"So how are things going up at Jotunnhold?" Cedric asked.
"Slow, but that is not necessarily a bad thing," Loki replied.
He had his arm casually draped around my shoulder, and I snuggled a bit closer. It was the first time we had visited the Horned God after we got married. It had taken us a while to make our way to our usual table, everyone seemed to want to congratulate us. Whatever happened with the Templars, it appeared our friends and acquaintances understood and had no hard feelings.
"We've uncovered a few more empty rooms with no discernable purpose, and what seemed to have been a kitchen."
Loki took a sip of the expensive single malt whiskey Cedric had insisted on buying for him.
"There was also a barrack room, with more Jotunn remains, still in their bunk. Until we uncover more, the mystery of what happened there remains."
"That can't be easy," Calinda said sympathetically. "What is going to happen to them? Please tell me they won't be put up for display in a museum or something like that?"
"Absolutely not. For now, Doc Lee is running some tests on the remains to see if we can find a cause of death, after that, I will take them back to Jotunnheim. They might have died far away from home, but I believe they deserve to be laid to rest with the rest of our people."
"Here you are, will you just look at the two of you, you are practically glowing with happiness!" Anita, Richard's wife, appeared next to our table.
"Congratulations, I can't believe you two eloped like that!" I got a big hug and two kisses, and despite his best efforts, Loki couldn't escape the same fate.
I looked at him and smiled. I still couldn't believe we were married either! Loki was looking fantastic as always, wearing black slacks and a white silk blend shirt with a casual elegance that belied the fact that he had spent over an hour trying on a dozen similar trousers and shirts before he ended up wearing these ones. His black hair curled over the collar of his shirt, falling just below his shoulders. Every now and again he threatened to get it cut shorter again, but so far I had managed to persuade him to keep it long. I liked it this way!
I was dressed in a purple woollen dress that left my arms and shoulders bare with a black lace cardigan over it that reached just below my calves. My hair was falling down my back in soft curls. When I had looked in the mirror before we left even I had to agree I almost looked pretty enough to belong on Loki's arm.
Laufey's necklace, as I still thought of it, decorated my neck. Matching silver earrings were dangling from each ear, a wedding gift from Loki. Blue gems of various hues were delicately cut into petals, forming a blue rose.
"They are beautiful," I had said softly as I admired them, trying not to think about the fact that they had probably cost as much as my house.
"You like them?" Loki's eyes lit up with joy, he knew I was terribly fussy when it came to jewellery. "I had them made for you especially."
I put them on in front of the mirror, admiring them in the sunlight that came streaming through the window.
Loki stood behind me, his arms wrapped around me.
"They are beautiful, just like you," he smiled. Never one to be able to resist giving a lecture he continued:
"Did you know blue roses don't occur naturally? They have to be artificially created.
No matter how diligently you seek, you will never find one growing in the wild.
They symbolise mystery, desire, love, and hope. They stand for rare and unearthly beauty, and for striving to obtain the unobtainable."
I smiled at him, I could listen to him speak for hours in that deep melodious voice of his.
"You, my darling, are my blue rose, the one thing I thought I'd never have, the one thing I was sure I would never find no matter how hard I looked.
Thus I stopped looking a long time ago, and yet, suddenly there you were. The impossible. The unobtainable. The mysterious beauty that took my breath away. Right before my very eyes. And I just knew I had to make you mine."
I turned around to face him, unsuccessfully trying to hide a smile.
"Mister Laufeyson, please tell me people usually don't fall for that sort of outrageous flattery!"
"On the contrary, Mrs Laufeyson," Loki smiled roguishly as he leaned in to kiss me, "so far it has been getting me exactly what I want!"
"Are you planning a second wedding for friends and family after eloping?" Anita asked curiously as she sat down at the table, "or at least a big party? Any excuse to go clothes shopping really!" she grinned hopefully.
"While I'd probably be the last person in the realms to pass up any excuse for a party, for now, we've decided against it," Loki smiled. He got on far better with Anita than with her husband.
"We can't think of any place more important to us, or any ceremony more meaningful than the one we had," I explained. "It may have been small, but it was deeply personal and meaningful to us. It couldn't have been more perfect."
"Ask again next year around the time for our first anniversary, and we'll throw a party to remember!" Loki promised.
