Chapter 2
When the next morning came, as I began to rummage through the collections of books in the small bookshelf, the doors clicked again. I turned quickly, hoping they had been unlocked, and I could make a run for it. But instead I found Loki standing in the centre of my room, looking directly at me, a look of intrigue playing on his cold, harsh face. A lone strand of his hair fell down across his forehead. He sauntered towards me as I stood up.
"I am not going to be your lab rat." I spoke clearly, force in my voice. He stopped.
"And why not?" His voice was playful.
"Because there's this thing on Earth, called the human rights act. And that entails making it basically illegal, not to mention completely immoral to torture someone, especially for scientific purposes." He chuckled. Why was everything so funny to him? I felt myself starting to get pissed off. Which was never a good thing because it always ended in a loud, fast paced stream of incomprehensible swear words and verbal exasperations. I took a deep breath to try and calm myself down.
"You are no longer on Earth." He stated clearly.
"Yes I can see that, the waterfall that descends into space kind of gave that part away." I was getting snarky, God-dam nit. Another deep breath...
"Am I right in deducing that you find me irritating?" He questioned, laughter seeping through his velvety voice.
"And what gave you that impression?" I said awkwardly. He was perceptive. And I had an easily irritable temper. Not a good mix.
"Your heart rate has increased, and your blood pressure is rising." He said simply. I looked at him, my mouth half open in shock and I'll be honest, awe.
"HOW THE HELL?!" The box of cats came tumbling open. For some reason I felt the need to cover my front with my hands and arms, which only sent him chuckling once again. "OH MY GOD, ok, laugh one more time and I will kick you in your godly downstairs, man!" I threatened. He stopped immediately, an intrigued smile forming on his lips.
"My 'godly downstairs...'" He mused aloud. "I wonder why, for some reason, your attitude is somewhat of a turn on..." His playful smile reappeared.
"Look if all you're going to do right now is piss me off, then leave. I'd rather be bored out of my mortal mind." I said defensively. He began to walk towards me again. As he came to stand in front of me, he looked down. I suddenly thought his height was intimidating, despite the fact that he looked at me with a soft smile. "I want to go home." I said honestly, almost pleading.
"That I cannot allow." I sighed loudly, shrugging my shoulders helplessly.
"Well I really think if you're just going to stand here and stare down at me, you should at least apologise." His eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"For what?"
"Well for one, keeping me here, essentially as a prisoner, and you can call it 'guest' but if I'm here against my will, then I'm anything but a guest. And secondly, and kind of more importantly, you can apologize to me FOR TRYING TO DESTROY NEW YORK." He smiled.
"And were you in New York when I attacked?" He asked.
"No, but that's irrelevant."
"Yet, you wish for me to apologise for harm that was not done towards you?" He contested.
"It was done towards my race. It hold personal value to everyone on Earth." I explained coldly. His eyes narrowed for a moment. I looked at him expectantly.
"Why would I apologise for that when I would not mean it?" He leaned in as he spoke.
"Well I'm sure you wouldn't like it if Midgardian's decided to destroy Asgard. I bet you would want an apology, at least."
"That would be physically impossible." He stated intellectually. I scoffed stupidly and looked away. "I wish to show you something." He changed the subject.
"I'm not interested." I looked at him quickly, he looked slightly surprised. "If it's the way back to Earth, then fine, I'll come with you, but if it's anything else, I'm not interested." I crossed my arms and looked in the other direction.
"Very well. Have it your way." He said quickly, as he stormed out of the room. The green mist that encircled each door remained. And I knew I was still locked in.
Three days went by. I found myself beginning to get stir crazy, so I occupied myself with reading some of the books from the bookshelf, and having really REALLY long showers to pass the time. I also found myself becoming a perfectionist, resorting to making my bed every morning, making it slowly, flattening any lines or bumps. This was the extent of my boredom. So when the doors to my bedroom opened, I sat up quickly, eager to see who was gracing me with their glorious presence. And I stretch the word glorious. A young woman entered, she bowed and began to speak,
"My lady, I have been tasked to bring you into the city, where you are required to be fitted for the upcoming ball this evening." Her voice was high, resounding her young age throughout the room.
