Thor stomped down the hallway and flung open the gilded door of his brother's room. He was dressed in his formal clothes, his hair had been neatly combed, and he had taken a bath an hour ago.
"Brother!" He shouted as he stepped inside Loki's room.
He stopped walking when he saw that Loki's room was empty. Thor stared at it in exasperation and sighed. Malekith's betrayal five millennia ago had shattered the trust between the realms. Since that incident, no ambassadors had been sent to Asgard.
Arlen was the first one to come in five thousand years, and it was a big deal. There was a feast for them due to start in an hour, and Loki was nowhere to be seen. Didn't he know that as princes they had to go?
Something moved on the green sheets of Loki's bed, and a three foot long, black-scaled cobra raised its head up. It flared its hood briefly in curiosity, but when it saw Thor laid its head back down. Thor recognized Slítas, his brother's fully-sentient pet. Slítas was usually with Loki, so if he was here then was Loki?
"Loki, are you here?" He asked the empty air.
Thor remembered unpleasantly how one time Loki had stood in his room invisibly and listen to Thor rant about how Loki wasn't there. His laughter had been what had finally revealed his presence. It had been so embarrassing that Thor hadn't realized Loki was present.
He looked to Slítas, and the cobra clearly shook his head no. Thor sighed and hung his head as his shoulders slumped. Slítas himself never lied, so that meant Loki wasn't here. What a time for his brother to vanish, and when Thor had such news to tell him!
Thor had recently heard from his mother that it was not just Arlen, an aide, and two guards that had come to Asgard. There had been a fifth member of their entourage, and her name was Tilaria Halliendottir. The princess of the Light Elves, a girl only a little younger than Thor, was here on Asgard and she would be at the feast. An elfin princess!
Just as Thor imagined from her title, it was said that she was the most beautiful of all the elves. He couldn't wait to see her tonight! Thor hopped in excitement, and the childish movement made Slítas raise his head and tilt it at him curiously.
"Slítas," Thor asked politely and walked over to the cobra. "If my brother comes back before the feast, can you remind him about it? He won't want to miss the special guest."
Slítas thought about it and then nodded agreement.
"Thanks Slítas," Thor told him courteously with a smile and walked back out of Loki's room.
He closed the door behind him, aware that even with the door closed Slítas would be able to come and go as he pleased… somehow. Thor started to walk towards the library, certain that he would find his brother there. As he walked he couldn't help but remember the other stories that he had heard about Tilaria besides her beauty.
There were darker rumors about her that mentioned shadows and blood, and foul play b her hand. Some said that she had tried to assassinate Hallien before. Thor didn't know what to think about those stories, but knew that the only consistent fact was that she half-Asgardian and was not King Hallien and Queen Anastasia's trueborn daughter. She was adopted, and the identity of her real parents was a matter of fierce debate among the maids and noble girls of the court.
It made Thor wonder about Tilaria's true intentions for coming here, but he pushed them out of his mind. The rumors about her being a killer were not confirmed, while the stories of her beauty were. Surely someone as fair as her was a friend.
About an hour later, Loki was sighing to himself as he took a delicate bite of roasted goose drizzled in honey. He had been dragged from the library by Thor earlier. Thor had been upset because he wasn't in his formal clothing, but Loki had easily used a few charms to fix his appearance and teleported back to his room to quickly change. It had taken him a fraction of the time to get changed that it had Thor.
Thor sat to his right, doing his best not to fidget. Like Thor, Loki was bored. A bored Loki, as many on Asgard had quickly learned, was a dangerous Loki.
Normal feast on Asgard were jovial and loud things. The typical rules of dinner did not apply to them, as there was too much music and wine flowing for that. This feast was not like those. This time everyone spoke quietly and sat straight. Wine was drunk sparsely, and music was quiet. There were no sudden fights, no bets on who could drink the most, no clamor of vastly exaggerated stories being told over each other, and no drunken Æsir breaking into song or falling off the bench. All that was gone and had been replaced by an air of tense unease.
