The Verdant Prince

Chapter 34: To Hel With Pity

They had said I looked like death itself walking across the Bifrost. They had said that my face was pale and bloody- my fresh tears clearing a path down my cheeks through the dirt and grime. My cloak had been torn to bits, only half of it remaining in a tattered mess. Even my white tunic and armor which was said to never stain was stained with a deep blue, whether it was Ymir's blood or magic, I was unsure. They said that the two dead bodies in my hands dragged like logs behind me until others had rushed forward and taken them from me. My friends, they had said.

It had been nearly three days after the attack on Jotunheim's Capital, Utgard and a total of seven months away from Asgard. Only three in Jotunheim. Queen Frigga had explained what had happened in the final moments of the Jotunheim Battle. From the little information we had given her, she had concluded that history was repeating itself.

Ymir had exploded- his blood the new seas of Jotunheim, his spine the new mountain ranges, his tears the rain that fell from the clouds and his last breath freezing Jotunheim over. It was unlikely that Utgard had kept its nice complex. A vision from Heimdall told us that Utgard was a lost cause- nearly all of it was frozen over in a thick, unbreakable frost. Or at least that was what I was told. I hadn't been in the right state of mind, I was distant and cold- they said.

Today was the mass funeral for the fallen of our Jotunheim expedition. There was a total of four boats. The first was for the fallen foot soldiers- none of which I bothered to learn the names of. I thought that learning their names would make their deaths more painful to me. I thought that when I slept at nights their names and the others who have died around me would haunt me. I was wrong however, it was not their names that haunted me at night. It was their faces.

"Your dress, dear," Gaela said softly. I turned to her. Since I had been gone, she seemed to have withered with worry and weariness. Gaela did not have the same hopeful spark in her eyes. I supposed there was nothing to be hopeful for, the mission was finished and all that was left were the funerals.

Gaela helped me get into the dress, slipping it on from my feet up. The dress was a dark green, black in some light sources even. It was upon my request, of course, a gentle reminder to Loki and I. The dress reached to my toes and I realized that I had not worn such a dress since the galas and formal feasts during my training. That was nearly seven years ago, now.

"You look beautiful, love," Gaela whispered. I gave her a quick, hollow smile and a matching thank you. Gaela frowned slightly, her once bright blue eyes shimmering as tears formed. "I am so sorry for your losses. They were all good men."

"Yes, they were," I mumbled. Silence greeted us once more. It seemed like Silence and I had been getting along lately. Gaela sighed softly before grabbing and placing the golden set of necklaces around my neck. My makeup was done and my hair had already been plaited into a simple braid with tiny pieces of gold to match my necklace within the braids. It was my little way of defying Asgard once more- displaying my hair as something simple and plain like the lower class and unwealthy people of Asgard. My family had once belonged to that lower class of people. It was my last way of saying goodbye and honoring my family for I was the last of them. I was being given a new start, a fresh slate, a new meaning to my family's name.

"Thank you, Gaela," I said, my voice sounding strained and forced. I did not mean for it to and judging by the look on her face she understood and nodded her head slowly.

"Good luck, Lady Y/N. It has been an honor to serve you," she said, straightening out her shoulders and appearing taller. She was more than just a servant to me, though. She, like Loki, filled a certain emptiness in my heart that no other could quite fill.

I rest my calloused hand on her wrinkled cheek before giving her a respectful, curt nod. I turned on my heel, exiting the room I had called my own during training. I didn't need Gaela to see the pain and sorrow in my eyes any longer than she had to.