King of Asgard
At length, Atlanta writes, “Tell me what you know about the King of Asgard?” and my heart suddenly feels like the heaviest sack of metal ingots, falling right past my bare toes between one beat and the next.
The unease was warranted, it turns out.
And somehow, I find it the hardest, to speak about my own father in his role as king.
Well, the father who has not acted much like one to me or Thor in quite some time… but still!
I do my best to centre myself, take a long, surreptitious inhale of the artificially cooled air, then begin my recitation. – Odin is an old, wise king who has led Asgard since the death of his father Bór and his elder brothers Kúl, Vili and Vé in the Asgard-Jötunheim war more than twelve centuries ago. He is a reticent and firm king, but not unkind even to the least of the commoners when he does speak. Asgard – and the Nine, by extension – experiences prosperous peace under his rule, unlike under the rule of his father.
Atlanta’s gaze never leaves mine, all the while.
Somehow, I suspect that she is judging my father instead of me.
But why?