Protecting You

Chapter 22

I sit beside my Uncle, watching his chest rise and fall with each breath. Gradually, his eyes flicker open and look up, they shine with hurt and shock.

"Hello." I say.

He turns his head towards me, smiling. The colour almost instantly returns to his skin and he slowly sits up in the bed. I place a pillow behind his back and watch him flinch when he feels the pain.

"Hattie, you're safe." He says, raising a hand and placing it on my cheek.

"You saved me, Uncle." I point out.

"You are still blue." He comments, smiling.

"I know. I can't turn back."

There's a knock at the door and we both look up to see a guard dressed in gold. He nods at us, then looks at me.

"Lady Harriet, Odin is requesting your presence." He announces.

I look down, then at my Uncle. His eyes sparkle with questions and confusion.

"I'm coming." I reply. "I'll be back in a bit, Uncle."

"Harriet, what is going on?"

"You were banished from Asgard, but I'm going to fix it."

I stand up and walk out of the room, Uncle Thor shouts after me but I ignore him. I follow the guard down the corridor and around the same corners. Reaching the doors, they are pushed open and I step inside.

Odin is stood at the end of the room, leaning over a gold table by the side. In his hand he is holding a quill pen over a book. I step forward until I reach the gold steps. He turns towards me, his face stern and aged.

"My Uncle is awake now." I announce.

"That is good news."

"Recite the deal for me please, Sir." I order.

"You must never return to Asgard. I decide when Loki sees you on Earth and I will undo Loki and Thor's banishment of Asgard." He reads.

Striding up the steps, I glance over his shoulder at the book. It's all in a foreign dialect that I can't read.

"Then what is the rest of this?" I question.

"It is consequences if you break this agreement."

"What sort of consequences?"

"I have the right to reactivate the original banishment."

"What if you break the agreement?" I quiz.

He raises his head at me, narrowing his eyes in confusion.

"Then you may see your father as much as possible and are allowed to come back to Asgard. But I will not break the agreement."

He leans down, signing his name with the quill pen and then offers it to me. I take it from him, looking down at the only words I recognise. My name. Just Harriet. No surname.

I place the pen on the paper. But my head screams no.

"No! Harriet, dont!"

Turning around, I look towards the door to see my Uncle stumble in. He holds his side as he limps into the room, raising a hand at me.

"Don't you dare sign it!" He shouts.

"But, uncle, I made the mistake of teleporting to Bifrost, that got you banished. You like Asgard and it's not right for you to be banished from your home." I explain.

"I will not let you do this, Harriet. You deserve to be with your father and not just due an agreement."

"Uncle Thor, you do everything for me, now I'm doing something for you. You don't deserve to be banished from your home because you were saving me."