"Then we've just have to agree on a servant we both like." Sif announced. "I'm sure there are servants we're friends with, right guys?"

"Of course." Fandral said, but all of them were scuffling a little awkwardly under Sif's disbelieving stare.

"You're kidding me." Sif exclaimed.

"We just don't have a lot of contact with the servants." Thor tried to explain, before looking at her suspiciously. "Do you have any servant friends?"

Sif kicked the ground. "No," she mumbled, "you guys are my only friends."

"You have a lot of room to talk then." Fandral quickly raised his hands to ward off Sif's glare.

"Maybe we can pick that servant that brought us here." Volstagg suggested. "Kigne his name was, I think."

"Yeah, that would work." Thor smiled.

"He did seem to prefer Loki though." Hogun said.

"True, but if the boy is anything like his mother, he will be fair."

"Then it is decided." Volstagg beamed a smile.

"Yes, but that is not the real thing we need to be deciding on is it?" Sif shifted her weight onto one foot, angling the other out slightly, and put her hands on her hips. "What is our challenge going to be?"

"A bulls-eyes hitting contest?" Fandral suggested.

"No, Loki's good with throwing knives." Hogun shot that down, Fandral pouted.

"A drinking contest?" Volstagg slapped his chest. "I doubt any of them can beat me in that!"

The others stared at him. "Volstagg." Sif said slowly. "Loki's not even come of age yet. He shouldn't binge drink."

"No, but Hest is." Volstagg motioned to Svadilfari, using the somewhat diminutive nickname they had come up with. "They can send him into the challenge."

"I think they'll come up with some way to avoid it." Thor said.

"It doesn't have to be ale." Volstagg grumbled.

"You're telling me you're going to drink ten mugs of water?" Fandral said inscrutiatingly. Volstagg muttered under his breath about where Fandral could put his water, but knew when he was beaten and didn't argue for it any farther.

"A contest of strength then!" Thor decided

"A sparring match?" Sif asked.

"No. That's too broad. Lets do..." Thor searched his mind for the perfect contest of strength. Finally, get got it! "Lets do a-"

"So Lokes." Amora slung an arm over Loki's shoulder. "What's the plan?"

"We win our challenge, hope to win theirs, and if all else falls, win the last challenge." Loki said with a determined face. "Just because they are older doesn't give them the right to push us around." Angrboda gave a 'yeah!' in agreement. "They aren't better than us and we'll show them that." The others nodded. "So they are probably thinking we will cheat and do something they have no hope of doing, like Seidr related, but we won't."

"We wont?" Lorelei echoed in disbelief.

"No, we aren't going to give them the satisfaction of calling us cheaters when they lose."

"But they are going to pick something we can't do." Baldr piped up.

Loki smirked. "What can't we do?" Baldr matched his smug smile.

"So what are we going to do?" Sigyn looked to Loki expectantly.

"We are going to race."

"Race?" Sigyn blinked.

"Race." Loki confirmed. "We are going to hold a race through the palace and the first one back to the gardens wins."

"That's a great idea." Glut paralleled Loki's words from earlier back to him.

"I'm glade you think so Glut. Because you're going to be racing it."

Glut was shocked, her mouth gaped. It took her a moment to muster up enough moister in her mouth to give a quiet: "What?"

"You're going to race for us!" Sigyn told her, rapping her arm around the thinner girl's shoulders.

"It's actually a good idea." Amora said ponderously.

"I'm full of them."

"Shut up, Loki! No, really Glut. You're the fasted one among us. You can easily take down any of those idiots." Amora smiled at her and Sigyn squeezed her in a hug.

"Do us proud, little sister." Angrboda ruffled her hair and they all laughed.

Glut swallowed a little, the praise and confidence in her warmed her heart, but the gravity of the responsibility of winning the race was heavy on her back. She was fast, her body built for speed and her mind full of tactics that her father taught her about running and races. But she was so young compared to her competition. Her opponent would have size and age on her, maybe not experience, despite them being in training longer than her, but definitely size and age. Even Sif, the youngest of the five of them, was her senior by many years.

