ALL CHARACTERS ARE PROPERTY OF MARVEL INC. AND THEIR RESPECTIVE AFFILIATES.
Again, I feel a little like these chapters are dragging on and on and on, don't you? Big fight next chapter! Now read!
My stomach rumbled as Thor led me into the huge hall, where tables were lined with steaming roasted meat, sweet, cold fruit, and hot bread. The smells ignited my rumbling stomach, and Thor grinned as he greeted his friends, hugging Fandral and turning to me.
“You remember Anthy?” he said, touching my shoulder lightly.
“Hullo Anthy,” said Fandral, grinning. With a flourish he produced a flower and held it out to me with a dashing smile. I blushed as I took it.
“Nice to see you too, Fandral,” I said, smiling bashfully.
“Nay, milady, it is nice to see you. Your presence has been missed in Asgard these few days. Volstagg has had no children to dote on, and I no fresh faces to turn pink.”
I think my whole face turned red, and Thor finally took mercy on me, laughing with a hand on his belly. “Fandral, if she were to turn any redder, we could hide her in the folds of my cape! Come, Anthy, you have been saved a place near Volstagg.”
I started to look in that direction, but paused as Balder approached Thor and our little group. “Brother!” he called, as Thor caught his arm just below the elbow and they hugged briefly. “'Tis a rare thing, to have you home so early!”
I wanted to look at my watch, and say that it was only seven, but I didn't want to look away. There was something serene in Balder's smiling face, something easy, something simple and sweet and good. He turned to me and smiled. “Milady,” he regarded me with a nod.
“Sir,” I answered. He'd changed, more confortable now, without the helmet and the extra gear, just a dark blue tunic and gray leggings, with black boots like Thor's. Over it, a white fur cape, held in place with round pins.
“Come,” he said, extending his hand to the room. “There are those that have waited for you.”
In the center of the huge hall, a fire blazed, filling the room with heat and light, and the same women who danced for Balder's attention threw flowers into the fire, adding heady, sweet smells to the scents of meat and bread.
A few of those women glared at me, but others seemed openly curious. Every one glistened with gold and sweat, each one lithe and buxom and beautiful. I won't go into the details of what they were wearing, because I cringe when I think about how thin they were, but I'll tell you, it wasn't much. They dripped with gold and their faces and bodies were painted with black swirls, probably not symbolic of anything, but it seemed like the more important looking warriors at the head table, where the king's seat was, were more impressed with the women that had more intricate marks.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Volstagg elbow Hogun with a grin, then stand up. “Anthy! We saved you a place of honor!”
“Coming!” I called, then turned to Balder. “I gotta--”
“Go, be with them. They have missed you.”
Why can't there be a manual to handle crushing on an ageless Asgardian warrior!? I was acting like a total idiot! Dammit!
He was, like, a million miles away from my league, an experienced fighter and a king and the brother of a man that I considered the closest thing I'd had to a father in seven years. I hardly knew him. I'd hardly shared two words with him.
I needed to snap out of this!
Volstagg looked at me with squitned brown eyes as I smiled at him. “You. Are. Horrible. At. Hiding. Your. Feelings,” he said, enunciating every word.
“Don't you have a platter of meat that needs devouring?” I asked as I sat down to stares from Hogun and Fandral as well.
“The king does love sweets,” noted Fandral, and his companions on either side of me started guffawing as I sat in the seat beside then.
“What do you mean?” I asked, fully aware that I probably didn't want to hear the answer.
“Just mentioning that the king does enjoy small doses of sweet things, on occasion,” he said offhandedly, shrugging as he reached out to pluck an apple from a bowl. I turned and mumbled, 'hmph', turning away from him.
“Don't be too put out with him, milady,” said Hogun. “It has been so long since he's had a sweet himself!”
Volstagg erupted into a loud bellowing laughs, and Even Fandral joined him. These guys were such good friends and had been for so long that it showed, and I felt a little bit honored to have been allowed into their little circle.
“Eat, Little Anthy! For tonight, we celebrate your return home.”
I smiled and took a cup of something amber and sweet smelling, and looked for Thor. I didn't feel quite comfortable, in fact I stuck out like a sore thumb for being so small and pale among all these tall, broadly-built warriors. I wasn't the only girl at the tables, but now I knew what a shield maiden was.
