"You saved her. If that boy had succeeded…." Thor trails off. He knows, deep in his bones, he would have done something to make him unworthy of Mjolnir.

"You have no idea how close he was. If I had arrived a second later, she would have been ruined and we would be at war."

"I cannot thank you enough Loki. If ever you need something of me it is yours."

"Is that a wergild Thor?" Loki smirks.

"Maybe it is and maybe it isn't."

"Glad to see you are learning."

"Did you really freeze his dick off?"

"Until it crumbled in my hands." Loki's hateful glee is evident. Thor crosses his legs and shivers. "I think it would be prudent if you suspend all courtship offers for the time being. Erica will need time to recover from this."

"Aye. I was not keen to wed her off in the first place."

"Erica is more than capable of running the realm and she won't be alone should the unthinkable ever happen to you Thor. She has made great strides in engraciating herself to the noble class."

"I wish I could say the same of Sif. She is very unhappy."

"She didn't think her request through all those years ago. She wanted you but didn't think of what all that entails. She keeps trying to live her life like she is still a warrior in the army. The courtiers are not happy with her. Even the palace servants have their complaints at her lack of oversight and management." Loki leaves out part about Sif also failing to provide the King an heir. He doesn't want to put any ideas in his brother's head.

"I will speak with her on the matter."

"I should probably return to my chambers and wash off all this blood." Loki rises from his seat and turns to leave.

"Aye. Good night brother."

"Good night Thor."

XxXxXxXxXx

For two days Kelda sequesters Erica to her bedchamber to rest and recuperate. News of the attempted rape and of Loki's brutal retribution of the boy travels quickly. The people of Asgard had forgotten Erica's mortal nature. It is now all they talk about. Their future Queen is a feeble mortal girl that cannot defend herself. Did the Queen teach the girl nothing?

"We must speak." Thor says to Sif.

"Is she well?" Sif asks.

"As well as can be expected, but that is not the topic I must broach with you."

"What is it?"

"You are not performing the duties of the Queen as you should. There is low morale among the servants and the head matron has been taking on much of the running of the household. You are not a warrior anymore Sif. Your duties lie elsewhere now."

"My duties…." Sif huffs. "And what of my marriage bed?" Thor looks away from her then. "Never, not once in all these years have you said that you love me. We were friends once. I know I've always felt more strongly for you than you for me, but I also thought with time that your heart would open to me. That you would forget her. Your time with her was so short and yet I find that even now I am still competing with her memory. Erica looking so much like her doesn't help either Thor. She reminds you daily of the love you lost."

"I am sorry Sif. I have tried, but I fear I will never love you in the way you want me to. You are my wife and Queen now. We made vows we cannot take back. You must give up the training grounds and hang up your sword."

"But the training field is my one shred of happiness! How can you take that from me?" Sif has tears in her eyes.

"I am sorry Sif, but I must. I need you to be the Queen." Thor says.

"Is that an order Thor?"

"It is."

Sif stalks out of the room to walk she knows not where. The tears are coming unfettered. She rattles her brains for solutions to fix this mess. For a brief moment she considers just walking away, but she cannot. She has nowhere else to go. Asgard is all she has ever known. Without the distraction of sparring with her weapons everyday she will go mad with the triviality and pettiness of the Queen's duties. How did Frigga do it? Frigga was not a trivial petty person and yet she handled this job with the grace and seriousness of a warrior waging battle. She was meant for more than inventorying bed linens and yelling at servants.

Thor is constantly reminded of Jane every time he looks at Erica. If only she could get rid of her maybe Thor would finally forget and move on. Thor will not marry her off so quickly now, and even when the girl is married she cannot be shipped off. She is Thor's only heir.

Sif stops crying then. The solution to her problems is so simple. She will give Thor a son. In his gratitude and joy he will lavish her with the love she has always craved and then Erica can be married off and shipped to a different realm. Having a child will fill up her time and give her someone to love besides Thor. It will even appease all the councilmen and courtiers, since they will view her as performing one of the Queen's duties.

Sif runs to the healer's wing. It is late and there are no healers about. She riffles through the shelves and cupboards looking for a fertility potion. She'd downed her birth control potion just last week and will not be able to conceive for at least another two months, but Sif does not want to wait. She finds what she is looking for. The bottle is simply labeled with "fertility" and no instructions. Sif downs the entire contents of the bottle, safety be damned! Feeling like she has some measure of control over her life again, she turns back to go find her husband and fuck his brains out.

