The Midgard Woman

“This isn’t happening!” Thor muttered, whipping his head around, wildly. It had been a total of eight minutes since Volstagg had delivered them the news and already battle was in full swing. There was supposed to be some kind of warning, wasn’t there, an early warning sign a day or so in advance even when another race launched a surprise attack? Why hadn’t Heimdall foreseen this and warned them?

Unless Dark Elf magic had shielded their plans from him...

Sif grunted beside him as she took down a Kursed Warrior with just one blow of her sword. “They’re everywhere! We need help!”

“You think?” Thor exclaimed, surveying the battlefield again. He could see Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves, battling it out with some of Asgard’s finest soldiers. Even though it was three against one, it was the Asgardians who were having a tough time holding their own. Malekith might be short, but he was powerful and fierce, a terrifying combination upon any battlefield.

His Father was battling two Kursed with Gungnir, his Mother battling another with a powerful sword and the Warriors Three were taking on about five all at once. He shook his head. The Asgardians might be strong, but against a race like the Dark Elves, they needed to be even stronger. And there was strength in numbers.

“We need the Frost Giants!” he realised.

Sif glanced at him. “Oh, sure! They’re monsters any other time, but the second we need something from them-!”

Thor ignored her and used Mjölnir to take down a Kursed advancing on them before racing over to where his Father was fighting. Odin nodded, grateful for his son’s assistance, as together they were able to take down the two Kursed, who were incredibly hard to kill but not indestructible, it seemed.

“Heimdall!” Thor shouted. “Open the Bifrost! Let the Frost Giants know what’s happening!”

“This is not their war, Thor!” Odin argued.

“They are our allies, aren’t they?” Thor bellowed over the noise of the raging battle.

Odin found he couldn’t argue with that. “Heimdall!” he ordered. “Do as he says!”

Meanwhile on Jotunheim, the mood was considerably calmer. The Frost Famine was rapidly being wiped out, and Georgiana was grateful for this. Famine always brought a somber mood to any realm but now that it was being dealt with, there was an echo of cheer about her home despite the gloomy news of the day before. Even the dying plants around them as they walked looked a little less limp than they when the Famine had hit, like they could sense the hope of salvation lingering in the air.

“Greetings, Prince and Princess,” said a few of the Jotun farmers who were working hard to save their crops.

Georgiana smiled as Loki returned with a pleasant “Greetings,” of his own. The people of Jotunheim were so polite, much more so than the people of Midgard; sometimes it was hard to believe that they even knew of boorishness or unkindness. She had met so many people on Midgard who would pretend to be nice to your face but then would also turn around and stab you in the back, but no one in Jotunheim was like that. If they liked you, they were polite. If they disliked you for any reason, even the most petty of reasons, well then, they let you know.

Unless of course they were Loki, who was much better at hiding his feelings than a lot of them due to his skills in magic.

“How’s everything going?” she asked, sympathetically.

One of the Jotuns, an elder going by the lines on his face, smiled benevolently at her. “Turns out it wasn’t as bad here as we originally thought, Your Highness. We’ve only lost a few pastinakes and a handful of rubepflanze, but the rest is salvageable and the mais hasn’t been touched by it at all.”

“That is good news,” Georgiana agreed, and the elder bowed his head respectfully. The Jotuns of his generation especially had a great deal of fondness for the young Princess of Jotunheim, because she was always ready with an encouraging smile and a kind word. He could still remember how good she had been to the farmers when the great Ice Volcano had erupted and destroyed half the farms in the Eissee Plain, how diligently she had worked alongside her husband and the King to restore their homes to their former glory. They were eternally grateful to her for that.

“Indeed,” he said. “At this rate, we shall have our farms back to normal in only a matter of days.”

Loki nodded. Heirlinerde was a rather powerful potion. “Well, if there’s anything further we can do to help,” he said, “please let us know.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” the farmers acknowledged and went back to their work.

Georgiana smiled as she pulled her hand from Loki’s only to slip her arm through his and press close to him as they walked. “You’re going to make a wonderful King someday.”

Loki gave her a fond look. “Only because I’ll have a wonderful Queen beside me.”

“That isn’t the only reason,” Georgiana insisted. “You care about the people here just like your Father does. That’s the mark of a great ruler, one who cares and who helps them when they need it.”

