The next morning Desdemona woke to a new maid, an elder woman with kind eyes. "You have to think of something pleasant, child, and it will lessen the pain as well as the grueling duration."
Desdemona sat up in bed and glanced around until she spotted Pumpkin mauling a piece of bacon at her feet, dripping flakes everywhere, making a mess on royal silk. She accepted a cup of steaming brew from the elder woman's hands and smiled. " Thank you. What is your name?"
The servant smiled back and sat down beside her to stroke a strand of bedraggled hair to bind it behind her ear. Desdemona smiled fondly. Her mother used to do the same thing to her.
"I am called Lucy and Loki has asked me to serve you from here on out."
"Loki?" Lucy immediately caught how sweetly Desdemona caressed his name on her tongue.
"Yes, he thought I better suited for you and requested the change. Now eat your breakfast and listen up because I am going to tell you how to minimize the ache of your womanly duty. First off, you need to be moist and it seems that will not come natural for you at this point, so I have brought you a little vial to keep under your mattress."
Desdemona gobbled down her food, her appetite rebirth since Pumpkin, while intently learning from her new friend; another to thank Loki for.
"Why did you request me a new maid?"
Loki glanced up from observing a platoon of his knights sword practice, pleased that Desdemona had seeked him out. "Do you not like Lucy?"
"Oh no, it is not that. I like her very much. I just wondered what was wrong with Genevieve?"
Loki moved closer to Desdemona bestowing a cunning smile. The color had returned to her cheeks, leaving her as vibrant and healthy as when he first met her. "There is a reason for everything I do."
"Was there a reason you gave me Pumpkin?" She asked innocently.
"Yes" he replied in a serious tone that made her somber, and then he broke in a teasing chuckle, "to see you smile!"
She giggled her thanks, blushed him a quick hug, and bid him goodbye before Thor return from scouting the tower. He might not take too kindly to his new bride lurking around the knights. Some men were jealous like that. Her father had been. She was not sure about Thor, but did not want to find out the hard way.