I come from a land of ice and snow

[throneenvy]

Asgard sat atop the branches of Yggdrasil since time began, and little had changed in their society in the years since. Each Asgardian was long-lived into the millennia, their lands were fertile, their people brave and strong. They had their vassals, their allies, and their enemies. Yet even those who opposed them respected the might of the Golden Dias, and the royalty who sat upon it. Currently that was Odin Borson, though he grew weary more easily now and had begun to consider passing the throne to his eldest son.

He had been blessed with many children, but only two that he considered worthy of his lineage and status. His firstborn, Thor, strong and honourable and everything an Asgardian warrior should be. His second son, Loki, was not natural born, though none knew that but his wife. He was different, a creature of magic and mayhem, of sharp intelligence. Both were worthy, but together they would take Asgard to a new prosperity, he was certain of it.

Midgard, where the mortals dwelt, was a land raided every few centuries for stock. It was seen as a breeding ground, much like a corral for cattle. Mortals were lesser, short-lived and weak, they were fit only as slaves. The last raid had taken place when Loki had been but a baby, nearly a thousand years ago, but the mortals that had been taken had been bred and cared for so that a healthy slave population still thrived. Slaves were given a weakened mixture of Idunn's crop with their food, to extend their natural lives to at least a few centuries in order to make them worth the effort to train. They had no rights, but they were taught well that this was their natural position.

All slave children were raised in a central pen and taught the same when small, those that then displayed talent at cooking, riding, hunting, housework, artisan skills, or singing were then measured off to be specially trained for higher masters. Every five years those who could afford to buy a slave, or those of high enough status to simply demand them, came to the corral and chose. Those who were chosen were special, were envied, and those who were not ended up working the fields out in the far reaches of Asgard, the most menial of work.

Anthony and Steven had been friends since they were little and being raised in the large pens together. Both had excelled, Anthony at crafting and Steven at warrior's skills, but neither were chosen when they were five, nor ten, nor even fifteen. Now, at twenty, it was their final chance to be chosen before they would be assigned to one of the meanest farmers beyond the borders of the great capital. Steven woke Anthony as the dawn rose, mingled excitement and nerves on his face.

"Anthony! Wake up, I've got news! I heard the overseer talking to one of the passing guards, and Princes Thor and Loki are coming to the corral today."

Comments

[starkingenuity]

“I know why Midgard exists, I know it is important to allow for a wild cultivation of genetic diversity, but I feel a little sad for them,” Anthony said. “They’re as much my people as they aren’t. Not all Midgardians on Asgard get the benefit to serve like I do, but at least they had a chance at something meaningful. The wild ones we’re going to take our pick from… The ones we’re going to leave behind… I just feel bad for them.” Anthony almost never made mention of anyone other than himself. He was a selfish creature and the plight of others didn’t concern him. And yet, he made great, sweeping outreaches too, making sure every Midgardian in the bandit camp had a job at the palace, for instance, or protecting those that worked in the kitchen from a wrath they did not deserve. It showed more forethought than most thought Midgardians capable of.

Then again, Loki did too, now that it was known who was his genetic kin, even if he was still considered to have the blood of the Aesir with his lineage being that of his adopted parents.

Anthony took his time in the bath. He gave Loki everything he might want, always waiting for him to initiate anything no matter his current feelings or wishes. He didn’t care if Steven was fast or slow with his own task. He wanted every moment alone with Loki that he could get.

[throneenvy]

"Do not sorrow for them. Unlike many races who cannot hope to achieve the life that we hold on Asgard, those of Midgard are ignorant of their plight. Their short lives breed even shorter memories, and though the last raid was only fifteen hundred years before, their race may not recall it at all."

Even though Anthony was a Midgardian and knew how little mortals lived without an infusion of apples, it must seem very bizarre and disgustingly lax to forget so soon. He had spent his time being taught lessons from books many hundreds of thousands of years old.

Loki waited patiently while Anthony finished washing, drying, and braiding his hair once more, before pulling him down into his lap in the bath and taking him in a leisurely way. Only just finishing when Steven appeared with food on a tray, more than Loki would eat, though much less than Thor would, and a variety for he hadn't yet learned which foods Loki liked the most.

"There is too much here," said Loki, disapproving. "You and Anthony may assist in eating it today, but bring wasteful amounts again and I will have you punished."

