The Prince's Servant

Part nine

Joshua stands to his feet and starts laughing. I roll my eyes and walk over to the table to join him.
"What..." He asks trying to speak through his laughter. "In the world... Happened... To you??" He asks and laughs some more.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." I say as I sit down at the table and sigh. Josh's laughing slows down. He's trying to keep a straight face.
"It... It looks, it looks good..." He tries to say with out laughing. I can tell he's trying his best to hold it in. I give him a sarcastic look and he bursts out laughing again.
"You're right. It looks horrible!" He says pounding his fist on the table. He has tears in his eyes from laughing so hard.
"Would you shut up already?" I ask with an annoyed tone in my voice. He laughs a bit more, then he slows down.
"Thank you. It's hard enough to walk around with it as it is." I say glancing around the room.
"What happened??" Josh asks.
"Well, I was chosen today as the Queen's servant." I answer.
"Uh-huh." Josh says leaning forward to listen to me.
"And she gave Prince Loki a lesson in magic, it seems that they do that every week." I add.
"Okay." Josh says.
"And long embarrassing story short, Queen Frigga wants Prince Loki to change my hair color back to the way it was. That's his assignment for the week." I finish. Josh starts to chuckle. "Oh, sure. Laugh at my pain, why don't you?" I ask sarcastically.
"It's not everyday your best friend's hair color changes drastically." Josh says through his chuckling.
"So how have you been?" I ask trying to change the subject.
"Better than you at least!" He answers trying to calm down.
"Really?" I ask a bit annoyed.
"Hey, wanna ditch this dump and go spar? We haven't done that in years." Josh asks with a serious tone. It's as if he turned the laughing switch off.
"Sounds like a plan." I answer as we both get up from the table and head out of the dining hall. I follow Josh through a few palace hallways and into the court yard. He leads me into a small armory. He picks up an elegant sword, then hands it to me. I take it by the grip and remove the sheath.
"It's beautiful." I say as I admire it's beauty.
"How long has it been since we've spared?" Josh asks as he watches the amazement in my eyes from the elegance of the sword.
"Too dang long." I answer making eye contact with him.
"Do you still have your dagger?" He asks with a smirk.
"Yes actually." I answer.
"On you?" He asks.
"I wish. As a servant, I can't exactly carry a weapon on me at all times. Someone might think I'm plotting to hurt a royal. Or worse, someone think I'm trying to hurt the Queen. I would never, ever, ever do that!" I answer.

