Duplicity Among Royals

Chapter Two

Loki

He stood before the princess of Zenron. There she was, his wife to be, future made, bearer of his children, and. . . he was not impressed. Never in all his life had he ever met such an empty-headed milksop. Taking over Asgard was going to be the simplest of chores.

His eyes flicked over her, trying to find any sign of intelligent life, but as the princess covered her mouth to suppress a tittering giggle, he knew he was right. The kingdom would be under his rule in two weeks, maybe three, once the king died.

He rolled his eyes as she mentioned how she very much wanted to dance with the prince that night. If she thought he was going to be wasting away his married life by filling hers with dancing and foolish romance filled nights, how wrong- As his eyes righted in his skull and he realized the look he was making, he noticed the princess's servant was glaring at him.

Ah, now that was a fine looking maid. Even with a frown that could kill a workhorse, her face was the loveliest thing he had ever seen. He responded to her dark look with a smile and a wink before he remembered that flirting with the servants is strictly forbidden to any kind of royalty. And he probably shouldn't be doing it in front of the woman whom he would soon call his wife, even if she didn't have enough sense to imagine there could possibly be anything devious going on.

The maid frowned even harder at him. He would have protested at the audacity of her rudeness, as he had never done anything to her personally, except he knew it would make him look a right fool and probably get him cuffed by Alfr. Especially since they had to stay in character. And truth be told, it was refreshing not having someone pretend to like and admire him. Even this fine looking young woman. . .

"Perhaps my servant can join us."

Loki's attention snapped back to the job at hand. Alfr was now holding the princess's hand.
"Only if mine can also. I never go anywhere without her." The princess let out an accursed giggle, to which Alfr responded with a chuckle. This was far too sickening for Loki.

"Come, let's go to the garden." Alfr offered the princess his arm and led the way.

Loki turned to the servant girl. He hesitated a moment before offering his arm to her. He could have sworn he felt her shudder as she took it. Mildly confused, but definitely insulted, Loki followed in Alfr towards the gardens.

Lilia

Lilia couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the manservant wink at her. She hadn't thought even Asgardian servants were quite so bold as that. On Zenron, servants would be subjected to the King's wrath if they put on such a display in court. But they were visitors, and clearly didn't understand the ways in this particular court, or they just didn't care. She made her displeasure known by plastering on the worst frown she could muster.

Granted, the man was fine to look at. In her opinion, he appeared more comely than the prince she was about to be stuck with. However, the arrogance that practically seeped from his pores made him a bit less attractive to her. He also looked different from the prince, even in form. He was taller, leaner, with impressive bone structure. It might actually be possible to cut her hand on his cheekbones. The prince was tall, but wider, more muscle, and neatly kept facial hair. It was as if they were from two different worlds.

Lilia clasped her hands behind her back and proceeded to direct her attention towards the prince, where it should have been in the first place. He appeared to be enjoying talking to Rayvn. And what man wouldn't? Rayvn's hair, like her namesake's, was pitch black. Her face was smooth and accentuated her large blue eyes that stared in an innocent way into the very depths of your soul.

She noted that the prince had taken Rayvn's hand and was holding it in a way that signaled fondness. Was he truly so foolish as to trust a stranger completely on first sight? She could have laughed. The Asgardian dog had much to learn about the true princess.Lilia also noted, not without some displeasure, Rayvn never attempted to pull her hand away. The true princess really was going to turn out to be a disappointment to him. Especially if he expected nice long walks in the garden as they were about to do now. Lilia was far too busy for such foolish- Her face turned a little red when she noticed the servant was offering his arm to her. She didn't want to touch him nor any other Asgardian for that matter. An involuntary shudder slipped over her as she finally took his arm and forced herself to walk resolutely behind Rayvn and the prince.