“You wanted me to be one of those?” I asked, as I tore a small loaf of bread in half. Volstagg looked over and took the half I gave him, which was bigger than mine.
“Aye. You do not believe you could be one—Hildy!” he called gleefully. He stood up, Pushing me into Hogun and Hogun into Fandral. Hogun caught me as Volstagg leapt over the table with shocking agility.
“He really loves his kids,” I noted, as Hogun set me right. Thor's laughter thundered through the room, joined by his brother's as Volstagg argued with a woman with the same vibrant red hair as her father.
“Anthy, you do not look like you are enjoying yourself,” said Hogun. “You must try. Today was a grievous day, but Volstagg always does say that a sad day's events are made gladder by cake. Perhaps mutton will serve the same duty?”
I smiled and nodded, and picked a piece off the hunk that was dropped on my plate.
“Here is where you will stay,” said Thor as he stood in the doorway.
I looked around the room I'd been brought to, pressing my hands down on the mattress and sighing. Huge windows to let in the light filled the east wall, while the right was covered in a tapestry. A fire blazed in the fireplace, and the stone floor was covered with a warm, soft fur rug.
“I love it,” I said, sitting down on the bed.
“Good,” he said, and I felt like words hung in the air, unsaid. “What is it?” I asked.
“Tomorrow, the Warriors Three will begin training you in swordplay. So you can protect yourself from those who have been targeting you.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Your things have been brought,” he added, motioning to the huge bag in the corner. I opened it up and peeked inside, then smiled as I caught a whiff of Kelda. “Why is Kelda so nice?” I wondered aloud as I pulled a T-shirt out and dropped it on the bed. Looking at Thor, he was holding Mjolnir as it rested on his belt. “What?”
“I am. . . concerned. Asgardian children, from the day they are born, are groomed to be warriors. They play war games and eat a warrior's food. When a son becomes a man, he is allowed to attend a warrior's meetings, and when a daughter becomes a woman, she joins the shield maidens or becomes the wife of a warrior. Every aspect of Asgardian culture is meant to groom a child to defend what is theirs.”
“Do you think I can't handle it?” I asked.
“I am worried that it will tax you overmuch. That you will become discouraged.”
I smiled and said, “I have to try, right? You guys can't protect me all the time.”
“It gives purpose. Something an Asgardian needs, lest they turn to infighting. But you are right. Just. . . do not give up if there is difficulty. You must press on.”
I nodded. “I'll be fine. This'll be great!”
Thor sighed and. . . “Did you just roll your eyes at me?” I asked.
“I'm gonna die!” I shouted as I looked down at Hogun and Fandral, locked in a sparring match. “It's eight in the morning, they have no right to be so energetic this early,” I noted, as Balder and Thor stood side-by-side next to me.
“They are practicing. For you,” said Balder. I looked at him with a dry look on my face. “I'm going to die.”
“I doubt you will die,” said Thor, but then he started walking down to talk to them. Fandral grinned up at me, and I waved back.
“Thank you for the ride yesterday,” I said to Balder.
He nodded and said, “you are welcome.”
The silence wasn't awkward, but I wanted to say something. Anything. But he said something for me. “You will do well today. I can see that you are one who does not give up easily. I must go, but I wish you good luck today.”
“Thanks, you too,” I said, blushing against my will. He patted my shoulder and then walked away, and I stood, frozen, watching him go.
“You have an uncommonly difficult time hiding the fact that he has stolen your heart.”
“Shut up!” I hissed at Kelda, who chuckled low in her throat. I bent down and picked up my backpack, hefting it over my shoulder. She chuckled again and let her shawl fall to drape over her arms, not one hair on her head out of place, even though she smoothed it anyway. “Perhaps lessons of another kind are in order. Asgardian beauty.”
“No way, Kelda. I'm not here to snatch a man. Besides, I'm. . . I'm not his type.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, as Thor turned his head slightly. He was listening to us.
“Later,” I said.
Ah, Kelda, aren't you just a doll? Don't we love her folks? I know you gentlemen do. Yeah, you. So, Balder's got babes, Anthy's got work to do, and Thor's in for a nasty shock next chapter as things heat up!
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