Truth be told, it didn't mean much that Bernadette was one of the few female Fire Giants left. Eldjotnar were born from the womb of Muspelheim, tearing out of its jagged black rocks that nurtured them with its molten fiery veins with an explosion of steam and boiling water, throwing out shards of rock and flame. Each Eldjotnar was born destroying a little more of the world but Muspelheim, terrifying mother as she was, stood prepared, even welcomed the pain as a bond intimate enough to tie them together, knowing that for each part of Muspelheim that wrenched itself out of the ground and walked free, only moments later it would result in more of Muspelheim's fire elsewhere as its loyal children brought flaming destruction to another world. Maybe, thought the great hungry consciousness of the world of primal fire, witness to first creation and final destruction alike as the wheel endlessly turned, worlds were always meant to travel and spread themselves, seed themselves into each other, although they looked like dull rocks in predestinate patterns. So, though each Eldjotnar knew one of the oldest and most terrifying mothers in existence, they weren't that clear on the specifics of women of their own species, other than that they were, in some mysterious way they couldn't comprehend, a desirable thing.

Bernadette was as stocky and broad-shouldered as a male Eldjotnar, as savage in battle, as loud when she was drunk and as liable to break things or set things on fire or both, mostly both, although she had more of a fashion sense and kept her hair in better condition.

Seeing as there weren't many of her, making her a rare and special thing, everyone assumed she was Surtur's woman and he would be angry if they tried to steal her. In fact, while she respected and was unswervingly loyal to her Lord as a ruler and as a commander in battle, and she might just have a tiny crush on him, she was of a belief that such an unequal power dynamic in a relationship that mixed her business and private life would only lead to complications, and besides, she had caught him falling asleep at his office chair once and he snored like a faulty chainsaw.

According to Surtur, Bernadette's unique position made her an ideal spy. Her appearance was slightly less ferocious, meaning that people didn't run away screaming on sight of her, especially if she took one of the mortal female appearances she had a fascination with that the other Eldjotnar considered weird and slightly perverted. Of course, if she openly revealed that she was a fire giant in the company of deities, they would still try to murder her, making open diplomacy virtually impossible, but there were ways of contacting certain inviduals who were tangentially related to their enemies, people who might be a little more amenable to civilised conversation and who, over time, might even be persuaded to see things from Surtur's perspective.

Not that she wouldn't be averse to grabbing a great-axe and rampaging across worlds, setting them aflame. Everyone needs some fun in their life, after all.