The almost silent footsteps of Asgard's younger prince echoed uncomfortably. With the halls of Gladsheimr so empty the day after the feast where Thor had made a very bad first impression to Tilaria there was no background noise to cloak his steps. Loki wasn't used to being able to hear his steps.
He pushed it out of his mind for the moment as his top priority was getting to the library as quickly as possible. Normally he might simply teleport there, but for some reason he had a very low tolerance to alcohol and his head still hurt. Teleportation was a spell that needed the utmost degree of precision so he wouldn't teleport into a wall or door, and Loki did not want to try his luck by teleporting while his head hurt.
Was everyone hiding? Loki thought in amusement. The feast had not been as wild as they usually were so there shouldn't be very many people lying in bed nursing a hangover as Thor was.
The memory of last night's feast made Loki cringe. How could Thor mistake the Ljósálfr princess as a servant? After the feast, Odin had pulled Thor aside to try and deliver a fierce rebuke to him but Thor had picked the perfect opportunity to pass out from all the wine he had drank.
Odin would undoubtedly be heading to Thor's room now to repeat his earlier attempt at punishment, and Loki did not want to be anywhere near it for if he was he knew Odin would find some way to make this partly Loki's fault. Thor would not be able to escape Odin's wrath, but this time Loki was going to leave him alone. It was Thor's own bloody fault that they had made such an impression to Tilaria.
Besides, Loki also needed to go to the library and look through the grimoire's to there to find a spell to make his formal clothes less itchy. Why were formal clothes always itchy? Was it some sort of rule that formal clothes were itchy because Loki would believe there was.
With his goals in mind, Loki decided it would be fastest to cut across the courtyard with the apple tree, Thor's raining yard. It was almost lunch by now, for Loki had slept in both because he had gone to bed so late and because of the wine he had drank. There might be others in the library, but his parents would look to his rooms first. By the time they finished with Thor and started to track down Loki their anger would have cooled.
The training field was empty at least, and Loki began to walk across it near the apple tree. He did so calmly so he wouldn't look suspicious. As he approached the tree its upper branches and leaves began rustling. Loki wasn't expecting that since there was no breeze and he looked up at it curiously. Slítas was still sleeping on his bed so it couldn't be his cobra friend. Who was it then?
"Almost got it, oh come here you obnoxious apple." A feminine voice ordered from the top of the apple tree.
Loki stepped back at the voice, remembering it from the feast last night. It was Princess Tilaria, and although Loki didn't understand why she was in a tree he knew it was her. He had escaped his father's scorn and didn't wish to get the same treatment from Tilaria as revenge for her being insulted so severely last night.
There was more rustling in the leaves, and Loki heard Tilaria say triumphantly. "I've got you now."
Her victory was cut off by an ominous cracking noise, and Loki did step back now as the branch Tilaria had been standing on broke. He heard and saw from the way the branches moved that Tilaria was falling. She had been standing on one of the thin branches close to the top of the tree, and she fell though most of its leaves before landing on a branch that didn't break with a thud. After that there was only silence from the apple tree.
Loki hesitated and looked at the tree for a sign of life. Normally, Loki would roll his eyes and look away after using a senseline to confirm the victim was okay but things were not normal right now and Loki didn't have his magic at his fingertips. After what Thor had done, it would be a very poor idea to leave the Ljósálfr's princess stranded in a tree with a concussion.
Realizing that he had to go and see if Tilaria was okay whether he wanted to or not, he edged over to the tree. There was still no sign of movement as he stepped under the shadow cast by its leafy canopy and tried to look up through the branches. Was he going to have to climb up there after her?
That was when something jumped down from the tree at him. Loki was already holding his breath in nervousness and the ambush made him give a cry of surprise and step back. In a move belaying Loki's usual grace he tripped over one of the apple tree's exposed roots and landed flat on his back.
He decided to stay where he lie and stared up at the tree's deep emerald leaves. There were a few red apples still in the branches, and Loki was certain his face was the same color as the fruit. The leaves rustled again, and someone more calmly leaned down from the leaves to Loki. It was indeed Tilaria.
She leaned down from the tree, still half in the branches above Loki with a curious look. "You Æsir really do scare easy."
