Maid or Princess [English]

Chapter 4

Leila returned to the palace and thought about Loki and the kiss. She touched her lips, it had not been an affectionate kiss like lovers, it was urgent and demanding. She didn't know how to feel or what to think. Suddenly she collided with a firm breast and almost stumbled when two strong hands held her. "Careful, we don't want you to hurt yourself," a man said. She looked up and realized it had been Thor, Loki's brother. He let her go and smiled at her. "Wasn't Loki going to take you for a walk?"

"We went for a walk, but we had a disagreement," she explained to him, looking down at the ground as she played with her hands.

"I'm sorry about that, but as quickly as Loki got upset, he forgets his upset." She looked up at him and smiled.

"You're probably right," she replied, but believed that wasn't the case, at least from what she already knew of him.

"Me and my friends were going to train, you're welcome to join me if you like, my lady." He offered her his arm and Leila nodded; she couldn't lock herself in her chambers all day, after all, and if Loki decided to be angry with her for whatever reason, she could spend her day with Thor as well. He led her to a large training ground where Sif was already training with Fandral. Sif smiled at her and knocked Fandral to the ground.

"Lady Faye, I'm glad to see you're joining us," she greeted her, helping Fandral up from the ground.

"Thank you. Prince Thor offered." Leila disengaged from his arm as Sif stepped closer.

"I thought that Silver Tongue was on a walk with you," Fandral said in wonder.

"We were, but he didn't seem to want my company," she replied.

"He likes to be alone, the dark prince," Fandral explained, puzzling her as she thought about what he said. "But it is his loss, can you fight, Princess?"

Leila nodded in response, her father was a guard of the palace and he taught her to fight from a young age. "Of course I can. However, I have to change my clothes; I can't fight in a dress."

"You can have clothes from me," Sif offered. Leila nodded and quickly changed before rejoining them. She spent the rest of the noon fighting with the warriors, and even Fandral had to admit that she was excellent at fighting; she actually enjoyed it a lot. In the evening she went to the dining hall together with them; she hadn't seen anything of him all day after Loki's kiss. He was sitting in the same chair as yesterday; Leila straightened her shoulders as she walked to her seat next to Loki and wordlessly sat down next to him.

"Faye, how was your and Loki's walk in the gardens?" asked Frigga of her, and she noticed Loki staring at her. Leila could either tell the queen the truth or lie about the walk. Although she had no obligation to him, let alone marry him, she didn't want him to hate her any more, in conclusion she had to be here for another twenty-nine days, unless Faye had already found a solution by then. Anyway, that was what Leila wanted to believe.

"The walk was wonderful, Your Majesty; many of the plants and flowers I didn't know before, and Prince Loki was kind enough to tell me about them," she told her with a smile. She turned away from her and looked at Loki; there were different emotions in his gaze, surprise, respect, and she even thought she could see gratitude. Loki averted his gaze from her again and continued to eat and after a moment Leila did the same. After the queen and the king finally took their leave, as well as Thor and his friends, only Loki and she remained. She muttered something in farewell and got up from the chair, but she didn't get far when Loki caught her wrist. Leila turned to him and looked at him in surprise as he stood up and faced her.

"You're right," he said simply, and she raised her eyebrow questioningly. "We should make the best of our engagement, since staying aloof won't help our situation, and marriage means trust." He looked down at her hands and gently stroked the back of her hand with his thumbs. She hadn't expected his explanation, his sudden openness.

"What does that mean now?" asked Leila.

"I can't promise you anything, but I will make an effort to be more open with you," he promised her. She nodded and stepped closer to him as she pressed her hand against his chest before standing on her tiptoes and kissing him gently; Loki leaned in a little more before breaking the kiss.

"All right," she agreed. The kiss was the sealing of her words. Silently, he led her to her chambers; she leaned against the closed door before reaching back to remove her necklace and head to her meeting with Njal. Leila knew it probably hadn't been a good idea to do this, but the selfish part of her wanted Loki to know her true self.