The fall
Chapter 28: The fall
Once again you were locked up inside a steaming hot vessel with the queen and the lady Fulla. And once again you were bored to pieces. There was only so much you could talk about and so you quickly found yourself gazing out of the window while beads of sweat formed onto your skin. You wished you were out there on Léttfeti’s back. You didn’t even mind the saddle pain that would surely follow, you preferred it anytime over this constricting space.
“You’re awfully quiet, my dear.” The queen suddenly said which immediately got your attention.
“She wants to be out there riding rather than to be stuck in here.” Fulla provided and your cheeks reddened. The queen however did not seem to be offended as she chuckled.
“You remind me of myself when I was your age, my dear. Even though my betrothal to Odin had already been arranged, my head was still filled with many adventures. By the Norns did my parents fear I would be considered ‘too wild’ for the prince and that king Borr would annul the wedding!” She chuckled to herself again and you couldn’t quite help yourself from smiling too. “Of course that was a long time ago and I’m afraid that the years have tamed me somehow. Not to worry, dear, you will be able to ride again soon.” You nodded your head while trying hard not to grimace. It didn’t really matter whether you could ride again in a few days or not, Forni the former squire, had sold his horse and needed yours to get home and so you were stuck to ride this carriage all the way back to the palace and your beloved books.
You sighed and grabbed for your travel bag to read the book you had stolen, or rather unknowingly borrowed for an unlimited time as you liked to call it, and began to read. You knew the history of Vanaheim was a complicated one, but you hadn’t expected it to be this complicated. The rulers were chosen by a council after various noble houses had worked together to depose of the latest king who had apparently smothered Vanaheim in a mountain of debt to the other realms and many intergalactic investors. The whole realm had turned its back on its monarch and to avoid further bloodshed or chaos, all the noble families of Vanaheim had send their most favourable family member to the capital to form a new council in which every decision that needed to be made was discussed and voted upon. And so the motion for a new ruler was talked about rather than fought about and to this day the king of Vanaheim was only king for as long as the council wished it. As you read on, you quickly came to realise that the council and it workings sounded great on paper, but in reality it was dripping with corruption. It was all a game of knowing who to bribe and who to threaten.
It was already dark outside for a few hours when the carriage came to a halt at Andlang. This time the welcoming committee was sparse given that most people where still at prince Frey’s estate celebrating Ostara together for another week or so. You were actually glad to be relatively alone here even though it had been here at Andlang that you had gotten lost before lord Hogun had taken it upon himself to escort you all the way to the archives. This time however there simply was no lord Hogun nor prince Thor and certainly no prince Frey.
“Come along, girl.” Prince Loki’s voice suddenly woke you up from your thoughts as he held out his hand for you to take so he could help you out of the carriage. You took it gladly and once you were outside and felt the cool air caress your skin, he gave you a slight push to start walking.
“My things-“
“I have already taken care of them.” He interrupted you. You sighed, but remained silent otherwise. There was no point arguing nor questioning him about it. He walked you inside of the giant, yet slightly decaying hall, all the way to his chambers. “I ordered for a bigger room with two beds.” He said as he sat himself down on the couch by the fireplace which lit up with a flick of his hand.
“Thank you.” You said before you sat yourself down next to him.
“How’s your foot?” You groaned as you gazed down at the still reddened monstrosity. Prince Loki chuckled as he flicked his hand again and pretty much threw the jar, with the salve that had been prepared for you, into your lap.
“Rub the salve on it, then we’ll have something to eat before you’ll take a bath. Afterwards I suggest you rub it in once more before getting to bed.”
“Now that Thor is not here to lead this party, you sure have become bossy.” You muttered more to yourself than anyone else, but when you looked up to gaze at Loki, you could see he had heard you loud and clearly as a mischievous smirk formed on his face.
“And you, my little spitfire, have become mouthy.” His smirk then grew even larger. “What am I to do with you this time?” You gaped at him like a goldfish and when he saw your comical expression, he chuckled as he began to count on his fingers. “You forgot your place and called your future king by his name alone. You insulted your prince, to his face, mind you. And you have still not done what I ordered you to do five minutes ago. For a servant you’re not very good at serving now are you?”
