Broken Remedy |L. Odinson|

Chapter Twenty-One

"Come on, then."

Fandral's grin was almost dangerous as he and Eir circled each other, their weapons of choice at hand. He unnecessarily twirled his sword, eyes glinting mischeviously as Eir held her cane a bit tighter than before, her jaw set. Around them, Cuyler, Volstagg, Hogun, Sif, Thor and Loki watched, most of them appearing amused. It was almost tradition at this point for Eir to fight a different person each day. This time, it was Fandral's turn. He seemed to rather enjoy it.

"Aren't you going to bet?" he called out to the small crowd that had formed around them with a quick grin at Cuyler who didn't return it. "Eir and I will fight until one of us dies, start betting."

Eir lips twitched just slightly into a smirk as both of them stopped and she lowered her stance. "You talk too much."

She attacked quicker than Fandral had anticipated, the cane moving so fast he hardly had the time to see it and anyone without much skill would have been hit. He barely managed to dodge her attack before he reached forward and brandished his sword. She took a step back and pressed the small button to the side of the cane. The blades got out.

"You want to kill me?" Fandral exclaimed as he jumped away just in time, his eyes incredibly wide as he raised his sword to block one of her attacks.

"They're just blades, Fandral," she smirked more widely as she attacked once more. "You've a blade yourself."

"My weapon isn't that long!"

"You should have thought of that beforehand."

He let out a huff as they kept the fight going. It wasn't a fair fight by any means. Eir was accustomed to fighting a person yielding a sword while Fandral had only fought against a person with a cane a couple of times. Despite his skill, a few minutes later, Fandral was defeated.

Eir drew the blades on either side of her cane back once more, and pleased, she outstreched an arm to help Fandral up. He took it with a grumble, as Volstagg and Thor chuckled. He sent them a glare. "I'd like to see you in my position."

"Don't you worry," she shrugged as she took a few steps back with a slight smile. "Volstagg will experience this first-hand tomorrow."

Volstagg groaned but Fandral instantly grinned. "I can't wait."

"Who's next in line?" Sif called out as she took the place Fandral was standing at before. With a small sigh, Hogun stood opposite her, and while most of them were preoccupied, Eir grabbed Loki's arm and wordlessly walked away.

Loki didn't speak the entire time they walked even though he was confused. She had let his arm go the moment she had realised he was following her, and so, the Prince was now letting her take the lead in his own home. He didn't complain about it. He hadn't had the chance to spend much time with her ever since the dwarves had attacked and had killed her father and brother.

"I'm sorry for taking you away from them," she spoke as they got in the palace, the cane swinging slowly along with her hands as she turned to face him with a slight smile. "I didn't want to stay there much longer, there's too much noise. Do you understand what I mean?"

He nodded, "I do. Where do you think we should go?"

"I hadn't thought that far," she admitted with a slight frown. "Someplace quiet, maybe?"

"We could go to my chambers. No one will bother us there."

She hesitated slightly at the suggestion as she looked away, her frown deepening. Loki watched, confused as she shook her head slightly before nodding. "That's alright."

He didn't comment on her hesitation. Instead, he walked with her in silence to his chambers. He opened the door for her and let her pass first before following after her. Loki watched her wordlessly as she took a seat at an armchair and leaned back with a small sigh as slowly, he walked over to her, sitting on an armchair close to her own. He watched her for a while - took in the rosy colour of her lips, the curve of her nose, her dark eyelashes standing out against her skin appearing to be made of porcelain - and then she opened her eyes, stunning blue that looked straight at him. He had been caught staring.