CHAPTER 3

Loki sat staring at the vase that had just broken in his presence.

"Your boys' behavior needs to change, and soon," Odin ordered. "I expect more than what was shown to our guest. See to it that she's taken care of." He gestured towards the door. "Leave me."

Thor stood up first, his brother quick on his heels. They walked through the large doors of the throne room and down the hall to the healer's wing where Lina had come from. The door was slightly ajar, Lina sitting inside.

"What are you thinking, Brother?" Loki quizzed. He leaned against the wall opposite of the door Thor was spying into.

"What do you mean?"

Loki smiled an evil grin. "What of your intentions with the maiden? Hm?"

Thor shot him a disgusted look. "She is a princess who is in need of our help. If father wants us to take care of her, then so be it."

Loki scoffed. "You can take care of her. I will attend to other matters more suited for my tastes." With a quick turn of his heel, he was gone.

Thor shook his head as he peered into the room again. He watched as Lina buried her face into her hands, tears streaming down her face. He sense her frustration and felt guilt rising inside him.

+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+

Lina sat on her bed not knowing what direction to go in.

*Resourceful huh?

The words from her father echoed in her head repeatedly. What was she to do? Her mother and brother were gone, whatever hope she had for her kingdom to still be standing was gone, any last hope she had of happiness seemed to already be slipping away. Each tear she shed let out every frustration running through her mind. She still didn't know what to think of the vase smashing in the throne room, either.

The creak of a door made Lina snap to attention. She watched Thor walk towards her slowly and calmly. He gestured towards her bed.

"May I join you?"

Lina nodded. She shifted over and brought her knees up to rest her chin upon them. "I'm sorry for being such an inconvenience to you and your family, my lord."

"Please, call me Thor," he corrected. "And not to worry. Tempers flare every so often. Some of us are too quick to judge the situations at hand." Thor attempted to smile at the distressed girl but she continued to stare down at the sheets.

"I just don't understand what happened. One moment I was reading and the next I was—" Tears were welling up in her eyes again. She was choking them back, trying not to break down in front of the god that sat before her. She didn't want to show weakness. She couldn't afford to.

Thor changed his seating so he was sitting next to her. Her wrapped his arm around her and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Come now, you'll be alright." He looked down at her, Lina returning his gaze. "We will do everything that we can in order to protect you and assist you." Lina smirked up at him and continued to rest her head on his shoulder. His demeanor reminded her a lot of her father.

After a while, Lina's stomach began to growl. She sat up and rubbed her stomach.

"Hungry?" another voice asked. She looked up to see the blonde woman enter the room again.

"Ahh," Thor said. "This is my mother, Frigga. She was the one tending to you while you were sleeping.

"And a long two weeks it was," she joked. "Dinner will be ready soon if you'd like to join us."

"Yes, please," Lina quickly answered.

Frigga laid out a dress on the bed. It was a beautiful crème colored dress with gold trimming the edges. "I had this sent for you. More will be coming but for now, it'll have to do."

"Thank you so much. Your kindness means a lot to me." For the first time she smiled a genuine smile towards this woman. Frigga returned the gesture and led Thor out of the room towards the dining hall. Lina changed her outfit and proceeded to follow suit.

+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+

Loki walked back up to his room and laid down on his bed. He stared at the ceiling above him thinking about the events that had unfolded today.

~She has a gift.

But Lina didn't know it. Loki sat up and looked out his window at the full moon that lit up the night. He walked towards it and leaned against the balcony's rail, taking in the night air. This was something he might have to pursue further. He liked the idea of not being the only one in the castle to use magic.

CLANG CLANG

Loki looked towards the practice area and saw the light of the torches dancing in the night. He saw a girl facing off against his brother. This was a sight he had to see for himself.

+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+

"HA! You think you can best the mighty god of thunder!" he bellowed.

"I don't think," Lina replied, knocking Thor to the ground. She placed the sword at his throat and a foot on his chest, just as her brother had done. "I know."

Thor smiled. He was glad that he got this girl to open up and enjoy herself a little. She was doing much better than earlier that day.

"Again," she ordered, readying herself at the other side of the field.

"We've been at this for nearly two hours. Are you not tired yet?" Thor asked, he too readying himself.

"My brother used to train me from sunrise to sunset. If you're tired, you can rest by all means," she spat, lunging at Thor.

He dodged, he span, he lunged. She was fast. He was strong. They were well matched even though Lina was nearly a foot shorter than the towering god.

"Picking on the little ones again, Brother?" Loki called out. Thor looked up towards the stands placed at the edge of the field to look at Loki just as Lina hit him in the face with her sword handle.

He stumbled backwards in surprise, rubbing the point of contact. "She has a lot more to her than meets the eye. Would you like to take a turn?" Thor offered. He held us sword up towards Loki for him to take.

Loki eyed the sword wearily then replied, "One round."

He grabbed the sword as Thor took Loki's place on the stand. He seemed to glide over to his starting position, shooting Lina the coldest look she had ever encountered in her life.

~I will not lose to you.

"You can speak your words to your opponent, my lord," Lina taunted. "Only cowards hide behind silly mind games."

Loki's grip tightened on his sword. Lina's face lit up with delight. It was a trick she had learned from her brother. He would use phrases to spark her anger all the time to get her to perform better. She didn't want Loki to go easy on her. She wanted to see what the younger god had to offer.

Quicker than she realized, Loki was coming at Lina with full force, his eyes never breaking contact with hers. She jumped and rolled and did whatever it took to avoid being struck by the blade.

At one point she broke her concentration because Thor had started to laugh at them. He didn't know why Loki was taking this one sparring match so seriously but it amused him.

Lina tripped on Loki's leg and landed on the ground hard. She climbed to her feet but didn't know where her sword ended up. She was quickly slammed against the wall of the stands by Loki, sword aimed to puncture her abdomen.

"That's enough, Loki," Thor called out.

Loki's cold stare met Lina's warm, green eyes. "I don't play silly mind games," he explained. "I will show you what kind of games I can play should you upset me again." He released her, dropped his sword to the ground, and made his way back to the castle.

Lina watched as he walked away from her, wondering why he was so angry all the time.

"Don't mind him," Thor chimed in, seeming to read her thoughts. He walked towards her and picked up bother her sword and his own. "He means to real harm."

"Didn't really seem like it."

"He'll come around eventually." Thor examined Lina's blade up close. "This is a very well made sword. If I didn't know any better, I'd think it was forged here in Asgard."

"My father made it for me when I was a child. It was a gift on my 100th birthday," Lina said, taking the sword gently in her hand. "It's one of my most treasured belongings."

Thor smiled. "Well let's get you to your chambers and rested for tomorrow."

Comments? What'll happen next? :)