|| Secrets || (Loki x OC)

8| All alone

The newlyweds wing

Thor closed the door, leaving them alone, all alone.

Loki still had Ameera in his arms. He stood there stoically, and she was calm and collected. She held still in his arms, looking straight ahead.

After a while, she finally said in a low voice, "you can put me down now, your highness."

He snapped his head down to her face, as if he had not even noticed he was holding her, "right!" He muttered, before placing her down carefully. She curtsied politely, and stood up firmly in her place.

His mind had been devoured with thoughts of revenge and possible freedom that he did not give much thought to what he would actually do once it was all said and done.

He was yet to figure her out, what her intentions were, but how was he going to go about doing that? Was she an enemy or a possible ally? He sighed heavily, lost in his thoughts, that he hardly paid her any attention. She stood there quiet.

Realizing he had to say something, anything, he finally went with his instincts, "you look beautiful, princess," he managed to say with a pale smile.

She curtsied, "thank you, your highness."

He waited on her to say something else, but she did not. It seemed that she never did.

"I hope you liked your ring," he said.

"The queen's taste is impeccable, your highness, how can I not?" She said quietly.

He raised an eyebrow at her, "how would you know it was not me who got you the ring?" He exclaimed.

Still not meeting his gaze, she answered, "did you, your highness?"

"I did not, but how would you know?" He asked curiously, "why not the king who got the ring?"

"Did he, your highness?"

"Do you have a habit of answering questions with more questions?" He asked, his smile slightly more prominent now.

"They are not questions, your highness, they are of the rhetorical nature, I already know the answer," she said with a soft smile.

"Aha! Which brings us back to my original question, how?" He asked.

"Women's intuition I suppose," her smile warmer.

"I see! .. so did you like it?"

"I did. I am grateful for such a beautiful gift," she said politely.

"Good .. good," he said trailing off.

She returned to her silence.

After a moment or two, Loki spoke again, "you do realize we are married now, do you not?" He asked with an unreadable expression on his face.

"I wonder what gave that away, your highness? Was it the wedding?" She stopped herself immediately, quickly apologizing, "apologies, your highness, I meant no disrespect. I was .. I was just .."

She was nervous, for a second there she fell back to her old self, but she had to quickly remind herself, this was not Alfheim, and he did not know her enough to tolerate her antics. He could think this was disrespectful of her, and she did not wish to reflect badly on her family nor on her heritage. A strong opinionated woman like herself was not easily accepted outside of Alfheim. Being her father's advisor and travelling the realms with him, she had seen firsthand how men respond to her essence. She used to have to work twice as hard to elicit their respect.

Loki smiled, an actual genuine smile, as he took one more step closer to her and cut her off, "that is quite alright, princess, I admire your forthcoming. You speak your mind, that is nothing to apologize for .. I suppose it was a foolish question to begin with," he said, maintaining his smile.