Chapter One:

Kira walked down the golden streets, looking in each of the windows as she passed by them. Suddenly, a ball hit her in the shoulder, knocking her against the window of a small bakery. Two young boys around her age ran up to her and the blonde one reached out a hand to help her stand.

"We're very sorry," the other darker-haired boy said, folding his hands behind his back shyly, "We didn't mean to hurt you."

"That's okay," Kira responded lightly springing up from the window as she gripped the blonde boy's hand, "I'm not hurt."

"Would you like to play with us?" the blonde one asked, "You can be the fair maiden who is captured by an evil dragon and then I can save you! My brother, Loki, can be the evil dragon."

"Loki? As in Prince Loki?" Kira looked over at the dark-haired boy with wide eyes and then stared back at his brother, "Are you Prince Thor?" She asked in a hushed tone, unsure of how she was supposed to react.

"I am," Thor said importantly, "And one day I will be King, just like Father! But until, then will you play with us?" he looked at Kira pleadingly and she nodded happily, running after the two princes.

"Rrawr!" Loki grabbed Kira around the middle and held her hands behind her back, keeping her away from Thor. "You will never see the fair maiden ever again! I will eat her for breakfast!" Kira shrieked playfully and struggled to get out of Loki's grip. "No! Help me, Mighty Thor! Don't let me be Loki the Dragon's breakfast!"

"Have no fear, fair maiden! The Mighty Thor is here to save you from the evil dragon's grasp!" Thor tackled Loki to the ground and the three children fell together in a mass of arms and legs, each laughing hysterically.

"Take that, dragon! And that!"

"Nooooo!" Loki yelled theatrically, "You have saved the maiden from my grasp!"

"For your crimes, Loki the Dragon, you are sentenced to death by my sword!" Thor mimicked an imaginary sword being thrust into Loki's stomach and Loki fell back accordingly, still laughing.

"That was fun!" Kira exclaimed, "Let's do it again, but this time Loki can save me from Thor the Dragon!"

"But Loki is always the villain," Thor protested, "And I always save the fair maiden."

"Please, Thor," Kira pouted, "Just this once."

"Yes, Thor," Loki echoed, "Just this once."

"Oh, alright," Thor agreed, "But just this one time." Then, he ran up to Kira and grabbed her wrists, just as Loki had. "Nobody can save you now!"

Kira shrieked once again and the game started over.

….

Afterwards, the three children found themselves lying on the grass, exhausted. Suddenly, Kira sat bolt upright, "I have to go," she said to the brothers, "I can hear my mother calling me."

"Will you be here tomorrow?" Thor asked eagerly as Loki nodded in earnest agreement.

"I'll try." Kira waved and was beginning to run towards the sound of her mother's voice when Loki stopped her, "Wait! What's your name? We can't keep calling you 'fair maiden' for forever."

Kira grinned over her shoulder at him, "My name is Kira."

"Okay then, Fair Kira. See you tomorrow." Thor made an exaggerated bow and the two brothers waved and watched as Kira ran back to her mother.

….

Kira set down her bag with a thump and looked around at the room she had been given. Apparently, getting a job at the royal library had more than a few perks. After she had taken out and organized everything, she headed over to the library to start her first job.

The librarian was an old man, too old to climb the great ladders that stretched all the way to the top of the library. Kira stared in awe at her surroundings, trying very hard not to gape at the shelves of books, more books than she had ever seen in her life. She walked over to one of the shelves and ran her fingers over their spines. She had a feeling she would enjoy working here.

The old librarian walked out from behind a bookshelf, chuckling softly to himself as he watched Kira's expressions as she explored the library.

"Kira, I assume?"

Kira whipped around quickly, but relaxed and smiled when she saw the librarian. "Yes, that's me."

"Arvid. It's good to see a fellow book lover." He shook her hand. "I think you'll find that our library is slightly different from your father's bookstore down on Edland Street."

"Yes, it's just a little bit bigger…more books too…" She trailed off as she continued to look around.

"Well, I'm just glad I won't have to climb toe ladders anymore." He shook his head exasperatedly, "Those things will be the end of me."

Kira laughed, "That's why I'm here."

Arvid seemed to sober for a second, "Actually, climbing ladders will only be part of your job. You came here from Alfheim, yes?"

"Yes, but I lived here in Asgard as a little girl."

"Then you missed all the action. Prince Loki tried to destroy Jotonheim and take over Midgard."

"Loki?" Kira couldn't believe it. She had known Loki, although not for very long, and he would never do something so rash. She had always believed Thor to be the rash one of the pair, though even he wouldn't do such a thing.

"Yes," Arvid shook his head disappointedly, "Always liked him. Came in here every week to find more books." He chuckled ruefully, "Never missed a late book deadline either. I'm pretty sure he's read almost every book here."

"I find that hard to believe." Kira looked around again, "There must be thousands of books here."

"Well, I suppose you could always ask him."

"What do you mean by that, Arvid?"

"That's the other part of your job. The Queen has asked that someone bring Loki new books every day. I'd do it myself, but the Queen wouldn't hear of it. Said I was too old." He sighed. "Anyway, you won't be in there alone. Just yell for guards and they'll come running. Don't you worry about Loki."

But Kira wasn't listening, she was too busy arguing with herself. The very thought of being with Loki (evil or not) made excited butterflies bounce around in her stomach. But at the same time, she didn't want to see him in case he recognized her as the girl he had spent a week playing with every day. The girl who decided she loved him after only two days.

Kira shook her head; she had not been in love. That was just a word she had used because she didn't know what else to call it. Besides, it had been years since he had seen or heard from her and Loki had probably forgotten all about her within the first year of her being gone. She had never told him she "loved" him anyway.

It would be interesting to see what had become of Loki since she left. When she had known him, he was just a boy who felt overshadowed by his brother. Now apparently, he was an evil villain. Kira needed to see this for herself. Still, she was apprehensive about meeting him again and whether it would bring back old feelings. Kira supposed there was only one way to find out, so she nodded nervously to Arvid. "Okay, I'll do it."

"You sure? I bet they could find someone else to do it."

"No, no, I'm fine. I can do it."

"Well, okay then, you can start right away. Let me just get this out for you…" Arvid pulled out a golden bracelet from underneath his desk. "This will allow you to get in and out of Loki's cell without interruption. Just make sure he doesn't notice it, or else he may force it from you and escape."

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you." Kira took the bracelet from Arvid's hand and examined the silver marks etched into it.

"Those marks would be an interesting thing to look up if you ever have any spare time." He nodded to the golden bracelet, "I'm sure there's a book on them in here somewhere."

"That would be interesting, thanks for the suggestion." Kira fastened the bracelet relatively high on her arm and pulled her sleeve down over it.

"When you get back, you're supposed to give the bracelet back to me, that way if Loki ever escapes; it can't be traced back to you."

"Of course. Right away."

"Alright then," Arvid said nervously, "Loki's stack of books are over there." He pointed to a pile of six books stacked on top of each other and Kira picked them up. "The guards will escort you down to the dungeons," he continued and she turned to leave, "Oh, and Kira," Arvid added, "Please be careful. Good assistants are difficult to come by."

"I will be." Kira said over her shoulder as she walked through the double doors of the library, trying not to let on how nervous she was.