I have been working on this story for ages. Knowing it is short enough I wanted to finish it before I posted it here. I hope everyone enjoys.
Music and laughter tinkled through the air out on the castle's balcony a far better noise than the cacophony inside. Loki rubbed the bridge of his nose trying to work out some of his stress. He had a love-hate relationship with these parties, these "masquerade" balls. On one hand, they let him perform tricks on the guests without being caught but on the other, he had to socialize with them. The dullards of the Asgardian upper class were only tolerable for a time. The night air was cool and crisp and his mask was hot and heavy. He lifted it up for a few seconds allowing the breeze to chill the sweat that had formed underneath.
"You are supposed to keep your mask on at all times." A voice said behind him. Loki reaffixed his mask and turned to greet this intruder on his solitude. It was a woman. She was dressed in deep green with a light purple and white mask covering her face and rows of heather braided into her hair.
"You are correct but I did not think anyone would see my reprieve from the confines of anonymity."
"Your anonymity is safe sir, I did not see but the movement of your hands and the brim of your mask." She approached him and leaned against the stone railing.
"Did you too seek comfort in the night's chill or perhaps liberation from the inane chatter?" Loki asked her. He did not really care but from what she could tell the woman was pretty enough with her long hair the colour of dark mead and full figure. It had been awhile since he had had a woman and she would do nicely.
"Mayhap I came to look at the gardens," she replied gesturing to the blackness where the gardens were. Usually, the pathways would be lit by floating lights but after Thor had accidentally destroyed a good third of the trails and plants during a training exercise with Mjolnir the gardens were closed for repairs.
Loki smiled. "And what a beautiful sight it is."
"A shame. I heard what happened to them. I have never seen the gardens lit up at night I am sure it is lovely."
Loki raised a thin dark eyebrow in intrigue. "You have never seen the gardens at night before, my Lady? They light them every night, surely you must have."
The woman gave a weak smile. "Unfortunately no. You see my father does not often allow me to parties and usually, he keeps me very close to him and always inside."
"And he is correct in doing so. Where is he tonight? Certainly, he did not leave a beautiful flower like you alone. There is many a man who would take advantage of you, my Lady." Loki moved in towards the woman casually but enough that she noticed.
"Like you sir?" She asked backing up as much as Loki had advanced. "Truth be told, my father does not know I am here. I stole out of the house and came here on my own."
"A brave woman," Loki said advancing again but this time far more subtle than before. It appeared as though she would not be easily won to his bed. He loved a chase.
"Or an incredibly stupid one," she replied with a smile.
"I would not say such. It would only be a foolish move if you were to be caught."
"You would be right sir, and given the look of the stars and how inebriated the other guests are I must be returning home to prevent just that." The woman pushed herself away from the balcony and Loki followed.
"But our conversation was just becoming interesting. Stay a few more minutes? I do not even know your name." Loki said grabbing her wrist to prevent her from going any further.
"Is that not the point of the masquerade?" She replied and then she smiled. "There will be another masquerade in two moons for the summer solstice. Meet me here after the All-Father departs for the night."
Pulling her wrist out of his grasp she ran back into the main room and soon was lost in the crowd. On the balcony, Loki looked down at his hand and smiled. There was a stem of heather in his hand. This was going to be fun indeed.
Loki sat in the Grand Library as he often did perusing a thick tome of spells. Today, however, he was distracted. His mind kept wandering back to the night before and that woman with heather in her hair. To be invited to the ball last night and to have attended parties before her father must have been someone of moderate importance. Yet he could not recall any females in court like her before. Perhaps he could find some clue in the familial records.
Standing Loki left his book of spells on the table and wandered over to the rarely used section of familial records. He knew he could immediately dismiss the first tier families he and everyone in the realm knew them far too well for there to be a secret daughter. She must have been from a second or third tier family then. The second tier families were healers, diplomats, and personal servants to the first tier and the Royal family, his mother's handmaidens for example. While the third tier families were general servants to the first tier and the Royal family, most guards, scribes, and occasionally merchants or craftsmen who managed to become important enough.
Taking several scrolls of records down from their shelves Loki carefully balanced them in his arms. Carefully he began his trek back to his table. After a few minutes, and several dropped scrolls, he made it back and began his search.
