A/N: I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in so long! I meant to update last weekend, but you see, my relatives came to my house, and then I've been busy this week with school (it started on Wednesday) and now I'm probably going to have to resort to weekly updates, on Friday or Saturday or Sunday, when I have the most time to write.

Anyway, thank you to all of my reviewers, especially guest reviewer anon! I appreciate your lengthy reviews; every author does a mental happy dance when they see that someone took the time to write something long.

Enjoy the chapter! Sorry that it's short.

3rd POV

His memory was being rather frustrating today.

Every time he tried to remember Cass- all of the conversations they had shared, the mischief they had caused, the games they had played, the people they had teased- it seems like his mind would fill with empty white fog.

But as he searched harder, he was surprised that he had forgotten the slave girl at all. A few weeks after she had left, it seemed like she had slipped to the back of his mind, hiding.

Strange indeed.

The blank fog persisted, but so did he, and soon more and more of the memories came back.

He remembered the day that he first started to like her.

It had been a couple weeks after he had met Cass. It was sunny, and he was running through the marble-paved corridors, excited to see her, passing the entrance to the garden on the way to their meeting place.

He slowed as he looked at the garden.

It was beautiful at this time of the year, with all of the flowers in full bloom and most of them seeming to defy all laws of biology with their beauty. Blossoms that shouldn't be flowering were, trees that should have died were flourishing.

And in the middle of the vibrantly green grass was Thor and all of his friends, the group made up entirely out of boys except for one girl who seemed to be trying to stand on her head to the cheers of the rest of the crowd. Loki felt his stomach twist, but not uncomfortably so.

Sif.

Even upside down, the little goddess was pretty. Chocolate-colored wavy hair and dark eyes and a playful smile that drove guys crazy.

He was so intent on staring at her that he didn't even realize that he had stopped his pace altogether.

A couple of Thor's friends noticed his gaze, and whispered to each other, heads together, for a few seconds. Then matching devious smiles graced their lips and they called out to him, shouting his name.

"Loki!" They waved, and he started, looking surprised that they had addressed them. He instinctively looked behind him to see if they were calling for perhaps some other Loki. "Loki! Come! We wish for you to play with us!"

He had felt both delighted and guilty, remembering that he promised to meet Cass. Then he decided, It's okay. She'll understand, or I can make up an excuse.

And he went out to the garden. Thor looked especially pleased that his friends had finally invited his younger brother into the group, and he clapped Loki on the back enthusiastically, smiling.

"What shall we play?"

"A Midguardian game!" One of the boys who had invited Loki over said immediately. He grinned, and pulled the scarf from his neck. Then he fastened it over the second prince's eyes. "You call out "Marco!" and everyone else says "Polo!". Using the shouts, you find your opponent. If you tag someone, then they become Marco. But you can't peek! And everyone has to stay in this area!"

Loki had nodded, although his gut instinct screamed danger. He ignored it. They're finally accepting me. He was overjoyed.

"Ready... set... go!" He heard the children scramble off into different directions. Blindly, he put his hands out in front of him.

"Marco!"

"Polo!" The cry was echoed all around him. He picked the closest voice and started to head slowly towards it, fingers probing the air.

"Marco!"

"Polo!"

"Marco!"

"Polo!"

But he didn't see someone stick out their foot (because he was blindfolded) and suddenly he stumbled, just as another boy pushed Sif in the way.

And, of course, just as the two boys had intended, he fell right onto the girl, knocking them both to the ground.

Loki ripped the blindfold off, and when he saw whom he had landed on, his face reddened immediately. Sif had frozen, looking too surprised to say anything at the moment, brown eyes wide with shock.

"Aw, aren't they cute together?" Both children looked up to see that the other boys (minus Thor) had joined in a semicircle around them, all wearing identical, malicious smirks. And then they all started to chant:

"Loki and Si-if,
Sitting in a tree.
K-I-S-S-I~!"

Sif- seeming to come to her senses- immediately got off the ground, face flushed with embarrassment and anger. She eyed the prince still on the ground with thinly veiled disgust, and made a face.

"-N-G.
First comes love-!"

Loki shot his brother a look that said, Help. Thor was just standing there, looking torn between amusement and disapproval. He hesitated, and Loki felt tears of shame and humiliation burn his eyes.

