._.
Beneath
Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Two – Invitation
Jane – and everyone else in the galley – leaned in to peer more closely. The raven took another hop closer to her, now right next to her tray. It bent down seemingly to look at the spilled coffee next to her plate, then straight up at her. It was equal measure creepy and cool. Jane looked from the bird's shiny eyes down to its leg. Something was there, a tiny band, the same gray color of the leg.
"Am I supposed to take that off?" Jane asked the raven, which bobbed its head. It was so small she couldn't imagine what it could be – if it was meant to hold a message it couldn't possibly hold more than a couple of tiny words she'd need a magnifying glass to read. Luckily, she knew Gary had one of those out in his shop, just in case it did hold some kind of itsy-bitsy message.
"I think that was a yes," Wright said.
Before Jane could act, everyone turned at the sudden string of curses coming from behind Jane.
"This happened once before," Olivia said, approaching closer, after a long lingering silence.
"Ravens that nod to say yes showed up from Asgard?" Rodrigo asked.
Olivia shot him a look before glancing at the bird still standing over the food area. "A bird made it to the South Pole. Followed an overland fuel convoy all the way here. Died after it got here because…nothing to eat. Nothing to drink."
"Fuel convoys are only in summer," Rodrigo pointed out.
Olivia nodded. "Did anybody," she began, fixing a stare on Jane, who'd stood to be able to see better, "happen to tell the Asgardians that there are strict prohibitions about foreign biological material here? Lucas should've known."
Someone snickered at that; Jane didn't turn to see who. "Yeah, he knew." He didn't care very much, but he knew. "I think maybe they're… Let me ask," she said, turning enough to be able to address the bird on the table again. "Are you guys planning on sticking around for a while? Or just dropping in for a quick visit to check on things?"
The bird hopped around in a rough circle, ducking its head once and fluffing its wings, but there was no clear nod. Then it dipped its head to the right several times.
"Okay. Bad question. You need a yes or no question, right? Are you just here for a short visit?"
This time the affirmative response was clear.
"It nodded," Ronny announced for Olivia's benefit.
"All right. But make sure everywhere they've been is thoroughly disinfected, especially the food service area. Perry, I'll leave it to you and the kitchen crew but I think you should probably throw out-"
"Hey, Olivia?" Wright said. "Don't worry about it, we'll take care of it. But as Carlo found out earlier….they don't like it when you suggest they might have diseases. Especially that one," he added, pointing to the one closer to Olivia, which was hopping around looking agitated.
"I wasn't even thinking about diseases. Are Asgardian birds potty-trained?"
Jane wrinkled her nose and heard muttering from the gathered crowd.
"All right, then. I'm going back to my office. I don't really need another cup of coffee now. I never saw any birds. And none of you did either. If anybody ever slips and mentions seeing a bird here – it was still austral summer and it followed the fuel convoy. Got it?" Olivia left to sounds of agreement.
"Okay, get the thing on its leg," Wright urged.
"Yeah, okay. Um…try to be still," Jane told the raven, full of visions of pinching the bird's leg and getting a finger snapped off by that huge black beak. The bird held still – this one seemed calmer than the other, anyway. Jane reached out carefully and felt around the leg; whatever encircled it, it didn't quite feel like paper. It also didn't seem to have any edges. "I think it's a solid band," she said. "I don't know if I can take it off."
"Scissors?" Macy suggested.
"Try pulling on it," Ronny said.
"I don't think- Oh!" Jane exclaimed, jerking away and dropping to the table the scrap that had unexpectedly come off at a light tug. When she picked it back up it started expanding outward from the corner held between her fingertips. The others were murmuring among themselves and making noises of surprise; Jane was barely aware of them. Writing was visible but distorted and stretched, shifting as the material grew and its relative dimensions changed. Within just a few seconds, the soft paper, some kind of razor thin leather, Jane now thought, stopped changing and she was looking at upside-down writing in black ink. She started turning it around, and before it was fully righted she had already realized with surprise it wasn't Loki's writing.
"With warmest regards, Thor," it was signed.
Others were leaning in behind her, and Jane quickly turned the letter over and placed it over her lap, startling the bird which beat its wings for a moment as though to fly off, before settling. "It's from Thor. I don't think it's a group letter."
"That's no big deal," Wright said. "I've seen that before. Paper growing like that. Water can make it expand."
"That much? And did you see Jane put any water on it?" Selby asked.
"No. I'm just saying it's not unprecedented."
"Wait, are you talking about the straw wrapper trick?" Ronny asked.
Jane pushed her chair back and stood. "You guys can argue about that all you want. Thor did tell me that in Asgard science and magic are the same. Loki told me that was an oversimplification, though."
"Arthur C. Clarke's third law," Austin said. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
"Yeah. Maybe. I don't really know." Yet, she added to herself. "I'm going to go read this. Um…you two, the ravens, do you two need to come with me?"
