Chapter 28.
She lay on her back in the grass, the blooming garden around them and she smiled up at him as he lay on his side over her. He finished arranging her hair in a fan above her head, laying dasies and small, pink cherry blossoms in a crown above her. He took a rose petal then, laying it on her forehead and she giggled up at him. Frigga stood in her window, watching her younger son dote on the girl he was eager to marry with a smile. The boy she once knew, showing in true form and she blinked back a tear. She heard Floria giggle again and saw him press his lips to hers, the hands that were at her sides caressing his cheek. He laughed then, helping her sit up and the flowers stayed where they were, the rose petal fluttering down and landing on his arm.
He did not care who saw them, and he smiled at her again as she snuggled into his arms. Her sigh soft, and he greatful she had recovered from her illness enough to return to the castle. She did miss some of the other maids, and him most of all. But he did manage over the two weeks to visit her, every day as he promised but it was sometimes far too short and left her saddened when he left.
"My sweet Nightengale." He laughed as her hand found a ticklish spot under his arm. He pulled the hand away and she laughed back at him, trying to free her wrist and he grinning at her. "That is not fair at all, I cannot tickle back to defend myself. It would not be proper to act so, or to leave people wondering what happened in your Father's house."
"Very well then. I will stop if it pleases you Sir." She said and he lay back on the grass. The sun felt good, and his company even more pleasing since her return. Normally, he would have to wrestle himself out from under Odin's continued tutlidge. Assurances on his lips that he could manage the affairs of Asgard well without the Old King needing to worry, and not caring actually because Thor would be the Golden Son again soon and the Heir Apparent. He would stay though, waiting to be let go and he would race to Frigga's Chambers to collect Floria. She waiting after finishing her chores, fighting the urge to run to him. But today, he was allowed to have most of it to himself, and he would spend it with her. His only intentions to use this day well.
Now she stood in her lavender dress, made from the same silk he had given her at Yule and she picked up one of the boots he kicked off to relax. She giggled, waving it back and forth and he raised an eyebrow at her.
"What are you doing little Michief Maker?" He asked and she giggled again, her body turning to run.
"I am going to throw it in the lake if you don't catch me!" She shouted as she ran, several Noble Women gasping in shock at what she had said. No one had the gall to speak to him like that, and they knew people had been punished in the past for less. He jumped to his feet with a laugh, grabbing his other boot and chasing after her. Her laughter trailing behind her as she ran from him, he found himself enjoying the game as well. A Guard grinning at the bare footed Prince chasing a girl with his other boot, and older one musing how wonderful love was and thinking about his wife and their child.
"Floria! I warn you, if you submerge my boot, I shall have you swim after it!" He shouted and she laughed and ran harder. She ran toward the docks, and stood at the end of them. Her breath ragged from the exertion, and holding the boot over the water.
"Don't you dare throw me in there." She said and he grinned. She squealed, holding the footwear in front of her quickly in offering and her eyes pleading with him to show mercy.
"Now, now. It seems that I have you at an impasse." He said and she dropped the boot to the dock and tried to run past him. He caught her though, lifting her off her feet and she screamed. Her feet kicked in the struggle, and she squealed for help. He walked to the end of the dock, using one hand to remove her shoes and tossed them next to his boots.
"No! You will ruin my dress, you gave me this silk!" She squealed and he stepped with her to the edge. Her toes dangled over the water and she struggled harder, her squeals turning to laughter as he stood there with her for a moment.
"Have you learned nothing of me, I can restore it and make it new. I suggest you hold your breath." He said and turned on his toes so they fell backwards into the water. She lay in his arms and kicked for the surface, she sputtering at the sudden cold and shivering as she stood in the water.
"You are so cruel!" She coughed and splashed water at him.
"Am I? Then I may not restore the dress after all." He shot back and splashed water at her. Odin and his council who all saw what happened as they walked by, stood laughing as they splashed water at eachother and played.
"No fair! Your hands are bigger than mine!" She shouted and she splashed him back. Her giggles and squeaks of cold carrying and getting the attention of more people, they regarded the couple and Floria looked down at her hands. A shocked gasp came from her, and she screamed.
"What is it? What is wrong?" Loki saked, worried that he had hurt her on accident, her eyes filled with tears and she shook.
"I lost my ring in the water. My Bethroval Ring, I can't be without it!" She said and started looking around her at the lake bottom. Loki did not think twice, diving under the water and searching the bottom for it. He swam around, searching the silt covered bottom and saw something glimmer among the grass. He swam toward it, finding the ring and closing it in his hand. He surfaced with the treasure in his hand, standing before her and opening it so that she could see he found it.
"I am so happy, thank you My Prince!" She squealed and hugged him, his eyes turning toward the dock and he saw Odin and The Council standing on it.
