The Midgard Woman

Georgiana sighed as she paced the courtroom, snow flurrying around outside the clear sheer ice windows. This waiting without knowing what was going on was killing her and she knew that the fact that Loki hadn’t sent her some sign that he was alive meant that something was wrong, and that was worrying. She badly wanted her Mother with her at that moment for some friendly word of advice, her Mother was good at that sort of thing, but of course without the Bifrost, that wasn’t possible.

She turned abruptly on her heel and finally sank down in the nearest seat, holding her head in her hands. All this worrying was giving her a headache and each time she tried to convince herself that Loki was alright, her imagination would run away with her and picture him in some frightening scenario, each worse than the last one. In fact she had given herself a nightmare last night, involving her husband lost in some vast black wilderness, alone, with no way of returning home, and being attacked by some great winged beasts with obscured faces and bloodstained talons and woken up screaming. It had taken a good deal of soothing from Urd and a sleeping draught from Verdandi to get her back to sleep again. Had Loki been there with her it wouldn’t have taken so long; he would have simply held her close and stroked her hair whilst whispering words of comfort to her until she fell asleep again, and she would have woken up the next morning still cuddled in his arms. Little things like that she missed sharing with him.

There was a knock at the door. “Come in,” Georgiana called with a sigh as she rubbed her eyes with her fingers and tried to pull herself together. Sitting upright in her chair, she looked up in time to see Gunnarr pop his head into the room.

“Queen Frigga to see you, Your Highness,” Gunnarr said, and then dropping his voice, “or rather an illusion of her.”

“Oh, thank you, Gunnarr,” Georgiana said, getting to her feet and smoothing down her skirt, fixing her face into a calm expression. “If you’d be so god as to show her in.”

Gunnarr nodded. “Also, there are some official papers requiring a signature, and as Regent of Jotunheim...”

“Of course,” Georgiana nodded.

Gunnarr ushered Frigga into the room before strolling up to desk with his scrolls and unrolling them. Georgiana flashed the Queen of Asgard an apologetic smile and picked up the nearest quill, signing the parchments with her looping hand. Loki often teased her about how elegant her handwriting always was, even when it didn’t need to be, and she usually responded with a line like “I’ll have you know, Prince Loki, that unlike some I was taught to always write neatly, not with that spider sprawl you call writing,” and then he would catch hold of her and tickle her and they would both laugh together. Feeling a pang just thinking about it, she bit her lip to keep back the tears and pushed the papers towards Gunnarr.

“Thank you, your Highness,” Gunnarr said, with a bow, before leaving the room.

Georgiana turned to her guest, her heart hopeful again. “Have you got news?”

“Not quite.” Frigga offered her a tender smile. “I just thought that you might like to hear that work on the Bifrost Bridge is almost complete.”

Quashing down her disappointment that the Queen had not brought her any word of her husband, Georgiana tried to smile and say in what she hoped was a bright tone of relief “Oh, that is good news.”

She couldn’t fool the Queen of Asgard, however. Frigga stepped towards her, wishing she could take the young girl’s hand, after all it wasn’t fair for someone so young to have to go through such a time, and clasped her hands together in front of her. “I know it’s not quite the news you were hoping for.”

Georgiana offered her a weary smile. “No, but it is good news. At least my family are closer to returning home now and...and maybe soon...”

She didn’t mean to lose her resolve. She had been resolute about staying strong in front of her guest, but the Queen was being so kind and sympathetic, and actually now the more Georgiana thought about it, the more she realised just how close they were to finding out what had actually happened to her husband and the Asgard Prince, good news or bad, and the thought of it being bad news suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks. She covered her mouth with her hand and took a deep breath, finally choking out the last of her sentence, “We can find out what’s happened...” before the tears overwhelmed her.

“Oh...” Frigga stepped closer to her, as close as she could without actually touching the young Princess.

Georgiana shook her head and rubbed at her eyes. “I’m so sorry, how unprofessional of me,” she said, finding a handkerchief to dry off with. “What must you think of me?”

“I think you’re a young Princess who’s very upset and quite rightly so,” Frigga replied, kindly. “You’ve got a lot on your shoulders at the moment.”

Georgiana tried to smile. “Still...as Regent of Jotunheim I’m supposed to have it all together at the minute.”

Frigga gave her a sympathetic look. “How old are you, Georgiana?”

“Twenty seven,” Georgiana answered.

Frigga was surprised, she had expected the girl to be younger. “Still,” she said, “you’ve a lot to worry about for someone so young.”

Georgiana took a deep breath. “Well, whatever’s happened, Loki wouldn’t want me to be upset.” She looked bravely at Frigga. “I’m sure that they’re both alright, wherever they are.”

How true that was, she had no way of knowing.

