Families Stick Together
There were some days when Margaret Spencer wished she never had to attend another afternoon garden tea party ever again.
She yawned a little, concealing it behind her gloved hand as she leaned back against the satin pillows of the carriage and stifling a laugh as she remembered how much her daughter had used to complain about such things.
“They’re so boring, Mama,” she would whine. “Why do we have to go to them?”
“Because, sadly, Little Gee, we are women,” Margaret would reply, “and therefore we are tasked with all the boring pastimes whilst the men may do as they please.”
Small wonder she was enjoying her new life in Jotunheim so much, she reflected, glancing idly out of the window. She herself had never visited the realm, convinced that in such icy conditions she wouldn’t last even a second with two legs that could barely plough through snow and which even now, in the turn of autumn, had difficulty in wet or slippery areas of ground, but Laufey, Loki and Georgiana had described it to her so vividly that she could picture it easily in her mind’s eye.
Open-minded as she was to most things, for after all she perceived herself as a modern woman in this sleepy, unimaginative time, Margaret had, she would gladly admit it, been a little startled by Laufey’s revelation that he and his son were not only people from another realm (and she, like her daughter, had been previously unaware that there even were Nine Realms in the entire cosmos) but that they were also a race of Giants, of all things. Of course, such a thing hadn’t repulsed her, she had been very interested to learn of them and their cultures, but the notion that one was courting her daughter had just come as a bit of a surprise, that was all. But the more Laufey had talked with her, the more she had come to realise that their two cultures weren’t really that different after all. Frost Giants cared for their loved ones just as humans did; they were intelligent, gentle beings but also strong warriors when the occasion called for it, and in spite of his size, she hadn’t thought of him as scary or threatening in any way.
When the notion of their children marrying had come up, she had been so moved by Loki’s admission of love, the depth of his feelings for her daughter, that she had readily given her consent.
Margaret shifted slightly in the carriage, taking the weight off her already aching feet for a moment. A lot of the women she had been taking tea amongst today had wanted her to accompany them on a turn about the grounds and she hadn’t had the heart to refuse them. Besides, she reflected, if she had done, then they would have been fussing over her and treating her like an elderly woman who oughtn’t to set foot outside her own front door anymore, and she wasn’t quite that yet.
She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking that it had been something of a while since her daughter and the Jotun family she had married into had visited her. Perhaps there was a problem with the Bifrost, she reflected, smiling a little at the fact that she knew about things like this whereas most of the women she saw every day were still unaware of the fact that there were other realms living parallel to their own that could be reached by an incredible feat of magic.
Even as she was thinking this, the carriage hit a bump in the road and gave a terrible jolt. Her eyes flew open as the driver gave a frantic yell of “Whoa!” to his horses and the whole thing stuttered to a halt. She quickly rapped on the carriage roof.
“Did we lose a wheel?” she called.
“I don’t know, Madame,” the driver called back to her. “But we went over a terrific bump. Hold on, I’ll see what the problem is.”
Margaret waited patiently until his rugged, weather-worn face appeared at her carriage window. “Sorry, Madame, but we have lost a wheel, it seems. Gone right clear across that field.”
He pointed with a wave of his arm.
“Oh, dear,” Margaret sighed, opening the door. “How tiresome.”
“Careful of the mud, Madame,” the driver advised her, but he didn’t stop her from getting out. “I’ll be right after that wheel and hopefully we can be off again as soon as possible.”
“No rush,” Margaret replied, mildly. After all, they were only a mile or so away from the house and she had no further appointments today. In an odd sort of way, much as she had found the garden party boring, she had sort of been disappointed when it had finally ended. After all, the house felt so empty now that Georgiana had left to live on Jotunheim, and whilst she was happy for her daughter’s happiness, she wasn’t really looking forward to another evening alone with no one to talk to but the servants.
Glancing around her surroundings, Margaret straightened up suddenly and squinted into the distance. At the top of the road they had just come down, two figures were just about visible on the horizon. She shielded her eyes with her hand and peered at them. One was large of build, bulky and blonde, dressed in red and grey and carrying...something, she couldn’t tell what at this angle, in one hand. But the other was thinner of build, dark and wearing a very familiar shade of green.
Startled, Margaret frowned as they came a little closer, wondering what was going on. The first figure she was certain she had never seen before in her life, because she would certainly remember someone built like a bear, but she knew the second figure and the absence of a third, petite, blonde figure, worried her as she began to walk quickly towards them.
Loki, for his part, was desperate for three things; a bath of some kind, Georgiana and to be as far away from Prince Thor as possible, and as long as being with his wife came first, he didn’t particularly care which order the other two desires happened in. The walk from the sign stating Welcome to Daventry was longer than he had anticipated, and he was inwardly praying that Althorp House would suddenly just appear on the horizon as if by magic.
