Chapter 10

Jarl stormed through the village, it was one thing when Lagertha played hard to get and jestfully shunned his advances, but for her to outright try and fight him off, that was completely unacceptable.

And as for that other woman; he scowled as he thought of the sword wielder, and her interfering in matters that did not concern her. He could not recall from where he knew her, but she seemed so oddly familiar. Something caught Jarl's attention, the sound of a galloping horse coming to a halt nearby, and looking round he saw the woman again; the one that had taken Lagertha away. He watched her as she scanned the street around her looking for something. Voices called out and she turned in their direction, smiling as the callers came into view. Seeing who it was that had gotten her attention, Jarl's eyes widened, he knew why he had recognised her. As she got her horse to join her companions, he scolded himself internally for not realising who it was as soon as he had seen her, the warrior, Lady Sif.

He watched as she spoke with the Warrior's Three, straining his ears to listen, but failing to make out more that a random word here and there. Walking closer, he picked up more of their conversation.

"And you left her there?" The blonde male warrior asked incredulously.

"Yes, that is what she wanted. If she was unhappy to leave, Thor should have left her there. That is what she wished for, so why deny her that right?" The warrior woman challenged.

"Are you sure Loki did not in some way cast some spell upon her?" The dark haired warrior queried. "We know him to not be beyond such."

"Thor removed his ability to use seidr; he could not have done such. Besides, I witnessed her less than pleasant interaction with a man of the village here. She is adamant that Loki did not in anyway harm her, so if that is true, she is safer there." Jarl's lip curled in contempt at Sif's reference to him.

Before anyone could say anymore, Jarl heard the hooves of another horse beating the hard pavement. He knew as soon as he saw the white stallion, that it was King Thor.

"Did you bring her there?" the king asked.

"Yes."

"And she went inside?"

"I don't know, I wished her luck at the gates and I returned, what she decides to do is her own choice to make." Sif replied sternly.

"I think it a bad idea. Loki…"

"Is owed a lot for what he did in the Alignment." Sif finished the sentence. The red haired warrior tossed his head to the side slightly in reluctant agreement. "She can choose for herself what she will do, but I think going by the fact she states nothing happened her in the palace while there alone with Loki, and then one afternoon away from it she ends up looking like she was meat being tenderised, she will be more than happy to be back there."

"I have to say, I would wager she looks quite well when not looking as though she wrestled a bilgesnipe." The blonde warrior commented.

"Well, we had better head back to the city, we did what we came here to do, as pointless as it now appears to have been." Thor sighed, turning his horse out of the village.

"Pointless? Thor, what if this is what you wished it to be, it may save him." The red haired warrior stated hopefully.

"I do not share your enthusiasm Volstagg, Loki is as unable to accept love as he is at giving it."

"Well either you are proven wrong and Loki succeeds, or you are right, both are results you can take solace in." Sif shrugged as she turned her horse to leave.

The others followed suit, making idle chitchat as they went; and none paying any heed to the man standing close enough by to hear their conversation. Jarl thought of everything he had just heard. Lagertha was at the Winter Palace, with the supposedly deceased Prince Loki, and from the sounds of things, the King was not pleased with that. That was where she had been, and how he had not seen her. Looking to where he knew the Winter Palace was tucked behind the side of the mountainside, he began to think.

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Lagertha stared at the large ornate palace doors, not know what she should do. She did not know whether she should knock or should she enter and call out her presence. In the end, she decided to go around to the back of the palace and enter via the kitchens. When she got there, she felt an odd sense of calm at seeing they were as she had left them before her unscheduled departure. The remainder of the crumble she had baked was still on the counter where she had left it.

Thinking that after everything that happened, Loki may prefer some more pie to most everything else, she reheated the second half and placed it on a tray before making her way through the palace as though on autopilot, heading to his rooms.

She found herself somewhat unsettled by the sense of uneasy silence that seemed to have engulfed the palace. She suspected that Loki would be quietly sitting somewhere, no doubt guilt ridden by his accidental injuring of her. Though he gave off an air of uncaring, she had seen his reaction when she had yelped in pain, and how he stared at it and demanded her taken care of. She knew that it had affected him more than he would let on. She made her way to the door of his rooms, listening out for signs of where he could be as she went. A peculiar noise caught her attention and it took her a moment to realise what it was. It scared her to think of the meaning behind it when she recognised what it was she was hearing. She placed the tray on the usual table before tapping on the door, and waiting a moment. When she got no response, she gently opened the door and made her way inside.

Lagertha gasped as she looked around, the entire room was utterly destroyed. The heavy curtains half fallen toward the ground allowing a lot of light to illuminate the room. It had been damaged by Loki's previous outbursts, with the occasional piece of broken furniture and torn paintings, but now even the bed was destroyed to what Lagertha would wager was beyond repair even with the aid of seidr. She looked toward the source of the only noise in the room and found herself biting her lip as she took in the miserable sight in front of her.

Loki was huddled against the wall, quietly sobbing. His anguish was blatant for her to see. Lagertha stood staring in shock, completely at a loss at what to do. It took her a few moments of open mouthed staring before she went cautiously over to Loki and kneeled in front of the prince. As though finally realising he was no longer alone, Loki silenced and looked up slowly. As his eyes focused on the being in front of him, they widened slightly before the scanned her up and down, noting the bruises that now littered her torso, clear to see because of her badly torn dress and her overall rumpled appearance. "You…How?" his voice cracked.

"I came back. I was forced back to the village, but I was no sooner free of Thor and I did everything in my power to get back. I did not wish to leave." She explained with a small smile.

Loki took a moment to process what she said. "Why?" his voice was cold and emotionless.

Lagertha shrugged. "It feels like it is the right thing to do."

Loki swallowed hard, his eyes darting side to side for a few seconds before he took a deep breath. "You should not have returned." He added coldly. It was all Lagertha could do to keep fresh tears at bay. "What is wrong with you? What in you fails to function to say you thought it a good idea to return here? Did Thor accidentally hit you across the head, is that it? You are nothing short of a fool." He snarled maliciously.

Lagertha felt the tears fall and cursed herself for not being able to contain them as she listened to Loki's cruel words. She looked at the prince; hurt as he glared hatefully at her.

"Oh Norns, not you are crying like a small child. Gods you're pathetic. Grow up and get the Hel out of my palace."

"But…"

"But what?" Loki eyed her before laughing coldly. "Oh, you thought I would actually be happy to see you. Oh how pitiable." Lagertha felt as though she had taken a punch to her gut. "Oh, did I hurt your feelings? Poor little girl. Go home to your parents. No doubt your mother is as useless as that father of your, and they will be glad to have their gullible and precious little darling back." He spat, throwing a broken piece of wood toward her, watching as she cowered as it collided with the wall far too close to her head for her comfort.