Chapter 5
Thor couldn't help it. His head screamed mentally that he should finally bow, that anything else would be disrespectful or insulting. After all, he faced two members of the royal family. The family, he had sworn to protect, but his body simply didn't want to cooperate. Next to him, Fandral coughed slightly, who still kept his head lowered.
"If you don't want to be executed in the next few minutes, or if you want to get the prince's wrath on you, you should bow down."
His best friend just whispered, but it sounded to Thor, as if he had shouted at him. The hall was now completely silent and the noble men, as well as Queen Frigga seemed to be annoyed about this atypical bahavior. Just as their commanding officer wanted to straighten up and probably apologize for his disobedient soldier, Thor finally responded. Almost anxiously, he tilted his head, raised his closed fist over his heart and knelt down.
"I beg your pardon, my prince, I do not know what came over me."
He didn't dare to look up. Respectfully, he remained in his position but the astonished gasps of Fandral suggested that something had happened and he didn't have to wait too long for an answer, because he could hear soft footsteps. Shortly thereafter, black boots, adorned with golden ornaments, appeared in his field of vision. The prince stood right in front of him.
"Your Highness, I would like to apologize for my soldier. Usually, he is one of my best men. I can't explain why he's acting like that, but of course, your are free to punish him."
He closed his eyes in resignation. Hopefully, his punishment wouldn't be too serve and, more importantly, no one would know that he was the son of Lady Eir. Even if his career was over, his mother shouldn't have to pay for his mistakes.
Prince Loki approached him a little closer, all others were still quiet and waited for an announcement. Thor knew he was either being executed or being thrown out of the Royal Army. Of course without compensation. For an Asgardian soldier or warrior, there was nothing worse than being dishonourably dismissed from his services. He could literally see the disappointed looks of his mother and hear her say that she didn't raise her son that way. After all, Lady Eir had aldready worked half her life in the palace, side by side with the queen.
"We don't want to exaggerate this incident. Why should he be punished? Just because he did not bow? I think that there are more important things to deal with or am I wrong?"
He could hear excited murmurs. Probably, everyone was amazed at the young man's decision. If the king had stood before him, he would never have seen the sunlight again.
"Stand up, soldier!"
Hesitantly, Thor got up. But he didn't dare to look straight into Loki's eyes, he still expected a punishment. So far, no one had ever shown such behavior and got away with it, especially not if you were a member of the army.
"I assume that this is your first visit to the palace?"
He nodded.
"And I suppose, it's also the first time that you're facing someone of my family personally?"
Thor hesitated. He wanted to say no. That it wasn't the first time that he faced a member of the royal family, that he had kissed none other than the mysterious Prince Loptr himself and that it was the best thing he had ever experienced in his life. He would do everything he could to look once more into his eyes, to look at these fascinating emeralds and get lost in them but that was pure wishful thinking.
"Yes, my prince."
He lowered his head a little more. The lie that had just come over his lips hurt too much and he didn't even know why. Should he not be happy that they hadn't announced any punishment for him, that the prince had acted calmly on what was admittedly disrespectful and was considered a betrayal of the royal house. Instead, the only thing he thought about was how much he would like to repeat the evening. What was wrong with him?
"Well then, all further discussion are unnecessary. He was probably just a bit overwhelmed and was startled at first. Do you agree with me, soldier?"
The tone of the young man didn't allow any objections. Even if he would like to say some out loud. It wasn't the right time. But he simply didn't want to give up. So finally, he took a deep breath, slowly raised his head and looked directly at Loki for the first time since that fateful evening and for a moment he forgot where he was. The prince had turned slightly away from him and looked at his commanding officier. But all Thor could see, was the beautiful strange man from the forest. His pale skin shone even more intensely in the sunlight, which contrasted sharply with his black hair. On his red lips, he could see a gentle smile and his green eyes radiated calm and at the same time authority.
"Of course, you are right. I wasn't prepared to meet you here."
That made Loki turn his face in his direction. For a moment Thor could see that the self-confident mask was disappearing from the prince's face. His eyebrows frowned, he could clearly observe uncertainty and surprise. It was still quiet around them, and he was afraid he might have said something wrong. Were his words too harsh, too direct? But as fast as these emotions had appeared, just as fast, the young man had rebuilt his walls around him and instead of turning away from Thor and going back to the queen, Loki slowly raised his hand to touch the small, stony figure around his neck, whose eyes began to glow green. It was exactly the same colour as the emeralds of the young man in front of him. The prince closed his eyes in resignation and sighed. He suddenly took his hand away, causing the snake's glimmer to die out. One last warning look into his blue eyes and he turned around. From now on, everyone had a clear view of the two, so Thor had to recover quickly, nothing was allowed to suggest that they knew each other.
"So my decision is firm. It can happen that new experiences like these take your breath away. The soldier is to forgiven, as he had no insulting intentions. And if the noble men would follow me, I'd like to continue discussing the plans for the upcoming coronation."
After his announcement, Loki carelessly turned his back on the group of soldiers and returned to the side of his mother, who smiled warmly at him.
Thus, the case was closed and despite the excitement, he was lucky that he had got off without serious consequences. Unfortunately, it didn't feel like a victory for him, but a loss. The loss of the man who had shown him with only one kiss that the world is not just war and fighting, no, that the gentle gestures and touches could make the word look more colourful and make your heart beat faster. But sadly, this one man was unreachable for Thor.