SHADOW OF DEATH
Chapter 25: Confessions
The next morning it was not Shuri that brought him breakfast, but Jane. She stood outside his door, carrying the tray and shifting back and forth on her feet in nervous uncertainty. She blinked her eyes rapidly a few times and asked if she could come in.
"Enter," he said, not hiding his surprise at the identity of his visitor. He bade her to sit and she placed the tray on the nearby table. He raised an eyebrow and watched her continue to tap her foot and stare at her fingernails.
"To what do I have the honor this morning, Lady Jane? Has Wakanda run out of princesses to use as serving wenches and now I must make do with astrophysicists to bring me bread?" he asked.
She rolled her eyes and fought back a smile. "Something like that. Don't let it go to your head, though."
"I shall endeavor to remain clothed in utter humility and modesty, my lady, despite the overwhelming praise and adoration I receive when I break my fast each morn."
This time Jane did laugh and she released some of the tension from her shoulders. Her warm brown eyes sought his face and she gave him a hesitant smile.
"Shuri told me that…ok…no, I already knew it…but she reminded me of it…Look, I am not the best at social interactions. I grew up as an only child and I was a weird kid who preferred reading science books and taking things apart over playing with other kids. Even as an adult, I've never been good at being 'normal'. I've spent a lot of time as the only woman surrounded by men, or the only astrophysicist crazy enough to pursue certain theories, or living nearly on my own in an isolated desert town, or the only American surrounded by Norwegians or Wakandans. I'm a lot better with machines and theories than I am with people."
She dropped her eyes from his and fiddled with the hem of her brown button-down shirt.
"Oy vey. I feel like I'm either constantly apologizing to you or yelling at you and neither is great. I just…I came with very set presuppositions of you that I never gave you a chance to disprove. I designed a hypothesis and used it to frame all my facts and color all my perceptions and I was wrong. Ok. What I am trying to say is can we start over?" she let out with a rush. "Hi! I'm Jane Foster. What is your name?" she said and extended her hand to him.
Loki gave her a dubious expression and stared at her hand.
"Lucas Johnson," he said with a smirk and shook her hand. She slapped him lightly on the shoulder.
"No, no, no! Do it properly," she reprimanded with mock severity.
"As you wish," he said. If she wished him to play along, he would. He stood and gave her a formal bow before capturing her hand in his. "It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Lady Jane. I am Prince Loki of Asgard," he said and placed a kiss on her knuckles. He smirked when he saw her slight fluster and her cheeks glow red.
"Ummm, yeah. I guess that is a thing you guys do, huh?"
"As usual, your eloquence astounds," he said.
She laughed. "Fine. Make fun of me. That seems to be one of your favorite pastimes-oh, that's something I wanted to ask you!"
"Of course. The Grand Falls of Asgard will run dry before Jane Foster runs out of questions."
"Yeah. I do tend to kinda drive people crazy with that. No-I wanted to ask you what you do for fun. I've spent so much time asking you about everything else, that I never stopped to actually know much about you. What kinds of things do you enjoy doing?"
"Ah, you have already discovered. What else have I to enjoy but 'making fun of you'?" he said, in a pitch perfect imitation of her voice.
"That doesn't count."
"I believe it should 'count'," he said. "Tell me, Lady Jane, if that is not an acceptable answer, what is?"
"You know, you can just call me 'Jane'," she said.
"If you wish it. You may call me 'My Prince' or 'Your Majesty' or 'Your Divine Excellence'," he said. "Whichever you prefer."
"Not happening," she said, irritation flashing through her eyes as she pulled herself a little taller in her chair. Loki chuckled. He thought through five different responses sure to make her furious and, as entertaining as that would be, he decided to make an attempt at politeness…at least for one morning.
oooooooooooooooo
Shuri leaned on the lab table and Loki sat across from her, while Jane remained fixed on her computer. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she placed another set of numbers into a simulation. Before her, she ran a scanner across both the scepter and Mjolnir and scribbled notes onto her arm as she worked. She maintained an easy conversation with the mgeni at the same time. His unusual openness from the day before had continued and she did not wish to question it.