"Ball?" I asked.
"Yes my lady, the ball that King Loki has put on in your honour." She explained. In my honour? What the hell had I walked into? Literally. But it was a reason to get out of my utterly boring bedroom, so I agreed. As we walked through the palace, exiting the palace grounds, I found out the young girls name was Mara.
"I'm Anne." I said as we walked down the bustling streets of Asgard. Civilians went about their daily routines. Mara took me into a small shop filled with different coloured fabrics. The walls were laden with fabrics of all textures.
"You must be the Midgardian guest!" A woman bound up to me with great excitement. She took my hands in hers, squeezing them gently, a broad smile printed in her face.
"Uh, yeah, that's me." I said awkwardly.
"Excellent, my name is Rogga. I shall be fitting you!" I nodded. Her excitement was palpable. Unfortunately, not infectious. She led me towards a small platform on the floor, where she told me to stand. She began pressing a deep green coloured fabric to my body, pinning it in certain areas.
"Uh... Is there another colour? Maybe like a blue or something? I like blue." I spoke. Rogga looked up at me, her face confused.
"But King Loki has ordered you be dressed in his colours..." Rogga replied. I wasn't in the mood to make a big deal of it, so I shrugged my shoulders.
"Green's fine." I said. Rogga lit up once again and continued her work. Once the dress was fitted, I was taken back to my bedroom. A group of young girls, all around the same age as Mara, stood in my bedroom as I entered. "Uh...hey there." I said.
"My lady, we are your lady's in waiting. We are here to help you with anything you may need. But for now, we have been assigned to help you get ready for the ball." One of them explained. I nodded, and they begun their work, doing my hair and helping me into my silk green dress.
Once I was ready, they led me to the dining hall, where the ball was taking place. I was incredibly confused by the whole thing. And I felt like an absolute idiot in this dress. As we came to the large doors of the dining hall, a man wearing a long green cape and an intensely horned helmet stood waiting. He turned as I approached him.
"Well don't you look interesting." Loki said playfully.
"Interesting? You really need to learn how to compliment someone." Loki laughed as he laid my arm on top of his, my hand resting on top of his hand. "Ok, what is happening right now..."
"This ball is being held in your honour."
"Yes I was told that part, I just can't figure out why."
"It is your debut into Asgardian society."
"That makes it sound like I will never get to go home." I looked at him. He only stared defiantly ahead.
"There is much to tell you. But since you have been so unwilling of my hospitality, I have not been able to prepare you for the reason as to why I am holding this ball." He said simply.
"And what is the reason?" He looked at me now, his eyes concerned.
"It has taken me many months to prove that I am the worthy king for Asgard. Many of my brother's comrades, and the public were disapproving. But now I have gained their trust through my steady and benevolent rule. You must promise, that if I am to tell you the true reason as to why I hold this ball in your name, you must not protest, even if you would like to. You must promise that you shall conduct yourself in a manner of respect so as not to tarnish the reputation I have worked tirelessly to create." I hesitated for a moment. What could possibly be so bad that I would go ape shit on his arse in front of the high society of Asgard? But my curiosity got the better of me, as it always did, I sighed and spoke,
"I promise." I said reluctantly, making Loki smile.
"Good. This ball is being held in your honour because you are to be my future bride. This is your entry into Asgardian society. And tonight, it will be announced that we are to become betrothed to one another." My heart fell into the pit of my stomach.
"Oh hell no-" I started. Loki held up one finger.
"You promised." He reminded. I sighed in frustration and pursed my lips. He would have to explain all of this to me later. And a 'betrothal' was only that, a promise to each other to marry, it wasn't final until I said I do. And that was definitely not going to happen. I repressed my need to rip Loki's horned helmet off and shove it into his chest as the doors to the dining hall opened.