Chapter Two

It had been three days since the engagement party, and three days since Esther had spoken to, or even seen Loki. As disconcerting as his disappearance was, she was glad to have a break from her overbearing husband-to-be. She assumed he was still angry over their fight on the balcony, and hoped he wouldn't visit her until he had calmed down. However, disappearing for days on end every time they had a fight would probably get tiring eventually.

She decided not to think about it, and instead spend her time exploring her new home. Of course her mind still wandered to Loki, where he was, and if she had crossed a line that night. Everytime she asked that question she shook her head, he had crossed a far worse line before she had said anything, what was she supposed to do, just allow him to mistreat her in whatever way he pleased. Esther refused to just let him walk all over her, and there was nothing wrong with that.

She ended up spending most her time in the library, it was quiet, and for the most part it was empty, avoiding people was like a new hobby of hers. It wasn't that she didn't like the people, most of them were very polite and she could not dream of better company. Unfortunately, their conversation topics could use some work. If she had to hear; 'Loki is a fine man' one more time she was going to hit someone. Couldn't they at least be honest with her? Loki was a deceitful boy without a clue on how he should treat a wife.

"Can I help you with something, or are you content to just stand in the doorway and stare?" She asked sardonically, not looking up from the pages of her book, she didn't need to look to know it was Loki, his presence was like a large weight on her shoulders that could not be mistaken for anyone else. She wished there was some sort of trapdoor in the wall she was sitting near, she settled for scooting back the extra inch, so that was one more inch between her and the young prince. Unfortunately it made very little difference.

Loki shrugged, stepping into the library, letting the door swing shut behind him with a large, resounding sound. He didn't speak at first, and the ongoing silence forced her to look at him. Finding he was casually scanning the books on the shelf as he moved towards her.

She sighted, letting her eyes return to the book in her hands, however she was too agitated to actually read, so instead she settled for keeping her nose buried in it before speaking. "You disappeared for a while, I had begun to think something bad had happened to you." The corners of her lips quirked up in a funny sort of smile despite her efforts not to.

"Would that have made you happy?" He questioned, finally looking away from the books and down at Esther a dark tint to his gaze, it was clear he had not completely let go of the balcony incident, but he had yet to attack her, she took that as a good sign. Of course Loki was never one to just outright attack you, no any attack by Loki was subtle, you probably wouldn't even know it was happening until it was over. That's what made her so uneasy around him, that's what made anyone with a brain in their head uneasy around him. Almost every word out of his mouth was a trap, so she answered his question carefully.

"Perhaps, I suppose it would depend on what happened…" Esther trailed off, looking up at him for only a moment before she shut her book, lifting herself up off of the floor. "I should probably retire, after all tomorrow is a big day." She still was smiling as she spoke, but it did not reach her eyes.

His hand caught her arm before she could walk passed him, an exasperated sigh fell from her lips. "What now?" she asked, her entire form finally faltering in keeping her optimistic personality forefront.

Loki's eyes found hers and he opened and closed his mouth a few times before speaking, gaining at least some curiosity from Esther. "You know that when I chose to marry you I did not mean for it to be some sort of punishment." He seethed, before taking a deep breath and speaking again, calmly, with determination. "I will be as good a husband as I can be to you." His voice held a sincerity that she hadn't heard before.

She stared at him for a long moment, wondering, for just a second if maybe he really could make a good husband. She shook the thought from her mind, as well as the hand on her arm, and continued out the door without a word.

-;-

Loki stood on the balcony staring out at the sky. He found after three hours of tossing and turning in his bed that he was not going to be able to sleep. The next morning Esther's parents would be there, for the wedding that wasn't taking place for another week. It seemed irrational for them to come so early, but in most cases they would have brought the bride with them, and she wouldn't already have been there.

He couldn't stand the sight of her parents. Her mother worked in the palace so much of the time they would play together as children, and when he saw her parents all he could think of was they day that he found Esther hiding in a small crawl space crying. They were probably twelve years old, it had taken him two hours just to get her to look at him, never mind speaking to him. She had a large purple bruise on the right side of her face, and when he looked at it in absolute horror, she broke into another fit of tears.

They didn't speak much after that day, and when they did it was mostly just formal necessities. The girl seemed to despise him for a reason he couldn't place, and of course he despised her for hating him without a good reason to.

One of the doors behind him and he turned around to find Esther standing behind him. "Um...sorry I didn't know anyone else was out here." she bit her lip uncomfortably, she seemed about to turn around before he spoke.

"The balcony does accommodate to more than one person." he began, giving her a slightly arrogant smirk.

Getting just an eye roll and a frustrated sigh from the girl, he thought perhaps another approach would be better. "Could you not sleep either?" He questioned, and once again she heard that sincerity in his voice.

She just shook her head, coming out of the doorway onto the balcony. "I've been thinking too much…" her voice trailed off as she leaned against the stone railing, leaning almost the entire upper half of her body over the edge.

"Not of jumping I hope," he grinned, but his hands twitched like he was ready to pull her back up if she did.

Esther smiled, letting out a breath of air she shook her head. "No, fortunately for you one of my biggest strengths is my ability to keep living."

"That's one thing we have in common."

"Is that the only thing?" Esther asked with a hopeless expression.

He gave her disappointed look. "Of course not," he thought for a moment, "We're both have older siblings, we're both awake right now because we think too much…" he took another moment before looking straight at her, "Neither of us believe in love."

A frown creased her forehead. "Then why are we doing this?" she questioned, "If we both know what a rouse it alls is why are we getting married."

He shrugged. "If I'm going to marry someone it's not going to be a fool who is awaiting my transformation into a knight in shining armour."

"Perhaps that would be better for you, they say when you marry someone it's supposed to make you the best version of yourself. I only foresee us pushing each other down a tunnel of misery for the rest of our lives."

Loki chuckled at that turning to her with a wide grin. "You may just be one of the only people of Asgard more cynical than myself. Perhaps you should get some rest before you start writing poetry."

She was about to say something when Thor burst through the doors. "I've been looking everywhere for you!" He told Loki with a grim look. "Come with me."

-;-

Sorry I was so slow about the updating, I've been busy failing classes and getting sick, anywho I hope you liked this chapter! Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think!