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The princess who finalized the peace was confined to the palace.
Laussa had not set foot outside the gates ever since she had been kidnapped as a babe. The closest to the outside world was the courtyard, where she was allowed to wander for one hour a day under the watchful eye of her nurse.
The child had begged her parents to permit to go outside the palace but they always denied her request.
"It is too dangerous child," her father always said.
Laussa did not understand. Mother and Father always came and went from the palace as they pleased. If they could leave why couldn't she?
Even if the palace was grand and filled with new corridors and levels to explore, Laussa grew bored as time went by. Each day was the same. She awoke at the crack of dawn. The princess was bathed, then anointed with a lotion that made her skin sting before getting dressed. She broke her fast with porridge or fresh bread, a glass of milk, along with a bitter tasting potion that she had to drink with all her meals. During the morning she had her lessons. In the afternoon she played. A plate of meat and vegetables with a glass of water or milk were served for lunch and dinner, with fruit and her potion to follow. On special occasions she would be given something sweet for her desert. A pastry, cookies, or her favorite, the Midgardian ice cream. She went to bed at sundown. She did not fall asleep to lullabies or stories like most children did, but a prayer her mother always recited:
Gods of the Gods above
Benevolent may ye be
Guide this child through the darkness of the night
And may she live to see another light
Laussa never was alone. She was always accompanied during the day by someone: a servant, a tutor, or her mother. At night, a servant stayed up to keep watch over her. Not even for a second would they take their gaze off her. Not even in her most private of moments. As she grew older she began to wonder why.
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Life was lonely in the palace.
The princess had no true companions to play with. Her servants were required to interact with her. Her busy mother played with her whenever she could. Her brother Thor was always away, and half of the time was in a bad mood when he returned to Asgard. Her father did not believe in games.
She had not met anyone from the outside world. Whenever guests came to the palace, Laussa was told to stay in her room. Stretches of a few hours to a few weeks made Laussa feel trapped and anxious.
She turned to imaginary friends to cope. Beings of all types filled her imagination and made her day brighter. From the corner of her eye she'd see a unicorn gallop out in the courtyard. A group of fairies hovering by the flowers on the windowsill. Snakes and dragons slithering in the halls. As the months and years went by, they fleshed out to the point where they could make sound and interact with her.
Her favorite was The Ball Of Fire. A bright orange- red with a deep masculine voice, and highly intelligent, it kept the princess entertained for hours on end. It engaged her with silly games, floated around her head during her lessons, keeping her awake with sly comments,talking to her when no one would listen.
It was the closest thing she had to a friend in her short life.
"Oh Fire," she whispered to it one cold winter's day as it huddled against her to keep her warm. "You're the best friend I ever had. I hope we will be friends forever."
"Of course My Lady," it told her. "I would never leave you. I always serve My Master."
"Don't speak of me like that," Laussa said. "You're my friend. You're not like the maids."
She learned fast to keep her imaginary friends a secret. One word of their existence was enough for her parents to call the healers and confine her to her quarters. They would fear that it was a symptom of one of her fits.
The healers said that they stemmed from her being upset, from a flame bigger than a candle's, or from the cold. A round of sobbing, shouting, and shivers triggered the hot prickly sensation to overwhelm her along with a vision of flames rising all around her. Her body became rigid and she blacked out. She would awaken on the floor or on her bed, in terrible pain. Her skin was covered in burns and her limbs ached. Her clothes were scorched and torn. The servants tended to her. They bandaged her wounds, placed cold washcloths on her skin, covered her once more with the lotion, and made her drink more of that disgusting potion.
The wisest of healers had examined her over the years and they could not find a cure.
"It is a miracle that Her Highness has lived this long," one said. "Many who are Surtur-bound do not live for more than a day."
"Will she live to womanhood?" Her mother asked.
"I wish I could assure ye My Queen," the healer sighed. "But I fear that the darkness has a hold of her soul."
