You went to Loki and hugged him, pulling him tightly to you, standing in front of him while he sat on your bed. "I know, love. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you. It was forbidden," you reminded him. His arms wrapped around you and he held you too tightly.

"I hate this. I hate that I could have lost you forever and I didn't even know. No one knows. Would they even have told me?" he asked with tears in his eyes.

You nodded and kissed the top of his head. "They would have told you it was a tragic accident of the trials," you told him. "I think your parents are the only ones outside of the Valkyrie who know the truth of the trials," you added.

He pushed away from you enough to look up at you. "Why? Why do you have to go through this? Why the trials?" he demanded, horrified at the thought of all of those little girls who would have to undergo the trials.

"Besides the scores determining our future, only those who survive the trials can handle being Valkyrie. You've seen how draining it is on me to go to the land of the dead. Here's a secret, princeling," you added with a hint of teasing "I earned my position at your side because of my scores during the trials. Even with our friendship, they never would have assigned me that post had I not earned it fairly. I came out of the trials with top marks and you see how hard my job is for me. The thought is that those who don't survive the grand trial could never survive being Valkyrie. I agree, though, that there should be an out for the girls who are ill-fitted to the life, but every girl born a Valkyrie has to go through the trials," you explained.

His arms tightened back around you. "Thank the Norns you made it through," he told you.

"I made it love. I passed with flying colors and earned my position at your side," you reminded him. "It's still light out, do you want to see the trial grounds and save that," you gestured at the journal "for when you can't sleep tonight?" you asked him. He nodded and set the book on your bed, jumping to his feet. You smirked at his excitement, but saw the haunted look in his eyes too. He was excited to get his curiosity sated, yes, but he also wanted to see what you'd gone through.

"Of course I want to see the trial grounds," he told you firmly. You smiled, kissed him, and took his hand to lead him downstairs. There was a hallway off the main corridor of the castle that led to the trial grounds. It was guarded by a Valkyrie keeping the Trainees from trying to sneak in to see what the trials contained. There was an entire wing of the castle along with fenced in training yards outside dedicated to the trials. You walked straight up to the Valkyrie on guard, Loki's hand firmly in yours.

She stood from her post automatically to block your entrance to the trial wing. She looked the pair of you over as you approached, holding a spear at her side, plenty enough intimidation to keep the Trainees from messing with her. She was ready to argue until she got a proper look at you as you flipped your wrist over to show her your tattoo and assignment mark, though it was unnecessary with your other hand in Loki's. "Kyrie!" she exclaimed when she recognized you. "I haven't see you since you completed your trial!"

You went to her and hugged her. "I haven't been back since," you explained. "I received my assignment the very next day. And then married the loon," you added and stuck your tongue out at Loki. "Lohk, this is Astrid, she was here as a trainee the year I took the trials,"

"Everyone looked up to Kyrie. She's a living legend. Her name is still on top of all the record boards," Astrid told Loki. "Showing husband the trial grounds?" she asked you after Loki had nodded his understanding of her words, pride in his smile at your achievements.

You nodded. "It's within my rights," you reminded her.

She nodded her agreement. "It is. I must remind you both that the secrets of the trials must remain among the Valkyrie. You may tell your Lord Consort of course, but you know what will happen if he spills our secrets, prince or no," she reminded you.

"Your warning is heard, Sister," you reassured her firmly. You weren't going to risk your life or Loki's by letting him spill Valkyrie secrets. Not that he would. She stepped aside and let you pass.

"What happens if a husband does spill the secrets?" Loki asked unnecessarily as you stepped into the hallway.

"They die, and in most cases take their Valkyrie with them," you told him, also unnecessarily. He knew that already, he just wanted you to confirm it.

You walked down the hallway, smiling at the names of all of the current Valkyrie in order of rank as you walked. Loki looked them over too. "Where are you?" he asked, indicating the names. You gestured to the end of the hall.

"Down there," you replied with a smirk. Nearly at the end of the short corridor you pointed out your name on the rank boards. "It's actually out of order now. I don't think there are technically any Valkyrie who outrank me since none are currently assigned to your parents or Thor, and we're married now..." you mused as you looked over the couple of names who were past yours. One of them was the Matron, which wasn't an insult because here she outranked everyone, the head instructor, and heads of a couple other groups of Valkyrie also were above your name. "No, I guess this is right," you mused further as you looked over the names. "They outrank me because they're the head of the different Valkyrie groups," you explained to the confused Loki. "The Matron, the head instructor, the Trial Mistress, the head of the Valkyrie at court, and the head of the field Valkyrie," you explained, pointing to each. Loki nodded, drawing all the information in. On the opposite wall were the record boards showing the top three Valkyrie ever at each of the trials. Your name topped nearly every one of them.