She wondered who she would race. Most of the boys were strong, but not particularly fast, despite maybe Hogun. He could be a possibility. The most likely though, was Sif. She was younger for her group too, but agile and fast. Maybe even faster than Glut.

Glut hoped she could win, or at least make it a close race.

Smiling, Loki asked: "Are we ready?"

"Yeah, I would say so." Baldr told him.

"Then let us start." Loki whirled around and stalked up to Thor's group, who were still whispering too each other in barely hushed voices. Loki cleared his throat. Thor looked up.

"Have you picked your challenge?"

"Yes, we have."

"Good. So who should have the pleasure of going first?"

"You can go first." Hogun said quickly. Fandral elbowed him.

"Why are you letting them go first?" He hissed in a mock whisper.

"Does it matter?" The looks he got said that it definitely did. "Well, at least we get to see what their challenge is first and they don't know ours yet."

"But-" Thor started.

"Too bad." Loki raised his chin. "No take-backs."

Thor grunted angrily at Loki's sound logic. "Fine go first. Wouldn't want to keep your majesty waiting, oh, Queen of the flowers."

Loki's face burned in red hot embarrassment. He had forgotten about the garland. Thor and his friends laughed at the joke, and Loki went to rip the flowercrown from his head. He stopped though. It had been a gift from Sigyn, she spent a good part of the morning working on it and he could almost hear her voice. Telling him "A real man's masculinity isn't fragile enough to be dissipated by simple womanly things. If it is, then that man wasn't all that masculine in the first place, was he?" It's been something she's told him for a long time. It helped him feel better about practicing the art of magic. And though he doesn't always believe in those words – there has just been too many instances that he's been called ergi – they do help sometimes. They helped enough that Loki stood straighter and glared fiercely at Thor. He adjusted the crown then crossed his arms over his chest.

"A race." Thor was caught out of his guffawing, he tilted his head at Loki. "A race. The first contest is a race. The two racers will ran out of the garden, through the kitchen and dinning hall, up the west hallway, and back to the gardens. First one to touch the grass again wins."

"Sounds fair." Fandral was surprised that Loki had chosen something so simple. He had expected some kind of mind game or magic trick out of him. Not something as mundane as a race. "Who's going?"

"Sif." Thor pointed to the girl, who in turn point to herself in confusion. "She's the fastest of us."

Sif beamed. "Thanks, Thor. I'll win this challenge easily."

"We pick Glut." Loki waved the girl forward and she came, standing with quiet determination as she faced off with Sif.

"You're choosing her? But she's so young." Volstagg hummed. As the oldest boy there, a man in his own eyes, Glut looked like nothing more than a child. She hadn't even reached her adolescence, and was far away from her womanhood. Sif wasn't a woman either, but she was getting there. Glut was in that awkward prepubescent stage that Volstagg wanted to forget everything about. How in the nine realms could Glut win a race?

Too bad Volstagg forgot about a child's durability and limitless energy.

"I'm old enough to win the race." Glut scolded him.

"We'll see about that." Sif nodded, certain of her abilities.

"Yes we will."

"Okay, okay." Loki breeze between them and, without any gesture or so, they obediently followed. Everyone did. "Here." Loki picked the sparring stick Baldr had been using – Angrboda was still gripping her's – and drew a line in the grass at the edge of the garden, indenting the lush grass just enough to see. "Line up." Sif and Glut did so. Sif set her toes against the line and leaned forward. Glut actually got onto the ground and placed her hands at the line and crouched. Sif looked at her strangely for a second, not understanding Glut's position. "Rules: None actually. Just get to the finish line as quick a possible." Glut looked at Loki in alarm. No rules? How would they have a fair race with no rules? She didn't have time to question him though. "Ready." The girls tensed. "Set." Glut raised her crouch a little and trembled with her rising adrenalin. "GO!"

