Fear

Just like the prince

Notes:

In the next chapter a huge thing will happen and I swear to god if I get one comment saying "this is out of character" I will cut someone

This is AU, it's my story and I do whatever the fuck I want with it XDDD

Okay? It's AU, it's not meant to be in character XD

If you dislike the change you're welcome to stop reading but I promise it's not worth it stopping now XD

Loki groaned and opened his eyes when the wagon jolted. The erratic movement of the cart made it nigh impossible to sleep, but he still tried. He'd had little—if any—sleep and no food or water in two days but he knew they should be in the harbour any time now, and that was good, because he had barely moved in two days.

He swallowed and tried to stretch his long legs, but failed. Wrinkling his nose at the stench of the dead body next to him, he closed his eyes and a long straw of hay poked his eyelid.

There was one thing that was rather peculiar about Jele's corpse: there was barely any blood. Sure, he'd bled a little while alive, but he'd covered the wound with his shirt and the shirt had actually absorbed almost all the blood. Not a drop had escaped the hay stack. Loki held back a cough and froze as he heard the driver loudly wonder if someone was there.

Now, he didn't travel without stop; he stopped every night for food and rest, but Loki hadn't dared sneak out to steal some food and risk being caught. He deeply regretted not taking the chance last night, as it was now midday and his stomach was twisting. He remembered a book he'd read which described how a prisoner had fed off his dead friend to survive, but he couldn't do that, especially not to Jele. Human flesh wasn't a favourite of his.

After a while, Loki became aware of the salty smell of the sea. Almost an hour later he heard seagulls and a while after that the clattering of the horse's hooves indicated the state of the road had changed from dirt to cobblestone. A stench of fish reached him through the hay and the wagon came to a halt. Guards were spoken to and Loki started smiling, soon he would be free...

The creaking of the great wooden doors that separated the harbour from the rest of the land reached his ears and the wagon rolled in, the loud din from the city suddenly rising in volume.

The voices of the salesmen and women broke through the talking and creaking of wagons, some were advertising fish or dairy products, others dry goods. His stomach churned as he heard them call out the freshness and taste of their products...

The wagon came to a halt and voices were heard. Loki realised he never considered how to get out. He'd only focused on getting here, and in his weak shape he wasn't in the condition to run. He frowned and tried to think of a plan; a piece of hay poked him in the eye again. He groaned lowly and shifted his head, and then he heard a voice cut through the fresh sea air:

"Fresh ale of Asgard, royal ale, fresh from the north!"

Somebody sold ale from Asgard, and it definitely was an Asgardian salesman because there was no hint of the traditional lilting accent of Heidmar. He smiled and tried to part the hay to see out.

He was in the corner of one of the smaller marketplaces of the harbour, the one for beverages. Right next to him was the salesman from Asgard. He was rather tall but chubby, wearing simple dark green clothes and a bag over his shoulder. If he could gain his attention... But just as he was about to whisper something the salesman turned away to speak to a customer and Loki cursed before crawling out of the haystack, brushing some hay off his shoulders and looking around to see if someone noticed him, but thankfully it was a rather busy day. He scratched his shoulder and drew his fingers through his uncombed hair. To the left was the quay and to the right the rest of the market.