Part 6: I think about 10 kids

After a while you manage to lose track of all time, especially in the palace. It had been just over a week since the party started and only a couple of days ago did it finally end, it was nice to see that the Asgardians had not yet lost their love for celebrations.

Ake and I had continued with the playful flirting and I even noticed him and Loki laughing together. Laughing. I never thought Loki knew how to. Stupid I know but I didn't. However I had laughed with Ake many times and so that wasn't much of a surprise.

During that passed week we had, had our first proper dinner in the palace, the other days were the days we used to get settled and ate by ourselves. Now we were to eat on a long golden table, with Ake, Colby, Gustav and Endre, oh and Loki. At the end of the table was a tall luxurious chair for Loki, whereas we were to sit on a bench.

I could see how things might have been, in that chair would have been where Odin sat, on one side of his chair the bench ended early, whereas it didn't on the other, this was to make room for a second chair where I presumed Frigga would have sat, this chair has since been removed. On the opposite side would be where the two princes sat, with a choice of sitting next to Odin or next to Frigga.

But seating arrangements had changed dramatically, Frigga and Odin had departed this life and Thor had left Asgard, only Loki remained. I sat on the end where the bench ended early so I didn't have to be sat right next to Loki, Ake sat opposite me, Colby sat next to me, Gustav sat with Ake and Endre sat with Colby. I could swear that Colby only sat there to tick me off, or he was trying to make a point.

The first dinner was silent, everyone was afraid to talk, for the five minutes we all watched Gustav in horror, he didn't take any time to even taste the food, he just seemed to inhale it all, like he was a bottomless pit. After we watched him for a while we all began to eat and then were excused to bed.

On the second night there was a little more conversation, Colby was boasting about how he managed to separate two massive men from each other "oh shut up man" Ake said growing tired of his big headedness.

"I think it's for the king to decide whether I shut up or not! And I'm sure he wants to hear about his men's good wo..."

"Do not speak for me!" Loki shouted over him, the table went silent "and shut up!" We all suppressed a laugh when Colby's face fell, and there was a slight grin on Loki's face. Over the next couple of dinners we became more relaxed, the table came alive and laughter could be heard throughout the palace.

The dinner hall was large and had many tables so after a while Loki allowed for the servants and other staff to come and eat with us, eventually the hall was its own being, more than alive, it was the happiest place to be in the whole day.

Even Loki would join in from time to time, and he was treated less like a king and more like a friend, which was probably what he wanted. Most of the time though he would just sit and watch us, smiling, I guess things had always been like this, once upon a Odin ago, so it must have been a little joyful to see it again. To feel the life in the room. I certainly liked it.

After that week and a bit had gone by we were at dinner again, everything was as it had been every night, only Colby had moved to another table where a few of off duty guards sat, Endre unsurprisingly followed. Gustav just sat anywhere, never on the same table for long. Ake had moved over to sit next to me so I wouldn't be sat with a stranger, which was nice enough.

During this dinner we were laughing more than usual and we overly play flirted, he would feed me my food and I would do the same with him, we acted as if we were married and it was actually kinda fun "I think about ten kids would do" he joked.

"Why not eleven? I mean if they all look like me then why not twelve? Thirteen" I counted on my fingers.

He let out one loud laugh "excuse me sweetness but they'd look like me"

I scoffed and looked away "oh please, if they looked like you they'd want to throw themselves off the edge of Asgard"

He hooted like an owl "ouch! Well you don't seem to mind" he kissed me WHICH! wasn't unusual for us so don't get your hopes up, but as soon as he was done Loki stood and left the room, but it was more like he stomped out.

Ake shrugged it off and continued playing but I was too confused to continue "I have to go see what that was about" he looked disappointed.

"Why? You're not his mother"

I shrugged "I just have to" I smiled and patted him on the thigh as I got up "don't miss me too much" I whispered in his ear.

"Don't count on it" he shouted after me.

