Ch. 2 - Mysterious Woman
Loki awoke to a man standing over his bed. He yelped, sending the man jumping backwards. "Sorry, sorry!" The man shouted, picking himself up off the floor. Loki recognized him as the black-haired boy from earlier. Merlin.
"The king requests your presence tonight. He's having a feast. I brought you some of Arthur's things so you'll have something to wear." He pointed to a pile of clothes at the foot of the bed. "Sorry if I disturbed you, I'll be leaving now."
Loki sat up in bed. "I'm sorry, Merlin. For acting rude. I should probably say thank you." Merlin smiled at him and Loki smiled back. Merlin left the room and Loki started to change into the clothes. He walked out of the hall and found Merlin waiting for him.
"I didn't know if you knew where to find the throne room again. This castle is huge." They walked down towards the throne room together, Merlin pausing every now and then to say hello to someone. They finally made it to the throne room, where a bunch of people were milling around, talking and laughing.
He followed Merlin to an old man who he realized was the man the king had been talking to. "This is Gaius. Gaius, this is Loki." They shook hands. Suddenly everyone stopped and turned towards the doors. A girl was striding into the room and she was the most beautiful woman Loki had ever seen.
She had black hair piled up in a bun, cold green eyes, and she was wearing a bloodred dress that flowed out behind her. The weird thing was, she wasn't looking at anyone. She was staring at the ground, as if she didn't expect all this attention.
She flowed past them and Merlin's eyes followed her, his jaw dropping. "She's a princess." Loki breathed, watching her sway her hips from side to side. "Close, she's the king's ward." Merlin's voice held a note of bitterness in them.
Arthur strode past him towards the woman. He spoke to her and she giggled. Even from where Loki was standing, it was a beautiful sound. "What's her name?" Loki whispered. "Morgana." Merlin whispered back. Morgana. Even her name was beautiful.
"I have an announcement to make. I am pleased to welcome Loki, who will be staying in Camelot for a while." The king clapped and everyone clapped with him. Loki raised his eyes to Morgana and she smiled.
Everyone sat down as the feast began to start, Merlin had to stand because he was a servant so Loki stood with him. After the feast Loki ran into Morgana. "Hi." She smiled and Loki found himself smiling too. "I'm the Lady Morgana." Loki bowed and kissed her hand. "I'm Loki." He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Merlin standing there.
"Hello, Loki. I was wondering where you got to. My lady." He directed this last part to Morgana, who nodded. "Merlin." Merlin steered Loki away from Morgana. "Are you crazy?" Merlin whispered to Loki. "She's the king's ward! If Uther ever saw you talking, he'd kill you!"
Loki looked back to where he'd seen Morgana. "I'm not scared." He turned back to Merlin who crossed his arms. "Well, you should be." Merlin looked at him with curiousity. "You didn't really come from a neighboring kingdom, did you?"
Loki stared at him in shock. "How did you know that?" Merlin shrugged. "Just a feeling. Don't worry, I'll keep your secret. Besides, I have many of my own." He smiled crookedly and left Loki outside his room. Loki sighed and changed into nightclothes, then he lay in his bed, wishing he hadn't let go of the staff. Wishing that he was back in Asgard.