Authors' note: Hello everyone and thank you so much for reading this story! Here is a new chapter, I hope you'll enjoy it ;) With love, Q.

"What?"

She looked up, not sure she had heard him properly.

The God of mischief walked towards the laundry basket, reaching for her dress, and threw it at her feet.

"Leave"

She watched him disappear through the main door, leaving her alone in his room. She swallowed with difficulty and sat down for a minute, clutching the arms of the chair as she felt the urge to hold on to something tangible. She did not understand what she had done wrong. How could he so abruptly change his mind, after the evening started so well? What kind of person would bring her to such a state of emotional instability and then dismiss her?

A low, cold anger quickly replaced her heartache. He had claimed her. She didn't ask for any of this and yet he was endangering her. It was his fault she was now locked in the slaves' quarters of Asgard and she, on top of that, had to deal with his short temper?

Fuming, she exited the room, suddenly determined to confront his incoherences but when she arrived in the corridor, he was gone. A servant girl who was swiftly walking by made eye contact with Solweig who sprinted towards her and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Where did prince Loki go?"

The girl's eyes widened when she recognised the former Vanir princess and she pointed her finger in the other direction. "He walked towards prince Thor's apartments"

Without another word, Solweig rushed towards the God of thunder's room. She would have slammed the door open if it wouldn't have been for the guard standing next to the entrance to step in.

"Prince Thor is busy" he declared, moving in front of the door in a way that he wanted discouraging. He assessed her from head to toes before adding: "What is a slave girl doing in the middle of the night in Asgard's hallway?" he asked suspiciously.

"I am the Vanir princess, former goddess of beauty and fertility and I have some urgent matter to discuss with the prince" she stated with an ounce of disdain, her chin up.

The guard stared at her for a minute and started to laugh like if she had made a very good joke. She shot him a murderous look.

"Let me pass"

"I am afraid not. Go back to wherever you come from"

He was still laughing and she used that moment of carelessness to run pass him. She managed to reach the door and push it open before she heard the guard call for backup. She squinted, her eyes scanning the room for Loki's presence and there he was, standing in front of his brother, a stupefied look on both of their faces as they watched her being pulled away by the guard. She struggled, contorting her body and kicking the man in the legs and the chest before another guard ran to help, grasping her other arm strongly.

"I am sincerely sorry my lords, I will bring her back to the slaves' quarters' immediately"

"Loki" she yelled. "We're not done"

The raven-haired prince stared at her before exchanging a look with his brother who made a hand gesture that meant something like "aren't you going to say anything?!"

Loki rolled his eyes, added a "fine" with a sigh and commanded the guards to let her go.

"Leave us" he added and the two men disappeared, closing the door behind them.

Solweig was breathing heavily, her chest moving up and down as she looked alternatively at both princes. If she wouldn't have been slightly afraid of Loki's reprisals, she would have walked towards him and slapped him with everything she had.

Thor stood up instead and headed towards her with a slightly concerned look on his face before he hugged her with all his power.

"Solweig!" he sighed heavily, as if relieved. The girl patted his back awkwardly as he almost lifted her off her feet. "I'm glad to see you!" he said once he let go of her. She too was glad to see him. For a second, this little reunion almost made her forget she was now persona non grata in the royal family. They often met like that in the past, after having indulged the Allfathers' banquet with the administrative figures of Asgard, gathering with their friends in Thor's apartment. They would re-discuss what had been discussed during dinner, mimicking the palace's secretary or the head councillor, laughing at each other for their good impersonations.

She was jolted out of her thoughts by Thor who grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the sofa. He reached for an empty glass on the table, poured her some wine.

"You're looking good" he beamed. "I must say, I was sort of worried when I heard that Loki had claimed you but you seem great!" She glimpsed at Loki, who had moved behind Thor, looking through the window pane. She had the unpleasant feeling that he was ignoring her and she could not help but think of him as nothing but a grumpy stubborn child.

Thor continued, apparently unaware of what was happening between the two young folks: "It's clearly not ideal. To be frank, I would understand if you were angry with us but it's only a matter of time. Once Thorsten is out of the picture and Odin is more... serene, you'll be sent back to Vanaheim"

Solweig frowned, looking at him. He seemed to sense her trouble because he addressed his brother suspiciously.

"You did tell her about the plan, right?"

Thor turned around, glancing at the God of mischief. "Loki?!"

"He did not" she answered before the raven-haired prince had the chance to respond. "May I know what this is all about, my lord?"

Loki finally turned to her. He cleared his throat and walked in her direction, stopping in front of the couch where she was sitting, towering over her.

"Your brother had started an uprising in the outer limits of the nine realms. Odin sent troops this morning in a mean to discourage him to go further. Three hours ago, a messenger reached Asgard saying that Thorsten had beheaded one of the Asgardian deities that had been sent to Vanaheim in place of you. It's only a matter of time now until Father decides to attack your kingdom and get rid of your brother. We need to hide you until then. Once it is all over, you will be freed from your slavery and sent back to your kingdom. You will swear allegiance to Asgard, become queen and rule Vanaheim"

He held her gaze the entire time, his tone calm, his face imperturbable. She frowned. A hundreds of questions were popping in her mind like a volcano she feared she could not tame. She stood up, put her glass on the table before she would explode.

"I have an early appointment tomorrow" she said in a strangled voice before turning around, leaving the two princes in the room. She secretly hoped Loki would hold her back. She slowly proceeded to the slaves' quarters with the quiet wish to hearing his footsteps behind her, yearning for him to grab her by the wrist and force her to turn around. She would fight back of course, out of principle, but he would pin her against the wall and tell her to calm down. She imagined how she would cry because clearly she hadn't cried enough today and how he would shush her, kissing her tears away before he would tell her that he doesn't want her to leave, ever, because he wants her to spend the night and all the nights, that he dreams of nothing else but her to remain in Asgard forever, be his and his only until death do them part.

She reached the corridor of prince Loki's concubines, her head down, swiftly passing the living room where she saw the silhouette of Erik playing cards with Xefir, the elf girl, noticing from the corner of her eyes that he had seen her.