Loki didn't appreciate the implied insult, and sat up in a slightly defensive manor. "Did you do that on purpose?"
Tilaria dropping from the branches had been what had scared him, and Loki didn't appreciate it if she had done it on purpose just to see if he would jump.
"Yes," Tilaria answered plainly. "I wanted to speak to an Æsir, but everyone has been avoiding me and acting overly courteous so it's a waste of time to speak to them."
"Um, t-that's from Thor, he, uh…" Loki stuttered, amazing himself that he couldn't say anything before Tilaria.
"He treated me as a servant, and a rather daft one," Tilaria reiterated. "I remember. Surely that would not be enough to cause everyone to shy from me."
"No one wants to insult you more after what Thor did so they're being overly careful," Loki explained.
Tilaria seemed to understand what he meant because she pulled herself back onto the branch and laid on it, taking a bit from an apple in her hand Loki didn't realize she had had.
"The sweetest apples are always on top, aren't they?" Tilaria asked neutrally and tapped a finger of the hand she held the apple with against its red surface.
Loki was surprised that she wasn't giving him an earful as she had Odin, and as Odin likely wanted to do. She wasn't offended from Thor? That was lucky for Asgard, and for his brother.
"They seem to be," Loki agreed carefully, amazed that she wasn't holding a grudge as any other noble would.
Tilaria took another bite from the apple in her hand, and it cruched loudly. "Normally I don't end up falling after I get my snack, but since the tree didn't warn me the branch was about to snap I didn't realize."
"Warn you?" Loki asked curiously, trying not to pry too much.
"Ljósálfr have a strong connection with Alfheim," Tilaria explained. "The trees don't like it when their branches break, so they usually warn us Ljósálfr to get off the branch before it does. It works out for everyone sine they don't lose a limb and we don't fall. It appears the trees on Asgard are in a very deep sleep to not even care when their branches break."
Loki let himself relax as he realized something obvious. He was judging Tilaria based on how the girls and people of court on Asgard acted. They were easily offended, but Tilaria was not Æsir. Luckily for Thor and Asgard, she didn't seem to hold any sort of grudge against them for last night. He stood in relief.
Tilaria lowered a hand through the leaves down to Loki, and Loki was surprised to see another apple in it.
"Do you want it?" Tilaria asked. "It's from the top like mine is. I don't think I'm in the mood to eat two and this one fell on me after the branch broke. I'd rather it not go to waste."
Loki was amazed by Tilaria's calmness. When it came to talking himself out of trouble he was a true silver tongue, and yet right now as Tilaria offered him an apple he had no idea what he should say. To think that Loki had believed he had broken his habit of stuttering shyness a century ago.
When Loki didn't take the apple, Tilaria looked over at him and saw his surprise at her offer. Did he think she would still be upset after last night? She had been called far worse things than a servant before, and Thor had called her that accidently instead of intentionally so there was no sting from it.
"What is it?" Tilaria asked curiously and hopped down from the branch and landed in front of Loki.
"You're acting different then you did during the feast," Loki informed her. "You were somewhat snippety to father."
"He is just an Æsir," Tilaria told him innocently, "and like most hopelessly arrogant. Surely there is no harm in putting him in his place."
Loki was Æsir, he thought, taking offense again. He might have replied, but he noticed that there was no venom or shadows of malice in her gaze. She wasn't trying to be offensive so much as simply telling the truth as she had been raised by.
"There are some Æsir who fit that description," Loki admitted, thinking he could name quite a few Star Guard, "but not all of us are like that."
"I suppose it's not possible for an entire species to be like that," Tilaria agreed.
"Um," Loki said as he tried to say something before things fell silent. "I'm surprised you were able to recover from Bifrost's sickness so quickly. Usually those who are affected by it need a night's rest instead of a few hours."
"Arlen did tell you I was sick I suppose," Tilaria said quietly and looked away from him.
"Told us?" Loki asked in surprise. "You mean you weren't really sick."
Tilaria glanced at him, and Loki was now curious.
"You weren't sick from Bifrost at all," Loki caught on and apprised her as he tried to figure this new mystery out. "That doesn't make any sense. You're the Ljósálfr's princess so why don't they want Asgard to see you? If they didn't want you then they should have just left you on Alfheim."