The bird on the table bobbed its head.
"Oh, wait," Macy said, squeezing her way in closer to the table. "Can I have a feather? I keep waiting for you to shed one. Please?"
"I hate to turn into Olivia here, but you really shouldn't-"
"Zeke, come on, I'll take good care of it, and I'll make sure it goes with me when I leave."
The bird ignored Macy, though, so Jane started heading out, and both birds took flight to join her.
"All you need is some kind of empty cells in the fibers that are filled with something, triggered by…"
Jane left the galley with a smile, and immediately ran into Gary and Drew, on their way to see the birds, having heard about it from Olivia. "Asgardian carrier pigeons," she said with a shrug. One of the birds, circling about in the corridor, gave a loud series of deep croaking sounds. She kept going. She couldn't blame anyone for their interest – it was thrilling to see animals of any sort here – but the ravens hadn't come here as a zoo exhibit.
"This way," she said, holding the door to the A-1 berthing wing open; both birds swooped through and soared down the hall, much faster than she could walk. "It would probably be better if you came in here while I read this. Everybody's going to want to see you, everybody's got questions. That was only about half of the people who live here."
The ravens flew in and settled on one of the black metal jutting frame rails at the foot of the bed, while Jane settled down at the desk and smoothed out the letter.
My dearest Lady Jane,
As I believe you have heard, a truce is now in place and fighting has ceased. We owe that to Loki. Father has tied Loki's freedom to a treaty, so Loki is pushing for a fast one. He's confident it will be finalized by tomorrow, at which point we will hold a celebration feast. Jane, it would be my immense pleasure and honor if you could join us. I have missed you so much, and chafed at being unable to see you all this time. You have become an indelible part of my life, and part of Asgard as well. Please come, and be my guest. I know how important your work is to you, and I do not mean to take you away from it for long. Loki informs me the day is five hours later here in Asgard, so I invite you to come today, as soon as you are able, to allow yourself time to adjust to the difference, and to return to Midgard the day after the feast, at the time of your choosing. I remain consumed with duties, but I will find time for you, and ensure that you enjoy yourself throughout your stay.
If your answer must be no, you may write a response on the back of this parchment and affix it to the leg of one of the birds (only one will allow it). Just touch it to his leg and it will take care of itself. If your answer is yes, advise Heimdall of the estimated time you wish to depart and when you are ready, say so. If I cannot meet you, someone else you know will be there. Bring whatever you wish, but you don't need to bring anything. All your needs will be seen to.
I hope to see you soon.
With warmest regards,
Thor
After she'd read it, she read it again. A feast. A celebration. It would be two days, probably more like two and a half. She was so far behind right now, she should really be focusing on her work…but she was an independent researcher and her schedules and expectations were basically her own. She had a certain responsibility to Tony Stark's SISI and through SISI to SHIELD, who was paying for all this, but the earthquakes here were no secret; the Ice Cube project in particular was experiencing problems due to the quakes, and no one expected everything to be right on schedule at the moment.
And she didn't know when she'd see Loki again if she didn't go. The same was true of Thor, really, though Thor wouldn't have to worry about being permitted to leave Asgard, or being welcomed on Earth, but she was used to not seeing Thor. She hadn't expected to see him at all during the long months spent in Antarctica. Loki's absence was different. She still sometimes stepped outside her room expecting to see Loki there waiting for her. And while every day here had been a little easier than the one before, there was no one here she could talk to like she could with Loki. And Loki, unless he had managed to mend his damaged relationships – which she didn't think would be that easy and definitely not that quick – she suspected felt the same about her, even if he would never admit it to anyone including her.
With that thought, she knew she had to go to Asgard. Guilt over work cleared, and a grin broke out. "I'm going to Asgard," she said, jumping when one of the birds behind her cawed. "Um…Heimdall, I'm going to Asgard. I'll be ready in…maybe an hour? No. An hour and a half." She had to inform Olivia, put some things together…she had to wash her hair, she thought, pulling her dull lifeless ponytail around to take a look at it. She looked fine for the South Pole. She'd been to Asgard; she did not look fine for Asgard.
But first… She swiveled around to face the ravens. "You'll be okay here for that time?" One of the birds made its nodding motion; the other seemed to ignore her. They'd be going back with her, then, she assumed.
She looked to her laptop, next to the letter. The satellite window was open. "norse mythology ravens," she typed into Google. The first hit was a Wikipedia article on Huginn and Muninn, anglicized to Hugin and Munin. "Are you Hugin and Munin?" she asked, whipping around to face the birds again. A cacophony of squawking and croaking and fluttering wings followed. "I'm going to take that as a yes. Wow," she breathed, turning back to her laptop.
