Loki
During the entire meal, I couldn't wait for it to come to an end. At first, there was no meaningful conversation taking place mostly the queen posing me questions and me cautiously lying to all of them. I had no desire to discuss Asgard and my family but the questions just kept coming.
Across from me was seated Lady Althea who paid no attention to my interaction with the queen. She mostly was focused on her plate and periodically acted as if she was engaging to appear polite. Something was certainly troubling her. Possibly out of her nervousness she was occasionally twisting the ring that she wore on her index finger with her thumb.
On the other hand, the princess could not keep her eyes off of me. If her mother hadn't bombarded me with irrelevant questions she would have pitched in with her own. It was a positive that she showed feelings of affection towards me since I was about to ask her father for her hand in marriage. Speaking of him similarly to his daughter observed me like a hawk.
Dessert was served and I knew that the real conversation was about to begin. Even Lady Althea seemed to liven up. The moment the b&b plates touched the surface of the table the King uttered. "So Prince Loki you haven't told us where you initially planned to teleport before you accidentally landed here."
Without lifting my eyes I took a spoonful of my dessert. "No, I believe I haven't" I took my time savoring my cake so I could think of a valid answer.
"I was heading back to Asgard of course"
"Where were you leaving from" It started to feel like an interrogation so I decided to look at him this time. People tend to believe your lies if you glance into their eyes and seem sincere.
"My father had sent me to Midgard to resolve an unexpected issue with the spies we had sent a few years ago"
Miss Althea decided to take the next round of questions. "What is that interesting on Midgard that you planted spies?"
"A while ago they became aware of life on other planets. Before, they had the impression that they were the only life forms in the universe..." Everyone chuckled with that comment except Althea. Unamused she fixed her napkin on her feet. "We want to be aware of any new weapons or strategies that they will develop now that they are afraid"
Everyone believed me except her. She probably would have fallen back to her thoughts if the king had not addressed her.
"We were discussing with Lady Althea that it would be a great opportunity for her to show you the city and how much it altered from your last visit."
It felt like torture. I could not refuse for the reason that it would be disrespectful of me to decline after not visiting since I was a child. I had the longest day ever and I had desired to just speak to the king and then finally head to my chambers.
"What a lovely idea. Perhaps instead of walking, we could take the horses if it is okay with you your majesty."
"I do not see why not"
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Althea
I was very tempted to give him one of our most stubborn horses but I decided last second not to. It would have made my mood to see him struggle. I was not looking forward to this evening and by the expression on his face neither did he.
He got on the horse gracefully and waited for me to lead the way. I thanked the stable boys that helped us and tapped gently my horse with my heels to set it in motion.
The gate guards opened the humongous golden doors for us to leave. I could feel his eyes on me with my peripheral vision and I felt more uncomfortable than ever. I read that he was very powerful with spells and magic and no one knew of what he was truly capable.
I must have been silent for a while since he decided to break the ice first.
"I forgot that the temperature drops down to 0 degrees in the desert. I was shocked when the servant brought me a coat to wear."
I was expecting a very serious and intense conversation to take place but that lightened the atmosphere. I even caught myself smiling with his start-up line.
"Yes, and there is still sunlight left. In a few hours, you will be very grateful for that coat. I did not know either the first time I got here."
"I intended to ask you at some point which nine realm are you from but it never seemed to be the right moment." He hoped to seem indifferent for the answer and that he simply asked just to keep the conversation going but I could sense the eagerness in his voice.
"The answer may surprise you my prince but I am from Midgard"
He smiled thinking I was mocking him. I looked at him in the eyes with a serious expression waiting for him to realize that I was telling the truth. Seeing my reaction he understood that I was not teasing him.
He stopped the horse for a second scaring some children playing next to the street and lifted his eyes in surprisement. He then eyed me up and down with disappointment.
"How are you mortal? I have been told that you are close to 100 years old." He said shocked and reproachul.
That comment should have angered me but the response I thought made me want to laugh. I barely held my self back.
"Have you been asking about me, prince Loki?"
