Chapter 3

She didn't have a day off but every once in a while Thor would take Loki off Asgard on some exciting adventure and she would have that time alone. She spent it mostly sitting on her beloved beach just behind the palace. It had a private lagoon and cave not to far down the shore away from prying eyes.

She had never gotten along with the other servants. They didn't trust Loki and therefore didn't trust her. She kept her mouth closed to them about his doings. They didn't like that. She reclined in the sand spreading her hair out like a halo. She always wore it pinned up when on duty. He had seen it down on two occasions, once when he woke her in the middle of sleep. On the first of those occasions she had been in her nightdress and was quite a sight to see. Afterward she had begun to sleep in her underdress.

Now she lay in her underdress of black and green. His colors. The sun beaming down on her already lightly tanned skin. Her skirts hiked up to her thighs and the sleeves pulled down off her completely. Once upon a time she used to have to wear a simple white cap with her servants uniform. But Loki had ordered her to remove it one day and instructed her to keep her hair pinned up but he liked her much better without the cap. So she retired it altogether.

Her brown and pink hair was slightly wet from the water that was slowly washing up under her. It wouldn't be long and the gentle waves would overtake her body completely. She allowed herself to drift off into a nap. The water would wake her, as it always did, once it began to splash her face.

Loki had gotten back early from his excursion with Thor. It had been uneventful this time but he was sure the warriors three would make up some kind of tale befitting the truthfully boring trip. He summoned Cephera. When she appeared she was wet and dripping in her underdress. Her skirts sticking to her legs, her feet were bare and hair down. "Took some time for yourself I see." he said eyeing her state. He had always told her no matter what if he summoned her she was to come to him immediately.

He had never caught her naked but once caught her in a towel. He had much fun that day making her turn red. She was much harder to get to blush nowadays. She was becoming immune to his mischief. "I have been playing with some new spells. I want to see their effectiveness." the first time he had tried a spell on her it hadn't worked. She seemed immune to certain magic. He had once asked her how and she told him she didn't know. He used her as his test subject until he found things she could not resist. For if it worked on her with all her control then it was a mighty powerful spell in deed.

"Certainly my prince. And what is it you're trying to accomplish?" she asked politely tying back her hair hastily and fixing the sleeves of the dress.

"Sleep." he had yet to figure this one out. She sat in the chair he provided and waved his hand over her muttering the words so silently, his lips barely moving that most wouldn't know he said anything. She stayed wide awake blinking a little sleepily but he mused it was from her previous state before he called her to him.

"Did you feel anything?"

"A tingle." she replied holding back a grin. He attempted it again concentrating harder this time. Still nothing.

"Hmm." he walked to his desk and opened his journal packed full of notes for new spells. He flipped through its pages. She sat patiently in the chair and eventually, after about 10 minutes she felt herself fall forward.

Loki saw her body make the lurch and used his ability to make more then one of himself to make it across the room to catch her. She was out cold. He gently tapped her cheeks but she didn't respond. He struck them a little harder but still got no response.

He hoisted her up into his arms and laid her on his bed. Her face looked at peace, her breathing even. One arm lay across her stomach the other half hanging off the bed. He tucked it up next to her side. It took longer then he had expected but it had worked. He needed something more instant though. He wasn't sure how long it would last. Night had fallen and she still hadn't woken. Loki choose to lay next to her reading until she woke. He had to know the time frame.

She hadn't moved at all. Aside from her breathing he might have thought her dead. After three hours of no change he wondered if he had permanently put her out. He hoped not. Training a new servant would be tedious. He got up and paced the room. He jumped when she sat up and cried out. Her cry was loud and painful sounding. He quickly clamped a hand over her still open mouth to silence her. Her eyes were wide and afraid. Her hands wrapped around his wrist with her nails biting into his flesh.

When she seemed to come back to her senses she let him go, her pupils retracting to a smaller shape. Her eyes returning to their natural state of calm. He let her mouth go. "I'm sorry. I was having a nightmare." she said looking around baffled. "It worked?"

"Belated yes but it worked." she shuffled off the bed her face turning the shade of pink he hadn't seen in quite some time.

"Then I guess you had better get back to work." she said that silly sly look crossing her face for only a moment. He dismissed her.