They were Odin's birds, Odin's messengers. Thought and memory, or mind. They sat on Odin's shoulders and told him everything they saw and heard. Only maybe now, since Thor was king, they were Thor's ravens, and told Thor everything they saw and heard. She turned to cast them a wary gaze. Definitely changing in the ladies' room, she thought with a laugh. One of the ravens was pecking at the cardboard over the window, and starting to pull at it.
"Sorry, that has to stay up. Some of the instruments are light-sensitive. Nothing much to see out there, anyway. Red lights, ice, gray steel building. You guys will be okay here while I go take care of a few things and get ready?"
Neither bird gave much of a reaction, so Jane nodded and gathered up a few things before heading out, smiling over just how easy it was to get used to talking to birds…and fully expecting them to understand you.
A couple of minutes later she was in Olivia's office.
"Sorry to spring something else on you, Olivia. But I'm going to Asgard for a couple of days."
/
/
"Ho! Loki, what's this?" Thor called, catching up to Loki in a corridor leading from the hall set aside for the negotiations; everyone else had gone a different direction, taking a break for lunch, Bragi had told him. Trailing Loki, and stopping as Loki now did, was a servant pulling a cart with two enormous baskets.
"The fruits of my labors," Loki said with a smile he got rid of before turning to face Thor. It was a horrifically bad jest, something he could hear Fandral saying. He didn't care. Taking possession of these baskets had brought him a moment of sheer happiness. "As a gesture of good will, Vanaheim agreed to my first demand already. Though Rikolfur asked that it not be written into the treaty, since it's already been fulfilled. I suspect he simply didn't want to have to ask Gullveig to agree to it, given my last encounter with him, and thus took care of it personally."
"But what is it?" A faint scent came from the sellers' baskets, but he couldn't place it.
Loki popped the round flat lid off of one of the baskets.
"Oranges? You negotiated for oranges?"
"Yes, Thor, I negotiated for oranges. Bragi didn't mention it? They don't have any fresh fruit at the South Pole, and you don't have any here in Asgard, either. I could have asked for a variety, but in the moment, I decided I wanted oranges. Do you have a problem with that?"
"No," Thor quickly answered. "I wish Asgard was able to ask for such things. I wish I was able to ask for such things." He gazed down longingly at Loki's oranges. "I would have asked for plums. Once, I fell asleep during a lull in battle…and I actually dreamed of plums. I've wanted one so badly ever since. Juicy, ripe…" Thor looked back at Loki to find his brother staring at him as though he were a madman. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"No. Questions, perhaps, but not problems. I don't have any plums, unless one fell in by mistake somewhere, in which case, I promise it's yours, I don't think I would be able to touch it. But you're welcome to an orange if you want one."
"I won't wait for you to change your mind," Thor said, swiping one up before he'd finished speaking. He held it under his nose to smell, taking the moment to remind himself again not to call Loki "Brother," as he almost had. He hated how unnatural it felt, not saying it, but the person was more important than the word. "Actually, I really do wish we could ask for immediate fresh food delivery concessions. I'm told the First Cook is in a panic about the feast tomorrow night. We simply don't have the supplies for a proper feast, especially with Jane coming. And I didn't know they don't have fresh food there, either. Though it makes sense. Their supply problems must be far worse even than ours."
Loki nodded with growing unease. That had been his life, and Thor had no business…but it was Jane's, too, and he was going to have to stop thinking like that. "Jane is coming, then?" he asked, putting as little interest into it as he possibly could.
"She is! That's what I came to tell you. Your oranges distracted me. She'll be arriving in about an hour. I'd like to be there, but I have meetings all afternoon, and we don't know exactly when she'll come or I would duck out for a few minutes… I was hoping your lunch break would coincide but Bragi tells me you'll be back in negotiations by then. How is it going?"
"Fine. We've already worked through nearly everything. Brokk remains – we're taking him up after lunch, so no, I can't get away – and a few minor details. The negotiations remain on schedule."
"That much is good. All right, I think I'll send Jolgeir to meet her. And Eir, just in case."
Loki's expression instantly turned wary. "Just in case what?"
"The Tesseract's power is in a raw state. Controlling it isn't easy. Heimdall has gotten better every time he's used it, and we know he can safely transport mortals with it now, but when he brought Tony here, he felt ill. He did better already on the return to Midgard."
"You can't…you can't bring her here like that," Loki insisted. It hadn't occurred to him, but it should have. If it was going to occur to anyone it should have to him; he knew just how raw the Tesseract's power was. There was a reason he hadn't just held it up to the sky and pushed energy into it, and had instead recruited Erik Selvig to build a device that would control the power. Heimdall knew travel, and how to focus power of that sort, and the Tesseract's container provided further control, but still…
"Loki, I already confirmed with Heimdall. He's certain he can bring her here with no ill effects. You know I wouldn't put her at risk."
He did know that. Thor wouldn't. Not intentionally, anyway. "Yet you still want Eir to be there?"
