Loki gently took Christie's arm and steered her to the shadowed side of the stadium where it was considerably darker and dustier. Christie's emotions were still heightened and her heart was still thumping ridiculously. What she wouldn't give to knock Sif out completely-
"Annerledes, you're shaking…please try and calm down," Loki whispered, now standing extremely close to Christie once they were out of eyeshot. The look of concern in his eyes was undeniable, but Christie couldn't bring herself to care.
"Calm down? Did you not hear how she spoke to me? She was treating me like I was nothing more than sh*t on her shoe, and you want me to calm down?!" Christie spat angrily, covering her clammy forehead with her trembling hands. "I didn't even say anything to her! It was completely unprovoked! Who the hell does she think she is?"
"Hush, Annerledes I believe you. I know how you're feeling, I do," Loki whispered huskily, bringing his own calming hands up to wipe Christie's angry tears away. She didn't even realise that she was crying until she felt his soft cool touch under her eyes. It felt so soothing to her, and somehow he had calmed her down within a few seconds - although she couldn't explain why, or how. "But listen, you simply cannot go around lunging at people in Asgard regardless of whether they provoke you or not - they will arrest you and because you're Midgardian, you'll be put in prison or sent back down, no matter what your status is or who you know. So next time Sif angers you, just take a deep breath and walk away before you get into any real trouble. Understood? I won't always be here to protect you, as much as we'd like that to be." Christie took a slow, unsteady breath in and nodded a little reluctantly. She was suddenly so incredibly embarrassed of how she behaved in front of the princes of Asgard that she just wanted to curl up into a ball forever. They had never seen her out of work, they barely knew her as it was, and now they'd never forget her threatening to kill one of their closest friends.
She really did hate Sif, though. So she wasn't sorry.
"I'm sorry," she muttered shamefully, her voice barely above a whisper. Loki gave her a small comforting smile before leading her out of the darkened stadium corner, and back into the sunlight again. "Wait, Loki - does this mean we can officially be…I don't know, like…friends? Or civil, at least? I don't think I can deal with life in Asgard by myself, at least not until I'm…well, you know - used to it," Christie admitted. She had clearly taken a little liking to Loki. Well, she took a little liking - Annerledes on the other hand was feeling all sorts of things for the man. His voice, his touch, his overall presence…it was enough to make her go crazy.
This was all as Annerledes, of course - and as long as she could differentiate between the two personas, it shouldn't matter too much, right?
Regardless, Loki had a wave of emotions run through his face after hearing her friend proposal. First he looked shocked, then humbled then, for some strange reason, slightly disappointed. But he wiped them all away and replaced them with that same knowing smirk that he loved oh so much.
"Well. I suppose we can, yes. I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow morning, go and get some rest," Loki gave her a final parting nod before evaporating in thin air, leaving her alone once more.
…..
The atmosphere was so strange the next morning. Christie stepped into the kitchens to do her daily duties - however, the girls were huddled together beside a pot of soaking apples for a pie they were to bake for dessert later on. But when they saw her walk in, they all stood up straight again and cleared their throats, attempting to act as if they weren't whispering about something moments before. Christie rolled her eyes at their antics - were they children? How pathetic could you get? Regardless, she checked her reflection in the serving tray as she did every morning, deciding not to speak to any one of them until they were mature enough to speak to her first.
And of course, one of them did.
"Annerledes," Renesme was the first one to speak up a little awkwardly, "we heard about what happened with you and Lady Sif yesterday. In fact, I feel that you should know - the entire palace is talking about it!" Christie raised an unamused eyebrow and leaned back against the kitchen counter, showing her blatant indifference. Her lack of response had Jennie recoiling slightly.
"The entire palace, Annerledes," she repeated for Renesme a little louder. Christie turned to her instead, blinking at her words.
"I heard," was all she murmured with a frown. "I'm not sure what you two are telling me for, though?"
"We're telling you because…well, aren't you concerned about what others are saying about you?" Jennie spluttered in genuine shock, noticing that Christie's expression still hadn't changed once.
"No," was all Christie hummed back cooly. "Should I be?" Delilah, the only girl who hadn't said anything yet, cocked her head to the side in wonder. She couldn't read this girl whatsoever, and she didn't know if it was impressing her or making her uneasy.
"What happened?" Renesme breathed with wide eyes, tip toeing a little closer to Christie in awe. Jennie made a face at her obvious enthusiasm and continued kneading the bread dough, whilst even Delilah put down the rag she was cleaning with so that she could listen in.
"She was incredibly disrespectful and I lost my temper a little," Christie attempted to explain in the most diplomatic way possible. "Don't look so excited, Renesme. It wasn't exactly showing a good example."
