The Brightest Star

Chapter 18 - Home Sweet Home

(Kára's POV):
I arrived at my house, already noticing a large shift. The gardens that we had attempted to start so that we could grow our own food was now flourishing and there were small repairs done to the hut to make it look less as though it were to collapse at any moment. I smiled, realizing that Frigga must have been very generous with my salary. I pulled out the jewelry and looked at it in guilt, knowing that I could not steal this from the palace. Instead, I took a moment to choose a piece for each of my sisters and promised that I would bring something for my brother's next time I visited.

It was nearly midnight when I knocked on the front door and I knew that they were all asleep, but this was the only time I had to see them. Aasveig was the first to the door, but looked as though she was fighting off sleep as she opened it. The minute she saw me, her eyes widened and all thoughts of sleep seemed to disappear.

"Everyone get up, Kára's here!" She called out over her shoulder and then flung her arms around my neck. "Kára, what are you doing here? We were not expecting you to come visit!"

"I apologize for not coming sooner, I may have had to sneak out so that I could come here. But I am sure that no one will find out and, besides, I have not seen you in forever!" I replied, holding her close to me and relishing in the feeling of being home again.

"You snuck out of the palace?! You are even crazier than I remember! Please, come inside, I am sure that everyone will be thrilled to see you," Aasveig smiled as she ushered me inside, where all of my siblings were waiting for me, all seeming to have forgotten that they had just been sleeping a few minutes prior.

I ran and gave each one of them hugs, telling them how much I missed them. Saga and Erna broke into tears, which caused me to do the same, but we were soon able to calm down enough to all be seated around the table. Even inside you could tell that they had run into a bit more money as some of the furniture was replaced and the counters were full of food.

"I have brought you all a gift, well the girls at least," I spoke after we were all seated, pulling the selected jewelry out of my pockets and distributing them, causing my sisters to squeal in delight. "And I promise I shall come with gifts for the boys next time I visit, I think I know precisely which books you will enjoy."

"So are you going to tell us what it is like?" Erna pressed after the excitement of the jewelry had died down.

"What what is like?" I asked in confusion, wondering what exactly she wanted to know.

"You know what, working at the palace! Do you have your own room there? How large? Do you have gowns? What exactly are you doing there?"

"Erna, let her breathe," Tormod interrupted, much to my relief.

"Well, I do have my own room and it is quite spacious, I do not quite understand why I am being treated so well. I have been asked to be a tutor to Prince Loki who, as I am sure you know, has gone through a bit of rough spell. The Queen was hoping that by having someone to talk to, I could help him back on the right track, although to be honest I do not know how well I am accomplishing that goal."

"How about Thor, have you met him? And the All-Father? Do you dine with them?" Erna pressed for more information.

I shook my head, "no, I only stay in the west wing, where Loki resides. My days consist of our lesson and typically visits to the library, which I must tell you is quite impressive. I eat my meals in my room and do not interact with many besides my chambermaid, the guards, and Loki."

"You have your own chambermaid, what is that like?" Saga asked in curiosity, while Erna looked unimpressed by my lack of interaction with royalty.

"Oh, it is quite ridiculous, I do not understand why anyone would think them necessary. However, I will admit that the girl I have is quite sweet and it is nice to have someone to talk to who is not a guard or royalty. But enough about me, how are you doing, have you enough money?"

"The Queen has been quite generous with you, you need not worry," Aasveig replied with a smile on her face. "We have not had to steal anything since you left, which is certainly a good thing as none of us are as skilled at thievery. And we have improved our gardens to grow our own food just in case something happens and we run short on money again."

"Speaking of that, I wanted you to have this as well," I spoke, pulling out the coins that Loki had given me. "I do not know how long I shall remain in my position, fairy tales never seem to last long. Put the money aside for emergencies, just in case something happens and I fail to continue providing for you."

"Do you have reason to suspect that something will happen?" Tormod questioned, seeming a bit concerned by what I had said.

"No, not really, but I want to be prepared for any scenario," I responded, although I could tell that my words had not fooled them. "I will admit that my position is dependent on Loki's opinion on me, which fluctuates easily and without any warning. At first his distaste of me was very apparent and was to be expected, but I thought that overtime he had come to respect me, if not to like me. Then one day he lashed out at me and reminded me that my future rested in his hands and seemed to insinuate that I was to be terminated. But he has shifted once again to seeming to like me, it was actually he who gave me the money to give you. I suppose that could mean that he knows I will not last long, but I prefer to see it as a gesture of kindness. I mean it did happen right after he-" I broke off as I realized what I was saying, cursing myself for letting so many details slip.

"Right after he what?" Saga questioned, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

I shook my head, "it is nothing, he merely took me on a tour of the gardens, but I am sure you do not care much about that. The point is that his opinion of me seems to change on the daily and I can never be quite sure that he approves of me."

"And what do you think about him?" Erna jumped in, sharing a knowing look with Saga. "And do not say that you do not think anything of him because I saw how you blushed just now."

My blush must have deepened as she spoke as I felt as though my face was burning up, "he is the Prince, Saga, how dare you insinuate that I have- that I have feelings towards him! You know that it would not be proper and, even if it was as you think, I would never act on those feelings so it would not matter. Besides, I cannot develop strong feelings towards a person whose mood is constantly changing, one minute he is yelling at me and the next he is kissing-" my hand flew to my mouth as I realized what I was saying.

"You have kissed?!" Saga burst out, making me groan internally. Why did I have to keep talking? Why could I not have just left it at the fact that I could not love him and it would have been fine, but here I was telling my family everything that had transpired.

"I-it was nothing, I swear, it was only on the cheek," I lied, praying that they believed me. "He kissed me before I left to come here and it was probably nothing, despite it making my heart burst. However, I should not have told you so much as it is improper to even imply a romantic relationship between a peasant and royalty."

Neither Saga nor Erna seemed to fully accept my answer, but Aasveig saved me by purposefully changing the subject. I successfully managed to avoid the subject of Loki for the rest of the night and then left right before dawn was about to break, arriving outside the grounds while it was still barely dark out. I then went to bed and mentally thanked Loki for moving our lesson to a later hour so that I could at least get a decent amount of sleep.

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(A/N): I'm terribly sorry for making you wait for this chapter, I've just have been pretty busy and haven't had as much time to write. But I hope that you enjoyed this chapter!