Fulla played around with my phone for the better part of our midday meal, flipping through my songs and commenting on the range of Midgard's music when she flipped from one of my songs, which was a instrumental piece composed by Dmitri Shostakovich, to Sleeping with Siren's cover of 'You Belong With Me' to '北京欢迎你', which was a song presented by China at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. After our meal, though, she had to bustle off to her other duties that had been put on hold while she'd assisted me during the morning and the early afternoon. I thanked her again as she strolled away under the garden's trellises leaving me to myself.
Stretching as I stood up from the bench we'd been eating on, I sighed to myself. Still feeling mentally overloaded from earlier, I didn't want to go right away to sit down and shove more information into my head in the library, especially if that information was dry, complicated information about Asgard's legal systems. Maybe I'd stroll around the grounds a bit before heading back inside... It wouldn't be procrastinating if I did... no, it would be considered 'exploring'.
Smiling to myself about how proud Loki would be of my logic, I started walking out of the gardens and along the edge of the grounds along the stone walkway, one hand brushing over the balcony-like railing. I was lost in my thoughts as I strolled, not really paying attention to where I was going until I heard noise in the distance that caught my attention, metal clanging against metal. Instinctually at hearing the sound, my hand moved to my belt where I'd tucked my silver device, hovering over it as I looked around for signs of battle. A second later, I relaxed my suddenly tensed muscles, realizing that the sounds was not coming from some sort of breach of Asgard's palace's defenses, but from combat training in the training grounds off in the distance.
Had I heard the training horn earlier? I couldn't recall, but my curiosity was spiked. Loki and I had just caught a glimpse of the einherjar's training when he'd given me his tour, but I wondered what training for Asgard's illustrious army really looked like. I wondered how it differed from my own training to become an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Would it be okay for me to go and watch for just a minute? I brushed away my hesitance a second later. I was an official lady of Asgard. I was allowed to wander wherever I liked, and I could be causing no issue by simply watching as long as I didn't cause a scene, and I was not one to cause a fuss or wish to draw attention to myself.
I followed the clanging sounds towards the training area, the rushing sound of water flowing from the palace's aqueducts affirming that I was heading in the right direction. The training area was filled with perhaps a hundred or more training soldiers, some in full uniform and others in lighter, less regal armor as they moved about the multiple layers of the training grounds. In the afternoon sun, the stone of the training ground's arches, columns, and levels of balconies and stairs and large flat sparring areas took on a sandy shade.
My eyes flicked around, trying to take everything in as I walked under the shade of an archway. While there were several groups of people being trained in archery; throwing daggers, spears, and battle axes; weaponless hand-to-hand combat that looked like a mix between boxing, martial arts, and wrestling; and strength training; the main attraction seemed to be sparring. From my distance, I watched as about two dozen pairs of sparrers fought each other. Sword against sword, spear against spear, they fought, their training weapons flashing with sparking white light on each impact with metal or armor.
The energy attracted my attention the most. It certainly wasn't like normal electricity. No, like I'd made note of before, this energy was uniquely Asgardian. I supposed that these weapons were designed not to slice and cut like normal weapons, but instead would deliver shocks of energy to let the sloppier or weaker opponent better recognize the hits they took. Leaning against an archway's column, I studied a soldier as he fought with a kind of trident against another who wielded a double-handed sword.
"Lurking are we, my lady?"
"Lord Tyr!" I yipped, jumping at the general's voice as he came up from behind me. Spinning around to face him, I straightened up my back and shoulders as I politely, yet hurriedly offered a "Good afternoon!"
"Lady Penelope." He nodded his head in a stiff greeting, his arms crossed over his wide chest that was covered in gleaming einherjar armor. His long scar seemed extenuated as he looked coldly down at me, his trim beard unable to hide how his jaw was set irritably. It didn't take a genius to see that he wasn't pleased to see me here.
"Your soldiers... uh, the troops seem to be training well." I commented, trying to be as amiable as I could to see if it would soften the general's thinly-veiled disdain for me and to try to convey that I was not just 'lurking', "I've never seen army soldiers train before. It's quite impressive."
A puff of air left his nose like a breathy snort, "I am sure it is impressive to you."
"Yeah..." Was I being overly sensitive or was his entire tone dripping with superciliousness? He'd been cold before when I'd visited with the Allfather, obviously unhappy at having to treat a Midgardian commoner as a respected lady of the court, but now that I was here by myself it was like he wasn't even trying to hide his contempt for me. Trying to not let him ruffle my feathers, I cleared my throat, "I was curious to watch the training. I myself was not trained as a soldier, but when I was training to join S.H.I.E.L.D. I had to do a lot of sparring as well. My teacher did not go light on me."
My mind's eye flashed to pictures of Natasha dropping me on the sparring mat time and time again, defeating me mercilessly as I racked up more and more bruises. She'd been a tough coach, but I doubted that I would have been of much help out in the field if I hadn't been under her tutelage. A small smile curled the corners of my lips at the remembrance.
"That is right. You claim to be a warrior of Midgard." The red-bearded man looked away from me to gaze over his training soldiers as he spoke, his tone holding an air of mocking as if the idea was a joke to him.
"I wouldn't call myself a warrior per say, I wasn't even a full field agent, but I had to be trained like one..." I explained, still trying to be conversational as I looked out over the soldiers as well. After a second of tense, awkward silence that seemed to me very much like he was completely, purposefully ignoring me now, I spoke up again, "We didn't have weapons like that though."
"I am not surprised." Was all he responded with, his words clipped and derisive, dismissing me completely.
