I'm so sorry for the long wait, but I will probably write more frequently from now on, and it's not much left of the story now. Thank you for reading and reviewing! It means a lot!

As I hurried back through the labyrinth-like corridors I wondered who the other cup was for. I hadn't seen a guest and had not thought Loki to be someone who entertained guests at a regular basis. Maybe someone had come during my absence, I thought.

Careful not to drop anything I opened the door to the big hall that was part of Loki's private living space. The prince had risen from the chair and stood gazing out through one the great windows. The sinking sun had turned everything golden and the sky shimmered in pink. Loki's posture was tense. His arms were folded behind his back, feet apart. The long black hair lay smooth as always against his neck. It was as if he waited for something to happen.

"Put the wine on the table."

Had I not seen Loki before me, I would not have known where the voice came from. It was only a murmur. I shivered slightly and then I did as he asked. As I turned to him again to ask if I was free to go, he spoke again.

"Do you remember your parents, May?"

The question took me off guard, which made me stutter.

"I... I... I... N-no. Not much, milord."

"Tell me."

I did not know what to do. I stood there staring at his back, looking for answers. I could not understand.

"Tell me!" he said again a bit sharper. "Please." The last word was only a murmur, but audible all the same.

"I-I don't know what to say."

Loki turned towards me slowly. His face was blank of emotion and his green eyes pierced into me. I was afraid that he was going to become angry with me, so I fumbled after something to say.

"I sometimes dream about them, but when I try to remember them the memories seem to disappear."

I blurted the words out. I then realized that I had just shared a piece of highly personal information with one of the princes of Asgard. I blushed suddenly and lowered my gaze to the floor.

"I think I have some answers for you. If you are interested."

I looked up at him, surprised. He watched me, reading my reaction but showing no feelings himself. I was so confused at the situation that I had to just go with it. It wouldn't help to analyze.

"Yes, please." I almost whispered.

"Then take a seat."

Loki gestured towards a chair at the table. I hesitated. Did he really ask a servant to sit at his table? It was against all rules. Then I caught his gaze and sat down. There was no negotiating with that look. I sat there on the edge of the seat, so that if he changed his mind I could quickly take my rightful place. Loki came forward and reached for the wine. He poured it into the two cups and put one of them in front of me, like he was treating me like an equal, and rose the other one to his lips. I stared at the cup and then turned back to Loki. Why was he doing this? He drained his cup and went back to the window. Then he spoke.

"Asgardians, sometimes visit earth in pursue of protecting our world. One time there was among those who descended, an Asgardian man named Eren. He served Odin faithfully, but had a reputation of having a way with ladies."

He paused as if to figure out what to say next.

"Your mother was a normal, mortal, human woman. Not famous or rich, but she happened to cross paths with Eren and he fell in love with her. He left, of course, with the rest of our kind when the mission was over, but a few months later she conceived a child – you. One year after you were born she met a man. He became the man you called father and the one who raised you. When you were on your tenth year, they both died in an accident. Eren had held an eye on you and your mother and had seen what had happened. He went to the Allfather and asked permission to bring you here."

Loki turned around and looked at me.

"That is how you came to live here in Asgard with Yrda, and Eren, your real father."

Loki fell silent. I could feel his eyes on me, but all I could do was to sit and stare in front of me. It was too much to process, and still my thoughts returned to Loki's motives.

"Well?"

"Why... why are you telling me this? I don't understand."

I looked up on him to search for answers in his face, only to be taken aback by the sudden hostility there.

"You ungrateful girl!"

He came towards me and I felt the imminent danger of him hitting me. I jumped out of the chair and backed away from him, pleading and stumbling over the words.

"No, wait! I did not mean to sound ungrateful! It's just... I have just found out that Eren is my real father and not someone who adopted me. And, and what I don't understand is why you are kind to me although I am only a servant."

Loki stopped, watching me.

"Why am I important?" I asked. "What do I, a servant girl, mean to you, the prince of Asgard?"

Loki's anger seemed to drain out of him as quickly as it had come. Instead the prince seemed to shrink into someone small, lost and confused. He turned away as if to hide his show of weakness and he steadied himself against the wall.

"I... I had to know... if you were really purely human, or if you had Asgardian blood in you. You have no idea of the danger you have been in."

"In danger of what?"

My question was hardly more than a whisper that carried through the room.

"Me." He paused and tuned to me again. Suddenly he moved towards me with such speed that I did not have time to react before he stood right in front of me. "Do you realize that I can do exactly whatever I like with you, and there is nothing you can do about it?!" He growled.

I backed a few steps and felt my back bumping into something. I was scared now. Loki's mood shifted with every minute that passed and he was impossible to predict.

He stood there, hovering right in front of me and gazing down into my face. At last he relaxed and took a step back. He stared out in nothingness, looking lost for some time before he spoke again.

"I did not want to feel drawn towards a human girl. An Asgardian prince cannot be allowed to have a mortal girl."

He seemed disgusted of himself as he admitted his true feelings. I guessed he had never actually done that to anyone before and he counted it as a weakness.

"Leave me. Please. I must be alone."

His tone was almost pleading and he avoided looking at me. I was relieved to get permission to leave the erratic prince to himself. I slid past Loki who now seemed to have totally forgotten about me and hurried out through the servants' door. As soon as the door closed behind me, I burst into tears.