Unforeseen

The Sleeping King

After our lunch, Loki and I had to get to business, which included a long meeting centered on a building project that Loki had pushed forward shortly after taking the throne in the stead of the actual Allfather. The project was the rebuilding of Asgard's theatre, which had been decimated during the attack of the dark elves when their ships had barreled haphazardly through the city to crash into the palace. Loki was trying to work towards Asgard taking a step back from their focus on war to take a turn more towards education and the arts, which I agreed was an excellent idea. The realms were finally back in a state of rebuilding and peace and as far as we could see, peace would reign, so it was time to focus on bringing Asgard into a kind of Renaissance.

The Lord Baldur, a rather aesthetics-obsessed man and Asgard's head architect, was heading up the project and it was obviously his 'baby'. He showed us the blueprints of the grand hall which would have a large, indoor stage with tons of seating and beautiful interior work. Built on top of the building would be a smaller outdoor theatre. According to him, much of the building was complete and the work on the interior was well underway. At the end of the updating meeting he invited the Allfather and me to visit the building, which the king accepted.

"We must start your riding lessons soon, mustn't we? Loki commented as Lord Baldur left the throne room and the Lady General Hariasa entered. I cringed at the idea of riding another horse. I'd sort of hoped that Loki would have forgotten that whole idea. "If we are to visit the theatre as Lord Baldur requested or to go into town, it would be best for you to be able to ride without help."

Lady Hariasa wanted to speak with the Allfather about the training program for the returning soldiers since it had to be approved by him. Their talk interested me as I compared the concepts of Asgardian training to the training I'd received from S.H.I.E.L.D. Perhaps I would be able to take a peek at the warriors' training in the palace courtyard sometime. It would be fascinating to see the training they were discussing in action! I listened intently like I had during the Allfather's audience with Lord Baldur, simply taking in the conversations and learning through observation.

Once the Lady General had said her piece, she left, leaving Odin-Loki and I alone in the throne room. As soon as the door closed, I allowed my shoulders to slump, shifting my weight from one leg to the other. There was only one throne for the Allfather, so advisors stood on one or the other side of the throne, which means that I'd been standing for a good couple hours now with my back straight and head held up like I'd been taught to when 'advising' the king. I groaned, bending my knees a bit as I rotated my sore, slouching shoulders. How was it that just standing still like this hurt so much, making shoulders, back, legs, and feet all ache?

"Are there anymore audiences today?"

Loki turned his face towards me, dropping his illusion as he looked apologetically at me, "There is, but that is scheduled for later."

"So, we have a bit of a break?" I asked hopefully. I'd love to sit down for a while, even if it was just for a few minutes!

"In a way, but..." Loki stood up, his face foreboding yet determined, "We do have some business to attend to."

"Another lesson?" I asked, knowing full well that lessons were not the reason behind his expression. What was with that pensive look of his? He was looking kind of nervous, the same kind of trepidation turning the corners of his mouth down like that day a while back when he'd taken me down to the palace's vault. It was such an odd expression for Loki to have since he usually exuded confidence. It made me feel uneasy to see him showing these small signs of thoughtful disquiet.

"No." Loki sighed like he wished that this 'business' was simply another lesson. Resolutely stepping over to me and taking my hands in his, "It's long past time for me to introduce you to the king."