"Impressive, darling. I knew you were good, but..." Loki trailed off as he saw the evidence for himself of just how good. You could feel how impressed he was with your achievements.

"I trained my ass off for basically a hundred years. I started sooner and trained harder than anyone else so I could earn my position," you reminded him. It was hard work that had earned you your position.

"And no one can know how well you did..."

You smiled at him and kissed his cheek. "They know, Lohk. They know by my station. And the Valkyrie know by the evidence here," you gestured to the wall of ranks. "Every Trainee comes to this hall before the trials begin so she can look at the ranks, so she can look at the scores and know exactly who she has to look up to and exactly whose skills she has to beat to end up on the boards herself," you told him. "I came here the first time the day we left and my mother's name was on most of the boards," you explained. He whistled, even more impressed. Your mother was legend among the Asgardians for her skills. She had trained you and Loki both. You took Loki's hand again. "Come on, princeling. Let me show you the trial grounds,"

You led him through the door at the end of the hall of ranks into the trial grounds proper. "Trial Mistress," you greeted the Valkyrie on the other side of the door. She nodded in greeting to you.

"Kyrie, Lord Consort," she greeted you in reply. "There are a few Trial goers currently in their trials. You are welcome to observe, but please do not interrupt," she bid you. You nodded and led Loki into one of the trial rooms. There were lights outside each room indicating whether they were in use or not. This one was one of the first trials, an all-day archery competition. The girl inside looked exhausted; since it was nearly sunset she would have been here all day already.

"The weapons trials are among the first," you whispered to Loki so you couldn't be heard by the girl. She looked so young, sixteen or so by Midgardian standards. You always forgot how young the trial goers actually were. A hundred years was too young.

You left her and went further down the hall pointing out the rooms for the other weapons trials. The next one in use was the waterfall pool. "Poor girl," you commented softly before you cracked the door open. The girl inside was standing under the waterfall in her underthings. "A test of determination," you whispered, though there was no way for her to hear you. "The first day is hell. The second? After they let you leave and eat and get warm. The second day is the real test. And each day after. Doing nothing but standing under that freezing waterfall for a week from sunrise to sunset. No one was allowed to observe that trial of mine. It was bored out of my wits, but the cold didn't bother me, though I turned blue and I wasn't allowed to open my eyes to actually see that for myself..." you grumbled, still pissed that your Jotun heritage had been hidden from you to protect Loki's secret.

"So how did you entertain yourself?" Loki asked as you closed the door behind you.

"By reciting the stories of your grandfather to myself. Which came in handy for the history exam," you added with a smirk. "There were exams on history, politics, interviews on diplomacy, any skill you had to learn, we did too and we had to be tested on our abilities in order to advise our charges. Some of those exams weren't as important to the girls who weren't aspiring to personal service," you explained as you continued down the hall. "This one was one of the hardest trials. Another test of dedication, stamina, determination," you explained as you opened the door. There were no girls inside, just the empty perch. Loki looked at you confused while you shuddered at the memory. "A week of no food, no water, standing on that perch without moving an inch. It was hell, which is why it's one of the last trials before the grand trial," you explained.

"That's why you couldn't contact me for a week," he commented as he remembered too. He'd hated that you'd left him for a week. It had been an important week for him too. He'd had to run the mage's council meetings alone, without Frigga there and without you at his side and he'd been terrified to do it.

You nodded. "That's why," you agreed and shut the trial room's door. You gestured to the room at the end of the hall. "Ready to find out what the grand trial entails?" you asked him. He nodded and took your hand to reassure you both that you were there and safe. You opened the big double doors and stepped inside. There was one girl kneeling in front of the altar in the small room, her dragonfang blade naked in her hand. Her eyes were closed and she the only movement was her breathing. One of the full-Valkyrie was in the room observing. "This is the grand trial," you told Loki.

"She's-" he started, having seen you in the same state before.

You nodded. "She's in the land of the dead. The grand trial takes place entirely in the land of the dead. You have one month. One month to slay a hundred ghost-ghasts. One month to save as many lost souls as you can to lead them to their proper afterlives. You cannot return early. You either slay the hundred ghost-ghasts or..."

"One of them kills you while you try," he finished, understanding why those who fail the trials die. You'd told him all about the ghost-ghasts. He knew exactly how dangerous they were. "A hundred of those foul things?"

"Victory or Valhalla," was all you answered. Was all you had to answer.