Thor walked down the hallway slowly. He turned his head toward every footfall he heard, but none of them was his brother. Usually, when Odin summoned him, he summoned both of them.

But this time he was alone. When he reached the throne room, he peeked inside. He was reassured when he saw his father was not up on his throne, but standing at the foot of the stairs before the throne, staring off into space. Thor entered quietly and stood waiting,

He tried to be patient and stand still, but it was hard. He was better at it when Loki was with him, his little brother could be very still and that helped Thor settle down. Thor shifted his weight back and forth from foot to foot, and did his best to be quiet.

Odin finally finished his thought and turned to his young son.

"Ah, there you are. Tell me, how are you doing in school?"

Thor shrugged. "All right, I guess."

"Hmm. Walk with me." Odin held out his hand and Thor inserted himself under it. When he was little, he would have taken his father's hand, but he was taller now so he let his father's hand rest on his shoulder. They walked toward the balcony.

"Your friends, they usually do what you want to do, do they not?"

"Yes, Father."

"Why do you think that is?"

"Well, . . . maybe because I have good ideas of fun things to do."

Odin stopped and faced him. "Maybe it is because you are the oldest prince and heir to the throne."

"I . . . I don't know. Maybe sometimes."

"Having others do your bidding is part of being a king. But you should be obeyed, not just because you are their king, but because you are their leader."

"Yes, Father." Thor wasn't sure what the difference was, but he knew Odin would tell him.

"Others doing what you say because it is something they want to do, is not leadership. Leadership is others obeying you when it is something they do not want to do, not because of rank, but because they trust you and believe in you. Do you understand?"

"I think so. How do I do that?"

Odin gave a bark of laughter. "Leadership is something that must be learned, but cannot be taught."

"How can I learn something if no one can teach me?" Thor was becoming anxious and stressed by this conversation. Loki usually handled the difficult concepts and he just had to agree; without his brother, he was lost.

Odin began walking again, with Thor a little behind him, and stopped at the balcony. He turned toward his son and said, "You must find the path yourself, by yourself, or it isn't your path. To help you develop your leadership abilities, I have a task for you."

Thor was feeling a little faint, very unusual for the normally active boy. "A task?"

Odin looked out over the balcony and continued, "A task, or perhaps a test. There is a young girl who wishes to become a Valkyrie, but she cannot, for two reasons. Can you guess what they are?"

Thor's gaze followed his father's toward the distant hills, but the view gave him no clue. "Um, well, Valkyries were all women, so, maybe she's too young?"

"No. All Valkyries started out their training as young girls. Try again."

Thor was getting scared. Was he failing? "She's not a good enough fighter?" he guessed.

"That's a little better. Tell me, who is there to train her?"

Thor's eyes widened and he said excitedly, "The Valkyries are all gone. There's no one to train her!"

"Yes. And look out there. How many flying horses do you see?"

"There aren't any more flying horses, they're all gone too."

"So the girl cannot become a Valkyrie. She has decided instead to become a warrior. I want you to see that she succeeds, and becomes one of your friend group of young warriors in training."

Thor stared at his father open-mouthed. He wanted to protest; he didn't want a girl for a friend and neither would any of the other boys. And who ever heard of a girl warrior?

Oh. He closed his mouth. That was the test, he was supposed to get her accepted through his leadership, somehow.

"I don't think I can do it, Father. Nobody will want her."

"No? Yet you think one day you should be king?"

"But I don't want a girl in our group. How can I convince others if I don't want her myself?"

"My son, sometimes kings must do things they do not want to do, and lead others to assist them in doing them as well."

Thor dropped his head and stared at the floor while he thought. Odin waited; he was always patient while either of his sons struggled to understand or accept something.

Finally Thor looked up at him and asked, "What are the rules for this test?"

"There are no rules, only results. However, I will tell you that asking, begging, pleading, or bribing will not show leadership and you will lose respect, not gain it."

The boy nodded; he already knew that. "I understand. Is there a time limit?"

"No. The task is over when the girl, Sif, is either a member of your group or she gives up."

"She might give up?" Thor asked, alarmed at the thought of failing because of the weakness of some girl.

"She might; anyone might if they are rejected often enough."

The boy sighed. "Can she fight at all?"

"I have been told she has been tutored privately for some time and shows promise. She has reached the point where she needs others of her own size and ability to spar with. She will be at your weapons and sparring training tomorrow afternoon."

There was the faint sound of a bell, and Thor started. First dinner bell already. He didn't have a lot of time to figure out what to do; less than a full day.

Odin said, "Go now. Consider while you eat."

"Yes, Father." Thor ran out of the throne room much more quickly than he had entered it.

He slid into his place at the dinner table next to Loki just as the food was being brought out. Loki was now next to Thor instead of Frigga, which he considered an improvement. He wanted to be associated in people's minds with Odin and Thor, not his mommy.

Loki was watching the food, but said, "So what did Odin want?"

Thor wasn't surprised he knew about it. The palace gossip-mill always had the latest, and Loki had been plugged into it since he could talk.

"If Odin wanted you to know, he would have summoned you too, Brother." The older prince was rather proud of himself for that answer.

As the plates of meat were offered, Thor loaded up while Loki took only a single slice of roast. When the bowls of vegetables arrived, Thor took just enough so that Mother would approve of his plate if she checked. Loki piled his plate high. Thor could barely look at it; his brother was so weird. There wasn't another boy in the palace that ate as many vegetables as Loki.

When they had both taken the edge off their appetites, Loki continued the conversation that Thor thought was over.

"Did Odin forbid you to tell me?"

"It's something he wants me to figure out how to do myself."

"Is not asking for good advice part of that? Odin himself has advisors and counselors."

"Maybe. I need to think about it."

"So, next month sometime?"

Thor kicked him under the table. That was usually his final answer, some sort of mild violence. Loki shut up and went back to eating.

After finishing their food, the princes both wandered the hall listening to various discussions, joined in the singing for a while, and then went back to their respective rooms. Loki enjoyed reading in the quiet of the evening. Thor usually played a bit or did some exercises.

But tonight he sat and stared out of the window. He couldn't just run up to this girl and be friendly, no one would believe that; all his friends would know it was an act. Loki was clever about things, but Thor wasn't even sure what advice he should ask for. Ah, that was it. He didn't know enough yet. He needed to see this Sif and see her fight. Maybe she would be amazing and everyone would want her in their group. Not likely, but how could he know before he'd even met her? Satisfied with his conclusion, especially since it didn't involve actually doing anything, he went to bed.