[starkingenuity]

Poor Steven. At least he had made the effort. And perhaps he would be able to house down any left overs so that the trays could return to the galley empty. Anthony knew that Steven could really eat but he was unsure if it would be this amount. He knew the blond was trying though. Even if he'd went ahead and gotten more than Anthony initially suggested. Root vegetables and fish were at least on the menu, even if he'd also gotten other meats that Loki didn't always care for as much.

"He'll learn, my prince," Anthony said as he lazily lifted himself from Loki's lap and then cleaned himself a bit before stepped out of the tub. He dried quickly and helped Steven set the table (for Loki alone, though he and Loki often took meals together at the table, but none knew that). After that, he helped Loki out of the bath, carefully and affectionately drying his skin. "He's a faster learner than he looks."

Steven would not be used to being treated so formally but Anthony often was when any other happened to be around. He knew hi place and he proved his place in public. Steven had to learn this. Under Thor's privacy he could enjoy his master as he wished but it was all about appearance otherwise.

[throneenvy]

If Steven knew just how close Prince Loki and Anthony were, and that their relationship also bordered very close to the inappropriate and scandalous, then he would definitely be taking advice from him. Because none suspected, none would ever suspect. Prince Loki treated Anthony with kindness, but not with any particular affection, and Anthony was always perfectly in line with his duties.

They did not need grand gestures and words.

The tiniest upturn to Loki's lips as he took his seat said how pleased he was with Anthony's current performance. He gestured to the trays after he had taken his choice, fish and vegetables with wine, and left the majority of meats behind.

"Both of you eat, and then I have new daily duties to assign you. You may take the tray into your cabin and speak privately if you wish, I want to read as I eat and will appreciate the solitude."

[starkingenuity]

Though Anthony would never openly say how much he loved his Master, and since Steven was not Bruce and had no idea just how it had been for him for that year apart, he did sit with Steven on the floor of their tiny room and stare into his face. The door was shut but he never assumed himself to be private with Loki.

"That is how you prove your love to your Master when any is around to see," Anthony said, being overt just this once. "Don't you remember your lessons? Or what Bruce taught us all the those year ago? What happens when you are alone with your master is for your master to dictate. But when any other watch, that is when you need to dictate yourself."

He knew the despair Steven felt for he had felt it too. Only then, he'd tended an empty room for a year with very few other duties and had not known if Loki would ever return. At least Steven had some hope.

He picked at the poultry, delicately eating as Loki did because it pleased his master not to have a mess.

"But back to task... Loki ate a whole lot more than he usually does, so that should give you an example of how much to bring next time. Or if he lets me, I'll go with you and show you. So what's the ship like? I know you helped outfit it but I haven't had the chance to see it. It looks pretty cool."

[rogers_that]

Steven couldn't help but bristle just a bit at the advice, because he hadn't yet seen how much Anthony and Loki did love one another in private. It felt like being given sterile advice by property who just couldn't understand what it had been like. He had felt like his prince's best friend, his confidant, and they had made one another happy. Anthony didn't look happy, he looked confined.

But maybe that was just Steven's bias talking.

He ate much less delicately, ravenously tearing through the beautifully cooked food, almost tempted to bring too much each time so that he continued to be allowed food fit for the prince rather than slave fare, but he knew that would result in punishment so it was only idle.

"We're the flagship and carry four thousand warriors, as well as a complement of five hundred slaves of varying positions. There are sixteen ships following us, some with higher quantities of slaves, some with warriors, three with healers. There are weapons rooms on the higher decks, and space marked out for training on the upper deck."

He sighed, wiping some grease from his mouth.

"What duties do you think Prince Loki has for us?"

[starkingenuity]

That was unfortunate for Steven. Anthony could do nothing about it. His relationship with Loki was his and he wanted to keep it that way, without any gossip fouling it all up.

He focused on the size of the fleet, on the amount of ships, instead, and commented on the amount of slaves that they would be training on the journey back to Asgard with a few stops at other realms to drop off and sell slaves that proved to be too unruly. They weren't all equal in the eyes of the Asgardians but their hardest critics would be the Midgardian slaves that had been bred for this sort of thing.

Anthony imagined that all of the slaved were buzzing happily about new duties or the thought of help as their trained new stock.

