My eyes are burning into his gaze with blazing anger.

"WHAT?!"

He derides lively amusement, "have you not-- why haven't you--"

"WHY?!" After raising my volume up another volume, I decided to recollect myself. So, I cleared my throat and raised my chin, "all right, Loki--"

"Who are you?" He stops me with narrowed eyes, still strikingly smirking, "I am surprised that somehow you'd never refer to me as..."

I grunted, still angered at his smug-- but wait. That's when I realized he doesn't know who I am.

He doesn't know what and how I look like.

"--as in, 'Your Highness'?" I ask.

"Why, yes. I am Prince Loki of Asgard." My turn. At the opportunity, I look away and began climbing down. He watches as I quickly scale down the branches, dumbfounded on my sudden reaction. "What in Hel's name are you doing?"

Gazing up at his emeralds, admittedly I favored on how his eyes garnered Vanaheim's grass and other chlorophyllin nature than my betrothed. "You want to learn something, Asgardian? Climb down to find out!"

"You must be joking!" He yells back, beginning to scale down as well, "now, who do you think you are?!"

Snickering to myself, I sneaked to the last branch and sat there, the last branch leading up to the ground. Then, I used a spell to conceal myself without any uttermost care in the world of Loki's own resulting welfare due to his inexperience at climbing trees. Basically, it is sort of like camouflage. The crunching bark and bending branches signaled Loki's near presence, and I wait for the exact moment. He begins searching with his eyes as I watched, him unaware of my appearance.

As he tries to crouch without losing balance, his pupils panted, searching for me. "Look, tell me who you are and I assure you, my father won't..." He transitions to another, finally to the branch nearest to the one where I am standing, concealed. I know balance and inertia are keys. He doesn't know that. "My father will grant immediate acquittal--"

As he leans towards the other side of the trunk on the branch, where the grass lays a few feet below him, I yell, "BOO!"

He screeches, losing his balance as he falls to nature's own form of doom for the fragile.

Cackling, at this moment I am entirely amused, he lays in the grass, the air knocked senseless out of him as his back rests flat. Loki, with wide eyes and a gaped mouth, he finds my eyes and stares at them while I smile the widest that the crinkles and dimples will leap out of my expression. "How about that, your Highness?"

He sits up, rubbing his head. "My father will--"

"Will not grant me full pardon?" I retort, Loki looking back up with, surprisingly calm.

He chuckles, "confident, aren't we, maiden?"

"I always am," I say, grinning. He stood up, groaning at the numerous aches sprouting randomly from his hilarious fall. "Your Highness, you must be injured. I thought you could just simply call your maids to help you tend to your wounds."

He continues laughing, a hint of darkness that I find rather intriguing. "No. I believe..." Walking to the tree, below the branch I sat with utmost balance, he offers a hand to help me jump down (which I don't really need, but I won't mind), "I owe you an apology. I may have finally figured out on what your name may be, fair maiden."

"Thank you," I say, as I accept his hand. And that's when I realize how it was a mistake as he pulls me roughly off the branch and into the grass with him, myself collapsing in front of him. Yelping, perhaps the air knocked out of me as well. I lay on top of his broad figure, immediately bringing my body away from my future husband's brother. "How dare you--!"

I stood, frantically getting grass and folding my dress neatly. Loki, laughing his arse off, sat upright and stared up at me. "Now I've figured it out."

Infuriated, I begin stomping off, as I hear grass crunching underneath his hurried footsteps after me. "Wait!"

"Ugh! Forget it!"

"Wait, let me truly--"

I turn back, "apologize?! I give up, Prince."

And as I was stomping to exit the perhaps and probably on the green garden, the doors swung open to reveal, Thor, Queen Frigga, Allfather Odin and of course, my mother, their pupils dilating at the sight of the missing brother and me. I froze, and immediately I bowed in front of the royal Majesties' presence. Loki, noticing my gesture of utmost respect, laughs, "ah, I see you must be just a maiden after all."

I smirked, as Frigga gasps, Loki's smug face wiping away from his mother's surprise. "Loki! How dare you remark such in front of our guests!"

"Mother? I--"

"Loki, that is enough." The Allfather booms in his austere manner, sewing Loki's lips in a pursing frown. Standing up, I walk over to mother who shook her head, which I secretly thought I must apologize for getting everyone in the heat of unnecessary trouble. "Are you not aware of what of a troublesome situation you have concocted with your tricks?"

Loki, his shoulder shrinking in droopy dismay, manages to stutter out, "I am utterly sorry, Father. I--I wasn't aware that she--"

I step forward, "all is forgiven, Prince Loki."

He stops, his eyes begging me to assist him to escape his parents' reprimanding. Curtsying, I properly introduced myself, "I am Ellika of Vanaheim. Pleased to be in your presence in Asgard's most respected abode, your Highness."

Loki, uncertainly shifting his posture at my attitude. "Um, yes." He bows, still with confused eyes. "The pleasure is all mine, Princess Ellika." From the corner of my eye, I noticed my mother smiling with a hint of satisfaction. Loki, on the other hand, sent in my direction of glaring daggers, but then a sly smirk.

My mother interferes the comfortable silence. "Now that I observe everyone has been caught up to introductions," she sent a menacing look at Loki's direction, which he noticed but not his brother, nor his family, "I believe it is time to deliver news of a celebrated dinner between the betrothed."

Thor's eye widened, but I remained expressionless. My mother nods, "a private dinner with my daughter and Prince Thor," she walked towards me, hugging my arm, "will be held in one of Asgard's great dining halls."

Frigga and Odin nod in agreement. "During the tour, it was discussed that a session between you and Prince Thor in order to get to know each other is suitable," my mother concludes. Thor gave Loki a look of uncertainty, which Loki responded to with a shrug.

I just realized my mouth was slightly agape while my mother was explaining. Immediately I closed it. "What time will it be..."

"Tonight. Dinner, child," mother snaps with a grin, "and it is already in the late afternoon so I suggest starting getting ready?"

Frigga walks up to Thor, clinging to his arm. "Of course, Queen Segrid. The youngsters are looking forward to this."

Mentally, I chuckled awkwardly. But physically, Thor and I exclaimed in unison, "oh, yes, we are!"

Well, not really.