A Bang and a Whimper

25

Jenna listens to her mother's music often. Not long after they arrived in Asgard, Thor took her entire music collection and put it on little cubes that floated in bowls that somehow amplified what was recorded on them. She has no idea how they work, but she is grateful for her father's foresight. While Thor has a version of Jane's iPod that he carries with him, the discs and vinyl that most of the music had been stored on would not have stood up to the number of times Jenna has replayed the songs. The music is of all sorts- there are jazz pieces, different decades of pop music, rock, classical, movie soundtracks, ethereal world music, and traditional styles from around Midgard. She has at last a hundred cubes to chose from, carefully arranged in a drawer in her father's desk.

She selects one and places it in the bowl. Loreena McKennitt. A Canadian artist with a style that blended sounds from around the globe. Jane called it her "thoughtful music"- something she would put on when she was feeling particularly philosophical about her work or about the way her life had moved from Midgard to Asgard. To Jenna, the songs are lullabies. They are calming, centring, and that is what she needs at the moment. She has been thinking too much about the threats against Loki. She knows that Sif and Fandral have been harshly culling the guards to only those who are able to perform their duties without question or prejudice. Leaving the safety of the palace, though, even for the gardens, suddenly seems scary when it never has before. She listens to the music to calm herself, ground herself, and build her courage.

Loki is trying to stay unafraid, but he knows that he is failing at this miserably. He has refused to spar with Sif a few times when this fear is too strong, preferring to hermit in his rooms. That place, is at least safe, and he has enough books to occupy him. Unlike Jenna, he has nothing to centre him other than books. He has reread "Reaper Man" three times in the week since the revelation to the advisors. "Living on borrowed time" seems apt. When he tells this to Jenna at supper one night, she reminds him that he is missing the point of that phrase in the book- even when Death himself is borrowing time, he knows he must use it wisely. There is no time that can be wasted, especially that which is not one's own. Loki does not know how to take this.

It is Thor who has been making sure he still comes to supper every evening. He has only convinced him to walk in the gardens after with Jenna a few times, and Loki is wary and jumpy during these excursions. It is tiring being on edge, and he goes to bed as soon as they return. On nights with no walks, he retires immediately after supper. Thor is worried when he refuses to read with Jenna, citing his exhaustion.

At the end of this first week, Sif visits him as he is getting ready for bed- he is mildly irritated when he allows her to enter, but she is insistent that he take the time to talk, so he does knowing it will be far easier to talk to her and try to get the conversation finished quickly than it will be to argue with her in the hallway about why she cannot come in.

"You are hiding for no good reason, Loki."

"Oh? A threat on my life is not a good reason?"

"Fandral and I have been ruthless in our quest to rid the guard of those who we think cannot guard the family without prejudice. We have Thor's advisors under watch and we know their comings and goings. You have nothing to fear."

"And what if you are wrong?"

"You are a royal. You once knew that you were constantly under threat and still lived your life- and, I might add, you were far more reckless."

"These are different times, Sif. The hatred for Jotunheim is far stronger than any dissent against the ruling family."

"I think you underestimate just how horrible looking up at this gleaming edifice makes some of our city's poorest residents feel. There are those easily recruited to do terrible things thanks to their desperation and they have attempted acts we never told you or your brother. And they have always been angry. We have not been seriously threatened in centuries, other than Malekith. I repeat. You do not need to be afraid."