The princess and the pit viper

Skadi walked towards the pit with her head held high. She’d lost the wager with Tyrfing and now had the scary task of kissing the prisoner on the nose. Even though the thought made her nervous she was determined not to let it show. She wasn’t going to give her brother anymore reason to be smug. No, she was going to her punishment bravely.

Reaching the lip of it she glanced over at her brother before peering into the darkness below. The sun was at just the right angle to cast part of the pit into deep shadow. Alright, this was it. Skadi stuck out her bottom lip as she considered the height. That was a long way down and she was not jumping in! She drew the line there. “Hey! Lady! Are you in there?”