I restlessly tossed in my bed all night, unable to get comfortable no matter what I did. So many things made my thoughts race. It felt near impossible to focus on one idea at a time, making everything hodge-podge into a mess of uncertainty. Even Mum's old trick of putting a pencil between my teeth didn't help. By morning, I was no more rested than when I went to sleep.

The only consistent burn in my soul was the one that reminded me time was running out. Ragfrieda was too impressive, too skilled and far too wonderful all around to stay unnoticed for long. Astrid was right—I couldn't waste this opportunity, for it might be my last.

I dressed in a comfortable brown tunic and trousers like any other Narvir man. Armor couldn't protect my heart, so it made no difference if visited her casually. It might even force me to be more brave than I had been. Just so long as she didn't reject me too harshly, anyway.

But she wouldn't, would she? Surely I hadn't misread all the signals of her flirtation inappropriately...

"Vali, are you up there?" Mum called from the kitchen. "I have breakfast for you."

"Aye, on my way," I shouted.

"Wake Hela too, please."

Before leaving the bedroom, I practiced forming an illusion of Riggs' favorite flower. The small orange blooms reminded me of friendly animal faces, so cheerful and innocent, much like her. And, like her, the real flower was quite dangerous, a potent poison on her home realm. Fitting, when I thought about it.

I knocked on Hela's bedroom door in a purposely obnoxious pattern. "Up, up, up, Hela. The day will leave without you."

Any other time, her acidic morning voice would've chastised me for waking her. Today—nothing.

"Sis?" I opened her room a slit to peek inside. Her bed was unmade and empty, but everything else appeared to be in place.

"Hey, Mum?" I called down. "You sure Hela's not down there?"

"Not here," Father answered with an annoyed tenor.

"She's not up here, either," I said.

Mum sighed loud enough for me to hear upstairs. "She must've left early this morning for Nanny's. Couldn't wait to get away from me. Best to let her fuse reform. Come down!"

Hmm. My instincts were sharp, but it wasn't enough to act on. I glanced over Hela's room again and shook away my uneasiness.

I avoided stalling on Asgard and didn't take the Bifrost. Instead, I strolled well past the landing site and through a thick grove of familiar trees. Father once said the portal fields of Vanaheim collected all the soft points of Yggdrasil to keep the people together; I found this largely true of Narvlheim now. It was ripe with strange magic. My collection of gateways was incomplete, though; it was beyond dangerous to attempt mapping every curiosity on my own. I clearly marked a few and shared a handful more with Hela, keeping the rest to myself until such time that I could recruit a proper team.

The passageway to Riggs's home was prominently featured in the center of a clear patch of grass. When the sun was directly overhead, one could step into the light and emerge in the dry heat of Dagheim. A lucky discovery if there ever was one.

Straightening my tunic and hair, I stepped forward to the spot and planted myself firmly with my feet shoulder-width apart. Nothing to do but wait for the right moment. With my eyes closed, I sensed the portal's power before it became fully active. Heat crept over my legs and moved upward even though the sun was bearing down from above. The light became brighter, more yellow. The familiar chirps of birds faded to wind alone that rustled dry leaves in the distance.

I took a deep breath and told my heart to stop racing. Nearly there, now.

My shoulders sank with strong gravity when the journey was complete. I opened my eyes to the beige world of Dagheim—dry, hot, and teeming with sorcery wholly different from that of my home.

The landing spot was isolated, thankfully, leaving me enough room and time to gather my wits before arriving at her door. With light footsteps in my casual sandals, I relaxed my posture and tousled my hair, hoping to avoid being recognized and pulled aside. It wouldn't be an easy feat considering my pale complexion, but I supposed the seers of this world could see through me no matter how I dressed, anyway; my lack of armor might just send a message that I wished to be left alone.

I cleared my throat often, not sure if the anticipation was choking me or the air. Seeing dear Riggs as a comrade was not enough. We had to be more, or we had to be nothing. It was too painful to pretend otherwise, yet the pressure of losing her put an unfamiliar expectation on my visit. The normally brief stroll to the edge of the main road to her family's home dragged on like it moved farther away with every step.

Finally at my destination, I whistled a long exhale and raised my hand to knock—a moment too late, though, as she opened the door before I could make contact.

