The Other Sister

Where You First Met Me

The sunlight filtered through the curtains of my massive bedroom as I lay on my queen-sized bed. My back immediately became hot so I groaned in response. I sat up on my bed and stretched my arms above my head in a cat-like way, trying to get rid of the feeling of drowsiness that lingered in my body. A lady-in-waiting entered the bedroom right at that moment with a tray of water and my clothes for the day.

"Good morning, Your Royal Highness," She said.

"Please, I thought we discussed this. You may address me as Artemis, Astrid. No need for the formalities," I responded.

Inga, Brenna, and Eira filed in after her.

"You must get dressed, Milady. Prince Thor requests your presence in the throne room," Inga said.

"Thor's back from Midgard already?" I asked in excitement.

I rarely saw my brother since he joined the Avengers, every time he came back he would bring a gift of some sort. Biologically related or not, I was his favorite sibling.

I was gifted to Odin and Frigga when I was an infant by Zeus from Mount Olympus. Afraid of repercussions he would face from Hera if he brought two children home, he chose my brother, Apollo, over me. I was bitter for some time as a child, but I soon learned that Frigga and Odin were better parents than Zeus and Hera could've ever been to me.

I stood up, my bare feet engulfed by the fur-covered floor and I looked over to the empty foot of my bed where River usually lay.

"Where's River?" I asked. This was unusual, River was always there when I woke up.

"She drank a little too much water, so Princess Hela took her out for a walk to relieve herself," Eira revealed.

My ladies began helping me out of my sleepwear and into my light blue tunic dress. They laced up my corset and tightened it around my waist. I walked over to my dresser as Brenna braided my hair. I grabbed the dagger under the table and tied the scabbard to my thigh under my dress. Sif told me it was always better to come prepared and although my father hated that I constantly carried a weapon on my persons, I rather listened to the woman who trained me.

I walked out of my bedroom and towards the throne room. I seldom walked around the kingdom barefoot since I liked the feeling of nature brushing against bare skin. Eira huffed and carried my boots. They followed after me out the door.

The walk to the throne room was quick and short. When I entered, I saw my brother in a heated argument with my father. Disregarding this, I called out to him.

"Brother!"

He turned around, a smile immediately lighting up his face. "Artie!" He said.

I ran towards him and jumped into his outstretched arms. He spun me in a circle as I hugged him.

"Oh, I've missed you so much!" I said.

"As have I, sister."

When my feet finally landed on the ground, he looked at me with a proud expression. Being 6 inches taller than me, he slightly looked down to me.

"My, my," Thor said, "Look at how much you've grown since last I saw you. Sif tells me that you've been getting along well with your training and that you can beat her at hand-to-hand combat now."

Sif stood to the side, proudly nodding her head.

"Look, I brought you another gift from Midgard," He said.

He reached into his bag on the side and pulled out a beautiful Midgardian book.

"It's The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1st Edition, one of the best literary authors of Midgard," He said as he handed the slim red book to me, "I hope you'll have as grand a time reading it as I had to find it."