Death's Princess

Sorcery At Its Finest

The next day, Hela took care in getting dressed in a pair of dark trousers and a crimson red tunic. She braided her hair and wrapped it round in a bun to keep it from her face, and slipped on a pair of boots. Before she left the room she sprayed herself with the floral perfume.

She walked happily to the dining hall by 8 o'clock. Her grandmother was seated and eating quietly. She smiled upon seeing her granddaughter. "Good morning, my dear."

"Good morning, grandmother. How are you?" she replied politely.

Frigga nodded. "Well. Come and sit, will you?"

Obediently, Hela moved over to the table and sat down beside the woman. She soon found herself with a plate covered in foods. "We'll be having visitors soon," Frigga commented, "King Armar and his son, Luk. Armar rules over Nifleheim, you see. He and his son are coming for your birthday." She smiled.

"Really? What are they like?" Hela asked curiously. She couldn't help but think that a king of the underworld must have been a horrid looking man, and his son as well.

"Oh, Armar is a distant man. He's polite, your grandfather has known him for a long time. He isn't the friendliest of people, however." She shook her head, almost in distaste. "As for Luk, I don't much know the boy. He's seventeen this year, I believe. He's always been quiet when I've seen him." Frigga gave a teasing smile. "Last I saw he was very handsome, my dear. Perhaps you two will-"

"Very funny, Grandmother," Hela cut in, chuckling. "But no." Her eyes fell to the large clock on the wall and gasped. "Oh, look at the time. I have to get to Father. I'll see you this afternoon!"

"Have fun, darling. And be in the throne room in a few hours! You should be there to welcome Armar and Luk!" Frigga waved at the young girl as she ran off and shook her head, smiling slightly as Hela disappeared from the dining hall.

Hela sprinted down the halls, and climbed the stairs until finally she came to Loki's Wing. She pushed the door open and smiled at her father, sitting at his desk. "Good morning, Father."

Loki didn't look up from the rather large book he was reading. It was leather bound and dark blue, and had odd golden runes on it's front that Hela couldn't say she knew the meaning of. "You're right on time," he commented quietly, "Not a second too late, not too early. I raised a punctual daughter."

"You raised a daughter who's afraid her father will back out of his agreement," Hela replied with laughter in her voice. She sat in one of the green, velvet armchairs in the room.

Loki seemed to smirk. "You don't actually think I'd break a promise, do you?" He shut the book and stood, walking over to the large bookshelf on one of the walls and stepping onto the ladder. Loki had a library of his own in his wing, but that didn't mean there weren't bookshelves in every other room as well. He stepped to the top of the vast shelf and slid the big book back in it's place.

Hela watched him carefully. Years with her father taught her to be careful. Loki might have meant well, but he had a rather nasty habit of tricking her into things. Once he had gotten her to open a box containing magical spiders that had turned everything they touched orange. She had to take three baths to get the magical orange paint off. And it had taken them both hours to capture all the spiders, though she couldn't say finding them had been hard.

Loki stepped from the ladder and turned to her. He gave her a smile. "All right, Hela, let's move this elsewhere." He waved her over and went to the edge of the bookshelf. Loki murmured something in a language Hela had never heard before, and suddenly the entire shelf began to shudder. It gave one long tremble before giving way, moving off to the side to reveal a wooden door. Loki opened it and gestured for Hela to follow, going in.