Horrible Terrible Things

Chapter Seven

'And the lighthouse?'

'How do you know-' I began but he looked up to me, his finger gesturing to it in the distance.

'I've seen you coming and going. I've never seen anyone there before.' He shrugged and met my gaze.

He blinked once and I held my hands out to him. He held two small containers in his hands but still, he didn't offer them to me and seemed to be awaiting my answer.

It must have been the light but his eyes were near blue as the water, clear and pretty and eerily similar to the cerulean of Kit's. In fact, looking at him, they shared similar features though this man was more rugged where Kit was neat.

'It needs some love.' I hoped my answer would be enough. It seemed to be as he looked at me for one-second longer and nodded in agreement.

'You'll have to let me in. To see it. I'm sure I can take a look at anything that's broken.'

It felt cliched the way I flinched as one of his hands took my upturned palm softly. Even his words were worthy of an eye roll for having a double meaning. Or maybe I was just looking into things too much as I began to notice how attractive he was.

He scattered some powder over both of my palms and then opened the other bottle.

'Cup your hands.' He said and I did. Watching him intently as he knelt before me and poured some liquid into my palm where they sizzled.

I flinched but he held my upturned palms in his.

'Easy, it's just vinegar. It should temporarily get rid of the smell before you take a bath.'

'Shower.' I corrected.

He laughed and cocked a brow at me, 'Wow, Princess. I didn't think they had those in the palace.'

'Hang on. You know who I am?'

He seemed unbothered by it and stood, my palms still in his.

'It's only a title, our King is rather informal so I supposed you were too. That and you are a bit of a recluse. I thought you maybe didn't want to be bothered.'

'Well-' I began but realised he was kind of right.

'You can call me Eva then.' I said. I caught the smile forming at the corners of his mouth. It made my own smile form and he saw this and dropped his gaze from my eyes to my hands.

'Eva.' He repeated in a low voice, 'Close to Eve of Eden. The first woman. You are Eva of New Asgard.'

'That's a little bold, don't you think?'

He shrugged and dropped his hands from mine to reach around and grab a cloth from his back pocket. He looked up at me through his lashes as he wiped my hands softly,                                          
'Not as bold as introducing myself by sloshing fish guts all over you.'

He laughed as he saw my face screw up in annoyance, 'I'm sure that I've been the rudest welcome you've had to New Asgard?'

'Barely.' My mind wandered to Loki and subconsciously my head turned toward the palace in the near distance, eyes meandering over the golden spires and empty balconies. Was he there? What was he plotting now? Was he alone in his rooms? Did he even have friends here?