"But mother, I feel fine! I really do!" Loki whined.
"Loki, you can't, you may feel fine now, but that can change in an instant. Anyway, Thor and the others are just too rough for you to play with." The Queen looked at her youngest son sadly, "Why don't you run along to the library, your chair is all set up for you and I will send someone up in a while to see if you need anything."
"But I hate being inside, I want to go out!"
"We can walk in the gardens later when it's warmer." She wrapped Loki's thick woolen robe tighter around him.
"I want to play! I never get to do anything!"
Loki's grumblings followed you as you continued your way down the hall. Even though you knew Loki had always been sickly, it annoyed you to hear the prince whine and carry on like he does on an almost daily basis. Sick or not, he is still a prince, and your opinion was, a prince doesn't have anything to whine about.
"I hope you've been staying out of the way." Your mother rushed out of a room she had just been cleaning, her apron that had been spotless this morning now had various stains and blacked soot which meant a fireplace somewhere needed cleaning.
"Yes."
"Good. You should go find the other children; it won't be long before you will be scrubbing floors on your hands and knees. Enjoy childhood while you can." She patted your head with a calloused hand and darted into the next room.
No…Prince Loki had nothing to whine about.
You didn't realize that your birthday the following month would include the announcement that you would start training as a servant for Prince Loki, whom your mother said had taken to his bed for the last two weeks.
Dragging your feet with an armload of Loki's freshly laundered clothes in your arms, you cursed the laundress you told you to deliver them to the prince's chambers and which items went where.
You knocked curtly on the door and waited for Loki to tell you to enter.
When he did, you picked your pace, not wanting to spend more time in the company of the grumpy prince than necessary.
"I have your clothes, Your Grace," You said, bowing carefully as to not drop anything.
Loki only nodded, not turning his head from whatever he was staring at out the window. You had to admit; from his profile he did look pretty pale.
Placing the pile of clothes on the table, you went about putting things in their proper place and were in the process of hanging up his better clothes when he began coughing. It sounded painful, and you winced as he continued, and out of the corner of your eye, you saw him reach for the basin that was on his bedside table.
A few more retching coughs and you willed yourself not to vomit as something particularly nasty hit the bottom of the basin with a splatter.
Wheezing, Loki lay back on his pillows, continuing to stare out the window.
You dipped into his bathroom to get him a glass of water, "Here," You said handing it to him.
"Thanks." His voice was raspy.
"What are you watching out there?"
"Thor and the others."
"Oh." Was all you said.
"I always hope I'm getting better but…sooner or later I always end up getting sick again." He looked at you, then back out the window, "It gets lonely being stuck inside all by myself." He finished quietly.
For once you began to felt for Loki, come to think of it, you never saw him playing with any of the other children around the palace.
"I am going to miss that too," You said nodding out the window, "Yesterday was my tenth birthday and my mother said it was time for me to start learning how to do things around the palace. I don't think there will be much time for playing anymore." The realization hit you, and you felt your chest tighten.
"I don't know how I am able to miss something I've never been able to do," Loki said thoughtfully, "I just wish I had someone to hang out with me."
You and Loki talked for a few moments longer, and you left promising him that you would stop by whenever you had a free moment.
During those times, you would bring him books that you and he would read by the hour (When your chores were done, of course), and once in a while, when no one in the kitchen was looking, you were able to snag a plate of pastries to snack on.
After a while you should have noticed that your duties began to slacken slightly, but no one ever said a word as you spent more and more time with Loki, something that years later you would realize was probably Queen Frigga's doing because no one could deny that Loki's spirits rose along with his health after only a few months of your company.
His bouts of illness were few and far between and by the time he came of age, no one could tell that he used to be a sickly and weak boy. And, of course, it came as no surprise to anyone, when he finally proposed to you.
After all, how could he not?