I'm sorry I didn't update last week - I couldn't get it done on the weekend and then all the days after, it was a hopeless attempt. I'll try my best to get the next chapter out on time next week!

Thanks to everyone who read, fav'd, alerted and most of all to the amazing people who reviewed!

Old Acquaintances

Without wasting a second, Kvass' eyes fixed directly on me, as if he had already known where I was. There was no doubt in my mind that he had recognized me - that expression on his face left no room for interpretation.
The thing was, he should not remember me. If it was only that, though, I could live with it - the question was: what else did he remember? If he remembered everything, that could only mean disaster.

Years back, when Loki and I had officially still been siblings and no one had been supposed to know that we were more than that, Kvass had found out the truth. It had been no more than a lucky guess, but it was enough to make Loki snap. Kvass had left Asgard without any specific memory of his time there.

I had been comforted by the knowledge that Kvass knew nothing incriminating and would never return into my life. Yet here he was. My throat was suddenly as dry as the deserts of Svartalfheim. I had also gone stock-still, but King Freyr paid no heed, even if he noticed.
Instead, he waved enthusiastically to Kvass, who was now approaching us as quickly as the thick crowd would allow him.

My heartrate sped up. Did I look him in the eye now or pretend that I did not know him? I did not know which option was safer. Either way, this was bound to be embarrassing.

"My king!" Kvass bowed dutifully to King Freyr, maybe even a little too long and a little too deep. Then he turned sharply to me. "Milady," he said. "I have heard so many things!"

For a moment, I swayed between relief and suspicion. Then I remembered that we were not in private and Freyr was already nudging me for an answer.

"Milord," I said. "A pleasure."

Our eyes met for the first time. His grey eyes bored into mine and all hope I had still harboured vanished immediately. I looked into the eyes of a wronged man: a rage was sparkling in those eyes as well as a cold drive that might have been a lust for revenge.

I raised my chin and put on my brightest smile when I turned back to Freyr. "Well, I thank you for introducing us. But if you would excuse me now-"

"Surely," Kvass interrupted. "Milady will grant me five minutes of her time? It'd be an utmost honour."

Freyr nudged me again. When I still hesitated, he nudged me a little harder. Between that and Kvass' expectantly extended hand, there was no choice left
I accepted Kvass' offer and saw Freyr's self-satisfied smile in the corner of my eye. Kvass' fingers wrapped a little too tightly around mine.

Since they did not dance, couples in Vanaheim tended to take strolls around the ballroom and watched the artists and performers.
Before I knew it, Kvass had pulled me closer to him. If he whispered now, no one else would hear. My stomach dropped. The girl that had been unable to tell her parents that she did not like her fiancé was suddenly very much present again.
Kvass had never been particularly in tune to private spaces or other people's emotions. I could not tell if he was aware now, but I thought we were entirely too close.

"I want to be honest," he said. "So I have to tell you - I remember."

I squared my shoulders and tried to conceal the pang in my chest. "I figured," I said. "And to be completely honest, too - I'm not pleased."

"I figured," he said.

A group of dancers bent their bodies and waved shawls in a rhythm so that you could barely see where the body ended and the fabric started.
I did not know to proceed; judging by the sudden tension in Kvass' posture, he did not, either. What were you supposed to say someone who had your memory wiped? What were you supposed to say when you had wiped?

"Aren't you apologizing?" he asked.

"No."

The answer came more automatically than anything else, but I would not have taken it back. Not that I thought it was right to rob people of their memory; but at the time, I had seen no other option.

Kvass' jaw clenched tightly. "I expected an apology."

"I don't care much what you expected," I said. "You and I were forced together and you had no concept of being discrete. If you ask me, you can be glad Loki didn't kill you."

His grip on me got even tighter, but different than that girl from years ago, I did not take it without complaint. Instead, I pulled free and stepped out of his reach.

"I would advise discretion now," I told him. "Or I'll be forced to finish what my brother started."

Kvass sneered, but he inclined his head. I did not know if I could ever actually kill him - I had never killed a man in my life and surely did not want to start with Kvass. I would not let him ruin this, though. I would not allow this man to stand in the way of my throne.
I nodded as well. Kvass feigned a short bow. I stepped past him and did my very best not to look around to him again as I left the feast.

I tried to walk as quickly as possible. The moment I deemed it safe, I projected myself forward; a switch between projections had long been possible and it allowed me to skip several corridors now.
I threw the door closed behind me as soon as I could. The snap echoed in my ears - it seemed way too loud for a peaceful surrounding like that. The water of the small stream kept gurgling away as if nothing had happened. It made me even more tense. There was definitely a headache coming on.

I had very little confidence in my threat. If I were Kvass, I certainly would not step aside that easily. I would keep demanding my apology and I would not go away silently; if the glint in his eye was any indication, he was the same way.

This was a disaster. I wanted nothing more than to punch Loki in the face - this was absolutely his fault; there had to have been something wrong with his spell.
Maybe I wanted to hug Loki a little bit more. Tears pooled in my eyes at the thought. I would do a lot for a bit of comfort right now.

My eyes fixed on the running stream. Not that I expected any comfort from it, but I could not help myself. Even while my body moved forward to settle by the stream, my magic was reaching out for its partner.

"C'mon," I muttered to myself. "I know you're there."

He was there. Loki had probably expected me to reach out for him and his magic wrapped around my soul like a tight blanket. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.
The projection opened her eyes again and I found Loki wandering the private gardens of Asgard's palace. Years and years ago, we had found a hole in a hedge here; we had used it to sneak out and perform the ritual that had bound us together.