“Well, that too,” Loki agreed, and they both laughed. She was going to make a wonderful Queen, though, he thought to himself, he had decided that a long time ago.

“Your Highnesses!” They both turned in surprise to see Gunnarr hurrying towards them. If Jotuns, other than Loki, could be said to look pale, he certainly looked a paler shade of blue than usual.

“What’s wrong?” Loki asked him when he was in close enough reach that they didn’t have to shout.

Gunnarr bent over, slightly, catching his breath. “The King send me to find the two of you. It’s Asgard.”

“What’s happened?” Georgiana asked, sensing that whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

“The Dark Elves are attacking,” Gunnarr explained, breathlessly. “The Asgardians are holding their own, but they need help. They’ve called on us for assistance.”

Loki sighed. “Of course, because we’re always useful when they want something,” he muttered.

“The King wants every able warrior in the Throne Room now,” Gunnarr added, jerking a thumb over his shoulder towards the direction of the palace. Loki nodded and together the three of them ran as fast as they could towards the Throne Room. Inside, Laufey had gathered as many warriors and soldiers who were formally trained as would fit in the room and Georgiana automatically found herself breathing in for fear of being crushed between the masses. She and Loki quickly made their way to where Laufey was standing to address the meeting.

“Ah, Loki, there you are,” Laufey said, before turning back to the others. Georgiana couldn’t recall the last time she had seen so many Frost Giants gathered in one room. “Now, everyone,” Laufey announced, and the various mutterings around them fell silent. “I don’t know how much you’ve heard about the reason you’ve all been called here, but the truth is that the Dark Elves have invaded Asgard.” The mutterings picked up again, serious murmurs of acknowledgement at how grim a situation this was. “They are battling with the Aesir even as we speak, and we have been called upon, as their allies, to help them out in their time of need, as they would do for us.” More mutterings and nodding. “As you all know, none of us have any way of predicting the outcome of this battle, but I know that each and every one of us, each able bodied, well-trained soldier and warrior alike, will fight to the best of their abilities to preserve the bond between us and our neighbouring realm.” There were grunts and murmurs of agreement now and a few of the Jotuns raised their weapons in acknowledgement. “All I can say now,” Laufey concluded, “is good luck to all of you, because whatever the outcome, the important thing is that we try. And thank you all. Captain.”

His Captain of the Guards, Orvar, took a step forwards. “We move out,” he announced, and everyone moved in a line towards the door.

Georgiana grasped for Loki’s hand and squeezed it tightly. “I can’t believe this is happening,” she whispered, unable to believe also how brave each soldier and warrior was being. She knew that deep down inside even Frost Giants feared the certainty of their own deaths.

Loki glanced at her, knowing that he needed to reassure her in this moment. “It will be alright,” he said, softly. “I promise. I will come back to you in one piece.”

Georgiana turned to him with a frown. “What do you mean?”

“Loki,” Laufey said, a soft prompt in the right direction, “hurry. The Bifrost can’t wait forever.”

“I know, I’m coming,” Loki replied.

“Don’t worry, Georgiana,” Laufey added, softly, bestowing a hug upon her. Georgiana returned it with her free arm, holding him tightly and willing him to return to them unharmed. “Together the Frost Giants and the Asgardians are more than a match for the Dark Elves.”

“I know,” Georgiana smiled. “You’re more intelligent for a start.”

Laufey chuckled and then left the room. The second he was gone, Georgiana turned to her husband. “Loki, you don’t seriously expect me to stay here whilst you and the others are risking your lives against the Dark Elves, do you?”

Loki had been expecting something like this and he had his answer ready. “Georgiana-”

“Is this because I’m a woman?” Georgiana interrupted in a fierce whisper.

“No, it’s because you have no training in the art of combat,” Loki replied, truthfully. “If you set foot in the midst of that battlefield, they would kill you in an instant. You wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Georgiana set her jaw. “Fine. So I stay here not knowing whether or not any of you are going to survive.”

“I don’t want you getting hurt,” Loki said, firmly.

“I don’t want you getting hurt,” Georgiana countered, stubbornly.

“Georgiana,” Loki sighed. “I have been trained for this all my life. I’m perfectly able to hold my own in a battle.”

“But-”

“Please don’t make me force you stay here.”