XxXxXxXxXx

Loki tosses and turns as he dreams of Erica, of blood, and of new emotions and lust. Loki dreams he is murdering Avandae. Then he dreams he is Avandae and he is violating his darling girl. Loki awakens with a scream.

He is not alone. The whore he bought the night before is snoring like a chainsaw next to him. He thought perhaps he could quench his lust by sating himself on someone else, someone that looks like Erica. It didn't help. The whore next to him stirs and opens her eyes.

"Time's up. Get out." Loki says to her. The woman frowns and climbs out of bed, gathering up her clothing as she goes. She slips on her dress and shoes and in a matter of seconds she is gone from his sight. Loki lets out a breath he was holding. He gets up and walks to the bathroom. The sight of his reflection disgusts him.

"She's a child. Hell she's practically your daughter! Norns knows you did more to raise her than Thor! You cannot do this! It is wrong." Loki looks away not feeling any better. When has he ever denied himself something he wanted, even when it was forbidden? Especially when it was forbidden. Loki showers and dresses. He practices his facial expressions in the mirror before he leaves. The last thing he wants to do is leer at his niece.

XxXxXxXxXx

A knock comes at Erica's door and Kelda bids the person to enter. It is Loki. The girl jumps up from her seat and squeezes Loki tightly. She looks up at him with nothing but hero worship in her eyes. His heart melts. His fingers sweep and errant lock of hair out of her face and behind her ear. His eyes are fathomless pools of devotion and longing as he gazes at her.

"How are your hands?" Kelda asks Loki with a warm smile. Loki startles out of his reverie to answer her.

"Oh, bruised, but it is a happy injury, one that I would endure over and over again." Loki says as he looks back at Erica. Erica's eyes start to tear and she snuggles back against Loki's chest. The warmth and softness of her body does not help Loki's rapidly growing condition. He grips her biceps and gently pushes her back. "It is alright my darling girl. You are safe now. I will never let harm come to you again."

He guides her to take a seat, and he too in turn so that he can cross his legs. "How are you recovering?" He asks.

"My head still stings at times but I'll get over that. He blindsided me. When we were walking in the garden before, he asked me if I knew magic. I told him that I had been trained by the best, by you. I thought he was just making idle conversation."

"He was assessing how well you could defend yourself. Without your magic you are quite defenseless. No amount of weapons training will bring you to the level of other Asgardians. However, that does not mean you should not be trained at all. I will teach you how to use daggers, especially in close quarters with an assailant. But that means you must carry one on your person at all times henceforth." Loki curses himself. He should have Sif teach her these things. Being in close physical quarters with Erica is another temptation he does not need.

"I'll have the palace seamstress make alterations to her gowns." Kelda says.

"When can I begin the training?" Erica asks.

"When you are fully mended I think." Loki says.

"Three days should do it." Kelda says. Loki and Erica nod. Erica is still looking at Loki like a love sick puppy eager to please its master.

"I love you Loki."

"I love you too my darling girl."

XxXxXxXxXx

Erica tosses and turns in her bed. She cannot sleep. Her mind plays over and over again the moment when her naked body was pressed to Loki's. She should be crying. She should be having nightmares about her attacker. But for the last three nights she has dreamed of her Uncle, kissing her, holding her, protecting her, and making her body feel things she has only felt when she is alone in bed late at night.

She knows her Uncle loves her, but he and Kelda have trained her well to pick up on subtle body language, speech patterns, and other clues. She didn't imagine it. Loki desires her. She is sure of it. For the first time Erica understands why she has never felt interested in any of the boys her age. She wants her Uncle. She always has. Her fingers creep south on her body as aching and wetness cramp between her thighs. She touches herself but finds it is not enough. She wants more, she wants something larger.

Frustrated, she stops what she is doing. She needs to think. She cannot just fuck Loki in a one-time affair or fling. He's her damn Uncle! What does she really want from him? Is it just sex? Norns know her hormones are running wild right now. She learned her lesson watching Sif. Sif fantasized about fucking her father for centuries, and when she finally got what she wanted she got a whole lot of other stuff she didn't want.

"But he loves me too." She hopes. She needs to know. Does her uncle simply lust for her? Or does he desire as she does, something more, something lasting, something binding? The people of Asgard would never condone her and Loki marrying, not to mention her father. Even if she renounced her claim on the throne, her father would still never give them permission to marry. They could run away together, she supposed, but that is not a long term solution. Eventually sleep takes her as her mind churns, searching for a way to get what she wants.