"Yes. Just in case. And Jane knows Eir. A familiar face would be welcome, don't you think? I didn't mean to worry you. There's no need."
"I'm not worried. Just…" Worried. "Never mind. Have you spoken with Jolgeir yet?"
"No. I'll send for him and Eir. I have a meeting with the Instructors' Guild in a few minutes. Now, actually."
"Don't worry about it. I'll speak with them both. I needed to talk to Jolgeir anyway."
"What about your lunch break?"
"I have all the lunch I need right here," Loki answered, gesturing at the baskets. "Actually…," Loki began, then paused to struggle with himself for a moment. This hadn't been his intent. He reached into the still-open basket and grasped an orange in each hand, twisting his hands and sending them into his personal storage. He grabbed two more, and two more, and two more, pausing at thirty and then continuing to forty, then to fifty. He replaced the lid and faced Thor. "The king still has strong arms, yes? Take this one and find someone to deliver it to the kitchens for use at the feast. Why don't you mention it to the Instructors' Guild, too? And your new supplies advisor. They can work out a way to get some to the children. A bit of fresh fruit would be good for them." Sellers' baskets were enormous, meant for large-scale sale or distribution into the smaller market baskets; each held between 500 and 600 oranges. He couldn't have actually eaten an entire basket, anyway. But he'd thought to have many of them juiced.
Thor hefted the cylindrical basket whose load Loki had lightened. "The king's arms are still strong," he concurred with a grin. "Thank you, Loki. I've no doubt they'll be put to good use."
"Good," Loki said to Thor. "Let's go," he said to the servant. No need to let Thor confuse business for anything else. Thor was easily confused.
Along the way, though, he paused, rethinking his plans. He sent the oranges on to his chambers without him, and instead inquired about the location of the chambers provided for "Jane Foster, our Midgardian guest." He had no trouble getting the answer, and saw why when he reached the floor she would be on and found himself amidst chaos. Boxes, furniture, trunks, and carefully wrapped artwork was being hauled out by bustling servants trying to make their way past another set of servants carrying in cleaning supplies and linens and other smaller boxes.
"What is this?" he asked a man on his way out of the center of activity with a large box in his arms, headed for the service lift.
"My lord," the man said, clearly startled by who had stopped him. "A guest is arriving. A friend of King Thor. But there were no unoccupied chambers. This one was being used for storage."
Loki frowned. "You're putting the king's guest into a storage room?"
"It's fine proper chambers, only used for storage since the war. If the king asks, you can tell him we'll have everything in perfect condition by the time his guest arrives."
Loki nodded and waved the man on; he'd caused a bottleneck by stopping him in the corridor. He didn't like the idea, but Jane wouldn't mind, he knew. Even actual palace storage closets were larger than the berths at the South Pole, anyway. He threaded his way past servants and their loads, into Jane's soon-to-be chambers. The furniture was still covered, most of it pushed to the side to make room for everything else that had been brought in, but already pieces of it were being pulled back into their original positions. He continued on to the bedchambers, already cleaned, where two women were working fresh linens onto the bed. He pulled out the welcome note from where he'd tucked it into his leather vest. He'd written it before coming up here; he wouldn't be able to see Jane right away, and he wasn't sure when he would manage to at all, given that she was the "guest of the king." He didn't want her to think he was ignoring her. Or that he didn't care.
"This," he said, tipping the folded note in the direction of the nearest of the two servants, "is to remain right here." He placed it on the table beside the bed. "Understood?"
He got the response he was looking for, and left to speak with Jolgeir.
/
/
Strong hands kept Jane on her feet when the world slowly took hazy shape around her again. She squeezed her eyes shut at the beating of blurry dark wings and the little puffs of air that hit her face. When she opened them again, everything was still weirdly blurry, but the birds seemed to be gone.
"How is she?" Jane heard a deep unfamiliar voice ask.
"She's in good condition. Well done."
"Eir," Jane breathed, recognizing the voice the instant before her vision cleared. The older woman's grip lessened, then withdrew; she pressed a hand briefly to Jane's forehead.
"It's good to see you again, Jane."
"You, too. Thanks."
"Welcome to Asgard, Jane Foster. I am Heimdall, Gatekeeper of Asgard."
A moment of confusion came and went when Jane remembered Loki's lighthearted laughter after she quoted mythology's description of Heimdall as "the palest of the gods." He had, of course, not bothered to correct her in that instance, unlike so many others. She could imagine his mischievous smile if he were here now. "Thanks," she said again. "I'm so glad to finally meet you. And so sorry for rambling on at you before. Or…did you hear me? About Loki's things?"
"I did. And I did share your message with Loki." He paused, expression somewhere between a smile and a grimace. "Albeit in abbreviated form."
