I'm so sorry that it's been a while since I've posted a update. A long dry spell of writers block that only went when my beta stayed with me for a week as part of her holidays in the UK. We had a great time and during a trip to Edinburgh, I found Bethan and Loki again.
Thank you for those who have followed, faved and reviewed. Hopefully chapter 11 won't be so long in the wait.
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Bethan couldn't really be sure as to what brought her to the gnarled, bent, old tree beside the river. Perhaps it was through sentiment, buried at the back of her mind that guided her feet, or maybe it was just the lure of a familiar place that was also peaceful and quiet. Gazing upwards revealed a blanket of cosmic, multi-coloured cloud dotted with minuscule stars, stretching out above her. The view framed by the distorted branches of the tree while the wind whispered through them, like an old friend.
Her first day as the Allfather's scribe had been mind-bendingly challenging in the beginning, yet she had managed to keep up. It had certainly given her an idea of what Loki and Thor had to sit through most days. Well, Loki at least.
He had been nothing more than a distraction, seated across from her at the council table. Bethan had kept her head down, looking up as little as possible so that she didn't have to look at him. Thinking there was no doubt she would stare like some great idiot and be caught out by the man himself – or Odin. On the rare occasion that she did look up, however, it hadn't escaped her notice that Loki was looking straight at her.
It was obvious to her now that the feelings weren't just going to go floating away, like she hoped they would. Futhermore, she had no idea as to if these were actual feelings or just simple lust. Maybe, they were just the remains of what had happened between them before the Fara. It was a dizzying mixture and Bethan suspected that it may explode if left unattended and unchecked. Especially if what she had heard of Loki's exploits with the serving girls and the ladies of the Court were anything to go by. He had certainly come out of his shell in that regard.
When the meeting had concluded it was well into the evening. There had been much to discuss and their meal was brought to the council table so they could continue. Bethan had been mightily relieved when Odin declared business done for the day, as she feared that her hand would fall from her wrist if she had to write any longer. Also, she was extremely keen to move from under Loki's gaze. She noticed him shift in his seat, as if in discomfort, once or twice and fought the urge to smile. Having spent much of her travels in the company of men, Bethan knew what could cause that kind of seat shifting. It made her laugh inside to think that simply looking at her could possibly produce such a reaction from Loki. Though she was loathed to admit that the idea of it being true made her shift her seat slightly also.
With her chambers still full of boxes and there being not a single quiet spot to be found in the palace, Bethan followed her feet through the gates and past the stables, into the trees. Walking until the sun had set, it was only when she came to a clearing in the woods, a meadow filled with tall grass and speckled everywhere with Asgardian wild flowers, that she realized where she was. Stopping under the open sky.
The tree by the river.
Laughing softly to herself, Bethan strolled across the meadow, disturbing fireflies as she navigated the tall grass, tinged with blue and silver from the lunar light. The tree under which everything with Loki first began was much taller than she remembered. At some stage a force of water must have battered its way past in the years before, washing away the comforting layer of dirt and revealing and exposing the tree roots, thick and strong enough to sit on. The gap in the middle where she and Loki had once lain was now gone, leaving a sharp fall with a shallow pool at the bottom that swelled higher when the river currents rushed into it.
Last time she was here Bethan had been nothing more than a girl, angry at those closest to her, but here she was again many years later. Now she was here as an adult, come of age and no longer angry. At least not visibly so.
Bethan was now, however, extremely bored. She had gone from constantly working everyday and being needed, required, to finding herself with nothing to do but wander around the palace, getting her bearings again though her home hadn't changed too much through the years. Even being Odin's scribe hadn't taken up that much of her time given that the meeting only lasted from mid afternoon until when the sun had been absent from the horizon for only a few short hours. The next meeting would not be until four days from then, so she would not be needed again. There was only a handful of the serving staff left that she recognised and the old head librarian that used to give her a minted sugar cluster when she came to the library as a child had long since passed into Valhalla. Then one of Bethan's original chamber maids told her about Lina...