Georgiana sighed. He could, she knew, with his magic; he could easily cast some spell on her that could stick her feet to that one spot until he came to relieve her of it, or else bind her in some other way, like a forcefield around her or some protective enchantments around the room that she wouldn’t be able to escape.

“Fine,” she said again, only this time it was with a little less stubbornness as she ducked her head, eyes on the floor. The truth of the matter was that she couldn’t imagine not being with him at such a time. They always saw everything else through together, and even though the thought of facing a battle waged by the Dark Elves scared her, what terrified her more was the thought of Loki being in the midst of one without her. Suddenly it was like she was having to force herself to breathe. The thought of losing him was just unbearable.

Loki leaned down and nudged his forehead against hers. Georgiana closed her eyes, memories of all their favourite times together washing through her along with the warmth his touch always brought her. “Trust me,” he whispered, and she did trust him, he knew that, so she could trust him to keep his word and come back to her. That wouldn’t stop her from worrying constantly about him though.

“They’re Dark Elves,” she reminded him, her voice trembling slightly as she said it. “They’re the most dangerous creatures in the whole of the Nine Realms.”

“I know, Georgiana,” Loki murmured back, kissing her forehead. “But my magic is more powerful than theirs. They don’t have the power of illusions to confuse their enemies in battle.”

“But their magic’s darker and more dangerous,” Georgiana added, reaching up to grip the front of his tunic, urgently. “And they’re relentless, you told me yourself-!”

“Georgiana,” Loki cut across her, catching hold of her hands before she could grip him any tighter. “We will be fine.”

Georgiana dropped her eyes. “You can say that, but I won’t stop worrying about you, about any of you.”

“I know.” Loki pulled her close, wrapping her in a hug and she snuggled against him, burying her face in his chest. He glanced over the top of her head. “I need to go. They need me there.”

She nodded. “I know.”

Hearing the sob catching in her voice tore at Loki’s heart a little and he pulled away from her, looking straight into her eyes. “No matter what happens, I’m going to come back to you,” he told her, before kissing her. Georgiana clung to him, making it last for as long as possible before, regretfully, they finally had to part.

“Good luck,” she whispered, a few tears already escaping her. “I’ll be thinking about you.”

A thought suddenly occurred to Loki as he stepped from the room and he turned back to her, momentarily. “I’ll keep you updated,” he promised, before giving her a final smile of reassurance and then hurrying to catch up with the others.

Once he was gone, Georgiana felt her legs give way and she had to slump quickly onto the throne itself simply to keep from fainting completely. She felt hollow and numb inside, and it was nothing to do with the cold of the realm, it was all to do with Loki not being with her. Taking a deep breath, she clasped her hands together, nails digging into her palms to stop herself from crying, and tried to pull herself together.

“It will be fine,” she murmured to herself, “Loki will be fine, they’ll all be fine.”

It suddenly occurred to her that, with both Laufey and Loki gone, she was left alone here to make all of Jotunheim’s decisions until they returned. If they returned, a sad voice in her head noted, but she pushed it away, of course they would. For now, though, any decision that Gunnarr or anyone else chose to make would have to be run past her as Regent. She just prayed that nothing bad would happen in their absence.

Getting to her feet, she forced herself to move over to the desk and set about making herself useful by tidying all the official papers that Laufey had been sorting through before receiving the news about the battle. She knew enough about Jotunheim politics by now to know how to sort them, and once she had done, she began to feel a little better about the whole predicament.

Back in Asgard, it looked like the Aesir were closer to losing the battle than winning it. Several men had been seriously wounded and led to the Healing Room, although none looked to have been killed yet, thankfully, but with their numbers falling, the prospect of winning looked to be nothing but a grim fantasy on the horizon.

“There’s too many of them!” Fandral exclaimed, taking down the Kursed he had been battling relentlessly with his sword at long last. “I mean, where are they all coming from? It’s like fighting against rutting Bilgesnipes!”

“Except Bilgesnipes would be easier to kill right now!” Thor replied, throwing Mjölnir through the air again. She took down half a dozen Kursed before singing her way back into his fist again.

“Yes, give me a good old Bilgesnipe any day compared to this lot,” Volstagg grunted, busy battling two Kursed at once and then let out a bellow of pain as one of them inflicted a wound upon him.

“Volstagg!” Thor whipped around and took out the two Kursed bearing down on them without even letting go of Mjölnir before both he and Fandral ducked to their friend’s side.

