(A/N: You guys are too sweet! Thank you so much for your reviews!)
Andromeda bellowed out a laugh as she listened to Thor tell another one of his childhood stories to her. The prince had been surprisingly enjoyable company for the last two days as he escorted her around the royal grounds. He had made the young princess giggle on multiple occasions, and she tried to laugh as softly as possible but the last story he told had made her chortle from her belly.
Thor watched Andromeda laugh with a wide grin, happy that the princess was enjoying his company. As Andromeda finally caught her breath she covered her mouth and looked away from the prince, embarrassed.
Thor placed a hand on her chin and made her look back to him with a smile. "Your laugh," he started, before chuckling, "Is very full, like a boom of thunder."
Andromeda squinted her amber eyes at the prince. "Is that supposed to be complimentary?"
Thor nodded, letting go of Andromeda's arm and stepping in front of her. "Please take no offense, milady. I only mean that your laugh is wonderful to listen to, albeit a bit loud."
"Now I am loud?" Andromeda asked, her voice going up an octave and echoing through the halls of the palace, "My laughter does not ring like the chimes of some other women, but I do not think of it loud like thunder."
Thor sighed, rubbing his chin with his hand. "I was trying to compliment you. My apologies if you took it as any less. I enjoy listening to you bellow out like a man than the bells of your chuckle, that is all I mean Princess."
Andromeda's face softened and she pursed her lips. Her laugh was a sore spot for her, for her mother had always told her it was too loud and boisterous, not the laugh of a royal lady. She needed to giggle not cackle, speak softly, barely below a whisper. Andromeda never really laughed, she just giggled.
"I apologize for my assumptions, Prince Thor." Andromeda nodded to him, taking his arm again. "Now, I am sure you have many women fawning over you."
Thor laughed at her frankness and stroked his beard. "I am a prince." He said matter of factly, "All of the young maidens of Asgard would love to marry a prince. As I am sure that you have your fair share of suitors?"
Andromeda paused before deciding not to tell Thor about her arranged marriage. "Of course, but as a prince you are more free to choose maidens to court."
Thor smirked before shrugging. "I suppose."
"And bed?" Andromeda added with a raised brow.
Thor's smirk widened as he repeated, "I suppose."
"How lucky." The bronze beauty deadpanned, letting go of the prince's arm and walking in front of him.
"Lucky?" Thor inquired behind her as the princess studied a big golden door. "The library." He explained, before repeating, "Lucky?"
Andromeda opened the big door and walked in, before turning toward Thor. "That you have a choice." She remarked before closing the big door behind her.
She walked between the bookshelves, running her hands along the book spines. The young princess picked up a book and opened it, seeing it was in a language that she did not understand. She put the book back and continued to walk through the royal library.
It was silent in the room, not even the sound of a page turning and Andromeda figured she was alone. The princess tried to at least find a book in latin that she could read but she couldn't. Sighing, the bronze beauty continued to walk through the library until she reached the very back of the room, where she found a surprise.
Prince Loki was sitting at a desk and reading through a book, taking notes on the side with a quill pen.
The princess had not seen the dark prince the whole day, for after he disappeared from the garden, the princess did not know where to find him.
Andromeda smiled and took off her noisy sandals, placing them by a shelf. She stepped on the tips of her toes, creeping up behind the prince and opened her mouth to scare him.
She took a deep breath in but before she could shout, the prince's voice rang out. "I know you are there, little Andromeda."
Andromeda exhaled a whine before walking up to the prince. "How did you know?"
Prince Loki didn't look up from his text, though he waved a hand in the air, "Magic." He chimed, as green matter danced between his fingers. "Also your footsteps are heavy, like a horse."
"They are not!" Andromeda glared as she turned to face him.. "All have you know, I float rather than walk, my footsteps are light as a feather."
"You stomp, like you have hooves." Loki remarked, still not looking up at her.
Andromeda gasped, "I must certainly do not stomp!"
"You're voice is not light either, it's deeper than the average women's." The prince smirked at his insult.
"Do you Asgardian men insult your women like this? Or is it because I am foreign you feel the need to comment on my attributes?" The princess inquired, leaning against the library wall.
"Asgardian men?" Loki questioned, writing a note down from his script.
Andromeda nodded, rolling her eyes toward the ceiling. "Prince Thor said that my laugh was loud like thunder."
The dark-haired prince paused in his note taking. His brother had made her laugh, his little Andromeda. Was he to steal her away like he did countless others before her?
The prince quickly fixed his face into a teasing smirk, finally looking up at the curly-haired royal. "Well he wasn't lying. Even as a child your laugh could shake the palace walls."