Thor sighed to himself, and Loki glanced at his brother. Normally Loki was the one sighing and Thor was the one who was in a good mood. Now their moods were reversed. The main reason for that was the seating. For the first time at any meal or feast, custom was upheld and Thor's friends were relegated to seating away from him.
Both princes sat with their parents in their formal itchy clothes, and Thor's friends were on the other side of the dining hall scattered from their different ranks. Hogun, as a prince of Vanaheim, sat near Loki and Thor but on the other side of Odin and Frigga. Sif was with the other noble court girls looking frustrated at being stuck with Jonelle and the other girly, gossiping maidens. Fandral and Volstagg were commoners and although they sat together they were the furthest from the princes. Although none of them were happy, Loki was enjoying the peace and quiet.
Loki was bored however, and was trying to figure out how to cause a little of his renowned mayhem without getting in trouble for it. While he thought about it he found it hard to ignore the other problem with the seating. Although Thor had eagerly told Loki about Tilaria's presence, a fact that surprised Loki since he hadn't seen her with Arlen when they arrived, she was not actually here. Her seat to the right of Ambassador Arlen's was empty, and Arlen had said that the trip by Bifrost had left her too ill to attend so she was currently resting in the suite the Ljósálfr ambassadors had been given to stay in.
Loki started to figure out the wording of his spell when Thor waved a servant to refill his wine goblet, his third refill tonight. Wine and goblets were two more things that the princes supposed to be at feasts, but usually weren't. Thor was going to have a Hel of a headache come morning, and Loki was certain Odin and Frigga wouldn't be pleased with Thor drinking this much if they happened to glance over.
Unlike his brother, Loki was still on his first goblet. The sweet wine was enjoyable, but it left Loki's head feeling cloudy. As a mage, it was dangerous for him to lose control of his emotions or thoughts as that might lead to his magic reacting on its own and damaging his surroundings. Personally, he'd rather cider or milk to wine.
Once he figured the wording out he lifted his goblet to his lips with one hand to feign a drink and hide his lips moving. No sooner had he whispered the first few syllables then did Arlen straighten. It was a small movement as Ljósálfr already had perfect posture, but something had clearly caught the Ambassador's attention.
The other elves had seen it to, and some of the Æsir had quieted. They were all looking in the same direction. Loki stopped whispering his spell, confident that it wouldn't activate on his own since he hadn't spoken enough and lowered the goblet to see what everyone was staring at. What he saw surprised him as well.
Servants were swirling around the tables in their garbs of brown, filling cups and changing empty plates and dishes for full ones as they brought out the courses. A figure who was most defiantly not a servant was walking among the servants and heading to the head table where the royals and other high ranking Æsir sat with the Ljósálfr ambassadors.
The figure was a girl about Loki's own age. She was beautiful, Loki saw that instantly, but he didn't recognize her. As she walked by the princes, Thor, who was either oblivious or drunk or perhaps both, slammed his goblet on the table yet again.
"Another!" Thor called and grabbed the beautiful girl who was no servant by her arm. "Servant, get me another!"
The girl stared at Thor as if he had grown horns and asked, "Another what?"
Her voice was pretty and easy to listen to. There was a slight ripple to her constantans and her even, clear, and precise wording made it clear she had a noble upbringing.
"Wine," Thor told the girl sharply and tightened his grip on her wrist, "ah."
He waved a hand in dismissal as if she was slow in the mind when she did not instantly give him more wine. Loki realized how quietly it had suddenly gotten in the dining hall, and glanced around at the gathered people. Most simply seemed entranced by her fair beauty, but the Silver Arrow Ljósálfr's jaw had dropped, and Arlen had a most curious and indescribable look. Odin looked like he was going to disown Thor then and there.
Loki still didn't understand what was going on, but suddenly the girl Thor had grabbed giggled at his foolishness. The sound made Loki sit up straight for he recognized it as the same laugh from the courtyard. Was this girl the mage hiding in the shadows who had gotten Volstagg chased from the kitchen?
