A Bang and a Whimper

28

Loki rises early, despite the late night. There is something about leaving the palace that has him excited, even though he is incredibly nervous. There is a chill on the air and he dresses and drapes a light cloak over his shoulders. He has left his hair down so that it might sometimes obscure his face and he puts his deep hood up. It will be hard to recognise him.

There will be tempting things sold from the carts in the square, scents both familiar and foreign on the air. Sweet things, salted meats, roasted nuts, and fresh bread. He meets Thor at his room, dressed similarly, Jenna also in her own deep-hooded cloak. There will be guards, of course, but they will let the royal family travel in obscurity as much as possible. They ride out when the sun is barely over the horizon.

The square is already teeming with people. Mulled ciders and wines steam from heavy mugs held by shoppers as they ward off the damp of the turning seasons. Flower girls offer posies for just a few coins and boys twist little sculptures out of wire to sell on the corners. There is a woman dancing with fans of fire on a stage set up in the middle of the square. A fiddler accompanies her and a crowd of children gasps in delight at her performance.

Loki has always felt slightly awkward moving among the people of the city. But he has been trying so hard in the palace to be kind to his servants, to treat them as equal beings, that he wishes he did not need to keep the hood up here. It would not be safe, though, with the guard so spread among the crowd, to reveal himself.

Jenna takes his hand and moves him through the sea of colour after her father. He is seeking food and there are so many carts selling so many things to eat that she does not know how she will ever decide.

When they catch up, her father hands them steaming wooden plates and they sit down at the long plank tables in front of the carts. Fried eggs on toast, beans in sauce, sausages, and pan fried summer squash. It is so much different than their elegant breakfasts on fine china in the palace dining halls, but there is also a greater sense of community out here. People talk across the tables, pass baskets of bread between them, and get one another more to drink without hesitation. Breakfast is a social event. In the palace, it is often treated as the time to start the day's business, with messengers and advisors coming in to sit a while, deliver news, and leave after having had a cup of tea.

They return their plates and then wander the stalls. Jenna tries to forget that they are surrounded by hidden guards. She does not like being watched. While Thor stops to talk to a fish merchant about the year's catch, she takes Loki to a stall selling painted silk scarves.

She hears a booming voice, "Ah, fancy seeing you here!" One of her father's advisors has greeted him and is talking to him animatedly. She returns to the scarves, trying to hide in plain sight. They have been identified. Soon there will be a crowd, or they will have to leave before one gathers.

A short distance away, Sif cautiously watches the exchange. There is something wrong and she cannot place her finger on it. This is one of the advisors that said nothing when Loki revealed himself. She looks around to see what he might be up to. She signals to Fandral and keeps watch.

The man strides to Loki and greets him as well, "And how are you on this fine day?"

"Well. Yourself?"

"Could be better, but there is not much that a celebration in the square cannot fix."

He says nothing to Jenna and Loki returns to perusing the scarves. Sif thinks his next action is odd- he brushes back his hair over the top of his head when none of it is out of place. He is looking in the distance. She scans the windows and balconies on the other side of the square.