Andromeda's eyes snapped to his, embers replacing the saplings. "Oh how you stretch the truth, my prince!"
Loki raised a dark brow, suppressing a smile at her term of endearment, and returned his gaze to his script. "Do I?"
"You do!" Andromeda nodded. The princess crossed her arms and laid them on the desk, bending over slightly to lean on the desk. She lowered her voice, "You know, I remember you as being a lot kinder."
The prince looked up at the princess, amused. He widened his eyes mockingly and leaned into her. "I remember you as being shorter and fatter." The prince muttered before laughing at his own joke.
Andromeda pursed her lips. "Ha ha." She remarked dryly. "You still have a way with words I see. Hm, what do they call you?" The princess stood at her full height and placed a mockingly thoughtful finger to her chin. "The silver-tongued prince? How does one acquire a tongue made of silver?"
"I could show you better than I could tell you," Loki paused, his green eyes glaring into hers, though not a hint of jest was in his tone. "Andromeda."
The princess shivered as her name rolled of his tongue. The prince had caught her off guard as he stood up from his desk chair and walked towards her. Andromeda's arms dropped to her sides as she stepped backward as Loki moved towards her, only to run into the library wall. Her eyes fluttered as she looked up at her prince. His green eyes were looking down at her and his eyes were searching, yet his face was blank.
"Would you like me to?" The prince finally spoke, though he spoke so low Andromeda hardly heard him.
"To what?" She whispered back, tilting her head up slightly. Her chest slowly rose up and down as she tried to control her breathing.
Loki's gazed moved from each of her brown eyes, that at that moment didn't burn like embers, instead they resembled sap from a tree, soft and childlike. "Show you."
Andromeda swallowed thickly, and bit her lip. The princess didn't exactly know what he meant by those words, but by the way he said them, she could tell they were not appropriate.
The young girl was virtuous, though she was not naive. She had always curious been about the act of coitus, when Andromeda was thirteen, she remembered finding forbidden scripts in their royal library. The scripts contained paintings of couples bare of any clothing and in strange positions. It was all so… strange. How could someone possibly derive pleasure from being folded and bent.
That same year, the young princess became very aware of her changing body. Her parents took her on a trip to Greece, where she had a short lived affair with a Greek royal around her age. The two did no more than kiss, but that was enough for little Andromeda to want more. Sadly, the boy was the only one who had kissed her and the next probable man to kiss her would be her betrothed.
"Andromeda?" Loki's voice brought her out of her thoughts. "Would you like me to show you?"
The princess averted her eyes from his and shook her head. "No thank you." The curly haired girl then pushed past the prince. "If you would excuse me." She whispered, all but running away from the library.
Andromeda shut the door behind her and walked away from the room, her heart beating loudly in her ears. She breathed heavily as she tried to find her room, looking for familiar portraits on the wall. After a few minutes, the princess found a guard, who escorted the flustered girl to her room.
The bronze beauty thanked the guard before closing the heavy door to her room and leaning against it. Her face felt hot and the young girl was embarrassed. She had practically ran from the prince, like a child, and her worry could be for absolutely nothing. Maybe the green-eyed prince did not mean anything inappropriate and Andromeda was being filthy.
Andromeda frowned as she took her hair down and ran a comb through her curls. How unbecoming she had acted. If her mother had seen her behavior she would have to go back to lesson one of charm school with Cosima. The princess shivered at the thought and braided her hair to take her mind off of it.
A knock sounded at her door and she stood to answer it. It was only Ragna and Sylvi.
"We were told to get you prepared for dinner, Princess." Ragna informed her, closing the door behind the two of them.
"It seems we will only have to put a new gown on you, your hair is already done." Sylvi remarked, going into the dresser and picking out a deep indigo off-the-shoulder gown. As Sylvi helped Andromeda put the dress on, the princess noted that all Asgardian dresses seemed to fit tightly, showing off a woman's figure. Ragna helped Andromeda slip into a pair of white sandals before sitting her at the vanity.
Ragna painted Andromeda's lips a light pink and brushed light red blush on her cheeks. The golden-haired servant left Andromeda's hair the way that the princess had done it, only pushing the braid forward so it could fall down to her breasts.
"Beautiful." Sylvi complimented and a knock sounded at the door once more. The brunette hurried to answer the door, bowing when Prince Thor was revealed.
"Princess Andromeda." Thor grinned as the princess turned away from the mirror. "I've come to escort you to dinner."
