So it goes with saying that only things I own with any connection to MARVEL I bought on Ebay or Etsy. MARVEL COMICS & MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE are their own creatures and I have nothing to do with either of them aside from the fact I enjoy reading or watching them, and am grateful for the ability to play in their world. I claim nothing, and I receive nothing for this, expect the pleasure of putting something out into the world.

This story is part of several prequels leading up to That Which Wanders is Unaware. The sequel to T.W.W.i.U will be updated every week, but the prequels will be updated is I get to them.

You can also find this story on ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN under the same title and pen name.

CHAPTER FIVE

THIS YEAR ON MIDGARD

Battle of Sempach: The Swiss safeguard independence from Habsburg rule.

ÞÓRSDAGR, HEYANNIR 2ND 1386 AD

THURSDAY, JULY 13TH 1386 AD

EARLY EVENING

THE 'SILVER SWAN' TAVERN

ASGARD

ARNORA

The smell was unusual to put it kindly, and despite my best efforts to the contrary some of my hesitancy must have shown on my face. "It may not be Suttungmjaðar but it will put new thoughts in your head all the same."

I do not really recall if I made the choice to come here, I simply recall trusting Móna in the care of the stable hands in the local hitching house and seating myself at the bar. That's how Sitric found me, wide eyed, bewildered and quiet.

He recognized me is a friend of his sister so he sent his younger brother to fetch Mýrún, and then gently guided me to their taverns private wine cellar to wait. That's how I ended up with a goblet of peculiar scented mead in my hands,wondering if it is in-fact safe to consume and how I might politely refuse.

Thankfully the refusal is handled for me by the door almost slamming open and the arrival of Mýrún. "DO NOT DRINK THAT!"

ÞÓRSDAGR, HEYANNIR 2ND 1386 AD

THURSDAY, JULY 13TH 1386 AD

EARLY EVENING

THE 'SILVER SWAN' TAVERN

ASGARD

MÝRÚN

I barely even set foot in the cellar and already my nose caught the somewhat sweet scent of rotten hay. A scent I knew well enough to recognize it was coming from the goblet in Arnora's hand.

"You offered her one of Byggvirs brew? I do not care how much you like him, you can not test his swill on my friends!" I all but seethe as I hold out my hand to relieve her of the 'poison'. Arnora can be too polite for her own good, and my brother knows this. The contents in the goblet quickly find their way down the drainage grate in the floor. The bottle is my next target.

Seeing me reach for it Sitric tries to rescue it from me, but knowing he would I put my foot on the bench in front of him and slide it right into his shins, making him miss his target in his need to brace his fall. "I told you to throw it out anyway, it reeks of barn chaff!"

"Wait!" His protest is slightly delayed as he was occupied with massaging the pain out of his legs, at least until he saw me wrap my hands around the cork. "He worked really hard on that!"

"He should work harder then." I deadpan back as I yank out the stopper and wet the grate once more.

"Here have this." With my imbecile of an older brother dealt with I turn my attention back to Arnora. "It is one of Aegir's ales, it will taste much better."

When Tiorvi found me in the market, he said one of my friends stumbled into the tavern and looked like she was in a state of shock. That was enough to make me leave the dress I planned to buy and hop on the back of the horse.

He did not say who it was, and until I walked through the door I did not even think to ask, but I certainly did not expect it to be her. Especially not given what today meant to her!

When she did not immediately take a drink my impatience for answers finally won out. "What happened?" But my question was not answered by her. "The prince got his hands on that."

"Sitric, this is no time for..." My brother, the Norn's have mercy on him, has a bad habit of phrasing his words to certain affect, and I assumed this was just another one of those occasions. Then I noticed Arnora take a rather hearty gulp of the ale. "...Oh. Your serious." When Sitric's response was to roll his eyes I turned my attention to someone more important. "He is serious?! How serious?

"She said he even undressed her a little." Again he insists on forcing his words in before she can start hers, as if his voice is the one I want to hear. "Am I even talking to you? Get out if you have nothing decent to say! Arnora, is he..." This time her voice finally fills the silence, and fills me with some relief. "It was just my sandal."

"Wish one of the princes would come undress me." Arnora's brow lifts while mine drops and my lips tighten into a line. "Excuse me one second." I say to her as a courtesy before I turn. "GET OUT!"

He actually has the gall to look indignant after his initial surprise, but I have no care fore either as I start ushering him forcefully to the door. "One word of this and I will set Pernilla on you!" The mention of our older sister should be sufficient enough to scare him into silence for a little while. She was an intimidating force even before she started training in the ways of the old Valkyrior like mother. Then I slam it in his face.