There was a tiny part of him that hoped, selfish as it may seem, that Margaret would allow him to stay a while but turn Thor away. He knew, however, that it was a vain hope. Georgiana had inherited her own kind nature from her Mother.
Darling, I’m sorry, I know I promised you I’d help him, but right now I’m starting to wish I’d just let him fall off the Bifrost Bridge!
“Hullo.” Thor suddenly nudged him, harder than he had actually meant to and Loki staggered to one side. Scowling and rubbing a now bruised elbow, Loki glared at him as Thor pointed into the distance. “Someone’s coming.”
Loki glanced in the direction of his hand and then felt a twinge of relief. Ignoring Thor for a second, he quickened his own pace, meeting Margaret right in the middle of the road.
“Loki,” Margaret said in surprise, bestowing a hug upon him. Loki returned it, having never been more glad to see her in his life. The thought of wandering even another day with this oafish Asgardian was just unbearable. “What’s going on?” She frowned as they parted, maternal worry creasing her brow. “Where’s Georgiana?”
“She’s back in Jotunheim,” Loki reassured her. “She’s safe.”
“Safe?” Margaret looked even more worried now. “Why? What’s happened?”
“The Dark Elves invaded Asgard,” Loki replied, running a hand through his already mussed hair. “The Frost Giants were called upon to help, but the Bifrost Bridge was damaged and it broke, so I can’t get back to her. But she’s just fine,” he added, seeing Margaret’s eyes widen in worry. “She didn’t join the battle. I left her in the palace so she wouldn’t get hurt.”
Margaret relaxed a little, although she still looked worried. “But what about the others? Your Father?”
“Trapped in Asgard until they can repair the Bifrost,” Loki replied. “And now we’re trapped here.”
“Good Lord,” Margaret exclaimed. “But thank heavens you’re safe!”
Loki smiled, fleetingly, at her. “It’s Georgiana I’m worried for. She has no idea what’s happened. I drained some of my magic bringing us here so I can’t let her know yet.”
Margaret gave him a sympathetic smile and touched his arm. “If I know my daughter, she must know inwardly that you’re alright, even if she doesn’t know it yet.”
Thor had finally come up and now he stood with both hands holding Mjölnir, waiting patiently to be introduced. Margaret glanced up at him and Loki took a deep breath. “Margaret, allow me to introduce Prince Thor of Asgard,” he said, before turning to Thor and indicating Margaret. “Georgiana’s Mother, Lady Margaret of Althorp House.”
Thor bowed his head. “An honour to meet you, my Lady. I have already had the pleasure of meeting your daughter.”
Loki scowled at him, resisting the urge to remind him of the circumstances of their first meeting, as Margaret nodded and smiled at him. “It is I who am honoured, Your Highness. I must admit, you are the first Asgardian I have ever met.” Then, turning to Loki, she added, “Have you any idea when the Bifrost will be repaired?”
“None whatsoever,” Loki admitted. “As soon as possible, I hope. Until then-”
“Until then you must stay at Althorp House,” Margaret interrupted firmly, as Loki had known she would. “Both of you.”
Before Loki could object, Thor cut in, politely, “Oh, we couldn’t intrude-”
“Nonsense,” Margaret interrupted, briskly. “What sort of Mother-in-Law would I be if I let my daughter’s husband and his friend fend for themselves in a strange realm?”
Turning, she led the way back to the stationary carriage. Loki quickly jogged to fall into step beside her. “Just for the record, he’s not my friend,” he muttered.
“Oh.” Margaret looked surprised. “But I thought you were allied with Asgard.”
“Be that as it may,” Loki replied, with a sigh, “we don’t get along, or rather I don’t get along with him.”
“Oh.” Margaret understood that Loki would rather not talk about it at that moment and smiled, reassuringly. “Tell me later,” she added in an undertone as they reached the carriage. Automatically, Loki helped her in and she shot him a grateful look, before glancing at the driver, who grinned apologetically at him as he fixed the wheel back on.
“Wheel come off, Sir,” he explained, doffing his cap at the pair of them.
“I’m not surprised in such conditions,” Loki replied, mildly, before climbing in and seating himself opposite Margaret. He had a fleeting vision of Thor attempting to drag his swollen head inside the carriage and failing miserably, which cheered him a little although he managed not to show it as Thor clambered in beside him. He bit back a sigh and leaned back against the seat as the driver shut the door, clambered back onto his perch and cracked the whip to make the horses go again.
They were quiet as they went. Loki was inwardly itching to tell Margaret absolutely everything that had happened, but he didn’t want to do so in front of Thor. Glancing at her face, he could see that she was itching to ask him to tell her everything, but again, she didn’t want to do so in front of their “guest.” The silence was awkward but bearable. Eventually, however, the carriage swept through the gates and Thor broke the silence by politely commenting “You have a lovely home, Lady Margaret.”