Fingers trailed over the moss dotted bark as Bethan moved around the body of the tree, hopping over from one thick root at the side of the gap to the other before easing herself down onto the weather worn exposed roots of the left hand side, hitching a leg to bend at the knee and the other left to dangle down towards the dark shallow pool.
This was how she came to be looking up at the stars through the branches and for the first time since she had returned, her mind felt quiet, at peace with itself. Bethan gripped at the smooth wood of the root she sat on for balance, suddenly curious as she felt indentations under her palm. Shifting her hand she looked hard to see the faded carvings of two names written on old Asgardian symbols, barely visible in the dim light. Bethan on one root and Loki on another. Smiling to herself, she traced them with a finger, feeling somewhat glad that this place was marked in a small way at least and it made her chest swell slightly to think that Loki had put them there himself.
"What has you smiling so widely to yourself, I wonder?"
Bethan quickly lifted her head and looked to the roots across from her. There sat the youngest prince himself, legs crossed at the ankle with knees splayed wide and his hands clasped together as his elbows rested against his knees. His infuriating smirk visible, even in the muted light.
Bethan smiled back at him. "Nothing really. Memories."
Loki's smirk morphed into a sincere smile, his gaze falling to his fingers idly picking away at a thumbnail. She'd almost forgotten that he slightly shy habit of his.
"I found out about what you did for Lina."
Loki's head came up once more, his face a little more serious at the mention of the previous head chambermaid.
"It was Mother who made all the arrangements really, I simply suggested that something be done for her as she was becoming too old to work and she'd taken such good care with us as children."
Modesty was not something that Bethan expected from Loki. She had heard from her recent chambermaids that Loki had in fact spoken with the Queen when it became truly noticeable that Lina was having difficulties, given her a list of everything that was to be arranged, leaving his mother to deal with it so it would seem to be all her idea. The servants were observant, never forgetting any little titbit of information they might just so happen to overhear. You never knew how it could help you in the future.
Lina was gifted her own home. Small and modest but still much better than anything that she would ever been able to purchase by herself. The elderly and frail woman had been provided with a healthy allowance, that saw would keep her comfortable for the rest of her days. A gift given in thanks for all of the caring and love she had given for the prince's and Bethan in their childhood, along with her continued service in all duties when they grew. The Queen had even been by Lina's bedside as she had slipped away, only a few short years past. Bethan had been sorry that she could not have been there also.
Bethan's smile was still wide and bright as she looked over the seated prince, "Still, the Queen may not have been as generous if she had not had a certain little bird whispering in her ear. Thank you for seeing that she was taken care of while I was gone."
"After some of the sights that greeted her when entering our chambers, it was the least I could do." Loki's face became warm again with the smirk that appeared while Bethan burst out laughing.
"Well, it was your own fault! I told you to get out of bed before Lina arrived to help me get ready for Bran's wedding, but you continued to lounge about only half covered by a paper thin sheets. Lina must have got one Hel of an eye full when she opened the door!"
Her laugh had turned into giggles at the memory of a shout of surprise from Lina, Loki's yelp and the thud on the floor that followed. Loki laughed along with her, the smirk breaking into a wide smile.
"I'm not sure who got the biggest fright. Me or her. I just remember seeing this shocked face and Lina marching towards me. I panic at seeing her, scrabbling for the covers, and ended up tumbling backwards off the bed to become a pile on the floor. 'Get yer arse aff the flare boy an' get back tae yer own bed afore ony one sees ye!'"
Hearing Loki's screeching impression of the old woman made Bethan laugh so hard again that it came out in wheezes , leaving her bent over, clutching at her stomach. She managed to just about calm herself enough to speak again.
"All this happened while I hid in my bath. I got such a telling off from her once you'd gone." Bethan managed finally to catch her breath as her laughter subsided. "I feel bad for not being here when she passed. Just reminds me that I've missed so many important things."
The sly, warm smile that reminded her of the boy crept onto his face, but it had a different edge to it now and Bethan felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. "Ah, but Bethy, there is so much fun still to be had."
"Sometimes I feel you think this is all a game for your amusement, Loki." Bethan showed him a sly smile of her own, shifting her legs to let them both dangle.
"I can assure you that I don't have the faintest idea as to what you are implying, Bethan."