"Lokison," she said with a chime and a smile, "What brings you here?" Like me, she wasn't in her armor, and her casual frock accentuated her every lush curve in ways that sent a shock through me. She'd wrapped her hundreds of tiny plaits into an ornate scarf high on her head, deceptively matching my height.

Shit. I'm not ready yet. I straightened my spine as a result, now sapped of eloquence and nerve. "I-I...forgive me, Riggs. You know I can't stay home for long without getting bored. Hela's fighting with Mum was enough to push me out, too. I hope I'm not intruding—"

"Oh, nonsense! You're always welcome here." She hardly invited me in before embracing me strongly.

I was already in a state, and her touch sent me over the edge. Her soft skin against my bare arms was like taking a warm bath, only it made every hair on my body erect. The subtle fruit scent in her hair that followed her everywhere wafted over me, imprinting itself even stronger in my memory. I had to consciously avoid humming with satisfaction at her closeness and how many times I'd dreamt of jumping into something more right from this point.

She didn't linger too close and pulled back in an excited hop. "You just caught me leaving for the grand hall in the city. My mother wishes to announce my new promotion in the Valkyrie. It's fitting that you should come, too."

Of course she wouldn't know my aim—how could she, unless she truly did inherit some of Heimdall's gifts? I chose to take the opportunity as a way to gain my bearings again before making confessions. "Absolutely. Thank you for the invitation. Shall we?"

Dagheim's main city had no real name—in fact, like Asgard, the people simply called it Dagheim. It wasn't a terribly large realm, smaller than Narvlheim. Riggs' mother was the Stewardess of Dagheim and frequently hosted large banquets for all the realm's families. Everything was everyone's business here, unlike Narvlheim where the people were largely very private.

On our way, Riggs chirped with stories of what she and Astrid did the night before to celebrate their promotions and plan when they'd return to Asgard before the new season. I kept my lips sealed outside of my smiling so I could fully absorb her enthusiasm. Her golden eyes glowed, speckled with black that only made the amber tone shine even more. While she walked, she swept her skirt back and forth, sweeping the light dust on the road and not caring much for soiling the garment. In Riggs's eyes, clothing was meant to be worn, and keeping clean was only proof of life not lived.

I glanced over my nearly-pristine black tunic, slowly plucking a long blond hair from Tiwaz from the fabric. Does she think I'm boring? Do I appear sterile compared to her fertile independence?

In my daydreaming, I tripped over a small boulder and nearly hit the ground, just barely catching myself. She laughed at my clumsiness and averted her eyes.

"I swear, that came out of nowhere," I said, all but starting over with grounding myself to the moment since the shock of my near-miss made my heart race even more.

"You're distracted with something," she said with a seductive, impish grin on the side of her face. "You don't have to hide it."

Oh, how I wish it were that easy. I chuckled and pocketed my hands to keep from fidgeting obviously. "No, I'm not."

"I see right through you, Lokison. You're absent your usual bad habit."

I scrunched my face. "What bad habit?"

She lowered her eyes. "I haven't heard a single curse from you today."

"Ah." I tapped my temple. "It's far from absent, but I'm trying to do better with that. It's unbecoming of my new station."

"Is that so?" Riggs waved her open hand over my outfit. "Even though you're far from Captain today?"

How could I express how it was unbecoming of me as a suitor to be crass around her, when all our lives, I'd never attempted to be anything other than my unapologetic self? Or how my real station was so overwhelming that my eyes seemed to pierce the world more strongly than before, which made cursing my last opportunity of rebellion against the heavy expectations of the dead—so it now had to be savored?

Evidently, I'd been quiet for too long while trying to decide what to say. "Ahem—Vali, are you alright?"

Any mention of my first name from her lips was a treat, but this was especially intense due to my anxious heart. I fought not to trip again. "Yes. Yes, sorry. Are we nearly there?"

"Straight ahead," she said, raising her brow at my change of subject.

"Good. I'm beginning to regret my choice to wear black." I tugged at my collar to feel a small breeze. It barely helped at all, even though I could easily cool myself with a mere thought. This was beyond temperature alone. She could see right through me, as she claimed. My only hope would be to grow the gumption before it was too late.

