I stared at the balcony. It was so bright outside, and the wind seemed to be calling my name. My head was pounding from a lack of sleep. Worried that Odin would discover my little trick to see Loki, I hadn't even had the chance to dream. Every moment was spent staring at the doors to my chamber, panicking. What would I do if he barged in and decided I be executed for treason? He was the king. There was no one to stop him, especially if he came so late at night. I could have disappeared without a trace. Was there anyone here who would notice my absence?
"Winter?" My attention focused back to Frigga. I'd met with her once more in her chambers. Odin still didn't know about our visits. Not yet, at least. "Is there something clouding your mind? You know, you can tell me if anything is bothering you."
A sigh escaped my lips. "I know. It's just. . . I feel like I'd make things worse if I started talking about it. I don't feel like getting in trouble today."
"How uncharacteristic of you. Surely you're bothered if you don't want to cause even the slightest bit of mayhem." She placed a hand on top of my own. I hadn't noticed how sweaty my palms were. I hoped she didn't either. "No one's going to tell on you. I promise."
The way she looked in my eyes, I could feel all of my anxiety fading away. Frigga was such an incredible person. Thor and Loki should be eternally grateful for the mother they have. I know I would be.
"I visited the dungeons yesterday by impersonating Odin and granting myself access. Please, please, please don't tell him. He's sure to figure it out for himself at some point. I just don't exactly feel like rushing that process."
"There are easier and less dangerous ways to traverse that prison. Trust me." Glancing away for a moment, I was sure she was trying to hide her emotions. Had she already gone to see her son?
My mind quickly jumped to another question; One I was hoping she'd be able to answer. "Why does your husband hate Loki so much? I listened in on the trial yesterday and. . ." Was there anything else to say?
"I believe he sees Loki as a threat to everything he stands for. He doesn't like people going against his will, and he certainly doesn't care for the violence Loki showed on Midgard. Still, I don't believe he was just in giving our son such a sentence."
"Oh." That was the only word I could get out of my mouth. I was pretty sure my panic levels had risen to an all-time maximum.
"But these aren't the sort of things we need to be discussing. Now, why don't we—"
A knock resounded from the door. I almost flung myself under the table in fear that the All-Father had come to punish me. It seemed plausible that he could have been eavesdropping on our conversation. Maybe Frigga had lied to me and told him telepathically or something. I don't know, these were gods I was dealing with. Though, that didn't seem like something she'd do. Especially since she'd promised me secrecy. So, who was at the door?
"No need to worry. I'd almost forgotten that I'd asked a friend to come over. Winter I'd like you to meet. . ." She pulled on the handle, revealing a woman in a suit of armor akin to a dress. Further inspection led to me recalling her as— "Lady Sif."
"We've met," was all the warrior said. She wasn't lying.
"I hope you don't mind, but I thought that if you were serious about all this training that you might want to learn some combat. It never hurts to have a few tricks up your sleeve." Frigga sent me one of her radiating smiles. Gosh, how I loved this woman.
"Of course!" I exclaimed. "I'm all for self-defense." The number of sticky situations I would be able to get out of with this knowledge, totally worth it.
I thanked the Queen profusely before following Sif's lead. Here's to hoping she didn't decide to kill me in the process. We hadn't really gotten off on the right foot.
⚬ ⚬ ⚬
"Have you ever been taught hand-to-hand combat before?" Sif asked, pointing to where I should stand.
"Nope." I popped the 'p.'
If the Asgardians took their palace seriously, the training room was something else. Honestly, I hadn't been paying attention that much, so I didn't know precisely where we were in the castle, only that this room had to take up about a quarter of the place. It was huge, and no matter where you stood, you could hear the clanking of metal. They had walls of weapons, and swords had just been left on the floor. One certainly didn't want to trip for the fear they might cut themselves.
There was no lack of shimmering gold, however. The place gleamed, and there were no sandpits or mats to break your fall, just pure metal. I had no idea how I was going to survive the day. Sif had probably been practicing for centuries — Yes, I know it's rude to assume a woman's age — and I had absolutely none. Plus, I didn't exactly have the build to a warrior. I was lanky, though not even close to matching the adult's height. Chances were, she could take me down with just one single blow.
She placed herself in front of me. "Punch me."
"Anywhere in particular or—"
"Punch me."
It was sort of hard to pick a spot what with half her body protected by metal. I wasn't really in the mood to break my hand. Couldn't she let me work on a dummy or maybe teach me how to punch first? But then I realized what she was doing. It was just a test. A simple check to see what my abilities were before we got started. I could handle that.