Richard appeared beside his wife with drinks, and soon the talk around the table turned to work-related topics as it so often did when a bunch of us got together.
I looked around to see where Thor was. I still felt a bit guilty that I had been so preoccupied with Loki and our own problems that I hadn't realised the big-hearted god had been struggling so much with his own life.
Thor was sitting at the bar with Matt and a few other of his friends. When he saw I was looking for me he raised his glass and gave me one of his big beaming smiles. I smiled back and waved.
I didn't have any new stories to tell myself. Loki's time was fully occupied by the Jotunnhold, without Anna's help Thor and I hadn't made any headway in finding more of the Places of Power on Odin's list, and the Templars hadn't sent me on any missions yet either.
So instead I smiled and listened to the others, taking delight in the company of those who had become some of our dearest friends.
"Hi, sorry I'm late, I got caught up elsewhere," Jen let herself fall into the booth opposite of us next to Cedric and kissed him. My eyes widened, and I looked at Loki. "Did you know..."
"About those two?" Loki smiled guiltily. "Did I forget to mention? They've been on and off for a while now."
I glared at him. Keeping the hot gossip all to himself, how dare he! Loki just grinned and kissed the tip of my nose.
"Congrats on ball and chain, by the way, you two," Jen grinned from across the table. She had her hair cut in an asymmetrical bob, bright pink and electric blue highlights accentuating her black hair. I was always amazed by how effortlessly cool she looked.
"Hey, are you two still interested in those Places of Power?" she asked.
Loki sat up a bit. "We are, yes. Why do you ask?"
"You may want your brother here too, this will interest all of you." Jen hollered across the pub, loud enough to be heard over the music. "Hey, Thunder-boy!"
Thor turned around with a frown but grinned when he saw who it was. We motioned at him, and he came over.
"Thunder-boy?" he asked laughingly.
"Got your attention, didn't it?" Jen cheekily grinned back.
"Sit down, you'll want to hear this too."
We all scooted up a bit to make room for Thor and waited curiously to hear what Jen had to say.
"A few days ago I was hot on the tail of a small coven of witches who had become a bit of a local menace, and when they realised they were no match for me they fled into the nearby forest. I found them about a day later, wandering around in a confused daze. I took them in but was curious to see what happened to them so I went back. There was definitely something weird going on there, I could practically taste the anima.
Every time I got close to the source I got turned around and found myself right back at the edge of the forest. But from the strength of the anima emanating from it, I think it might be one of those Places of Power."
She took a sip from Cedric's whiskey and grimaced.
"I can't see why you would drink that stuff, it's disgusting and neither of you can get drunk on it," she grumbled.
"Anyway, my superiors weren't too interested. My main goal was to either kill or apprehend the witches. Without having known what the place was like before there's no way of knowing how much the anima has weakened anyway."
"An interesting story, but I can't see how that would be any different for us," Loki's brow was furrowed. "We'd have no way of knowing either."
"Well, that is because you didn't let me finish my story," Jen grinned.
"I was smart enough to keep my phone out and take pictures while I was wandering around. This is one I took right before I ended up back at the edge of the forest."
Jen scrolled through her phone and handed it to Loki. I sat up a bit too and looked at the picture. Thor was looking over Loki's shoulder too and inhaled sharply.
"I thought that place was lost to us centuries ago. It wasn't on the list."
"Perhaps Odin wanted to keep us away from it, or perhaps he too presumed it would have been lost to us by now." Loki's brow was furrowed and his eyes sad.
On Jen's phone was a blurry picture of a standing stone, not unlike the ones on the island. I could barely make out the runes but I recognised them anyway.
"Frigga," I said softly.
Loki nodded. "Frigga's Well, a powerful healing spring that could only be found by those who were deserving and in need of aid. It was protected by our mother's magic, a place she dearly cherished."
"It seems the magic is still active after all this time," Thor looked questioningly at Loki. "Would it last that long without mother to maintain it?"
"I don't believe so," Loki shook his head. "Someone must be maintaining it. Have you visited mother's well before?"
"A long time ago," Thor admitted, "when we were little."
"I've been there with mother a few times. If you can not remember its guardians, I will not spoil the surprise." Loki grinned impishly.
"It will be far more fun to let you rediscover it for yourself!"