"Asgard has no great appreciation for magic," he explained, after describing the rudimentary uses of magic in his home kingdom.
"No appreciation for magic?" Shuri said skeptically. "Tell me, does Mjolnir run by technology?"
"Yes, technology that is imbued with magic…but it is the warrior that wields them that makes them great, not the practitioner who created them. No one lauds the ones who form the magic."
"Well, then in that we are alike. I gain very little favor for creating technology for my brother, though he gains admiration for using it," she said.
"Does not Wakanda value the gifts you have to offer them?"
Shuri laughed, but it was one which lacked humor. "Not all of Wakanda values what I have to offer, bwana. I have too too many among the council who do not approve of all the inventions I have made for Wakanda and they think I am not suited as princess." She opened her arms to display her lab coat, stained all over with ink blots and soldering scars. "I would be refused from the Dora Milaje, if I were not daughter of the king. I am no warrior and Wakanda values strength. Wakanda values continuity, I thrive on change. As if that were not enough, I am too, too thin and so I cannot even be praised as a beauty."
"Thin isn't considered beautiful here?" Jane asked, looking up from her computer in curiosity.
"Hapana, daktari. Back in my grandfather's time, the wealthy families would even force their daughters to eat butter and milk all day to prepare them for their weddings and make them fat enough to be considered beautiful. Perhaps they do not still force feed young brides, but thin women are looked upon as unhealthy and childlike."
"That's different," Jane said.
"On Asgard, the ideal for both men and women is very tall, very strong, and very blond," Loki said.
"Wow. That knocks me out," Jane said and she held up a lock of her brown hair.
"Mimi pia," Shuri said.
"The second prince as well. On Asgard, Thor is your classic example of male beauty…and Sif, when she was still blond, was the ideal of feminine."
"I kinda think Thor might be the ideal example of male beauty no matter where he went," Jane began. She quickly shut her mouth when she saw Loki's expression turn stormy. "Sorry. I don't mean to say that you aren't handsome, cause you really, really are…and I don't mean to compare you two, because I'm not. I'm just stating the fact that Thor was truly a beautiful man…like, wow."
Shuri cleared her throat and held back a laugh. "Jane," she said in warning.
Jane looked at her and groaned. "Ok. Shuri's letting me know that I'm being socially awkward again. I'll stop talking now. Tell me later what I did wrong, so I know."
Now Shuri really did laugh and she rolled her eyes. "You make it sound as if you are a trained baboon and I am holding your leash. No, daktari, there is no way I can prevent you from embarrassing yourself, even if I try. I do not think men like to hear the praises of the beauty of other men. In one sentence, you manage to insult and then compliment Prince Loki."
"As if women like hearing about how beautiful other women are…. or how far I'd fall short of the ideal," Jane grumbled.
"Ni kweli. It's true, " Shuri said with a shrug. "But we were speaking in generalities, and you made it too too personal."
"She means no harm, Princess. And she did manage to admit that she finds me attractive. Tell me, Lady Jane, is this a new discovery or one that you have failed to mention for some time?" he said, carefully gauging her reaction and stifling his own smile.
Jane blushed bright red and visibly slammed her mouth shut.
"Oh, please, continue on. I take great pleasure in your embarrassment," Loki prodded.
"That I did know…which is why I am going to stop talking now."
"Is that a threat or a promise?" Shuri asked. Her shoulders were still shaking in her silent laughter. The Flerkin woke from its nap and pranced its way across the lab table, pausing to allow Shuri to stroke its orange fur with her hand. "Daktari, I do not believe you would last more than a half hour before you start muttering to yourself again."
Jane glared at Shuri, even more so when she caught the conspiratorial glance between Shuri and Loki.
Loki raised one eyebrow. "No, no, Princess. I understand your meaning, but I will not place a wager on that because Jane would prove much too easy to defeat."
Jane squeaked in protest. "You two are unbelievable. You know, I can pull pranks on both of you, too."
"Oh, Jane, I would very much like to see you try," Shuri said.
"Hmmm, now this might be worthy of a wager….," Loki began before Jane interrupted him with an irritated slap on his forearm with her pen.
