Chapter 1
I couldn't remember how I had gotten there. I didn't even know where "there" was, truthfully. I still had my eyes closed. I could feel cold, dewy grass underneath me, pressing up uncomfortably against my sweaty neck, curling around my fingers delicately. Where was I? The meadow near the palace? That didn't make sense to me. Why would I have fallen asleep in a meadow at this age? I admit, maybe when I was eight or nine or below . . .
As I contemplated my surroundings, I noticed a dull, aching pain all over my body and I slowly began to remember what had happened to me before this point. Scarily enough, I may have even forgotten my own name before everything came back to me. I remembered being dragged over the Bifrost. Beaten, bloody, bruised . . . I still had no idea what for, but one thing was certain. I was banished from Asgard. For how long, I didn't know. Maybe indefinitely. Odin had never been particularly kind to my mother.
I heard murmurs, one loud scream breaking through, sounding as though it was from a million miles away. I heard rushed footsteps, muffled by the soft grass, as multiple people made their way over to me. I was too lethargic to move, too utterly crushed by knowledge to bother to fight back in case of an attack.
One voice slowly solidified, making itself separate from the rest easily among the frantic whispers. "Everyone, back to bed. Back to bed, now." It was a male voice, vaguely similar to my father's, sharing the same accent, but I knew it wasn't him. "Audrey!" The voice spoke as some people began to move away. My head lolled to the side and the man speaking sighed. I slowly opened my eyes just a crack.
It was dark, maybe around midnight. I still had no idea where I was. Certainly not Jotunheim, definitely not Asgard, not likely that is was Vanaheim or Alfheim, and Svartalfheim was desolate, barren like a desert.
My eyes focused after a moment, and the first thing I truly saw were two, wide, green eyes peering at me through the darkness.
"Hello. I'm Audrey Xavier." She spoke. I couldn't think of a reply, and before I could even contemplate making a noise, my eyes crossed and everything went black once again.
What a lovely first impression, I thought sarcastically.