I have to say that the character Fandral may be a little different from the one presented in the films. I love Fandral and Zachary Levi, but I have to make Fandral into a shallow charmer in order to bring tension to this novel. Forgive me if I offended your opinions towards this character.
Enjoy your reading and please review!
Poisonous Prisoner
Chapter Fourteen
"I told you, do not have feelings for me." The familiar voice echoed in the darkness, sounding cold and evil.
"Fandral?" She was confused. There she was surrounded by darkness, the only thing indicating she wasn't alone was Fandral's voice. She looked around, but he was nowhere to be found.
"Did you miss me?" The voice asked, a mischievous smile leaked through the words. "Answer me, do you not remember I told you not to have feelings for me?"
"What?" She murmured under her breath, frowning in confusion. "Fandral, you never said this to me."
"He didn't. I did." With a sudden yet smooth change, the voice became deeper and rustier, only the evil touch remained unchanged.
"Loki." She whispered in recognition, searching helplessly around, only to find nothing. The temperature kept falling, soon there was fog gathering in the air when she breathed out. It began to snow.
"I have to remind you of me so that you would keep me in your forgetful little mind." He hissed, sending a chill down her spine.
"Loki, where are you? Where am I?" She called, embracing herself to keep away the cold.
"Darling, you are in the very place I was born." He let out a dark chuckle, and then the darkness began to fade away.
"Jotenheim." She acknowledged.
"That's right, love. I died where you belonged, and you have to know the place where I came from." Hot breaths brushed her neck. She gasped, turning around to see Loki, in his fancy emerald robe, staring at her intensely. "Pleasure to see you, darling." A crafty smile sliced through his fine lips.
"Loki…" The sight of him was so real that she couldn't find her tongue at first; calling his name was all she had strength to do.
"You are shaking like hell. Here." He eyed her with great concern, and untied his cloak to wrap it around her. The cool silk sent another shiver down her body.
"Look around, my love, and watch. This is the place I was born, the place I belonged and the place I was supposed to die as a baby. Spectacular, isn't it?" He caught her shoulders and guided her to turn and watch. They were suddenly on a cliff: the ground was covered by snow, the sky dark and starless, wind as sharp as knives peeled in the thin fabric they were wearing. Everything was so…
"Silent." Her word was barely a whisper, too afraid to break the eternal quiescence.
"Exactly, and lifeless, too." He assented, so close to her that she could feel the heaving chest when he was breathing on her back; another electric shock that had nothing to do with the freezing wind tasered her.
Sensing she was trembling, he put his arms around her and clenched tightly.
"Not an ideal place to live, right?" Loki hissed slowly in her ears, his hot breath tickling her sensitive nerves; Gná felt the strength was being vacuumed clean from her legs.
"You're still cold, shaking." He noticed, his voice warmer than ever. She closed her eyes, restoring the sound of him in her mind, and then felt something like feather tickled her neck. It was his eyelashes. He was burying his face in the curve of her collarbone.
She gasped as he sunk his teeth in her delicate skin and nipped. She had to use her every pole to stop herself from turning and touching him.
"People say you're cold, indifferent, especially that foolish Fandral among them." He whispered, imprinted several bruises on her pale neck, sucked on her pulse and smiled when he felt her heart pounded frantically. "I think it's time to prove them wrong, don't you?"
She gave out a throaty scream when his hands grabbed her waist. Through the fabric, the warmth of his palms passed on to her. Before she had time to react, he moved forward and captured her lips. The sensation overwhelmed her…
She had secretly fantasized about it for countless times, but never once did she prepare for THIS. He was like an ocean. No, he WAS on ocean. His scent drowned her, his heat surrounded her, his texture paralyzed her.
He broke the kiss to let her gasp for air, all the while locking their gaze, his green eyes melted into a clear liquid that reminded her of the spring in the mountain back home.
"Now, let's do this again: did you miss me?"
"Yes." She said, her voice thick and breathless, but she was no longer in the deserted Jotenheim anymore. She was her room in Asgard, soaked by her own sweat.
The dreams were back, again, after such a long absence. Instinctively, she looked out her windows to search for that protective eagle that was always perching on the willow branch loyally, but all she saw was the full moon on the sky. So tonight, her personal protector was out and that was why the disturbing fantasies happened.
