"Queen! Your Majesty!"
A tall figure in a pale blue cloak, her chestnut hair whipping in the wind, hurried toward the palace where the All-Father slept, calling out as she ran.
Even Odin's usually silent and peaceful bedchamber had begun to stir with the distant sounds of clashing weapons. The cries reached Queen Frigga's ears just as the young goddess hurriedly pushed open the palace doors.
"Eir, don't be so reckless! Have you no decorum?"
Saga, the goddess of "Words," was one of the Queen's twelve handmaidens and the highest-ranking among them. Her voice was gentle, but her reprimand was stern.
Eir, goddess of "Mercy," pressed both hands to her chest, steadying her heaving breaths, then bowed her head in apology.
She looked at Queen Frigga, who had yet to lift her face and was still gazing tenderly at the All-Father Odin. Anxious, she bit her lip.
Far beyond the rear hall of Valaskjalf, on the other side of the Bifrost, rolling thunder and the shouts of battle grew clearer by the moment. Yet Queen Frigga remained intent on smoothing her sleeping husband's silver beard and hair with her fingertips, wholly unconcerned by the infuriating din.
The All-Father Odin's single eye was closed. He wore a loose robe woven from special golden thread, his heavy hands folded over his stomach. Runes covered the disk-shaped bed where he slept, and a transparent golden membrane enveloped it.
The youngest handmaiden, Eir, exchanged glances with the others in the bedchamber. In the end, she gently reminded the Queen:
"Your Majesty. The enemies invading Asgard are advancing along the Bifrost. They're almost at the gates of Valaskjalf. Please—you and the All-Father should temporarily withdraw to the Mountain of the Ancestors for safety."
Queen Frigga was a woman with regular features and a dignified, stately