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Chapter 7
Loki barely took note of Jane's shock at her first sight of Asgard. Horses had been brought for them, and he placed Anastasia on the back of his stallion. She slumped over, and would have fallen off had he not been holding her in place. He soon had the horse in a canter, heading across the bridge, eager to be totally sure nothing was wrong with Ana. She had not even stirred since he had removed her chains, and Loki wanted Eir to check her over. While he was very skilled with magic, Eir's healing abilities were undisputed. Loki was aware that the others were close behind him, but he was sure Thor would want to give Jane a chance to take in the sights as they rode through the city. The others, while being close, would not catch up.
The moment they reached the palace grounds, he dismounted, pulling Anastasia with him, leaving his horse for the stable hands to take care of. The Healing rooms were remarkably empty and both Eir and his mother were waiting for them.
"Place her down on this bed here, so I can get a better look at her," Eir said, in a tone that brooked no argument.
Loki did so, and Eir began examining Anastasia with magic. "Her powers were supressed?"
"They were," Loki nodded. "Anastasia is at least part phoenix. The chains used to force them into a familiar bond were used on her."
"Where are these chains now, my son?" Frigga asked.
"Last I checked, Fandral had them."
She nodded, and called for a servant, before giving the order to have Fandral take the chains to her study so she could examine them later. "Will she recover, Lady Eir?" Frigga then asked.
"Thankfully, yes, she will. There is no sign of any sort of bond being active; all I can sense is the dormant soul bond. Her magic is replenishing itself. She will sleep for a while yet, and even after she wakes, her magic will still be recharging. She should rest for a week after waking, but after that, she will be fine."
"Just rest from magic or bed rest?" Loki enquired.
"Bed rest for the first two days, then I suggest not allowing her to go far for the next day. After that, the final four days her only restriction should be on her using magic."
"Do you want her to stay here?" Loki asked.
"You can take her to other quarters if you wish, but you will be responsible for ensuring she rests," Eir told him. The 'or else' was not needed. Everyone knew not to mess with the healer and her commands concerning patients. "Also, make sure she drinks one of these with every meal," she summoned a vial filled with blue potion to her hand, and gave it to him. "I will be sure to have more sent to you for her recovery."
Loki pocketed it. "Thank you, Lady Eir," he nodded to her.
The healer nodded, turned and swept off. When in her domain, everyone received the same treatment. Even royalty.
"Have you slept, Loki?" Frigga asked, concern colouring her tone.
He knew better than to lie to his mother on this. "Not since before she was taken. I was searching for her. I could feel the pain those pathetic mortals were putting her through." His jaw was clenched, and his hands were fists.
"Then you need to rest as well. I will see to it she has chambers across from yours-"
"No," he shook his head. "She can stay in mine until she wakes. If she wants her own room when she wakes, she can, but for now, while she is still so vulnerable, I want to be close enough to her to protect her."
"They cannot reach her here. I can have guards posted outside her door."
"Thank you for the thought mother, but no. I will feel better having her close to me for now. I cut it far too close for my liking. You should have seen her mother, there is some colour back in her cheeks now, but she was so grey. I fear they would have forced her to submit had I taken any longer."
"But you did not," Frigga cupped his cheek, and smiled gently. "You found her in time. Now go, you need rest too. And I wish to meet her when she is awake. I want you at your best then as well. Understood?"
"Yes mother." He nodded.
She smiled, gently brushed a strand of hair out of Ana's face, and left. Loki soon followed, before heading for his own chambers, carrying Anastasia at a far more sedate pace now.
The first thing that Ana registered was the lack of pain. After that, she sensed her magic. It was not at the strength she was accustomed to, but right now it rushed through her. If it was a person, it would be singing. The next thing she realised was that, whatever bed she was on, she was curled into someone else, with their arms wrapped around her. Her nose, buried into the nape of their neck, registered Loki's scent. She brought her hands, now blissfully free of those damned chains, up to rest on his chest and a few tears escaped her eyes.
Loki's one arm tightened round her, pulling her closer to him, as the other moved up to run through her hair.
"I thought it was a dream," She whispered, remembering the pain the chains had brought. She knew had they been left on any longer, she would have agreed to anything.
