Prologue

"This is the Crystal of Pertho. It is a powerful relic, and it contains the secrets of the Nine Realms."

Loki listened as a slender and elegant female elf explained the origins of the Crystal to him in her lulling, dreamy voice. The God of Mischief may have appeared to be attentive and interested, but in truth, he was utterly bored.

The All Father had sent his second son on a diplomatic trip to Alfheimir, both as a visit to the Elven king as well as to lead discussions about further cooperation and peace between the two realms. When Loki had arrived, he was greeted with a warm welcome and the King of Alfheimir had asked his daughter to show the god around on a tour of their grand palace. Therefore, Loki was now together with his guide in the treasury room, gazing at the various magical relics and listening to his host as she introduced the more prized artefacts to him.

Loki barely managed to stifle a yawn when a glowing violet light caught his attention. The treasury room of Alfheimir was filled with relics, and it was not as organised as the Weapons' Vault in Asgard. Only the more powerful and important articles merited their own stands while the other treasures were simply stacked on the rows of pearly, ivory shelves. Loki's eyes flashed with interest as he observed a polished looking pendant with a round gem encrusted in the middle, emitting off a soothing violet glow.

Now this is enticing…

The god's fingers brushed lightly across the violet gem and a grin flitted across his face when a few tiny sparks flew from the relic, triggered by his touch. Despite being slighted in the favour of the other grander artefacts in this room, this pendant holds extremely powerful magic. Loki knew and recognised that fact. The God of Mischief's eyes flicked back to his gorgeous host, who now seemed engrossed in her own speech about a large, majestic sword embedded with rubies as large as eggs.

With all these precious treasures around, perhaps they won't miss this one little necklace…

A sly smirk crept across Loki's face as his hand stealthily closed around the pendant, casually slipping it up his sleeve. The violet gem radiated a calming aura of warmth in the trickster's hand and he grinned gleefully, pleased with his find. Loki was just pondering excitedly about all the possible ways he could explore and probe into the pendant's magic when a clear, tinkling voice interrupted his train of thoughts.

"Prince Loki? Are you with me?" The elven princess asked curiously, gazing at her guest with her large, stunning azure eyes. Loki gave a tiny amused grin at his host's seeming displeasure with his lack of attention to her.

Regardless of race, women will always be women…

"Of course I am, my fair Princess Vanya. How could my attention possibly stray elsewhere with someone as lovely as you in the room?" Loki smirked as a pretty blush of pink appeared on the snow white cheeks of the elf. "Let's continue with our tour, shall we? I am sure there are many other magnificent places in this grand palace for us to explore." The God of Mischief added, flashing a charming smile at Vanya.

Loki grinned as the princess nodded shyly and led the way out of the treasury room, oblivious to the fact that the violet pendant was now missing from its rightful place on the shelves.

It seems as though my little trip to Alfheimir had been a lot more rewarding than I had expected.

This is the prologue to my story… I apologise for its lack of length… the later chapters will be longer.

So this is the prequel to my other story, Son of Loki. If you haven't read it yet, it's fine… A World Without Liars can be understood and read as its own individual story. There is no need to have any pre-existing knowledge of my other works. However, I do suggest reading Son of Loki, it's one shot sequel A Very Leify Christmas as well as a one shot titled Pick of the Nick written by DelilahUnknown (published under my account). They are all basically part of this series of stories and you would be able to better understand and predict the ending of this story if you do read the rest. For instance, if you had read Son of Loki, you would already know the importance of the pendant and the role it plays in the future.

To the others who had read my stories in the past… this prologue is basically meant to explain how Loki got the pendant. Do you guys actually see a hint of Leif in him? You are supposed to, you know? Loki is supposed to be a bit more playful in this story. ;D

Do review… and thanks to all those who continue to read my works. :D