"You believe me?"

"Uh, I mean I guess I want some evidence, but there's like a metal box outside that teleports people to the world that all the singing boxes come from, so I dunno, I'll take some stuff on faith if you swear by your dumb god that you're really super sure?"

"I swear by all that is holy that he's a thing that leaps to a new body when he dies, and I was pretty sure that meant he was a demon but I guess I have no idea what he is, given, you know, recent events."

"Oookay. Right then. Hang tight and I'll... see if they have anything that takes care of bodysnatching demons, I guess." 

She pauses in the doorway. "...what were you even going to do to him?"

"I hadn't figured that out yet."

She gives her a hug, 'cause she looks like maybe she could use one. "You're really bad at this. But that's OK. Your dumb god made you really good at babies and stories and really bad at subterfuge, I guess."

All right. She's gonna need a plan. 

Her first option is to kill her dad. Once he's dead - if she, hopefully, manages to kill him without being detected - Scandinavia will pass to his current heir, and hopefully so will the spirit. She can request a resurrection, and if they say yes then hopefully she gets the original Dyre back without his creepy hitchhiker, and then she'll have someone in a relevant political position who's hopefully inclined to both destroy the demon and inclined to look to the future of Scandinavia. The main problem is that that's a lot of hopefullies, and if she doesn't manage to kill him (or immediately gets caught) then she probably gets tried for attempted murder, and getting tried for attempted murder is not on her to-do list. 

Her second option is to convince her dad to send her on a diplomatic mission to wherever Loki is, which she could probably do without burning any bridges, especially if she gets her aunt out separately. She can study magic and history and combat and come back really prepared to help Scandinavia succeed. She can maybe ask Loki for advice, except even the random plebs from Loki's empire aren't impressed with her being a princess, so probably Loki isn't going to be impressed at all, either, and there's no guarantee that Loki'll even want to talk to her at all. The main problem with leaving is that there might not even be a Scandinavia by the time she comes back, even if she only leaves for five years or so, and she likes Scandinavia.

She decides that she will do what she usually does when presented with difficult decisions. She asks her dad.

"Vigdis! Applying yourself to your studies today, I hope?"

"Yessir. And I'm going over a very complicated problem that needs your legendary wisdom. I've been talking to the wizards and telling them what a great ruler you are, and telling them about Odin and Thor and everyone, and how they can lead good and upright lives. Only then they told me that they already knew about Odin and Thor and everyone, and that's who they serve, and that's who gave them their magic. And I was thinking, I bet if I go back to their nation and meet Odin and Thor, then I can tell them about Scandinavia and secure their blessings for us and make it so that we can do great magic, too."

"I see that you've thought a lot about this."

"Yessir. And if it's important and it'll help you then I want to be the one to do it for you. But I'm also worried that if I leave to secure the gods' blessings, then when I come back Scandinavia might be completely different than it was when I left it, and maybe it won't matter that I learned magic from the gods because maybe Scandinavia will've moved on entirely."

"I see," says the emperor, motioning for her to sit down by his desk. "Vigdis, you're very clever, you can see that the wizards are going to change our entire way of life. There's no stopping that, whether you're here or in Vanda Nossëo."

"Yessir. I was hoping maybe you had a brilliant plan, but I guess if you don't then we'll just have to kiss up to our new masters and wait until we can hatch one."

"It seems that way. You know Vigdis, I used to wish you were a boy, I think of all my children you might be the one who understands me best."

"I think I might be. I guess the gods must have their reasons, though."

"I suppose they must! And I wonder whether their reason wasn't to make sure that we had someone clever around who I knew would never be able to succeed me. The people don't need to love you, Vigdis, you're not going to be the one they bow to. But you must be a clever and trustworthy advisor to the man who succeeds me. You must know things that he doesn't know, and see things that he doesn't see."

"And you think I'll know more and see more if I study in Vanda Nossëo."

"It seems likely. It will be very dangerous, being a hostage in a foreign power. I'd not send you if I were any less sure of your courage. But if you can learn their ways, learn their magic and the way they see the world, then Scandinavia will have no better defense against them."

"You don't worry that there'll stop being a Scandinavia in the meantime?"

"The thought has crossed my mind. But whatever happens to us will happen regardless of where you are. In ten years that may no longer be the case." He claps her on the shoulder. "I'll see about who to send with you on your mission. Go back to studying."

Vigdis decides that she maybe doesn't want to try killing her dad yet, even if he is an evil pagan tyrant who sacrificed her mom to the gods. And he's right about Scandinavia; she could maybe get Dyre back by killing the emperor, but Dyre wouldn't be able to hold Scandinavia any better than the emperor would. If you want to be able to successfully paint within the lines the gods leave you, then you have to figure out where the lines are.

"I think probably we should leave Scandinavia and secretly figure out whether Vanda Nossëo has any magic for killing unkillable demons, and then we can come back and sort this all out when we have a better idea of what our options are."

"You thought of something, but you didn't like how it was likely to go?"

"Yeah. Also if I'd done it right then the emperor might die, and I kind of don't want him to die, because he's kind of my dad and stuff. But I swear I wanna rule Scandinavia as much as you want him to not. Though I'm gonna have to find a way to do it without getting possessed by an ancient evil demon emperor. And I bet that if we want to do something that complicated then probably the gods're the only ones who can do it. Or at least the gods' magic can maybe do it, and if I can get my hands on the gods' magic then maybe I can do it, too."

She sighs. "You are so very much his daughter."

"I guess I am."

"I...suppose I'll wait for Amoli to come back. And try not to yell at her this time."