Swinging my arm back, I decided to go for her arm. There was a break between her pauldrons and gauntlets. If I whacked her there, the chance of my bones snapping was slimmer. That was the best I could do. Fingers curled into my palm, I tried to put all the anger and frustration I had in that one punch.
It wasn't good enough. She quickly ducked out of the way and thrust a leg out. With a quick spin, she'd tripped me. My back took the brunt of my fall. Ugh, that was going to leave a bruise. Perhaps this wasn't what I thought it was.
"Get up," she barked. "The faster you move, the greater your chances of survival. Try a kick."
This time, I didn't hesitate. I did my own little spin, and knowing she'd try to move out of the way, I followed her bringing my foot right into her stomach. My grin didn't last long as she grabbed my arm and twisted it around.
"Hey! What was that about?"
Sif blew a strand of hair out of her face. "You don't really expect your enemy to not fight back, do you?"
"I suppose not."
We kept going back and forth like this for what must have been hours. My skin glistened with a fine sheet of sweat as we took a short break. She'd tried to get my form correct. I found that most of the time, I just made up my own moves in order to react faster to anything she might pull. It was obvious she wasn't entirely fond of my makeshift karate chops and pushes to create distance. Then again, it wasn't like I was really doing any damage or moving her anywhere.
Either way, I'd found it enjoyable. It reminded me of a dance. By the time we'd finished for the day I knew how to block and duck, I'd even land a few hits before she'd get the opportunity to do the same to me. I was evasive. It wasn't hard for me to be quick on my feet, and I used that to my advantage. That and my lack of size.
I couldn't tell if she was proud of what I'd managed to pick up or disappointed that I hadn't done better. For all I knew, Asgardians were all natural-born warriors. Perhaps I was a disgrace to all of the fighters who'd been training alongside us. We'd managed to pick up a few spectators. One of the men even congratulated me for being capable of sparring with Lady Sif. I had a feeling that she was going easy on me, but the others felt otherwise.
Maybe I was actually good at this stuff. It was hard to tell at the moment, and the aches in my muscles told me my assumption was totally wrong. She had kicked my butt. But maybe that was better than what she did to other warriors. They might be leaving spars with her with fewer limbs than before. I was just impressed that no part of my skeleton had snapped and left me crying out in pain.
"I believe it's time you find a weapon you like."
I glanced up from the bench I'd sat on to rest. "Huh?"
"You need a sword in your hand to do any real damage. Though, I'm going to pull out the dummies for this. No need to lose a head today."
"Doesn't that seem quick, considering—"
"I'm just doing what I would with any Asgardian child wishing to learn combat. Most of our battles are fought with steel, but it never hurts to go over some basics."
And so began the series of trial and error. We started off with a longsword, which we quickly discovered was much too large for my petite frame. I could barely keep in upright in my grasp, the metal scraping against the floor. That led us to the shortsword. This was a blade that I could actually use, but, unfortunately, after taking a couple of swings, I found that I had a natural dislike toward it.
I dropped it onto the floor. "Nu-uh. Not ever touching one of those again. It feels so off."
"That's why we're doing this. A great warrior knows what weapons work for them and which ones don't." She actually grinned at me. "We just have to find the one for you."
Sif handed me an axe. Same problem as the longsword, it was just way too heavy. I was perplexed as to how anyone could lift something of that weight. Then again, I wasn't really known for my innate strength. We tried a spear as well. That had gone slightly better, but it was the length that proved fallible. I wasn't entirely sure how, but I managed to trip over it while trying to strike one of the dummies we'd taken out.
Nothing seemed to be working. A mace had too much weight on the end, meaning one swing pulled me in whatever direction it was headed. The rapier was the closest we got to anything feeling right, but it wasn't going to kill anyone. It was useful for practicing form, but not much else. I was worried that I was a lost cause. That Frigga's idea was hopeless. Sure, I could punch someone square in the face, but if they had a sword, I was pretty sure my hand would be cut off before it got even close.
Desperately, I began searching through other stores of weapons. As I clawed through the third chest, my hand clasped around the hilt of something. I felt a shock go through my fingers, similar to a shock from static electricity.
"What might you be?" I asked, pulling out the blade.
To my surprise, it was a dagger. Perfect for close combat or someone with good aim. As I played with it, tossing it back and forth between my hands, I knew this was the one. This was going to work for me.
Sif came up beside me. "That's a coward's weapon. Put it back."
"Well, then I guess that's what I am." I stood beaming. There was no way I was going to change my mind on the matter.