"Don't even think about it!" she said.
"I believe I won that round," Loki said to Shuri. "I drove her to violence first."
"It's true. But New York was all mine."
"I beg to differ, Princess. You cheated."
"So? I still won."
"Ugh! You two... I'm done here!" Jane said and stood to leave. Before she could take more then a step away, Loki caught her arm and pulled her back into her chair.
"No. I did not give you leave to depart, Lady Jane," he said. "May I beg the pleasure of your company for some time longer?"
"No," she answered and she tried to pull her hand away.
"Please?" he pleaded and he knew he had won the moment he heard her sigh.
"No more bets," she said and she joined them back at the table.
Ooooooooooooooooooo
The library of the palace of Birnin Zana had an extensive collection of recorded oral records as well as literature, art, and rare manuscripts from around Midgard that spanned millennia. The vaulted ceiling of the room was painted with a kaleidoscope of geometric shapes and colors and the tall, triangular windows painted patterns of light across the tiled floor. Loki decided to peruse the royal archives for any records of past dealings with Asgard, but he was distracted from his task when he realized he was not the only patron of the room.
When Loki entered, he found the library empty save for one Jane Foster curled up on a window seat with a book and a cup of coffee in her hand. Her eyes were closed and she leaned back against the window, in perfect repose. He stood in the doorway just to watch her for a moment.
She looked so peaceful, serene, unruffled. He could not let her remain so. He momentarily suspended his chosen errand and instead he quietly made his way through the shadows towards her. He stopped at a nearby bookshelf, eyed the book carefully, then slowly placed one finger on its hard spine. He pushed so it fell onto the tile floor below, shattering the silence of the entire room with the sound of its fall. Jane jumped at the sound and spilled her coffee down her clean, white shirt. She swore under her breath and swung her head around to find the source of the noise. Not seeing anyone, she mopped up the spill and called out.
"Hello? I can hear your footsteps. Who are you?"
Loki waited till she relaxed again and turned her attention back to her book. He repeated and pushed another book off a shelf. This time, she jumped to her feet to look around her. She could not find him as he hid behind a bookshelf. He let another book fall.
"Ok. That's kinda creepy. Who is that?" She explored the rows of books, seeking her invisible visitor while Loki remained hidden and motionless. She gave a very loud and very satisfying scream when he pushed a book through directly next to her head. With one hand he covered her mouth and whispered in her ear.
"Scream not, Lady Jane, or the guards may hear and decide to come rescue you," he said. He released her and she fell against a bookshelf, a look of such terror on her face that he broke out into laughter.
"It's not funny. You scared me half to death," she said. "Don't you have anything better to do than torment me?"
"No. Not really," he said. "What would you wish for me to do instead?"
"I don't know. Something that doesn't involve humiliating me or scaring me or exasperating me," she said.
"Then it would not be entertainment," he said, pulling himself to his full height so he could loom over the top of her head. He pulled another book from the shelf and it tumbled down, narrowly missing Jane's shoulder as it fell.
"Seriously? If I ignore you, will you go away?"
"Possibly. Or that could make me try harder. I always feel compelled to answer any challenge."
"What do you want, Loki?" she said, now with resignation in her voice. She picked up the book from the floor where it had fallen and placed it back on the shelf. Then she glared at him.
"I came to find a book but since I find you here, I have decided I will ask you questions instead," he said.
"And if I decide I don't want to play along?" she said.
"Oh, but don't you wish to know what manner of questions I might ask? Is it not usually your position to be the questioner?"
"No," she said and then winced. "Fine. A little. But I would rather not be made fun of in the process."
"Ah, but then you drain the sport out of the game! You fluster so deliciously well!"
"I'm not playing," she said. She resolutely left him between the bookshelves and returned to her window seat.
So, she would be melancholy and terse and refuse to rise to his bait? He could not allow it. However, he did not mind the challenge either. He followed her and sat on a chair beside her. She picked up her book and began to read, ignoring him completely, which he could not abide. He smirked slightly and began to tap his fingers on the wood of his chair arm in a rhythm he had long since perfected during his boyhood quests to annoy Thor. With just the correct amount of whistling under his breath, he predicted within two minutes, she would be exasperated once more.