"Probably for the best," she said with a quick nod, gaze drifting downward as her field of vision widened. On a small wooden stand in front of Heimdall was a box, and inside the box rested a cube emitting a soft, steady blue light. "Is that the Tesseract?" she asked, wide-eyed.
"It is. We're using it for our travel now, until the bifrost repairs can be completed. I apologize for the rough journey. You would find the bifrost more pleasant."
"I'm not complaining," Jane said. "That was amazing." Yes, a little rougher than Pathfinder, but quicker, and now here she stood on Asgard. And in the Tesseract, she felt some small connection to Erik here, after all the time and effort he'd put into studying it.
They were in some kind of wooden hut, and when Jane started to turn to get a better look, she was startled to realize a third person was present. "You're…are you Jolgeir?" He looked a little familiar from Harvest Day, but he'd been covered in armor then, with a helmet on his head. He was missing his arms now, though, and even as she asked the question she knew it had to be him.
"I am indeed. And very pleased to make your acquaintance in person. His Majesty and Prince Loki have asked me to escort you until they're free. Loki is in treaty negotiations at the moment, and likely will be all day. The king is busy with meetings but wanted to greet you upon your arrival. I'll take you to him now, if you're ready."
"Oh, okay," Jane said. Now that it had been explicitly pointed out, she felt a little disappointed that neither Thor nor Loki was actually there, but she understood that they were busy, and knew she couldn't expect them to stand around waiting for her, not even knowing the exact time of her arrival.
"Do you have any lingering discomfort?" Eir asked. "Dizziness, nausea, weakness?"
"No, I feel great." Nervous and excited, but not dizzy, nauseous, or weak. Asgard was out beyond those wooden doors. And Thor, and Loki. "Thanks, Eir. And Heimdall. I'm fine, really."
"Good. And how is Selby?"
"Oh, he's fully recovered. Back at work, no scar."
"I'm glad to hear it. Jane, the Healing Room is much calmer now that the fighting has stopped. Should you feel overwhelmed and in need of another familiar face, you're welcome to come for a visit. Jolgeir knows the way."
Jane thanked her and turned to Heimdall. "Will I see you again before I go back? I'd love to talk with you, if there's time."
"I plan to attend tomorrow night's feast."
"Oh, perfect. Okay, I'll see you then."
Goodbyes said, she and Jolgeir headed toward the doors, Eir several paces ahead of them. "Hi," Jane said to the guard who stood just outside the doors, dressed much as Jolgeir had been on Harvest Day. He looked down at her in surprise and stammered out a hello. Jane wondered if she, a Midgardian, was as much a curiosity to them as Asgard and its people were to her. Or maybe it was because she was dating their king. Or maybe they just weren't used to anyone talking to them.
As soon as she looked past him, though, she forgot all about him. She looked up…and up…at the golden spires before her. They were a lot closer to the palace than she'd been before. The bifrost with its gates and buttresses was visible in the distance off to her left. She took a steadying breath and admonished herself to get a grip – she had been here before, it wasn't that big of a deal – then she set off again, Jolgeir matching her pace.
"We're going to the palace?"
"We are. His Majesty is looking forward to seeing you."
"His Majesty. That's still so strange. Wait, do I have to call him that? I mean in front of others? We don't have kings and queens in my country. I don't really know how that works and I never know what I'm supposed to call people. When everybody came to the South Pole, to Midgard, it was just them…and maybe that's different?"
"I'm not sure. The circumstances are unusual. Our court is not as formal as some, but there may be occasions where it's best for you to address him as Your Majesty. I suggest asking him. He or his protocol clerks can advise you."
"It must be weird for you, too, since you used to babysit him."
"Babysit?"
"Take care of him and Loki? But I was just teasing. I know you were their bodyguard."
"There was an element of babysitting, occasionally," Jolgeir said with a laugh. "They used to call us their nursemaids – babysitters – when they thought we couldn't hear. But it isn't so strange. Many years have passed between then and now."
"Yeah. Many years. Hey, are you ever going to tell me any of those embarrassing stories from when they were kids?"
"If they grant permission, I might recall a story or two. His Majesty may well grant it. His brother…less likely."
Jane looked up to find Jolgeir smiling. "I don't know. I think you just have to catch him in the right mood."
"Perhaps."
"Admittedly, he's not in the right mood very often."
Jolgeir ducked his head, looking away from her; Jane figured there was a limit on how much he could say – or joke – about either of the brothers, and she had probably just hit it.
"How about you?" she asked. "How are you doing? Loki said when he saw you on Asgard you were blind."
"I'm doing well, thank you. My vision has fully returned, and I'm stronger every day. And you? You had everyone worried when you were here before."
"Before?" Jane asked nervously. If Jolgeir started asking how she had managed to be strolling around Asgard over a thousand years ago, Jane really wasn't sure what she was going to say.
"I suppose you wouldn't remember it. When you were in the Healing Room, and couldn't be woken."
