6 years later

You had been working as a servant for your sister for quite a few years. In all honesty, the job could be a whole hell of a lot worse; granted, baths for you were scarce and sometimes you ended up eating leftover food off of Ashley's plates, but there were worse jobs around the place you could have. Whoring for Loki's soldiers or cleaning up the prison cells, for instance. You had heard horror stories from others who had worked both jobs; sometimes it was hard to tell which job would be worse. What they did to those poor people in the cells was nothing short of horrific. Not to mention, rumors had it that Loki's own brother, Thor, was imprisoned down there, tormented daily by his captors. With whoring, Loki's soldiers were brutal to nearly every single girl they came across. A few times, some of the girls had even died. To the soldiers, the girls were nothing but things to play with; once they were broken, they went on to the next one.

Compared to those jobs, as well as a few others, working as a servant for your sister was heavenly. In fact, most of the time you enjoyed it; occasionally, your sister would spoil you, but only whenever Loki was away. Whenever he was off at another place, like the prison camps, for some time, you both were locked away in his rooms, mainly to protect her from others. While she was locked away, you were only allowed to go to the kitchens and to the laundry room. Otherwise, you were locked away as well. Your sister told Loki that it was because she needed you more when he was gone, but that wasn't the truth. In fact, your sister worried more about your well being more than her own.

During these times, you and your sister would usually curl up together on a couch and watch old movies, while reminiscing about the past. Loki would never have allowed this. To him, you were simply a servant, no matter what your relation to Ashley was. That was why it only happened if he were going to be away for a week, or more, at a time. Granted, he gave Ashley everything she ever wanted (within reason), but to him, there were some lines that were never to be crossed.

Occasionally, though, working for your sister was not all peaches and cream. Today, for example, was what would've been the greatest day of your life if Loki hadn't taken over... your eighteenth birthday. However, instead of having fun and enjoying your newly earned adulthood, you were running ragged trying to help your sister dress for some party Loki was having for some visiting foreign leaders. Your sister had already bathed and fixed her hair and makeup, but finding what she wanted to wear was a complete nightmare. Everything you picked out that would look great on her, she vetoed.

"No, _," she hissed, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder and sighing, causing you to have a small fit of jealousy. Your sister bathed on a, sometimes twice, daily basis, whereas you were lucky to get one a week. Of course, Ashley had access to the finest products known to mankind, and you were lucky to have access to a bottle of shampoo and a bar of soap. Oftentimes, you only had one or the other. You didn't begrudge her for this, though; it was not her fault Loki had chosen her for his lover.

"I have to look perfect for this event, or Loki will kill me," she continued, searching through her closet and flinging clothing all over the place.

Unfortunately, both of you knew that was in the realm of possibility for her. Loki wasn't exactly the nice when he was put in a foul mood. To be honest, he was most often cruel and spiteful. Oftentimes when he was angry, he would send you from the rooms and you were not allowed to return until your sister called for you. That could take anywhere from hours to days; once, it took a full week. Whenever you returned, you weren't allowed to ask questions, just help your sister clean herself up and take care of any messes. Quite a few of these messes were broken things, blood, or some combination of the two.

"Well, what about this one?" you ask her, holding up a clingy, velvety, nearly black, sleeveless dress with a slit in each side that only showed its true emerald green color in the right light. This dress was your favorite out of all of her dresses, but you never uttered a word like that, knowing full well that your sister would wear it just to spite you. You both loved each other, and usually got along, but sometimes the sister-aspect was just a little too strong. Especially since the two of you were ten years apart and she was forced to take care of you after your mother had disappeared.

Ashley sighed and placed her hands at her temples, rubbing slightly. "No, just no. It's not the right dress for me. Just give me the dark green lace one with the three-quarter sleeves." You obliged, helping her into the dress and zipping up the back. Of course, she looked stunning, but you couldn't help but notice the strain in her face and how tense her shoulders were.

"What's wrong, Ash?" you asked her. "Why are you so tense over a party?" It was unlike her to be tense over anything, but over the last few years, you noticed that her smiles were getting tighter-lipped and she often hugged herself, as if everything would fall apart if she didn't.

Ashley sighed again, letting her shoulders droop and her head drop. "It's not the damn party, Bug," she said, calling you by your old nickname. "I... I can't get pregnant. I'm infertile."

You let out the tiniest of gasps. Knowing this information was considered treason against Loki, but for Ashley, it meant an instant death sentence. A very long time ago, there was a small prophecy made about Loki and a woman, who he had supposed was Ashley. Nobody but Loki and a few others had any inkling of what the prophecy was, so they took Loki's word for it. The prophecy was to have said that this woman would bear Loki a son, who would eventually overthrow Loki's adopted father (Odin) and rule the nine realms. However, if Ashley does not birth Loki a son, or even get pregnant, she is not the one that the prophecy is about, and she gets sentenced to death. As for you, there is no telling what would happen to you.