ÞÓRSDAGR, HEYANNIR 2ND 1386 AD

THURSDAY, JULY 13TH 1386 AD

EARLY EVENING

THE 'SILVER SWAN' TAVERN

ASGARD

ARNORA

The first words out her mouth after that are spoken with much less volume, and much more concern. "Now tell me what happened?"

"I do not know what to do." My answer is spoken through the muffle of my hands as I hide my face in their grasp. But there is no barrier between her voice in my ears as she chuckles. "Yes, I can see that, since your cowering in our cellar on your anniversary." or the concern that prompts her hand to settle on my shoulder. "What happened? Is there any truth to what Sitric said?"

ÞÓRSDAGR, HEYANNIR 2ND 1386 AD

THURSDAY, JULY 13TH 1386 AD

EARLY EVENING

THE 'SILVER SWAN' TAVERN

ASGARD

MÝRÚN

I was truthfully hoping for a no, instead I received the words "Far more then there should be."

"I was..." She starts to give the explanation I am almost desperately waiting for, but then seems to loose her courage mid way, and chooses different words. "I have a horse now, did you see it?"

"Arnora, you're starting to worry me." She chuckles at that, before her mood sobers, and she counters that change by draining the goblet to the last drop. "Yes, I know. I worry myself too."

"I met the Princes." She chuckles before she takes another sip as I refilled her ale. "It wasn't supposed to happen like that." She doesn't need to offer me an explanation to that, because I know as the Heir of Eir, once she passed her second tier of studies, there was to be a formal ceremony, where she would be officially recognized as Eir's successor. It was when she was supposed to be introduced to the royal family.

"He took off my sandal." She whispers, starring down into the amber liquid that is rippling in her grasp, her voice half sounding as if she wants to laugh a little. The vibrations settle and so does some of the hysteric notes as I wrap my hands lightly over her own.

"Arnora, if Prince Thor harassed you, you should go to the All-Mother, she will not stand for that." As servants of Asgard we all love our Prince, but working in the royal court as we both do, I am also aware of how much Prince Thor 'loves' us. Ever since he has become a man, his appetites have involved the Palace servant girls, which includes the Healers. It is also no secret that his courting methods, while not physically so, are rather forceful.

That knowledge made my assumption for me. "He didn't harass me, it wasn't prince Thor." Seeing the revelation sink in she confirms it with a nod. "It was Prince Loki."

"An Einherjar came and said Freya summoned me." She spoke that part quickly, just starring at the divets in the stone across from her as she tipped the goblet higher and drained more of her ale. The words and her expression multiplying my confusion.

"I fail to see how that connects to anything?" This time my hand stops her the goblet from tipping farther. I see no crime in her drinking, but I need her sobriety, I doubt I will hear the story clearly without it.

ÞÓRSDAGR, HEYANNIR 2ND 1386 AD

THURSDAY, JULY 13TH 1386 AD

EARLY EVENING

THE 'SILVER SWAN' TAVERN

ASGARD

ARNORA

"I still could feel his fingerprints lingering on my skin as the Einherjar galloped up. His arrival was a blessedly timed one because the prince released my foot a few seconds earlier, and the grass was tall. The Einherjar saw nothing."

"He greeted them first, his princes, and the nobles with them. I thought he was here for them, so I saw nothing strange and continued to carefully re-tie the strings of my sandal. The muscles were cold and numb from the Prince's enchantment, but it would still hurt if I tied them tightly. Then I heard my name."

"I thought nothing of it as the soldier told me he was looking for Lady Arnora, a handmaiden to Lady Freya. The princess demanded my return. I thought nothing of it except resignation tinged with a bit of dread.

"I continued to think nothing of it until we rode off together and were in sight of the city. Close enough that the figures of people could be seen milling around on the roads and between the buildings, but still so far that face, or senders were completely indistinguishable.

"Then the Einherjar stopped and spoke. He was smirking as he said 'I trust you can manage the rest of the trip on your own.' and he just started to fade, the illusion thinning and letting the field fill its absence."

ÞÓRSDAGR, HEYANNIR 2ND 1386 AD

THURSDAY, JULY 13TH 1386 AD

EARLY EVENING

THE 'SILVER SWAN' TAVERN

ASGARD

MÝRÚN

"So..." I listened to her account of it, puzzling out the details both spoken and unsaid. She must have had a riding accident out there, and hurt her ankle. Her own stubborn refusal to use her magick openly outside the healers halls perpetuating the problem as much as the Prince's presence. But none of that explains what has her so flustered. "... then the Einherjar was an illusion, Prince Loki can cast illusions now? That is strange, but it is rumored he has taken an interest in the Seiðr arts. I do not see what has you so upset?"

"I never once mentioned Freya to them, or that I served in her hall." Oh. Now I understand.