Unforeseen

A Glance Through Golden Eyes

"I am impressed by what you have accomplished here so far. The theater is even grander than I had come to believe from your diagrams and explanations." The Allfather commended as we strolled down the great set of steps that led up to the theater as we were readying to leave. Below us on the cobblestone streets, the Einherjar were preparing our horses.

Lord Baldur bowed low as we came to the bottom of the stairs, "Your praise is too high, my king. None of this could have been brought about without your patronage. Both Lord Bragi and I are endlessly grateful for your sponsorship of this project."

"Indeed, my king." Lord Bragi agreed, dipping into a smooth, low bow as well.

Odin-Loki mounted Sleipnir, taking his reins and pulling him around to face the artistic lord, "And I have high expectations for your upcoming triumph of the grand opening performance."

"You shall not be disappointed, I assure you." Lord Bragi bowed low again. He then bowed towards me as I gathered up my reins in my hands, having mounted Kari with a little help from the nearby guard, "And be looking for correspondence from me, my lady."

"Yes, of course. It'll be a hard decision choosing a song..."

My mind started shifting through the songs I knew from earth, trying to weed out the songs that weren't in my range or that wouldn't fit such a grand stage as Asgard's new theater! The more I thought about the songs, though, the more I remembered singing in the shower and having Grams join in a duet with me through the bathroom door to tease me, or listening to music from the last handful of decades with Steve, or lazy Saturdays where I'd be cleaning or chilling and just have songs playing in the background. I twisted my reins between my fingers as a lonely weight like heavy fog grew inside my chest. Huh, homesickness... I had wondered when it would find me again...

"I am eager to see what your realm has composed." Lord Bragi broke through my thought process as the four of us offered our formal farewells.

"Farewell gentlemen." The king said with a final nod before pulling Sleipnir around and we started riding off through the city in the same way that we had come.

I rode silently beside him, my attention drawn inward, trying to suppress the unwelcome homesickness and focus on starting to pick a song. If I was going to sing for such an elite crowd, I needed to make sure that I chose a good one! I couldn't make a fool of myself up there. Oh gosh, what was I thinking allowing myself to get swept up in this? This wasn't singing in the privacy of my own home where there was no one to judge or even just singing for a trusted loved one, this was far bigger! Much bigger and much farther from home than I'd ever expected to be! I glanced over at Loki, trying to remind myself of his support, when I saw that he was already eyeing me pensively.

Surprised, I blurted out, "What?"

Loki shrugged, feigning casual interest while his intelligent eye inspected me closely, trying to read my expression. "What is on your mind?"

I sighed dramatically, trying to hide the nervous melancholy I'd seemed to have fallen into, "So much. All the time."

"We are both similar in that I think." Loki chuckled, but I could tell that he was unconvinced. The man knew me too well. I swear that he could read me like a book. He contemplated me for a second or two longer before he nodded his head to the side, giving Sleipnir's reins a quick tug and veering off course. His voice had the tone of a decision having been made, "I would like to show you something."

I raised a brow at him, turning Kari around to follow him, "Okay. What is it?"

"Allfather?" One of the guards behind us ventured to ask, obviously confused why he was leading us off the course they had been escorting us along. It now looked like instead of heading towards the huge golden palace we were heading in a completely opposite direction.