By the end of the betrothal ceremony, Elsa was exhausted. She had just spent hour standing on her heels, making sure that her straight posture didn't change even though her back and feet were killing her. But she believes that she should get used it.
Thor took her by the hand and walked to her room. She'll be staying in her own room until the wedding in order to make this big change in her life a little smoother for her, which she really appreciates.
On the way there, the prince showed her his room and the king's chamber so she could slowly get to know the place. However, the place is huge and all the doors and hallways seem very similar.
"We are here" Thor says as he opens the door of her room
"Thank you, your highness" she says as she looks back at him
"Just Thor, please" he says and she agrees
"I've been told that everything is ready and your personal maid will be here in the morning. Now, I shall let you rest and I will see you tomorrow. If you need anything, I showed you where to find me" he explains
"Alright" she replies.
"I would also like to tell you that you looked incredible tonight and thank you for accepting our invitation" he says and kisses her cheek
"Goodnight, Elsa" he says
"Goodnight" she replies with a smile on her face.
She waits for Thor to walk away and then she gets in her room. She closes the doors behind her and, immediately, gets off her heels. She also undoes her dress and lets it fall on the floor.
She walks to the bathroom in her undergarments and turns the water on. She lets the bathtub fill with warm water until she completely undresses herself.
Once the tub was full, she gets in without bothering to take her hair off the braids. She does it while in the water and then rests her head back.
She soak there, enjoying the warmth and the quiet until the water went cold. Then she washed herself, put on her pyjamas and went to bed. While on her bed, she started braiding her wet hair so they'd come out wavy the next day.
That's when she started taking a closer look of her new room. The ceiling was very high and decorated with beautiful drawings and symbols that represented periods of Asgard's history.
Her bed was in the middle of the room, with the headboard attached to the wall, right across from the door. By the sides of the bed were two huge windows that looked down at the garden and also part of Asgard.
The entire wall on her left was a closet filled with all her clothes, shoes and things she had brought with her from home. On her right was the door to her private bathroom and next to it a desk with letter papers, pens, seal wax and also three books on the side.
She stands up from the bed as soon as she finishes with her hair, and walks to the desk. She takes the books in her arms and returns to her bed.
She spend some time, going through their old pages and reading the synopsis of each one. All three seemed pretty interesting to her and she was sure that she was going to read them when she had more time.
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The following morning, a knock on the door pulled her from her sleep. She sits up straight on the bed and rubs her eyes.
"Come in" she says and a lady walks in.
"Good morning, Lady Elsa. I'm Kara, I will be your lady from now on and I'm here for whatever you need" she says
"Oh yes, Thor informed me" Elsa replies
"I was told by the queen to wake up, help you get ready and take you for breakfast" she says
"Alright" Elsa answers and gets out of bed.
Kara picked an outfit for Elsa while she went to the bathroom to wash her face. Then she helped her get into a simple blue dress and decorated it with a gold thin belt on her waist. The left side of the dress' skirt had a cut from the lower thigh but it was only obvious and exposed her leg when spread, so it wouldn't be a problem now. She let down her wavy hair and pinned the two front pieces on the back of her head. She completed the outfit with a pair of flat gold sandals and gold bracelets.
"While you are at breakfast, I will take care of your room if that's ok ma'am" Kara says as the two ladies walk in the hallways of the palace
"It's fine. And call me just Elsa, please" Elsa insists
"Ok. Would you like me to lock when I'm done?" Kara asks
"You have a key to my room?" Elsa asks
"I do. But only so I can get in without disturbing you, however I will never enter without your permission" she explains
"Oh, ok. Does anyone else has a key?" Elsa asks
"No. Only you and me" she answers
"Good. Thank you" Elsa answers
"I will meet you later ma'am" Kara says and walks away.
The guards open the door for Elsa to walk in the dinner room. On the large table were already sat the king, on the head of the table, and then the queen on his left and next to her the younger prince. On the king's right side, it is supposed to be Thor's seat but he wasn't there yet so Elsa had to sit alone next his seat, leaving it empty for now.
