Endlessly

Galdraormur

Your heart ached for home more than usual this morning. Perhaps it was due to the gloomy day- an extremely rare occurrence on Asgard, or perhaps it was because today marks exactly three months that you've been so far from home, studying abroad in another realm, and you had yet to make any friends.

While you appreciate that your parents' royal status on Vanaheim earned you a place to stay in the palace while you are visiting Asgard, staying in the palace has proven to be quite isolating.

You head to the palace library, just as you have most other times you were feeling down since coming here.

While you should probably keep focused on your studies, losing yourself in a fantasy world for a little while has always managed to cheer you up in the past, and Asgard's royal library has the most expansive collection of books you've ever laid your eyes on. You're determined to read as many of them as you possibly can during the year that you'll be staying here.

Once you've entered the vast space, you wander over to a section you haven't yet explored.

Mindlessly running your hand along the spines of the books, you suck in a deep breath, savoring the smell of the ancient tomes, already beginning to feel a little bit better.

It's only when you hear the flipping of pages in the next row over, that you realize you aren't alone.

You cautiously peek through the rows of books, trying to get a view of the person on the other side without being noticed.

You spot a young man seated on the floor with his long, lean legs outstretched. There is a large stack of books to his left, and he scowls at the pages of another in his hands. His raven locks cascade down into his face as he reads. You recognize him immediately as Asgard's youngest prince.

'Galdraormur' they called him on Vanaheim. The 'sorcerer serpent-' and he happened to be the one person your parents warned you to avoid.

When he unexpectedly looks up from the page, you crouch to the ground, out of sight.

"Who's there?"

You hold your breath in hopes that the silence will convince him that he was simply hearing things, and you begin to slide your way down the row of books, walking only on your toes. Just as you think you're in the clear, the skirt of your dress catches the worn spine of a massive book on the bottom shelf, and it is sent sailing to the floor with a loud thud.

The sound startles you so badly that you nearly leap out of your skin, tripping over your own feet, and stumbling backwards into the colossal shelf of books.

You spin around just in time to watch the shelf wobble off balance and begin to fall in your direction.

You freeze in fear, and with the realization that there's no possible way you can move out of the way in time to not get squashed, you cover your head with your arms in a feeble attempt at protecting yourself as it falls. You squeeze your eyes shut as several books begin to slide off of the shelves and crash all around you as you brace for impact.

And then, nothing happens.

The library returns to its eerily quiet state, and you timidly peek open your eyes to assess the damage.

Your breath catches in your throat when you see that the young prince of Asgard ran to your aid and had stopped the bookshelf from falling down and crushing you with his magic.

Oh.

You have heard many stories of the dark princes' magic, but seeing it up close was... well- breathtaking.

Hands extended; he carefully uses his magic to steady the shelf back in its upright position again.

"Are you alright?"