Chapter VII: Thunder Tournament

A/N: For anyone who has read the fanfic story Learn Me Right, the Thunder Tournament is being used with the permission of NeverQuiteAwake. And again, thank you theicemenace for your beta work. Enjoy the chapter! SSD

Hanna was finally getting to sleep in slightly for the first time in over four months. Today was Thor's name day. And in honor of that day, there would be the Thunder Tournament. It would be held from midmorning to early evening. Warriors from all over the realms would be coming to participate.

Loki had given her today and the next day off from her lessons. She did not ask him why he was giving her the day after off, as she was grateful for the rest. He was an unrelenting instructor.

Hanna did not question his methods though. In the space of time that she had been on Asgard, her control issues were becoming fewer.

Just as she was about to get out of bed for the day, Lucia came in saying, "There is a man waiting outside your room, he claims to be your cousin."

Suspecting that there may some of Loki's mischief afoot, Hanna asked, "What does he look like?"

Lucia had a silly grin on her face as she said, "Tall, dark hair, grey eyes. He is wearing two scabbards on his back."

Hanna could not help but smile herself. There was only one person she knew that wore his swords like that. Her favorite cousin, who happened to be named for her father, except, he was called Sven the Younger.

Hanna bolted out of her room with a yelp of happiness and jumped up to hug her favorite cousin.

###

Sven was happy to see his younger cousin. His part of family had been unable to come to the Yule festivities due to issues with the weather. When he had heard that she would be getting training to control her magic, he had been pleased.

Though he had been none too thrilled when he had heard who her instructor would be. Neither had his mother. But beggars could not be choosers, since Hanna had a rare gift.

She did look a little paler than she had the last time Sven had seen her, which did not surprise him too much. A lot of magic had to be learned from books, so Hanna would likely be spending much of her time indoors.

"How have you been faring, Hanna? Your magic lessons must be taking up a significant amount of time." Sven asked.

Pushing her hair back over her shoulders, Hanna replied, "I am doing quite well. And the lessons are taking up much of my time. I go to bed tired every night."

"How is the prince treating you?" Sven continued with.

Hanna was not at all surprised that he had asked that question. She wondered who had put him up to it, Ragnar or her father.

Keeping that question to herself, Hanna said, "He is treating me about as well as can be expected. Prince Loki treating like any teacher would a student."

Her cousin still had a dubious look on his face before Hanna reassured him with, "He has not done anything inappropriate towards me, Sven."

Hanna neglected to mention what she had done that could be construed as inappropriate. It was embarrassing enough that the Queen knew about it.

Noticing what time it was, Hanna began to shoo him out of her room, telling him, "I need to get dressed for the day. And you need to get down to the pitch before the tournament starts. I will meet up with you before the first match."

Once her cousin left, Hanna went and started to get ready. She already knew which dress she would wear today. Even though she had thought she would never even think about wearing it again.

###

A few hours later…

Loki was prowling about the entrance hall waiting for Thor to arrive. It looked like his brother was going to be late as per usual.

To amuse himself, Loki decided to watch those who were either already in the stadium area or making their way there.

Upon seeing a flash of green, Loki saw Hanna talking to one of the contestants down in the lower levels. She seemed to know him as Hanna was talking rather animatedly, given that she was also using her hands as well.

The girl was also wearing that dress. The one she had worn when she manipulated him rather handily. He was surprised that she was even wearing that dress again, as she had seemed thoroughly embarrassed by the incident in the aftermath.

As it was getting time for the tournament to start, Loki watched as Hanna gave the man a hug which was returned.

"She really must know him well. I wonder how she knows him exactly?" Loki thought to himself.

Loki brought himself out of his thoughts just as Thor finally made his way to the entrance area. Unfortunately, Thor was not going to be dense today, as he saw exactly where his younger brother's eyes were.

"You really must be getting used to having her around, since you are finding her with your eyes so easily."

Not to be outdone, Loki shot back, "Your eyes found her quickly enough, Thor." And before his brother could cut in again, "We need to get inside. For once, we are not running late."

###

Hanna was enjoying watching the tournament. Her cousin Sven seemed to be doing rather well. She had been cheering him almost nonstop.

Hanna had also been using the tournament to observe the different fighting styles and the weapons used. Her cousin favored using two one handed swords, where she saw others with everything ranging from axes to broadswords to quarterstaffs.

Her cousin just finished a rather close bout with a member of the Einherjar and had won. Sven could rest for a short period of time before his next duel.

"You are doing well, Sven." Hanna said with a smile as her cousin drained a cup of water.

"I have been lucky with my opponents Hanna. That last one was the first I really thought that I could lose." Her cousin had been in various duels all day and was now in the top ten, and was barely showing signs of being worn out.

"Who do you think you will be fighting next, Sven?" Hanna asked.