"Good morning" Elsa says as she takes her seat on the table, right across from the younger prince who's eyes never left Elsa's form. From the moment she walked in the room, he scanned her, hair to toe, and his gaze followed her until she sat down.
"Good morning, dear. How was your night?" the queen asks, causing him to look away from Elsa
"It was good. Everything was great" she answers
"I'm glad. Your mother had mentioned that you like reading so I had Loki pick out some book for you from the library. He's the one spending the most time in there anyway" she informs her
"Mother..." Loki says, trying to stop her
Elsa turn to look at him
"Well, thank you. I had the opportunity to take a quick look at them last night before falling asleep and they seem very interesting" she says
"You are welcome" he answers with a small smirk across his face.
"My other son seems to be running a little late but that's to be expected. He isn't much of a morning type" the queen says
"That's alright" Elsa replies and smiles.
"I assume we could start without him, we can't wait for him all day" the king says
"Don't worry Elsa, he will get himself together until your wedding, I'll make sure of it" he adds. Elsa wasn't sure how she should answer so she replies with a nod.
Some time later, Thor joined them
"Good morning everyone, sorry I was late" he says as he takes his seat next to Elsa
"How many times do I have to tell you to fix your sleep schedule?" his mother asks him
"I will, mother. Elsa, my brother and I were planning on going for a horse ride later. Would you care to join us?" he asks.
Elsa look at him and Loki before answering
"Yes, Elsa. Please do join us" Loki says, without losing the intimidating smirk from his face.
"I would love to" Elsa finally answers
"Great. I will let them know to get your horse ready as well" Thor says
"My horse?" she asks, surprised
"Yes, dear" Thor answers.
After breakfast, Elsa went back to her room very quickly and then joined the brothers in the ranch. She wasn't sure which direction to go from there so she wondered around.
"Lady Elsa" she hears a voice and turns to look.
Loki was the one who called her
"Your highness" she greets him and walks to him
"Looking for your ride?" he asks
"Yes actually" she answers with a small chuckle
"I believe that he is outside the ranch with my brother's. I was just getting mine and heading there" he informs her
"Thank you. Is this yours?" she asks pointing at the total black horse that was standing next to him
"Yes. This is Höðr" he answers.
"Come on, let's get you to meet yours" he says and they walk outside together.
"Here you are" Thor says as he sees Elsa
"I found her wandering in the ranch" Loki says
"Yes, I got a little lost" Elsa admits
"I should have taken you with me. My apologies, my lady" Thor says and kisses her hand.
"Elsa, this is Baldr and he is all yours" he adds and she approaches.
Unlike Höðr, Baldr was completely white. It matched with Thor's horse that was also white, with the only difference being that Thor's had blond hair and tail, and Baldr had white.
Elsa pets Baldr's head
"Hi Baldr, I'm Elsa. Like it or not, we are together now" she says and Baldr response positively to her touch
"You are beautiful" she says, looking at him closely.
But she wasn't the only one focused on someone. Loki's eyes hadn't left Elsa. He couldn't explain why but his thoughts were mostly around her since last night.
Is it her appearance?
No, she's another boring brown-eyed brunette middle class girl.
Is it her voice?
Nah, she hasn't said much anyway
Is it her polite manners and behaviour?
It does feel nice when she calls him 'highness' and bows.
The only thing the young prince was certain about was that she belonged to his brother.
He snaps out of his thoughts and clears his throat to get the attention.
"Shall we get going?" he asks
"Of course" Elsa answers
"May I...?" Thor offers to help her and she agrees. He places his hands on her waist and helps her get on her horse. As she sits, her left leg is revealed from the cut of the dress. Loki's eyes fall on Elsa's bare skin for a second, but looks up again before anyone could catch him.
"I'm thinking we show Elsa the way around the palace and then the rainbow bridge" Thor suggests
"Sounds good" Loki answers
"Great" Elsa replies and the three start their ride.