“Thank you,” Margaret smiled. “It was commissioned by my late husband. Sadly, he never got to see our daughter married, but I know he would have approved of her choice of husband.”
This time Loki couldn’t conceal his pleasure at seeing Thor squirm awkwardly at that. Of course, Margaret didn’t mean anything by her choice of words, merely to compliment Loki and state that her husband would have readily given his consent to allow him to marry Georgiana had he still been alive, but her words had hit home with Thor because it sounded like she was accusing him of being disrespectful of Frost Giants. He smiled but said nothing, watching Thor stumble awkwardly out of the carriage and alighting beside him himself a few minutes later.
He felt a small rush of something as he glanced up at the house. Like coming home. He supposed it was to do with the fact that, for most of her life, this had been Georgiana’s home and being here suddenly felt like being nearer to her. Automatically, he attempted a spell, just a simple one to lift a fallen flower on the lawn. It twitched and straightened a little, and then flopped over again. He bit back a sigh of irritation and disappointment as he followed Margaret towards the threshold of the house.
“Make up two of our guest rooms, will you?” Margaret instructed the nearest chambermaid as she handed her gloves and cloak over to her. “Unless you boys would rather share?” she added, teasingly.
“No!” both Thor and Loki yelped in unison.
Margaret blinked and then laughed.
“Been there, done that,” Thor explained, quickly.
“And never again,” Loki added, meaningfully.
With a smile, Margaret slipped her arm through his and led them into the parlour. “Now,” she said, tactfully changing the subject as she sat down on the nearest sofa, “tell me all that’s been happening in Jotunheim.”
Loki was only too happy to do so, although in front of Thor, he skirted around the issue of Georgiana’s “kidnapping” and focused more on the Frost Famine. Margaret listened and nodded in sympathy, admiring Laufey’s kindness and resourcefulness in such a harsh time, and Thor listened too, similarly amazed by it. The conversation turned to their fall from the Bifrost Bridge, and kept up over dinner, which both Princes took the time to savour, having not had much to eat since they had left Asgard, and Loki was beginning to wonder if he and Margaret would ever get to talk alone together. But eventually, night began to set in and Margaret suggested that they all retire for the night. Thor thanked her gallantly before allowing a servant to show him the way to his room whilst Margaret took the opportunity to finally talk with Loki in private.
“Look, what is troubling you, Loki?” she asked, gently. “From what I can see, Prince Thor seems a perfect gentleman.”
“Well, I thought that too,” Loki admitted, “until he kidnapped Georgiana.”
Margaret blanched in shock and caught his arm. “He what?”
“It was a mistake,” Loki began.
“What? He accidently kidnapped my daughter?” Margaret exclaimed.
“Yes.” Loki winced because she had tightened her grip on his arm without realising it. “Apparently he thought that because she was Midgardian we were holding her prisoner against her will.”
“But that’s ridiculous,” Margaret replied, shaking her head. “You’re a peaceful race; you don’t go around snatching young women from their homes. How could he have thought such a thing?”
“Georgiana hurt her hand that day,” Loki explained. “Just bruised it after she slipped on a patch of ice, and when I took her hand, well, Prince Thor assumed that I was hurting her deliberately.”
Margaret let out a hollow laugh. “Well, then, Prince Thor must not know much about Frost Giants then to believe that you would ever do that to her!”
“He’s been fed on Dark Elf propaganda,” Loki sighed. “He thinks we’re monsters.”
Margaret released his arm to wrap him in a maternal embrace. “You are not monsters, any of you,” she replied, loyally. “Georgiana can see it and I can see it; anyone else is simply blind.”
Loki smiled, gratefully. He had come to think of Margaret as a mother figure, given that his own Mother had died long ago and the memories he had of her were extremely vague. “Well, Georgiana was just fine anyway,” he replied. “Shaken, of course, but she was able to take care of herself for the few moments we were apart.”
“Well, of course she was,” Margaret replied. “Takes after her Mother, you know.”
Loki laughed and pulled away from her. “I know I shouldn’t be worried about her now. I mean, she’s safe and with the Bifrost broken, the Dark Elves won’t be able to invade Jotunheim. I just...”
“You worry anyway,” Margaret finished for him. “It’s only natural when you love someone. I worried for my husband all the time when he was alive.”
Loki nodded. “As soon as my magic’s strong again, I’ll let her know what happened.”
Margaret smiled. “Well, that can wait. Right now, you two need to get some rest. You’ve been through quite a lot recently.”
Loki nodded and pushed open the door to his room. Turning, he offered her a smile that said more than his words did. “Thank you for this, Margaret. I’m extremely grateful.”
“Nonsense, Loki,” Margaret replied, smiling back. “You’re family. And families stick together.”