"Ah, here she is!"
Ella couldn't resist the smile which came onto her face as she looked at the elder brother of hers, his eyes full of joy at the sight of his younger sibling as she came into view. Ella made to roll her eyes at his loud behaviour before she felt Loki untangle his arm from hers and Thor dipped down to kiss her on the cheek quickly.
"You look more radiant with each passing day," Thor informed her and Ella snorted at hearing him, nudging him in the arm before she looked around the Hall which seemed deserted apart from the three siblings.
"Honestly." Ella drawled. "Flattery shall get you nowhere in life, brother. If anything it shall make people become wiser of your words."
"I do not flatter," Thor promised her with a smirk, folding his arms and smiling down onto the blonde Princess as she moved through the Hall, looking for any sign of her mother entering. Loki watched her as she moved and stood beside Thor, his hands tapping against his upper thigh impatiently as he simply wished for the dinner to end. He had tired of his brother for the day.
"I merely speak the truth, do I not, Loki?" Thor checked, his hand slapping his brother on the shoulder. Loki had to hide the wince which moved through his body as servants moved into the room, platters balanced on their hands full of foods and fruits of Asgard.
"You have been known to exaggerate the truth," Loki simply drawled, his voice velvet like which earned him a glare from Ella as she turned on her heel to look back at him, taking in the smirk which never left his face as the servants poured goblets full of wine. Ella groaned, knowing that she did not care much for the taste of wine, favouring water and its bland taste.
"Droll, as usual, brother," Thor boomed, moving past Loki and instantly sitting at the head of the table as the servants left. Loki glanced at Ella, a brow cocked in her direction as she turned to look at him. Placing her hands in front of her and lacing her fingers together she looked at Thor with intrigue.
"Is it not father's place which you currently reside in?" she wondered from him and he looked at her, gesturing at the food which sat before them.
"Father shall not be joining us this evening, Ella," Thor informed his sister. "Mother shall be here shortly. She would not want us stood waiting."
"You miss the point, Thor," Ella drawled and Loki came to stand beside her and behind the chair which he usually occupied next to his sister. "Father's seat should not be used by anyone other than him."
"Come, Ella," Thor laughed loudly, sipping on his wine as Loki's hand moved onto his sister's back, urging her to calm down. "It is simply a seat."
"It is the principle of the seat," Ella ground her teeth together but remained silent after her comment. Arguing with Thor was like arguing with the book of the nine realms. It would not listen to her and it would not change a thing. Loki slowly edged Ella from the seat she stood before and he edged it out for her. She looked into his dark eyes and he nodded sternly, telling her not to argue anymore. He had been in his fair share of arguments with Thor and he worried that he had won none of them despite the outcome being in his favour. Ella sighed but took a seat, allowing Loki to push the chair closer to the table. He took his seat beside his sister and picked his golden goblet up, pressing it to his lips before looking to his brother.
"Did mother say how long she would be?"
"No," Thor spoke. "She informed me she had important business regarding a certain suitor who shall be coming to reside at the palace the following week."
Ella moaned audibly at hearing her brother and she picked the wine up, tipping it back down her throat and ignoring the vile taste of it as she blinked profusely at the strength of the beverage. Placing the goblet down, she moved her finger around the rim of it, her eyes never leaving the movement as Thor and Loki stared at her. She snapped out of her trance after a moment, looking between her brothers.
"What?" she wondered and Loki cocked his head to the side.
"Should a Princess speak with such curtness?" he taunted her further and she turned her head to the side, looking at him as his lips quirked up at the sides, never dropping as she grumbled under her breath, moving her hand to quickly hit him on his arm.
"A Princess can speak how she likes when her brother is intent on annoying her," Ella replied curtly to Loki and Thor's laugh boomed around the palace walls as he grabbed a grape from the platter, dropping it into his mouth and nodding at hearing his sister speak.
"I cannot see how marriage shall suit you, my dear Ella," Thor informed her. "You are much too spirited to spend your days pleasing a man."
"Alas, that is the duty which has been set for her."
The three siblings looked across the room as their mother made her way towards the table. Loki quickly stood up, walking around the table before the servant could move to pull Frigga's chair back. She beamed at her son, resting her hand onto his cheek before sitting down and Thor turned his attention to his mother.
"How is father?"
"Your father is taking care of business. He would like to speak with you tomorrow morn. He has some issues which he would like to address with you," Frigga informed her family and the three of them cautiously nodded before she took hold of a grape and delicately ate it, looking to her only daughter as she did so.
"I have arranged for Halmer to stay within the palace for a few days," she informed her daughter and Ella shook her head, looking onto the food and instantly recognising that none of it looked appetising at that moment in time. "He is a great warrior and has served Asgard well in the past."
"He is also at least several years older than me, is he not?" Ella checked from her mother and Frigga sighed, trying to resist the urge to pull at the hair which sat on top of her head as she looked at her daughter.
"He is hardly old," Frigga replied. "You shall be pleasant, Ella. You shall behave the way you ought to. Please, my love, do not make this hard on me. We both know that if you say you do not like him then nothing shall come about of the agreement."
"I should suppose you may as well spare your time, mother," Thor said, lopsidedly grinning as he looked at his sister. "Ella will never choose him. She has chosen no one before."
"He may be different," Loki offered, appeasing his mother and infuriating his sister in the process as she looked to him questioningly and he glanced back at her, offering a shrug in her direction, trying to make amends. "Only time shall tell."
"Wise words, silver tongue," Thor said and Loki clenched his hands into fists at the nickname for him. "As per usual, we do not know what will happen. It cannot be as bad as the last suitor."