“I’m fine,” Volstagg grunted, raising his head. “It’s just a scratch.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Fandral said. “That one had an axe.”

“I said I’m fine,” Volstagg insisted.

“No, Fandral’s right,” said Hogun, who had just backed up to them, having just taken down another Dark Elf. “We need to get you to the Healing Room.”

“Oh, Norns,” Volstagg sighed.

“Where the Hel are our reinforcements?” Thor exclaimed, looking around the battlefield and seeing no sign of the Frost Giants. “They should be here by now!”

No sooner had the words left his lips, however, then the rainbow lights of the Bifrost suddenly flashed into being, bringing the Frost Giants with them. Though the battle continued regardless, a few of the Dark Elves cowered and rightly so, for whilst they were only a few inches or so shorter than the average Asgardian, they were completely dwarfed by comparison with fully grown Frost Giants. Even Loki, who was closer to Thor’s size than his Father’s, towered somewhat over them.

Odin shot Laufey a look of relief as the Jotun King took down six Kursed at once with merely a swipe of his hand. Orvar signaled for the rest of the troops to attack and soon there were flashes of fur-lined cloth and blue skin intermerged with Asgardian armour and pale flesh.

Somehow or other, Loki found himself fighting quite close to Thor and his party. Mentally he sent an illusion of himself back to the Jotunheim throne room, where Georgiana was still making herself useful. Seeing her through the eyes of his double brought extra determination to his heart.

“Tell me, would it be terribly clichéd of me to say something like “I’ll win this battle in your name, my love?” he asked her.

Georgiana looked up in surprise and then realised what was happening. She managed a smile. “Perhaps, but then I’ve always had a fondness for clichés.”

Loki chuckled and stepped up to her. She sighed. Ordinarily in a situation like this, she would reach out for him and cling to him, but she knew that if she tried to do that, his illusion was shatter and leave her alone again.

“I wish I could touch you,” she said, softly.

Loki brought his hand up as if to touch her face, and brought it so close to her cheek that she could almost feel the warmth of his fingers softly brushing against her hair. She smiled again, content with just that. “So, how are we faring?”

“Fairly well so far,” Loki replied, “but then we have only just arrived. Ah,” he added, thoughtfully, “now I’m fighting right alongside Prince Thor. This should be interesting.”

Georgiana sighed and ducked her head. “You haven’t forgiven him at all, have you, Loki? Don’t deny it,” she added, as he took a deep breath to reply to her. “I know you haven’t. I should have suspected it all along, really, you did seem rather quick to agree with me being right.”

It was Loki’s turn to sigh. He didn’t want to get impatient with her, especially now, but he still couldn’t see how she could bring herself to forgive the man who had kidnapped her. But this was neither the time nor the place for such a discussion, so he took a deep breath and said the only thing he could. “I’m sorry.”

Georgiana raised her head. “Please, Loki, for my sake. They’re our allies, we can’t have a rift between us, especially now.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Loki asked, though not harshly. It was taking him all his self control to stay calm, however, given the fact that he was having this conversation with his wife and yet at the same time was also doing battle with a race of Dark Elves. The fact that he was now doing so alongside the man he now hated wasn’t exactly helping either.

“Loki, I love you,” Georgiana said, in a tone of gentle persuasion. “If you truly love me as much as you always tell me you do-”

“You know I do,” Loki interrupted.

“Then please, let go of this,” Georgiana insisted. “There are more important things going on.”

Loki was about to answer her when he was dimly aware of someone else close by saying something. “Hold on,” he murmured, and then, back on Asgard, turned to Thor with a frown. “What?”

“I said, it took you long enough,” Thor repeated, knocking a Kursed aside with Mjölnir. “To get here, I mean.”

Loki shot him a venomous look of contempt. “We didn’t have to come at all, you know! We could have just left you to your fates! If it wasn’t for the fact that you lot couldn’t last ten seconds without us-!”

“You think we can’t hold our own in a battle?” Thor exclaimed, incredulously.

“Well, I’ve yet to see any evidence of you doing so,” Loki retorted.

They had separated from the Warriors Three by now, and were desperately battling four Kursed side by side at the edge of the Bifrost Bridge. Though Loki had to admire the way that Thor handled his weapon, there was no elegance in it the way he had been taught to fight. Still, he reflected, now was not the time to criticize the Prince’s-oh, wait, he just had done.

