Eagle (A Loki love story)

Chapter 18

I was woken abruptly by sounds of a struggle. There were royal guards in the room, dragging Loki out of bed and cuffing his hands together. Poor Loki, who looked like he had just woken up, was too dazed to try and struggle until it was too late. They had secured a collar that was attached to the cuffs around his neck, a larger one around his waist, and smaller ones on his ankles. Odin was standing in the doorway with an unreadable look on his face. He looked satisfied with Loki's state but glared when he noticed me. At least we were both still fully dressed.

"The trial begins in half an hour. Make ready." Loki was escorted from his room, flanked by a guard on all four sides, two of which were holding chains attached to the thing around his waist, like a dog on a leash. I followed quickly but went to find Frigga, she would probably be able to help me prepare. I glowered at Odin's retreating form as he headed down the hall with the guards and Loki. I wasn't sure if I remembered which room was Frigga's but I knew it was one of the doors on the right side of the hallway. Thor's was probably on the left, as I had heard him snoring the night I had actually slept in my room but I never heard him in Loki's. I had a choice of three identical doors and I was pretty sure the other two were guest rooms that may or may not currently be occupied. The stars were faint but they were still rather visible in the purple sky, it was very early in the morning, I doubted anyone aside from myself was up yet. My suspicions were proven when I opened the door at the end of the hall on the left side to reveal Thor. He was hanging half-off the bed and there was a puddle of drool on the floor. It didn't look like he was wearing anything aside from the bedcovers. I shut the door as quickly and quietly as I could, but it had already scarred me for life. I turned back to the doors on the right side of the hallway. One of them was Frigga's and Odin's room and the other ones were guest rooms that were possibly occupied. If only I could remember which one I had gone into a couple days ago. I knew it wasn't the one farthest to the right, I was stuck between the one in the middle and the one on the left. The thing that ended up tipping me off was the sound of movement behind one of the doors. Surely Frigga wouldn't be up this early in the morning. So I went into the other one. It was the biggest mistake I had ever made in my life. The sight that meant my eye burnt my eye sockets. It was indescribable and something I wanted to forget more than what I had seen in Thor's room. That had made me gag a bit but this made me almost retch. I fled the room, shutting the door behind me as quickly and quietly as I could, a scarlet blush spreading over my face. Perhaps Frigga was up, I mean, Odin was and it was possible he had woken her. I knocked on the door. So lightly, I doubted the person moving about inside would hear me.

"Come in." Frigga's voice came from within. I sighed with relief. This was the right room. I entered as quietly as I could and shut the door behind me. Frigga was wearing a beautiful, formal, gold dress (what she wore for Thor's almost-coronation) and was working on pinning hair hair up into an elaborate style.

"Ah, Mira. What can I do for you?"

"I don't know where to start. I need to know what to wear for the trial, I need to know how the trial is going to work, I need to know the names of the other judges, I need–"

"To slow down and calm yourself. I will give you a dress and I will fix your hair for you. You do not need to know the names of the judges and as much as I know you're going to hate it, you have to refer to my husband as 'Allfather'. As for how the trial is going to work, I'll explain the to you. The dress is on the chair by the balcony." She hadn't looked at me this entire time, she was too focused on getting her hair to look a certain way. The dress was unlike anything I had worn yet. It was a beautiful, pristine white. If it was a little more formal, it would look like a wedding dress but it was too casual for that.

"The dress symbolizes neutrality. You will be expected to refer to Loki as Prince Loki and tell Odin and the judges all you know without being biased towards him."