The sun bled through the pastel curtains of my bedroom, painting everything in a pale pink glow. I blinked a few times, taking in the beauty of the room before truly remembering where I was.
Asgard.
The one place I never thought I would see again.
Still, there was no running. Not again. Once was an accident, like everyone believed. A crime, a kidnapping. Twice would be too obvious. Not to mention the entire city on high alert for the supposed criminals and Odin's orders for Thor and Loki to keep watch of me.
I jolted upright at the hard knock on the door, jumping from my bed and pulling a sheer robe over my nightgown. It had to be Moriah, although she shouldn't bother knocking. I would have to let her know that she-
"Goodmorning, Elsie." Thor smiled down at me, scanning my outfit quickly before returning his eyes to my own.
"Your highness, I wasn't expecting-" I started, crossing my arms over myself and cursing myself for answering the door like this. I knew better.
"My fault. I shouldn't be here so early, I just wanted to make sure you slept alright and thought I could walk you to breakfast?"
"Of course, that would be... lovely..." I trailed off, scanning my new room over between words.
"Is your handmaiden not here already?" He asked, obviously referring to the fact that I was not properly dressed for breakfast yet.
"No, she is. She just stepped out for a moment. I'll be ready in just a few minutes, if you don't mind waiting?"
"Yes, sure." He grinned with a nod, stepping back a bit until he reached a pillar to lean on.
I shut the door quickly with a tight smile before rushing across to my closet. I hadn't the slightest idea what might be in here, if anything. Moriah had pulled my dress for my last night and gotten me ready for bed as well.
As the door swung back, I scanned the rows upon rows of gowns, skirts, sweaters, and shoes before my eyes, feeling my mouth fall slightly.
"Oh, your highness, my apologies, I didn't expect you up this early, I'm so sorry, it won't happen again-" Moriah's voice pulled me back into reality.
"Moriah, it's no trouble at all!" I assured her, taking a few steps through my closet and running the fabrics through my hands.
"Let me get you ready, Princess." She said, her eyes looking panicked and tired as she pulled down a deep maroon dress with golden swirls along the neckline and sleeves.
I dabbed a bit of makeup on as Moriah tied the strings along the back of my dress before starting on my hair, pinning a few strands up and leaving the rest around my shoulders. We made surprisingly good time compared to yesterday's preparation, and I was ready to greet Thor again in less than twenty minutes.
Moriah pulled the door back and stood aside to let me exit, Thor's eyes flicking up at once to meet mine before scanning over my change of clothes.
"You..." He began, before noticing Moriah stood behind me. "Ready?"
I nodded, crossing the hallway to where his arm was held out for me to take and waving goodbye to Moriah.
"You look beautiful." He finished his earlier sentence and I felt some heat rise to my face.
"Isn't it a bit early for your flirting, Thor?" I teased, finally meeting his eyes and watching them light up when he laughed.
"You'll have to get used to that. It's not my fault. You left one person and came back another."
"I haven't changed that much." I shrugged off his words, knowing we were entering into dangerous territory with this conversation.
"Believe me. You have."
"Well you have hardly changed a bit. Maybe grew another inch, or a foot."
We both laughed now as the doors to the small dining room were pulled open. I remembered eating here before. Most of our breakfasts and lunches had been in this room, although Thor and Loki were not often in attendance back then.
Thor pulled a chair out for me, crossing the table and taking the one opposite mine as a hoard of servants dressed in all black appeared with plates of fruit and small sandwiches, long strips of meat and pitches of juice.
Once the food had been set before us and the servants disappeared, Thor leaned in a bit closer to me, piling food onto his plate at once.
"Elsie, I hope you don't think me rude." He began, hardly looking away from his plate. "I want to give you all the time you need, truly. But when you're ready to talk, I'd like to know... what happened to you."
His eyes were on mine now and I felt mine begin to water, looking down to my plate at once.
"Of course Thor. I... Just a bit more time. But you'll be the first I come to."
He nodded, looking serious for the first time today as he dug into his breakfast.
The sun beat down on the three of us as we walked through the town, stopping once in a while at the small stands where people were selling jewelry or shawls, rugs or pots, the occasional gemstone. Thor had suggested a trip through the market, and Frigga had insisted Loki accompany the two of us, claiming that he hadn't been out in weeks. Four guards with long spears tailed behind us, although I doubted anyone would dare attempt anything with Thor here.
"Your highness!" Women called from behind carts and in doorways, children stopping a few feet away from us, eyes wide with excitement as they watched their future king pass them by.
"I don't know why you keep coming to these if you never buy anything from them, Thor." Loki's voice drawled as we left another stand.