What was this guy's problem? Could he physically not string two civil words together? What had I ever done to bother him so badly? I grit my teeth, taking a calming breath before turning sharply to him, determined to ask him as politely and gently as I could if I had done something wrong or if I'd offended him somehow, "Lord Tyr, I-"
"You claimed during your introduction to the Allfather that you fought alongside the Crown Prince?" He interrupted me, looking down at me from the corner of his eye, not even bothering to turn to look me directly in the face. There was something vaguely challenging in his words, "You talked about facing battles as if your strength could match the might of an Asgardian."
Okay... so he was insinuating that I was weak now? Was he trying to destroy my patience, or did he enjoy edging around directly insulting me? My genial tone fell away, seeing as my attempts at friendliness bore no fruit. My tone was straightforward and practically emotionless like I was offering a mission report to my superior officer. "I did. After the Convergence a Frost Beast was left behind on Midgard. Thor was there when I got the call to lead a team to deal with it before it hurt anybody, so I brought him along." Lord Tyr flinched and shot me a look when I referred to the crown prince of Asgard by only his first name. I continued on, "When one has a warrior prince on hand, why not use that to your advantage, right? Especially if he's familiar with the enemy. We handled the situation well, sent it back to Jotunheim via the Bifrost."
He huffed a scoffing laugh, shaking his head, "What a story to have come up with."
"It's not a story." I replied firmly, my voice barely holding on to its evenness.
"Is it not?" He shot back, finally turning to face me, a sneering, confrontational smirk on his battle-worn, irritated face, "Shall we contest that?"
"I'm not a liar, my Lord." I rebuttled, refusing to back down from him even as he loomed intimidatingly over me, "And I don't appreciate you insinuating that I am."
"I have insinuated nothing, Lady Penelope. You are the one to have spouted claims before the king and the court with no proof. How can you expect any of the nobles or I to take you at your word?" He paused, letting the weight of his words fall on me. The general's stoicism and vague disdain that he'd had in our previous meetings were wiped away now as I saw real anger and frustration in his eyes. Did he really think I was lying about all of this? Why would I lie about my time as an agent? He tilted his chin up looking every bit like a superior general, his voice demanding, challenging, "Prove your strength and training to me."
"How?"
He looked down at the swarm of training soldiers, "You said you have sparred before?"
"Fighting? You want me to fight?" I asked in disbelief, "And what good will that do? What would that prove?"
"It would prove that you are not a liar like your late fiancé was, nor weak like your race is."
His words socked me in the stomach. Had he really just said that? Had he just directly called the entire race of humans weak and had he just disrespectfully called Loki a liar? As far as he knew, Loki was dead and he was officially claimed as a kind of hero, even if he was a kind of anti-hero. How dare he speak of the dead prince in such a way, especially to the face of the supposedly dead man's fiancée? And how dare he flippantly insult and belittle an entire planet of people? I stared up at him in complete shock.
"I caught you, haven't I? Your bite is only in your bark. You have no training at all, and even if you did, it could not measure up to the training of one of my soldiers." His expression was victorious, taking my stunned silence as proof of my supposed guilt, "Are you going to weasel away so that you do not have to face the consequences of your bluff? Not even going to try to back up your claims?"
Anger boiled up in my stomach. How dare he? My voice was ice, my glare poison as I retorted, "I have nothing to prove to you."
"But you have proved to me exactly who you are, and it is no more than I expected." He shot back, "A coward. A weak child hiding behind their false words that are thinner than the air they ride on. Just like the late prince." He spat his words scornful, "I could hardly expect anything more from a mortal. I await the day the king grows tired of you and sends you back to the dust you were taken from. You can only hide behind the king and his power so long until he discovers you to be nothing but the god of lies' little wench. He is no fool. He will see through your charade as clearly as I do now."
"You're wrong about me." I tried to keep my voice from shaking with the anger building up inside me, my hands balling into tight fists at my sides. "I may be Midgardian, but that does not mean I am weak."
I shook my head. He thought that I was unworthy of my position. He thought I was Loki's plaything and that I was now taking advantage of that fact, using the power of the Allfather to give me status and power and luxury. He thought I was a liar who was trying to gain respect by making claims to prowess and experiences that I never had, and that he'd found me out. How low did he think my character to be? It had always been clear that he hadn't liked me, but I could hardly believe the assumptions he'd made... so this is what he'd been thinking about me this entire time? How could he possibly insult me anymore than he just had? This man, this esteemed, battle-worn general who had led Asgard's troops into victory numerous times, was egging me on purposefully, hoping I would slip up and prove to be the lying weakling he thought me to be.
"You stand here openly slandering my heritage, my race, my character, my betrothed, and my very position here and now you have the gall to ask me to fight one of Asgard's trained soldiers in an attempt to make me look like a weak fool to prove your petty point?" I glared pointedly in his eyes, taking a step towards him now so that I was staring right up at him, "What does that say about you, Lord Tyr?"
He sneered at my own challenge of his character, "My diplomacy may be lacking, but it is my duty to protect Asgard and this palace from anything or anyone that would undermine it."
He stated his case with the solid tone of an army general who knows that sacrifices must be made in a battle to win a war. In his mind, I was a threat to the Allfather and the order of the palace and realm. He was willing to run the risk of me running off to report his insults to the Allfather and face the consequences the king would place on him for his blatant slander in order to see if he could flare my temper enough to get me to prove my own inadequacy and show my 'true nature' that he assumed I had. I could almost respect his motives if he had not just disparaged everything that I was and held dear.
There was a firestorm in his eyes as he demanded my answer one more time, "Do you accept my challenge or not?"