The days seemed to fly by and soon the palace was in the grip of preparations for the Autumn Celebration. Maryn had been asked by the Allmother to help with the organisation of the great feast that would take place on the last night of Autumn, and had been run off her feet making sure everything was going smoothly in the kitchens and with the servants who were decorating the great hall.
She and Loki had barely had more than an hour together let alone spent time together since Frigga had enlisted her help for the celebration.
Loki had also been called on to aid his father in quelling the uprising of Mithros that had been triggered when the rebels were attacked. Those refugees who had managed to make it back to Asgard with Loki and Thor had been offered sanctuary and were settling in slowly but surely. They had also paid their respects to Maryn with an audience in a large chamber off the throne room. Loki had stood by her side as she greeted each one by name and thanked them for their valiant efforts in trying to regain the throne of Mithros for her. Odin had agreed to allot each one a parcel of lands and gold so that they could live out their days comfortably. Maryn knew the younger men and women would no doubt marry into the Aesir as time went on and the memories and magic of those that had sacrificed so much would live on through their lines.
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Early one morning, about a week before the celebration, Maryn snuck out to the stables and slipped into her mare's stall. She was half way through saddling her when Thor's jovial voice came from the other side of the stall door.
"And where are you sneaking off to so early in the morning, sister of mine?"
The princess turned to him with a tight smile, "I was hoping for an hour's ride without any servants coming and asking about what more needs to be done for the Autumn feast." She finished buckling on her mount's saddle and took her reigns to lead her out of the stall, "And I would thank you to lower your voice so that I do not get caught, brother dearest," she added in a soft voice, her gaze sharp with warning.
His grin brought a smile to her lips and he nodded conspiratorially, "What a coincidence that I too wish to go for a ride before my father summons me to another mind-numbing peace talk."
Maryn rolled her eyes but motioned for him to follow her, his stallion walking at his side.
Once they were outside the stables they both swiftly mounted their horses and urged them into a canter out of the stable courtyard and toward the frost covered hills.
When they were far enough away from the palace Maryn smiled at Thor and pushed back the hood of her fur lined cloak.
"My brother is in a foul mood, Maryn," The God of Thunder began after a few moments silence.
Directing her mare toward a small hill to her left, Maryn glanced over at him, "Is that so? Do you know why Loki is out of sorts?"
His knowing grin made her cheeks burn, "He says it is because he cannot sleep beside his love without wanting her touch."
Waving off his words she shook her head, "I will not discuss that with you, Thor. It's not proper."
He threw back his flaxen head and laughed, "No, it is not. Would you prefer to discuss how the celebration preparations are progressing?"
Maryn snorted in a very unladylike manner, "No, my lord, I would not."
"Good," Thor beamed like a child that had been given his own way in an argument, "Then let us speak of my brother and how you can help me rid him of his sullenness so that there will be no more surly bouts of anger or pranks on our friends."
Frowning at the knowledge that Loki was using his friends as an outlet for his frustrations, Maryn sighed, "What has he done now?"
Thor shrugged, "Merely set Lord Calder's hair alight and scared Lord Gunnar with a large grotesque rat." Maryn couldn't stifle her laugh fast enough and Thor quickly fell to retelling the story of how the dower lord had squealed like a stuck pig at the sight of the huge rodent running across his path. When Maryn's giggles had quietened the blond Aesir continued, "He has even slighted Lady Astrid telling her that the wart on her nose had grown a hair."
"But Lady Astrid has no wart," Maryn gasped.
Thor shrugged, "One has magically formed over night, I am afraid."
Biting her bottom lip Maryn turned her gaze to the grassy plain around them, "He is frustrated; of that there is no doubt."
"Did the two of you quarrel?" Thor asked almost hesitantly, the tone making Maryn turn her grey eyes to him.
She shook her head, a few strands of her hair slipping free from the plaited braid over her head and the large bun she had asked Tora to pin her dark locks into that morning. The strands settled becomingly around her cheeks and on her neck. "No, it is only that we have both been so busy these past few weeks. We barely see each other."
"Ah," Thor nodded in understanding. At his good-sister's questioning look he elaborated, "Men aren't complicated, Maryn," he grinned holding back a comment as her cheeks filled with colour at his look. "We become frustrated when we do not have the welcome touch of a woman."
"Oh," Maryn murmured lowering her eyes to the gold etched cuff around her wrist set with small amethysts and emeralds, her fingers twisting her wedding band as an unexplained twist of guilt started to curl in her belly. Thor's large hand moved into her line of vision and she watched as it closed around her hands.
"I have not had the privilege of finding a woman to love as my brother has, Maryn, but even I can see that he is no longer able to contend with not spending time with you."
Lifting her gaze to Thor's Maryn smiled at him in thanks, "You will make a lady very happy one day, brother," she said squeezing his hand.
He looked away at her words, "I hope that I will have the luck my brother did."
Reaching out, Maryn cupped his cheek coaxing his gaze back to hers, "You will. Of that I have no doubt."
With a nod of thanks, Thor leaned over and kissed her cheek before his usual boisterousness took over once more, "Let us ride back to the castle before we are overly missed. I think the servants will be in enough of a panic over not finding you."