"If you know that then why aren't you the slightest bit bothered about it this morning?" Jennie frowned in genuine confusion, crinkling up her button nose.
"Because what's done is done and I can't go changing it. Plus, the only people's opinions I should be concerned about are those of my employers," Christie explained with a simple shrug. "And they still haven't spoken to me yet - so until then, the palace can say whatever they want." Before any of the girls could either challenge or add to that, the kitchen doors burst open and Frigga glided through. This morning, her usually friendly face was tense and determined, and she barely noticed or acknowledged any of the serving girls that had rushed to bow at her presence.
"My darlings, I need Loki's breakfast immediately please," she told them briskly, clapping her hands together. Christie's head lifted at the mention of his name - and Frigga noticed it straight away. There was a little amused look playing in her eyes, dancing around as she spoke her next line, "Annerledes, you can take it to him in his quarters."
"Yes my Queen," Christie bowed her head humbly, her heart smashing inside her chest as the other girls got to work to prepare the tray for her. "Is he…is he okay?"
"He claims he is unwell," Frigga began with a heavy sigh, already shaking her head at the thought of him, "but my son is a trickster. Whether or not he is truly ill, we won't know until you get there." Christie nodded and said no more, but her mind was racing at 30 thoughts per second. What was he playing at if he isn't actually ill? Why doesn't he want to come down to breakfast? Is it because of what happened yesterday? Is he still upset at me?
Wait, no, these were all the wrong kinds of questions. Why did she care whether she upset him or not?
Is he planning something? Should I be keeping a look out for him in case he does something stupid?
Yes…yes, that's much better.
"Here Annerledes," Jennie whispered to her, passing a tray of olive bread and oil for dipping, alongside a flask of water. "Do pass on our well wishes, won't you?" Christie took the tray from her and nodded her head, still not properly focussed.
"I will do," was all she muttered back.
"Right, come quickly child," Frigga ushered her out of the room, holding the door open for her so that she could follow her out. The serving girls watched them both sweep out of the kitchens and Delilah and Renesme gave each other amused looks before getting back to work.
Whilst Jennie…she sucked her cheeks in and dropped her gaze to the floor beneath her a little awkwardly.
Frigga walked rather rapidly, as if she was trying to get to her destination before someone else. Christie was used to scurrying about regardless, but balancing the tray without spilling the oil was a task much easier said than done. She was entering a new part of the palace, a place she had never actually visited before. The walls were still had a wonderfully golden shimmer to them, the floor still beautifully polished - but everything was a lot grander than the serving quarters. The ceiling felt higher, the hallways longer….her destination, further. Before long, Frigga had suddenly stopped outside of a tall black door, making Christie halt her movements right behind her. She turned on her heel and shot Christie a small warm smile. "My dear, I heard what the palace is talking about, regarding Sif," she told her quietly, reaching out to touch her arm like a mother to a child. Christie bit down on her bottom lip and tried her best to look apologetic, although she still couldn't care less. She still didn't feel bad.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, bowing her head in what she hoped looked like shame.
Clearly it didn't.
"No Annerledes, you're not," Frigga let out a tinkering laugh and shook her head which caught Christie off guard. "I don't blame you for reacting as you did. Loki informed me of what had happened before I could hear it from anybody else. I find you intriguing, my child. However, you must be careful - I do not want you getting into trouble without having anyone to bail you out." Christie gave her an obedient nod, completely taken aback by this woman's attitude.
"Loki told me to bite my tongue from now on," she admitted quietly, still chewing on her bottom lip. "It might be a slight…struggle for me, my Queen."
"Yes, you remind me a lot of a younger me," Frigga hummed back as she lifted her thumb to Christie's face. She gently pulled Christie's lip away from her teeth, tutting as she did so. "We're both strong women, however we must learn how to carry ourselves, Annerledes. We must have a sense of grace and decorum, whilst showing people that they are not able to walk all over us, yes?" Christie blinked at her a few times in wonder before nodding briskly, remembering her place.
"Yes my queen," she murmured back quietly.
"Excellent. And stop biting your lip, sweetheart. You don't have to be so on edge all of the time," Frigga whispered with a comforting smile, before clearing her throat and knocking on Loki's bedroom door.
That's the thing, though. She did have to be on edge all the time.
"Yes?" came Loki's sudden cool voice from inside. Christie felt her heart shudder a little at the sound of it, trying not to visibly shiver but feeling it within her.
"Son, it's myself and Annerledes delivering your breakfast," Frigga called out to him sweetly. "Please may we come in? Or would you rather we leave the tray outside?" Christie was internally praying that Loki would opt for the latter, but soon felt those uninvited butterflies begin to swirl in her stomach as she heard him say,
"No, do come in."
A/N: next chapter on Saturday evening. Thank you for reading! 3