Beauty in the Beast

Chapter 1

Thor entered the vast hall, full of admirers, with his head held high, a huge beaming smile on his face and his polished hammer close to his side; his younger brother, Loki, followed close behind. Knowing that all eyes would be on his brother who was soon to be king of Asgard, Loki did not draw attention to himself. No one noticed the bright green eyes that struggled to mask the jealousy or the reserved figure of his character as he put himself in the corner of hall. No one ever did. Thor continued into the centre of the hall so that he was sure all eyes would be on him, before projecting his voice amongst the crowd around him        

“I am here. Where’s the party?” He asked jokingly. The hall was filled with laughter, both real and forced; meanwhile, in his own little corner, Loki huffed in disbelief and rolled his eyes. He hated this side of Thor; so full of his own self importance. It made him want to vomit. The creaking of doors snapped Loki back to reality and out of his own thoughts. The chatter and laughter of the crowd died down as they looked upon who had entered. Loki was curious. Making the brave move of leaving his corner, he walked to join the crowd in front of him. That was when he noticed his father Odin coming through the other entrance and the end of the room followed by a younger woman and four guards who were carrying a stretcher with a body and a sheet draped over the top. He pushed himself to the front of the crowd so he was next to his brother and quickly glanced at his father who looked very sullen. He then took a closer look at the girl. She was quite tall and frail but she didn’t seem to be that old; maybe one or two years younger than himself. Her eyes were a shocking green and her black hair fell around her shoulders like a sheet of silk. She was beautiful. He eventually managed to tear his eyes away from the girl and returned his attention to his father. Odin reached the centre of the circle and stood before his two sons. He could see the concern spreading across their faces. He looked at Thor, his heir to the throne and saw himself in his younger days. Thor was full of energy and would be a great king but sometimes his energy could lead him to take actions before they were thought through. Odin concentrated his eyes on Loki. Loki was much quieter than Thor and lacked in confidence but his intelligence and compassion for people certainly made up for it. Odin was sure that Loki would do great things in the future.                                       

Eventually he snapped out of his thoughts and addressed his sons in front of him “Thor. Loki. I regret to say that there has been a war within Asgard.” Both sons frowned at each other in concern before returning their attention to their father. “The conflict was between the east quarter and the west quarter. We don’t know what the affair was about and probably never will but we do know that, unfortunately, there were fatalities.” Odin looked back at the body covered in the cloth before continuing “One of which was the ruler of the east, Camalus” Odin bowed his head for a second; Thor and Loki did the same before he continued “This is his daughter Laila. Unfortunately, due to the death of her father and the consequences of the war, Laila has no relatives and nowhere to go since her home was destroyed. As a result of this I have said that she can stay here for as long as she needs; until she finds her feet again but this means that she will need one of you to be her guardian and her friend to show her the castle and the running of things.” Thor immediately stepped forward

“Let me do it father. I’ll look after her. She can be under my protection. It would be my honour to protect such a beautiful lady.” Thor looked towards Laila and smiled one of his dashing smiles. Laila looked away and blushed. Odin’s expression remained serious; he was used to the continuous flirting that his older son always did. Odin shook his head and carried on

“Actually Thor I think that you have plenty to think about with your ceremony coming up. Loki can look after her.” He spoke sternly. Thor frowned at being dismissed so quickly. Meanwhile Loki stared at his father in confusion. He was not used to being selected for tasks. As much as he would like to please his Father, it always seemed to be Thor that was chosen. It was always Thor.

“Father…?” Loki began. Odin turned to Loki

“You’re wondering why I chose you to do this task? It’s simple. You’re too reclusive Loki. I’m hoping that by doing this, you will grow in confidence and character. You will take care of Laila here. I’m hoping you will come out your shell and become great friends with her Loki.” He brought Laila forward and made her stand next to Loki. Loki did not argue with his father

“I will try my best Father.” He bowed his head, secretly grinning to himself. It felt good to be chosen for something. Odin returned the action. Then Loki turned to Laila and bowed “This way my lady. I’ll show you to your quarters.” She blushed and began to follow when Loki tripped over his cape and lost his footing. Regaining his balance, Loki looked back to see if anybody had noticed. He caught glances with Laila, who tried to stifle a giggle, before blushing and striding out of the room. Laila followed close behind.

Okay so that was chapter 1! I'll warn you now that the chapter lengths are not roughly the same. They are all different but that's because I couldn't cut through a scene halfway through which is why some chapters may be incredibly long. So yeah, please stick with it. Means so much that you've read this.

Decided to only post 3 chapters for the moment and see if you guys want me to continue so let me know in the comments below! :D