Author's note: Hello everyone, we meet again :)! As always, many thanks to my reviewers and for accepting me to the great community "for the love of Loki" ;).
Your suggestions on how to punish Karnilla are as cruel as they are creative. Keep going – I love them and could never come up with something as sadistic as that :)!
This chapter was inspired by the very great song "Break the Spell" by my favorite musicians Daughtry! I hope you enjoy the lyrics since they perfectly tie in with our little story :). I guess, since the emotional side of Loki is barely shown in the movies, my portrayal of him features parts of Tom Hiddleston's roles in "War Horse" and "Return to Cranford". Watch them – they're amazing!
So long, have fun with Hayley and Loki and take care!
Chapter 10: Break the spell
Hayley didn't know where she was or what time it was. She wasn't even quite sure who she was herself. The only thing she did know was that her small confined world seemed to have been made from pure white sizzling pain. In and out of consciousness, the girl didn't realize much of what was going on around her. Familiar voices or a familiar touch now and then, but none could diminish her agony.
Finally, when Hayley had started thinking of this as her personal chamber in hell, an acidly tasting tincture was forced into her mouth. Gradually, the pain decreased and she slipped into sleepless stupor.
The first person at her bedside that Hayley coherently recognized was Frigga, the Queen of Asgard herself. After her parents' death, Frigga was the only one who came close to a mother figure for Hayley. However, since her profession as Queen kept her from spending much time with Hayley they rarely saw each other.
Equally surprised and confused Hayley tried to stir and talk to the Queen. "Please don't move and exert yourself, child," the Queen said softly. Hayley blinked but couldn't quite get her face into focus. "You're still under the influence of Karnilla's poison. But you are awake, now. That is a good sign. The antidote must have gained the upper hand in your body."
Gently, Frigga stroked Hayley's head and held her hand. Barely audible Hayley asked hoarsely "What happened?" "As my son tells me, you were bitten by Veneficus before you killed him. Thor said Karnilla got wild with rage when she realized her beloved pet dragon had been killed by a mere mortal." The way Frigga smiled to herself after her last words told Hayley she did indeed not consider her a "mere" mortal. The Queen continued. "Unfortunately, his teeth were very poisonous and the venom must have had an effect on you quite instantaneously, after all you had been through prior to that. Anyway, Loki teleported you directly back here after he saw your condition. Our healer tried anything she could to help you but for a while your life was hanging in the balance. We were in desperate need of the antidote and only Karnilla had it.
She was held captive in her own castle after it had been managed to defeat her. Loki went straight back to Nornkeep and when Thor arrived there some time later he could barely manage to control his brother. If it hadn't been for Thor, Loki would have killed her without her giving us the information we needed. Thor said Loki was beside himself with rage." Frigga grew pensive. "Allegedly, Loki tortured Frigga until she would tell him where she had stored the antidote. Even after he returned and your wounds started to heal he was still on edge. I have never seen him like this before."
This was too much unsettling information for Hayley to take in at the same time. Her mind was still hazy and her eyelids became heavy again. She blinked and then mumbled before closing her eyes completely "Thank you for telling me." Hayley's head rolled to the side and she drifted back to sleep. But from a distance she heard the final words from Frigga. "Get well soon, Hayley. My son needs you. He just doesn't know it quite yet."
The next time Hayley regained consciousness, she didn't open her eyes. However, she didn't know why she had been sleeping after all. Quietly, she overheard the conversation of two voices that seemed slightly familiar.
"Father, please, is there nothing you can do? I cannot lose her. She's… important."
"All we can do is wait, Loki. We have the antidote. Let's hope she wasn't weakened too much by your escape. Sit with her. It'll help both of you."
A few moments later, Hayley felt a warm hand in hers and then a kiss on her forehead.
"Please, don't leave me," a voice whispered. "I need you."
It was Loki. He was sitting at her bedside and he was holding her hand. In fact, he was begging her not to leave him, not the other way around. Hayley blinked and looked at his pale face. "If anything, I'd do that only to repay you for leaving me."
Loki's head spun around. He stared at her incredulously. "You're awake," he whispered and kissed the back of the hand he was holding. "I thought I had lost you." Hayley was relieved that she could wipe away that profound look of sadness from his face just by being alive.
"People come back even after you think that you might have lost them forever," Hayley said weakly. "It has happened to me and I wouldn't wish it on anyone." A pained look shot across Loki's face and he buried his face into her shoulder.
"I should never have left you. I was so stupid! But I was so young and naïve. Please Hayley, can you forgive me?" He was looking straight into her eyes now, desperation written all over his face. Hayley gave him a small smile. Her arm felt unnaturally heavy but she still managed to caress his cheek. "Yes, I can," was Hayley's simple answer.
