Lessons in Mischief // Loki Fanfiction

Chapter 6

6.

You can barely believe your eyes when the car glides through a private gated entrance to a stop outside an old Victorian building. It looms into the sky, as tall as it is wide, and you count at least five floors.

Lights illuminate the beautiful stone frontage and manicured lawns, and your eyes draw you to the flurry of steps leading up to a vaulted wooden door.

"Sylene..." you whisper, your face up against the glass. "...is this where you live?"

Places like this don't exist in the centre of London. At least, you hadn't thought they did. Sylene's father must have a lot of money. Like, a lot. I wonder what it is that he does for a living...

"Yep. I know it's a bit much. But I promise you'll love it inside. It's actually quite cosy."

Cosy is the last word you'd use to describe it, but you keep your thoughts to yourself, your heart pounding with a mix of excitement and nervousness. This place is like something out of a fairytale. A house a Lord or King might live in.

When the driver opens the passenger door, you're pulled from your daydream and almost jump clean out of your skin.

"Come on, Y/N," Sylene laughs, hopping out the other side.

They're met by Fredrik at the top of the steps when he opens the door. "Miss Sylene," he says by way of a greeting. "I trust the journey was good."

"It was Freddie, thanks! This is Y/N. She's going to be staying with us for a bit. She can have the third floor."

"A pleasure, Miss. I shall bring the bags upstairs."

You barely know what to say, so you garble, "Thanks," before Sylene pulls you into a vast foyer. The floor is laid with mosaic tiles, each piece fitting perfectly to form a beautiful pattern. It's a tree, you realise, the branches and roots swirling to form a circle. The walls have paintings hanging on them – landscapes, you think. But they're of places you've never seen and don't recognise. Some could even be depictions of the universe.

"Is this place even real?" you breathe, totally awestruck.

"Yes, well...Lo – I mean... Dad has a taste for expensive things, I guess. But don't let it intimidate you. It's just a house. Okay?"

You follow Sylene up a grand staircase, the wood of the bannister thick and polished under your fingers. "Everything is so beautiful."

"Wait till you see your rooms," Sylene laughs. "You're going to forget all about that dingy dorm."

After ascending to the third floor, the wide landing could be a massive lounge itself. There are cabinets full of fascinating ornaments and seats dotted around a wide fireplace, a fire already roaring in the hearth.

"Okay, so..." Sylene points to the landing as it leads off to the left. "...down there is my Dad's wing. He's hardly ever here, so you probably won't see him much, but yeah, he doesn't like anyone going in there." She then points right, to the opposite landing as it leads off into darkness. "Down here...pretty much all the rooms are free. You can have whatever one you like, but may I make a suggestion?"

"Of course," you whisper, totally overwhelmed.

Sylene leads you down the wide corridor, and the lights must be on a sensor or something because they ping to life as you pass. She pushes open a tall door and nods for you to step inside. And when you do, your eyes widen in amazement.

"Oh, my God."

The room is shaped like an Octagon, with high ceilings, a curved wall of windows and a set of French doors that lead out onto a balcony overlooking the gardens. Thick green curtains hang on either side of the wall of windows, held back by matching gold cords, and in the centre of the room sits a wide four-poster bed, crafted from dark wood and draped with fine linens and squishy pillows.