Stolen Relic ~ A Loki Fanfic

Chapter One

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"Really Loki," Frigga said laughing lightly, as she glanced over her shoulder at her frowning son. "It won't kill you to get a little fresh air."

Loki stepped out into the garden, reluctantly following his smiling mother. "I have things..." he said, looking down at the book in his hand.

"Yes, your studies," Frigga agreed, eyeing the book and stack of papers in her son's hands. "Well, you can read out of doors as easily as you are able in that musty library, son of mine." Despite her sons being grown, Frigga couldn't help but fuss over them, especially Loki. As the younger and more reserved of the two he had always had a special place in her heart. "Who knows, perhaps you will find you are even more brilliant with fresh air and sunlight as your companions."

Loki wrinkled his nose in disgust and shook his head in clear disbelief. "How long?" he grumbled, looking around for a place for him to sit and work.

Frigga laughed at her favorite son's sour expression. "Only a few days my love, and the library will be yours once more," she said cupping her son's cheek in her hand. "You will live." She promised kissing him on the cheek, and she walked away leaving her moody son alone to his studies.

Loki dropped down onto the first bench he found and cracked open his book. Without use of the library he would have rather stayed in his chambers, but his mother had graciously offered the use of her private gardens and he wouldn't insult his mother's generosity and risk hurting her feelings.

He was reading for barely an hour before he was interrupted by the first of Frigga's servants wandering by casually. Checking in on him he was quite certain. He worked to ignore the several who continued to titter past him at a fairly regular interval. He preferred silence while he studied and their obnoxious shuffling movements set his teeth on edge. Their attempts at sneaking glimpses to report back to his mother were pathetically clumsy. His time to study was limited and he would not have it interrupted by servants.

Loki had dedicated himself from a young age to the study of magic and had since become a Master of Magic. The experience and title however did not come without work or sacrifice. It was a constant struggle to continue to educate himself in a practice well beyond the average Asgardian's comprehension. His father and brother both looked down on his preference for the use of his mind and magic over the much glorified brawn and sword arm of the average soldier. Loki however, had no intention of being average, and he was not afraid to work for it.

He heard a nearly silent whisper of movement along the path, quieter than the rest but no less irritating. He flopped the book back down on his lap and snapped his head up in annoyance. There were angry words on the tip of his tongue to send the servant who dare come so close scuttling back to his overbearing mother.

The words caught in his throat however when he realized it was not one of his mother's familiar servants. Instead, it was a woman he had never seen before. She walked almost silently down the path, a large basket under one arm. She moved differently than most Asgardians, she didn't swagger or strut, loudly commanding attention. Instead her movements were tightly controlled and careful, like a dancer. She wore a simple one shoulder dress that was more functional than elegant. She was also smaller than most Asgardian's, almost delicate looking.

He was amazed he had never seen her before and as she approached he was certain he never had. She was striking. He surely would have remembered her fair features. Her hair was true silver and hung in loose waves around her, blowing slightly in the breeze. When her hair lifted with a gust of wind the sun glinted off a copper collar encircling her neck.