Sadly, we hadn't been able to stay as long as I wanted. As the night wore on, the temperature dropped and my outfit, while cute was not built for warmth and eventually I began to shiver.
"I think it's time I got you home," Thor said as it began, rising to his feet and bringing me with him. "If I get you sick Sif will kick my ass."
"I'd p-pay to see t-that," I chattered as Thor grabbed my hand and we teleported back to the manor. My feet touched ground but the moment they did, my heart dropped into my stomach. The warmth and happiness I'd felt at the beach evaporated as I heard screaming voices and snow falling against my skin, so cold that it burned.
No, I thought turning my head towards the manor and my vain hope was crushed. The manor, once a charming Tudor-style home was a wreckage of wood, drywall and seven feet tall ice spikes. Across the gardens, I saw a massive blue body crushing the ground, red blood frozen on it's skin. A full-sized Jotun, down and not moving but that did nothing to reassure me. It had done plenty of damage before he'd been brought down.
What if it killed someone? I thought, dread like poison creeping through my veins.
Thor let go my hand, wind whistling around him and lightening splitting the sky. I made to follow him but another look at the skyscraper-sized monster in the gardens gave me a pause. I'd been up against these creatures before and the fact was, I didn't want to get anywhere near it until I knew it was dead for certain.
"Lady Suzume," I turned my head and saw Foreseti jogging towards me. In the dim light, his hair looked like flames.
"What happened?" He'd never called me 'lady' before and his formality scared me even more than the dead frost giant.
"A Jotun got in," he said grimly, running a hand down his scruffy face. "Sif was the only one here when it happened, she managed to teleport away and get help."
Hearing Sif's name my heart turned from flesh to stone. "Sif?"
"Some other Valkiyre's managed to take it down. She's hurt but alive."
"Can you take me to her?"
"The priority right now is to keep you and the other contestants safe. I can't take you to her now."
"The Jotun is dead-."
"And it might not have been alone. We have to make sure everything is secure. All of Asgard is on lock down right now." Foreseti sighed. "If it was up to me," he said in a whisper, "I'd take you to Sif. But I'm under orders and I can't defy them."
"You can no problem defying me during the combat trial." I shot back, crossing my arms angrily.
He shook his head. "That was another order from Thor. He wanted to see how each of you handled insubordination and disrespect. Everyone had someone in their trial who acted like that."
That halted my anger, if only for a moment. Once again, I had been wrong about Foreseti. "I didn't know that. But that doesn't matter, either you take me to Sif or I'll find her myself."
"If you were an Asgardian I wouldn't doubt that for an instant. But you're still a Midgardian- you won't be able to get farther than a foot before we catch you. Maybe two because you're scrappy."
I hated him for being right. "Fine," I seethed, "but I swear if I become your queen you're going to pay for this."
"I look forward to the day." I couldn't tell if he was serious or not as he grabbed my arm and the ruins of the manor and giant vanished from view. When my feet touched down again, it was against marble. The square tiles were midnight blue and flecked with bits of white and silver. I looked up and saw an cathedral-style ceiling where a giant crystal chandelier hung down from the rafters.
"Welcome to the Royal Palace." Foreseti said with a shake of his head as he looked around at all the matching columns. "Come on, the other contestants are in the parlor."
"Why didn't we just teleport there?"
"We have to be allowed in by someone on the inside. Security measure that's usually applied to the palace but they let down for the foyer to make it easier to get you all to safety."
I nodded, not caring what they'd done. What mattered to me was that Sif had come of worse in a battle with a Jotun and I had no way to get to her. No news is good news, I tried to tell myself but I knew that was often a hope as much as a truth. In times of chaos, sometimes bad news simply couldn't get through because the situation had to be handled. That's what had happened when my father was murdered.
We walked through the broad hallways, the marble floor of the foyer turning to plush white carpet, the spaces lit with gold sconces mounted to the wall. I noticed some paintings decorating the place depicting great battles and mythical (or perhaps not so mythical) creatures. On an ordinary day I would've stopped to look at them more closely but my mind was still stuck on Sif. Dozens of images rolled through my head, none of them good. Her bronze skin withered and black with frostbite. Her body, broken and bloodied as she was crushed under the weight of that monster. Barbs of ice skewered through her gut, blood bubbling from her mouth as she died...
No! I shook my head as though that could clear the gruesome images away. I was not going to go down this path. Thinking like that would just lead me to do something stupid and wouldn't do any good for anyone. I had to stay calm and stay put, as difficult as it was. I would stay calm and stay where I was until someone came with news about Sif. It was the best thing I could do for everyone here. My only contribution.
"Through here," Foreseti muttered and I realized he might have been just as distracted as I was. I wasn't Sif's only friend. We turned a corner and I saw a brilliant sent of double doors, the cherry wood was inlaid with gold and two guards posted outside. On the forearm of the black woman nearest me, I saw the same tattoo Sif had on her arm.
"Lady Suzume," she greeted me and I nodded, too consumed with my concern with Sif to care how she knew my name. She touched a hand to the door and the gold inlays glowed faintly. "Foreseti, will you be staying as well?"
"No," he replied, "I need to find Lady Sif." He looked at me as I glared daggers his way. "As soon as it's clear, I'll come and get you. You have my word."
I nodded. "Go." He nodded in the other guards directions once and I stepped inside the parlor as the doors clicked shut behind me.
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Welp, it looks like things just took a very serious turn. To think they were having a good time swimming with sea monsters just one chapter ago! Ah well, fun while it lasted right? Also, want to thank you guys for all the comments I got on the last chapter; I got a kick out of reading them! Really made my day, so thank you!
Write on! :)