“For a prince you’re not very good at being charming.” You said back before you could have stopped yourself. Prince Loki didn’t seem to be angry, far from it actually as he began to laugh.
“Whatever gave you the idea that a prince needs to be charming?”
“Every story or book I have ever read.”
“Like the one you so graciously stole?” Your eyes widened. How did he even find out about that? Better yet, why had he let you do it?
“Why haven’t you stopped me or told anyone about it?”
“Because it’s nice to see someone else fall to mischief for a change. Besides, I figured you would have wanted me to let you have your revenge.”
“Oh, Norns.” You said as you buried your head in your hands with a sudden realisation. “I am a thief.”
“If it’s any consolation, I have done worse.” You lifted your head to glare at Loki angrily.
“It is not.”
“That’s alright, I have been told before that I am terrible at consoling. The way I see it you can either deny you’re a thief and be miserable or simply accept it and move on.”
“I stole from a prince. The possible future king of Vanaheim!”
“Yes and you liked it.” You gaped at Loki. You couldn’t deny nor confirm that. You had to admit however that it had felt good at that moment to for once not having to hold yourself to protocol. You just took instead of asked and Frey had angered and hurt you to a point that you had hunkered for revenge, but it was still wrong of you to do so or even think in such a way. There was no excuse for your thievery and you felt disgusted by yourself for acting so low.
“Can you return the book to its original place at Vídbláin?” You asked Loki timidly as if returning the book now would change the fact that you had stolen it in the first place.
“Whatever for? You wanted to read the book and now that you have it, you want to return it?”
“It wasn’t mine to take.”
“Oh, please. I doubt Frey will miss it or even figure it is gone from the shelves of one of his guestrooms. Besides he was anything but charming to you, even if he is a prince.”
“Is that why you made him look like a pig?”
“As I said before, it isn’t my fault if someone shows their true nature.”
“But what if someone finds out, Loki?”
“That is very unlikely, but if it would ease your mind, then I vow to defend you at the trial.” You sighed heavily before you nestled further into the cough.
“I’m already an illegal seidr-wielder so I can afford myself a stolen book, I suppose.”
“That’s the spirit, darling. Now about that order of mine that you still haven’t executed, I wasn’t just saying so for sport. You need to take care of that foot of yours in order to let it heal.” You snorted, but eventually did what he asked of you. Once you were done applying the salve and Loki had been satisfied enough with the result, you were allowed to have dinner with him. You had expected that you needed to join the others at the dining hall as you had done so before, but Loki wanted a private dinner and so the food was shared just between the two of you. You didn’t mind the lack of loud noises or the various different faces around you. In fact this dinner almost felt homely.
“Are you looking forward to going back to Asgard?” Loki asked while you took another spoonful of a creamy mushroom soup.
“I am. However strange it may sound, I actually miss the archives and lord Blekk.”
“I’m afraid you will have to miss them even longer.” You looked up from your bowl of soup to give prince Loki a confused look. He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Have you already forgotten that you are my squire?” You gasped. You thought this was only temporary! Surely he wouldn’t steal you away from lord Blekk simply because you refused to soil yourself in the middle of the Silverwood?
“Please, Loki. I love the archives and Lord Blekk treats me well. Please, let me remain his help.” To the untrained eye or for someone who hadn’t spent so much time with the prince, nothing about his posture or expression had changed, but you could see the slight twitch of his left eye, the crease in his brow, the tense way his jaw was set. While others might not notice a thing about the prince, you pretty much prepared yourself for the storm that was about to come.
“You are in no position to negotiate, besides, I thought you said you weren’t opposed to spending time with me.”
“I am not, I assure you, but I am not cut out to be anyone’s squire, let alone a prince’s.” Loki’s eyes were flashing dangerously as he leaned over the table to lock his eyes with yours.
“What is the real reason you want to go back there?” You were a little confused by his question.