"Ha! I believe you." Josh says as we make our way to the sparing grounds. He draws his own sword. "I'll try to go easy on you." He teases with a smirk.
"Don't get distracted by my hair." I tease back. He chuckles and takes the first swing. I deflect it and take a sloppy swing.
"Woah, someone's lost it." Josh teases.
"Yeah, and it's not the blonde one either!" I exclaim as I take a jumping swing off of a pile of fire wood. We spar for a couple hours. He beats me a couple times, and I beat him a few other times. We decide to take a break. I'm smirking at Josh because he will refuse to admit I beat him. He will make up this long story on how he let me win. He and I both know that I beat him, he just won't admit it.
"Not bad." Josh says wiping beads of sweat from his forehead.
"So if the palace was ever under attack..." I start but Josh interrupts me.
"That would most likely never happen, for one. For two, if it did happen, I'd hide behind you." He jokes. I can't help it and chuckle at his terrible joke. "And three, I'm pretty sure that you'd be able to protect yourself." Josh says as he walks over to me. I smile and wipe a bead of sweat streaming down the side of my face. Josh approaches me and wraps his arms around me in a sweaty bear hug. I hug him back.
"I missed you so much Jen." He says.
"I missed you too." I reply.
"Joshua, dude, who's this?" Josh and I hear a male voice ask. Josh releases me and turns to face the direction the voice came from. I turn to look and see a young soldier dressed in light armor.
"Hey man." Joshua greets as the soldier walks over to us.
"And you are?" The young soldier takes up my hand, kisses it and expects to hear I'm Josh's girlfriend or something.
"Mason, this is my best friend Jennifer. Jennifer, this is Mason." Josh introduces us. Mason releases my hand and looks at Josh with a confused gaze.
"Jennifer?" Mason asks switching his gaze between Josh and I. "This is Jennifer? THE Jennifer you're always talking about?" He asks in disbelief. Josh looks at me and nods with a proud grin.
"I pictured her more as a brunette." Mason says taking a couple steps back and looking at Josh. I smirk and Josh chuckles.
"Well, you wouldn't be the first." I say. Just then, as Josh and Mason begin to talk, something catches my eye. I see something from the corner of my eye. I try to be subtle and only turn slightly. I see Prince Loki watching me from a distance. I then remember that I was supposed to meet him in the dining hall. I have a mini panic attack on the inside and look over at Josh. He makes eye contact with me and sees the panic in my expression.
"What?" He asks in a low tone.
"I have to go. Wish me luck." I say as I hand the sword to Josh. I turn and walk in Prince Loki's direction. I notice that he's not there anymore. I make my way to the dining hall. As I walk through it I feel someone behind me. I turn and see Prince Loki following behind me. I get a bit startled.
"Hello again Jennifer." Prince Loki greets.
"Your Highness, my apologies. I was a bit startled." I reply.
"Jennifer, I believe I have found a way to change your hair color back to the way it was." Prince Loki says with a bit of excitement in his voice. I look up at him and smile. Before I can say anything, he keeps going. "Come, I want to test my theory." He says grasping my hand and leading me out of the dining hall. I get a bit nervous as I follow him. He leads me to his chambers. I become extremely nervous now. he walks over to his bed, grabs a book, and walks back over to me. He's looking down at the book.
"If I'm correct, I can reverse the magic mother used and your hair will return to it's natural color." Prince Loki says looking into my eyes and smiling.
"Umm... okay..." Is all I can say. He chuckles.
"You've never really experienced magic before, have you?" He asks me, closing the book.
"To be honest, no. No I haven't." I answer looking down.
"There's nothing to be afraid of Jennifer. I promise." He tries to comfort me. I smirk and try not to be so nervous. "Now," He starts as he opens the book again. "let's begin." He looks from the book to my hair. "I'm going to start at the ends. Just in case." He says with a slight chuckle. I'm nervous again. "Do me a favor and don't move." He says. I'm so nervous at this point. I see a golden light flicker in the room.
"There." Prince Loki says. He chuckles and grasps a small wad of my hair and shows me the ends. "All better." He says with a chuckle. I gasp in excitement. He grins at my excitement.

*          *          *
Four years pass by. Prince Loki and I grow close. Queen Frigga has taught me a few subjects in magic, not for my own use, but in case I need it.
*          *          *

I feel the morning light on my face as I open my eyes. I sit up and groan. My back hurts so much. Loki and I were practicing shape-shifting spells. He would shape-shift, and I would have to change him back. This magic stuff takes a lot of work.
The morning goes by. I get dressed, tie my hair back, and begin to make my way to the throne room. There is a lot of preparing to do today. Prince Thor's coronation is today. As I make my way to the throne room, I hear a familiar voice coming from the court yard. I check my watch and decide I have a little time. I walk over to the court yard and see Joshua. He's now a commander. He worked so hard to get that title.
"Attention!" He yells with an authoritative tone. All of the recruits stand in attention. I walk over and stand at a distance just watching him. He sees me and smirks. He tells the recruits something, then yells "Dismissed!" He jogs over to me. "Hey." He greets.
"How's it going, commander?" I ask with a smirk.
"Oh, it's going great. These recruits can't focus, they can't hold a weapon properly, and they can't even march worth a damn." He answers with a sarcastic tone. I chuckle.
"Well at least your beard is growing out nicely." I tease.
"Ha ha." He says with an annoyed tone. "Yeah, but yours is way better than mine." He teases. I give him a sarcastic look. He laughs.
"I have to go, I just wanted to say hi." I say.
"Alright. See you around." He says as we both go our separate ways. I walk to the throne room. The doors are already open and I see the Queen speaking with Prince Loki and a couple other servants. I walk over and join them.
"Everything has to be perfect." I hear the Queen say.
"Yes ma'am." The other servants answer as they walk away. Prince Loki looks over at me and smiles.
"Good morning Jennifer." He greets.
"Good morning your Highness." I reply as I bow.
"Rise Jennifer. Say, have you gotten an outfit ready for today?" The Queen asks looking at my attire.