{SET BEFORE THE EVENTS OF 'THOR'}
-
"Did you know," she said, sitting on the ground and turning to the prince, "that Midgard has an entire language dedicated to flowers? Each of them mean something else. It's a very sweet way they can express emotio...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
*
When Maeve opened her eyes the following morning, she sighed. Despite sleeping on the stone ground, she'd still slept more soundly than she had since falling asleep on Loki in Asgard. For some reason, she felt no more energized than she did when she drifted off. Yawning, she stretched, pulling her blanket tightly around herself again.
Bjarke offered her no greeting of any kind. His nose was buried in a map, and by the way he was leaning against the cave wall, she wondered if he'd slept at all.
"Can I ask you something?" Maeve ventured. When he didn't respond, she tried anyway. "Who's Thanos?"
Bjarke wearily ran a hand down his face as he set the map on the ground beside him. "They call him a mad titan, and rightfully so. He is on a crazed quest to find the six Infinity Stones."
"Infinity Stones?" Maeve questioned. "My father told me that they were myths."
"Your father told you many things, most of them false. I don't know why, but he has been scouring the universe for these stones, which would make him infinitely powerful. His servants are called his children."
"The two that captured me were talking about Loki. I think... I think that Thanos is using me to mess with him."
Bjarke tilted his head, considering her words. "It's possible," he said slowly. "If Thanos truly is after your husband, then using you makes a great deal sense."
"Why?"
"Because to an outsider, you are all he cares about. You are his weakness. As reserved and controlled as he is, his love for you is quite obvious. One would only assume that his possessiveness has grown since he learned of your condition."
Maeve gave him a wry smile. "You've thought quite a bit about this."
"I think quite a lot about everything. It's why I barely sleep."
She noticed how tired he looked. It was the same ever-present exhaustion that she often saw in Asmund. "You should sleep," she urged.
"No," he said automatically. "Someone needs to keep watch. We both have powerful enemies, Highness, and I don't trust them to keep their distance."
Maeve bit her lip. "I still think you should rest."
"I'll sleep when we're in Utgard." The tone of his voice told her not to press the issue further. "There's bread if you're hungry. I don't travel with much, so I do apologize, but we need to ration what we have until we return to Utgard or until we pass a market for supplies."