Tilaria was surprised that Loki had caught on so quickly and admitted that it seemed not all Æsir were battle-hungry berserkers who thought only of combat. Loki had managed to piece together the situation quickly enough.
"You are half-right," Tilaria said slowly, "but half-wrong."
"When you took your seat next to Arlen last night I noticed that he seemed annoyed with you," Loki said softly as a new realization came to light.
Now Loki was on the correct idea, and Tilaria figured that since he was about to guess it anyway she might as well keep talking. "You know I am only a foster child of the royal family, and that Eragon is the real heir, correct?"
Loki nodded and interlinked his fingers behind his back as he tended to do when he was listening intently to try and puzzle out new clues.
"Eragon was only a few days old when Queen Anastasia died," Tilaria continued. "She was the one who adopted me after my parents abandoned me. After her death, Hallien wanted to disown me and make me leave, but Arlen wouldn't let Hallien exile me. I'm still not sure why, but I know he and Hallien got into quite a fight over it. Arlen eventually won."
That was why she was so confused about why Arlen had been so vicious last night. He used to be almost protective to her and something similar to an uncle to her and Eragon, and kept an eye on them whenever Hallien was busy. Was Arlen really that upset because she had tried to kill Hallien?
"I understand that some foster children are treated better than others, but why did Hallien go that far?" Loki asked innocently.
Tilaria felt like telling Loki about her assassination attempt would be counterproductive so she looked away and found the second reason why they didn't get along.
"I am a… a halfbreed," Tilaria hesitantly spoke, aware that that alone was likely enough to make Loki turn away.
"Halfbreed?" Loki frowned and tilted his head to one side curiously. "I've never heard that term before."
Tilaria was startled that Loki hadn't. "Y-yes, I've been told my father is Ljósálfr, but my mother was Æsir."
"Oh," Loki realized although he didn't know the word halfbreed he knew what she meant. "You're a Halfling, and your parents are from two different realms. Halflings are said to sometimes have unique magic that outclasses the strength of either of their parent races. I can tell you're a mage, but I wonder if you can do stuff on that scale as well."
Tilaria realized that he'd actually complimented her mixed-blood heritage and shook her head once the surprise faded enough for her to move. "I am a half-breed, and my existence dilutes the Ljósálfr's perfect blood. Halfbreeds aren't supposed to exist. That's why Arlen told you I was sick, so he wouldn't have to suffer through my presence at the feast."
Although Arlen had never been like that in the past, acting as if he were Galia with such polarized views. Loki was used to causing mayhem and driving everyone crazy, so he had no idea how to respond to Tilaria's degrading words spoken with such surety. How was he supposed to respond to them?
"Yet you came to the feast," Loki said softly. "Although I apologize on my brother's behalf for his words, I am glad that you came."
Tilaria was surprised by Loki's words, but her magic could sense no lie hidden within them. She lowered her eyes, realizing that the stories were correct and that the Æsir were very different than the Ljósálfr. Being different however was not always a bad thing.
Tilaria held out the second apple from the top of the tree to Loki again without raising her eyes by way of thanks. Loki took it this time, aware of the feeling he had that Tilaria was like a wild animal that would bolt if he startled her. He took a bite, and smiled. Tilaria was right. It was sweet.
The light reflected off the razor sharp edges of his twin blades as they were sheathed. Arlen had his orders, and Tilaria had just been seen walking to the dining hall with Asgard's younger prince. Crow was right, and it was dangerous to involve the Golden Eagles in their plot. Alfheim was ready for the war against Asgard, so all that was left now was the kill.
Crow did it, and now Arlen's going to kill Tilaria and the princes. Arlen actually is not a villain. In the past he was a friend, but things changed for it was only after Tilaria tried to kill Hallien that Crow began to speak to Arlen.
What do you think of Tilaira now? She's acting different towards Loki then she was to the elves because unlike with the elves, she doesn't want Loki to hate her if it can be helped. Since the elves already hate her from her mixed blood, she doesn't see a reason to be polite or respectful to them, but Loki doesn't hate her for her blood. It's a fact that surprises her, and she's not really sure how to be polite and respectful to someone since she hasn't been doing it for so long.