Darkness. Surtur. Evil. Soul. Fire. Words that the adults whispered but never explained. Again and again her parents, the servants, and the healers dismissed her questions like they did with everything else she asked for.
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If it wasn't the loneliness, it was the arguing that got to her.
Mother and Father bickered constantly, at least once a day. Days passed when they didn't speak or even acknowledge each other. The servants whispered that her father had something called an affair and shared it with a mistress. That her mother snuck into the wine cellar and spent her nights there. Laussa was too young to understand what it meant, but old enough to know that it wasn't good.
Mother wasn't the only one angry at Father. It seemed like whenever Thor came to visit he and Father had something to disagree over. Honor. Worth. Thor's lack of shirt. The mortals down below on Midgard. The woman that Thor visited who lay dying in the sickbay. Unlike Mother and Father who strived to keep up appearances, Father and son did not mind drawing an audience during their fights. It became a sick sort of entertainment for the palace dwellers who flocked to it as if it were a cockfight.
Her friends' visits became more frequent. The unicorn offered it's mane for Laussa to pet it. The fairies brought her gifts of flower petals. The Ball Of Fire whispered comforting phrases in her ear when she felt like she would have another fit:
"Don't worry child," it said. "This sorrow will come to an end. I promise you that."
The girl focused on its image to snap back into consciousness. Sometimes it worked. Most of the time she still went under.
The Fire began to become a permanent fixture in Laussa's life. It guided her through her day until the moment she went to bed. She began to rely on it more and more for advice and happiness.
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Her stomach growled in the middle of her play. She dropped her dolls and placed a hand over her belly. It contracted.
She looked over to the servant who was watching her to ask for a snack, but to her surprise the maid was fast asleep in the rocking chair.
"What do I do?" The girl wondered out loud.
"Why don't you go to the kitchens My Lady?"
She turned to see her friend hover close to her head.
"I can't do that," she told it. "I'm not allowed to go about alone."
"Why not," The Fire asked.
"I don't know," Laussa admitted. "It's always been that way."
"But My Lady, you're a princess," Fire said. "You have every right to go about as you please."
"But--"
"Don't listen to what the adults say," The Fire glowed a bright red. "They control you too much. You are not so small anymore My Lady. You don't need to be watched every single second. You need to learn to learn how to fend for yourself do you not? It's high time they start taking you seriously."
"You are right Fire," she agreed. "I'm old enough to go about alone. Will you accompany me to the kitchens?"
"Your wish is my command Your Highness," it moved its body as if to bow.
After checking to make sure the coast was clear, Laussa crept out of her room. She slowly began to make her way down the corridor, still glancing about nervously behind her.
"Relax My Lady," The Fire said soothingly. "I'm the only one here."
With that said, she strode more confidently. She turned at the end of the hall to reach the stairs. She began to go up.
"This isn't so bad!" She exclaimed as she skipped up the stairs. With a jump, she landed at the top. "Come on Fire! We're close."
She broke out into a run. She could smell baking pastries, burning wood, and steam as she clutched her skirts and let out a laugh. Her heart pounded, her stomach rumbled once more, the heat surging from her heart out into her veins, as she broke out into a smile.
"Laussa!"
Her father stood in front of the door as if to guard it. His arms were crossed.
Fire had disappeared.
She froze. The excitement that flowed in her veins boiled over into fear.
"Father!" Suddenly everything felt cold.
"What are you doing about alone? " He shouted. "Where is your maid?"
"I--I was hungry!" Laussa frantically explained. "I wanted something to eat! Maid Lorin was asleep! I--"
He grabbed her arm and pulled her in.
"You don't go off alone! " Odin shook her roughly. "How many times have we told you that child!"
Her head began to spin.
"I'm hungry!"
He slapped her.
She let out a howl, cradling her sore, clammy cheek the best as she could. All was a mix of black and gray as she felt her father's arms take hold of her and drag her away from the kitchen.
The girl tried to pull away with a shriek, struggling to breath in-between sobs. It was then everything went to black.