His eyes widened not expecting that kind of answer. If my eyesight was not playing any tricks on me I could have sworn I saw him slightly blushing. I even felt bad for him so I decided to explain myself.
"I was a mortal 80 years ago like the rest of the Midgardians."
"How does someone stop being mortal?" Again, the eagerness in his voice betrayed him.
I glanced at him and gave him a forced smile.
"It is a long and rather sad story my prince not appropriate for the moment."
"As a person with a sad and not afraid to say tragic story himself I do not mind."
He observed my hands that I had unintentionally started fidgeting with my rings from the moment we mentioned earth. I stared at the road ahead avoiding eye contact to not make this moment awkward. The suns had started to set from east and west making a colorful work of art in the sky calming me enough to narrate my story.
"I can't be sure exactly what or how it happened. My memory is not complete and no matter how hard I try I can't remember my childhood or where I came from. My memories start with an organization called Hydra. I was captured and used as a lab rat for an unspecified amount of time. I am not one hundred percent certain but I think they are the ones responsible for my immortality. They didn't know at the time that they had achieved that, they only observed that I healed faster than normal. They used me as a test run for the others. After years of torture, they achieved to give me some sort of mind control powers. Another organization named Shield invaded the facility that I was a prisoner in not long after and rescued me. I became one of their first agents with powers."
I hadn't told this story for years and didn't expect it to hurt me as much but I was fighting back tears. We reached the city's harbor. The water was calm and crystal clear reflecting the colors in the sky.
"I have tried countless times to find who I am with no success."
Loki was not impressed with my little story and stared at me with no emotion. He was with no doubt hoping that I would not start crying and he would have to comfort me.
"That does not explain how you ended up living on a different planet when Midgard barely had the equipment to visit it's own moon back then."
"I should not tell all my stories at once. I shall leave something behind for our next ride"
"You offer me another one? This one is not even finished yet. What are we going to discuss on the way back?"
With one quick move, I turned my horse around to face the palace. I didn't calculate this well since I ended up inches away from his face. He did not try to move he only mischievously smirked, piercing at me with his bright green eyes waiting for me to explain.
"I don't think there is going to be much talking if I race you back to the top. If I win you will tell me the truth on what truly happened on Midgard when you visited and if you win by a miracle I will tell you how I got here."
I tapped harder my horse with my heels and made it run. When I didn't hear Loki behind me racing I turned to see if he even was trying to. It would have been embarrassing if he wasn't. I slowed my horse down very fast when I could not see him where I thought I left him. He could not have taken a shortcut considering he was not familiar with the city. It was then that I heard a horse sprinting way ahead of me. He used magic to teleport himself mid of the mountain.
No way I would let him win. I could still make it. I run as fast as I could on the other side. What his grace didn't know was how short the back path compared to the front one was. The one he took full with turns would slow him enough down for me to make it. Since he was confident enough that he was going to win he did not even attempt to teleport again.
My heart was beating so hard in my chest wanting so much to win. Our paths would have met soon at a near crossroad and if he saw me approaching he would teleport himself again to the gate. If he was using magic I would too. I created an illusion in his head that instead of few meters away I had just reached the road that led to the palace.
He slowed down and turned to view my very lifelike illusion. His chest was punting fast and while catching his breath he yelled
"I am almost at the top why not give up? You will never win with that much distance between us."
Luckily it was at that moment that I reached the gate. Before he spotted me in front of him I yelled back
"I think I am good."
His neck snapped so fast towards me. His mouth shut open and glared back down to my now disappeared trick. As he was approaching defeated and more confused than ever I had the biggest grin on my face.
"How did you.."
"Mind control" I said that way more proudly that I had hoped.
He glanced down accepting his failure. He offered me his hand for a handshake to congratulate me and I honestly felt so powerful defeating the god of mischief himself.
We still hadn't caught our breaths yet. We didn't even realize that we were both gazing into each other's eyes and smiling like a couple of younglings. The sound of the heavy doors opening shifted us back to reality.