Loki sighed as yet another attempt to do magic failed to do what he wanted it to. Or rather, do what he wanted it to do efficiently. His powers were slowly recharging, but he was still a long way off doing the more complex magic just yet. The book he had been trying to summon had eventually flown rather clumsily, jolting about in mid-air, into his hands, but at least it hadn’t hit him in the face like the last one had. Of course Thor had sniggered, and then immediately regretted it when Loki had summoned another book to whack him around the back of the head, which had instantly made him feel better about the whole ordeal.

“It’s getting better,” Thor commented from his spot on the chaise-lounge where he was sprawled out with, Loki had been surprised to find, a book open on his lap.

“Slowly,” Loki agreed, finally deciding that that was enough trying for now and making his way over to the chaise-lounge opposite the one where Thor was currently reclining. Since having learned that the Aesir Prince wasn’t as bad as he had initially thought, Loki had decided that he could at least afford to be polite to him from now on, if only for the sake of his wife, and her Mother. After all, it wasn’t really fair on Margaret to have her two guests at one another’s throats all the time. He sat down and glanced at the book in Thor’s hands. “What are you reading?”

“Something called Utopia,” Thor replied, picking the book up to show Loki the front cover. “By someone called Thomas Moore.”

“Oh,” Loki replied, surprised that Thor actually had the patience to try something so challenging. “How do you find it?”

“Quite interesting, actually,” Thor replied. “Have you ever read it?”

Loki smiled and put his feet up on the recliner. “About six times.” He opened his own book, but instead of reading it, he hesitated as a thought occurred to him, and then glanced over at Thor. “You know what I think?” he asked, and then answered his own question before Thor could speak. “I think you might be too easily influenced by other people’s opinions. That’s not an insult,” he added as Thor raised his eyebrows at him, “I just think that maybe sometimes you let other people influence you instead of thinking for yourself.”

To his relief, Thor didn’t take any offence. “I think you might be right,” he said, thoughtfully, marking his place in the book and closing it. “My Mother always taught me to listen to other people and to respect their opinions.” He gave a thoughtfully chuckle and glanced guiltily at Loki. “Seems I took her words to heart too much.”

Loki smiled and glanced at the front page of his own book, although his mind was no longer on reading. “You’re lucky,” he said, finally, and when Thor glanced up at him again, he elaborated, “Having your Mother still around. I can barely remember mine, I was very young when she died.”

Thor offered him a sympathetic look. “How did it happen?”

“Dark Elves.”

“I’m sorry.”

Loki smiled, briefly. “That’s why my Father’s always so protective of me. And Georgiana.”

“Well, you have her,” Thor reminded him. “I’d say you were the lucky one there.”

This time Loki’s smile was broader. “There’s not another girl like her in the whole of the Nine Realms.” Then, seeing there was a genuine sense of longing behind Thor’s smile, he added “It’ll happen for you too, you know. Someday.”

“You think so?”

“Well, you’ve got a lot going for you. You’re strong and easy going, and a Prince. I’m sure you’ll find someone.”

Thor looked genuinely touched by his words. “Thanks, Loki.”

Loki shrugged and turned back to his book. “Of course, it would have to be someone who could see past you being an utter clot at times.”

“I knew that was coming!” Thor laughed, and Loki laughed too. Thor stretched and cushioned his arms behind his head. “But perhaps you’re right. Perhaps one day I’ll find my Georgiana.” Loki glanced at him and Thor quickly added “Oh, I didn’t mean-”

“I know what you meant,” Loki smiled, reclining in the exact same fashion. “I think when I first introduced her to Father he felt that I’d found my Farbauti.”

“And he was alright with her being Midgardian?” Thor asked, tentatively, in case he accidently offended the Jotun Prince.

Loki glanced at him. “Look, all these rumours you heard about Frost Giants, what exactly did they say?”

Thor sighed. “Well, they weren’t nice, put it that way-”

“Let me guess,” Loki interrupted. “They said things like all Frost Giants are savage beasts who drink the blood of their dead and use humans and beings from the other realms as slave labour and as sexual playthings, am I right?”

“Something like that.”

“Thor-”

“And that you’re intersex.”

“What?” Loki sat up rather violently and stared at him.

Thor flushed. He had left that part out when Margaret had confronted him about the rumours. “You know, that you’ve all got male and female reproductive parts.”

“Yes, I know what “intersex” means,” Loki sighed.

Thor grinned at him. “I’m guessing from your reaction that you’re not?”

“Of course we’re not,” Loki replied, heatedly. “No one is! Well, no one in the whole of the Nine Realms anyway!”

Thor raised a hand. “Sorry.”

Loki lay back down again. “You do realise that’s all Dark Elf propaganda to make us look bad, don’t you?”

