AN: Don't own Thor, do own Sora.

Chapter 5

As Sora gazed into the fire, a memory floated to the surface of her thoughts. She then realized that she had first met Loki in this room. Sora had been injured by a Frost Giant during peace negotiations with Jotenhiem and had to go to the healing room where Loki would later come upon her.

Many years ago Sora led a committee for a new treaty agreement between Asgard and Jotenhiem. She directed the making of it herself with Odin as the overseer. It had been six years into negotiations with Jotenhiem and finally Odin and Laufey agreed to a meeting to discuss its ratification.

During the meeting however, an assassination attempt by one of Laufey's consuls was made on Sora's life. It was later to be discovered that Laufey had no hand in the plotting of the attempt. The shock and fury he displayed as a result of the event said as much. Further investigation would later prove that the consul had worked alone, believing Luafey's consideration of signing the treaty to be a betrayal of his people. However, the fate of both Sora's life and the new treaty hung in the balance because of the actions of that one lone assassin.

Loki was restless after the stirring events of the day and felt that he had to take a walk. He knew all the remote passages in the palace where he could travel and not be seen or bothered by other people passing through. He needed to think. The business with Laufey and the assassination attempt had deeply troubled his thoughts. It bothered him how easily this had happened and he wondered who exactly was behind it all. Laufey seemed to be genuine in his claims of having nothing to do with the plot but Loki was a master at deception and knew all too well the power of a good lie.

Ever since he had gotten word of this meeting, Loki knew something was going to go wrong, heavens forbid that anything turn out as planned. Then the maiden -the council member- was stabbed right in the middle of negotiations. Loki was not a fan of such mischief as this, especially since it was his enemy that was making it. He was convinced that he could figure all this out if he had a moment to think.

He found himself at the north end of the palace, having led himself in front of the healing rooms. Loki was so concentrated on his own thoughts that he hadn't realized where he was going. There stood the golden doors and Loki smirked at the irony of it all. Curious as to what might be going on behind those doors, Loki decided it couldn't hurt to take a look. Perhaps he could get some of the answers he was looking for.

He walked through the double doors of the healing room and found a young woman lying on one of the plush couches by the fire, pressing a red, bloodstained cloth to her wounded side. Her long golden hair and soft face was illuminated by the firelight, the sensual flames licked up from the round fire pit beside her. Loki recognized her as Sora, the youngest member on the council, very smart and very wise, yet extremely unconventional and more often than not, controversial in her pacifistic views. She was the rare type of politician that believed in the virtues of peace and the strength in uprightness.

"You're in here alone?" Loki asked, surprised to see that no one was attending the injured council member. An assassination attempt had just been made on her life and yet she was left to take care of herself. He could hardly believe this as he immediately went over to the bell to call someone in but Sora stopped him.

"Please don't, I am fine," she protested, all the while trying to keep her mind off of the pain of her wound. The last thing she wanted was for this incident to be blown out of proportion. If it was, there might be a chance that Odin would end negotiations with Laufey. It was a miracle that she could even get them to talk to one another much less sign a peace agreement. She would not be responsible for the downfall of her own peace movement.

It took her a moment to realize that the man she was talking to was Loki, Odin's son. He was half in shadow from the firelight and it was hard to see him from her reclined position on the couch. Once he stepped forward into the room she recognized his face immediately and her breath caught in her throat.

"My Lady-" he began before she interrupted him again. His voice was calm but his eyes expressed trepidation and concern. Loki could sense that the woman before him was not faring well. He could also sense that she was trying to hide it.

"I am sorry to be so obstinate My Lord, but there are more important matters than myself that need to be attended to. We finally have a chance of making peace with Jotenhiem and I will not allow this incident to stop negotiations."

Loki slowly removed his hand from the bell ringer and began to approach her instead, now curious about this strong-willed woman before him. He too understood that years of work could be undone by one simple mishap. Although her life had been threatened negotiations had to resume. Yet there were those who would have it not be so, his brother Thor being one of them. But Loki understood the importance of peace between the two realms even if he was not fond of the idea. It was wise of his father to take her advice into consideration.

Loki reached Sora's side by the fire. "As much as I admire your enthusiasm no peace agreement will be reached if you die." He pointed out, sitting beside her on the large couch. Sora found his closeness to be somewhat intimate for a prince of Asgard but Loki didn't seem to notice. Instead he was much more focused on examining the gash in her side.