"It was no dream, my Firebird. You are safe now, and they will pay for what they did to you. They have already begun to pay."
She looked up at him, and their eyes met. "What do you mean?"
"I turned your twin brother into a squib. His friend, Ron, attacked Thor and got killed for his efforts. That was obviously not planned, but I want to see what they will do now Hadrian is a squib. If they turn on him as they did you, then what happens then will be planned accordingly. Either way, I plan on seeing them pay."
"You don't need to do that," Ana replied.
His hand ran across her cheek. "I swore I would never let them harm you again, and when I failed to do that, you were tortured and nearly enslaved. Anastasia, you have been asleep for a whole day recovering, and you have still not fully recovered," Loki was clearly furious over this, both at them and himself.
"That wasn't your fault!" She said. "You came for me, you got me out. You're one of the few people who would do even that for me."
"But they still hurt you, and I will not simply let that go."
"You reduced one of my main tormentors to a squib to spite him and my parents."
"It is not enough to pay for the years of pain they put you through before you left for New York, and after they kidnapped you. They will pay for it, and you will be safe in the knowledge that they can no longer harm you."
She kissed him. "Thank you for thinking about me. Just don't go overboard."
"I make no promises my lady." He smiled at her, before sitting up, pulling her with him.
"Where are we?" Anastasia asked, looking round the opulent bedroom they were in.
The bed was huge and there were large bookshelves around the room, filled with heavy books. On either side of the bed were side tables and there were two doors leading Merlin knew where. Silk ceiling to floor curtains hid the windows.
"Asgard. I wanted to be sure you were well, so I brought you here so Eir could examine you. Also, it is far safer here than anywhere on Midgard. The only way any of those who kidnapped you could get here would be if they were brought here in chains. You can recover in safety."
"And Jane?"
"Is here also. She was unharmed, but Thor wanted her safe also. Understandable." Suddenly a tray filled with food appeared over their laps. It was filled with fruits, meats, bread, two goblets full of a gold liquid and one vial containing a blue potion. "Eir recommends you take the potion with each meal during your recovery."
The smell of the food reached her and her stomach alerted her to the fact that she hadn't eaten in far too long. Ana downed the potion, before making herself a sandwich and eating it quickly. Loki ate at a far more sedate pace, watching as she tried to make up for the severe lack of food she had received when held prisoner. When she finished the sandwich she went for her goblet and he watched as her face lit up at the taste of the drink within.
"This is amazing! What is it?"
"Juice."
No juice tastes this good." She said, turning to look at him. "I would have found it by now."
"Made from the apples of Iduna- the apples that help us retain our immortality."
"Am I allowed this?" She looked startled.
Loki smiled. "Yes, of course you are. You are my soulmate, and not only that, you are a phoenix in everything but plumage."
She raised an eyebrow. "So I look like a featherless bird?"
"You know that is not what I mean."
She just smiled and continued eating. She couldn't eat as much as she wanted however, and found herself full after the one sandwich and a few pieces of fruit.
"You have not eaten much," Loki noted.
She shook her head. "I can't eat anymore. I'm too full."
He nodded and banished the food, having finished himself. "So long as you eat," Loki conceded.
"What now?" She asked.
"Now, on Eir's orders, you are restricted to bed rest for two days. And no magic for a week."
"What?"
"Lady Eir's orders. After tomorrow I will show you the library, if you agree to follow them. I want you to recover fully."
Ana bit her lip. He had told her all about the library. The books there would be amazing, she was sure. And worth the bed rest and the restriction on using her magic. "Alright. I'll behave. But I want to know everything that's happened since I was kidnapped."
"Very well." He nodded, pulling her into his side. "Everyone decided they were going to help out, so it was a rather large rescue party. We barely managed to get Darcy, Pepper and Doctor Selvig not to come along too. I do not know where Darcy got the extra Tasers from, but she found them," he told her about searching Wales, and narrowing down possibilities, until they were approached by Hermione who led them to the house. He gave her a detailed account of the twins and Sirius being on their side, while the others remained steadfastly behind the Potters.