Shaking uncontrollably, she got up and paced around the room. Her thoughts lingered back to that dream every five seconds, yearning for the feeling of him. She couldn't believe what had just happened, she couldn't believe that not only Loki didn't want her to move on, but also she, herself, didn't want it either. If that was the case, then she was hopeless.
She felt like her room was shrinking around her, squeezing the air out of her lungs. Desperately in need of fresh air, Gná put on a long robe and went for a walk.
The pale moonlight gave the grandeur hallway an icy shade of silver that chilled her. She had no idea where she was heading to; it was just her legs that was moving stiffly forward. Flowers in the bushes all greeted and expressed their concern after seeing her rigid face, but she ignored them all and kept walking all the time.
Then, she stopped in front of the gate of The King's room, still had no idea why she was there. But the elaborately sculptured painting on those bronze gates seemed to have a rapid effect to calm her spinning mind and steady her frenzied breaths.
It was at that moment did she hear the two most respected men in this planet argued.
"Am I understood, Heimdall?" Odin's deep, authoritative voice came from behind the gates.
"Your Majesty, I have spoken to others, we think it was time for Thor to come back to Asgard." Heimdall's wise voice became louder as he spoke. Gná quickly jumped into the short, thick bush outside the hallway.
"Midgard needs him, the damage was too much for them to take." Odin disagreed, a degree of annoyance already leaked through his words.
By that moment, the two of the elders had paced out of the room and were standing in the hallway; even if she wanted to sneak away, she couldn't.
"From where I stand, the Earth is not as soft and incompetent was you thought it is. They have enough source and labor to rebuild their home. Putting Thor in the middle of it would probably cause more trouble." The Gate Keeper patiently argued, clearly not bent by Odin's evident anger.
"It is the debt my son and I had to pay for what Loki did to that planet!" The sudden outburst of the one-eyed man made both of the listeners jump.
There was a brief silence. Then with plain disapproval, Heimdall corrected:
"Loki assisted Thor and therefore stopped Malekith from ruling the universe. Your sons owe the other eight realms nothing. At least not this time."
She was taken aback by Heimdall's speech. He had never said one word mildly good about Loki to her.
"And yet, he did take thousands of lives from Earth. Speak no more, Heimdall, I've already made my decision. Give Thor some time to reunion with Miss Jane Foster. Dragging him back here does not mean we have his heart as well." Then, with a condescending goodbye, Odin went back to his room, leaving the all-seeing, all-hearing elder standing in the hallway with a frustrating sigh.
"Now, you can come out." After remaining silent for a long moment, he called facing the bush.
Gná cursed her bad luck and climbed out of the plants carefully, minding her silk robe that may be more fragile than her own skin not to get tore by the spiky branches.
"Odin would not be happy if he knows." The old man judged her with his placid golden eyes, his expression unreadable.
"So you are going to tell him?" She countered, tiptoeing through the warm dirt and finally, with the assistance of the Asgardian, got past the marble rails.
"Depending on why you are here."
"I couldn't sleep well."
"So you ended up hiding in the bush and eavesdropping my conversation with The King." He arched one eyebrow.
"Accident." She shrugged, pretending to be intrigued by the luxurious marble floor.
"I believe you." He nodded and started to walk.
"How is he, Odin?" She demanded, trying to keep up with his lengthy strides.
"You heard everything, you tell me." Unlike their former encounters, this time, Heimdall was definitely the one who was not in the mood of talking.
"No, I mean, how does he feel these days? I heard that he was not in a good state."
"It's not my position to tell." The man's lips pressed together, obviously still irritated by his talk with Odin.
"Did he really fell into Odin's Sleep?" To stop him going any further, she grabbed his arm and used every ounce of strength she could summon to drag back his attention.
"Gná, I'm just a Gate Keeper, remember? What goes on in that room is not my responsiblities. Actually, my responsibilities came from that room. So stop bothering me with your idiotic questions and go back to your room." Then, with a strong wave, he escaped her grip and rushed out of her sight, leaving her stunned and froze in the empty palace.
Watching his tall figure disappear into the shadow, she was even more curious. What would make the calm, rational Hiemdall snap like this? What could possibly irritate him besides his enemies?
She was determined to find out.