Swoosh! and the girls were gone. Leaping like deers from the starting line and disappearing inside the open castle doors. Everyone just stared for a second.

"I wish I could watch the race and not just the finish." Baldr said wistfully.

"Well come on then!" Loki waved him on as he rushed out after the girls, quickly disappearing inside.

"Huh, Loki where are you going?" Fandral asked open air. How was Loki going to watch the race? Fandral knew he wasn't as fast as Sif, so how was he going to catch her and Glut? Apparently that didn't matter in the slightest, because it wasn't a beat later that everyone took off after the younger prince.

Thor and the Warriors Three watched as the kids vanished from sight. Then Thor, quick as a switch, bounced on his toes and vibrated with excited energy.

"Come friends! Let us too watch the race!"

"I'll just stay here. Watch the finish." Svadilfari chuckled.

"I'll do the same." Hogun spoke. "To make sure the ending is called correctly."

"Sure, sure. Fandral, Volstagg, let us go!"

Glut focused on her form. Head up, lean forward, swing her arms, dash on the tips of her toes. Her breath came out sharp with each step and her eyes narrowed as she put her might into her initial sprint. It was important to have a harsh sprint at the beginning and end of a race. To get a lead and to finish strong.

She had the lead, but, unfortunately, as soon as Glut slowed to a fast run, Sif took it from her within the first three-hundred yards. The other girl was just the better sprinter. Glut gritted her teeth, but watched as Sif slowed too.

Down the hallway, approaching fast, was their first corner. Sif rounded it with a skid, it slowed her, meanwhile Glut grabbed the edge of the wall and used it to spin her the nine degrees. She gained ground because of it.

The kitchen loomed in front of them, the door wide open and bellowing steam as they prepared dinner. The two of them flashed through the door and into the wide main isle of the kitchen. It immediately turned into an obstacle course. Dodging around startled servants, Glut soon found herself swerving around cookery as well.

It started with a pot of broth. Sif in a panic of a gaining Glut, reached out and tipped the broth over. It spilled all over the floor and the pot twirled on its side. Glut's eyes widened, but she gracefully jumped the obstacle.

Sif continued to knock down things to slow Glut down. Pitchers, pots, pans. Glut had to be on her best vigilance. She jumped over them, swerved around them. And in one case, Sif ran by a cart and purposefully bumped it on her way by, sending it gliding into Glut's way. The young girl twisted her body to slide around it.

I will not cheat! I will not cheat! Glut repeated the words to herself, gritting her teeth. Athletes do not cheat! Glut was an athlete, just like her father, she didn't cheat. No matter what Loki said, she was going to run a fair race.

Cheering dimly reached her ears.

Loki took three short halls to the kitchen. He came out on the side of the room and ran in, placing his hands on one of the great cutting tables, he could just see the main isle a ways over. A flash of brown beside him alerted him that Baldr was here and a taller flash of blue told him that Angrboda was right behind him.

Bladr was bouncing on his toes, hands on the table, he twisted this way and that, before letting out a grunt of frustration.

Loki snickered before cupping his hand around Angrboda's ear and whispering to her. The girl nodded with a smile. "Baldr." She knelt down.

Baldr looked at her with a question in his eyes.

"Climb on. Hurry, before they come in." With a soft 'oh,' Baldr wasted no time crawling up Angrboda's back and swinging his legs over her shoulders. With a grunt, she raised herself. His weight made her top-heavy and she struggled at first, her hand reaching out to grasp Loki's arm, an anchor to keep her balanced as she pulled herself to her feet. "Can you see now?"

"Yep!" Baldr wiggled excitedly. "Here they come!"

Sif was playing hard, this surprised Loki, since Sif was always so honest in the sparring room.

"Don't let her get away with that! Fight back!" Loki bellowed.