Andromeda nodded and stood from the vanity, crossing her hands in front of her. "How do I look, Prince Thor?"
Thor's blue eyes scanned the princess from head to toe, taking extra time to study her face. He looked into her eyes as he smiled softly. "Radiant." He finally replied, offering his arm to her.
Andromeda took his arm and they began their journey to the Grand Hall. "You know," The princess started with a smirk, "Your comment makes up for earlier."
Thor chuckled and patted her hand that laid on his bicep. "So you forgive me?"
"I did not say that." Andromeda suppressed her smile by biting her bottom lip.
The prince watched her with a grin but said nothing, not wanting to offend the young girl again. As they arrived to the Hall, the guards opened the door for them, and they walked in. Andromeda beamed as she took in the sight of the Hall.
Like most everything in the palace, it was golden. A long table sat in the middle of the Hall with food on serving platters in the middle of the table.
King Odin, Queen Frigga, and some other people in the royal court Andromeda had not met yet sat at the table. Thor led her to a seat on the right side of the table, next to the queen. Andromeda waited, expecting Thor to pull out her chair for her, but the prince just walked to the other side of the table and sat down.
The princess furrowed her brows and lifted a hand to pull the chair out when a pale hand shot out in front of hers, pulling the chair out. She looked up to see Prince Loki staring down at her with a smile.
"Milady." He bowed his head slightly to her. The princess returned the gesture and sat down. Prince Loki pushed chair into the table and went on the other side, sitting across from her.
"Forgive my son." Queen Frigga muttered to her, shaking her head.
Andromeda smiled prettily, "It is fine, Queen Frigga."
"Before we eat," King Odin's voice suddenly boomed, "We have a guest at our table. Princess Andromeda of Aethiopia is here to partake with us. Please welcome her, as she is my guest. Now, you may eat."
Andromeda looked around to see everyone fixing their own plate and mimicked their actions. In Aethiopia, the servants would fix the plates and bring them out to them to eat. It was another culture difference to get accustomed to she supposed.
The princess took a cautionary bite of the meat presented to her before deciding that she liked it. She took small bites, as her mother had taught her. Picking up the chalice in front of her, she took a small sip before discovering that it was some sort of ale. She took another small sip before eating once again.
"Princess Andromeda," Queen Frigga smiled at the young girl, "Tell me about your kingdom."
Andromeda dabbed at her mouth with a napkin before starting, "Well it's large, though of course not as large as Asgard. But it's beautiful. Aethiopia has plains as far as the eye can see with tall grass and flower beds. We are on a coast and the water is as clear as the blue sky." The princess spoke of her home with stars in her eyes and fondness in her voice.
"When I was a child I used to spend hours outside running through the plains. I used to hide from my handlers in the sunflowers beds. They would get so angry with me." Andromeda giggled, shaking her head at the memory.
"My son told me that is where you found him." Queen Frigga informed her with a smile, "He said he opened his eyes and a child with eyes of amber and skin of bronze was standing over him."
"I thought he was an injured animal." Andromeda smirked before adding, "I was partially right."
Queen Frigga laughed at the young girl's joke. The older woman took Andromeda's hand in her own, "I sincerely thank you for assisting my son."
"Queen Frigga thanks is not needed!" Andromeda assured the queen, "I hardly helped, I was only a child."
"Yes," The queen nodded, "But your wondering ways led you to my injured son. Almost like fate, my dear."
Andromeda said nothing in return, only smiling at the older woman. Queen Frigga's eyes locked onto her necklace. "How pretty! May I?" Andromeda nodded and the queen studied the emerald pendant. She then smiled knowingly at the young princess and let go of her hand.
After dinner, the royal court lingered around the Grand Hall for a few hours. Some people came up to Andromeda and introduced themselves, while others simply stared at her.
Andromeda leaned against a pillar in the room, waiting for the festivities to be over. Her eyes scanned the room for Thor, and when they settled on the brute, he was flirting with a gaggle of giggling women.
"You seem quite festive." Prince Loki's voice whispered in her ear and Andromeda looked around for the prince. He was nowhere near her, instead nodding at her to follow him.
Andromeda looked around the Hall as she slipped away, seemingly unnoticed, but knowing, motherly eyes followed her.
"Prince Loki?" Andromeda whispered looking around the hallway.
"In here." She heard, and she followed his voice.
The prince was sitting on a leather couch in a sort of lounge room. There was a huge fire pit in the middle of the room and the back wall was filled with only windows.
Loki patted the space next to him on the couch and Andromeda walked over to him, sitting down on the edge of the seat.
