Temptation

Farewells...

The Queen's gentle voice echoed across the bed chamber and out to where she stood on the balcony....

It was a balmy evening, the setting sun burned low in the sky, now a pool of flame ranging to inky purple. Far below, the market she was so familiar with was now quiet. Earlier, she'd watched as the people bustled around to buy their food. A few even questioned where their fruitseller was.

As she faced out over the city, Eva now saw none of this.  All she saw was where she knew the little house with the red roof was. The little house she'd known almost all of her life, once glowing with life now dark and cold. The little house, one way or another, she would never see again.

"Uncle Erik....Papa, I miss you so much." She whispered as she closed her eyes.  Tears trailed down her cheeks, the pain of his passing still as fresh as the moment it happened. Would she ever get past this? "Papa, I think I love him, and I want him, but if I..."

"Are you ready, my child?" The queen was now by her side, standing in the fading sunlight, waiting patiently for her.

Frigga's gentle question broke into her thoughts. Eva turned, her heart heavy.

"As I will ever be, your majesty." She sank into a curtsey, eyes cast down, and Frigga closed the gap in a few strides.

"No, rise Eva, you are family. No matter what Odin may seem to want you to think." She took her hands and gathered her to her in a warm hug.

It wasn't the custom on Asgard to wear black to funerals, but they were dressed in dark colours, Frigga in dark blue, Eva forest green. As night fell, they would look as black as the sorrow engulfing her. 

Each woman wore a veil of sheer silk anchored by a delicate crown, affording them a screen behind which emotion could have free reign. For once, the shoes Eva found so painful ignored compared to the pain in her heart.

"Thank you, your ma... Frigga." She found a small smile from somewhere deep inside. Frigga put a finger under her chin and tipped her face up.

"You are your father's daughter, with his integrity, his strength, and resolve.  Remember, though, you are also your mother's child. Complete with her capacity for love and compassion. You can do this. All of this. And more, so much more." Frigga smiled, her face echoing the care in her heart.

Eva shook her head sadly.

"I'm not so sure anymore. You and Thor have been so kind, so welcoming. If only..." she trailed off, her chest tightening as she felt the disappointment surge. And loneliness. A loneliness she never thought she'd have. The one born of unrequited love.

Frigga smiled and stroked her cheek. "I am sure, despite what he wants you to think, Loki feels every bit as much for you as you do for him." Shedidn'tt need her gifts to see how much Eva cared for Loki. And vice versa. It gladdened her heart and saddened it too.

Eva sighed and pulled away from the queen. "I don't think so.  You didn't see his face. He hates me. He now thinks I'm just another impediment to his plans for the throne. I'm beginning to wonder if I ever really knew him at all."

Before they could discuss it any further, Odin entered, and they both curtseyed. He took his wife's hand and kissed it gallantly. "My Queen." He turned to Eva and held out his other hand. She rose, and he nodded to her, for once his voice softer, gentle almost.

"Come, it is time. To say goodbye to your father. To say goodbye to your old life. You are a princess of Asgard now." He stood, dressed in his finest armour - respect for Erik that even Frigga was surprised by. 

His face, initially stern, now softened to match his voice.  "You have a new family now, Eva. You are one of us again, child. " Just as they thought he had softened, he added,"as long as you remember the rules."

Frigga rolled her eyes and sighed. Always a sting in the tail. Always a reinforcement that he had the final say. One day, it would be his undoing.

Eva nodded slowly, "I am ready."

The three of them walked out and down the corridor. Thor fell into step, taking her arm, as they emerged to walk to the clearing where the funeral would be conducted.

Arriving as dusk fell, Eva became aware of a figure already standing in front of the funeral pyre. Tall, broad shouldered with a silhouette instantly recognisable. Loki. At last.

Eva let out a little gasp of "Loki?" as she saw him, and Thor tightened his grip on her arm.

"You sound surprised - do you truly think so little of me?" He turned as he heard their approach. "Whatever may keep us apart, that doesn't stop me wanting to pay respects to a man with more heart and soul than I have met in a very long time."

Eva looked up at him, his face lit by the remainder of the setting sun and the torches now being lit around them.  His eyes were dark pools, his face chiselled from the finest marble. His expression, solemn. She nodded and took her hand from Thor's arm and placed it on Loki's.

Odin growled warningly, but Frigga shushed him with a severe look. He shook his head and turned away to speak to the priest.

"Thank you for coming, Loki." Eva said softly. "I... I have missed you." For a moment, they looked at each other, and his icy demeanour seemed to melt just a little.

"Eva... I... it's just..." he stammered bit before he could say more, Odin's voice boomed out.  The ceremony had begun.

Eva and Loki stood together, no one trying to part them, everyone concentrating on the business in hand.

Nobody more so than Eva.  She knew that as Erik's sole surviving relative, she must complete the ritual. Erik was not royal, nor had he died a warriors death, so Valhalla was not an option. He would face a different eternity.
Normally, those who died of natural causes went to Hel.  Frigga, in this case, had intervened and persuaded Odin to permit a different fate.

Folkvangr. 

The lower hall where the warriors who weren't picked for Valhalla went. Warriors and now a fruitseller.  One with the bravest heart.

The priests droned on, the torches burned, and the scent of the pine needles filled her nose.  She'd eaten little and drunk less all day, making her now feel weak. Add the emotion, and she was, quite literally, on her last legs.

As the time approached for her to cast the torch that would ignite the pyre, she began to shake and weep. "I can't... I can't do this... I..." she said softly, feeling the already dark world now implode on her.

Loki slipped an arm around her waist.  Just in time, he caught her as she fainted into his arms.  Without a word, he transported her to her rooms.  Laying her on her bed, he looked down at her, a soft look in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry," was all he said as he bent and kissed her softly. Then, as her maid appeared, he left. The only sign he'd ever been there was the faint scent of oranges and spice in the air.

As Eva came to, she began to cry again. "I'm so useless.  How can I ever be a princess if I can't even perform a simple ritual." She sobbed, and Anna, whatever her reservations, knew she needed comfort. Wrapping her arms around Eva, she held her.

"Shhh, my lady, it's ok. No one, not even a royal, can be expected to say goodbye lightly." She smiled and tried to reassure the distraught woman.

"B... but I didn't... send him... he won't ... I didn't throw the torch." she dissolved at the thought she'd let him down.

"No, Eva, you didn't, but I did."

Erik would go to Folkvangr after all.

Turning to the door, she gasped as she looked into a pair of blue eyes. Blue eyes she'd know anywhere.

"Hello Eva. It's been so long.  Look at you - all grown up!" He smiled gently and managed to reach her just as she collapsed for the second time that day.

"Frederik!"

Was the last thing she said before it all went black.