Loki's Apprentice: A Tale Retold

Chapter 37: Snake

As Evelyn rushed through the palace grounds her mind was spinning. 

In the whole year that she had lived with Loki, no one had come close to the palace perimeter, she was almost convinced that the path was enchanted. But she knew that that wasn't true because her father had happened upon it quite by accident so she was lead to believe that the palace could only be found by those truly sought it.

Evelyn could imagine Loki placing such a spell upon its path to avoid unwanted guest, although it was evident he loved the company of people to exercise his wit and tricks, there was also a certain fear that he tried to hide.

She had seen it many times when they read outside, he would examine the terrain about him, as if afraid he was never truly alone and there were eyes watching him. Evelyn could only guess that he was securing his Jotun form from any prying eyes, or making sure that the Asgardian people never saw his weakness, since he was unable to revert to his preferred form.

Evelyn never prompted the question of his solitude, but always quietly observed, taking these suppositions that she had gathered as truth. Whether  she was right or not, however, she was certain that there was a flaw in the palace's spell. 

Only being found by those truly seek it, does not only imply the people that know of its existence, but also those who are desperately lost and hoping for a chance of shelter, such as: her father.

As she finally pushed through to the clearing, she wondered if the figure she found lying in the snow just outside the boarder had knowledge of this palace or was like her father. 

It was still hard for Evelyn to see clearly in the night, but the moonlight illuminated the women enough for her to see her slow careful movements as she searched the ground, as if she had dropped something incredibly small and was felling the soil of any signs of it through bumps or ridges.

Her thin knobbed hands stopped immediately when it felt a strangely shaped object, which she placed in the basket that was looped upon her arm. Her movements reminded Evelyn of when her sisters would pick the strawberries on the farm, they were always careful not to miss a single one.

"Are you alright?" She panted, her feet kicking up soil as she ran closer to the women.

Evelyn yelped in surprise when a sharp pain erupted on the sole of her foot and was surprise to see that she had somehow stepped upon a wooden carving of a coiled snake, poised to strike. It was only then that she realized that this, among many other wooden figurines sprawl about the forest ground, was what the women was searching for, which must have toppled out of her basket.

"Would you help me find my carvings?" She asked with a laugh, as if she was usually clumsy. She didn't seemed perturbed by the accident nor that her cloak had fallen revealing her white hair and her thin face.

Evelyn's breath was caught, unable to answer the woman, much to her surprise. Although the sight of a stranger had given such excitement moments before, now she found herself frightened, although the smile that the woman gave her no reason to fear her.

It was then that she noticed that the woman was not looking at her, but somewhere to the side of her. Evelyn looked behind her, but saw nothing. Tilting her head in thought, she moved to the side to confirm what she already supposed. When the woman's gaze did not move, it was clear that she was blind.

"I'm sorry." She said as she walked up to the edge of the perimeter, "But I cannot pass this boarder."

Her toes touched the very edge of where she knew the palace limited kissed the forest. Although she ached to help the women, she could not break the promise to Loki— but not only that, she could not do anything that would alert Loki or Roth of her presence, for she knew the policy for unwanted guests.