Summary: Loki takes his pranks and mischief too far when he pulls a prank during a feast in front of the entire court that has you questioning whether or not a courtship with Loki is worth the effort.

"By the Norns! Damn it Loki!"

You screech at suddenly being covered by some sort of freezing mystery liquid. You don't know what it is but you're not sure you really want to know. The Asgardian Prince lets out his signature laugh, followed by the echoing laughter from the rest of the court. You can even make out the boisterous laugh from Thor and his friends. By this point you are positively shaking and tears have welled up in your eyes. You don't know whether the surge of emotion is from anger, embarrassment or both.

This isn't the first prank Loki has pulled on you in the last week, but it by far has to be the worse.

You suck in harsh breath and hold your head up high, "Thank you Loki."

You speak in such a calm and even voice it quickly puts an end to Loki's laughing and he stands there giving up a puzzled look.

"Huh? For what?"

"For making the decision to leave and go back home much easier for me."

Loki's eyes go wide, "WHAT?!"

Your expression remains unwavering through his outburst,

"Well, clearly you no longer want me here, you have made that abundantly clear recently. So why should I stay any longer than necessary? I guess this also means the courtship can officially be called off. So again, thank you Prince Loki for making my decision to leave easier. Good-bye."

You walk out the dining hall with every ounce of dignity you can muster up while looking like a drowned rat.

Every member of court remains silent, watching you leave. The moment the doors shut behind you, whispers break out among the people. The scene that just played out before them is going to be something they talk about for days to come. The youngest prince has just been left speechless by the young woman he was supposed to be courting! And now she is leaving because of his pranks. Oh yes, this really is some juicy gossip to spread around.

"Brother! What was that?" Thor demands, rushing up to Loki.

"I-I… It was just a little prank. But, why… she just? I don't?"

Thor sighs, "Seems that silver tongue of yours has failed you Loki. You better fix this. That young lady is to special to lose because of your mischievous behavior. Good luck Brother, I'm sure you will need it."

Thor pats Loki on the back, leaving Loki to continue standing looking after where you just were, lost in a daze. What in the world is he going to do to keep you from leaving.

You, on the other hand, once you are out of the sight of the court, you take off running right to your quarters. You hope to make it back to your room before the sobs bubbling up finally break loose.

The second you are in your room and have the door shut, you slid down to the floor and just let the tears flow.

"Oh my Lady."

One of your hand maidens, Elkie, comes over to you, kneeling beside you to wrap you in a tight hug.

"I don't understand! We were getting along so well. I know he wasn't too keen on the idea of getting married but we were going slow, our fathers allowing us time to get to know one another. Why this? Why take such drastic measures to humiliate me if he just wanted to call the courtship off?"

Elkie gently rubs your back, "My Lady, I don't know what if going through his mind. I thought he was quite smitten with you. But don't worry, we can be gone by tomorrow morning if that is what you wish."

You nod your head, unable to speak.

"I'll get Runa to run you a bath and help you get whatever this is out of your hair. Then I shall go speak to the Queen's lady's and see if they can get word to ask the Queen for permission for an early departure.

"Th-thank you, Elkie."

"Anything for you my Lady." she gives you a soft smile.

She calls over the other handmaiden who takes you to the bathroom while Elkie goes in search of one of the Queen's ladies in waiting.

Queen Frigga gets the message from Elkie and to say she was mad would be an understatement. Hearing that her potential daughter-in-law wants to leave Asgard and go back home confused her at first, and then she heard of the stunt that her son pulled in during the feast after she had left.

"Loki! I could kill you right now!" Frigga shouts, storming into Loki's rooms.

"Mother?!"

"How could you do that to Asa?! She is a sweet and gentle woman, she would have made a wonderful wife for you! Why would you humiliate her like that? To make a fool out of her? If you wanted the courtship called off you should have just said something instead of pulling so many cruel jokes on her. I am so disappointed in you Loki!"

Loki stares down at his feet in shame, taking the verbal lashing his mother has to give out.

"I know Mother. I'm sorry."

Frigga glares at her son, "I'm not the one you should be apologizing too. And a simple 'sorry' is not going to fix anything. That poor girl is so embarrassed by what you have done to her, she has had her head handmaiden ask my permission to leave early tomorrow."

"What?! No! She can't! Please tell me you denied the request. Mother you can't let Asa go!"

"Why not? You have shown that you don't care about her, so why make her stay and endure the gossip and taunts that is going around at her expense because of you?"

"Because I love her!" Loki shouts at Frigga, his emotions bubbling up to the point he can no longer remain in control.

Frigga's face softens slightly, but keeps a hard look in her eyes, "Then why didn't you act like it? Why not say something sooner and treat Asa like a woman you care about?"

Loki sighs, collapsing to the foot of his bed with is head in his hands.

"I don't know. She thought my pranks where funny at first and I love to see her smile and I love to hear here laugh I just wanted to keep that smile on her face forever. I didn't mean to take it this far. Hel, at first it was just by accident that Asa got caught in one of my pranks, but she laughed it off."

"Because she probably realized the prank wasn't meant for her. But Loki, you started targeting her on purpose for pranks, and each prank getting more and more humiliating for Asa. You might not have meant to, but you hurt her, broke her heart by doing this to her. And I don't know if there is anything you could possibly do to make it up to her."

Loki lifts his head with a determined look on his face, "I've got to try. I can't lose her Mother. I won't."

Frigga sighs, "Do what you will Loki, but I'm not going to force her to be here any longer than she wishes. I will tell Asa she can leave tomorrow."

"But Mother…"

Loki tries to argue with Frigga but she simply hold up her hand to cut him off. She gives a shake of her head, putting an end to the discussion and makes her exit. Loki collapse back on his bed with a groan,

"What am I going to do?"