King Loki

Chapter 5
Every night Lana snuck over to Cephera's bed to speak in hushed whispers as they plotted. Lana seemed more excited than Cephera for their future plans. It sounded like the former Agent missed being an active one.
Cephera's work day continued to be slow and tedious but she trudged through it. She had expected to have been interrogated on to why she had been trying to get inside in the first place, but it would seem the King had more pressing matters to attend to.
Lana filled Cephera in on what was happening in the outside world. Lana heard a lot of stuff from her duties up in the guards rooms. It would seem Loki had his hands full with not just countries he had yet to take, but keeping hold of those he already captured.
It wasn't until her first month of being there that she got a chance to leave the laundry.
She was folding clothes as usual when the head Mistress of the Laundry, Anne, the same elder lady Cephera met on her first day, came over to her. "Take these upstairs right away. Fifth floor, south hallway."
Mistress Anne pushed a rather heavy load of neatly folded linens in her arms which Cephera almost dropped because of their silky smooth texture.
"Jenna is waiting for them," Cephera, not wanting to fail, rushed off. This might be her chance to at least look around. She'd have to be careful though.
She made it halfway there, having no access to the teleporters Lana told her about, Cephera was forced to take the stairs. She dropped the linens onto the rich hallway liner once she reached the fifth floor as she was shoulder bumped by another servant. "I can't do this!" The girl cried holding her blazing red cheek in one hand as she fled.
Cephera looked at her fallen bundle and hurried to retrieve it. No longer in the neat pile they had been, she was forced to carry on anyway.
When she reach the hallway in question no girl was waiting for her and twin doors with thick carvings on their surface stood ajar. "Jenna?" Cephera called out and no one answered, but she did hear some noises.
She inched forward and the noises grew louder. Cephera couldn't help but suck in her breath when the King himself emerged from the room.
"You," Loki's voice echoed in the hall and made a shiver run down her spine.
"Me?" She asked stupidly.
"Do you see any other servants around?" He growled. Cephera swallowed. "My other servant has run off, attend to me." He commanded and stalked back into what she suspected was his room.
Cephera stared up at the door and saw this as an opportunity. At least she'd have something to tell Lana later. When Cephera stepped inside she knew right away what all the noise was. The room was in complete disarray.
Furniture lay overturned and some splintered and broken. Books strewn across the floor, the bedsheets torn and adding to the mess on the already crowded rug. The room smelled foul, like too many colognes mixed together with sweat.
"What do you need me to do?" She asked laying the linens on a dresser whose drawers were missing.
Cephera jumped when the King's hand snatched her face and forced her to look up at him. "My king, my liege, your highness, you will address me properly when you speak to me." His warning was clear and his grip uncomfortable.
He let her go and waited, glaring down at her. "My apologies, my king," she said dropping her gaze once more.
"You are new. For this one time, your oversight will be ignored. Do not allow your manners to slip your mind again." She nodded in response and waited for instructions. "Clean up this mess. It would seem my temper has scared off my usual attendant, you'll have to do."
Cephera glanced up and around the room again. At first she'd thought he'd been robbed, or something of that sort. But she realized that he'd done all this. What put him in such a fit of rage that he would cause so much devastation?
She noticed now the bags below his eyes, had he slept recently? His forehead, face, and neck were glistening in sweat and he looked beyond annoyed.
Cephera didn't know where to start. She had no clue what this room looked like beforehand. "Are you simple?" He snapped bringing her back to her senses.
"No your highness. Just evaluating where to start first." She replied quickly.
"Anywhere will do, I don't care. I'm getting a bath and when I am done you better be at least started." He warned and made his way across the mess, items snapping under his boots as he did so.
Cephera's eyes roamed the room her curiosity perking up as he disappeared through his bathroom door. She wondered, what secrets could be buried throughout the rubble? What clues or items scattered about that might help her achieve her goals? What would Lana do?
Lana would clean up while inspecting things as she went. Making mental notes to remember for the next time she got the chance to be here. Agent Lake would not take any risky chances by stealing anything at this time.
Cephera, satisfied with that conclusion began her dreary, yet intriguing task.
She noted the closet was left untouched and assumed the clothing scattered about was from the dresser. Unsure what might be dirty she opted to have it all sent to laundry and threw it into one big pile near the door.
She returned the empty drawers to their rightful place and set to her next task. It wasn't until she began to pick up the leather bound books that she paused.
The pages were crinkled along the edges and discolored from use. This particular book was bound together with a piece of leather string. Glancing over her shoulder to check for Loki and finding him still occupied in his bathroom, she pulled the tie and opened the book.
Inside were what looked to be notes in a language she couldn't read. The penmanship delicate and refined along unlined pages. Smudges graced areas where a hand would have rubbed before the ink had dried completely.
She touched the writing, feeling the indents of it sunk into the pages. She felt mesmerized a moment as she remembered that Loki was a master of magic. Magic was something she was fascinated with and knew very little about. Aside from the few things she'd learned using her own magical ability, she honestly didn't truly know the potential of magical energy.
Krystoff used to tell her that her magic was useless and she should set her mind to the task of making a family. For a long time she had put aside her thoughts of magic, but the yearning to learn more always stuck with her. Had this been any other situation she might have seized the opportunity to learn more now, but this was not the time.
"Mortals," Loki's voice startled her. "Always nosing about in things you couldn't even begin to understand." He bent down and plucked the book from her hands. "The books go on the shelves, this is not a library for your enjoyment."
He appeared more relaxed than before. His tone of voice certainly had changed. "Yes," she replied with a nod of understanding and stood from her squat position. She turned from the God of Mischief and gasp when he grabbed her wrist. She turned to view his narrow eyed look toward her. "Yes, your highness." She corrected herself seeing the error in her response. Satisfied, he let her go.
She was getting slightly agitated by his manhandling of her. It gave her cause to wonder if he'd struck the girl who had run past her holding her cheek.
Lana had very little to say regarding his personality. She didn't often get to see him in person and the rumors ranged from passionate lover to abusive asshole. Nothing that was spread between the servants regarding his personal traits could be trusted.
Cephera chose to remain weary of him and to follow her friends instructions to appear a good, loyal servant. As much as Cephera wanted to give him an earful for grabbing her, she refrained from doing so.
Loki relocated to his bed. He sat down upon it and to her horror he stared at her, waiting for her to continue the task he set for her.
Unable to look at him a moment longer, she turned her back and began sorting through the mess once more.
XxX
"Some lucky star is looking over you." Lana almost couldn't contain her voice to a whisper after Cephera finished telling her about her day.
"It was horrible. He watched me the whole time as I finished. I could feel those green eyes burning into my back at every turn." Cephera shivered at the memory. When she had finally finished her task he'd given her permission to leave, which she had very quickly.
"No this is good!" Lana pinched her lips shut and they both snuck a peek toward the guards who didn't seem to catch the rise of her friends voice.
"How?" Cephera insisted seeing no good from what happened that day.
"Don't you see. He was evaluating you. His last attendant will most likely lose her position after running from him, maybe you'll become her replacement."
Cephera was unsure if that's something she wanted and Lana was no fool, she could tell. "It'll work out. Being in his presence you may hear things you might not have otherwise. You can do this." Agent Lake's encouragement was nice, but didn't make her feel any more confident.
"I guess we'll see. I mean, it's not like I'll have a choice if he does decide to use me as his personal attendant." Cephera was left wondering what exactly a personal attendant did.

Notes