"You said that was how it should have been. Clearly, things didn't turn out the way you expected. Can you tell us about it?"
With a gentle expression, Sif reached out and helped the man up from the cold cave floor. She also handed him a large wooden bowl, filled not with freshly boiled hot water, but with the strong liquor every Aesir carried with them.
As the Queen's guard, she never drank while on duty, but the liquor she carried had always been reserved for Thor.
If Thor ran out of alcohol, he could come to her for the good stuff. That way, she could take the opportunity to talk with the man she loved. That was the whole point.
Otherwise, she usually followed the Queen, while Thor spent his time with the Warriors Three and Loki. They had far too little time together.
The Goddess's support left Joel deeply flattered. He rose to his feet and accepted the bowl of liquor, tears welling in his eyes. Clearly, he felt unworthy of drinking a Valkyrie's alcohol.
He should have died, fallen gloriously on the battlefield. Then a Valkyrie would have come to guide him to glorious Valhalla, where he could fight, drink, and eat meat with the other Einherjar. That was the ideal destination for every warrior.
But now? He had failed to die and survived instead. That made him a deserter from that battle. After death, his soul should have been dragged by Hela into the Underworld, tied to a broken anchor and sunk into the muddy depths, eroded by weeds and insects until he became filth in the River Styx.
"Stop being moved. Drink up and start talking." Loki urged him with a helpless expression. She could not stand scenes like this.
What was with all this