Nod. Loki follows Irissë.

Irissë's tent is, indeed, built into a snowdrift. "Insulation," she says. "It actually sometimes gets too warm in here. We're probably about the same size, too, if you need warmer clothes - not that I have much. We grew up near the Trees, we had practically no functional clothing. You're quiet. Everything okay?"

"I'm all right, I just don't have many comments on the immediate situation. I think I may have a higher cold tolerance than you; I've been as comfortable as could be expected as-is."

"Oh, that's not your magic? You're definitely more comfortable in this weather than me. Can you also heal injuries sustained in combat?"

"Much better than I can starvation and cold, yes. And I have no spells for comfort in the cold at all or I would certainly have offered to share those likewise."

"You're very generous. The Valar have healing powers, but there was too much to heal, they were doing it constantly, or, if they weren't, were aware of whatever they'd failed to heal. So they built a new continent, where nothing suffered, and sealed themselves off there."

"It is lost on me how this alleviates the problem of having failed to heal some things."

"I don't think they thought the problem was having failed to heal things, I think they thought the problem was being surrounded by reminders of that. Like, I'm sure you'd prefer to be in your intended destination, rather than here healing strangers, yes?"

"I would probably have healed strangers there too," Loki remarks. "But I would have had my friend along and would not have been wondering if there was an attempt on my life."

"There'd have been a much easier place to send you not far from here if someone wanted a certain and painful death."

"Well, that makes it more likely that this was some kind of mistake or poorly executed third party sabotage, then," says Loki.

"Who'd likeliest be sabotaging you?"

"No one seems an obvious candidate, but any number of people saw the circumstance preceding my banishment and might have decided it would be better if I disappeared."

"That was?"

"I healed my father of a mortal wound when assassins attacked him in public."

"Congratulations. And you think whoever sent the assassins is after you too?"

"No. I think everyone saw a princess doing magic and is scandalized that I could ever have picked up such a skill. Although your idea is also plausible."

"The royal family isn't supposed to do magic? But how will people respect you, if you don't study the skills they have?"

"Women are not supposed to do magic. My father does it sometimes."

Irissë blinks. "That's - an odd rule. Why? Does? And people'd kill you over it?"

"There's no reason, it's just considered unfeminine. I didn't think anyone would kill me over it, but it crossed my mind when instead of the nice country of Midgardians I expected I wound up in a frozen wasteland."

"Oh, like how men aren't really supposed to study math? I'd say 'we don't murder people over that sort of thing' but I guess that's not even true anymore."

"...Math is not considered the province of either gender in Asgard, but I suppose otherwise similarly."

"The King has fifteen grandsons and only the two granddaughters. People really wanted us to show some aptitude, but Artanis can't stand being bad at things and I can't stand being still."

"Asgardian women are generally expected to be, or at least esteemed highest if we are, warriors. And royalty are particularly expected to exemplify the cultural ideal, so where some anonymous citizen might instead design furniture or be a musician or an engineer, my sister and I were expected to learn to fight. My sister is very well suited to this, a prodigy. I'm all right but I wanted magic. And no one would let me have it."