"Oh! Right. Yeah, I heard about it afterward," Jane said, then laughed. "That was really weird. I drank some kind of magic potion meant for Loki, and…weird. A lot of weird things have happened lately," she added, just a touch of her nervousness leaking into her voice. Now if Jolgeir asked about before-before, she could just say "yes, that was weird, too" and leave it at that. "You were there?"
"I was. Along with quite a few other Einherjar, those who were also in the Healing Room at the time. No one knew who or what you were."
"What I was?" Jane asked.
"You appeared right outside the royal chambers, past several layers of protective magic. It seemed like an attack. Some thought you might really be a Dark Elf, or Vanir, even a Frost Giant." He aimed a rueful smile her way. "I'm sorry to say that not all of the concern was for your wellbeing."
"No, that's…okay. I can understand how it must have looked," Jane said, itching to ask Jolgeir something about Frost Giants. She couldn't think of anything that wouldn't sound suspicious, though. "I didn't know what was going to happen when I drank that stuff. I just knew it was supposed to take me to Asgard somehow. Loki, actually, but he was in such bad shape, there was no way he could've done it. He couldn't even stand up."
"The queen suspected something had happened to him," Jolgeir said, looking at Jane with open curiosity.
"Oh…yeah…he was hurt pretty bad. He's fine now, though," she put in quickly, thinking maybe she shouldn't have said anything. It hadn't occurred to her that others here wouldn't know that Loki had been stabbed and nearly died from the blood loss and lung injury, and that he might not want them to know, though in retrospect it was obvious.
"He's fine because you drank something without knowing what it was or what it would do to you. You went to great risk for him, even after he attacked your world. You're a remarkable person, Lady Jane."
"I'm not so remarkable," she said with a shrug. "We were friends by then. He's not the same person he was when he attacked Earth. I mean, he is, but…you know what I mean, I think."
"I think I do, yes."
"When someone you care about needs help…you do what you can to help. I didn't see any other way to help him, and I was all he had."
"It's remarkable that you've aided both of the Odinsons. When we all believed Loki had died, you were the light in our prince's darkness. He spoke of you often. We all heard the tales, anyone who was in his presence."
"Really?" Jane asked with a smile; she couldn't help feeling flattered that she had been a light in a prince's – Thor's – darkness. But she still ached to think of the darkness itself, Thor left with the memory of his brother basically killing himself right in front of him, unable to do anything to stop it, and how badly broken their relationship had been when it happened. The aftermath hadn't been easy for her, either. Her professional career had taken off with the deal with SHIELD, but questions about Thor rarely strayed far from her mind: Where are you? Are you okay? What happened? Why haven't you come back? And one of the hardest ones of all: How long do I wait for you? In the beginning, it had not only motivated her work, but also kept her awake at night.
"You are our honored guest. Is there anything in particular you'd like to see or do while you're here? His Majesty and Prince Loki have both provided me with some ideas, but few things in your itinerary are fixed."
"I have an itinerary? Wow. Ummm…I don't know. Do you have telescopes here?"
Jolgeir chuckled. "Loki said you would ask about that. No, not like what you have on Earth. And we've lost the observatory, though we do have viewing chambers that from what I understand are close to what you have in mind. His Majesty also mentioned that you would enjoy visiting them, and I think he plans to take you there tonight."
"That'll be great," Jane said, after a second or two of confusion. She'd shared observations of the nighttime sky with both brothers, but when she thought of Asgard's sky she thought first of Loki. She wondered if things between the two of them were any better at all, and if so, whether she might be able to ask if the three of them could go to the viewing chambers together. She tried to picture it and imagined Loki being sullen because of Thor's presence, and Thor feeling annoyed and left out because he hadn't spent the last several months studying Earth's astrophysics on the sly and talking about neutrons and dark matter and general relativity. Until now she'd been caught up in the excitement; for the first time it hit her that this trip was probably going to have some uncomfortable moments.
Along the way, they'd passed several people, some of whom took notice of her and gave her curious looks. One woman, stopped and talking with a robed man some twenty feet away, was now staring at her. She was keenly aware of the woman's stare, but projected confidence and continued on. She'd done her best to put together a nice outfit – turquoise blouse with bold print scarf knotted around her neck, knee-length black suede skirt over thick warm black tights and shiny black loafers with silly little tassels on them that had seemed like a good idea when she'd bought them, mini-backpack looped over her shoulders – but she just didn't dress like these women. The only thing comparable she had was what Loki had made for her out of the sole dress she'd brought to the South Pole, and she'd decided she should wear something different this time. Even her hair, freshly washed and fairly cooperative, hanging free over her shoulders, was different. She hadn't really noticed it before, but none of the women she'd seen here wore their hair down. She did, and if anyone had a problem with it, that was too bad. Of course, there was no need to get defensive about it, she reminded herself. Just because people were looking didn't necessarily mean they were judging her guilty of Asgardian fashion crimes.