Thor knocked the last of their opponents aside and turned to face him, wielding Mjölnir. “Alright, listen-”

He was cut off as suddenly, out of nowhere, Malekith tackled him, knocking him off his feet and sending them both sprawling into the centre of the Bifrost Bridge.

Loki blinked at the spot where Thor had just been standing. “I’m listening.”

Thor groaned as he hit the bridge and Mjölnir flew fromhis grasp, landing squarely a few feet away with a loud crack as it made contact with the bridge. Loki frowned and then realised what had just happened; the force of the impact had fractured the Bifrost Bridge and now the cracks were spreading from the spot the hammer had made contact with and were rapidly spreading at an alarming rate.

“Oh, Norns,” he murmured, worriedly, and his double back on Jotunheim did the same.

“What is it?” Georgiana asked.

Loki turned to her, having almost forgotten that he was even having a conversation with her. “The Bifrost Bridge. Thor’s hammer’s cracked it.”

Georgiana gasped. “But...if it breaks, that means...”

“It won’t break,” Loki told her, firmly. “Not as long as I have anything to say about it.”

So saying, he stepped cautiously onto the bridge.

“Asgardian!” Malekith snarled, delivering Thor a blow that almost stunned him for a second. “Prepare to die!”

“Not today!” Thor chocked out, reaching out for Mjölnir. She shot into his hand and he thrust his hand upwards, throwing Malekith off him. Loki stopped in his tracks in alarm as Malekith was sent sprawling towards the crack in the bridge. His force of impact only added to the damage. Thor got to his feet, which alarmed him even more. He did a quick mental calculation in his head. The cracks had stopped a little way short of the part of the bridge that he himself was standing upon, so that patch was safe. However, both Thor and Malekith were in serious danger of being sent hurtling into one of the wormholes below the bridge that led who knew where in only a matter of seconds.

“What’s happening now?” Georgiana asked, seeing the worry on his face.

“It’s not good,” he replied. “If Thor doesn’t get off the Bridge, it’s going to break, and take him with it.”

“Well, then, you’ve got to help him,” Georgiana cried.

“How?”

“I don’t know! Grab him or something! You can’t just let him fall!”

“Can’t I?” Loki sighed.

“You don’t mean that,” Georgiana replied, firmly.

“Georgiana, after what he did to you-!” Loki began.

“That doesn’t mean he deserves to die!” Georgiana snapped. “If it was me standing on that broken bridge, wouldn’t you want someone to help?”

Loki knew that she was right. “Fine. I’ll try.”

Taking a deep breath, Loki steadied himself as Thor frowned down at the cracks at his feet. “Look!” he said, catching the Aesir Prince’s attention, “I can help you but you have to listen to me! Grab the end of my scepter but don’t move your feet!”

He held it out and Thor stretched out his hand for it. His fingers barely brushed it, however. “I can’t reach it!”

“I can’t get closer than this,” Loki insisted. “Otherwise we’ll all fall through it. Stretch a bit more.”

“There’s no point!” Both of them glanced at Malekith, who had got to his feet and was causing the bridge to crack even further. “You’re dead either way!”

“Don’t move your feet!” Loki insisted to Thor. “Don’t move at all! Just reach for me!”

Malekith threw back his head and laughed. “Give it up, Asgardian! You’ll never win this battle!”

Loki could see that his words were agitating Thor, and that the young Prince, with all his hot-headedness, was more than likely to react. “Don’t move,” he warned again, stretching a little further with the scepter. Thor grasped the end of it and Loki breathed out. There you go, my Georgiana, he thought, I’ve done it, just as you said.

With a blast of energy, Malekith sent himself back onto a patch of bridge that was free of cracks. “Pathetic Asgardian!”

Thor whipped around, wielding Mjölnir and unconsciously moving his feet in the process. “Pathetic? You-!”

With a sickening crack, the damaged part of the bridge fell away completely. It happened so quickly that Loki wasn’t expecting it and nor was he prepared for just how much Thor weighed. With simultaneous yells, they both plunged down into the swirling darkness, the illusion of Loki in Jotunheim vanishing much to Georgiana’s alarm, hearing Malekith laughing, and the combined shouts of their names from Aesir and Jotuns alike as the universe came rushing up to greet them and the forbidding black wormholes of doom swallowed them up.