Fortunately for me, Riggs stopped her small interrogation once her presence was noticed by others on the street. Here, she was treated much the same way I was on Asgard; everyone knew her name, her parents, her siblings, and she was equally familiar with all of them. I swelled with pride watching her smoothly work through the crowd, so regal and confident, well-suited to the public eye and deserving of anyone's admiration.

"Lokison."

I jumped, as did my pulse. Reflexively, I spun to meet his eyes. "Yes, Sir?"

Heimdall approached from behind, making me wonder if he'd watched us walk partly through the city while waiting for the right opportunity to startle me. His expression was decidedly stern.

I gulped. Didn't you say I was welcome? Was I mistaken?

"Father," Riggs said cheerfully. She stood on her toes to kiss his cheek as he knelt down to her. "I wasn't certain you'd make it today."

"Wouldn't miss it," he said, softly smiling at her before flattening his affect again while looking through me. "I take it you're here to celebrate the occasion as well?"

"Yes. Of course." I choked out a light cough and falsely grinned to keep from shaking.

"Not sharing any of your own developments, are you?"

I shook my head like a child trapped in a lie, even though I spoke the truth. "No, Sir. Nothing of mine. Only hers."

"Very good."

Riggs twisted between the two of us and sheepishly tiptoed toward the court entrance. "Right, well, we better be going..."

"You go ahead," Heimdall said while taking another step closer. "I have business to discuss with young Lokison, here."

She raised her thin brow at me briefly before someone called her name inside, pulling her from our presence and removing my last line of defense against my own cowardice.

Breathe. Just breathe...

"We do have something to discuss, don't we?" Heimdall hardly moved, yet he was in my space, and I didn't dare retreat. "Anything on your mind?"

Again I gulped. "I...I-I-..."

"Tell me, Lokison, do you plan to ever speak with me regarding Ragfrieda, or are you resolved to remain silent until the next Ragnarok greets us?"

He'd stolen the words right from my mind, leaving me with little more to say than, "Of course not, Lord Heimdall. No. I mean, no, I don't wish to stay silent." My whole body itched again, making me scratch my arms absently for goodness knows how long before I stopped and commanded my arms to my sides again. "I...umm...planned to discuss my intentions yesterday. Perhaps—"

Heimdall burst with laughter and shook my shoulder, dropping his severe expression. "Take a breath, Vali."

I choked with my eyes wide open, grateful for his hands on me if only because I couldn't as readily fall over.

"You certainly have a priceless look on your face." His smile outshone the light in the sky, but it was a genuine, cheery confirmation.

"Thank you," I exhaled, gulping in a few deep breaths before attempting to continue.

Heimdall shook his head the same way Father would after a jibe. "So, what are those intentions, hmm?"

"Right." I lifted my head, pretending to recite my soldier's decree, privately wishing I were in my armor so I wouldn't have a choice but be straight in my stance. "It is my intent to...to court her properly. I haven't forgotten my charge when we first met. I would never harm her. My wish is only to bring her as much joy as she brings me."

He closed his lips and smiled gently. "I'm glad to hear you aren't asking for my permission. Only Ragfrieda can give you license to her heart, not me."

I nodded quickly. "Aye."

"It would be my pleasure to share a son, and call him King, with that which is most precious to me."

Goosebumps sprung up all over my body. "Thank you again, sir. I will uphold my honor as well as hers. That is, if she will have me."

"Well, that's the next step, isn't it?" He laughed heartily again, slapping my back this time.

I chuckled with him, but it embarrassed me to know how obvious it was that I hadn't yet made my confession to the one who mattered. If even her father saw straight through me, did she have suspicions? Did she avoid bringing it up because she hoped I'd never speak?

"Now, it is not my place to share this with your father." Heimdall raised his brow the same way Riggs had a few minutes before. "I'm afraid the son of Loki must make his own family aware of his intentions."

My heart sank. The only person whose response I feared wasn't Riggs herself, but Father, who would surely disapprove to hear of any interest not related to my new ascension. "I appreciate that," I said quietly.

"Best to go in now." He tipped his head before leaving, which left me to privately marinate in our short conversation.

I was without any real protection, but now I was armed with his blessing to pursue. Now, I needed to find the courage to do so.