"Honestly, Loki's heart is fickle and it could be anything from polishing his boots to training with the warrior slaves. A good use for you, either task, with those muscles!" Anthony was hoping for more bedsport later but he could wait until his master was once more in the mood.

[throneenvy]

Loki had them back into the main rooms of his chambers before long to give them the duties that Steven had wondered about. The Midgardian had been a good pick for a slave for Thor, and likely would not have fallen into issues if James had not died and taken Thor's attention away from him. But he was not right as a slave for Loki, too solid and not adaptable enough.

"Anthony, when you are not required in service to me, you will join the slaves assigned to determine which of the new stock is viable for breeding, work, and sale. Steven, you will report to the warriors and ready yourself for capture." Anthony's work was a high profile job, but not a dangerous one. More honour went to the warriors, but Loki knew that Anthony, like him, was no fool ruled by his muscles.

He stood and stretched. "Steven, go now. Anthony, I have work for you to do here." Which meant that he desired some time alone to properly relax.

[starkingenuity]

Not only was it a great honor to be off in charge of the slave sorting but that meant that Anthony would get to work with Bruce. Considering that he was one of Odin's most trusted and longest lived slaves at the palace, he would of course be tapped for this honor and Anthony, despite the rejection, couldn't help but want to be around the older man. He made his heart sing in ways different from how Loki made it.

And speaking of Loki, all Anthony had wanted since Steven was brought into their world was to be alone with him. Anthony was more affectionate than usual as the ship sailed straight and true on the usual path towards Midgard.

He took some liberties too, undressing Loki without being bidden, eyes directed upwards to gauge that angular face of his for any signs of displeasure.

It went without saying that a personal slave usually loved or fell in love with their masters and that was for the best. Saying it outloud made the relationship even more dependent on the other. But Anthony wanted to remind Loki that he loved him anyway.

So he did so... On his knees and with his mouth without bothering to use so many words.

[throneenvy]

Loki did not need the reminder that his Anthony loved him, but it soothed him all the same. He was an insecure creature at the heart of him, and reassurances of love and respect were very important to his continued happiness. He rewarded his Anthony with coupling that lasted almost all night, and then sleep wrapped in one another's arms. These were the moments he could allow himself to be attached back, for none could see. A lesson Thor deeply needed to learn.

The four days of travel went without much incident. Loki inspired his troops of both Aesir and slave alike. Bruce instructed Anthony on what to look for in slaves to be bred (strength, good bones, beauty, brains), to be kept or sold (children), or to be discarded (the infirm, the weak, or the elderly). Steven worked with the warriors to be ready to fight the armies of Midgard, though very little resistance was expected.

And then all of a sudden the Void was opening up and blue skies appeared, the waves of an ocean with a salt tang to them, and cities on the horizon made of steel and chrome and glass. And humans everywhere dressed in odd garb, screaming at the sight of the great flying fleet without even attempting to mobilise themselves to fight as any other realm under attack would.

[starkingenuity]

"Well this is disappointing," Anthony muttered as he stood with Steven above deck, arms crossed as he leaned on the banister to watch the people below.

"I thought you'd be interesting in how far their culture had progressed," Steve said, armor on and glinting in his eyes. He did not glance at his shorter friend. He was almost distant. Though Steven had been privy to three nights of witnessing Anthony curled up in Loki's arms, he had far more on his mind that putting two and two together about their relationship and, each night after training and planning, he'd gone straight to his alcove to dream about his master. His true master. The one he was going to fight to get back, somehow. If only he could find the way. He needed to do well in this raid to prove himself worthy again. Steven was too stubborn to see that there was an easier solution to all of this.

Anthony shrugged. "Maybe. It is interesting. Their technology is nothing like what Asgard has..." Or what the planets protected by the Nova Corp had either. Anthony had enjoyed visiting Xandar with Loki many, many times. And while the shiny buildings reminded him a little of that great city, these people still weren't that advanced. "But I don't know. They're so... Cowardly."

He turned to lean his elbows back against the banister.

"There was a strangeness to the current from Yggdrasil early this morning. Prince Loki couldn't detect any fissures or reverse currents but he seemed a little troubled. I guess it's noth--" Anthony paused as something red and gold flashed by him and he turned to shield his eyes from the sun as the golden full body armored flying thing paused midair over them. "What in Hel--?"