He took a closer look at the girl, realizing that there was something familiar about her accent though he couldn't place it instantly. She was beautiful and her long golden hair that hung freely past her shoulders was even more alluring then Sif's had been before Loki had cut it off. Her skin was unblemished with just the right amount of blush and tan to be pleasant to the eye, and there was something feline about her facial features and the way she stood. Curiously, the irises of her eyes were fuchsia and gold glittered deep within her irises, proof that she had magic.
What Loki found even more startling then her eyes were her ears. Although her bangs framed her face and reached down to her shoulders, the rest of her hair was tucked behind her ears so they could be seen clearly. The tips of her ears were pointed just like an elf's.
With sudden clarity, Loki looked over her formal clothes she wore. It was no dress she wore for Ljósálfr had no concept of dresses, and her clothing was most certainly Ljósálfr in style. He half raised a hand in front of him as if to clap his hand over his mouth in horror. There were only five pure-blood Ljósálfr on Asgard, and since four of them were sitting at the table this girl could only be the fifth. Thor that oaf!
Thor seemed to realize that the girl he had ahold of was not a servant and so he asked in a voice with a slight slur to it, "who are you?"
"Who are you?" The Ljósálfr girl countered in her Ljósálfr accent.
"I am Prince Thor of Asgard!" Thor boasted and grabbed Loki shoulder, ignorant of how Loki was shaking his head for him to shut up. "And this is my brother Loki."
Loki seriously debated turning invisible, even if he got scolded for it later. This was something he wanted nothing to do with. He guessed what his mother had told him was true at that alcohol really did remove the fetters of rationality, for in Thor's case the word alcohol was truly an antonym for coolheadedness.
The elfin girl nodded calmly, and then replied in a calm yet biting tone. "I am Heiress Tilaria Halliendottir of Alfhiem."
You could have heard a feather drop in the silence that greeted the Princess's words. Thor's eyes got as wide as dinner plates as her name sunk past the wine-clouded senses. His jaw dropped slightly and he looked desperately to Loki as red dyed his cheeks. Loki only hung his head and let his hair hide his features while he covered his face with a hand.
Tilaria turned from Thor to Odin as the Allfather stared with an amused expression belayed by the fact that her eyes were as hard and cold as jewels. "Pardon me for my late arrival Allfather. I was feeling ill after my trip on Bifrost but as I recovered, I thought I should attend this meal with the ambassador. May I eat? Or are your servants truly so understaffed that they require my aid?"
"No," Odin assured her humbly. "They do not."
After Thor's words and actions, there was nothing the Allfather could do but humbly accept anything Tilaria had to say. He had no defense and could hardly offend her more as his son had foolishly done. For the Allfather to be in a position where he had to be so humble was an unusual one.
With a tilt of her head by way of acknowledgment, Tilaria walked over to Arlen and took her seat by his side. While Frigga glanced past her husband to Thor, wondering how much he had drank and how Thor had managed to come into possession of enough wine to be drunk Loki had noticed Arlen making another move. As Tilaria took her seat next to him Loki saw the ambassador sort of tssk, and deliver a venomous look to Tilaria as if her presence near him was insulting. She was his princess though, so Loki didn't understand why her presence would insult him.
It was hardly the most pressing thing on Loki's' mind though, so it slipped away from his thoughts.
"Nice first impression Thor," Loki muttered to his brother instead.
His ideas of magically starting a food fight were forgotten in light of Thor's idiocy. Thor ignored his brother and stared at his food as if trying to set it afire with his glare. The shock of insulting the beautiful princess of Alfheim had sobered him up quite nicely.
I just have two things to say. Thor is an idiot at times and it was a mistake to let him near alcohol. It was an accident since he was only supposed to be drinking apple cider, yet in the fluster of preparing for the ambassadors both princes ended up with wine.
Two: yes, Loki was going to start a food fight. He was bored and i shouldn't need to say to anyone who knows Loki that it is really dangerous to let him become bored.