She chuckled quietly to herself, letting comfortable quiet fall between them, happy to be simply alone in his company. Loki sat watching the breeze play about with the wisps of hair that had come loose for a moment or two before breaking the silence, his voice dripping with his playful teasing.
"What is this I hear of you interrogating poor, helpless Thor about non-existent wives?"
Bethan felt a slight heat rise in her cheeks at the mention of it. Her head rested to the side, an eyebrow rose as she stated matter-o-factly, "Your mother is Frigga. Also you are royalty with a duty to provide possible heirs and I have been gone for over two hundered years. I really expected to come home and find I had two stunning sisters-in-law and a massive brood of nieces and nephews." Leaning forward she brought her head up once more, resting her hands on her knees as she peered at him through the gloom. "Especially if the whispers of your reputation are anything to go by. Some of the serving girls seem to be just a tad obsessed by you."
She really couldn't help but chuckle at the smugness that was beginning to radiate off of Loki. "Well, what can I say? It seems that women have a weakness for me, and I am nothing if not thorough. As you yourself know. Though, I must admit, much has changed in the way of finesse since last."
What the Americans back on Earth might call a 'shit eating' grin appeared on his lips, pulling at his features and making the hollows in his cheeks clear even in the fading light. It was so obvious to Bethan now what he was doing. Loki had always loved games, especially when he won, and loved to tease people in such a way just to see how they would react to him, finding it especially funny when they would become so flustered that they almost lost the power of speech.
He forgot one thing though.
This was Bethan he was trying to play games with.
"There's a phrase for men like you back on Midgard, Loki."
"Please. Enlighten me, do."
"Hound Dog."
Loki's shoulders shook with the laugh that escaped him, breaking through the carefully planned charm he was trying to weave around Bethan. She hadn't blushed or shifted her legs. Her eyes hadn't gone wide and she wasn't fidgeting. All signs that the girl he knew from before would exhibit when he got under her skin in the most pleasant of terms.
Now though, Bethan had just sat there, smiling at him in a way that made his insides tighten. It was then that he realized she was onto him, and he couldn't allow her to get away with it.
"It might surprise you to know that I have heard this term already, but I find that silver-tongued devil is a more apt description."
Loki watched her shoulders shake slightly as she chuckled quietly, bringing her legs up and crouching on a thick low root. "You being called a devil, I can very much believe... Silver tongued seems a bit far fetched, I'm afraid."
Bethan was out and out teasing him now, not letting any remark go unmatched. Normally if any woman tried to do the same, their attempt would be feeble at best, causing him to lose all interest in the chase. He would dismiss their attentions almost immediately. Only if he was not already close to his ultimate goal and want.
It was the chase, the challenge, that Loki enjoyed most and to have the prize given without much effort or resistance felt like cheating or charity.
But with Bethan, her approaches were not feeble in the slightest. Loki found her willingness to try and one up him more than intriguing and more enjoyable than if she had become all shy and simpering like some.
Finally. Someone worthy enough to keep him on his toes.
Bethan gave him a cheeky wink. "I remember you were adequate enough. Yet, I wonder if the years have seen any improvement?"
Loki's smirk widened. "If my Lady Bethy would care to research this matter; she is more than welcome to do so."
Bethan thrummed her fingers against her knee, seeming like she was thinking about his offer, but she only allowed a moment or two to pass. Silently she stood, balancing on a root.
"Alright."
Had anyone been there to witness, they would have laughed at the look of surprise that danced across Loki's face as Bethan fell onto his lap. Her arms twined around his neck, lips pressed against his in a fierce kiss. It took mere seconds for Loki to come to grips, wrapping his arms around her waist to bring her close.
Long moments passed. Bethan's hands travelled up into Loki's hair, ruining its immaculate style as she tugged it between her fingers. This innocent gesture earned her a small groan, something that gave her great satisfaction. Both were running out of breath, but neither cared. Even as Loki broke the kiss, his lips fled across her neck, planting light kisses across her jawbone to her neck. He could feel Bethan smiling into his hair and a self satisfied smile of his own appeared when he finally reached the curve and felt the woman in his lap suddenly go tense. The sound of Bethan's breath hitched against his ear.
