Babysitter to the God of Mischief | Loki ✔

Chapter Thirteen

~Loki's POV~

I hesitated as I stood by Dahlias bed, watching as she slowly rolled over in her sleep, pulling the blankets tighter around her body. Her hair had grown even longer, and was sprawled across the clean pillows, the rest of her face hidden from view.

Deciding to act on my impulses, I held a hand over her and muttered a quick sleeping spell, ensuring she shouldn't wake before I return. I gave her a last look over my shoulder before leaving her room and locked the door behind me, just in case.

Before I left my rooms I changed my appearance, disguising myself as a common palace guard. I double checked I had the bottle carefully stashed in my pocket before setting off down the corridors, weaving my way towards the servants quarters.

Dahlia had described her time to me as a maid, and during our long days spent together, I'd been able to piece together an average day of work for her. This early in the morning, when the sun was only just threatening the horizon, the Matron would only be beginning to wake up and prepare for the day.

As a guard, no one questioned me letting myself into the servants rooms, and seemingly none of the girls appeared to mind either, as I cast a quick look in their room. The floor was completely covered by girls in various makeshift blankets, the few cleaner ones wrapped around small groups. Individual girls had threadbare throws, probably saved from being binned upstairs. A few were awake, and smiled at me as I looked at them, offering a small wave as a morning greeting. Feeling slightly self conscious, I returned the wave, before unlocking the doors to the Matrons office.

She was squashed in the rickety wooden chair, shovelling a spoon down her throat as she almost inhaled her food. As she heard me come in, she spun around, prepared to explode with creative curses. I let her begin before fixing the lock shut and dropping the guard form.

Her face turned a pale grey, her mouth hanging wide open as she mumbled a string of incoherent noises. I tilted my head, enjoying her floundering before she composed herself, stood up and curtsied awkwardly.

"Your highness, what may I do for you?"

I took a step closer, fingering the small glass bottle in my pocket as I let her wait for my reply. "Some things have been brought to my attention that I am not happy with."

She opened her mouth but her voice seemed to disappear as she stood in front of me. "Some girls have died down here. You wouldn't happen to know how they did, would you?"

She shook her head. "It's not very warm down here, your highness. I believe some of the girls grow ill and the cold takes them during the night."

That story matched the one mother had told me the first night I met Dahlia. But I knew what I found in her drawer, which would mean freezing wasn't how they died. And I also knew that Dahlia hadn't been lying when she told me the girls had been bitten. Being the God of Mischief comes with some perks, and having the ability to see truth from fakery often comes in handy.

I cleared my throat. "I have reason to believe the palace is suffering from an infestation of rodents. I also have heard rumours of the girls being perfectly well until they were bitten."

The Matron physically quivered. For somebody in a position of power choosing to spread lies I thought she would've had more of a backbone than the pathetic display she was showing.

"That is also possible, your highness. There is a hole that they could have-"

"Why didn't you fix it?"

She looked shocked at my interruption before shaking her head. "It's not my job to fix-"

"It's within your job to look after these maids, yet I have access to the figures of our declining numbers."