Loki smiled backed at her but it didn't reach his eyes. Underneath her fingertips Hayley felt roughness on Loki's usually flawless skin. She squinted her eyes and found small scars on his throat and as she looked more closely on his hands as well. Carefully, she touched him, "What happened?"
Loki averted her gaze. "Let's just say I did everything I could to rescue you. And Karnilla got what she deserved." Hayley observed as his jaw muscles flexed. His state worried her but she didn't want to press the matter any further. She was still too weak to do so.
"Thank you for saving me," Hayley muttered before she closed her eyes again. She fell asleep with the feeling of Loki's tender lips against her knuckles.
During the next few days, Hayley's health slowly but gradually improved. Most of the time Loki or the healer were with her, but sometimes Frigga or even Sif joined her. Every day, the bandage on her hip, where the dragon had bit her, had to be replaced. When Loki had volunteered for the task, Hayley was equally nervous and glad. Whereas the healer wasn't very demure about the procedure, Loki's touch on her skin was very intimate but at the same time gentle and caring.
It was their aim to get Hayley back on her feet until the great banquet when Odin was to officially announce Thor his successor. Hayley was absolutely forbidden to take part in any form of training or battle itself until her full recovery. She would take long walks in the halls of the castle or in the gardens, instead; often with Loki at her side.
Nevertheless, she hadn't failed to notice the gossip about her and the prince of Asgard. It was the same chatter she had overheard when she had been younger. Though worried, her health was her first priority and she genuinely enjoyed the newly found trust between herself and Loki.
The banquet was to be held for about 50 of the highest ranking officials in the realm; and Hayley was invited, too. She had never been to anything as formal as this. On the day before the event she meekly admitted to Loki "I don't think that I should go, really." He looked up from his book. They were sitting in the training room where Hayley had been practicing light magic spells for the last hour.
"What, to the banquet?" Loki asked and frowned. Hayley got up from her chair. "Well, yes. I don't think I'm ready. And there will be so many people. And I really have no place there, do I?" She looked at Loki skeptically.
He put his book on a table. "Of course, you have a place there. You're part of the family. If anything, I need you there to not get annoyed out of my mind. My brother – the King of Asgard. It's unfathomable as it is. But without you it'll be like hell."
Hayley smiled wearily. "I don't even have anything to wear." Deliberately, she kept quiet about her worries in terms of the rumors about her and Loki.
"Oh, that should be the least of your problems. Mother has taken care of that." Hesitantly, Hayley had to accept that there would be no way around it.
The next morning, Hayley didn't see Loki all day long; no one to give her reassuring words or a smile. In the afternoon, she had become so nervous she started biting her nails. Luckily, she knew a spell to remove the effects. Hayley was staring at the big package a young boy had just brought to her chambers that was sitting on her bed. It must be the dress, she thought. Sighing, she removed the lid and was immediately moved by the beauty of the design.
The dress was made of pure silk but embroidered with thousands of small sparkling beads forming an intricate tangled design. As she put it on, Hayley realized that it fit perfectly and showed quite a lot of her cleavage and underlined her curves rather nicely.
But what struck her the most was the fact that emerald green really looked good on her. Did Frigga really take care of her wardrobe or had the god of mischief had a hand in it? Nevertheless, Hayley felt pretty self-confident in her new outfit and that alone was a rare feeling. With a quick spell she pinned her hair up on top of her head in an elaborate style and smiled at her reflection in the mirror.
Bracing herself she walked through the halls to the wing of the castle where the banquet was to be held. On her way, she could feel the looks of passersby or guards on her and her self-consciousness returned. Why had she even considered going to that banquet? The only thought that kept her going was that she had to be there for Loki. She would endure the strange looks and unsettling gossip just for him.
When she reached the doors that would first lead her to a winding staircase that would then bring her to the banquet room Hayley was greeted by two big and bulky guards. Noiselessly they opened the double winged doors for her and she entered. On top of the stairs, Hayley looked down and saw that most of the guests had already arrived. Loki was nowhere to be seen. So, she gripped the handrail, held her chin up high and slowly descended the stairs.
Her skirts flowing behind her like cascades over the steps, Hayley gulped as more and more heads turned to follow her paces. When she finally reached the end of the staircase she looked shyly around the room. Thankfully, Frigga appeared at her side and smiled widely. "You look stunning, Hayley." "Thank you," Hayley mumbled, smoothed nonexistent wrinkles out of her dress and quickly grabbed the first glass of sparkling wine that was offered to her.
Frigga had to welcome other freshly arriving guests and Hayley thought she might have glimpsed Loki's cape behind a pillar; other than that there was still no sign of him. Why had she even come here when the one she was supposed to support was a no show? And why didn't those people stop looking at her?
(Like a moth into a flame,
I'm hypnotized,
And like a stone,
I'm paralyzed cause I can't look away,
You found your way under my skin,
And I'm tryin' not to love you,
But I hate the way I keep on givin'
Into you, like I always do,
No matter how I try,
Or maybe could it be,
That you're the part of me,
That's keeping me alive?)
