Chapter 50
Loki wanted to rip the skin from his bones, but he knew that it would do no good. The dirty feeling would forever remain. It had been there for a long time, and he supposed that every now and a then it was bound to pop back up. Not that he had to like it, and in fact he found it quite unpleasant. Nobody knew about what had happened, well except Odin, and he was not exactly the prime person to have found out in the first place. Then again, it was Odin who ordered it in the first place. His plan would have been perfect, had he not gotten stuck in his stupid shifter form, he would have had no problems. Alas, he had, and alas it had not been the last time something like that had happened. Sure, what Boromir had said was true in the strictest of sense. Perhaps he was young in Mortal years, but the fact remained that he was old in mental years. He was an old hat, and had gone through many things those twice his age would never, and more besides.
People like Thor never had to worry about being stuck in a shifter form, because they abhorred magic in all shapes and facets. It was too girly for them. Perhaps if they knew the fear of being unable to switch your form back, they would understand a bit more Loki's immense motivations to ensure that he managed to master his own magic. They never would, though, and Loki had simply accepted this. There was nothing to be done about it. Thor had never found out about the horse incident, and if Loki had his way, he never would.
Though he had no choice as to what got uttered about now. he was not on Asgard, and honestly he had no desire to return. He thought that maybe he would want to eventually, it was all he really knew. He was raised a potential King, but it was only now that Loki realized that Odin had never truly meant to make him king, no matter how good he was, or how wonderful. Though that struck his soul, and made his body hurt and heart ache, it was nice to know the real reason that Thor was favored so highly. Beyond just being the brawn with no brains, though Asgard did seem to enjoy that sort of thing in excess.
Perhaps they would forget about him entirely, Loki could not s ay that would be a sad thing. Perhaps a part of him longed for the recognition, but he doubted that he would get it. If nothing more. This world was different, as magic was clearly revered here.
For instance, what caught him slightly offguard was the situation with Grima. The man was obviously creepy, slimy, and definitely had an agenda of whispering posion into the King's ear. Yet, the reason people were suspicious of him was not because of magic, nor because he used it but entirely because he seemed creepy. He supposed it made sense when one had wizards, dark magic users, and elvish magic all milling about on one piece of land. It was slightly disturbing to think about, but Loki felt that if, given enough time, he could come to terms with it.
What he could not come to terms with, was figuring out how the hell he was supposed to deal with Grima in the first place. It was obviously going to be him that had to do it. The stranger had taken an already disgusting interest in him. It was not the first time Loki has had to play a role like this in order to finish a job, to gather vital information, or something else, but he hated it every single time. It made him feel disgusting, and quite frankly he could do without it.
He would talk to Legolas about it, but the elf had other things that preoccupied his mind when he thought nobody was aware enough to be paying attention. Loki was just always aware of everything, and so he noticed. Not that it was difficult as it became quite obvious fairly quickly.
With the mortal socerer tracking him, Loki had to be careful. He had seen too many times when things could get out of control, and while Loki was excellent at keeping others out of control, himself was a different story entirely. He did not think that he was going to manage to handle this as well as he would hope, but he would try nonetheless.
Nails scratching his wrist, he quickly donned on an unimpressed expression as haldir and Legolas walked through the door, arms laced gently behind his back as he stared at the two.
"You look like you are exuhausted," Legolas whispered gently, moving fowards to reach behind his ear. Loki flinched slightly, but that was all he managed before Legolas was suddenly pulling away again. The Prince's manner would always surprise Loki, and he had a feeling that he was never going to get used to the od happenings of Legolas. Particularly not with Haldir watching as though he were the Prince's very own guard dog.
Loki wished he could have had a guard dog when Thor bolstered his way through the Ice Planet, because then maybe he would have never found out what he truly was. Maybe the family could have been saved, but Loki was honestly kidding himself if he thought that.
"We have some concerns," Loki rolled his eyes at Haldir's blunt way of speaking. It was strange, as Elves were supposed to speak in riddles, and be quite fond of them as well. He was not one to mock this, but he was going to judge them nonetheless.
"About?"
"Grima, the right hand of the King," Legolas continued, and Loki tilted his head questioningly.
"He is mortal,"
"Yes, but mortals are still dangerous. In some cases, they are the most dangerous because they have a limited time, and so they try to use it well."
"We saw how he stared at you, Loki," Haldir once more cut to the chance and Loki rolled his shoulders back, slightly uncomfortable with the sudden line of conversation.