Athelia had sat in the stone tub until the water ran cold. Her mind wandered to Loki's last words, and she couldn't help but cringe as she watched the tear from Frigga's beautiful eyes fall. The broken Queen, hidden away in the shadows as she watched yet another son be cast away at the hands of Odin.
Though it wasn't the Queen's sadness that left her in her current state. It was the fact Loki had been able to resist her when even her father, whose blood ran through her veins, could not. Odin himself had tempted her powers. And when he realized that he was no match for her, he claimed a stone for himself, only offering Dolcia's freedom to return to Dorian in return.
Of course, she was reluctant at first.
She had never given a stone to someone as undeserving as Odin, but watching Dolcia waste away within the palace walls was too much for her. One of them deserved to be happy, and it was her dear friend that made sure Athelia had escaped Dorian alive. So she traded the stone to release her friend and make sure that she still had an ally in her homeland. An ally she knew she would need if Thor decided to refuse her.
A soft knock rapt against the door to Athelia's room, and she shivered. The cold water had finally sent chills up her spine, yet she submerged herself once more and let the water wash away the last bit of rage that lingered on her skin.
"You may enter," she called as she stepped from the tub. She pulled the silk robe around her body, only to turn and see Thor standing with his back to her.
"My apologies," he muttered. "I assumed you were decent."
She laughed, having no shame in others seeing her body. "There is no need for such shyness," she told Thor, wrapping the robe tightly around her body. "After all, if your father has his way, this will be the body that bares your children."
Thor only grimaced, not turning until she assured him she was covered. Though even then, he wouldn't look her in the eye. Instead, Thor studied her room - desperate to try and get a sense of who this woman really was. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting. Skulls on her dresser? Black sheets hanging from towering bedposts? A body or two in her wardrobe? But he was met with nothing more than a slept-in bed and her stripped nightgown on the floor.
Athelia observed him as he walked around slowly, taking in every bit of the emptiness. He made his way across the room to the collection of paintings and art stuffed into the corner of the room and picked one up with a somber smile. "You do not like art?"
She narrowed her eyes at the golden towers in the painting and took it from his hands.
"Your home is beautiful, Thor, truly. The flowers, the buildings, and the clothes - it is exquisite." She handed him back the painting and smiled as she picked up an ornate-looking animal from the shelf of trinkets. She had no idea what it was or why it had been carved from a mound of gold, but it was useless to her. "I tend to find beauty in simplicity, and if I am quite honest, material objects such as these make me rather uncomfortable."
She set the small sculpture back on the cupboard, and she watched as he ran his thick fingers over the dusty top. Everything that had once shined with decadence had been collected in one spot, and he continued to pick through them, one by one until he turned his back with a sigh - finally realizing the room that had once been fit for a queen was now nothing more than a dimly lit shell.
"You do not like these things?"
She gave him a half-hearted smile and picked up a goblet made of gold and sparkling stones. "I appreciate what your family has done to try and make me feel welcome, but these things are just things," she told him.
"They're heirlooms," he corrected her.
"Maybe so," she said, handing him the cup. "But to me, it's just a reminder of what has happened and the fact that I can not return to my home."
Thor ran his finger over the goblet and nodded, finally understanding. "I will get your maiden to remove these for you then?" He told Athelia as she retreated towards her balcony, stopping by the stone pillar the curtains had been tied to.
"I don't have a maiden," she said to him. "On Dorian, we were self-sufficient."
"And on Asgard, we are not?"
She shook her head. "I meant no disrespect. But, even as royalty on Dorian, we had to be able to survive on our own. I guess it was a form of discipline in a way. You made up your bed, drew your own baths, and you dressed and fed yourselves. If you required help applying your armor, then you simply were not fit to wear it. It's just the way we are - or the way I was."
"What of the women you brought with you, then? Father said that you did not come alone. Are they not your maiden or caretakers?"
"I guess you could say Dolcia was my caretaker when I was a child. My mother died at birth, and my father feared that I would be Dorian's last heir if I continued to grow surrounded only by men. So, where my father and uncle taught me the ways of the blade, Dolcia taught me my manners and how to handle myself when looked down upon by those who thought they were better or stronger than me because I was a woman."
"And what of the young girl?" He questioned. "Your daughter?"
Athelia chuckled. "Do I look old enough to have a child, Thor?"
He fidgeted a moment, and she found it funny to see a man of his stature shift uncomfortably in her presence. "Is this one of those trick questions women use to get men in trouble?"
She shook her head, not understanding. "No?"
"Then yes, you look plenty fertile."
Athelia's eyes widened at his response, and he smiled widely as if he was proud of his answer. She couldn't help but laugh as she made her way back into her room and disappeared behind her blind, no longer enjoying the feeling of the soft silk against her skin. Thor turned away sheepishly as the glow from the window behind her cast her silhouette against the white screen as she changed, but he nodded continuously as she explained Freya's presence on Asgard.
"Freya is nothing more than a neophyte who was in my presence when the stronghold was attacked. I have been training her as part of the King's First Liege since she was barely able to talk, and she refused to leave my side when the time came to." Athelia emerged from behind the blind in the simple forest green gown. "She was one of the most promising neophytes of her generation, and instead of staying and protecting her kingdom, she fled with me."
"Neophyte? Is that a warrior of sorts?" Athelia nodded, refusing to go into detail in regards to the enhanced abilities and magic they wielded. "She must have thought protecting her queen was more important."
"I am capable of protecting myself."
Thor's lips turned upward only slightly, and he sighed as he narrowed his eyes at her."Why do I have a feeling you don't particularly like being looked after?"
"I have a better question," she stepping closer to him. She ran her finger along the collar of his chest plate, and when she finally looked up, her eyes hazed over. "Why is it that you have not spoken to me in days, and now all of a sudden, you are standing here, asking questions that you do not truly care to know the answers about?"
Thor's eyes fluttered for a moment, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not keep his lips from moving. "My father is sending us to Nornheim this evening. He believes one final push would send the troops back and that it would be very beneficial if you would accompany us."
Athelia smiled as Thor stumbled backward, unaware that he just been vexed by the Goddess.
"So," she spoke softly as she watched him rub his temple. "You will not speak to me in regards to the throne or our union, but you will speak to me of war? Is that right?"
She gave him a moment to collect himself, and once he realized what had happened, he took a few steps back, not sure how close she had to be for her magic to work.
"You're free to speak as you wish," she promised him.
"First of all, you will never do that to me again. Do you understand?"
"Is that a threat?"
"If it needs to be," he told her, only causing her to lean back in her chair and smile. "Look, I apologize, Athelia, I do. I can't imagine what you have been through, and truly I mean you no disrespect. You are a beautiful woman, a strong warrior, and I have no doubt that you will be a fierce and just queen, but I need time to adjust to this. I have barely just returned."
"And the best way to get to know somebody is to go to war aside them?"
He nodded, but Athelia had already made up her mind. She couldn't go to battle so soon after Vanaheim. She couldn't go to battle next to a man she didn't trust. She had been so close to losing control of her powers amid the Mauraders, and she knew that if she had forced her way back into the constant rage of war, the people would see her for who she really was before they even gave her a chance.
So she declined and promised herself that she would never wield her blade again unless Dorian was in danger.
EDITED. 6/29/21 ✓