Asgard's New Princess

Chapter 28-She Speaks Norse

Chapter 28

Loki laughed when he saw the wreckage from the ship, and I bumped him with my hip. "It's the first time I've ever flown it."

"I can tell."

He was able to pull it together enough for a return flight though, and I let him drive.

"Thor's out looking for you; he should be back tonight. Odin's pretty upset, and he wouldn't be happy to see you again. Frigga would be pleased to see that you're alright, as long as you promised not to run away again. Uh, Sif and the Warriors Three..."

"I can guess," he said. I detected a hint of hostility in his voice. "What did they say to convince you to stop looking for me?"

I smiled. "We'll go instead."

He paused. "What?"

"I was sick, so Frigga had me under room arrest for the past few days. Worst days of my life."

"I can imagine." He probably had the same sense of uselessness when I'd gone missing.

"As soon as she left, the four of them came in and said that they'd go looking for you, since they knew how important it was to me and I couldn't. We'd gone to Jotenheim the day before, and I made it clear that when we found you, they wouldn't wrangle you back to prison."

He was surprised. "Unexpected."

"I know. You must be on better terms with them than I thought."

"I haven't spoken to any of them since the day before I began the war between Jotenheim and Asgard."

"Then maybe it's me they like," I said thoughtfully. "Anyway, after we tell Thor you're alright, and maybe after you see Frigga, we can go."

"Go?"

I answered, basically saying I didn't care where. "Gdje god želiš. Ne zanima me. Dok sam s vama i nisi u zatvoru."

He thought for a moment. "Midgard is boring, we can't stay in Asgard, and Jotenheim is definitely off limits. Where do you suggest?"

"Neki dijelovi Midgarda vrlo uzbudljivo. Mislim da je naša najbolja opcija."

"Alright. Midgard it is. But you'd better have a good place in mind; I'm not living around a city of insolent know-it-alls."

"Naravno da imam svoje mjesto u umu. Ne bih ga predlažemo da nisam učinio," I answered indignantly. Of course I had a place in mind!

"Good. Wait..." He turned around. "What did you say?"

I barely contained my grin. Finally. "Rekao sam: 'Naravno da imam svoje mjesto u umu. Ne bih ga predlažemo da nisam učinio.' Slušajte. "

He stopped the boat. "Eren, are you speaking Norse?"

(Nope. It's actually Croatian...)

"Yep. Thor's still been teaching me in the evenings." I smiled proudly, and he lightly kissed me, as a prize I suppose.

"I'm delightfully surprised."

Then he disguised himself as a palace guard and we pulled into the docks. Frigga stood there, probably having been told by some servant or another that I left.

"Well, I'm glad you went with a guard, in case you toppled over into the sea," she said, sounding like she had when Loki and I got in trouble all those years ago.

"Of course I did. I was getting cabin fever; I needed some fresh air. Is there still some lunch?"

She nodded and pulled me forward. Looking at Loki, she said, "You're dismissed." He nodded and turned. I hoped he was going to follow us. I just needed some food before I passed out.

After we were alone, she said, "Now tell me, did you find him? I know you were looking for my son."

I didn't know how to respond. Should I say yes, possibly endanger Loki's imprisonment? Or should I say no, crush his mother's heart?

"Yes, I did. That's who was with me," I said finally. She nodded, not breaking stride.

"You're going to leave with him again, aren't you?" she whispered as a servant passed us. I nodded. "Just stay where Heimdall can see you. I want to be able to get updates from him on you two."

"And about Loki and I," I said carefully, "I hope it's okay...he and I are, um, how would you say it..." I didn't want to label our relationship, and I wasn't comfortable saying anything else.

"In love," offered someone who fell into step on my other side. The guard reached for my hand, and I gave it willingly. Loki. The little jolt of cold I felt confirmed it, and I sent a little wave of heat. "Together?"

"Both work," I agreed.

Frigga smiled. "I'm glad you've both finally come to your senses about it." She kissed Loki's cheek and left.

I smiled and walked into the kitchen, where the servants were just putting everything away. Quickly snagging a roll and a bit of ham, I walked back out and down to Loki's room. We wouldn't be disturbed there.

We talked, Loki read, and I jumped in when I found a word I knew, for the rest of the day. It was dark by the time heavy shoes passed the door, and then after a moment, a knock came on Loki's door.

"You'll let him in," I said. He nodded.

Opening the door, I found myself face to face with Thor, who looked extremely upset. "I could not find him. Again."

"That's okay. Come in." I opened the door wider, and he gave me a strange look.

"I cannot. Loki's magic-"

"Just come inside, Thor."

He trusted me and stepped through the doorway. Eyes as wide as saucers, he looked at me. He had yet to see Loki, who was sitting on the couch. "If the magic is broken, then Loki must be-"

"Sitting right here?" Loki said.

Relief flooded his face and he raced over. "Brother! You're all right!"

Loki almost choked in Thor's strong arms, and I laughed. He glared at me. I sent him an innocent kiss, and he rolled his eyes.

As I walked over, I said, "Alright. Put him down, Thor, or you'll kill him, and I don't need to go through that twice today."

He nodded, and Loki took a deep breath, his hand finding mine. "I'm glad to see you're okay, Brother." Then he realized. "Twice? When did you see him die before?"

"It was a corporeal illusion," Loki said. "Meant so Thanos would believe me dead. Eren wasn't supposed to be there."

"Good. I will go tell our friends that you're here. You must stay the night before you go."

"Does everyone just assume I'm going to leave?"

Thor laughed. "That's been Eren's plan: to get you out of prison and leave."

"And why should I bend to her will?"

I squeezed his hand and mock glared at him. "Because if you don't, I'll go on my own."

He laughed, and I smiled. Thor clapped our backs, sending us tumbling into each other.

I had a family.