She awoke on the floor, thinking that it was on fire.
Laussa attempted to sit up to find that a sharp pain ran down her back. She let out a cry.
Freyja sat over her. She gently caressed Lausa's singed hair before taking her hand.
The girl took it with a whimper. A mixture of relief and worry was on her mother's face as she began to wipe the girl's bloody face with a damp washcloth.
"It's alright Laussa," she whispered. "It's alright."
The girl did not realize that a crowd of servants and courtiers alike surrounded them. Odin angrily ordered them out, his clothes drenched in blood.
Laussa later learned that the maid had been fired.
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She darted back and forth across her room chasing after Fire. Laussa giggled as she tried to catch it, nearly tripping on her feet at times. Her mother looked on, amused and confused at her child's choice of play.
A loud yet distant yell made mother jolt up in her seat and daughter stop in her tracks. Another shout came after it, even louder than the first.
"Oh dear not again," Freyja muttered. She stood up and motioned for Laussa to follow. They quickly made their way out the chamber, down the hall, up two flights of stairs, towards the throne room.
The whole court surrounded Odin and Thor who circled each other, ready to strike. Laussa walked into the hall, clutching her mother's hand.
"You don't care!" Thor bellowed. His hand clenched into a fist. "You've always pretended to care!"
"The threat must be dealt with," Odin retorted.
" Threat? " Thor shouted. "That threat is your own daughter. "
Freyja started to lead Laussa back out before the girl could react. But the crowd would not let mother and daughter leave. Freyja tried to cover Laussa's ears but the girl squirmed out of her mother's grasp.
"How dare you make assumptions! You know nothing of what we've faced!"
"My loyalties still lie with Asgard!"
"Then why don't you prove it?"
"My love for my family is proof!"
"Then you do it," Odin snarled.
A shocked expression ran across Thor's face.
"No," his voice trembled. "No--I would never."
"Coward," Odin spat. "You who exiled your brother. Branded your sister's hands."
Laussa's eyes grew wide. Out of all the topics that were taboo, her older sister and adopted brother were high on the list. Not even the servant's gossip touched them. She felt chills go down her spine from just hearing her father mention them.
"You want me to kill Laussa? " Thor roared. "The poor child has done nothing wrong!"
Her mother held Laussa in a protective grip but she felt nothing.
It was as if all her senses had been dulled as she crumbled to the ground and howled.
"Laussa!" Her mother shook her paralyzed body. "Laussa my child!"
Only her eyes moved, blinking out an endless river of tears. Her vision was starting to fade.
"Look at what you've done!" Freyja shouted at her husband. "You despicable--"
"You monster!" Thor's angered cry interrupted Freyja's insult.
A gasp came from the court.
She saw a glimpse of The Fire. It approached her in between flashes.
The girl's mouth parted. She let out a groan.
Fire did not need words to understand her plea.
"My Lady. You will not fade anymore!" It said.
Its flames began to change from a crimson red to a raven black. It sent a bolt of fire that pierced her heart.
It shot through her limbs.
The fire burned her.
Her body began to shake. She tensed up, expecting pain to follow but it didn't.
The flames did not hurt anymore.
She heard screams around her but she didn't care. All that mattered was this fire that burned inside.
In her muscles, a strength bubbled that she did not know she possessed. In her heart, a burst of courage and will. Her mind jumbled about, the flames rewriting her whole life and destiny.
"Arise!" Fire cried overjoyed. "No longer a princess but a Queen you will be!"
Laussa opened her eyes.
For the first time, everything was clear.
She mother slid back, frightened, her dress burnt, with deep cuts crisscrossed across her arms and hands. Thor had his father in a tight grasp that Odin had once held the girl, preventing him from striking her with his spear. The crowd was scrambled about, shaken, attempting to flee.
The girl held her arm out. Her skin, once a pinkish white, was now a fiery red.
Her mouth opened and a voice not her own rang:
"Let Everything Burn!"