"I figured you wouldn't come here again," Loki said. His voice was quiet, but it still carried over the distance between us.

"Why?" I asked.

"I know you're talking to Heimdall," he said. His voice still did no betray any emotion. "You'd think he'd advise you against this."

I hummed in response. This was not what I wanted to talk about, but I also could not talk about what I wanted to - if I told him about Kvass, he would figure out where I was on in no time.

"I wish you'd stop hiding," Loki continued.

I almost blurted out that I missed him. Almost. We were in no place for sentimentality, but I had come to see him to remind me of a time when the most important thing in the entire world had been him and I. That was the world that I longed for; everything had been so complicated back then and yet, retrospectively, it seemed so much easier:
Loki and I against the rest of the world, Asgard's throne be damned.

"How are you?" I asked instead. This was the closest I allowed myself to get to an admission of care.

His eyes narrowed and his shoulders tensed. For a moment, a bit of fright and rage fuelled up inside me, emotions that were not mine. Then he shut me out. It was as if someone had slammed a door in my face.

"None of your business," he said.

I took a step forward and I had already extended my hand before I thought better of it; I could not touch him anyway. "Are you safe?" I insisted. "Is Asgard safe?"

For a moment, it seemed like he might answer me. His brow furrowed and his mouth opened slightly; then he caught himself. It was barely there, but he was shaking his head.
A sigh escaped me. Loki had always been an introverted person; it had always been difficult to get anything out of him, while he, himself, was able to talk anyone into anything he wanted.

"Forget it," I said. "Never mind."

His eyes narrowed at me. "What do you know?" he demanded. "Out with it, then!"

"Nothing," I admitted.
I did not care to pretend otherwise, though it hardly mattered. Loki did not believe me, anyway. It would have done him some good to allow our emotional connection.
He had to feel the loss, too. It could not be otherwise. I knew how starved I felt and how empty when he shut me out. Not that I would ever tell him. Or he tell me - maybe we were better off without each other.

"You were always a terrible liar," he said.

"And you used to be better at telling truth from lie," I said. "You're losing your touch."

His jaw clenched. Danger was written in his face, but I was not afraid - I was far away and I also did not let Loki bully me, anymore. Both of us were either strong together or unable to harm the other. Loki was keeping us apart these days.

"You should go to sleep," I told him. "You look like Hel."

He flinched slightly. His lip curled back in a sneer. I smiled in response. My gaze travelled once more around the garden and to the fateful hedge.

"Are you leaving?" I heard Loki ask - it sounded almost longing, almost a bit desperate. I closed my eyes. Luckily, he could not see the tears that quelled in my eyes anymore.

In the days that followed, I avoided company. I told Hogun that I did not need his advice; King Freyr was told that I was not feeling well. I only snuck out at night, when I could be fairly certain that I would not run into Kvass. Whether he was still at court or not, another meeting was not on my to-do-list.

This habit was hell for my recruitment efforts. On my late night walks around the gardens, it seemed that I would never make it back to Asgard; at the very least, I would not return to it as a victorious queen, but, if at all, as a prisoner.
I did not have an army. Sooner or later, Loki would reveal himself or find out my location. The situation was perfectly hopeless.

Two weeks after, I still had not spoken to anyone. It was starting to take it's toll: I felt starved for contact and yet I could not bear to be around anyone, and it seemed to get worse everyday.
On that night, I did not make it for an entire walk; indeed, I sat down on the nearest bench and stared into nothingness.

"You look like Hel."

It was Kvass. Of course it was; I should have never thought that I could escape fate. Mother had always taught us not to run from our mistakes. It had been inevitable that I could not run from this one.

"I feel like Hel," I told him. "Will you have a seat?"

He sat down next to me without another word. Together, we sat in silence. From inside, we could hear the laughter and chatting of guests leaving yet another feast; I only hoped that none of them would find their way outside in search of a secluded place.

"As I understand," Kvass said after all. "You are looking for a husband. With money and men, preferably. I have those things. And as you know, I have always wanted to marry you."

"I can't imagine why you would want to marry me now," I said. "After everything."

His eyebrows rose mockingly. "After you lead me on and then erased my memory?" he asked.

I shrugged. "You mean, after my parents pressured me into marrying you and you threatened my reputation?"

He cracked a grin. "And you're not even sorry."

I was not. Even after thoroughly thinking about it, I could not bring myself to be sorry. The thought of marrying Kvass was still sickening and I could not regret anything that had spared me for years.

"I'd still do it," he said. "You're still beautiful and still Asgard's only heiress. I haven't yet understood why you want to wage war against your father, but I'm in. You can have whatever you want."

I bit my lip. My stomach clenched, but I could not help myself - I had to tell someone or I would go mad, and I did not see how it would hurt to tell him: because in that moment, there was no doubt in me that this was the man I would marry, sickening thought or not. It was better than red-crusted slugs.

"It's not my father," I said. "It's Loki. He's killed him and pretends to be our father ever since. Maybe now you understand - I have to save my home."

Kvass' mouth had dropped open. He shook his head slightly, then looked over to the dent and back at me. "Loki?" he repeated. "Pretends to be your father? I thought your brother was dead."

"Not my brother," I said and waved away further confusion - I did not have any interest in going into details right now. "But no, he's not dead. He is sitting on my throne, and I want it back."

Kvass had caught himself. He had shut his mouth and squared his shoulders. With a sparkle in his eye, he leant forward. "I would love to help with that."
Then he kissed me on the cheek.

Please leave me a review, it would make my day!