A few hours later Loki had made no progress. He ran a hand through his hair. It was getting late and although he could stay as long as he wanted he had promised his mother dinner together tonight. Getting up from his table Loki looked up and down the nearest isles.
"You girl," he said finding what he needed. The person he was speaking to was a Keeper of the Library and despite being here so often Loki had never bothered to learn their names as they were ever changing. The men and women who became Keepers were often sent here as punishment for misdeeds in other positions such as healers, scribes, or acolytes from the temple. It was punishment because keeping the library was a notoriously frustrating and mountainous task, they were sent here to learn patience and calm. When their punishment was done they returned the lesson well learned.
"Yes, my Prince," the Keeper said setting down her tomes and bending at the waist respectfully. When she arose Loki noticed that the torc around her neck marked her as one of the few permanent Keepers and a senior worker at that, however, he had never seen her before.
"There are scrolls over at my table. Put them away." He commanded still trying to recall if he had seen her before. He thought he knew all of the permanent Keepers by sight.
"Yes, my Prince." She said with another bow and made to immediately follow the order. Loki stepped in her path however and she stopped.
"You are a permanent worker, correct? Why have I not seen you before?"
Respectfully her eyes did not meet his when she answered. "Yes, my Prince, you are correct. I usually work in the disused sections of Midgard's and Jotunheim's history and culture along with the familial records and the scrolls of law. Today we are short on Keepers because several fell ill from last night's festivities so I volunteered to put away tomes for these sections as well."
"I see. Well, the scrolls should be easy for you to put away then. Carry on." Loki moved out of her way. She gave a slight bow and scurried off.
Two months later and Loki was no nearer to finding out who his heather haired woman was. The last couple weeks he had even taken to setting up camp in the familial records section instead of amongst the spells. In fact, he had given the Keeper of that section quite a fright when she first found him there. So used she was to being alone with the dusty scrolls that she had actually screamed when she found him sitting on the ground with several unrolled scrolls encircling him. Tonight, however, all his investigative work would be worthless when he saw the woman again after the All-Father went up to bed.
"Are you enjoying yourself Loki?" His mother asked joining him by the pillar he was leaning against. "You appear preoccupied."
"I am fine Mother, just bored."
"Bored? I have never heard a more dangerous word come from your mouth. Do I need to warn everyone to watch out for your pranks?"
"Of course not, Mother."
Frigga frowned, "a Prince should not lie to his Mother."
Loki smirked. "You do not need to warn them because it is far too late."
It was at that moment that a woman screamed across the room and her screams were soon joined by several others. Their cups had all been turned into snakes, non-venomous snakes naturally. The snakes turn back into cups the instant they hit the ground but chaos had been caused either way. Women and men fell backwards knocking others over as they searched for the snakes.
"Loki," Frigga reprimanded trying to hide her smile.
"Just a small fright Mother, they will all laugh about it later."
"I am sure they will either way I want no more of your pranks for the rest of the night. The All-Father and I are retiring and if I hear you have caused any more mischief there will be consequences."
"Very well Mother I will restrain myself, if only for the sake of not causing you distress later." Frigga smiled and kissed her son on the cheek. As she left Loki rubbed the spot she had kissed. Hopefully, no one had seen that. He may love and adore his mother but he had always loathed her affections in public, especially when he was trying to keep his identity hidden.
Carefully he watched as the All-Father and his mother said their farewells and gave their blessings. As soon as the doors to the royal quarters shut Loki launched himself from the pillar. He filled two cups with mead from the banquet table and made his way onto the balcony. There were more people outside than there had been last time. Would they be able to recognize each other? Yes. There she was leaning against the balcony railing staring out at the repaired garden. She was wearing a similar green dress though lighter in colour, the same mask, and this time had delicate purple Hepatica flowers in her hair.
"A drink my lady?" Loki asked stepping up behind her. Not touching but close enough that he could feel the heat of her body. She turned carefully so that their bodies did not meet.
"Thank you, sir." The woman took the goblet from his right hand and sipped on the sweet mead. Eyeing him over the rim of the glass she slipped out from between his body and the railing. She didn't move far though just a few inches away giving him room to lean where she was. He did so taking a sip of his own honeyed mead. The summer's night air was pleasantly cool and a soft breeze from the gardens brought the scent of flowers up to them.
"A lovely evening is it not?" Loki asked after a few seconds of silence.
