Thor returned to his honeymoon suite drenched in sweat and covered in sawdust. Loki watched him enter as he sat in one of the comfortable chairs by the fire.

"We need to talk." Thor said. Loki rolled his eyes.

"You say that as though my opinion has value." Loki said. Thor sighed. They had not yet addressed the topic of ruling and the discussion was long overdue. Thor sat down in the chair opposite Loki and placed Mjolnir on the table. He folded his hands and looked at Loki intently, thinking of how best to broach the subject.

"Tell me Loki, when I am King, what kind of ruler do you think I'll be?"

"An inept one." Loki said, closing his book to look at his husband. His face twisted into a scowl.

"What else?"

"You'll be a bleeding heart. Doing the right thing all the time will eventually conflict with Asgard's best interests. Being underhanded, unethical, and even immoral is sometimes a requirement. At some point, you're going to have to screw over people who don't deserve it for the good of the realm. To avoid war, such a thing is often unavoidable. You don't have the stomach for it." Loki said, challenging. His knuckles were white from gripping the arm of the chair and he was leaning forward as if to pounce on him.

"I agree with everything you just said."

"Do you?"

"Yes. Loki, I love my country. I am smart enough to know that I should not be making the decisions here. Though the people of Asgard are bigoted against omegas in power, I think once they see me on the throne performing poorly and turning to you for guidance on every single question, they will figure out that their bias is ignorant and unfounded."

"You are sweet to think that, but my faith in the people of Asgard is not as great as yours."

"Then have faith in me Loki. Have I done anything since we met that you consider untruthful or dishonorable?" Thor asked.

"Well, aside from the oddity of our wedding night no. But I don't know you. What happens when you and I disagree on a course of action? What then? Will you heed my expertise or will you go your own way? You speak a good talk of providing me deference, but ultimately you will be king not me. You will have the power to make final decisions, not me. Sooner or later, I will fade into the background and become nothing more than an ornament at court."

"You count your value too small then. I cannot speak of unknowns. I do not know what the future holds, but please know that I value your opinions, feelings, and insight." Thor said. Loki looked away, perturbed and inpatient.

"Loki, do you understand why I let you dominate me in bed?"

"Because you're weak willed and kinky?"

"To put you at ease. Do not take my willingness to compromise as weakness." Thor said. "If it please you, if it makes you comfortable to tie me up while we mate I allow it because it makes you feel safe. At first I thought your dominant tastes to be merely a strange compulsion. I now have a deeper understanding of where your fear comes from."

"I'm not afraid of you."

"Then why will you not let us mate properly? I know you want to. Why deny yourself the pleasure you crave so much?"

"I am no one's bitch! Certainly not yours."

"Nor am I yours. I agreed to be your submissive to help you feel safe, but I'll not tolerate abuse either Loki. You can't keep treating me like I'm the enemy."

"But you are my enemy. Don't you get that? You, who has dominion over me in court and in bed. How can I not hate you?"

"I have bent over backwards to earn your trust, and yet you still resist. Only an hour ago did I come to understand why. I know about the rape Loki."

"How dare you! You know nothing! You know nothing about me at all!"

"And whose fault is that? I am trying to get to know you, but you have done nothing but spurned me."

"I'll not be your whore!"

"Is that what they called you when they held you down? How many were there?" Thor asked. Loki's lip trembled. Thor had stuck the dagger in the wound, and now his soul was bleeding. Loki got up to walk away but Thor stopped him. "Stop running Loki. I am your protector now. Let me be your shelter." Thor said. A tear slipped out of Loki's eyes.

"I wasn't raped. I got away."

"How many?"

"Five." Loki said, his voice small and quiet. For the first time since they met, the shield was down. Loki was vulnerable. "But it was really the ringleader that wanted me. I didn't understand his motivations then. Not at first. It's not like he explained his grand evil scheme to me. But I figured out that he wanted to put his babe in my belly. He knew it was only a matter of time before I was declared unfit and that I would be made into the royal broodmare. He understood the political reality of my situation long before I did. He thought to impregnate me and then demand marriage to legitimize the child."

"He was trying to become king. Would your parents have allowed that? How could they make you marry your rapist or allow the kingdom to fall to a man like that?"

"It's the law actually. Tyr figured out a loophole. Royals that have children out of wedlock are to be disowned. It is meant to force little princes like me to honor propriety and chastity. It is also designed to protect the line of succession. Nothing sparks a civil war faster than competing heirs to the throne."

"Surely your father would have changed the law?"

"If he'd tried to change it at a time when I had already become pregnant, the council and the public would have gotten into an uproar. It's not like the royal family can advertise that the crown prince was raped. Can you imagine the political fallout of the most powerful man in the universe being unable to protect his own child from harm?"

"The politics of appearances is beyond my grasp I'm afraid. What you're saying sounds like lunacy to me."

"Just wait until you hold court the first time. It is a den full of wolves." Loki said. "After the incident I brought up the legal loophole with my father. He agreed it was a glaring error and rewrote the law."

"You said you got away, how?"

"Heimdall saw what the men were doing and sent guards to inspect the area where they had me cornered. Tyr and his men fled, but that didn't stop the embarrassment. The guards found me almost naked. My clothes were torn and it was obvious that they'd interrupted something. I swore them to secrecy. Heimdall too."

"Were they punished?"

"Oh yes. I punished them. I dealt out horror and anguish to each of them one by one. I saved Tyr for last of course. I wanted him to know it was coming. I made him sweat in fear and paranoia for weeks. I did things to him Thor. I did things to his skin and meat. I knew from that day and every day after I would never be worthy of Mjolnir. I knew I'd never be king."

"If the people are too stupid to listen to you, then let me be your mouthpiece. I shall be your champion, and you shall be my heart. I want to make love Loki. You can tie me down on my back and ride me if it helps you feel safe. You'd have control. Don't you want it inside of you? I could hold you and bond with you. We could spend the afternoon scenting each other, and talking." Thor said. He'd talked himself up into excitement and his pupils were blown wide. He sniffed Loki's hair, and Loki shivered at the wave of arousal that washed over him. Still, he had reservations.

"I'm not ready." Loki said.

"Alright. But would you allow me to bite you? I think it would help."

"Help? It'll hurt."

"It can. Usually the mark is done at the height of pleasure when you are most distracted. But aside from the pain, it also breaks the glands open, and it'll flood your body with hormones. It'll make you feel better. I've had celibate omegas come up to me and ask me to bite them simply to get that relief. Afterwards, I could hold you. Would you like that?"

"I guess, I suppose that would be alright."