The prince turned to the young girl. "Andro-" He stopped himself, "Princess Andromeda, I want to apologize for my actions in the library earlier."
Andromeda shook her head. "You do not have to apologize. I should apologize for my hasty exit."
Loki took Andromeda's hands in his and looked into her eyes. "I do not blame you for leaving. I was being inappropriate with you and for that I apologize. I do not want to make you feel uncomfortable during your stay here."
"I am not uncomfortable." Andromeda assured, though her voice was soft.
Loki sighed, seeing that Andromeda would not look at him. He removed his hands from hers and thought for a moment. Coming up with an idea, the sorcerer faked a gasp. "What is that?"
Andromeda blinked, confused. She looked behind her and did not see anything. "What are you talking about?"
"That, right there." Loki pointed on her dress and she looked down only for him to pull of a jewel on her dress. She looked up at him curiously before widening her eyes as he turned the jewel in to candy.
Andromeda smiled as she took the sweet from him and unwrapped it. She put it in her mouth and sighed. "You all have the best candy." She remarked as the sweet melted on her tongue.
"I myself am not a fan." Loki informed her, happy that she was looking at him again.
The princess furrowed her eyebrows, "Of Asgardian candy?"
"Of any sweet thing."
Andromeda's eyes widened, "Gods! You don't like sweets?"
"They are disgusting, too potent." Loki grimaced, gazing at how the fire's glow made Andromeda's skin gleam.
"In that case," The princess grinned, "May I have another?"
Loki chuckled and pulled a candy from behind her ear. Andromeda unwrapped it slowly before holding it out to the prince.
He eyed her warily, "I told you I do not like them."
"I have never met anyone who did not like sweets," Andromeda said, her eyes bright, "So I've come to the conclusion that you did not eat it correctly."
Loki raises his dark brows. "Oh?"
"Yes, you have to savor them. Stick out your tongue." She demanded and Loki grinned at her.
The dark-haired prince stuck out his tongue and the princess placed the small disk on his appendage. Loki closed his mouth, and Andromeda watched his face as the candy dissolved.
"So?" The princess looked at him expectantly.
"Disgusting." Loki simply replied.
"You must have done something wrong!" Andromeda insisted and Loki chuckled.
"I did exactly what you told me to, I just do not like sweets." Loki surmised as the princess frowned. The green-eyed prince laughed at her and Andromeda furrowed her brows.
"What?" She asked and he shook his head at her.
"You are still like a child." Loki remarked and Andromeda frowned deeply.
"I am not a child, Prince Loki. It's been ten years since you've seen me."
"Ten years on Midgard." Loki reminded her, "Only a few weeks on Asgard. It seems like yesterday you were following after me, face chubby with the fat of a babe. And now you're…" The prince paused, his gaze sweeping over the princess' body. "A woman."
And there it was, the difference between them finally said aloud. Andromeda was not a little girl anymore, and Loki was not just a friend she could look up to, he was a prince. If the two had lived in the same realm, he would be trying to court her. A friendship between the two of them now, would always have an undercurrent of romance, whether they wanted to admit to it or not.
Andromeda bit her lip, averting her gaze from the prince, before asking, "Did you think of me? At all?"
Loki studied her face, but he did not answer her question, instead placing a finger under her chin and turning her face back to him. "Did you think of me?" He retorted, watching her expression.
Andromeda wants to scream 'Yes!' but she doesn't. She wants to tell him about how she knew he was going to come back for her, but she didn't. She wants to tell him that she is betrothed but she would drop her title to be with him, but she does not.
Instead she nods silently, and watches how the fire's light dances on his pale skin. Before she knows it, he's leaning toward her and her eyes flutter closed, only to be interrupted by a loud belch and giggling.
Andromeda jumps away from Loki then, right as Thor and a woman come into the room.
"Princess Andromeda!" Thor grins, the smell of ale wafting from him.
"Hello Thor." The princess nods to him.
"Have you met...uh…" He gestures to the female on his arm.
"Ingrid!" The woman snaps and Thor grins once again.
"Ingrid! I knew that, pretty name Ingrid is."
Andromeda turned to Loki with a tight grin, "I am going to sleep. Goodnight." The curly-haired princess got up to leave but the prince grabbed her hand.
"Wait, let me escort you to your room." Loki offered but the princess shook her head.
"No thank you, I can find it on my own." Andromeda nodded to him once more. "Goodnight Prince Loki."
"Goodnight little princess." Loki nods to her as she leaves the room. He looks at his brother and his wench as scoffs. "Buffon." He mutters under his breath.