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I don't need to worry about identity theft because no one wants to be me.

-Jay London

"I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you."
― Friedrich Nietzsche

"Lies require commitment."
― Veronica Roth, Divergent

The first thing that caught Loki's attention was the fact that she was laughing. Head thrown back in mirth, long dark brown hair swinging as she moved, clear amusment at some jest or story that Volgstagg and Fandral had seen fit to regal her with. Not a trace of the silly girlish trilling that had long aggravated Loki, that the girls that had flocked around Thor and Fandral's heels had used in the past to display their interest. Instead it was a full laugh, unashamed, loud and real. She wasn't playing any court games with the two Asgardian lords accompanying her down the path.

The second interesting thing that was quite obvious was that the girl didn't know how to conduct herself in public. Her laughter still rang in the hall and in Loki's ears- true laughter had been in short supply for him of late- laughter that was a little louder than was considered appropriate for the private halls of the palace. Then there was the girl's clothing. From Loki's seat on the rim of one of the large bay windows above the walkway he could look down and see the three of them clearly.

Fandral was dressed as fashionably as ever, furs and clock matched with a dashing air. Volgstagg, always less concerned with his personal appearance and more concerned with the appearance of his plate at meal times, was never the less neatly garbed. He also had a plate of food in his hand that the girl walking between them kept – unsuccessfully- trying to steal bites off of. It appeared even fair maidenhood couldn't separate that man from his one true love.

The girl- no young woman- for all that she was shorter than most of the women at court- was garbed in sild equal to any of his mother's handmaidens. But unlike the ladies that attended the Queen in her weaving rooms, this lady looked sorely out of place in her finery.

She kept fisting the fine silk in her hand in an attempt to keep herself from tripping over the lengthy skirts. Instead of clinging to her body the silk just looked crinkled and limp in places, especially around her hips. Loki was hard pressed to imagine her gliding about like other maidens. No, she had the sort of strong stride that was reminiscent of Lady Sif. Well, that's if she had been in clothing she was more comfortable with. Her shoes were quieter than the average lady's heel and he figured she had opted for flat leather sandals like Lady Sif had on the few occasions the warrior maid had worn skirts instead of her hard won armor.

Despite these flaws- or maybe because of them- Loki found this new woman to be a slightly more exciting prospect of entertainment than the list of trade agreements he had been perusing before her laughter had interrupted his solitude. Like laughter, his options for entertainment had been slim of late.

Odin ordering Loki's stay in Asgard's prison cells had been a tedious yet necessary action. Well now that he thought about it maybe it was only tedious for him… Anyway with both Asgard and Thor's poor man's replacement of the Warriors three and Sif calling for action against the younger prince the best thing to do was keep himself hidden away from prying eyes.

Thor had sent word back from his companions that a jail sentence was considered a fit punishment for his crimes on Midgard. The annoyance formally known as his brother had left it at that, but Loki found it unlikely that a few years in a luxurious cell (by prison standards at least) was enough of a punishment for his crimes. So now, despite his sudden and rather unexpected release from his cell, he was still waiting for the real punishment to be doled out.

The laughter got louder and this time both Volgstagg and Fandral's deeper chuckles mixed with their companion's, pulling Loki away from his thoughts yet again. They passed below his hiding place but weren't talking loud enough for Loki to make out their conversation topic without the use of magic. Once the three of them had safely passed his hiding spot Loki neatly piled up his trade reports and slid them into a pocket on the inside of his tunic despite the size of the papers. Pausing to quickly think of the best way to proceed, Loki's image started to blur and shift in shape and size.

The green, gold, and black of his casual tunic, leather overlays, and breaches now appeared as finely polished gold and crimson armor. His long hair, a remnant from his prison stay, was now shorter and lighter in color and style. Two braids were neatly woven at his temples and tied in the back. A thick red cloak pinned at both shoulders, fell down his back and to the floor. He waved his hand- now larger and less pale- in the air and a matching winged helmet appeared in his hands.

As soon as the three people he was eavesdropping on disappeared from his sight, he jumped down from his spot and landed with and unnatural silence for a man wearing heavy armor.

The new armor and image made it almost too easy to follow them. Odin's Crimson Hawks were the best soldiers in the realm and most of the palace guards were more likely to give them admiring looks than trouble. Today seemed to be no different. As long as he walked around like he had a purpose and knew what he was doing he could access just about any area of the palace.

In fact, Fandral had even noticed Loki following them at one point. Instead of the glares that had become common anytime Loki ran into one of the old gang, Fandral gave him an easy smile and a nod before turning back to his friends. It was almost insulting how easy this was going to be.

