Loki X Reader || Girl With The Gold Earring

5 | Frode And Arne

The people Y/N works with fall into two categories: those who she definitely knew to be thieves, and those who probably were thieves but hadn't been caught yet. Because of this, Y/N deemed her quarters an unsafe place to store the money the prince had given her. It is not uncommon in the servant's quarters for needy, desperate people to rummage through their colleague's things in search of something to sell or keep for themselves. Any item placed in the chest at the foot of Y/N's cot, or atop her bedside table would surely be at risk of snaffling. Thus, Y/N decided to keep the money on her person until it was spent---although she didn't know what she'd do with her share.

Owning extra cash is an utterly alien experience to Y/N. It would be safest to exchange it for goods as quickly as possible, she knew that for sure; items are harder to get away with stealing than a coin. It's far less likely she'll be robbed if her treasure is in the form of... of what? What does she want?

If someone had asked her that this time last year she would have said a decent coat, to stave off the early morning chill while she mops the palace steps. But she isn't mopping the palace steps anymore. She only leaves the warm embrace of indoors if she wants to, now. If it's chilly she simply doesn't go out.

Her first choice would be to send it straight to her parents with her other earnings, but then they'd want to know where she'd gotten it. They'd never believe it had been a personal gift from the prince himself; they'd assume she'd been fired and stooped to pickpocketing like so many other people in their social class. They didn't even know she'd been promoted; they wouldn't have believed that either.

She'd like to try a hobby. Loki made painting look very appealing, but Y/N knew she neither had the time or patience to produce something as breathtaking as the prince seems to be able to do. And, judging by the amount Loki had given her for his pigments, she would not be able to afford the equipment with this coin alone. She briefly considered embroidery, but, seeing as she has to repair her own uniform whenever it tears, sewing has mostly lost its charm.

Jewellery was the next idea to pop into Y/N's head. She'd pushed it away at first---someone of her station wearing jewellery, the very idea---

But if it was tasteful, not too audacious...Y/N knew people who wore it, after all. She'd seen small, delicate little necklaces about a few of her peer's necks, lockets in memory of the deceased, family heirlooms, coming of age presents, etcetera. And a few of the other maids and kitchen staff have had their ears pierced. Their earrings are not pearls, definitely not gold, or even silver, far from it, but Y/N admired them all the same. With her coin, she could probably ask the apothecary to pierce her ears, and purchase a pair of little dangly hooks to fill the holes. And no one would be able to steal them because they'd always be on her person.

-- ❈ --

Y/N combed the servant's dining hall for Alfdis as soon as she'd left Loki's quarters, the money he'd given her clutched tightly in her hand, and the hand stuffed deep in her pocket. She hadn't forgotten what the prince had said---about knowing Alfdis---and she wanted to know what he'd meant. The head housekeeper had never mentioned being affiliated with the youngest son of Odin---but she'd also never mentioned anything else about her long and complex life either.

Eventually, Y/N found the top of Alfdis's head bobbing about through the crowd of hungry staff waiting to be served whatever salt-filled concoction Ylva was hoping to pass off as food. Nudging and excusing her way towards the older woman took so long that by the time Y/N had reached her she had been served and taken a seat. She was picking at something grey on her tray cautiously with the prongs of her fork when Y/N slipped onto the bench opposite her.