Chapter Text
The sun shone brightly upon the streets of Asgard as the midday came by. The town surrounding the Royal Palace of Valaskjalf was as busy as it gets during the day. Sellers were trying to get others to visit their shops, farmers were working hard on the fields and parents were trying to keep their children at bay. Everyone was getting ready for the annual masquerade happening in the evening. It honored the death of a mighty warrior, who had died long before most of the Asgardians had even been born.
Unbeknownst to everyone else, a dark figure lurked in the shadows cast by the shining sun. Their eyes were raking the bustling streets, looking for their next target. Just as the figure was about to move to a different location, a pair of royal guards walked into their view.
Perfect, they thought as they dug their head deeper into the hood of their cloak before stepping out of the shadows. The concealed figure weaved through the busy streets towards the guards, who had stopped before a stand selling apples.
“We should come out here more often. The walls of the Palace are starting to bore me,” said one guard to the other, who was biting into the bright green apple he had taken from the stand.
“You know we can’t do that. Who knows what the All-father might do if he finds out we are slacking during work hours,” laughed the other guard in response with his mouth full of the apple, its juices running down the corner of his mouth.
The other guard had opened his mouth to respond to his partner, but he was stopped rudely by someone bumping into him, making him stagger back a few steps before gaining his balance back. “Hey! Watch where you’re going!” The guard yelled out as his gaze fell upon the ground, where a cloaked figure was on all-fours at his feet. Curious people had stopped in their tracks once they had heard the guard yelling to see what was happening.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to,” a woman’s voice begged under the cloak. A hand raised towards their head and moved down the hood to reveal a blonde woman, who looked upwards toward the guard. Her hair was in a messy braid, most likely messed up by the hood. In the woman’s eyes, tears were making her forest green eyes shine more vividly. “I should have looked where I was going. I was just so deep in my thoughts. My husband and child are ill, and I haven’t been sleeping that well and—,” the blonde continued to beg, her hands grabbing the pant leg of the guard she had bumped into, but she was stopped by the guard in question, clearing his throat.
“I don’t need to hear your whole life story,” he said as he glanced towards his partner, who swallowed awkwardly. “Just pay more attention to where you’re going next time, so this doesn’t happen again,” the guard said with a troubled expression. He was getting embarrassed for yelling at the poor woman. The situation wasn’t ideal, and even more people were starting to gather around the guards and the weeping woman to see what was going on.
“Yes, sir! I’ll make sure that this never happens again,” the woman bowed her head down as she rose to her feet. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” continued the woman with her head down in the deepest form of apology before she started to make her way towards the crowd, leaving the stunned guards behind her.
When the woman was sure she was far enough from the guards, she slid into a passage between two buildings. Any evidence of tears had disappeared from her face, only leaving behind a mischievous grin. The woman’s hand dug into the inside pocket of her cloak, pulling out an item that shone brightly in the beam of sun that hit it. The golden key laying in the woman’s hand was just a moment ago dangling in the waistband of the guard she had bumped into, but now, it had found its way into the hands of a talented thief. Most likely, the guards will only notice the missing key, when they make their way back into the Royal Palace, causing panic upon the pair.
“That was easier than I thought,” the woman said out loud to herself as she turned the key in her hand. “Good job, Valda,” she congratulated herself while patting her shoulder before shoving the key back into the pocket it came out of.
Laughter behind Valda caught her attention. Her head snapped to the source of the voice, fearing she had been caught, but to only notice it was just a young couple walking by, enjoying each other’s company. Valda’s hands gripped the edges of her hood and pulled it back over her head. She wasn’t that excited to be caught by anyone after stealing a key to the Royal Palace of Valaskjalf.
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“Valda!” Yelled out a male voice as the door to the tavern was opened by the woman in question. “It's about time you came.”
Valda laughed as she lowered her hood and weaved in between people, who were drinking and playing games, towards the counter, where a bulky man stood with a cloth in his hand. “I had to take care of some businesses,” the woman said with a smile creeping to her lips as she sat down on a chair in front of the man.
The man wiped the counter with the cloth while his eyes were glued to the woman. The muscles in his arm flexed as he held the cloth tighter. His mustache and long beard seemed to be just combed out. A poorly healed scar ran over his left eye and brow, giving the man an appearance many would scare, but Valda knew this man better than anyone to know he wouldn’t injure anyone or anything - not accidentally, at least.
“Did you get it?” Asked the tavern keeper, letting go of the dirty cloth.
Valda dug her hand inside the pocket again and fished out the golden key for the man to see. She held it in front of the man with her fingertips, turning it in the dim light to give him the full view of it. The man’s curiosity spiked as he inspected the key. His massive hand rose to take the key to look at it even closer but with a puff of golden sparkles, the key disappeared.
The tavern keeper’s eyes rose to meet the woman’s with a flash of anger in them. “I don’t want you to get it dirty,” Valda said to him with a shrug of her shoulders. The man sighed before continuing to wipe the counter.
With a slight smile, Valda rose from her seat and made her way behind the counter. The man’s eyes followed her the whole way, only to fall to the wooden floor as she had passed him. “Valda," he said to get her attention before pointing to the direction with his head where he was looking at.
Valda turned around in confusion. What would he want from her now? Her gaze followed the direction his eyes were looking at.
A black feather was laying on the floor.
At the speed of Thor’s lightning, Valda dove to pick up the feather. She hid the feather inside her cloak. “Thank you, Forni,” she said to her friend swiftly before making her way through the 'employees only' door.
After the door was closed and locked, Valda took out the black feather. She twirled the feather between her fingers, inspecting its condition.
“Daufi!” She cried out before tossing the feather into the fireplace next to her. She watched the feather slowly catch on fire with the help of a little golden sparkle. The smell of the burning feather was tangy, it burned the inside of her nose.
Valda’s thoughts were a mess as she watched the fireplace, even though her eyes were burning from the brightness of the fire. Was that the only feather she had dropped, or could she have left more on her way to the tavern? No, that must have been the only one. Otherwise, someone would have let her know about the falling feathers from under her cloak.
Out of frustration, the woman peeled off the cloak covering her, only to reveal a pair of black wings neatly folded against her back. As the cloak fell from her shoulders to pool on the floor by her feet, her wings started to expand to the sides, aching from the sudden movement after being folded so tightly for so long.