"May I ask what happened here?" Odin said and Floria took a brave step forward, Loki slipped the ring into his pocket and she cringed at the mud.
"Well... You see, My King... Ummm... There was a bit of an accident Sir." She said and Loki hid a laugh at her. "It... It was the strangest occurance Sir. And now... we are somehow wet."
"A strange occurrence made you somehow wet?" Odin said, his good eye taking in the scene.
"Yes My King. It... was..." She started but fell into giggles, Loki splashing her from behind. She laughed and returned the assualt, Odin shaking his head and giving them a mirthful smile.
"Loki. Do see that these unusual occurances do not repeat themselves. It has created a stir amongst the people in the Castle, and your Bride is shivering with cold." He said, looking down at the shoes and boots as he walked away. The old King started laughing, leaning close to his Advisor of State.
"That, my friend is love at its finest." Odin said and the man nodded and smiled.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
He sat in The Council Chambers, enduring another meeting and fingered the miniature portrait in his vest pocket of Floria he had commissioned to keep her with him always. He half paid attention, his elbow on the arm of his chair and he let out a long breath as the Finance Minister drowned on about taxes and how much wealth Odin had in his coffers. The old King nodded, his Counciler of State standing and handing the King a written page, Loki saw his brow furrow at it and he looked at the War Minister and sighed.
"Offer him Thor to wed his Daughter, Loki is spoken for." Odin said and both men nodded. Loki sat up straighter, watching what was happening and Odin handed him the page. He read it, the Alfar King offering the hand of his youngest daughter in marriage to one of the Princes. Odin looked at the small portrait of the fair haired girl, and passed it to Loki. He looked down at her, the sweet smile on her face mysterious and he saw a glint of something in her eye that told him that she was trouble.
"Pretty, but hardly interesting to me. And I do not want a concubine, I would ignore her for the one I truly wish to be with." Loki said and Odin laughed. The Counciler bowed, and handed him another page and Odin read it over.
"My King, the plans for the wedding. It will be an affair to make history, the Prince, and Heir Apparent, marrying a girl of Common birth and sad circumstance. After, we will hold the ceremony to crown her a princess. Just as you ordered, so no person can doubt the legitimacy of any child from the union." He said, looking at Loki. He leaned back in his seat, sighing and looking down at the page.
"You make Floria sound less a person, and a piece of cattle. She is no broodmare to be mounted for any gain, she is to be my true wife and I will place her crown on her head when she becomes Queen." Loki said and Odin nodded, he took a pen and made the notation to the plan and handed it back to the man.
"I like that idea, it shows that this was a voluntary union and that you hold her in high esteem." Odin said and laughed. "Not that that could be doubted. Present the other girl to Thor, she is pretty and young. He may like her, and if he does we can bring the pretty thing here for him to meet her."
"Yes, My King." The man said and he returned to his seat. Loki thought about his coming nuptials, growing anxious to tell Floria that their union would be in a month. His thoughts clouding suddenly at the thought of breaking his promise of waiting until she was ready, and praying that she would not be upset.
"They celebrate this wedding already, and all speak of it as a true romance. we have a phamplet that has circulated, accounting all the details of the sweet way friends grew to more." Another Counciler said, placing the booklet on the table and Loki picked it up. He looked at the woodcut of he and Floria, both smiling at eachother and holding hands.
"It is quite a popular read among the younger Noble Ladies." Another man said and Loki tossed it back toward the center of the table. He stepped his fingers, thinking how odd it was, to be raised from Exile to Crown Prince in a matter of a few months.
"It is no suprise." Loki said calmly. "Young girls full of wish like such romances, and dream of their own affairs."
"That they do, My Prince." The Minister of the King's Household said, and nodded. "That they truly do."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Floria retired early that evening, worn from the exertion of the day and she curled under her blankets. She lay on her side, watching the fire crackle away happily and tucked an arm under her pillow. He bed felt so lonely, and she heard someone in the room on the other side of the shared Bathing Chamber move about. Her eyes started drifting shut, when her fingers brushed against something and she pulled a folded letter from under her pillow. She turned it over in her hands, finding the seal on it to be belonging to someone she did not recognize, but carrying the mark of one of the Royal Councilers. She opened it, slipping from the bed to read it next to the fire for better light and her eyes went wide.
My Lady,
I am afraid to tell you this, but you are deceived. Your Wedding Night will also be your funeral, as Loki has used you to take power from the house of Odin and place it in his favor. It pains me to write this to you now, as such a sweet creature has rarely graced these halls. I am so very sorry that you should have been used as a pawn, and urge you to remain vigilant.
A Friend.
She read the letter twice, her hand covering her mouth and she fought the urge to tear it into pieces and throw it into the fire. She let out a gasp, and folded the letter back up. She put it in a drawer, returning to her bed and burying herself under the covers as she tried to hide her fear.