[rogers_that]

Steven had never been to Xandar, he had only ever travelled to Vanaheim or other provinces of Asgard itself with his master. He knew that Loki was much more widely travelled and that was one small area he felt jealousy for Anthony in, he would like to see all these marvellous places and be affirmed each time that he came from the best of them all.

He barely hesitated when the first of Midgard's armies came to them.

This single warrior, decked out in gaudy gold as if he were a prince of some sort, relying on metal and technology to do the work of a true warrior. He swung the giant two handed sword he had chosen for the day and leaped up, the apples and his own training allowing him to advance far beyond normal mortal strength, aiming to pierce this armour at the armpit.

Not to kill, just disable. If this was one of their prized warriors, then he should be kept for breeding purposes.

[starkingenuity]

There was no real scramble on deck. Everyone, even Anthony, just watched Steven leap upwards to hack the flying warrior down. The warrior, however, flew up even higher and then darted away like a humming bird. Anthony couldn't help but be impressed with that ability and he took some mental notes on how to build armor like that. He might be better at fighting in there if he had some advantage that his muscles weren't exactly offering him.

Steven came crashing back down on deck, and Anthony returned to leaning on the banister. "Okay. So that was pretty cool," he said, not of Steven's prowess of course. He'd seen the other fight fire giants before, after all.


Tony barely caught himself from tumbling head over heels as he skidded into the wall, unable to catch himself on his repulsors in his hurry to reenter the hellicarrier. He burst onto the bridge in a three piece suit and a frown and just started to talk without introducting himself. He knew the redhead anyway. Natalie from legal. And he knew Fury. How did he navigate with just one eye up here? And didn't anyone see that guy playing Galiga instead of monitoring the alien presence?

Idiots.

"J, show the recording of the recon flight over the ships, will you?" They already knew that the aliens had come in flying Viking longships but the presence of Captain America.... And a twenty year old version of himself....

That was going to be news.

"Unless you've got LSD piping in, this is what I saw. Oh. Wow. Doctor Banner--" Come on. He was allowed to fanboy a little after his particularly awful morning. Tony broke off what he was saying to offer Bruce his hand. "And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

[rogers_that]

Steve was still adjusting to being awake in a whole new century, the war behind him and everyone he knew was either dead or extremely old. It was a strange new place, that was for damn sure, and he didn't know whether to trust Nick Fury or the strange people he had assembled. But that didn't matter right now, trust could come after, right now the world was under threat and he was here to help out.

He frowned when the newcomer just strode onto the bridge and began talking loudly and insistently, shaking a bemused Bruce's hand who also murmured that the pleasure was all his before going back to his calculations.

"Tony Stark, right?"

He looked a little like Howard, and he definitely had Howard's way of talking, like he was full of enough energy for three people.

"I'm Steve Rogers, and thank you for getting that video capture for us of the alien invaders. I think they must be using some kind of cloaking software, they might have found footage of us both and are trying to mimic us to fit in."

[starkingenuity]

Steve Rogers. Tony wasn’t impressed. He looked the blond up and down, sizing him up as surely his dad had done way back when before his old man decided to get himself in the family way and slipped his hands into his pockets. He only shook hands with people who were awesome. So far, he hadn’t seen enough of Steve to decide if he was awesome. That sword wielding version was pretty cool, though. He wondered absently if Steve could really jump that high.

“I might say that you’re right,” Tony said, leaning back on his heels slightly, “but why did they pull video data of me from a few years ago?” More like a few decades but he didn’t have to give up his age entirely. Didn’t matter if it was public record. “I haven’t been that baby faced or whisker free in some time.”

“And Stark is always on the news or in the media,” Widow spoke up, turning in her chair to watch the boys discuss their big mission. None of this was really helping her get her friend back, though. There was no sign of him on any of those ships. And that crazy, emaciated man that came through the portal? He wasn’t in the footage either. “We need to handle this as a coincidence. We need to find Loki.”

Thor nodded, standing as well. He’d nearly had him in Germany before he disappeared, yanked through another portal like SHIELD’s footage showed. It was about that same time that Barton and Selvig had also disappeared. “I will discover their meaning. The design is vaguely Asgardian.”

The redhead frowned. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“You have little trust,” Thor shot back. “This is not my doing.”

Tony winced a little. “You have to admit…you show up in Germany and a few hours later, Viking Longships show up? That’s pretty weird.”

[rogers_that]

"I'll go with him."

