CHAPTER ONE
SERVANTS ARE PEOPLE TOO
"Come on, Loki! Are you not ready yet?" shouted Thor as he stood impatiently outside Loki's chambers, his helmet under his arm
Before he could shout again, the door flew open.
Loki stood in the doorway, an unamused look on his face. Thor couldn't take him seriously with his helmet on, a smile broke out on his face.
"Oh, do not look so glum, brother, tonight is supposed to be a night of celebration!" boomed Thor, patting Loki's shoulder, "And a night of peace. The two realms will come together tonight to sign the peace treaty and there shall be no more war between our worlds... so at least try to look happy"
Loki put on a fake grin and closed the door behind him, "It is not that I am not happy, brother" Loki began as Thor started to lead them down the corridor.
"Then what is it?" asked Thor.
Loki paused for a minute before answering, "I know not, something just feels.. wrong. It is probably nothing" he said.
"It is probably just the excitement!" said Thor, "Excitement for our esteemed guest"
Loki stayed silent.
"Or have you forgotten about her?" asked Thor.
"The lady Estelle? She interests me not" said Loki, as they walked on down the corridor.
"What?" asked Thor, "Loki, have you even met her yet?"
"No, I have only heard of her, but brother, I have no interest in her. She does not sound like my type" said Loki, fiddling with his armour.
"Or you just have no taste in women" replied Thor, stopping in front of the door into the great hall, "I hear she is beautiful"
"I have no taste in women like her, do you not listen? You have only heard from others that she is 'beautiful', that is their own representation of her, not something everyone shares" said Loki, Thor just grinned.
"You will think differently after tonight, I assure you, Loki" said Thor, "And then you will admit I was right about her"
"If you like her so, why are you bothering me with her?" asked Loki.
"Just incase you wanted to call her your own first, you know I only want what is best for my brother" teased Thor.
Loki rolled his eyes, "I have no means to do so, you go right ahead, brother, and maybe you will stop bothering me with your feelings for the Princess Estelle afterwards" he said.
Thor groaned in frustration and opened the doors into the hall.
As soon as they walked in they were greeted by crowds and crowds of people who were all talking rather loudly.
Loki stood there and observed them while Thor made his presence known by bellowing out greetings to some of the guests.
After this Thor found Loki again and nodded in the direction of a tall woman who was chatting with a few other guests.
"There she is, brother, the one in the light blue, what are your thoughts?" asked Thor.
Loki rolled his eyes and looked to where Thor was looking.
She was beautiful.
She really was beautiful.
She was tall, a little too thin perhaps, her skin was pale, though her lips were blossom pink. She had long black hair that flowed down her back and her shoulders, most of it was left untouched but some of it was done up in little intricate looking braids.
Loki couldn't make out her eye colour from the distance between them but he was captivated by her eyes when she happened to glance his way.
She was wearing a dark blue dress that looked even darker with her black hair and her pale skin.
Next to her stood a woman in a light blue dress.
Loki's eyes had not fallen upon the princess Estelle, they had fallen on the woman next to her.
"Who is that?" asked Loki.
"It is Princess Estelle, I just told you" said Thor.
"No, no, not her! Her!" said Loki, "The one in the dark blue with black hair"
"Oh, her? I know not, she may be Estelle's maid but I am not certain" said Thor, "Why?"
"Her beauty is like no other I have seen of Asgard" Loki said, mesmerised, his eyes still on the girl.
"Hm" said Thor, his attention more on the Lady Estelle, "She interests you?" he asked.
Loki shook his head a little to snap out of the trance he had fallen under, he looked back up at his brother, "It matters not" he said.
"Ah" said Thor, turning to look through the crowds of people, "So she does" he teased.
Loki squinted his eyes at him and wandered off, he was swallowed up by the amount of people in the hall.
Thor smirked, it was so obvious where he was because his helmet and his green cape made him stick out like a sore thumb.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
"Elda?" asked Estelle to the girl beside her, "Elda?"
Elda snapped out of her thinking state and turned to her mistress, "Yes, my lady?" she asked.
"Are you alright? You seem a little distracted tonight, what is troubling you?" asked Estelle.
"Me, miss? Nothing, miss. I just feel a little unwell, I've never been around this many people before" replied Elda, surveying the room with her eyes.
"You have nothing to be afraid of, child, you are quite safe here" said Estelle.
"Thank you, my lady" said Elda, still a little weary of her situation.
Sure she was the Princess's maid and she had been to many grand gatherings but she had never been to one as big as this.