His cautious gaze strayed to her wound and then back to her eyes, quietly checking in with her to see if she was okay with him touching it. There was a spark of unease in her eyes but she did not protest when he slowly pulled her hand away from the injury and removed the cloth covering it to have a look. The stab wound in her side seemed to be only half healed and was in desperate needed of new dressings.

"You're lucky I looked at this," He told her. She spotted a hint of concern lit behind his stoic green eyes as he discarded her old bandage into the fire. The flames leaped up from the hearth devouring to cloth as Loki picked up another scarlet bandage to replace it. "A wound like this needs constant attention. You could have bled out."

He folded the new cloth and dipped it into the basin of healing waters next to him. Instead of placing it on her side Loki wrung-out the water over the half-healed gash. Sora cringed in pain at the waters searing touch, a hiss escaping her lips.

"Sorry," He apologized. A faint smile graced Loki's lips as he dipped the cloth into the water again and put it over her wound. "I forgot to warn you about the sting."

Looking up at the vaulted ceiling, Sora couldn't help but smile as well; at what, she didn't quite know. Still, it was better than despairing over the misfortunes of the council meeting. Sora was sure she was going to have to fight for her treaty harder than ever now. There was going to have to be an investigation, extra precautions and higher security were going to be needed.

"I knew this was going to be a mess." She sighed, referring to the earlier events of the day.

Loki cracked a smile as he gently pressed the cloth to her side and then dipped it into the basin once more, "Well you brought my father, my brother, and Laufey together in one room. What part of that didn't seem like a recipe for disaster?" He asked replacing the soaked cloth. Her wound was now nearly healed.

"Oddly enough everything was going just fine up until the point where I got stabbed." She said, their eyes catching one another's. The tension between them slowly diffused as they shared a laugh.

Sora hadn't expected such gentleness from Loki, God of Mischief. She knew him to be one to play tricks and find humor in others misfortunes. However this was not the Loki she had been warned about by the members of the council, this was someone entirely different and unexpected. There seemed to be some distant sadness in his green eyes that she could not place and a slight wryness in his smile. He was quiet yet displayed a natural confidence that she would never know. He was so many contradictory things that made his true nature a mystery to her.

"This hurts like hell." She confessed, trying her best not to wince as he eased the loose pieces of her ripped gown away from her wound.

Loki briefly glanced up at her and then back down to his work, "You hide it very well."

"I'm a politician," She grinned, looking up at the intricate ceiling, "I'm supposed to hide how I feel."

"Yes. But you're also a pacifist, which makes you incapable of it. You're a paradox." He informed her with a level of intrigue in his tone. Loki turned this idea over in his head, liking the sounds of it all the more. He decided that it was the perfect way to describe this pretty politician.

"Is that a good thing?" She asked in return, finding neither fault nor compliment in his assessment of her.

Sora saw a glimmer of mischief in the god's eyes as he stared into the fire. He thought about her question for a moment before he answered.

"It's not a bad thing." He replied simply, knowing that she would not be satisfied with that.

Sora tiredly accepted that this was as good of a reply as she was going to receive from him at the moment and would have to inquire about it later. She gazed into the fire for a moment. The soft light caught in her blue eyes and made them appear to Loki as if they were glowing. So many thoughts and underlying emotions were passing behind her calm countenance but Loki could not discern what they were. She was a paradox to him and in turn a mystery. A part of him wondered if they would cross paths like this again and another part knew that he'd seek her out himself, unable to resist.

"Thank you My Lord," She said sincerely as she placed her hand over the new bandage. The tips of their fingers brushed briefly and Loki grinned at the coincidence. His eyes flicked up to hers, his mischievous smile still playing on his lips.

"Call me Loki," He told her, holding out his hand, the maiden took it.

"I am Sora," She introduced herself.

His smirk grew wider he glanced down at her, "I know."

Sora tore her gaze away from the fire, pulling herself out of the memory. Her eyes scanned the warriors, seeing the tense anticipation in each one of them.

"I have told you everything that I know and must leave you now." She said, circling up to the large double doors. "Loki might have sent someone to follow me and I cannot be seen with you. It is not safe for me to meet you anymore."

"We understand My Lady." Sif bowed her head respectfully to her then, the others quickly following her lead.

Sora bowed back, "I wish you luck. Know that even though I cannot be with you now, you do not fight this battle alone. The council has yet to meet and I have not given up yet."

With that, Sora left the room with haste. There was much to be done before nightfall. She had to find the Leader of the Council Merin. Surely he would have an idea for the council's plan of action.

AN: Hey so here's a small bit on Sora and Loki's past, there's much more of it to come. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Please do so again and let me know what you think, every review helps.