Beauty in the Beast

Chapter 4

After training Loki went straight to the medical room. He agreed with Laila that it was better to get it checked out; even if he didn't want admit it. Entering the clean room he saw the nurse just cleaning up her medical utensils. He coughed under his breath and the nurse turned around

“Master Loki! Sorry I didn’t see you there. Are you alright?” She glanced towards where Loki was holding his shoulder and shook her head in despair and humour “Let me guess. You had battle training today right?” Loki smiled

“You got me.” He held up his hands in innocence before wincing in pain. The nurse patted her medical bed like she would to her younger patients

“Come here. Let me have a look at you.” Loki did as he was told and sat upon the small metal table. He stripped off his shirt and glanced at the wound upon his shoulder. It was worse than he had anticipated. “My god! And you call this a small wound?!” The nurse asked in astonishment. Loki shrugged

"It didn’t look as bad in the arena.” The nurse raised her eyebrow at the young prince

“well it looks pretty bad now. It looks like some of the weapon stayed as well. You have pieces of sword in your shoulder. Better get them out otherwise then could get into your bloodstream. I’ll pick the shrapnel out and then clean it up. I don’t think it’s a deep wound; just wide. I’ll also put some stitches in. It should heal pretty nicely. Did Thor do this to you?” she asked. Loki shook his head

“No it was Laila, the princess of the east. Turns out she can really hit, hard.” He laughed to himself. The nurse looked up at the prince’s face. Loki was looking into the distance. She saw the happiness in his usually secretive eyes. This princess must mean a lot to him.

“So, this Laila, she’s quite the fighter then?” The nurse hinted, wondering if she could get anything else out of the reserved prince. Loki nodded and a small smile spread across his face

“Yeah, she’s just great. I mean, I feel really relaxed around her. I can tell her anything. I could never do that with Thor. He would belittle me and make fun of what I say. He’s not one to go to, to talk about your feelings that’s for sure. But Laila, she listens, she understands.” He put his head down and blushed slightly “I……I think I love her.” The nurse finished tending to his wound

“Well, it’s not exactly my place to say but if I were you I would tell her before it’s too late.” He nodded and put his shirt back on.

“Yeah, I think might. Thank you.” The nurse bowed

“Anytime Master Loki. I hope it goes well.” She winked at him. Loki gave the nurse a grin before leaving the room in search of Laila.

***

Loki left the medical room feeling like he was walking on air. He would tell Laila how he felt and then everything would be wonderful. He continued to walk down the corridor with a spring in his step, ignoring the looks of the passing servants and guards. Reaching the corner of the corridor he sped up; he could hear Laila’s voice which only made him more desperate to speak to her. As he turned the corner he looked in the direction of Laila’s voice and stopped dead. His previous mood of happiness was instantly replaced by anger and repulsion as he stared at his brother attempting to win over Laila’s approval. This was Thor all over! Loki slid back behind the wall and watched. He saw Thor get Laila’s back up to one of the pillars of the corridor and place his hand just above her head so he could lean his body over her. Loki’s anger intensified; surely Laila wasn’t enjoying this? He question was shortly answered when he heard a small giggle coming from the end of the corridor. Loki couldn’t take it anymore; he was going to be sick. He readjusted himself and held his head high before, once again, turning the corner of the corridor and walking straight down it; deliberately avoiding eye contact with both Laila and Thor as he made his way to the main assembly room. Just as he was reaching the grand double entrance to the room he heard Laila speaking, but it wasn’t to Thor, it was to him.

“Loki? Are you okay? You look really irritated.” She said with a concerning tone which just annoyed Loki even more

“Yeah fine. Just brilliant.” He replied curtly. He opened the double doors and strode through the entrance without looking back. Meanwhile, Laila stood looking at the back of Loki’s head puzzled. Something was definitely wrong

“Do you think he’s okay? Should i go after him?” she asked Thor with concern. Thor shook his head, determined to get back to what they were doing.

“No its fine, he’s fine. Just give him an hour and he’ll be alright again.” Laila still wasn’t convinced

“But don’t you think we should check? Something terrible could have happened.” Once again Thor shook his head

“I’ve already told you, he’ll be fine. Now” He began as he slid up to her and took her by the waist “where were we?” Laila pushed herself away from Thor

“You were just about to go and cuddle up with the next girl on your hit list while I went to go and check on Loki.” Thor stared in disbelief

“But...but what about us?” Laila looked at Thor and spoke with a matter-of-fact voice

“There never was an ‘us’ Thor. There are far too many girls here for you to be committed to just one. Besides you were never my type anyway; too big for your boots.” Thor continued to stare in disbelief. He wasn’t used to be let down by a girl; that was meant to be his job. He looked Laila in the eye and noticed something there. She had a sparkle to her eye which had only appeared when she began talking about his younger brother. He smiled to himself.

“What?” Laila said in slight amusement. Thor continued to smile as he explained his theory

"This sudden concern for my brother wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that you like him would it my princess?” He asked slyly. Laila felt herself blush but she kept her composure

“Of course I like your brother Thor but only as a friend, nothing more.” Thor shook his head and chuckled to himself

“Come on Laila, you’re not fooling anyone. It’s so obvious, anyone would notice. That is except for the guy that matters. Loki has never experienced love before. He doesn’t know how to react. He doesn’t know the signs. Plus I know he’d appreciate a new companion when we go on hunts and expeditions. I think he’s growing tired of me” Thor said, almost sadly. He waited for her response. Now it was Laila’s turn to stare in disbelief

“Love? I don’t love Loki. He’s just a friend. That’s all. A close friend. I could never –” Laila stopped and looked at Thor who raised an eyebrow at her attempt to hide her feelings. Laila gave up “Is it really that obvious?” she asked shyly. Thor nodded

“To me it is but not to Loki. Now” Thor came over to Laila and turned her to face the door which Loki has disappeared through minutes earlier. Thor continued “I suggest you go and find my brother and make sure he’s okay. You never know, he could have frozen a couple of guards by now.” He gave Laila a small push towards the door. Laila turned back towards Thor

“Thank you Thor for understanding.” He nodded

“My pleasure princess. Now if you’ll excuse me there is a beautiful lady waiting to be escorted downstairs and I have decided to aid her. It is my duty after all.” He did a short bow and playfully winked at Laila before striding off in the opposite direction. Laila laughed to herself before going through the double doors in search for Loki.