"I'd like to be queen in order to do a variety of things, encouraging my culture to make sense being one of them."

"I do hate when cultures make little sense, yes. It's what causes me to run off into the wilderness and practice my art with plants. I wish you the best of luck in becoming queen in order to fix it."

"Even if my sister is favored over me - which looks most likely, as she is the perfect golden representative of all Asgard's feminine virtue - she at least has the advantage of listening to me now and again, which Mother does not."

"That must be frustrating. I don't know what advice to offer you, I'm afraid - but I'm happy to listen to what you have to say."

"My greatest concern is that Thor will be made queen - she will learn that I perform magic - and then she will not listen to me, not even now and again."

Zeviana nods. "How much do you trust her? I had thought my brother would balk at my preferences with how big he is on 'duty' and such, but - he surprised me. I think that living an entire life hiding something important about yourself is a bad idea, though your situation might be different? You might not want to do what I would do."

"My best guess is that Thor would eventually find some way to understand - or at least to act like she does; actual understanding might be too much to ask. But before that happened, well, she's - impulsive."

"And you're afraid she'd proclaim to everyone that you do magic in a rage and get you banished right after she finds out."

"Or something. At a bare minimum I imagine she would say some very hurtful things. So I put it off, even though it probably wouldn't be hard to get her to come with me someplace several days' travel from anyone she could tell to give her time to cool off."

"Hmm. You could bring her here, I could obviously do magic in front of her, and you can see how she reacts to it? It wouldn't be accurate to how she reacts to you but it could open up the idea that it's okay to use magic."

"...You know, I rather like that idea. Although it's possible she will just conclude that the people of Alfheim are different."

"Possibly, but you don't know for sure. I'm fine with trying, if she yells I'll simply throw her out."

"She would be hard to throw."

"Then you can help," she says, amused.

"Thor has been known to decisively trounce groups of warriors all of whom are more dedicated to the arts of war than I, in practice."

"Oh. In that case, I suppose I would run. Perhaps you should finish the bird spell so I could fly out of reach."

"If Thor is sufficiently enraged that I have to turn you into a bird, then the experiment loses its virtue of allowing me my continued secrecy."

"True," says Zeviana. "But I would be alive."

"And I would certainly prioritize that if I had put you in danger thusly, but we have not yet committed to so putting you. So perhaps I will finish my bird spell, tell Thor about myself, and escape without any third parties present if she is out of control."

"Ah, well. Has she been known to brutally murder people without reason? If I know I won't die, then I wouldn't mind the danger."

"No, no, no murders on her conscience. I don't think she'd really be the first to resort to violence, but she would not respond well to an attempt to throw her out because of some yelling."

Zeviana sighs. "Then I won't throw her out, I suppose. Even if she does yell. The experiment can be conducted without a problem, then."

"Maybe I will try it, if she has not already found out one way or another by the time I have a suitable bird spell. Do you want to put in a request for what kind of bird?"

"I've been leaning towards some kind of falcon. I have an affection for singing birds, but they aren't the best of the fliers."