"I see," she says with a slight nod. And, despite her eminent concern for Loki during this time, she does. The both of them have grown up in societies where any true compassion in the face of tragedy invites nothing but further tragedy. It has been unsettlingly easy to forget, cocooned as she has been in Kirkwall. Struck by how little any of it had mattered in the aftermath of Corypheus's attack on Minrathous, the long trek they had all taken. The rawness of the space she shared with his brother.

It is a luxury to have been allowed to relax her guard, and it is one that Thor does not share. And so not only must he stand alone in keeping ceremonial guard over his mother's body, he must keep actual guard against any who would attempt to exploit or further damage the family, following the scent of blood lke a wolfpack.

"I wish you strength in it, then."