One minute and forty-five seconds later, he heard her sigh.
"Loki, quit it," she said.
"Quit what?"
"Whatever you are doing. Just stop."
"As you wish," he said and paused his movement (for the moment). "What are you reading?"
"A book."
"Aha! Thank you for clearing that up!" he said with an exaggerated flourish. "Now all my questions have been answered! The lady reads a book! Of all the myriad of things I thought she could be reading, now I know. She reads a book."
"Have you always been this annoying?"
"How else does the 'God of Mischief and Chaos' earn his title? I will give you a hint-it is not through reading books…except on occasion…when Thor wished me to pay heed to him and I instead planted my eyes firmly on a book in order to irritate him, much as you are attempting here." He gave her a glance and felt a slight victory in knowing he had her attention. He was determined to be the final conqueror and make sure she forgot her book entirely. "Or there was a time…I placed a spell on the head cook's cookbook and turned every entry that asked for milk into mead and every line that required butter into jam. It proved quite the feast for the delegates that came from Nidavellir."
He smirked in triumph when he saw Jane put the book down on her lap and stare at him with her curiosity piqued.
"Nidavellir?" she asked. "Is that another realm?"
"Indeed. It is the realm where the dwarves dwell."
"Dwarves? Like the short, little people?"
"The Mountain dwarves, yes. They would barely reach your waist. The Moon dwarves, no. They rival the height of the elephants in Wakanda."
"Tall dwarves? I didn't know there was such a thing. I mean, to be fair, I didn't know dwarves really were a thing at all. Have you been there? To Nidavellir, I mean?"
"Of course. They are the finest metal workers and arms forgers in all the Nine. I have traveled there many times for diplomatic relations, trade deals, and official functions-oh, and the one occasion when I had to prevent all Nidavellir from declaring war against Thor and demanding his head on a pike."
"What happened?" Jane said. She placed her book down on the window seat and leaned towards him in rapt attention.
"Oh, I'm sure that tale has little that would interest you. Return to your book, Lady Jane. You have my apologies for intruding on your solitude," he said and he watched in glee as she started and glared at him.
"Oh, no. You are not going to say something like that and not tell me the story. Come on!" she pleaded.
"Hmmm. Perhaps…on condition you answer my questions after."
"Fine."
He grinned and leaned back in his chair. "Once many, many years past, Asgard received a delegation from Nidavellir for a treaty negotiation. When the treaty was successfully signed, great revels were held in Asgard. During the feast, the dwarves toasted to the glory of their queens, which no Aesir has ever laid eyes upon. Many questions were asked about the queens.
"Thor, deep into his cups, boasted in a drunken rant that he would take a dwarven queen as wife.
'Aesir cannot manage a dwarven queen,' the dwarves said, much offended by his declaration.
"Thor took this as an accusation against his virility and a dare to accomplish it. He boasted he would storm Nidavellir the next day to take one of their queens. To the dwarves, this was, in essence, a declaration of war. It took three months of negotiations to prevent a full-scale war and convince the delegation it was only a jest, and a poor one at that. I thought the All-Mother would have all the hairs on her head turn grey in the aftermath of Thor's arrogance that night."
"Why was that such a problem? I mean, if he was only boasting…." She said.
"Ah, it he were only boasting, it could have been remedied easier. Thor was stopped by the All-Father himself on his way to the bifrost as he sought to capture one of their queens that night."
Jane grew thoughtful for a moment before a question played across her face. "So why haven't any of the Aesir seen the dwarf queens?" she asked. "What about their kings?"
"They do not have kings, not in the sense you mean. Each clan of dwarves appoints its smallest drone as primary leader and spokesperson for the clan. Over all the clans, there is a council of elders made up of all the oldest leaders from all the clans of both the Mountain and Moon dwarves and these make decisions for their realm. The queen, while playing a very limited role in the actual decision-making politics of her clan, is still the symbolic leader and her veto outweighs that of their leader, if she chose to use it."
