(A/N: Thank you guys for your comments!)
Andromeda stretched her arms high above her head as she made her way through the palace halls. She had spent most of her morning teasing Thor as he trained and laughing with Sif. The golden prince had made her leave so he could 'concentrate', whatever that meant, so she was now trying to find something interesting to do.
The Asgardian sun was high in the sky as the princess found her way to the royal stables. The stable hands bowed to her respectfully as she examined the horses. The royal family had many horses, more than she had back home, and they were all different colors. The princess spotted the horse she had rode in on and grinned, petting it's head.
"Hello," She cooed, as the horse neighed, "Do you remember me?" The horse nodded it's head, seemingly answering her question and she laughed. As she bonded with the horse, a loud thump and shouting sounded from outside the stable.
The princess picked up her dress in her hands and shuffled over to the noise. She peeked out the stables and saw the handlers struggling with a huge black horse. The horse was bucking against it's reigns, neighing angrily and Andromeda's eyes widened when she saw eight legs kicking from under the horse.
"My gods!" She exclaimed, and the handlers turned to her.
"Go back into the stables, Princess! It is not safe!" A handler called to her and the princess obeyed, running back into the stables. She stood by her horse, watching worriedly as the handlers led the black horse back into the stable. As they locked the door behind the horse, they hurriedly walked out of the wood structure, muttering about how they would not feed the horse until it cooperated.
Andromeda, never to falter in the face of 'danger', slowly walked towards the huffing horse, her hands up in front of her. The black horse glared at her, it's dark green eyes squinted, but it did not faze the princess.
"What is the matter?" Andromeda cooed lowly and the horse huffed out a breath backing away from her as she came closer. The princess frowned, crossing her arms. She did not feel foolish talking to a horse, for her love of animals had been with her since she was a child. It was part of the reason she had rushed to Loki's side as he laid in the plains; she only wanted to help, what she thought was, an injured animal. "Now don't get all huffy with me!" She glared right back, before shaking her head. "I am just trying to help you. You will not get food until you calm down noble steed of noir."
The horse just stubbornly huffed again, it's long legs stomping on the hay covered grown. "You are making this hard for yourself! A horse as pretty as you should not be this mean." Andromeda muttered softly, trying to beckon the horse to her. Her soft eyes blinked up at the horse as she held her hand out to him. The horse slowly walked towards her hand and nudged it with his muzzle. "That's a good boy. You're not so mean, are you?" The princess cooed, lightly stroking the horse's head. "I've never seen a horse like you before, you must be exclusive to Asgard, huh?"
As the beauty soothed the horse, the stable hands came back into the stables with a bucket of fruit. When they saw the horse being gentle with the princess, they gasped. One of the field hands walked up to the duo and the horse stepped back from them, his green eyes hardening into a glare.
"Just drop the bucket," The princess whispered, "I'll feed...what is his name?"
"Sleipnir, Princess Andromeda." The servant bowed, before casting a wary glance to the horse. "Excuse me, milady. But are you positive you do not want us to stay, he is dangerous…"
Andromeda waved away the field hand. "It'll be fine." She said dismissively. The field hands looked to each other nervously before walking out of the stables. "Okay," She cooed, grabbing a fruit from the bucket. "They are gone now, Sleipnir." She offered the steed the fruit and he walked up to her slowly, before taking a bite. The princess hummed a tune to keep the horse calm as she fed him, stroking him softly.
"Isn't this a sight to behold." A voice smooth as flowing water sounded from the opening of the stables. Andromeda looked over her shoulder, her face flushing when she saw that it was just the youngest prince of Asgard.
"You've come to bother me once again?" The princess quipped, picking up another fruit.
Loki chuckled, walking to her. "You know it's funny," He grinned, "I did not complain when you bothered me as a child." He stood next to her and petted Sleipnir on the head.
"Because I was an adorable child." Andromeda retorted with a teasing smile as she watched how Sleipnir nuzzled into Loki's hand.
"Oh?" He raised his dark brows, "Is that what they call it?"
Andromeda giggled, looking from Sleipnir to Loki before furrowing her brows. The green eyes staring down at her seemed to be mirrored in the horses. The princess looked from Loki to the horse, before laughing. "It's odd." She said, smiling, "It seems you both have the same eyes."
Loki raised his dark brows, his green eyes alit in amusement. "Do we?" He asked, a smirk on his face.
The bronze beauty sized the prince up suspiciously, her brows furrowed, wondering what trick the prince was playing. She nodded her head and feed the creature another fruit.
"He seems to like you Andromeda." The dark prince stated, watching the princess interact with the animal. "He doesn't like many people."
"That's because they're too rough with him." Andromeda stated, lightly petting the horse's head. "He just needs a gentle touch, isn't that right Sleipnir?" She cooed to the horse and it neighed in reply. "He's not bad, he's just different." The young woman remarked with a smile.