"Well I was going to watch the next duel, as it will decide who my opponent will be. I'm not sure which one I would prefer to try my luck with."

Hanna nodded. It was getting to the point in the tournament where everyone was quite skilled. And skilled fighters could still cause damage, even with the blunted tourney blades.

"Who might you be fighting, cousin?"

Taking a deep breath before continuing, Sven said, "Either Fandral or Hogun. I am not sure I like my chances with either of them."

"I will still cheer for you, cousin. No matter how your next duel turns out," Hanna said with a smile.

Giving her a half smile, Sven nodded at Hanna. His attention returned to the duel in front of them. Upon noticing that Fandral had won, Sven muttered, "Damn it. Wish me luck Hanna."

Hanna reached up and hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek before saying, "Good luck, Sven."

With that, Sven smiled and left.

###

"Well wasn't that… touching." A voice said behind her. Loki.

Hanna rolled her eyes, but chose to ignore her instructor's statement. There was nothing wrong with what she had been doing. Sven was her cousin, nothing more. Though Loki did not seem to realize that just yet.

Turning around Hanna asked, "Loki. Are you enjoying the tournament?"

"As much as I ever do. Who were you talking to?" Loki got to the point quickly.

Giving Loki a sideways look, Hanna replied, "Just someone I know from back home."

Kicking himself for the fact that he was growing more curious about her, Loki took it further by asking, "How do you know him?"

"I have known him all my life, your Highness. Sven is my cousin." Hanna started her way back to her seat to watch the duel.

Loki could barely hear Hanna say to herself, "Be careful, Loki. I might start to think that you actually care."

###

Hanna was distracted by her own thoughts in the opening minutes of the duel. Loki's questions from moments earlier confused her.

Most of the time, even during her lessons, Loki would be keeping himself barely invested in the lessons. Then there were the times where his interest in her was curious, given his usual behavior.

This time, she was somewhat certain that she had been talking to a duplicate. Though Hanna would not have put it past Loki to use the duplicate in the royal box and then go out himself.

She knew he would never admit to it, as it would force him to concede a more than passing interest as to what she got up to.

Taking her mind off the maddening prince who was her teacher, Hanna turned her attention back to the duel.

For the first time today, her cousin seemed to be on the defensive almost from the start. Hanna did not know much about swordplay, but she knew enough that being on the defensive the entire time was not a good thing.

She knew that her cousin was a top notch swordsman. Sven would not have made it this far if he was not. But even to Hanna's untutored eyes, she could tell that her favorite cousin was going to lose, as he had said he likely would.

Sure enough, a few moves later, Fandral used a move that managed to knock both of Sven's single handed swords from his hands.

Holding his hands out to his sides, Hanna could lip-read that her cousin was yielding. She already could tell that he was thinking over how he would be able to beat Fandral the next time they met. Fandral seemed to say something to Sven, who nodded in reply.

###

Hanna made her way to where she knew her cousin would be located. Sven would be turning in the blunted tourney swords.

Sneaking up on him, she said, "You still did well, Sven. You made it a lot further than most did."

Her cousin turned around and gave her a small smile. "Fandral said that he looks forward to the next time we meet. And he suggested a rematch tomorrow when we've rested up."

"And after you sleep off all the wine I know that you will drink tonight?" Hanna had a slight smirk on her face.

Wondering if his cousin would be free the next day, Sven asked, "Is today the only day you have free from lessons?"

"No I have tomorrow free. I do not know why Loki let me off for tomorrow, but I am not about to complain."

As Hanna left to go back to her room, she suggested, "How about we meet around midday, so we have time to sleep off what we will likely drink tonight?"

They exchanged laughs, before going back to watch the rest of the tournament. Which Fandral eventually won, beating Volstaag.

###

The feast was in full swing. And Hanna seemed to be enjoying herself, Sven noticed.

She did seem to be happy here in Asgard, he had to concede. Sven was also watching for any hints of a flare-up like the one at the Yule celebrations that he had been forced to miss.

He grinned as he remembered reading that letter from his uncle for the first time. It had only been a matter of time before Astrid did something that would irritate Hanna enough to try something, even with her then touchy control.

Sven hadn't seen Hanna use her abilities in a while. Perhaps he would get to see her use them tomorrow. Sven supposed he should thank the person responsible for his cousin's newfound control.

"You're welcome."

Sven the Younger turned around, irritated that someone had managed to sneak up on him. He had not had so much wine that his senses would be dulled. It was the very prince that he was looking for. Bowing slightly, Sven said,

"Your highness. I was just about to go looking for you. To… thank you for helping my cousin." It was a bit harder to thank him than it should have been. It may have been easier if Loki hadn't had a smirk on his face.

A/N 2: As for who has been cast as Sven the Younger, it is Luke Evans. Please tell me what you think!