He ran out of the courtyard as fast as he could.

She had found him in one of the many cleaning closets lining the palace halls. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, and he had his head buried in his arms, so he didn't see or hear the door crack open and then close again.

And then there was a hand on his shoulder. He flinched away, thinking momentarily that it was the boys again, but then saw that it was only Cass.

"How do you always manage to find me?" He asked finally, in slight awe, after managing to calm himself down enough to speak coherently.

She smiled, softly, sadly, not wearing her usual joyous grin. "Easy." She sat down, sitting close to him, putting an comforting arm around his shoulders. "I just think of where I would hide if I were you, and there you are."

He shrugged, avoiding her gaze, and she said, "Tell me what's wrong."

She did not ask him, "Where were you?" or "Why didn't you come to the meeting place?". She wanted to know what was wrong.

And it wasn't even a question. But it wasn't a demand either. It was a tender invitation, and he broke down at the gentleness in her voice.

In a slightly strangled tone, he relayed what had happened. It made him feel calmer, relating to her the story. She was silent for a little while after he had finished.

Then, finally, Cass asked, carefully, "You like Lady Sif?" There was an emotion in her voice that he couldn't identify.

He shrugged. "Not anymore. She won't even look at me. Besides, she likes Thor."

She giggled at the contempt in his voice when he said his brother's name. "You should hear the other slave girls talk about him. It's a little disturbing, actually."

"What do they say?" He was curious despite himself.

"They all think he's cute. And he is a prince after all." Her skeptical tone and eye roll at the end of the sentence made it clear how she felt about her fellows' feelings about the heir to Asgard. "They adore him."

"And you don't?" He meant it as a tease, but found his heart pounding in anticipation of her answer.

"No!" She said immediately, shaking her head from side to side as if the idea was repulsive to her. "He's too..." She struggled for a word. "...proud. It's annoying." She added matter-of-factly.

"What do they say about me?"

She poked him in the side, tickling him slightly. "They say you eat maidens' souls."

The idealism was so different from their thoughts about Thor, and so absurd, that it made him laugh. She joined in, and then they were both laughing and tickling each other and planning their next prank.

It was a little pathetic, how her mind kept on drifting for the next few days.

She could be scrubbing the halls, or washing the dishes, or heck, helping Lenora and ignoring her boy rants, but he would always pop up in the back of her mind, and then slowly surface to the front.

She would unconsciously allow herself a little thought, something like, I wonder if he still causes mischief or I wonder if he still remembers everything I taught him about lying. And then she would give herself a mental slap in the face and curse.

No, faen*, I can't afford to think like that!

He was a grown man now, a prince, not the self-conscious and vulnerable little boy that she used to know. He had probably grown out of all those childish things that they had done together, forgotten her, forgotten all that they ever had.

This is ridiculous. She reminded herself. I refuse to be a fangirl.

Despite his lack of attention when he was younger, now he had quite the fan club. He was, after all, a prince. And of Asgard, no less. Plus, she personally knew of a few nobles that liked the dark and mysterious type.

There I go again.

"Cassiopeia? You are listening to me, right, Cassiopeia?"

Cass jolted herself out of her thinking and offered Lenora a smile in the mirror. "Of course I am, ma'am. I find your speeches to be wholly interesting."

The noble huffed, blowing a strand of her hair out of her rather beautiful face, obviously not catching the sarcasm. "I hope so." She went back to staring at her reflection. "What do you think of this look on me?"

"Beautiful." The lies came so easily. She had been using them for so long, it was more of a natural reflex. You taught he-who-must-not-be-named to lie too.

Cass was supposed to be doing Lenora's hair. She was currently weaving delicate crystals and flowers into her light brown locks, trying to suppress the bit of envy that arose within her when she thought about all the care that went into the girl's appearance. Am I really that different from her? Why is it that I am treated so differently?

But she hurriedly squashed those thoughts. I am a slave. I should not think like that.

"You're not a slave! Why is it that you always degrade yourself to sound so... beneath me? You're just like me! An Asgardian! And I'm never going to forget that!"

She clenched her eyes shut. Get out of my head.

*cursing in Norwegian

A/N: So, this chapter just basically shows some more of their relationship and history together. Sorry that it's a tad short; I hope to make them longer in the future.

The next chapter actually starts the action.

Review, favorite, follow.