"It's nice to see the people, Loki. And I think their products are interesting."
"They are lovely." I agreed, smiling at the lady behind our current stand who was selling long chain necklaces with gemstones wrapped in each band.
"Thank you, Princess."
"Pick one you like, Elsie, I'll-" Thor began before shouting behind us peaked his interest.
"-A whore!"
"She can't be our queen!"
"No one knows where she's been!"
My heart stopped in my chest at the voices carrying through the market. Who was I kidding thinking I could fool not just the royal family, but the entire city as well.
"Take her back to the castle." Loki's voice was low again, seemingly right behind my ear despite him being a few feet away.
"Loki, stay." Thor commanded, reaching for his brother's arm which was just a bit out of reach.
"I'll be fine." He flashed his brother a devious smile, not sparing me a glance before zipping through the crowds, his cloak disappearing into the sea of brown and black.
"Shouldn't the guards go with him?" I asked as Thor gripped my arm, pulling me along with the guards back to the sparkling castle in the distance.
"Loki doesn't need protection." Thor scoffed beneath his breath. "If anything, they should be there for the Asguardian's safety."
I felt my eyebrows scrunch up along my face, but shrugged off Thor's words as we hurried through the gates, the metal clanging behind us.
I hadn't left my room since we returned, Moriah helping me out of my dress before leaving me like I had requested, wanting to be alone. It was only a matter of time now. If the villages already had their doubts, no doubt the Allfather did too. At the very least, Odin wouldn't want someone in line for the throne who the public hated.
Hours ticked by, the only indication the sun's movement outside my window, before I decided I had to go. To walk around, find something to do, anything to get out of this room which had grown stuffy and cramped with my thoughts.
I had sent Moriah away, but it was fine. I didn't need to look like anything special for a walk around the palace. No doubt Thor was off doing something or another. It was unlikely I would run into him on my little journey.
I emerged from my closet 5 minutes later, reaching behind me to do up the last of the buttons on a light cream colored dress with lace flowers sewn around the waist and sleeves. I glanced over my hair in the mirror and tucked a few random pieces back into place before starting into the hall.
I didn't know where I was going, only where I wasn't. I was steering clear of the kitchens, of the ballroom, the great hall, where I suspected Thor and Loki's rooms were.
Guards nodded as I passed, their eyes glued on me even after I had reached the next hall. I wondered if they were thinking the same things as I had heard earlier outside the palace walls.
Finally I came to a set of white double doors with glass panes from the bottom to the top revealing walls and walls of green shrubs and florals. I leaned against the doors until they gave way, feeling the rush of the breeze flow through my hair. My footsteps echoed behind me against the stone floor as I walked until I couldn't see anymore guards, my only aim to forget about any words I had heard practically the entire day.
"Running from something, Princess?" The familiar voice startled me, breaking through my internal monologue.
"Your highness." I muttered, feeling embarrassment immediately settle into my chest as I bent into a small curtsey for the younger Prince.
"Your highness." He scoffed, his eyes scanning over the page of his book in his lap as he lounged beneath two oversized bushes. Finally he met my eyes, his own now looked as if fire danced behind them. "You really needn't be so formal, Princess. After all, only one of us will sit the throne one day."
I clasped one hand over my arm, praying our distance was far enough that he didn't notice my nervousness.
"That's... a generous wager." I replied, stepping further into the section of private garden he had found for himself.
"Hardly. Thor would be practically banished if he even thought of another woman... now that you're back." He added his last words softly, as if I wasn't meant to hear them.
I struggled with my words, aching to get anything out, even if it made no sense. Anything to not sit here like a mute in front of the prince with the growing smirk.
"I'm lucky Prince Thor waited for me. Even when I was missing."
Loki's green eyes bore into my own now, even as I kept my distance, the smirk falling from his face as he studied my own.
"Yes." He answered at last, his tone monotonous, as if he didn't care for this conversation at all.
"Well, I won't keep you. I'm sorry I interrupted your reading-"
"Don't be sorry. It's rare I ever have company here, although I will have to ask you keep my presence here between us." He spoke again without looking to me, his eyes already scanning over the words on the next page of his book. "I'm in trouble."
"Trouble?" I chuckled, taking a few more steps closer to his spot on the grass and settling down, my back against a very solid shrub.
"You seem doubtful?"
"That the prince could be in trouble? Slightly doubtful, yes." I smiled, plucking a small yellow flower growing next to me and twirling the stem in my fingers.
"Oh, you must have forgotten everything about your time here, Princess. I'm always in trouble." He spit out his last words as he turned the page, his words having no interruption on his reading.
"You can call me Elsie." I said, refusing to meet his eyes, as if he would be looking. "Like you said... Formalities."