Loki had decided soon after Fandral noticed him to go in an opposite direction from his quarry. Fandral might take a quick glance at him at face value, but if he kept seeing the same man everywhere they went, even Fandral might start asking questions.

So it was simple enough for Loki to go off on his own for a time and then circle back to where he had last seen the three companions.

"You there." He called out and the guard in question turned to face him. When the guard took in the crimson accent armor and the insignia that labeled him a captain he swiftly jumped to attention.

"Captain!"

Loki smirked but with his false identity it came off warmer than it ever would have in his natural form. "I'm seeking the Lord Fandral and the Lord Volgstagg. I hear they were keeping company with each other today. .. Have they come through here, by chance?"

"Captain, they went through those doors right there." The guard gestured to the doors to his right then returned to attention. "I think they mentioned the stables or perhaps the training yards, sir."

"At ease, my thanks. I do not mean to keep you from your post." Loki gave a swift salute that was returned by the other soldier.

The guard nodded in reply, pleased to have been useful to one of the men everyone in the barracks admired.

Loki, had anyone asked, and had he given a damn, would have guessed that by the end of the day this simple exchange would have been overblown into something much bigger. The life a palace guard was boring to say the least and an exchange with a Crimson Hawk was well worth a few tankards of mead from his fellow guards. Provided the guard embellished things a bit.

Luck was with him when he exited the palace. In the distance he could see the three of them at the entrance to the stables. The stable yard was busy enough at this time of morning that no one gave him a second glance as he found a tree with shade and took a seat to wait.

.

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.

.

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About an hour later, just when he was getting bored enough to speed things along artificially, he was pleased to see Volgstagg and Fandral come out the entrance sans their female third wheel. Which, he hated to admit, surprised him a little. He hadn't guessed that Fandral would leave the side of the court's most recent addition, whoever she may be, so quickly.

Disguise as a captain in the Crimson Hawks still firmly in place, Loki walked right into the stables with only a few polite nods or salutes to acknowledge his entrance. He made his way towards the back of the stable that had the most direct passage to the royal stables. If Fandral and Volgstagg were showing off to this young lady this would be the place they might consent to leave her alone.

There she was, silk dress looking even more distressed than before on account of the pretty black haired mare she was petting. The nuzzling and snorting at her hands and shoulders were not helping her dress in any way.

Perhaps that was the reason Fandral left so quickly. His women were usually dressed impeccably.

The mare's stall was feet away from Thor's own warhorse and another more sedate dun mare.

"Here you go. I totally stole this from the kitchens" the girl said to the horse pulling open a small napkin with some sugar cubes inside "you know I was all set to grab myself a nice mid-morning snack, but then somehow I was stupid enough to take Volgstagg up on his offer of carrying my plate for me. Didn't even get to take a single bite. Thought the warriors around here were supposed to be all chivalrous and crap... " she placed on cube in the palm and carefully feed the mare, keeping the other ones out of reach. "and Jane's off doing who knows what… same with the Warrior's three and Sif. All busy today. Looks like it's just going to be me and you and the little bit I remember from riding lessons back in middle school. So, to be honest between this dress-like is side saddle a thing here? Not happening. And my total lack horseback riding in almost ten years it's not going to be a pretty day."

Another sugar cube was offered up as an early apology and eagerly accepted by the mare.

Loki knocked loudly on one of the wooden stall posts. The girl jumped and turned as quickly as she could in her dress to face him. When she took in the armor and helmet she opened her mouth to give and explanation but Loki cut her off.

"Relax, my lady. I could not help but to overhear your conversation. Perhaps I might be of some assistance?" he asked, keeping his distance as if she was the mare that might get spooked.

"Um, hi. Sorry. You kinda freaked me out there, I didn't hear you. Damn that's some quiet armor you guys have." She looked him up and down before continuing suspiciously. "Help, how?"

"I give you my word on my honor, that my aid will be far more useful than Lord Volgstagg's was this morn." He gave her a small smile.

She rolled her eyes. "Heard that did you? Yeah, sorry what was your name?"

Loki gave a polite bow and brought his arm across his chest in a salute. "Captain Theoric of the Crimson Hawks at your service my lady." He straightened up and took a few steps closer to the girl. "And you, my lady? What do they call you?"

"Darcy, uh, Darcy Lewis." She stuck her hand out to shake his, which he took willingly enough. But instead of shaking her hand he raised it to his lips and pressed a soft kiss on it before releasing her hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, Lady Darcy. As I was saying, you're going to need some help if you intend to go riding today. Starting with that dress…" he glanced at Darcy's crumpled silks and she winced in agreement.

"Yeah, I figured that. Well, thank you, I could definitely use the help, Captain Theoric."