"It is indeed, summer has always been my favorite season."
"I myself have always preferred winter, the yule time is highly enjoyable." 'Because it is so easy to play tricks with everyone distracted with preparing for winter.'
"True yuletide is very exciting." She smiled without showing any teeth. It was delicate and made it seem if she had a secret. With another sip of mead she looked at the goblet. "We should be careful these might turn into snakes as well."
Loki chuckled. "I hear Prince Loki only plays one trick a night."
"Hopefully you are correct, I despise serpents."
"Do you?" Loki was a tad offended. Though they were just animals he rather identified with the slithering beasts.
"Yes, it may sound rather silly but when I was young I once fell into a serpent mating pit. They were not deadly but I have been terrified of them ever since."
"That does sound like a trying experience." From inside the banquet room, there was a loud smash. Both of them turned to look for the source of the noise and saw two men fighting with others egging them on.
"Perhaps you would enjoy a walk in the gardens? Get away from the ruckus." Loki suggested. Yes, get her away from the ruckus, unmask her, and claim his prize. The thought of her identity had been teasing him for two months and it was time that Loki had some compensation.
"That would be pleasant, yes." She said with another delicate smile this time a faint blush crossing her cheeks. Loki offered her his arm politely and she took it though still tried to keep as much distance between them as possible. They walked slowly down the side staircase to the garden's footpaths lit with balls of soft yellow light that Loki and Frigga had conjured earlier. There were a few other people in the garden but they were mostly alone.
"Have you been enjoying the night so far?" Loki asked after a minute of walking aimlessly down the main path.
"The celebration has been wonderful yes but it is far more excitement than I am used to. I am quite drained."
"Perhaps we should sit then?" He gestured to one of the benches lining the path.
"No, walking is fine. Thank you for the concern."
"Naturally, it would be bad manners to push a woman to exhaustion anywhere other than bed." It was his companion's misfortune that she was taking a sip of mead right then. She choked on the drink and began coughing violently the cup falling to the ground. Loki dropped his own goblet as he led her over to a bench to regain her composure. He had not expected her to react so intensely it was rather shocking, almost as though she was a virgin.
"I apologize," he said as her coughing subsided, "that was inappropriate."
"Entirely." She replied rubbing her chest to get rid of the pain from her outburst. "And here I thought you were not like the others."
Loki paused slightly. He had always been told he was different, he always thought he was different. Whatever did she mean that he was like the others? "I am sorry what do you mean by that?"
The woman looked up at him her piercing light green eyes framed by her white and purple mask. "By your eloquence, I thought you would enjoy decent perhaps even intellectual conversation but it appears that you, like all the other men here, are only concerned with where you will find your next pair of open legs. Good night sir, I believe it is time for me to go."
She made to stand but Loki stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Wait. I believe I misinterpreted your actions. I thought that by walking with me you were agreeing. It would be wrong of me not to say I did not see you as a potential night's fun. Our conversations though, as short as they were, have been pleasant and I wish for them to continue. Allow me a second chance and I shall not do anything untoward to you."
The lie rolled off his tongue perfectly. Oh yes he had misinterpreted her signals and she did appear a tad more intelligent and interesting than the other women; but he most certainly would continue to seduce her. This would be such a wonderful game, the ones that were the hardest to convince were the ones sweetest in bed.
"Very well," she said after a few very long seconds of silence, "to begin why not fetch us some more drinks as ours have spilled."
Loki's lips cracked into a smile. "Of course, my Lady, I shall return momentarily."
He walked off a small spring in his step. This was going to be so much fun. Loki took the steps two at a time. The fight in the feasting hall was over making it easy for Loki to grab two more drinks. As he traveled down the path to where he had left her Loki was perturbed to not see her sitting on the bench.
"My Lady?" He questioned looking around for her. This was the correct spot their goblets were still there on the ground. Was she hiding from him? No. Loki set the goblets down on the bench. There was a note sitting there where she had been held down by a flower from her hair.
'Sir, I fear the mead split upon my dress and I must return home at once to give me time to remove the stench to prevent my father from realizing I have been out. Meet me at the next masked ball in the same place at the same time. My apologies.'
Loki sniffed the flower wondering if her note told the truth or if she had sent him to get drinks so she could slip away. Either way, her note told him a very important factor about her identity: she was literate.