I looked back through the crowd and smiled at him then exited the hall and entered the empty corridor, everyone was in the hall. There were a few guards on duty but other than that it was pretty empty in the palace. I wandered for a while until I found him at a balcony, looking over his kingdom "if I may be so bold as to ask... What that was all about?"

"What was what all about?" I hate it when people answer a question with a question.

"Storming out just then" I gestured in the direction of the dinning hall. He closed his eyes and looked down "it's alright you can tell me"

"It's nothing" he simply shook his head.

"Look I know you're my king and I shouldn't ask, but I am" I said as I looked over the balcony and then turned to look at him.

He gave me a fake smile and a little laugh under his breath, then his face turned serious as his body shifted to turn to me, he stood up straight and held his head high "and as your king I'm advising you to back off" his wall of defence was high and there was no way I was getting through to him.

"Fine" I went to storm off but turned back "you know something, I don't know if you've noticed but you manage to somehow make friends, who seem to except you as a person, and what do you do? You push them away. Why? What good comes from it? You'll just end up all alone" he inhaled deeply and held it, his eyes twitching and his smile fading "exactly" I spat "as you were before"

"I do not have friends" I saw a man trying to be strong for his kingdom, to prove his worth, but he has no one to prove it to, no one to believe that he could.

"Yes you do" I stepped forward "they're right down there in that hall" I gestured again in the direction of the dining hall "a king can have friends"

"You think I care about friends? About any of you?"

"Then why hire us?!" I shouted, leaving a moments silence.

"For the people, they need a sense of continuity, with you they have it" he spoke calmly now, turning back to look over the balcony at his kingdom once more, at the people below him. His body turned back to me and walked straight in front of me, leaving a small gap between us, he looked down at me "I advise that from now on you stay out of my business" he spoke cruelly.

"I only wanted to see if you were alright, the way you left was strange" I whispered under my breath, my hands slightly trembling from the cold of the wind.

He let out a breath and rolled his eyes "like you care"

"You're right I don't, I have no idea why I even bothered" I turned and walked away but his hand wrapped around my upper arm, my red hair catching in his fingers "what?" I shouldn't speak to him like that really, that was all the reason he would need to kill me on the spot.

"Watch yourself" It was a threat and I knew it, I wriggled out of his grasp and retreated down the corridor, I wanted to go to the dining hall but my body was taking me a different way.

I ended up in the gardens, which was a very tranquil place, but it was also dark and quiet, in the wrong situation this could be a nightmare waiting to happen, which I didn't know I had just walked into "out for a midnight stroll?" I jerked around to see Colby standing behind me, I could smell the alcohol from where I was standing a few feet away from him. He was wearing a cold smile and a deadly look in his eye "well, not midnight"

"Go away Colby I'm not in the mood" I went to turn away but he grabbed my arm just as Loki had, but Colby caught more of my hair and it pulled slightly, his grip was tighter and I felt weary of him.

"Did you honestly think... I was going to let you just, get away, with what you did?" He stumbled on a few of his words and I tried to release myself from his grasp but I couldn't. He was referring to when I twisted his arm in front of his friends, I made him look weak "I'll make you pay" he inhaled deeply as his hand slithered up my shoulder and then gripped around my neck.

His other hand came up and began to squeeze, then he applied pressure forcing me to my knees. I lifted my hands up to his arms and began to smack and claw at them, but he did not release, I tried to scream but the sound never came out. I could feel my throat collapsing into itself, my mind became foggy, my vision was blurring and I stopped clawing at his arms. I wasn't ready to die but it didn't seem that I had a choice.

Then suddenly his hands dropped me quickly and he was forced back, there was a flash of light and then a tall figure running toward me, my body collapsed to the floor but I was barely hanging on to consciousness. I felt something below my knees and around my shoulders, scooping me off the cold ground. I didn't know who it was, but I could feel the iciness of the metal on their clothing. Then, I blacked out.