“As I said, I love the archives and lord Blekk has treated me well. I think my talents are best suited there.” His nostrils flared.
“Oh? And what about your other talents? Are they also best suited for the archives with good old Blekk?” Now your anger was flaring as well.
“What is the problem, Loki? You’re acting as if I choose to be your squire, but don’t forget that you punished me with it!”
“YOU BLIND FOOL!” He suddenly roared as he shot out of his seat. “I thought you to be smarter than this! I thought you would understand that being close to me would allow you to exercise your seidr better! And yet here you are, believing like the rest of them how I tricked you for my own selfish needs! Is it so hard for you to believe that I wish to help you?!” He was breathing heavily and to your surprise, so were you. You didn’t know what to feel of this revelation. Happy that prince Loki truly wished to help you or angry because he could just have told you so without making you accept the fact that you were now his squire without being able to do anything about it?
“I don’t want to fight.” You finally said after a long moment of silence where you both caught your breath. “But don’t you see that this would raise questions? I have already been attacked because they believed me to have done something I hadn’t and that was even without me being remotely close to lord Fandral. If I were to turn up by your side on Asgard, people will make their own stories on how I got such a position. It’s not only dangerous for me, but for you as well. Do you really think people will not see you differently with me as your squire? I’m not squire material and anyone can see that. If we walk through the gates of Asgard as prince Loki and his new female squire then we will soon be regarded as the most scandalous thing in all of the realm. Everything will change then and I don’t think for the better.” Prince Loki reluctantly sat down again while he racked his fingers through his hair.
“You’re right.” He finally muttered, defeated. “But then how are we going to continue your lessons without raising too many questions?”
“Well, you could tell lord Blekk that I have disobeyed the crown prince and because of that you saw fit by punishing me with having me work for you on something once a week.” Prince Loki mulled it over in his head before he shook it.
“No, that wouldn’t be sufficient time for you to practice. How about thrice a week or seven days every other week?”
“Lord Blekk won’t be too happy about that.” You muttered, but eventually nodded your head in agreement. “What will you say you need my help on?” His trademark smirk came back to his face as he gazed into your eyes.
“Potions, given that you seemed to like them so much.” You pulled up your nose and heard Loki laugh.
You were up early the next morning, given that prince Thor had the tendency to leave at first light, but prince Loki, you soon found out, was not as much a morning person as his brother. So while he was busy getting back to sleep, you had snuck out to go outside. Andlang was still an impossible dark maze to you, but after a few turns and having to retrace your steps, you had managed to get outside to the green forest. It was an incredible contrast to the Dökkar Varnir you would soon be travelling through, so you enjoyed every second you had with the fresh air, the chirping of the birds and the sweet smell any forest always had. You weren’t alone with that kind of idea as you watched Forni trotting with Léttfeti through a clearing of the forest. A smile came to your face as you saw him patting Léttfeti on the side of his neck to reward him for being the good boy that he was. It wasn’t long before another joined in Forni’s play as he too ran his horse around. And before they both very well knew it, they began a race through the forest and left you behind on the tree trunk you were using as a seat to read your book.
You heard the soft sounds of hooves hitting the forest ground fading away before they came back to end where they had started. It was only when you saw Forni and the elf you didn’t know reappear that a noise reached your ears long before you saw Forni fall of Léttfeti’s back. The stallion neighed and ran on, clearly spooked about what had just happened. The elf who had gone for second place in the race couldn’t stop his horse either as he ran over the boy who had fallen down. A sickening sound was heard and you clenched your eyes shut, not wanting to see what surely must have happened. You heard the horses neighing nervously and the elf jumping out of the saddle and hitting the ground on his feet.
“HELP!” He shouted next and even though your eyesight was blurred by tears, you forced yourself to come closer to the body that lay lifeless on the forest ground. You knelt down and tried to find a pulse while you desperately tried to ignore the blood soaking through your trousers. The left side of Forni’s head looked gruesome and you were sure that the skull had been broken in. A pulse you never found and soon you were overwhelmed with tears at the thought that Forni would never become the healer he always wished to be.