In the meantime, they had swung onto a path through a gate that disappeared to let them pass, and now they were approaching a door – a plain ordinary-looking door, if doors that at least looked like they were made of gold were ordinary – to the palace itself. Jolgeir opened it with his shoulder, though Jane figured there had to be some kind of invisible security system, and held it for her to enter.
"We're in the palace's private wing," Jolgeir told her as they made their way down a corridor so long she couldn't see the other end of it. The floor was polished beige stone, the central portion covered by a thick rug in mostly red, gold, and black. Artwork adorned the walls and rested on pedestals. The ceiling was composed of inset white panels painted with a repeating series of geometric symbols in gold, some of which reminded her of the markings the bifrost had left outside Puente Antiguo. It was nice, much nicer than anything in any building she had ever lived in, but it didn't scream "palace" at her, either. Maybe if there were chandeliers instead of what looked like torches along the wall.
"The king and his family live here," he continued once they'd passed a man in leather and metal armor, a look she now simply thought of as Asgardian. The man nodded respectfully as he passed, more to Jolgeir than to her, Jane thought. "It's usually very quiet. The servants have their own passages; these corridors and the floors above are used by the family, the palace Einherjar, and a few high-ranking clerks and officials who directly serve the family. When war came to us, we moved the entire Assembly – this is the body formed of the king's formal advisors – along with their immediate families, as well as the War Council and their families, into the private wing. We needed them to be close, and we needed them to be safe. Some of them dwell in the villages beyond the wall, and the other realms were attacking these villages."
"Good day, Jolgeir," said a younger-looking man, ruddy round face smiling.
"Good day, Bosi," Jolgeir responded.
Bosi nodded to Jane but otherwise paid her little mind and kept going in the opposite direction.
"Bosi serves as facilities advisor. He was until recently the youngest of the advisors, not much older than our new king. Now Geirmund is the youngest, in a new position, supplies advisor."
"And by 'youngest' you mean…"
Jolgeir chuckled. "He is still more than a thousand years old, though I think not by much. It would be highly unusual for anyone with fewer than one thousand years of life to be named advisor. In fact, I know only of one example. When the life of our First Master of Magic reached its end, few were capable of picking up his mantle. In the end, his daughter was named. The position of advisor is not hereditary, but in this case Maeva was the best choice even though she was not yet one thousand."
"Maeva?" Jane repeated.
"Yes. Have you met her?"
"No," Jane said, catching herself just before adding that she had seen her in the Harvest Day parade. "Loki mentioned her to me once. An old flame of his, he said."
"Ah, yes, that's right. It's been so long I had forgotten."
"She's…First Master of Magic now?" she asked, her thoughts seizing on to that detail. She had seen her and her father and a few others with the younger kids, presumably doing magic for them, but Loki had never mentioned that she apparently had a real talent for magic, just like him.
"She is. She's been instrumental in defending Asgard, misdirecting the enemy and forging protections. To my knowledge we've never relied so much on magic as we have in this war."
"What were they like together, Loki and Maeva?" It was awkward to ask, but Jane couldn't help herself. Loki had told her virtually nothing, except that he had been in love with her and she was two hundred years older.
Jolgeir didn't answer immediately. "That's a question for him. I wasn't guarding him anymore by then, of course, and…I suppose you could say we lived our lives in different circles at that point. Or, if you like," he added with a laugh, "a question for her. Merely a jest, I caution you. But you'll meet her tomorrow night. She'll be at the feast."
Not another question came to mind. She was going to meet Loki's former love. One of them, anyway. Who knew how many there were? A thousand years could mean a lot of relationships. Then she thought about Thor, and his thousand years. She wondered how many women she might meet here who had dated one of the brothers, women they might have fallen in love with, and she would never know. She would have never known about Maeva had they not happened to see her in the parade and had Loki not decided for whatever reason to point her out and confide that he'd once been in love with her. It was normal, she supposed. She'd gone to a class reunion in Wisconsin with Don, and he'd told her only after she'd spent half an hour talking with a woman there that she had been his girlfriend for about a year. Most people had exes, and they didn't necessarily fill you in on all of them. It was just that on Asgard, Thor and Loki could have both had hundreds of exes. Trying to imagine it was a little unsettling. She didn't have to for much longer though, because the corridor soon took a sudden turn to the right, ending at a door, this one considerably more ornate than the one they'd entered the palace through. Jolgeir brought them to a halt there.
"Behind this door is the throne room."
"Oh," Jane said, eyebrows stretching up to her hairline. Throne room. Throne. That word, somehow, brought the reality of where she was into startling resolution, in a way that simply strolling through a long palace hallway had not. Thor was sitting on a throne. "Jolgeir…have you ever felt really out of place somewhere?"
