Truths, Lies and Bilgesnipes [Complete]

Chapter 10

'Loki!' Thor shouted as he burst in.

He wore an old tunic, the sleeves of which were too short for him and drips of something brown peppered the frayed embroidery on the front of the garment. Somewhere back out in the corridor, Agmundr, one of the two trainee healers on duty today, urged Thor to keep the volume down. Thor paid Agmundr no heed. Loki wasn't even sure his brother had heard the trainee; Thor's focus was on the woven basket in his hands.

'I have something for you,' Thor said brightly, then narrowed his eyes. 'What are you doing? Trying to climb out the window?'

'I think the elves are leaving. Or some of them at least.'

'Yeah, I heard they were wrapping up things yesterday.'

'Come and see. I'm pretty sure the Bifrost is about to open.' Loki jerked his head towards the open window. He thoroughly hated the children's ward. He couldn't stand the dull-eyed pixies and over-sized dandelions painted onto every wall, or the stiff mattresses, or the over-starched sheets, or the constant smell of medication. But the room did offer a good view of the observatory and the bridge that connected it to the city.

'It's just the Bifrost,' Thor replied. Yet he walked over to stand beside Loki and set his basket down on the windowsill. No matter how many times you saw it, you still couldn't help but marvel at the Bifrost's bright colours and the sheer magnitude of magic contained within it.

Unfortunately, there seemed to be some delay. Loki could make out the many people and horses milling about the entrance to the Observatory, but not much else. Sighing, he asked, 'So what did you bring in here? Does it have teeth?'

Thor gave him a bewildered look, which Loki thought was entirely unwarranted. The last time Thor dragged in a basket like that, the basket had held a polecat and the critter wasn't at all pleased by his confinement. Thor had nearly gotten his nose bitten off when he lifted the lid.

'No?' Thor said. 'It's just a tray of pastries from the kitchens. An apprentice got distracted and forgot to take them out in time, so they are a bit burned on top. Too burnt to be served, but really, they are barely burnt at all. The cooks said I should take them for you since you're still not well.'

'I'm fine.'

'Yeah, you've been saying that for a while now,' Thor replied, rolling his eyes. 'Everyone keeps asking how you are, you know. It's getting kind of irritating. Well, do you want some or not?'

He pulled back the cloth that covered the basket and the sweet scent of freshly baked goods wafted into the air. Loki couldn't resist the temptation and peered inside. In the basket were seven six-inch-long pear buns, which indeed, did look somewhat singed across the top.

That wasn't a fatal defect. Loki picked out one and, after pulling off the singed part of the pastry, bit into the bun. It was still as warm as if it had been pulled out of the oven mere minutes ago and the filling was a masterful conglomeration of flavours. Despite the name, pear bun stuffing was actually made by mixing pears with walnuts, raisins, figs and anise.

'This is pretty good,' Loki said. 'So is this what you were doing all afternoon, stuffing yourself with pastry?'

'Of course not,' Thor said. 'They made me peel carrots, scrub pots and all kind of stuff like that. But it's not so bad. There's a new apprentice there, Sindri, and he has much the same tasks as I do. We were competing to see who'd finish first. He did, but I think with some more practice, I can beat him. Oh, and then one of the assistant cooks showed me how to pluck a goose. There were so many feathers!'

'This punishment sounds like a real trial for you,' Loki scoffed.

The pear bun lost some of its lustre. First, he nearly died because of Thor's idiocy. Now, a week after his relapse, Loki remained a prisoner in this ward. The last two days, Eir had permitted him to go to a few of his classes: history, mathematics and rhetoric. But he had to be accompanied by one of the healers or a palace guard between the Medical Wing and the classroom. And when he wasn't in class, he was to remain in the Medical Wing. Meanwhile, Thor was enjoying unfettered access to kitchen stores and tormenting dead birds.