"Because you look beautiful, my dear," was Loki's voice in her head. Hayley spun around just to find Loki casually leaning against a column across the room and staring at her intently. He was wearing his usual attire except for his helmet. It had been placed next to Thor's on a small sideboard against a wall. "Thanks. You look perfectly royal, as always." Hayley smiled and took a sip from her glass. "And now, would you be so kind as to stay out of my head, your highness prince of invading my privacy?" "Of course, milady," was Loki's deliberately telepathic reply.
(How am I supposed to break this spell you got me under,
I'm so addicted to the pain,
Got your poison running through my veins,
The way you pull me in,
The way you chew me up,
The way you spit me out,
I keep coming back, I can't get enough,
I can't go without you.)
He was approaching her with slow strides. If Hayley hadn't known better, she would have thought he was prowling. She took another large sip from her beverage while Loki's gaze was still fixed on her. Seemingly absentminded he brushed the palm of his right hand over the smooth surface of the column he was walking by. At the very same time, Hayley felt someone slide their hand over her left hip onto her buttocks. She turned around but none of the guests were close enough to have done it.
When she faced Loki again and found the broad grin on his face as well as his fingertip still on marble she knew what was going on. "What are you doing?" Hayley mouthed the words but transmitted them to him telepathically as well. "Oh, just a bit of fun, really," he replied smugly. "I told you I'd get bored here."
(I could fight you 'til the end,
But I will lose you if I win,
So I guess I'll just keep on givin'
Into you, like I always do,
No matter how I try,
Or maybe could it be,
That you're the part of me,
That's keeping me alive?)
Hayley downed the last bit of her drink in one big gulp. So he wanted a game. Well, two could play at that and Hayley knew exactly what spell Loki was using. When he eventually detached himself from the pillar and was about to cross the last space between them with long strides, Hayley turned her back to him and vanished into the crowd.
Now, he had to follow her dark green robe through the room. A spell to summon her would have been too easy. Loki enjoyed the hunt. First, he saw her close to Fandral and then disappearing behind a row of golden pillars. The next time he saw her was when she was strolling over to where his and his brother's helmets were displayed.
Hayley felt as if all the other people in the room didn't even exist. She liked this game she was playing with the god of mischief even though she didn't quite know where it would lead. The alcohol was probably toying with her mind, too. But after all this time of painstakingly slow recovery a distraction would be welcome for both her and Loki.
(This feeling is far from sober,
Its beauty buried deep inside,
You're the only one who gets me high,
And I know it's far from over,
As you can see you're the part of me,
That's keeping me alive.)
Hayley looked over her shoulder to find him only a few paces away amongst the crowd of people. His eyes never left hers as Hayley licked the tip of her right index finger and arrived at his golden helmet. Ever so slowly she ran her finger along one of the massive horns that adorned it. Haley heard Loki's gasp right behind her. When she arrived at the tip of the horn she turned to face him only to find him leaning on the edge of the banquet table for support. Hayley had a smirk on her face. It wasn't easy to throw the god of mischief off balance.
What she didn't expect was his next move. Short of pouncing on her, he grabbed her arm and the next moment Hayley found herself in one of the secret tunnels underneath the castle. It was merely lit by a small torch in a far corner. "How did you…" Hayley started to ask Loki a little out of breath. But in the next instant he pressed her against the wall. Hayley was torn between the damp cold on her back and the hot man in front of her. Loki held her arms tightly against her sides and whispered into her ear. "You are playing with fire, little Hayley."
"Don't call me little," Hayley breathed as she became aware of something hard pressing against her thigh.
"Do you think you can handle it?" Loki asked and his lips caressed her ear. Was he talking about the "fire" or something else? "You started it," Hayley teased.
Loki shifted his position until his forehead rested against Hayley's. "Then I shall be the one to end it." He detached himself from her and looked straight into her eyes; but he didn't let go of her.
Hayley's breathing became shallow and she was unsure if the disappointment his last words had caused was written all over her face. Loki's gaze wandered from her eyes, to her lips and then to her heaving breasts. When he finally looked back at her face his features softened. But then he crushed his lips onto hers and wrapped his arms tightly around her shivering body.
Flash forward:
(How am I supposed to break this spell you got me under,
I'm so addicted to the pain,
Got your poison running through my veins,
The way you pull me in,
The way you chew me up,
The way you spit me out,
I keep coming back, I can't get enough,
I can't go without,
The way you pull me in,
The way you chew me up,
The way you spit me out,
I keep coming back, I can't get enough,
I can't go without,
I keep coming back, I can't get enough,
I can't go without, you.)
Flash back.
A/N: No real flash forward today since this is already the longest of the chapters I've written so far. :) So, what do you think?