The Tower: Happily Ever After

The Fear

I was getting restless.

I had sat through my fair share of council meetings before being asked to join Thor for one of the weekly sessions where the public petitioned him for things. That could be anything from asking for a road to be fixed or an extension on a home to mediation regarding property ownership disputes or sending out guards to investigate people's concerns.

I still felt woefully underqualified for even offering my opinions on the running of the country, but where the council meetings when I said something I felt confident that the council would take into account I was still learning when I sat in front of people who saw me as some divine wisdom, I worried about fucking it up.

Not to mention the job involved sitting on a hard metal chair for the whole day dressed in formal Asgardian wear. It was incredibly uncomfortable.

I was very glad I had opted for no marks when I had been with Natasha and Steve.

The babies were brought into me to feed about two hours into the first session of petitioners and I had to work out how to breastfeed in the uncomfortable metal chair while wearing a formal Asgardian dress, without flashing the people who had come to speak with us. It wasn't easy, and I ended up just feeding one at a time, something I only did if both weren't hungry at the same time under normal circumstances.

So as I had Thour tucked into a sling made of gold fabric as she fed, Thor cradled a whiny Nova and let the infant chew on his knuckle.

"Your majesty." The Asgardian man who kneeled in front of us looked older than Thor, though I still had no idea how to judge the ages of Asgardians. If he'd been human I would have said around fifty. He was sun-weathered and had the hands of a man who used them regularly. Yet despite that, he was dressed in fine, yet simple clothing in sea and pea green, and earth brown.

"Rise, citizen," Thor said. "I apologize for my son. He's a little hungry."

The man stood and shook his head. "It is an honor to get to see them. I know they aren't brought out in public very often yet. My wife is not going to believe I was lucky enough to have them at our meeting."

"I am happy that we can send you home with at least some good news," Thor said. "Let us see if there is any more I can grant. What has brought you to me today?"

"The farmers outside the western city walls have all been reporting missing things. From small items like clothing and food to livestock," the man explained. "I myself have lost a few animals and there was a large argument I had with my wife about who ate the last of the cake she baked. To begin with, we all just thought it was one of those things. Animals can go missing from time to time. Clothes get lost in the wash. A family member will eat the last of something without telling anyone. But as the stories were passed around it became clear that this was happening a little too regularly to be normal."

"Do you believe it is a thief or a beast?" Thor asked.

"Hard to say, your majesty," the man said. "I would say, thief or thieves. But this is only part of the problem. Dread has been building. It started with nightmares, always of our biggest fears, but not happening regularly enough to warrant concern. Now my wife and I are waking several times a night with them and we are not the only ones. Everyone is complaining about lack of sleep due to these night terrors. It's beginning to seep into the day. I go outside and feel such fear, it's hard to work. My animals seem to be affected by it too. They are losing weight, abandoning their young, and bellowing constantly. There is something dark out there and it is tormenting us."

"Do you feel that fear here?" Thor asked.

The man shook his head. "No, my lord. It ended when I passed through the city gates. Almost like a weight was lifted off me. I believe we all let it get so bad because whatever this is has made us too scared to ask for help."