Amora made eye contact with Loki across the huge kitchen, she could barely make him out through the steamed air, but he was there with Baldr and Angrboda. Her and her sister had trailed the opposite direction of Loki and came out on the Western side of the kitchen. Lorelei let out an 'ooph!' and Amora was elbowed aside as Thor took the best viewing position between them.

"Hey!" Amora growled. Fandral and Thor must have followed them, though Valstagg wasn't there.

Thor didn't pay her any mind, and when she gave him a shove he barely moved. Stupid, big brute! Amora had to settle for leaning way to left and peering around him. Lorelei could hardly see at all.

Glut was able to process a few of the words coming her way through the strain of physical effort. Sif was playing hard ball, Glut would never survive by being polite. It wasn't cheating, right? Not if it wasn't technically against the rules – or not rules – and it evened the playing field.

They zoomed out of the kitchen and into the dinning hall. Glut squinted her eyes and gained as much speed as her tiring body could handle, she would need it if she was to pull this off.

The dinning table quickly came up on her, and when it was perfect, the time just right, she lept. Hand landing briefly down on the edge to give lift without losing any momentum, she glid upon the tabletop, lent back on her side to smooth down the resistance. Plates, glassware, and bowls crashed to the floor as Glut sped by.

Sif couldn't resist looking over her shoulder at the sound of crashing ceramics, just in time to see Glut slide on past her to gain the lead. She didn't know what she couldn't believe more. That Glut was now ahead of her or that she just destroyed an entire dinning set to do it. Sif gave a small cough of disbelief as Glut gracefully skidded to her feet and continued running without a pause.

The other girl disappeared out the door with Sif on her heels. They were now in the west wing and the last leg of the race.

"That's the way!" Angrboda threw up her fists before racing out after the two girls. Loki and her had showed up just in time to see the grand takeover for the lead. Loki was grinning from ear to ear.

Amora was laughing and Volstagg booed. He had came straight to here from the garden and that wasn't what he was hoping to happen. "See that? You're so going to lose!" Amora grinned at him like a wolf.

Lorlei and Sigyn ran into the room panting, quickly followed by Thor and Fandral.

"What happened?" Thor demanded.

"Sif's losing. That's what happened." Loki taunted.

"Glut just used the table to pass Sif. She slipped right along it like an eel!" Volstagg told his friends.

Baldr showed up behind Loki just to hear that. He smiled. "I know she could do this!"

"Well let' us hurry up or we will miss the rest of the race." Thor ran out with his two friends.

Lorelei took a step towards following, but Sigyn stopped her. "Let's go back to the garden and see the finish of the race. We're too far behind to keep up now."

"Good idea." Lorelei agreed and the two of the ran out the opposite door back to the garden.

"No way! I'm seeing this through." Baldr took off into the west wing.

Amora shook her head and looked to Loki.

Loki met her with a smirk. "Yes. I do have a way." Amora's eyes twinkled slyly.

Loki grabbed her hand and pulled her to a hanging tapestry. He pulled it aside and ran a nail in patterns down the stone bricks. A moan and shift of heavy weights and dust of stone, an opening appeared in the wall.

"Come on!" Loki dragged her inside. The wall closed up behind them, leaving them in complete darkness. "Stay close." He whispered and pulled her a breaths distances away from him. Amora didn't mind the proximity. He rushed her through the narrow passageway until they came upon another door, which Loki opened in much the same way he opened the first.

Light spilled in on them, temperately blinding Amora, but once it cleared she found herself at the top of the west wing and in full view of the action.

Sif gritted her teeth, that little brat was beating her! There was no way that this was actually happening. Glut was like a kujillion years younger than her, less trained, and thin as a wishbone. Sif had to fix this.

They raced down the hall, it seemed to stretch miles and miles ahead as Sif's tired legs pushed onward. Just then the big double doors swung open with a graceful creak. Sif would have gasped if she could, her steps faltered as the ambassadors calmly walked out of their meeting chambers and right into the middle of the road.