Steve didn't like the way that everyone was already at each other's throats, it made him long for the Howling Commandos and Bucky, the way that they always had each other's backs and worked as a unit. It felt like this team wanted to get at a fight, and the whole mission was as fragile as a house of cards.

"We can watch out for each other, and two sets of eyes are better than one."

And maybe it would help Widow relax to have someone from the Earth team batting on this one. She really didn't seem to trust anyone. He glanced over at Dr. Banner who looked so unassuming and even slightly timid.

"Dr. Banner, Tony, you should both stay here and keep analysing the footage that we have so far."

[thunderboltsandlightning]

“Right, send the guy that doesn’t fly,” Tony said with an eyeroll before he motioned with his head for Banner to follow him. He couldn’t be too mad. Working with Bruce was a little like a dream come true. It wasn’t every day you got to meet a reclusive genius scientist after all.

That left Steve to get a lift from Thor, and that was not as comfortable as a jet might be, but it still got the job done. Thor landed with enough force that would have ruined the deck of any Midgardian ship, but it took the shock of his weight and velocity without any issue. Thor stood, setting Rogers down right in the middle of a group of very startled, and some very familiar, looking faces. All of them immediately took a knee and Thor frowned.

“What is this? Who is your commander?!"

[throneenvy]

One or two of them glanced at each other in mild confusion, why would they be asked that question? It had been Thor himself who gave command of this fleet, and all of them were too startled to see what should be obvious. This Thor was older, at least by a little, not their current All-Father at all.

None needed to answer, for Loki felt the hum of Mjolnir's magic and appeared on deck as Thor finished speaking. He saw what the others did not, a wary frown appearing at his brow as he strode forward.

"Well met, Thor. It seems we have slipped far on Yggdrasil's branches indeed, you are not who I expected to find on this raid."

[thunderboltsandlightning]

As an aside, which no one but perhaps Steven heard if he didn’t immediately stride out to try to defend his new prince against his old, Anthony couldn’t help but whisper: “This is an amazing day. I take back any disappointment I expressed,” he hummed, blinking at a less shinily attired Steven with hair that was parted to the side and fell to just above his ears lifted a shield. Two Stevens, he thought to himself. This one obviously was still Thor’s. That might be a problem…

But it wasn’t for him to say. He just stood where he was, one elbow on the banister, and watched the crazy goings on…right until Thor lifted his hammer towards his brother. That sent Anthony running, regardless.

“I should have known this would be your doing. Midgard is under my protection. I know not the enchantment you have over our warriors, but you will cease this need to conquer and return home with me at once! We thought you dead, Loki. Stop this immediately.”

[throneenvy]

Loki knew that he had felt something out of the ordinary as they neared Midgard, it seemed they had somehow fallen through a rip between the different realities of Yggdrasil and emerged on the wrong branch. A different version of their reality, apparently one where Thor saw him as an antagonist. Interesting.

He raised an eyebrow, but he made no move to draw a weapon of his own yet.

"Do not act the fool, I am not the Loki that you believe me to be. I see the differences in you so plainly that you may as well not even share the face of my brother, do you not see the differences yourself, or has Mjolnir blinded you to truth in favour of violence as ever?"

He held up a hand to stop Anthony from interfering too soon, though the new Steven saw him and looked contemplative and surprised.

"We have come by mistake, a rip in the Void."

[thunderboltsandlightning]

Thor had been through too much in these last years. He measured time in years by the handful but in the last five, he’d been granted the throne, stripped of house and name, made mortal, regained his footing and his legacy, fallen in love and lost his brother. That wasn’t even to speak of the destruction of the Bifrost, or Jotunheim-- Thor shifted in his stance, still wary, but ignoring at all others.

“I find it difficult to trust you when you have admitted to coming here to raid that which I protect. You bring war and destruction to all you touch. Midgard has never offered you harm, brother. Whom are you working for? Whom sent you here?” Thor made a few wary steps forward, voice lowered. “If you are in trouble, we will find a way to help you,” he said, eyes glued to Loki’s. He’d never finished mourning for his loss, even stuck upon Asgard as he was trying to fix some of the damage he caused.

The hand not holding Mjolnir was left stretched out and flat.

Placating. Anthony didn’t trust it, standing just at his master’s right with Steven gripping the large sword to his own right, eyes trained on both Thor and himself. He looked so lost, his old friend. Especially seeing a mirror of what might have been with his other self at Thor’s right.

