The Beginning

Chapter 6: Missing Lunch

"Loki could you take Mahogany out for a walk please." Mrs.Romulie asked, giving me a look of disappointment.

"For sure." Loki replied and grabbed my arm before pulling me behind him as we left. Loki directed me towards the hedge maze that was in the far back of the garden. When we arrived at the entrance to the maze he whirled me around to face him.

"What the hell Loki! Calm down!" I said, wrenching my arm from his grip.

"What do you think you're doing?! You have to stop embarrassing the queen. You don't understand what you're doing to her reputation." Loki asked, almost on the verge of yelling.

"Can you tell how much I don't care?! I didn't want this, she forced me to leave the only family I have left!" I yelled.

"Not everything is about you okay! You left your old life. That sucks because being a princess is waaayyy worse than being a low life assassin! Seriously what is wrong with you? You could have it a lot worse, your friends could be dead! But they aren't! You just had to leave and become a princess." Loki snapped, I flinched and sighed.

"You're right." I admitted, giving up. "I'm sorry I just... God I'm just so upset that I am here and being forced to marry someone."

"I'm sorry for yelling, I just don't want you to do something you will regret because the duchess already hates you and you are just making things worse." Loki said, his face softening as he rested a hand on my shoulder. I was so sick of people being mean to me that I just broke. I wrapped my arms around Loki and hugged him tightly. My face was pressed up against his neck and I was standing on my tip toes. I felt Loki tense in shock, he obviously wasn't expecting me to hug him. And god he smelt so good, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Loki tentatively wrapped his arms around my waist and hugged me back. I felt a single tear drop down my cheek and onto his neck. I let myself cry, tears after tears streamed down my face. I pressed my face into his shirt and was shaking uncontrollably. Loki untangled himself from me and held me by the shoulders. He sat me down in the moss, but I couldn't see him through the tears that were hazing my eyes. I mumbling unintelligable words and slobbering all over. I am not a pretty crier, I look like a troll that sprayed some pepper spray in his eyes. I sat in the moss and curled up into Loki's lap. He wrapped his arms around my body and held me close. I cried and cried until I had no more tears to cry. By then I was just shaking. I sniffed and lifted my face from Loki's chest, meeting his eyes.

"I-I'm sorry." I managed to stutter. Loki smiled at me and the swagger was gone in his green eyes.

"It's okay, you alright now?" He asked.

"I think so, I'm such an ugly crier." I said giggling.

"Who isn't?" Loki laughed. I pushed myself away from him and scooted against the hedges.

"What time is it?" I asked, shading my eyes with my arm. I could feel the skin on my shoulders burning.

"I think it's a little bit past 2. We missed lunch." He said.

"So I was crying for over 2 hours?" I asked incredulously.

"Looks that way. C'mon, I'm sure Glenda can cook us up something." Loki replied, standing up and pulling me with him. I reluctantly got up and walked up the pathway with Loki to the kitchen. The wind was blowing slightly and the flowers were blooming. My eyes were probably really red and puffy so I was pressing my hands against them. My stomach growled super loud and I laughed. Loki grabbed my arm and tugged me faster toward where I think the kitchen was. It was small and had stone walls, it was insanely warm due to the many stone ovens. There was a tall pudgy woman scrubbing dishes in the sink.

"Afternoon Glenda! Anything leftover?" Loki called to the woman. She turned around and her face lit up.

"Loki! Your majesty, I should have something." Glenda said scrounging through the drawers.

"Oh please just call me Mae." I said, my nose slightly stuffed and my voice was nasally. Glenda grabbed a loaf of bread wrapped in a cloth and set it on the table.

"This is the freshest we have. Miss lunch?" She asked.

"Yeah. We got a little tied up." Loki said, grabbing the loaf of bread and breaking it in half. I just nodded and felt my face heat up. Loki handed me a piece and I took a large bite of it.

"Mae, sorry to leave you here but I need to go. I'm late for a meeting with my mom and I'd rather not get in any more trouble. Glenda will take you back to your room when you're finished here." Loki said, pulling me into a quick side hug before marching out of the room. Awkwardness settled over the room and I subconsciously began biting my nails.

"So. How are you enjoying the palace?" Glenda asked me, placing her apron on a peg sitting on the wall.

"It's been a lot to take in. Especially with this whole marriage business." I said truthfully.

"Could be a whole lot worse, you could be marrying someone other than Loki. He's a sweet kid."

"Oh no, I'm not marrying him." I frantically said.

"Sorry, I just saw him hug you and I thought. Nevermind. Do you want me to take you to your room?" Glenda asked.

"I'm pretty sure I can find my way. And thank-you for the bread." I said, walking out of the hot room and into the cooler hallway. As I was on my way to my room I started to look at the family portraits on the walls. There were beautiful queens with delicate tiaras on their heads and men on horses. I could somehow imagine my own portrait up there with the rest of them. Probably not as fancy but just as important. I was still viewing the paintings when I reached my room. I collapsed onto my bed and fell into a dreamless sleep.