But Glut didn't stop, so Sif didn't either, she couldn't lose this race!

"Look out!" She cried as she swerved around a man in a deep blue shirt. He stumbled in surprise and let out a scoff. Glut ducked around a dwarf just her size and the two girl disappeared into the thick of another obstacle course.

Of course this didn't end well. Shouts of indignation, looks of confusion, and snarls to 'stop' and 'come here at once' followed the path of the girls at the shoved and dodged through the crowd. One unlucky soul ended up on his rear from a particularly nasty shove from Sif.

Then they were in the clear and on home stretch. They raced on, the stream of people having rearranged the two girls into a neck and neck position.

It was then the other children's turn to run through the west wing. Angrboda met the crowd with a shoulder down and narrowed eyes. She shoved people aside the best her young frame could. She even yelled a: "Yet out of the way! I need to see!"

Thor and his two friends were hot on her tail. They entered an already angry group of noblemen, but luckily there was just enough lingering confusion that they could push their way through without a stern hand clamping down on their shoulders.

Unfortunately, a certain women recognized the polite 'excuse me's from a young boy. "Baldr?" Jord called out in surprised confusion.

Baldr's eyes grew wide as saucers at his mother's voice. He ducked his head and hurried, hoping to get away unnoticed. Miraculously, he exited the crowd without being caught.

Amora grabbed Loki's wrist and tugged them into the hall after Angrboda and they joined the others in following Glut and Sif.

Glut was nearly sick to her stomach after that whole ordeal with pushing through the nobles, but importunately, or unfortunately maybe, having Sif right beside her, running with all her might, she had no room for any kind of deep thought.

She had to win, she wasn't even sure why in her exhausted state, just that her competitive nature was roaring inside her and she needed to beat Sif. To prove she could, because she could.

There was the garden! Glut could see it. The end was right there. The sunlight spilling in through the door ahead. Now all she had to do was win. One of the many strategies of racing that her father had taught her came to mind. On the last leg of your race, push with everything you have. You want every bit of energy to be used until you pass out when your cross that line.

So that's was Glut did. She licked her lips and dug her heels in. Her breath huffed and black swam in front of her eyes, but she just closed them and didn't stop. Didn't stop until she felt grass under her shoes. The soft, pliable ground was like a switch. As if someone cut the strings to a puppet, Glut collapsed onto the cool grass.

Sif choked on nothing as she stumbled in behind Glut, placing her hands on her knees and panting. Glut had actually won. That little kid had actually beat her.

Face hot with exhaustion and embarrassment, Sif hid behind her golden hair.

Seven more children swarmed into the garden.

"Glut won." Hogun announced, none too happy.

"Yes!" Angrboda pumped her fist.

"Way to go Glut." Amora smiled proudly.

"Ha! You lose!" Loki pointed a finger at Thor.

Thor glared. "Really? Sif lost?" He looked at his friend in disbelief. Sif didn't say anything and didn't meet his eyes.

How could she let her friends down? They had picked her with confidence and she lost. They were losing because of her. She was older, had more training, and ten more other advantages, but still she lost. Sif just couldn't work out how. Nevertheless, it happened, and embarrassment and hurt pride filled her chest.

"That's okay. We'll get them next round." Fandrall smiled softly and clasped a hand on Sif's shoulder.

Glut sat up, still a little wobbly, but pushed herself to her feet. She held out her hand to Sif, who looked at her in surprised distrust. "Good race."

Sif hesitated a long moment, then took Glut's hand with a small smile of a tiny bit returned confidence. "Good race."

"You did it!" Lorelei threw her arms around Glut, nearly knocking the girl over.

Glut tottered in surprise before smiling and weakly returning the hug. "Thanks." Lorelei pulled her to arm's length and smiled brightly.

"Okay." Fandrall broke in. "Time for our challenge."

"Bring it on." Sigyn voiced everyone's shared thought.