Everything scared her here.
It was different.
And something felt strange, like something was wrong, very wrong... but what?
Her thoughts were cut short when a woman pushed past her.
Elda spun round to confront the woman, "Hey! You-" she began but stopped.
She forgot her place as she did so many other times and opened her mouth before she thought about who she was speaking too.
"Are you speaking to me, child?" asked the woman, advancing a step closer which made Elda want to run away and hide.
"I-I'm sorry, miss, I didn't mean to speak up, I-I should be more careful where I'm standing, miss" said Elda, wanting to dig a hole and jump straight in it.
"Yes, you should, and you should know not to speak like that to someone higher than you, alright?" asked the woman, raising her eyebrows.
"Yes, miss, sorry miss" said Elda, feeling anger build up inside her.
"Is everything alright here?" asked Estelle, walking up to them both.
The other woman gulped a little, backing down, "Yes, lady Estelle, everything is well" she said before she shot a glare at Elda and disappeared into the crowds.
Elda looked down at the floor and fiddled with her fingers.
"Are you alright?" asked Estelle.
"Yes, my lady, I'm fine, thank you for your concern" said Elda, she looked up at Estelle from the floor, "And your help"
Estelle smiled weakly, "Will you be alright by yourself for a bit?" she asked.
Panic took over Elda but she quickly put on a fake smile, "Of course, my lady, I will be fine"
Estelle smiled and left Elda's side to talk to other guests.
'Stupid people. How they infuriate me.' thought Elda.
She walked over to stand by the wall to be out of the way and out of sight of people, she did not want to be caught by that rude woman again.
"Are you alright?" asked a voice next to her.
Elda forgot her manners again, "I'm perfectly fine. Why do people keep asking if I'm alri-" her words froze in her throat as she felt a weird, icy feeling spread through her body making her shiver.
She slowly turned to see who was talking to her.
Prince Loki Odinson.
Oh, she had done it now.
He stood there in all his glory, his silver armour glistened from the light in the hall, his helmet made him look even taller than he already was. His eyes were a deep green and the ends of his black hair stuck out from underneath his helmet. His smile was warm and inviting a stark contrast to the situation Elda found herself in.
"Sire, I-I am terribly sorry, I-I did not mean any harm-" Elda tried to explain.
Loki smiled at her, "Please, there is no need to apologise. I saw what just happened there, you have the right to be irritated" he said.
Elda looked down at the floor, "I am sorry, my lord" she said.
"Call me Loki" said Loki.
"But, my lord, that is improper of me" said Elda.
"So, you are the lady Estelle's maid?" asked Loki.
"Yes, my lord" replied Elda.
"And by the way you were just treated I guess that kind of thing happens to you a lot" said Loki, looking over at the woman who barged past her.
"It is not my place to say, my lord" said Elda.
She looked up at Loki who raised an eyebrow at her.
"Okay, yes, I get treated like that all the time but I'm a servant, that's what we're there for, I suppose. This is a good day actually. A lot of other servants have it way worse than me. I consider myself lucky" said Elda, Loki smiled at her, "My lord" she added, averting her eyes back down to the floor.
"If talking freely makes you more at ease around me then please do so" said Loki, noticing her discomfort.
"That I cannot do, my lord" said Elda, her eyes still on the floor.
"What? Why?" he asked.
Elda looked up at him, "Because I am not like you, my lord. I don't get to speak freely nor do I get to voice my opinion. I don't talk. I stand. I serve. It's what I do, what I've always done, and what I am forever fated to do" she said, "I am hidden away in other people's shadows. It's better that way"
Loki stared down at her, his face etched with confusion, sympathy, and concern.
He opened his mouth to say something when a voice interrupted him.
"Elda?" shouted Estelle from not far next to them, "Elda!"
"My apologies, my lord" said Elda, bowing her head before she turned in the direction of her mistress, "Have a good night" she said over her shoulder before she quickly hurried off to Estelle.
Loki watched her as she disappeared into the crowds of people before him.
As she vanished from his sight he sighed in thought and looked down at the floor.
A heavy hand patted his shoulder and gave him a squeeze.
"Any luck, brother?" Thor asked, a mocking smile stuck on his face.
Loki rolled his eyes and pulled away from Thor's hand.
"Go and win the lady Estelle's heart while you still have the chance" Loki replied, before turning his back on Thor and walking away from him.
"You don't even know her name, do you?" Thor shouted back.
Loki disappeared into the crowd once again. Thor laughed heartily and naturally joined in a conversation with a group of the guests.