Before you could say anything, the double doors to the bedroom crashed open, and in walked the Devil himself: Loki. You and Ashley jumped nearly a foot in the air, your hearts both racing ninety miles an hour. Due to instinct and being well trained, you instantly bowed to him, but he took no notice of you. His black boots made hardly any noise on the tiled floor and his black cloak blazed behind him as he walked with an inhuman speed. His raven-black hair was slicked back and appeared to have grown since the last you had seen him. As he approached you, you did not move until he passed, but he took absolutely no notice of you. In fact, he probably noticed the wall more than he noticed you. He approached your sister, his eyes glinting strangely.

"Your sister is to attend the meeting," he told her, with no room for arguing. "I have a few clients that may be interested in her... talents." A small smirk crossed his face, but it was gone as soon as Ashley opened her mouth.

"But you told me I could keep her for as long as I needed her. I still have need of her." She argued back, surprisingly with no whine in her voice. "Besides, she's a young girl and couldn't possibly know anything other than how to clean, serve food, and get a woman dressed."

Loki raised an eyebrow and completely ignored her response. "She is to be dressed decently, not in her filthy servant's garb, and you both are to be in the dining hall in an hour. Do not be late," he nearly hissed. With that, he swept from the room, taking longer to leave than he did to enter.

For a long while, neither of you said anything, and when your sister finally spoke, she spoke with steely resolve. "Go on, Bug. Go get yourself cleaned up and I shall find you something to wear."

You did as you were commanded and headed towards the huge master bathroom. You had no idea what you were in for and you highly suspected it was not going to be anything good. After you had bathed and used your favorite smelling soaps, you stood in front of the large, full-length mirror and inspected yourself. Because of lack of hair care, your (hair color) hair was somewhat dull and rather tangled. Without your daily finger-brushing, your hair would've ended up being a matted mess a long time ago. Your body had changed since your last bath a few weeks ago: it was a lot rounder in the hips, thighs, and butt, and your breasts were larger than you last knew. Of course, since you were a child, you had always carried extra weight in your stomach area, but with everything else rounding out, your body looked a bit more even now. You were shorter than your sister and there was very little semblance between the two of you, other than the fact you both had your mother's nose. Your sister was tall and slender, whereas you were rather short and... well, quite curvy. In your opinion, you looked like a squashed Jessica Rabbit with not much of a waistline, but you didn't dare voice that.

After inspecting your body and knowing there wasn't a damn thing you could do about it, you entered the huge closet that belonged to your sister, where she was digging for something for you to wear.

"Damn," she muttered, flinging clothes everywhere and taking no notice of you. "I guess I don't really have anything for _." Turning around, you made her yelp with surprise and clutch her chest. "Don't do that!" she scolded. "You scared the hell out of me! I thought you were... him."

"Sorry," you murmured, your head downcast with embarrassment, causing you to once again notice your body. You had managed to scrounge up a nice pair of undergarments that your sister had never worn (they were too "plain" for her taste) and you managed to make them fit, but you were still embarrassed about your size. So what were you supposed to do? Go naked? You voiced this to your sister, who sighed and threw up her hands before thinking a few moments.

"Well, there is always that velvet number," she said thoughtfully. "It would definitely look different on you, but the fabric stretches really well." You tried to protest, after all, you'd end up ruining the dress for her, but she stopped your protests with, "Would you rather go naked?"

You shook your head and allowed your sister to help you into the dress. It was snugger than you expected, but your sister exclaimed that you looked amazing and rushed you over to the mirror. You didn't see what she saw, but you felt somewhat pretty. At least, better than you had felt in the past six years. The dress was a bit longer on you than you had expected, so the slit started mid-thigh, hiding some of the old scars on your legs. The dress clung to every curve, but instead of making them stand out in a negative light, it made them... well, you were surprised to notice that they looked pretty sexy.

Your sister was nearly speechless looking at you and smiling. She looked like she wanted to tell you something, but instead, you embraced. You both stood there, hugging and breathing in each other's scent, knowing full well it may be the last time you ever see each other. After a few moments, you step back, wiping away your tears. "We should probably go," you tell your sister, "I'd rather not get on his Lordship's bad side."

Ashley nodded. "You're right," she said, sniffling and wiping away a single tear. "I couldn't spare you from his wrath if we both end up being late." With that, you quickly swept your hair up into a simple topknot, running your fingers through it as nicely as possible, snagged a pair of flat black shoes from your sister's closet, and quickly followed her out the door. As the two of you approached the doors to the dining hall, your sister turned to you, saying nothing but expressing everything with her dark eyes.

"I know," you said breathlessly. "But I'll be fine. Remember, I'm your sister. If I can make it through this, I can make it through anything." With that, the two of you turned to the doors in front of you, wondering what awaited you behind them.