"Right." I snuck a peek now, unable to resist, and saw the small trace of a smile evaporating from his face.
"Well then, why are you in trouble?" I asked, hoping not to seem too nosy.
"Aren't we inquisitive?" He smirked, looking up at me for a second but not going on.
Neither of us spoke for a few moments, me wondering if I should rephrase my question or let it go.
"Father doesn't like when I... mess with the villagers."
"Mess with them?" I asked, wishing I could take my words back as soon as I spoke them. Mess with the villagers. Loki, the God of Mischief, Prince of Asgard, was of course referring to the women he was bedding.
"Not... No... I didn't mean, you're misunderstanding." He was shaking his head vigorously, as if trying to clear thoughts from his head.
"It's alright. I don't need to know." I forced a polite smile on my face and began to stand, gathering my skirt to avoid stepping on it.
"Elsie." Loki was on his feet now too, yet I hadn't even noticed him standing. "Let me walk you back."
"Loki, I'd hate to bother-"
"Please." He cut me off, his fingers wrapping around my arm for only a second before he pulled away, eyes wide. "I mean... Thor and I... you're not to be wandering alone."
"Right." I nodded, practically holding my breath since I had felt his skin touch mine.
"After you." He nodded towards the pathway, following close at my side as we walked in silence back towards the castle.
I had let Moriah dress me in a darker gown for dinner, imagining the embarrassment if my wine did in fact stain my dress tonight. Dinner had been wonderful, Frigga and Thor's stories nearly beating the actual food, even earning some smiles from Loki and Odin.
I had finished my obligatory glass of wine, turning down offers for refills and watching Thor accept a second and third goblet of mead until finally everyone waved the last of the servants off to signal that dinner was over.
"Well, thank you all, this has been lovely. It's nice to have it be just us once in a while, don't you think?" Frigga smiled as the plates were cleared.
Thor nodded and Loki smiled softly to his mother before Odin spoke.
"There is one last thing I need to speak with you all about."
I clasped my hands in my lap, wide eyes watching the Allfather as he scanned through our faces.
"There have been some rumors." He started, my heart sinking beneath my chair. "Regarding Elsie's disappearance. People are... suspecting... speculating..." He trailed off, seeming awkward for the first time since I had met the king.
"What?" Thor asked, his voice low and gravely.
On my other side I watched Loki's knuckles whiten as his grip on his arm rest tightened.
"They are skeptical that a Princess would be kidnapped for so long and yet remain... so pure."
"That's ridiculous." Frigga shrugged, her face looking angered. "It's no one's place to wonder those things, and the matter has been put to rest. Elsie gave her statement."
"People can lie, Frigga." Odin snapped, not looking at his wife at his side.
"So what are you saying, Father?" Thor asked, growing impatient.
"There will need to be an examination. To determine-"
"No." Loki spoke for the first time in at least an hour.
"Loki, this does not concern you."
"This does not concern you." He retorted, barely a second after Odin's words had crossed his lips.
"Loki," Frigga warned, noting like I had the dangerous fire in his eyes.
"Father, I have to agree with Loki. The princess is unharmed, untainted, she would not risk her nor our reputation by withholding the truth."
From the corner of my eye, I watched Loki's eyes flicker to my face before they returned their glare at Odin.
"It will not look good, refusing the examination." Odin started again, his face reddening.
"Then lie." Thor's voice raised, booming around the large room. "You are the King of Asgard, the Allfather, the most powerful King this realm has ever seen. There is nothing you can't do. Except this."
He pushed his chair from the table and stood, reaching a hand out for mine which I graciously took, knowing I should thank everyone for the meal and say my good nights, but feeling the very real possibility of throwing up at any moment.
"Thor," I said under my breath as the heavy doors clanged shut behind us, his legs moving faster than mine ever could back towards my bedroom. "Thor, it's fine. It's fine, I should just tell your father... I'll do it, he's right, refusing looks worse."
He froze in his tracks, wheeling around to face me, his hands gripping either side of my arms.
"You will do no such thing. It's vile and cruel and you don't deserve it. You didn't ask for this, any of this, and you were strong and you made it back. They can't punish you for that." His eyes ran from my eyes to my lips and back. "I'll protect you."
It felt as though every organ in my body was melting, running amuck and switching spots, determined to make me vomit.
"Thank you." I whispered after a deep breath.
"Of course." He nodded, pulling my hand to his lips and pressing a soft kiss.
"Goodnight, Elsie."
"Goodnight Thor." I pressed my lips together hard before shutting the door behind me and rushing to the bathroom, letting up all of my supper before Moriah had even reached my side.