"Yes," he answered without hesitation. "On Midgard, the first time I was there since my younger years. But then I met Tony Stark and was warmly welcomed into his home, and I quickly felt at ease. It will be the same for you, Jane. A throne room is just a room with a throne in it, and a throne is just a large chair. In it sits someone who is eager to warmly welcome you to his home."
Jane's sudden case of nerves quickly melted away. A fancy chair is still a chair, and Thor is still Thor, she added to herself. "You know, Jolgeir? You're really good at this."
Jolgeir smiled. "Ready?"
"Ready."
/
I'm a bit behind responding to reviews; if you haven't heard back from me yet, you will.
"Glitter Queen": Who knows! They're all intelligent and of course there are different kinds of intelligence. I do think Loki would test very high on IQ! / "Lwolf": Yep! Thanks. / "Ladymouse2": On Loki speaking plainly, neither view is wrong IMO. Loki has spoken plainly about some things, and about others he's held a lot back. When he holds it back, yes, it's often out of a sense of "why bother". He may be ridiculed or patronized for it, but he doesn't expect anything to change so why get into it? Odin and Loki...they are the definition of speaking at cross-purposes and not properly hearing the other, certainly in those Pole scenes. On Loki and Thanos...such interesting stuff. Loki was not under mind control. But Loki was obviously not in an equal partnership, and not in prime mental condition when he fell. He was highly vulnerable to Thanos's/The Other's manipulation. It was quite a revelation for him, if not one he's eager to examine, that even though he mostly successfully fought off the more "blunt" attempts to manipulate, they may indeed still have affected him. Brokk's hair...in 45 "Bargains" he has "short white hair." When I wrote that, the early set photos from Thor 2 had recently come out, showing Malekith with long white hair. I originally gave him a long white braid, like Malekith's, figuring "this is what Dark Elves look like." But then I got cold feet, thinking, "maybe this is only what Malekith looks like." So I cut his hair. :-) I regret it. When I go back through all this for minor edits, I'll change it back. But the color is definitely white. And thanks for all your comments! / "Snafflefang": I'm glad they match with how you imagine them. It's important to me to capture the canon-sense of the characters, though they have also by now evolved from where this splits off from (newer) canon. And welcome to the story! / "DrunkenHorse": Welcome to you too! Yeah, those "blank spots" are the clarion calls to impassioned debate...and fanfiction! Sounds like I'm in your same camp BTW. That progression...YES. Most of that is and probably always will be only in Loki's thoughts, so it's unlikely to be explicitly laid out in the story, but it's meant to be there. And it's absolutely anchored in pride and need for control. When you feel you have lost control over everything around you, you cling to whatever control you can. For Loki, "how pathetically weak you are if you cannot even control yourself." BIG stumbling block for him. Not sure why your other comment isn't showing up at the moment, but I recall you asked about forums and wanting to discuss a Brokk theory with "Ladymouse2." I'm not aware of any forums for Beneath, but a "forum" function is in this website. If there's interest, I could start one, and stay out of the discussion unless asked a question. (Or someone else could start one, here or wherever.) My concern there would be spoilers. I hate the idea of someone just starting this story already knowing about time travel, for example. But c'est la vie. One thing to note: a future time traveler could not have provided evidence that was the "clincher" in convicting Loki - that would violate the Novikov Self-Consistency Principle. A time traveler *could* have left evidence, but the guilty verdict had to have come with or without that evidence. Doesn't negate your theory, then, but just wanted to note that.
There's never any need BTW to apologize for long reviews. (Or short reviews. Or lack of reviews.) I really enjoy every review, as do all writers on here I'm certain. We never know what's going on in the real life of that person behind the username. We never know when kind words, be they many or few, make a dark day brighter.
Also, while Beneath is still chugging along, lots of things have popped up alongside it recently. I have 16 docs in the "Doc Manager" on here, which is kind of crazy. That includes the little Doctor Strange crossover "A Strange Encounter," several chapters of a Spiderman-inspired story that was mostly done even before I moved back home ("Megin...Meg...Thor's Magic Belt"), Beneath chapters of course, and several "Trials" chapters. "The Hug" just "timed out" a couple of days ago. To "Memory Casket" readers, although I haven't updated it in ages, I am still 100% committed to finishing it. It just reached a point where working on it alongside Beneath wasn't feasible, mostly because working on it in "fits and snatches" wasn't feasible. It needs focused attention. When I'm able to start back on it again...start from the beginning to refresh your memory. :-)
Ch. 183 previews: Jane's first "normal" visit to Asgard gets underway, and for a regular American woman, she sure meets a lot of kings.
Excerpt:
"Am I the first Ljosalf you've ever met, then? The first elf?"
"You are," Jane answered, quickly forging ahead before he had a chance to somehow detect the lie. "Am I the first Midgardian that you've met?"
"You are not," he said, smiling slightly, visibly relaxing from his rigid posture.