Loki nodded, seemingly in thought. He watched her for a moment more before opening his mouth to speak. "I-"
"Ah Brother!" Thor's booming voice interrupted the younger Odinson. The tall blonde's footsteps were heavy as he made his way into the stables. Spotting the bronze princess, his grin widened. "Princess Andromeda! It is nice to see you are mocking someone else on this fine day."
Sleipnir seemed to neigh and shake head at the older prince. Andromeda laughed at the horse's reaction and lightly patted it's head. "Prince Thor! I am joyful to see you made it out of your training in one piece." The princess jested, a teasing smirk on her full lips.
"Of course! A warrior as mighty as I-" Thor boasted as Loki rolled his eyes.
"Was there something you needed brother?" The dark prince interjected in a scathing tone, unamused by his brother's attempts at flirting.
Thor smirked at his brother, "I was just looking to speak with your brother. We never talk anymore."
"We spoke last night." Loki replied dryly, eyeing his brother warily.
Thor raised his hands in a mock surrender. "I understand, you are busy." The prince started before cutting his eyes towards Andromeda. He continued with a grin, "It's not very often you get to visit your son."
If Loki could have murdered Thor with a look, the elder Odinson would be dead. Andromeda's head snapped up and she looked between the two brother's confusedly. Thor had a triumphant expression in his face while Loki's green eyes had fire in them.
"Son?" She implored, looking to Loki. "You have a child?"
Before Loki could respond to get Thor interjected, "Aye! He does!"
The princess furrowed her brows, looking around the stable. "Then where is…" She trailed off, stopping herself as she met Sleipnir's eyes. She looked at the horse, then looked at Loki, repeating the actions twice. "My gods…"
Laughter began to bubble in Thor's throat as he watched Andromeda's face slowly turned into disgust.
"Andromeda," Loki started but the princess shook her head. "How?!" She exclaimed, "Why?"
"It was a very complicated process…"
Andromeda shook her head and shoved the bucket of fruit into Loki's hands before marching away from the two brother.
"Are you mad?" Loki nearly screamed at his brother who was turning red with laughter.
"All is fair in love and war, brother." Thor stammered out, a wide grin on his face. "I will win her heart."
"Ha." The dark prince sneered, "She would never choose you. She has loved me since she was a babe."
"That may be true brother, but I will triumph in the end." Thor swore a fist to his chest. "She will marry me and become my beautiful queen."
Loki rolled his eyes, a sly smirk on his face. "Your delusions amuse me brother. Do you honestly think she could love you?"
"It is hard to say no to a prince offering you a kingdom." Thor replied matter of factly with a smug grin.
"That shows how much you know about the princess and furthers my confidence of you never being able to claim her." Loki stepped closer to his brother, a glare in his eyes. "Andromeda is mine and I am willing to do everything in my power to keep it that way."
The golden prince raised a questioning eyebrow. "Is that a threat brother?"
"Interpret it as you may." The young prince's tongue lashed as he stormed after the princess.
Princess Andromeda ran a hand through curls, which were freely flowing down her back for once, as the Asgardian sunlight beamed down on her brown skin. The birds were singing a pretty tune as they flew over her head, and the flowers of the royal garden seemed to perk up as she strolled past them. Her white dress swished around her with every step and she looked like she was going spread her wings and fly away.
She had come to the garden after she stormed away from the stables. The pretty scenery and smells of the garden calmed her and it was quickly become her safe place.
The bronze girl was confused and disgusted, but mostly confused. She was not aware that her prince had a child, let alone the child was a horse! It seemed like something out of a fable.
The princess stopped and knelt down to smell a particularly pretty flower and footsteps approached in that moment. Andromeda's amber eyes flickered to the black boots standing beside her. "Shouldn't you be with your son?" She remarked, not looking up from the plant.
"I did not intend for you to find out that way, Andromeda."
Andromeda stood tall and glared up at the prince, her embers alit with anger. "Then you should have told me before Thor could!" She snapped before she could catch herself. She took a deep breath and scanned the prince's face. The bronze girl cleared her throat, "It is not that your child is a horse, which is a shock in itself…" She paused and Loki took that moment to began to explain. Andromeda held a silencing hand up. "It is the fact that you did not tell me. Did you not think me important enough?"
Loki let out an exasperated breath and rushed to answer her question. "No, that is not the reason at-" The prince paused and took a deep breath, slowing his words down. "I was going to tell you."
Andromeda pursed her lips and searched Loki's green eyes. She let out a sigh and looked away from the prince. "You are not lying." The princess acquiesced, biting her lip.
The prince's dark brow quirked up and his eyes squinted, "How can you be so sure?"
The bronze beauty turned back to him, "Well are you?" She asked, fighting a smile.
"I could be." Loki quipped with a smirk. He folded his hands behind his back and looked down at the princess. "What if I were?"
Andromeda matched the prince's smirk and glanced at him through her lashes. She took a step closer to the tall man and put her dainty hand on his chest, gazing into his eyes. "Well then," The princess breathed, her teeth gleaming. "You'd be a fool." Andromeda finished, her smile dropping. She walked around the prince and swayed away from him, a scowl on her pretty face.