All The Little Pieces

An Introduction

Elizabeth tucked a stray piece of hair back behind her ear and fidgeted. She had moved from the healer's rooms to her own chambers yesterday and had been introduced to a quiet girl named Maren, who would be her maid while she lived in the palace. Maren had brought her dinner in her room last night, as well as her meals today, and Elora had come to check on her this morning. Other than that, Elizabeth had spent most of the last two days by herself.

Now she was waiting impatiently for Maren to come and show her where the dining room was in the vast palace. She was used to spending most of her time alone, but staying in one room, without much of anything to pass the time, was quickly becoming tedious.

Elizabeth had spent much of yesterday alternating between frantic anxiety, excitement, and brief moments of calm, when she managed to convince herself that everything would be all right. Today had been much better. The headache was greatly improved and her swim in the spring had relaxed her and taken all the pain away for a while, although she had been a little concerned that she somehow missed seeing her things when they were right in front of her.

She stood and paced in front of the row of windows. Her room was huge, with tall windows lining two of the four walls. A sitting area overlooked the garden, and four steps led up to the rest of the room. A wardrobe and enormous bed furnished the upper area, with a bathroom sitting between doors to the corridor in both the upper and lower parts of the room. The fresh afternoon breeze wafted lazily in the windows, and Elizabeth stood on tiptoe in an attempt to see more of the garden. She was in Asgard, a city straight from myths, and she wanted to look around. If she was going to be stuck somewhere, at least this was an amazing place. Now she just had to learn the area enough to explore.

A quiet knock sounded on the lower door, and Maren opened it with a shy smile. "Good afternoon, Lady Elizabeth." She inclined her head toward the hallway. "If you are ready, I'll take you to dinner."

Elizabeth followed Maren down the corridor, watching the little bun of hair on the girl's head bounce as she walked. She tried again to tame the wild wisps of hair around her face and smoothed her hands awkwardly down the sides of her dress.

Apparently in Asgard, all women wore dresses, unless they were a warrior. An overwhelming array of dresses had been brought to her room, and while they were beautiful, she wished for the familiarity of her favorite jeans and a soft T shirt. Even though Elizabeth had picked one of the simplest outfits, she couldn't remember the last time she had been this dressed up for dinner. Although, she thought wryly, she'd also never been a dinner guest of the god of thunder.

"Right here, my lady." Maren pushed open a dark wooden door and held it for Elizabeth to enter, then slipped back out into the hallway.

Elizabeth stepped into a room with a long wooden table stretching down the middle. The opposite wall was open, with a row of arched pillars leading out toward a grey stone terrace beyond. The room was beautiful, but hardly what Elizabeth would have expected for the "simple dinner" Maren had mentioned when bringing in the armloads of dresses. She looked around uncertainly at the empty room.

Two women entered, carrying steaming trays of food. On their heels came Thor, talking animatedly to a thin man with blond curls. When he saw Elizabeth, Thor smiled widely and bowed. "Elizabeth, allow me to present Fandral, my dear friend."

"The pleasure is mine," said Fandral, bowing with a graceful flourish. "Thor has told us about your unexpected visit."

Elizabeth hoped her smile looked real and comfortable. "Thank you. Everyone has been very kind."

Several more men and a few women entered the room. Thor gestured to the table. "Sit, please. Volstagg is late, as always, and my brother will arrive when he sees fit."