Salome

Chapter One: The Dance

The Grand Dining Hall vibrated with cheers and merriment. Tankards clinked, obscene amounts of food, mead and ale were consumed and at the head of the massive dining table sat the person of honor: Thor Odinson. Tonight's feast was held in celebration of the day of his birth. A few hours earlier Thor's parents, Odin All-Father and Frigga All-Mother, had retired to their bed chambers leaving only Thor, Lady Sif and the Warriors Three (Fandral, Volstagg and Hogun), and numerous other noble revelers. There were repeated cheers of Thor's name, toasts made in honor of his triumphs thus far and in hopes for his years to be many. He was given countless gifts from the Nine Realms, for which he was grateful, but Thor had no idea that the gift he'd most adore was yet to come.

Throughout the evening the court's most skillful musicians had provided the perfect soundtrack for the night's festivities and various singers had sung ballads that told of Thor's greatest victories and accomplishments, ballads of the might he would wield once he ascended the throne as king. Then, all at once the music had died down and the musicians traded their Asgardian instruments for ones that were wholly unfamiliar, strange stringed instruments obviously from some other realm, flutes unlike those of Asgard and odd percussion instruments. Thor believed these to possibly be of Midgardian origin, but he wasn't for certain. One of the previous singers took the stage that had been set up where court magicians had done astonishing feats of mysticism, acrobats had molded and contorted their bodies as if their flesh contained no bones and jugglers had tossed up spheres and clubs with speed and remarkable skill. The singer addressed the crowd of revelers to announce the next performance.

"From the realm of mortals far, far away comes Thor's final gift of the evening...the ancient music and dance of a region of Midgard known as 'Turkey'. The dance will be performed by Thor's own brother, Loki..."

The singer was interrupted by the murmuring of guests, most of which dealt with the fact that Loki was in no way Thor's brother, and the rest mostly cruel taunts about the "Jotun foundling". Thor grew irate at their blatant disrespect and raised a hand to silence them before he threw them all out of the palace himself, if need be. The murmurs ceased immediately.

"...And the music will be played by our own court musicians, who learned it from Loki himself. Without further ado, I present to you Loki and his Oryantal Tansi!"

The musicians began to play a lively, jangly tune and off stage the music was punctuated by the tinkling of what sounded like bells, but were in actuality zils, or finger cymbals. Loki spun onto the stage and the moment Thor set eyes on him, his mouth ran dry and his heart raced.

Around Loki's wrists were the cuffs Thor had had made for him. Part of the conditions for Loki's release from the palace dungeon was that he was to be made unable to use his magic. Asgard's greatest magisters worked together to make a set of cuffs, one for each of Loki's wrists, that were enchanted to make him unable to access his Seiðr. Thor demanded that if Loki was to be forced to wear these for quite possibly the rest of his life, they should at the very least be beautiful. Both cuffs now surrounded each of Loki's delicate wrists, both in the matching form of a golden serpent with glowing, red gemstone eyes, each with its tail in its mouth completing the circle. Around each of Loki's biceps were wide cuffs of the same tone of golden metal. Attached to each was a length of semi-transparent, silken fabric in a rich shade of green that hung loosely, fluttering with Loki's movements and attached by a loop to each of Loki's middle fingers. He was bare torsoed, and was only dressed in a pair of trousers in a style no one present had ever seen before. At the waist was a wide band of green fabric embroidered with golden thread in an intricate, foreign design. Attached to the band were the legs of the trousers. They were made of the same fabric as the fabric attached to his armbands. He wore underpants that afforded him some measure of modesty, but the legs of the trousers were mostly see-thru, each in a teardrop shape slit up the outside of each leg and ending in a fabric cuff at each ankle that matched the band at his waist, tiny, tinkling bells sewn around each one. Tied at his right hip and draping across to his left was a sash made of the same material as his trouser legs, but instead of being green, this fabric was gold, with the same kind of bells sewn along the sash's hem as the ones at his ankles. His feet were bare. He wore his hair far unlike his normal straight, slicked down style, but instead it flowed softly in silken, ebony waves falling just above his shoulderblades. Around his navel he'd adhered tiny, glittering clear crystals.

Loki's movements were as serpentine as the cuffs at his wrists. On the floor at his feet were two scimitars, one crossed over the other like an "X". Loki bowed and picked them up, his body spinning and undulating as he swung the swords, flung them skyward and caught them, balanced them atop his head as only the muscles of his torso moved. The bells on his sash and at his ankles tinkled softly as he moved, and the zils at his fingertips kept time with the music even as he performed his tricks. Thor was lost in the flawless elegance of Loki's movements. The waist of his trousers rested low on his hips offering a perfect view of the way he swung them back and forth like a pendulum. Finally, Loki took one of the scimitars in hand, swishing it back and forth as if taunting some unseen attacker. Then, with a spin he hurled it into the crowd of revelers, sending it plunging into a wooden wall column behind where Thor sat, just above his head, mere inches from splitting his skull. The crowd collectively gasped in terror, but Thor merely smiled. He knew if Loki meant him harm, the scimitar would have gone through his heart. Loki was merely showing off. Loki clenched the second scimitar in his teeth, leaping onto the long dining table and spun down the length of it until he was stood right before Thor. He kicked Thor's plate of food away and dropped to his knees, sitting back on his heels, looking down at Thor with a steely gaze, which Thor matched with a steely gaze of his own. Loki took the scimitar from his teeth as the music began to die down. He leaned down and held the blade to Thor's throat which made two guards reach for their swords. Thor held up both of his hands to call them off, his chest heaving, awaiting Loki's next move. Loki grinned quite warmly, pulled the blade away and held it out handle-first to Thor in offering, head bowed reverently. Thor laughed deeply, taking it from him.

"Happy day of your birth, my brother." Loki said with a coy grin.

"My thanks to you for my gift, brother." Thor replied, giving Loki a playful slap against his bicep with the flat of the scimitar blade.

The crowd erupted in applause as Loki climbed down from the table. Loki took his bows and left the dining hall, everyone suspecting he was headed for his bed chamber.

After another few minutes, Thor excused himself for the night, inviting the guests to continue in their feasting and celebration as late as they desired to. However, with the guest of honor no longer in attendance, everyone decided to make their way home for the night.

Thor had no intention of laying in his bed this night. He decided he was going to show Loki just how much he appreciated his thoughtful gift and let him feel the effect it had on him, the ache in his loins spurring him on.