She shook her head slightly as she considered this and warred with which of the myriad of questions she wished to ask next.
"What's a drone?" she finally chose. "And why is the smallest made the leader?"
"Ah, well to answer that I first must explain that all dwarves are born biologically male…," Loki began. Jane gasped and tried to interrupt him with another question. He stopped her with a glare and an imperious wave of his hand.
"As I was saying, all dwarf litters are born biologically male, and all are also born as drones. If, at a mature stage in life, they are allowed to make contact with the queen for an extended period of time, their bodies may become sexually mature and they become what is termed a 'patriarch.' They grow slightly larger and will have a much shorter life span than their drone brothers. The smallest drones are chosen as leaders because it is unlikely they will ever become patriarchs and so they will not be prevented from single-minded leadership during their much longer lifespans."
"Then…wait…you mean there are no biological females except the queens?" Jane asked.
"You are correct. Each dwarf clan lives in colonies of up to two thousand and each has one queen and that is the only biological female in each clan."
"So if they are all born male, where does the queen come from?"
"When one queen dies, the largest of her patriarchs begins to grow even larger and fatter. He loses his beard, his mammary glands mature, and once he is in heat, he is declared a 'she' and made the new queen. They have an official coronation ceremony and her first patriarchs are chosen. She gathers a new set of patriarchs around her every ten years or so, once her old batch has passed away and there is a break in the reproductive cycle for the next age set of dwarf litters."
"Litters…you mean?"
"Typically dwarf queens give birth to between eight and twelve young at a time and they produce a new litter every year. After fifty years or so, dwarf queens typically die off and a new queen rises to prominence."
"That is really weird," Jane said and gave an incredulous half-smile.
"Oh, I haven't even told you about Muspelheim yet…," Loki said in a teasing tone and winked at her. "There, the Fire Giants lay eggs."
"What!?" Jane gasped.
"I speak truth! I, myself, have two nephews from a daughter of Muspel. I was present at their hatching."
"Ok. That's crazy…hold up here. Nephews? From your brother? Are you telling me Thor has children?"
"Of course. Though these particular ones were his bastard sons by a maid he never wed. The All-Father was not pleased, of course. Thor nearly caused a war with Alfheim with his shameless flaunting of the proper order of things."
"Is this a theme in your stories about Thor?"
Loki pursed his lips as if in deep concentration. "Hmmm….Thor does something reckless…nearly starts a war….and his younger brother must come to the rescue? Why, yes. You would be correct."
"Fine. So, what happened with Alfheim and Thor's children?"
"Ah, yes. That was early on in the dawn of our manhood. Thor's wife, at the time, was a Light Elf maid from Alfheim and the Light Elves have a high value for fidelity to one's spouse. It was a deep, grievous shame upon the Princess Nana to be so embarrassed by her husband's antics with another woman. Her brothers declared they would defend her honor and it took the extensive efforts of both the kind-hearted Nana and my silver tongue to prevent a full-scale war to break out between realms.
"Thor found humor in the entire situation, much to the exasperation of the All-Father and All-Mother. His hatchlings stayed in Asgard for a time when they came to adulthood and could bear the differing climate. When Thor's elven wife joined her ancestors, we thought he would take Jarnsaxa as wife, but he never did. I suspect she refused him because the Fire Giants despise life on the cooler realms. The Muspel maid also proved to be of a rebellious heart, seeking her own honor through bearing the sons of the heir of the Nine. She was little interested in exchanging her position in the house of Surtur for that of Odin."
"Ummm. Wow."
Loki saw from Jane's expression that she would pummel him with follow up questions until the sun set and rose again. He rose and gave her a slight nod of his head. "Good afternoon, Jane. I will leave you to your books now."
"Wait, Loki, what were the questions you were going to ask me?" she called after his retreating form.
"I would hate to distract you from your book, my Lady. I will patiently hold my questions until you have greater leisure to answer them. I, unlike you, do not allow my curiosity to best me."
She groaned and he heard her book close. He left then feeling fully triumphant. By the look on Jane's face, he knew her peace had been officially disturbed.