Thor just looked mostly sad. And lonely. This might not be his true brother, it might be a trick. But he wanted to help just the same.

[throneenvy]

There was that word again, protection. It was ludicrous, for all the realms on the branches of Yggdrasil were under Asgard's protection, even those which it detested and saw as enemies were still under their eventual protection, why did Thor need to clarify it so often?

"I am in no trouble, you still think me to be the Loki that I have already told you that I am not."

He already did not care for this Thor or this reality. Why would Thor speak of raids in so disparaging a way, as if his Asgard did not go out to test their might and mettle as they should? Why did he see his own brother as an enemy, enough to stand between him and Midgard?

"We seek only our own Midgard to replenish our breeding stock, we seek no war."

One could not have war with mortals, that was ludicrous. War implied that the other side posed some kind of threat.

"Anthony, Steven, fetch chairs and food, we shall clearly be speaking of this longer than anticipated. Clear the deck, these talks are for Thor and I alone."

[thunderboltsandlightning]

Several of those words left Steve Rogers feeling very unwell. He watched his other self and the much younger Stark leave to do as they were told and the others, those looking more like Loki and Thor, left the bridge as well. But him? He stayed. There was all sorts of buzzing going on in his earpiece just before it muted, which made Steve nervous too. He touched his helmet at the ear to see if he could shake the sound loose, but no. They were just working on one way transmissions now.

Evidently they weren’t buying Thor’s little show.

Anthony and Steven returned with two chairs, each finer than the last, and the blond put two and two together. He wasn’t being considered an equal here. This replenish the stock… That was going to be a big issue.

“Thor, I don’t think it’s a good idea to have a talk here,” he said, turning to the larger man still beside him.

Thor seemed torn. “Agreed,” he said, finally. “You should let these people go, Loki, all of them, and return from whence you came. Do not test me in this.”

Steve could have done without the male posturing. In his experience, it just made people even more hot headed. “Your….slaves…can stay here with us. People can’t be property,” he added. And maybe he shouldn’t have. There was shock on his mirrored face.

[throneenvy]

Loki laughed even as he saw the shock spread on the faces of Steven and Anthony. This was a truly ludicrous reality that he had found himself in, and he was almost tempted to investigate it properly rather than find a way back to his Midgard to replenish stock as he had been sent to do.

"Tell me, Steven, what other purpose do you believe Midgardians have? Look at your world, your people, they are as short-lived and weak as mayflies. I can see the stench of pollution on your world, I can see the bleaching of your plants, I can feel the lack of balance in seidr."

He turned to look at Anthony, eyebrows raised.

"Do you wish to remain here in freedom, Anthony? Should you want to walk away from me into this 'better life' of freedom that you have been offered, I shall not stop you."

Better to nip in the bud now that the slaves were slaves against their will. The first generations may struggle, but only because they knew no better.

[bottledblond]

It was a test, it was in name only, but Anthony almost panicked. “Don’t send me away.” It was not just because this was the only life he knew, but because he loved his life. Perhaps if Loki asked one of the kitchen fodder, or those that toiled all day in large gangs on a field for a massive farm or a mine, there might be a different response (and Loki surely knew this), but he had asked one that loved him, that appreciated what he had, and who was loyal.

And Rogers saw that anxious look on Stark’s face and scowled. “He’s afraid to say anything else,” he offered as the reason why Stark would not only look that way, but say what he had. It wasn’t a no. It was something more and that was what really stuck with him. “Freedom might be hard, it certainly doesn’t guarantee a better life, but you get to pick where that life goes.” He was still an idealist. And considering how he was raised, and the poverty he lived through, that he was still so positive spoke volumes. “And I think anyone that tasted freedom would understand that. I’m sure where youre from, not everyone is treated the same either. You might be more technologically advanced than we are, but we have a bigger heart and we will defend ourselves…and the people you keep in chains. We can’t let you hurt anyone.”

Though he was about to speak up without being permitted, Anthony found he had no choice. “You’re wrong. You have no idea what you’re talking about. My life has more meaning now than before my prince claimed me. Maybe you should see what it’s like.” A steely gaze lifted to Loki. “Midgard is Midgard. It doesn’t matter what branch we dip from, does it? I want to get home. And these people need your help as surely as the one we were headed to.”