"Shall we not speak of that?" Ella wondered and Thor laughed whilst Frigga remained mute, clearly not impressed by the memory. "It was hardly my fault that my archery was so poor. I did tell him that I was no good but he did not listen."
"I have to admit that his face was worthy of a painting," Loki couldn't help but join in as he remembered the noble warrior who had last visited. "The arrow moving straight to his head was enough to make him consider his proposal."
"He should never have taken her to the garden to practice archery. What type of a Princess practices archery?" Frigga asked; her voice curt and unimpressed as she remembered back to that day. Ella shrugged, drinking more of the wine in her goblet and Loki looked at her cautiously, knowing her tolerance for alcohol was rather low.
"At least he was more interesting than the previous suitors," Ella piped back up and her mother looked across to her. "The rest of them have simply taken me for walks through the garden and thought the comparing the beauty of the flowers to me was enough to woo me."
"It is called paying you a compliment," Frigga told her daughter with a shake of her head. "Honesty, Ella, you need to know when a man is flattering you."
"Unless he was informing you that you were the thorn next to the rose," Loki mumbled down to his sister, his voice teasing yet soft and she rolled her eyes at hearing him. He sat back up straight and continued to smile as he picked at more fruit.
"I cannot imagine marriage," Thor declared suddenly, holding his goblet in his hand and moving it around, the wine swirling in the cup. "There is no woman I have ever considered spending the rest of my days with. What say you, brother?"
Loki looked rather startled as he bit into the apple and shrugged nonchalantly, shaking his head.
"I cannot say it is something which has ever crossed my mind," Loki spoke slowly and deliberately.
"You will find a woman in time," Frigga assured the pair of them and Ella stuttered and managed not to spit out the wine which she had been drinking as she slammed her hand onto the table and leaned forwards, looking at her mother.
"Why do they have time and I do not?" she snapped and Frigga sighed.
"Do not raise your voice, Ella," Frigga said, her voice stern as Ella sank back into her chair, folding her arms and shaking her head. "And sit properly. A Princess does not slouch."
She pushed herself back up as Frigga stood and they all looked at her as she smiled softly at her children.
"I think I shall retire for the night. Remember, your father shall speak to you tomorrow morn."
"Yes, mother," they chorused in unison as she took her leave from the Hall. They remained silent until she had left the room and then Ella was the first to speak, muttering and complaining under her breath as she did so, her head shaking back and forth as she grabbed onto more of the wine in her goblet.
"Honestly, Ella," Thor spoke softly, holding onto his sister's hand as he reached across the table. "Must you annoy mother so?"
"I do not!" Ella denied quickly. "Mother and I will never see eye to eye, Thor. She believes I am intentionally being stubborn and I am not. I simply do not wish to marry. I wish to fall in love like everyone else in the Kingdom of Asgard."
"Ella," Thor complained, squeezing her hand one final time and shaking her head. "You have been reading far too many books of romance."
"They are much more enjoyable than books of history," Ella informed Thor and drained some more wine whilst Loki shook his head, taking the goblet from her hand, untangling her fingers from it before moving it from her reach.
"I think you have had enough," Loki said. "We both know that your tolerance is low and if you keep drinking then you will be in no fit state to be received by father tomorrow."
"Loki is right," Thor said and he stood up.
"I do not even like the taste," Ella promised them and they looked at each other with knowing glances.
"That does not stop you from drinking," Thor said. "Now come along, we should also retire for the evening, should we not?"
"A sensible idea," Loki said and he stood up, standing behind Ella's chair and pulling it out as she stood tall, the alcohol suddenly moving upwards to her head as she made the motion. She swayed on her feet slightly, a hand moving to the band which sat in her hair as she pulled it from her head and allowed her hair to tumble forwards onto her shoulders.
"Ella," Thor complained at seeing her glazed expression. "I have to wonder if you really are an Asgardian. Never have I seen someone drink so little yet be affected so much."
"Be quiet," Ella snapped back. "I am fine. I shall see you two in the morning."
Ella moved to the other door and the two brothers watched her leave, swaying slightly from side to side. Thor looked down at Loki with a pleading expression and Loki shook his head at his brother, tugging a hand through his pushed back black hair.
"I shall go and see her back safely, shall I?" he asked, his voice sarcastic and Thor chuckled.
"If you insist," he said and left through the other door. Loki rolled his eyes but moved swiftly to Ella, catching up with her as she rounded the corner. He instantly moved one arm around her waist, his other hand holding onto her arm as she startled and looked up at him.
"I can manage, Loki. I am fine," she promised him and Loki shook his head.
"Could you just humour me?" he wondered in a mumble, the pair of them ignoring the guards as they moved through the corridors towards her quarters.
"What do you suppose father wants tomorrow?"
"I thought it was obvious," Loki said. "It relates to our previous discussion in the library."
"How can you be so sure?"
"How can you not be?" Loki wondered. "You saw Thor today. He took father's seat without a moment of hesitance. The time has come upon Asgard for a new King."
"Maybe," Ella mumbled softly back to Loki, still not convinced as she yawned loudly and almost tripped over the long dress which she wore. Loki increased his grip as she moved forwards suddenly and he rolled his eyes. "This thing is a death trap."
"Or you cannot walk properly?" Loki suggested. "You are hardly a conventional Princess."
"I thank you for the compliment," Ella muttered and Loki shook his head, still smiling down at her as he took a moment to think for himself.
...
A/N: So I would like to thank RozaLove for my only review so far! However, I would like to thank anyone who is taking the time to read this so far and I really would love to know what you think! I have a lot planned and I hope you stay with me.