By the end of it, Ana was looking down at her hands. "I still can't believe that they claim to be my family but would do that to me," she said, angrily brushing tears out of her eyes.
Loki placed his hand under her chin and angled her face up, so their eyes met. "No one who would do that to you is your family. Your home is here now, and if you want a family, you will have one. No doubt my mother will take you under her wing, you and Jane both. Thor already treats you as he would a sister. My father, is rather unpredictable in the matter, but I would not suspect much opposition from him. Anything else will come in time. Only when you are ready for it though."
She smiled at him. "Thank you."
A few hours later, Loki left Ana reading while he went to inform Jane and Thor that she was awake, and was fine, just not ready to use her magic yet. He hadn't been gone long when she heard a knock on the door.
"Come in," Ana said, not sure if she was supposed to let anyone into Loki's room, but supposed he would have told her otherwise. A woman with long light brown hair in a blue gown that matched her kind eyes came in.
She smiled. "Hello Anastasia, I have been hoping to meet you for quite some time. I am Frigga, Loki's mother and Queen of Asgard."
"Oh, um, hi." She was shocked that Frigga had come to visit her.
Frigga sat on the edge of the bed, still smiling at her. "I hope you are feeling better?"
"Much better, thank you," Ana nodded.
"Good. I know you are aware of what Loki has done, why he is helping his brother and the Avengers on Midgard, but I want to know what you think of that?"
Ana frowned. "It wasn't right, what he did, but I can also tell he wasn't in the right frame of mind when he attempted to take over the world. As far as I'm concerned, it's in the past and he's trying to atone for it, so that's what matters to me."
"And if he was not remorseful?"
"We wouldn't get on so well. My life was ruined once by a man with similar goals. Though, I think I would be trying to get him to see sense, if I could."
Frigga's smile grew. "I am glad of your answers, Anastasia. Right now, he needs someone to help him stay on the right track, not force him to stick to it. Norns know that anytime anyone tried to force him to do anything he went and did the exact opposite to what he was told."
"Sounds like he was a handful growing up."
"They both were, but I managed. I am not the Goddess of Motherhood for nothing. Now, ha Loki asked you whether you would prefer to stay here, or in other chambers?"
"He has, I chose to stay here," she blushed slightly at the admission.
"No need to be embarrassed child, either option is perfectly acceptable, considering the bond, though I am told it is still dormant."
"I wasn't ready to activate it. I'm not sure I'm even ready now, though with the kidnap attempt…"
"There is no reason to rush something you are not ready for. I do not want to see either of you unhappy because you hurried your relationship due to the attempts of a few mortals. I am told some of them were related to you? How closely?"
"My parents and twin brother were the ones who were part of the group to kidnap me."
"Your own parents? How could they?"
She shrugged. "I'm used to it."
"To torture?"
"Not that."
"Then what?" Frigga reached out and grasped Ana's hand.
"I guess to them, I've always been less. Now, I'm less than human. Not much difference the way I see things really."
"This will not do. For what they have done to you, they will pay. I am sure Loki has already promised you that."
"He has, but I'll be happy just being away from them."
"Would you really? Knowing they were still out there and able to do others harm?"
Ana frowned. "That's a point," she conceded.
"We do not need to talk of this now if you do not wish to."
"I just… after everything… I'd be happy if I never went near them again."
"I can promise you now, they will not touch you," Frigga looked up across the room. "Have those curtains been shut this whole time? Oh this will not do."
She stood up and strode across the room, before throwing the large curtains open easily. Ana felt her breath hitch at the sight beyond the windows. It was beautiful and she found herself unable to think of anything else at the sight of the shining city stretched out in front of her. Something Frigga had hoped for. She had hoped that the sight of Asgard would raise Anastasia's spirits after their talk. She couldn't go out and explore it yet, but she could look at it.
"When you are fully recovered, you will be able to go out and explore the city. No doubt Loki is looking forward to showing you the sights."
"It's beautiful."
"I do believe we have very little competition within the other realms."
"I bet," Ana agreed, still staring. The sight was captivating.
Frigga sat back down on the edge of the bed. "This is your home now, Anastasia, no harm from the mortals who called themselves your family will come to you here. You have the protection of our realm."
A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Please review!