With a laugh, Maryn agreed and they raced their mounts back to the stables.
Once her mare and his stallion were back in their stalls and stable boys were brushing them down, Maryn and Thor walked quickly into the palace. As soon as the tall Aesir had left her side, servants converged on her and Maryn was bombarded with question after question.
Sighing, she walked toward the kitchens with a trail of men and women behind her, some awaiting her answers and decisions, and others calling out their own questions. As she walked, Maryn unclasped the cloak from around her throat, Kersin appearing from somewhere to take it from her hands leaving her in a gown of vermillion which lightened into soft creamy-pink panels in the skirt. The bodice was beaded on an angle at the waist and the thick straps, with a bow on her right shoulder. She answered as many questions as she could before they got the kitchens.
As she and the group of servants, which had thankfully thinned out a little and was growing smaller and smaller with each query she answered or problem she solved, were walking down the final corridor toward the kitchens, her hand was suddenly grabbed and she was spun toward a different corridor.
"Excuse us," Loki's brisk tone had Maryn frowning.
"Loki, my love, where are we going?" she asked him barely keeping up with his swift steps.
He pulled her to his side and wrapped an arm around her waist wordlessly. With a swell of magic they took a step together and came to a stop in a different part of the palace.
Maryn looked around in confusion, "Where are we?"
"The weapon's vault," Loki spoke quietly, pushing open one of the golden doors and leading Maryn through it before she had time to even look at the outer form of the large room suspended in the air.
"And why, pray tell, are we here?" she asked as he pulled her down the stairs to the lower level of the vault's floor. When he turned to her with a heated look she had her answer. "Here?" she asked shocked as he turned and backed her into an alcove that housed a large gold glove propped up on a plinth, his palms lifting to press to the stone wall at her back, boxing her in. His lips against her throat made her stifle a soft gasp and she twisted her fingers into her skirts to keep from touching him. "Loki," she hissed, "The guards!"
She felt him smile against her quickly heating skin before he pulled back and looked down at her with his darkening irises, "The guards patrol this room every half hour. Other than that they are standing outside the door where they will stay unless we call for them."
A deep blush flooded Maryn's cheeks at his words, "They saw us come in here?"
The Trickster's mischievous smirk told her everything and she raised her hand to slap him only to have him lean into her and slant his mouth over hers hungrily. A groan slipped from her and she laced her fingers into his hair, pressing as close to him as she could as heat spiralled down deep inside her body. Her fingers worked deftly to unbutton the black and green tunic he was wearing that day so that she could slip her hands under the white linen shirt he was wearing beneath it. As he palms traced the contours of his chest and stomach she felt him bunching her skirts around her waist. They lost themselves in each other, the days of separation falling away with every caress and kiss until they were both sated.
"Why did you choose this place, Loki?" Maryn asked as she repined her hair after their passionate liaison.
The tall Asgardian grinned suddenly, "It was the closest place I could think of where we would not be interrupted. If we had gone to our rooms your handmaidens would have fluttered around you until I lost my temper." He shrugged nonchalantly, "Did you not enjoy our time together?"
Blushing softly at the memory of his touch and what they had just done Maryn looked up into his intense stare, "Of course I enjoyed it, my love. I just wish that we did not have to sneak away to spend time together. However, Frigga asked me to take control of the preparations for the Autumn Celebration and I could not refuse her." Loki nodded silently; they were both aware of the pressures of court life and knew that, for the moment, they would have to continue as they had been until the celebration was over. Glancing around at the large room, Maryn asked suddenly, "What would happen if this room was breached by and enemy?"
Loki glanced down at her to see her turn to brushing the wrinkles from her gown that his fingers had creased into the delicate material. "There would be uproar and Odin would personally come down here to see that the perpetrator has been dealt with by his Destroyer."
Maryn stepped into him, wrapping her arms around his waist and looking up at him, "Destroyer?"
The Dark Prince nodded toward the wall at the end of the long room. It was built of what looked like thin, criss-crossed bars with white light filtering through the gaps between each one. "The Destroyer is a suit of metal which is controlled by the Allfather. If any enter this vault without Odin's permission and try to take weapons it awakens and puts an end to their thieving."
Maryn released her hold on him and took a step toward the end of the room where the Destroyer slept, "And how is it that we are able to come and go as we please?"
Loki caught her wrist in his large hand and drew her back against his chest shrugging with a smirk, "I may know a spell or two that keeps us hidden from its knowledge. However, it is best to keep as far away from it all the same."
With a soft laugh the brunette princess reached up and cupped his cheek, drawing his head down so that their lips met in a lingering, fiery kiss that had her aching for him again. "When the celebration is over I want us to go to our lake before it is frozen over. I need a day alone with you. No interruptions, no court duties."
His green gaze darkened with desire at her words, "Whatever my wife needs she will have," he murmured, his voice deep with promise.
Shivers of excitement ran down her spine at his words and she smiled up at him before pulling his head down for another heart-stopping kiss before they slipped back out of the vault. They parted ways in the corridor outside the vault steps and Maryn turned to walk to the kitchens. She missed the calculating look Loki threw back at the weapons' vault when her back was turned.