The Tower: The Queen of Asgard

Preparations

Loki burst into my room early the next morning to wake me up. I had been curled up tightly into Clarke's side overnight, apparently, I'd started conditioning to move in close to warm bodies in my bed. I jumped at the sound of Loki shouting at me and sat up quickly while Clarke just blinked around the room bemused.

"You need to get up!" She barked. "You!" She pointed at Clarke. "There is breakfast out at the dining room."

"I don't get to eat?" I asked.

"You are being cleansed. You shall eat after the bonding. At the feast. When you have been bathed you will be given a soup made of herbs." Loki explained, impatiently. "Now hurry up. I have too many things to do to be babysitting you. Get up and go to your bathroom. Now!"

I scrambled out of bed as Loki swept back out of the room. Clarke got out of bed slowly and stretched. "You think they'll give your scalp a good scrub? Get rid of those impure thoughts?"

"If they get rid of those, there won't be any of me left," I joked and we both started laughing.

"Okay, you go get cleansed. I'm gonna eat. I'll meet you back here to dress," Clarke said.

I should have guessed by the fact that Loki kept saying cleansed that it wasn't a simple bath. I was painted in thick, warm mud from head to toe and then wrapped in leaves and left for around half an hour. After that, I was hosed off and given an enema. They did hair removal everywhere except my eyebrows (which they shaped) and scalp. Something I normally didn't really do. I was then taken into the large tub with four attendants and they started to scrub me down.

The water was hot and pungent. I couldn't quite place the scent of the soaps they were using, but they were floral and slightly woody. They used large scrubbing brushes on my body and scrubbed my skin to the point that any part of my skin that wasn't covered in the henhalda artwork, turned bright pink. They washed my hair. First with a soap. Then with hot oil that they left in for a while, before scrubbing it with soap again and finally a cream-like substance I assumed was the Asgardian equivalent of conditioner.

When they seemed happy with how clean I was, I was led out of the bath and dried off and oil was rubbed into my skin. By the time they were done, my skin glowed and my hair was as soft and shiny as it had ever been. The cleaning had done something to the Henhalda too. It was brighter and slightly reflective, and there were parts that now shimmered like they were alive.

I was given a thin robe and allowed to return to my room. Clarke was already in there, along with Katveil and another 4 women. Two were older, while two were around Katveil's age.

Clarke was sitting on a large, comfortable-looking chair that had not been there before and three of the women were working on her. One doing her hair, one her nails and one giving her a pedicure. "Wow, they sure did clean you, huh?" Clarke said.

"Oh, yeah. Inside and out." I said, making Clarke pull a face. "Morning, Kat," I added smiling at her.

"Good morning, Elly," Katveil said. "I've come to do any touch-ups on the art."

I nodded and the two of us moved behind a screen that had been set up for dressing. "Are you excited?" She asked as I dropped my robe and she began to look me over closely, touching up any spot she wasn't happy with.

"Oh yeah. A little freaking out. It's a big deal." I answered. "You know, the big ceremony. Living longer. New powers. Being cleansed."

"I'd be nervous too," Katveil said.

"You'll be pleased to know that Hulk did great with the Henhalda," Clarke said. "I saw Jax at breakfast. Well everyone really. Loki is going to have the kids with her all day. They'll get ready with her and Thor. They have no idea what's going on but they're super excited about all the things that are happening."