"Gah! Loki." Hands still fisted into jet black hair tightened to bring Loki's face back to Bethan's, meeting with a kiss that had become desperate. Speaking with breathless voices between the kisses. "I can't believe you're still so much of a bloody tease."
"That's nothing, little Bethy."
Bethan jumped in his lap and Loki grinned broadly as he let a hand leave the small of her back to slide smoothly down and along her thigh to Bethan's knees, slipping between them swiftly till his hand could go no further and began to tease his fingers over the heat he found there.
Fists pulled at the back of his head to bring him back into a kiss once again. The pain from the sharp movement spending a spark down his back.
Bethan was totally caught up in the heat of Loki's hand between her legs that it was too late before she noticed that he had been leaning forward, causing her to lean back over the hollow below between the roots. She called out in shock when he let her go, falling down through the air...onto a cushy bed.
The bugger had teleported them at the very last moment.
Loki near enough let out a giggle at the rage on Bethan's face, dodging a stray pillow that she pelted at him.
"You are such a fucking arsehole, Loki!"
She wasn't sure how he managed it, but somehow he was now nose to nose, pinning her arms to the bed above her head and was nestled snugly between her splayed legs.
"Such crudeness from you, Bethy."
Bethan's pet name was almost lost as Loki dipped his head down to capture her in a kiss with just as much fire as before. He grinned widely into it when Bethan gave a breathless gasp when he finally began to rock against her. Managing to wriggle her arms free, Bethan's hands trailed over his chest, making Loki believe that she was beginning the task of undoing his intricate clothes, but his brow arched in surprise when they kept going.
Everything seemed to become blurred as soon as Bethan's hands reached in between them. One hand moving over the rigid length of him as the other fought with the ties of his trousers. Loki couldn't hold back the cry that was retched from deep in his throat as Bethan's slender hand wrapped around his cock, making his whole lower half stutter forwards into it.
With a mad, hardly co-ordinated, wave of his arm the sound of the doors lock turning clicked loudly and a faint simmer glimmered on the walls for a moment. Making sure that no noise could be heard, even if one's ear were to be pressed hard against the door on the other side.
Taking her hand away, Bethan, with Loki's help, quickly undid her own trousers and pushed them to her ankles, followed closely by his own. Fingers clawed, teeth nipped at each others bottom lips and soft moans and deep groans bounced off the walls once Loki's hips aligned in the right spot, surging forward to great effect. At one point in the past he had wanted to give Bethan more than just the mad rocking like someone possessed, but he was spurred on by her matching him at every turn. Getting closer and closer to what white hot point that felt like it would burn you with heat equal to the sun.
All too quickly that point came hurtling towards them. Both falling head first over the edge.
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Eyes opened slowly, the chill in the air waking Bethan from sleep.
She wasn't sure when it was that she had finally fallen asleep, but she was a little surprised to find Loki still lying there beside her; naked as the day he was born. Some other small part of her found comfort in it to. He hadn't simply run away as son as his ache had been eased, repeatedly, and Loki's hand even rested high up on her bare thigh. Neither pushing away or pulling her towards him, but holding her in place. Keeping her there. The haze of sleep clung to the synapses of her brain, fogging her vision and memory. It transported her back through the years to well before the Fara.
Then they had both been children in the eyes of their elders, yet able to act upon their feelings in a way most un-childlike. Bethan had felt trapped there. Her life all mapped out before her with no consent.
Come of age. Marry. Produce babies.
That was once all that she could have hoped for in her life. But there were now so many possibilities. She just simply had to find out what they were.
Loki's hand tightened and shifted slightly against her skin as he was pulled from sleep. The lights had all gone out, but in the gloom of the night and what little light there was that filtered through from the window from the world outside, Bethan could still make out his features.
"Well... That was unexpected."
His voice was low and soft. Half whispered against the pillow as if he feared to be heard, though guards were no longer posted at their doors and his craft upon the walls still held fast.
Her own muffled laugh whispered back. "Certainly was. Though I still hold the highest of suspicions that you planned the entire thing."
