Once in a Lifetime

Chapter 3

To say you had the best night's sleep would be a lie. The bed was just too soft and the blankets too warm and cozy for you. You had gotten so used to the thin mattress and even thinner blanket you had had in your cell back on Earth. So needless to say, you kept waking up.

When dawn finally began to peak in through the window you gave up on trying to sleep and sat up. The room was relatively warm with the fireplace going and despite being surrounded by ten foot giants, you realize that everything in the room is suited for the size of humans.

Do humans come here often? You wonder.

You get out of bed and walk over to the small window and look out. You couldn't see much but you could at least see the sky change colors. Seeing the sky change being reflected on the snow brought you a sense of peace. Something that you hadn't felt in years. You turn around at the sound of the door opening.

In walks the same girl from yesterday. The one you screamed at. This time she doesn't look quite so startled as she did last time.

"Good morning." She says. She is carrying a tray with food on it.

"Um, morning." You reply. You watch her set the tray down on a table and then turn to leave.

"Um... I'm sorry for...screaming at you...yesterday." You look down as you speak.

She gives you a smile. "It's alright. I screamed too. I wasn't expecting you to be awake so you did startle me."

You nod and then look up at her. "What is your name?"

"Fanja."

You give her your name and her smile widens then she leaves your room. You stand up and walk over to the table. The smell from the food leaves your mouth watering and your stomach growling. There is some kind of cooked meat and what looks like cheese with a small loaf of bread.

You sit down and try not to think about what kind of animal this meat had come from and take a bite. It was delicious. You try the cheese next. It was just as good. You combine them both with some of the bread and you start to cry. The most you got back in your tiny cell was maybe two slices of toast and water to drink. This food was too luxurious for someone like you.

You grab the goblet on the tray and take a sip. It was tart juice, but it was so good. You eat as much as you can then you wipe your face. You sniffle and get up from the table. You aren't sure what to do with the tray though. Do you leave it on the table or do you set it outside?

Either way, you clean up your mess as much as you can.

You look around the room and walk over the dresser and begin to look through it finding something to wear. You find something that you think looks good and change your clothes. You put on the same boots you had on last night and look in the mirror.

You had found some pants that fit you along with a long sleeved shirt. As you began to change clothes you looked down to see that most of your bruises were either gone or were starting to fade away. That stuff that Svarkke had given you really worked.

Once you were dressed your door opened again and Svarkke walked in. She looked down at you and smiled.

"His majesty wants to see you." She says.

"Alright." You nod and follow her out of your room.

You try to look around at the hallway. They were mostly made of stone with sconces to light the way. She leads you down to the throne room. This time there aren't as many giants in the room yet though Loki is sitting on the throne.

He smiles when he sees you.

"Ah, there you are, Earth Girl." He stands up and walks over to you.

You furrow your brow at the nickname, not really sure how to feel about it.

"I was wondering if you would like to see Utgard?" He asks you.

"What is Utgard?" You ask softly.

Loki lets out a chuckle. "This village is Utgard. Would you like to see it?"

You are surprised at his request. He was going to let you out? He wasn't going to keep you locked up in this place?

"Um ok." You answer him.

"Great! Let's go!" He says joyfully.

"Wait, you're going to take me?" You raise your eyebrows at him. You were expecting him to let Svarkke show you around.

"Well, it is my kingdom." He begins to walk away and you run after him.

You both exit the palace. You weren't sure if that was the proper name for it but since it had a throne room and Loki resided there, you decided to call it a palace. Loki led you down to where it looked like a small market. There were a couple of vendors selling food, an armory and weapons. The giants all smiled at their king and greeted him. Some of them even greeted you with either nods of their heads or even a few "hello's".

They must be used to seeing humans you think to yourself. "Your people seem to like you."

Loki stops and looks down at you. If you had been looking up at him you would've noticed the slight tinge on his cheeks as he blushed.

"Well, I hope so." Is all he says.

There are also houses made of stone. Some with a little garden in them. This was a place that you had missed. People, homes. Love.

"This place is beautiful." You whisper.

Loki takes you back to the palace and into the dining hall. Once again you sit next to him as lunch is served.

"Tomorrow I have to leave to go to the next village. Would you like to come with me? You can see more of Jotunheim. I can assure you it's more than snow and dead forests." He says.

You look up at him. In truth, you would love to go. You wanted to go.

"Ok. I would like that."

Loki's smile grows at that. "Good. We'll leave first thing in the morning then."

After lunch Loki had to go back to the throne room and listen to his council talk about what was going on in other parts of Jotunheim. You stayed in the back and watched him. You had no idea what was going on but it seemed like Loki knew what he was doing. But then Rulers should know how to run a kingdom you figure.

After dinner and a bath, you apply the lotion that Svarkke had given you the night before on your remaining bruises. You look at your bed. The one you don't deserve. You frown. In fact, you didn't even deserve the kindness that Loki and the rest of the Frost Giants are showing you. You let out a sigh and crawl into bed, hoping that tonight, you'll be able to sleep.