“I do now,” Thor replied. “Margaret told me.”

Loki sighed and shook his head. “Dark Elves,” he muttered, “they ruin everything.”

They were silent for a while, just staring up at the ceiling, and then Thor asked “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Go on,” Loki said.

“Well, I can understand you wearing your Aesir form all the time here on Midgard,” Thor said, slowly, “but how come when I’ve seen you in Jotunheim and Agard you still wear it?”

Loki shrugged. “Force of habit, I suppose. I’ve always worn it for visiting Georgiana, and even though at first it was a bit strange, I suppose I’ve just got used to it. Plus, it stops her from feeling like an outsider in Jotunheim.” Automatically, he flexed his fingers and caused the Jotun form to reveal itself to Thor. “And having red eyes all the time clashes with wearing green.”

Thor laughed and then glanced at him. “She’s...seen you like this, right?”

“Plenty of times,” Loki replied. “I thought at first she’d be terrified, but like everything else in Jotunheim, she finds it fascinating.”

Thor nodded and then turned over onto his back again to make himself more comfortable. “No offence, but I think you look better in Aesir form.”

“No offence, but I think you’d look better at the bottom of a pond,” Loki replied, flinging the nearest cushion at him.

Thor laughed. “Touché!” Sobering up, he turned his head back to Loki. “Does it get uncomfortable? I mean, on Midgard?”

“Only in the hot weather,” Loki answered. “Plus my eyes aren’t used to such bright sunlight in this form. Well, you’ve seen Jotunheim, our sun’s a lot dimmer there.”

Thor nodded. “How does Georgiana handle it? I mean, she’s used to all this?” He spread his arms. “I mean, I’d probably feel a bit out of my depth if that was me.”

“Two words,” Loki replied. “Stones. And fur.” Thor gave him a confused look and he laughed. “Alright, you probably had thermal undergarments on under your usual clothes when you visited us, right?” Thor nodded. “But even if you hadn’t had them on, you’d have been perfectly warm inside the palace anyway. All those stones lining the floor and walls radiate heat, but with magic, so that they heat the whole place without melting the ice, or affecting the rest of the Frost Giants in any way.” Thor looked genuinely interested. “And all her clothes are lined with fur so that she doesn’t freeze when she leaves the palace for anything. Of course that means she gets some odd looks when she turns up here in the warm weather with her cloak on, but at least it means she’s not cold on her way out.”

Thor nodded again and they both fell silent, this time for a longer period. Then, Thor said “You should come to Asgard sometimes.”

Loki looked at him in surprise, both by the randomness of Thor’s comment and the content of it. “Why?” he asked, hoping it didn’t sound like an insult.

Thor shrugged. “Change of scenery. I mean, if we’re meant to be allies but we don’t really visit each other that often...well, what does that say about us?” He shrugged again. “Only if you want to, that is.”

Loki turned his gaze back up the ceiling, not sure quite what to say in response to that comment. “That’s very decent of you,” he said, finally. “Thank you.”

Thor grinned. “Well, some parts of the realm are very lovely, and if there’s one thing I do know about women, it’s that they can appreciate a nice view.”

“Yes, they can,” Loki agreed, thinking that Georgiana was often easily entranced by the beauty of a landscape for reasons that were often quite beyond him.

“Why do they get like that?”

“I have no idea. Their minds must work completely differently to ours.”

They glanced at each other and laughed. It was odd, Loki realised, they actually had a bit more in common than he had initially thought. Thor, for all his initial arrogance and thick-headedness, was alright really.

“Suppose we’ll probably never understand them,” Thor grinned, sobering up.

“No,” Loki agreed, “although if you ever need some help trying, I’ll be happy to give you some pointers.”

“Thanks, I’ll bear that in mind,” Thor replied.

There was a knock on the door and they both sat up, Loki quickly shifting back into his Aesir form before calling “Come in!”

A servant popped his head around the door. “Begging your pardon, Master Loki; my Lady wished me to inform you both that dinner is almost ready.”

“Gods, have we been talking that long?” Thor asked, swinging his legs off the recliner. “Thank you.”

Loki got to his feet and brushed himself down automatically, then attempted to magic both their books back onto their respective shelves. The first one flew back just fine, but the second went a little haphazardly and collided with the wall, dropping to the floor. With a loud sigh, Loki went to retrieve it. It suddenly occurred to Thor just why Loki was so anxious to have his magic working properly and he went up and put a hand on his shoulder. Loki was too surprised by this sudden gesture of friendship to shrug him off and he looked up at the older Prince.

“You’ll see her again soon,” Thor reassured him.

Loki managed a half smile. “I hope you’re right, Thor. I hope you’re right.”