The prince's smile could clearly be seen and his hand began to slowly move to Bethan's knee and back. It was a motion she found so soothing, she felt as though she may fall right back into sleep once again.
"Ah, yes. I am able to make you wonder around the palace grounds, to a rather particular, and rather obvious spot, where I would just happen upon you 'by chance'." His voice dripped with the sarcasm he was well known for.
"Well, you certainly 'happened' upon me. Going by the ache in my legs."
Bethan enjoyed hearing him laugh so heartily and so suddenly. All the layers placed upon him melted away and a more familiar Loki emerged.
"When in the throes of such an experience, neither man nor woman should keep themselves reigned in so. To let one's self go should be taken as a great compliment."
"Then your great ardour is taken as such and I am mighty flattered."
"I to from yours. And yes. My ardour is great." Loki removed his hand from Bethan's hip to throw his arms wide, stretching and arching his back. "Though mine is much more visible when inflamed than most."
Letting out a playful, yet slightly disgusted, laugh Bethan slapped him on his now vulnerable belly, making him curl up, grabbing her hand gently and holding it there, the palm resting flat against his stomach, when he had relaxed again. All the while laughing like a naughty school boy.
"Shouldn't you be getting back to your room?" Bethan's question was filled with honest, innocent, concern.
"Use me and then lose me, is that it?" The quirk of a smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth showed that Loki was merely jesting.
"Of course not. But won't it be noticed if you're not in your own chambers tomorrow?"
Loki's smile became soft again. "I have been known to be abed in other places, so it would not cause any tongues to wag... More than they already do, of course.
"Oh, and by the way. This is my chamber. Which means it should be me asking you whether you should leave."
Within a second, Bethan sat bolt upright in the vast bed, not thinking or caring that all the bed clothes were still shoved down to the foot and that she was totally bare.
The unexpected bed-fellow was indeed speaking true. These were not her rooms, but his. The walls were a façade of pale marble and Bethan could make out in the darkness that most of them were lined almost to the ceiling with books and the enormous desk near the fireplace was littered with open tomes and scattered papers.
"Oh! So it is!" Bethan finally seemed to realize she was just a little under dressed and brought her unpinned hair over her shoulders in an attempt to regain at least some of her modesty. Though there was little point now, seeing as Loki had gotten reacquainted with each bit. "I should go."
Moving off the bed, Bethan quickly found her trousers in a crumpled heap next to it and slipped into them, followed closely by her boots.
"You really don't have to, Bethy. Stay. No one will care."
Loki pulled the covers back up to his waist while tugging on the top band of Bethan's trousers, trying to get her to fall back into bed. She wriggled away, slipping her tunic over her head and struggled with the laces all down the back. Sighing, Loki let go and fell back against his pillow, twitching some fingers so that all the laces of Bethan's tunic tightened to a perfect fit.
"Thank you." Turning towards him, Bethan crawled back onto the bed, resting her head on the pillow beside him. "I really should get back to my own room. It may not be given a second thought about you not being found in your own bed tomorrow morning, but it certainly will with me."
"I don't know why it matters."
"I have to find a standing in Asgard again. If the peoples of the realm are still anything like they were before I left-"
Loki nodded. "They are. Pompous fools."
Bethan sat up, leaning on an arm and looked down over Loki, great long waves of hair spilling over one shoulder.
"My point exactly. If we were of the commoners then it would not matter so much. However, we haven't been that lucky. You're royalty and I am a highborn who has been gone for a long time. The foster daughter of Odin no less. If the court where to find out that I am not spending my nights in my own bed, then their barbed tongues may ruin any chance I have of finding a place for myself that is beyond what would normally be expected."
Loki gave a disappointed sign, "You are right. The vipers at court probably wouldn't take kindly to it, even though they partake in such dealings themselves." He reached out to tug absent-mindedly at a long curl that hung from her temple. "Would I be presumptuous in thinking that when you said nights, instead of night, that you were thinking this would happen again?"
Bethan smiled down on him, watching his long fingers play with her hair. She gave him a swift kiss before sliding of the bed and heading towards the door. "Night, Loki."
"Good night, little Bethy."