Chapter 6
Thor still couldn't believe he had actually kissed the crown prince. He had already been aware of, at said evening, that this man had something to hide, but he had expected everything, just not that he would come close to the mysterious Loptr.
How should that end? Thor was in his final year of training and had officially applied for the royal bodyguard. If he would be accepted, what he hoped for, after all this job was all he had been working for for the last few years, it would mean that he would be in the palace. Every single day. So, he would see the young man more often. He simply couldn't afford to be distracted in his future tasks. In the worst case, the life of the king of Asgard was at stake and even as a small child, he had sworn that he would do everything in his power to protect the golden realm. Which also meant that the government had to be upheld. Asgard couldn't show any weakness. There were still too many disturbances between the nine worlds. The only anchor was the strict leadership of Odin, to whom they had to owe the union of the realms in the first place.
The best thing would be that he just forgot the young prince. It was just a kiss, which was probably the most wonderful and tenderst touch Thor had ever experienced. Also, the serpentine talisman wasn't much help either, but he couldn't bring himself to take it off. Not after he had seen what this little thing was capable of. He would never have thought, that in the presence of Loki, the stony figure would light up. He had probably cast a spell on it then. The blond man knew that it was risky to carry it around his neck, especially if he would be allowed into the palace, but he was impressed and felt special because of it. The young man could have just left him after the kiss, could have escaped into the dark and could have erased the encounter from his memories, but he had made the snake for him. Just for him. But what that meant, however, Thor didn't know. He had often hoped it would light up once again, that Loki was hiding somewhere in an deserted alley and would explain everything to him. Sadly, it didn't happen.
Thor just didn't know what to do, he was in a desperate state, what had been the reason why he was standing in front of his mother's door tonight. Since his training, he had lived in a small house near the palace. It was nothing special, but it gave him some freedom because it was his own. The blond man could still remember how he discovered the cottage. It had been secluded from the main roads, hidden behind trees and wild shrubs and had a broken roof. When he had inquired whether it was for sale, Thor could hardly believe in his luck when he had learned that it belonged to no one and was just a shabby smudge in the otherwise noble district of the city. So, he had put all his strength and savings into the small house to renew it from scratch. His friends had of course helped, but his mother had made it a cozy place. She had bought comfortably furniture, brought him medical plants for his garden and provided him with beautiful oil paintings of a friend who was an talented artist. He had been grateful and still was. Nobobdy knew him better than his mother. She has always been his closet confidant and until today she had known his darkest secrets.
So that's why he took a deep breath and knocked on her door. When it opened, he could see his beloved mother after a long time, she was beautiful as always.
"Thor, my boy, I didn't expect you. Oh, did i forget one of our dinners? If so, then I'm so sorry, there is so much chaos in the palace because of the upcoming coronation. Come in."
He chuckled as his mother went into her house. Thor didn't even have the chance to say hello to her. She was always like this, always in motion. He was aware that as a healer she couldn't work slowly, because in the worst case, for injured people counted every single second. But she rarely relaxed at home. So, he quickly followed her when he saw that she disappeared into the kitchen. It may be late, but that wouldn't stop his mother from cooking him a delicious meal.
"Please, mother, it's alright. You haven't forgotten anything. I wanted to surprise you and stop by. It's been a long time since I visited you."
She paused and slowly turned to face him. Suddenly, Thor no longer felt like a future soldier, but again like a little boy who had been eating sweets before dinner.
"What happened?"
Again, he realized that he could not fool his mother. Of course, she had suspected that something must have happend the moment when he had stood outside her door unannounced. Such a thing rarely happened otherwise.
"Nothing bad, I think. But could we please go to the living room? I wouldn't like to discuss it in the kitchen."
It didn't matter where he would have that talk, it wouldn't change the situation anyway. When he left the kitchen, he grabbed two glasses and a bottle of mead. For this conversation, he would definitely need alcohol. Although he entrusted everything to his mother, it affected her personally. After all, she was the leading healer in the palace, there was no one better than her. If he told her now that he hadn't only kissed the crown prince, but had also behaved disrespectfully to the queen and thus had exposed his commanding officer, she was going to kill him.
"Shall I worry, Thor? You visit me in the late evening without having made an announcement and you're drinking alcohol right now, although you have to work tomorrow. So I get a bad feeling. Please, I ask you, my boy. Tell me what happened."
Slowly, he led his mother to the sofa and made sure she got a glass of mead before he started talking.
"You're right as always. I didn't come to visit you, no, I want to tell you something before you probably find it out from someone else. It's oly fair that your son explain it to you. After all, it was me who was responsible for the situation."
Thor took a long sip from his own mug to calm his nerves, but he could clearly see his hands trembling and feel an unpleasant lump forming in his throat.
"We visited the palace for the first time yesterday, as a reward for our outstanding training results and there, we met Queen Frigga and ..."
He didn't get any further when his mother gasped in surprise and pointed to his chest. As he followed her gaze, he could see that his little snake's eyes were shining green and at the same moment, there was a gentle knock on the door.
His mother got up, walked purposefully into the entrance area, while Thor just stood frozen in the living room. His heart pounded wildly and his mind yelled at him that he should do something, no matter what, the main thing was that he had to act fast. He couldn't allow the prince, who was undoubtedly their unexpected visitor, to find out that Lady Eir was his mother and thus endanger her career. Besides, she didn't know yet that he and Loki knew each other and that's not how she should find it out.
So Thor ran after her, almost knocking her out of the way and opening the door himself. His head had formed many ideas what he wanted to say to Loki but when he actually saw him standing in front of him, all the words were stuck in his throat. Here he was again, the crown prince of Asgard, veiled in a thight robe and a black-golden hood pulled deep into his face. The weak summer breeze, whirled the unique scent of honey and herbs through the air, forcing Thor to close his eyes and breathe in deeply. In his mind, he was back on the small clearing in the forest, could feel the butterflies in his stomach as he did when Loki had kissed him for the first time, but he had to pull himself together.
Annoyed at his own failure to keep a clear head near this man, he stepped closer to the door, which made the view of the prince completely impossible.
"Good evening, stranger. How can I help you so late at night?"