Cat and mouse (part 1) Revised version!

Chapter 27

There was a knock on my door rousing me from my nap. I groaned and rolled out of bed.
"What!" I yelled throwing the door open, expecting Loki to be standing in front of me.
"I'm sorry m'Lady, I was asked to invite you to dinner.." A scared looking handmaiden said softly.
"Oh! I'm sorry I was expecting..someone else." I said giving her an apologetic look.
"Shall I come in and help you dress?" She asked.
"I guess so." I sighed.
She curtsied and went straight for my wardrobe, pulling out a long peach colored dress with tiny gold, silver, blue and purple embellishments making it look like some kind of waterfall of sunsets.
"Wow." I whispered running my hands over the flowing skirts.
"Shall I help you into it?"
I nodded and she helped me out of my current dress that was wrinkled from sleep and into the new one.
"Shall we wear your hair up or down miss?"
"Down." I said glancing at myself in the mirror.
I'd never worn anything like the dresses in this closet but I'd be lying if I said a small part of me wasn't in love with playing princess.
She gently pulled the pins from my hair and let it fall down my back before sectioning the front from the sides of my hair and pulling them back, twisting them neatly and pinning them to the back of my head with a jeweled comb.
I smiled into the mirror.
Slacks and ponytails would forever pale in comparison now.
::;
I looked down at the pig in the middle of the table. It was laid on its back with an apple in its mouth, it's eyes were shriveled and black in its eye sockets.
I'd seen pigs in this fashion in movies of families on vacation but I'd never sat in front of one with its raisinet eyes staring at me.
Along with the pig was a salad of mixed greens and fruit, a pudding made from rice and sugar paired with various wines.
The food on Asgard was amazing, I could never quite put my finger on the spices they used but they were flavorful and oaky.
"Loki and I being the foolish bastards we are, thought it would be a grand idea to try and ride them!"
Thor was jubilantly telling me a story from when they were in their youth.
"I managed to wrangle one into submission but when I looked back, Loki was mid-air, with the most hilarious look on his face."
Laughter bubbled up through my chest at the mocking face Thor was making in slow motion.
"He fell into one of he biggest mud puddles I'd ever seen." Thor was roaring with laughter now, Loki shaking his head in annoyance with the tale.
"Always getting all the bad luck aye brother?" Thor laughed clapping him on the back.
"It would seem so." He said dryly before taking a long drink of his goblet.
I laughed at the brothers and Loki looked at me, my laughter dying some at his withering look but the grin staying on my face.
I cocked my head to the side eyeing him, imagining the boy he would have been.
Tall and brooding, ever in a terrible mood. I bit back a laugh picturing him with long hair covering his face and black robes on, scowling at everyone.
Loki rolled his eyes at me, but I noticed the anger was dialed back. It seemed my amusement was contagious.
It might have been the wine that had contributed to my lightheartedness but it felt almost normal sitting here with them.
"So Anna, do you have any family on midguard?" Frigga asked me just as I was about to put a forkful of salad in my mouth.
My eyes immediately darted to Loki who was now focused on his own food.
"I had a brother." I replied to her swapping the salad for another drink of wine.
The fact that I'd said 'had' was not lost on anyone at the table.
"What of your parents?" Odin asked setting his silverware down, interested in the conversation.
"I hear that there's many children on midguard without a mother and father these days, an epidemic of orphaned children."
"Father." Thor sighed.
"It's fine." I said swallowing down the rest of the wine in my goblet.
"I was not orphaned. My parents died in a car crash when I was fourteen."
Or at least that's what Devin and I had thought until Fury showed up at our door the day my older brother turned eighteen.
"Oh my, I'm so sorry for your loss." Frigga said looking sorrowful.
I looked down at my food embarrassed by her genuine hurt for me.
"What is your title on midguard? Surely you must be of high position to be earths ambassador." Frigga asked changing the subject quickly much to me relief.
I heard Loki snort and I sent him a glare.
"We don't really have titles like you have, we have a president, but he's really just a figurehead depending on who you ask."
"Anna is friends with Jane Foster." Loki piped up smirking at me.
"Ah yes, the midguardian Thor is fond of." Frigga said softly giving her son a smile.
"Yes yes, fond of maybe but Thor knows well enough that there are plenty of women on Asgard that will make a good queen." Odin said wiping his mouth on a silk napkin.
Loki smirked at his plate, knowing that he had said something that would stir the pot.
"Jane foster is not like the women here. She has spirit." He said smiling to himself.
"She is human therefore she has no place here."
"As if you should be so lucky" I snapped at the king before I could stop myself.
The sound of utensils touching porcelain plates paused.
"Jane has bigger goals in life then be a silent woman besides a man of power. She's to good for it."
Odin crossers his hands on the table.
"You mock our way?" He asked clearly angry.
"You mock my people." I shot back.
Thor boomed out a laugh trying to ease the tension.
"See, the midgaurdian women have fire!" He said clapping me on the back making me jerk forwards in my chair.
"A woman with to much fire will burn all around her." Odin not breaking eye contact with me while he spoke.
I growled and stood, shoving my chair back as I as I opened my mouth to lash out at him.
"Shall we retire to the sitting room for dessert?" Frigga asked eyeing all of us.
The Queen was clearly telling us this conversation was over.
Odin cleared his throat and nodded at his wife.
I watched as everyone got up from the table and followed Frigga down the hallway.
"Come Lady Anna, dessert is where we discuss matters of importance." Thor whispered to me as he walked by.
I walked down the dimply lit corridor behind everyone still fuming and noticed there were only three people in front of me, we were a man short.
I yelped as I was grabbed around my waist and pulled in the shadows next to two large columns.