Chapter 26 –
Loki flew along the terrain. His long black hair was sailing in the rush of wind that danced about him. He could feel the horse's back sway beneath his body as he moved his hips with the motion. His long, green cape flowed behind him like the prince in a fairy tale. The sprawling hills, green meadows and gravelly dirt zoomed past him at a lightning speed. They had been riding non-stop for hours and he was beginning to feel the exhaustion settle upon his bones but he refused to halt his horse's stride. He needed to reach Vanaheim as soon as possible. He could feel the presence of his wife in the back of his mind and with every step the stallion made she was that much closer to his reach.
"Brother, we must rest the horses," Thor's baritone voice fell along beside him. "If you continue much longer at this pace it will kill them." He knew that he was right though he loathed admitting it as he pulled tightly on the reigns with a quick tug on his horse's neck causing the animal to turn abruptly with a frustrated whinny as he stopped all at once, pounding his hooves in the ground in protest of the sudden change in his master's command. The unexpected motion of the stallion caused the thunder god to nearly be thrown from his own mount as his horse reared up on its hind legs, kicking its front hooves wildly in the air as Thor tried to calm him down. "Woah… woah… there, boy," he soothed before turning his crystal blue eyes back toward his brother. "Are you trying to kill us both?"
"You said you wanted to rest. So let's rest." Loki snapped as he jumped from his horse in a fury. Frigga rode up to them still seated on top of her white mare.
"I'm glad to see that your brother has been able to convince you to see a little reason," the Queen began in her motherly tone. Her blue eyes set with worry as she observed her youngest son. "There was a small stream a few feet back. It would be a perfect place to water the horses." She dismounted holding the bridle of her mare as she stepped forward and reached for Loki's reins. "Here, give them over, I will tend to our mounts."
"Don't be ridiculous. I will do it myself," the young prince exasperated, his tone much harsher than he would have liked. It wasn't his mother's fault that he was separated from his wife and daughter. But he couldn't help his foul mood. He was desperate to see them, to know for certain that they were safe. Frigga paid him no mind as she took the leads from his hands and added them to her own so that she was holding the two horses in one tight grip.
"Now yours, Thor," Frigga ordered as she extended out her free hand. The thunder god opened his mouth for a moment as if to protest before closing it quickly at the look in her eyes and handed them off to her without a single word. The two brothers stood in silence as they watched the regal woman take the steeds toward the small stream beyond.
"We are making very good time. We are already in the plains of Ida, brother," Thor explained in an attempt to soothe the frustrated prince. "Maybe another half-hour and we should reach Gladsheim and the edge of the Mountains." Loki did not respond as he stared out blankly at the horizon and the rising mountains out in the distance. 'Weeks, it would take weeks to cross those mountains,' the trickster thought to himself. Damn, Svartelfheim and their dark magic. He would have been there in a heartbeat if not for the blasted spell that they had placed upon the land. "I know you are worried, brother, but there is no way that anyone can penetrate those tunnels. Natasha and Rowan are safe." Loki could feel the slight dwindling of his ire at the sound of Thor's words. The strong, comforting baritone of his brother's voice filled him and with it the warm, childlike sensation of peace that came from knowing he was not alone. He was tired and anxious. He blamed that for his drop in defenses as he accepted without word the tender pat against his shoulder that his brother gave him with reassuring strokes. But the lull in rage meant a surge of other feelings and thoughts that he had been desperately trying to keep at bay. His family would be safe if he had not been meddling in the affairs of Jotunnheim. He was always dabbling, always concocting new ploys. It seemed every horrible thing around him could be traced back to some foolish mischief that he had instigated. Even Svartelfhiem, who knows how different things would have been had he not pulled Malekith into his schemes when he casted that spell so long ago over their waterways. Loki closed his eyes against the onslaught of emotion as he tried to push these melancholy thoughts aside. He exhaled slowly as he tried to think of something else. He was desperate to reignite his anger. He needed to be tough and resilient, he told himself, and the fool next to him only wished to make him weak. "Everything will be alright, Loki," Thor murmured calmingly at his side.
"Would you shut your blasted mouth already?" Loki barked heatedly as he finally turned to face his brother. "I'm not an infant for you to coddle and I have no need for your placating words." He pushed his arm away from him forcefully as his dark green eyes narrowed with hate.
"I only meant to…," Thor began dejectedly as he watched the young prince storm off a few feet away from him.
"You are a fool," Loki seethed as he twirled around to face him, his long green cape swooshing in the wind that the quick turn of his body had created. "The biggest fool in all of the nine realms. The Midgardian's have written sonnets on your all-encompassing stupidity. Do you still not know how quickly I would stab you in the back? When will you ever learn? I'm not that little boy anymore." His lips pursed in a scowl as he moved even closer. "The child who use to follow you around like a puppy and tried so hard to emulate whatever you did. Nor am I that obtuse adolescent that tagged along on all your silly little expeditions to prove yourself a man in the hopes that you might acknowledge the same of me. That brother is long dead."
"Loki," the thunder god attempted to respond but the young prince would have none of it. He didn't want to hear another word out of his brother's mouth.
"You continue to hold to that pathetic memory because that is all that you ever wanted me to be," Loki lashed out. "Your little brother with his little tricks… let me look after him, isn't that what you always think? And completely disregard all of the times my so-called tricks," he spat out. The word 'tricks' rolled off his tongue with a mixture of sarcasm and rage combined, "helped to save your thick stubborn neck and those of your pathetic friends. You want to make me weak with your blasted sentiments because you can't stand the idea that I could be as strong as you and stronger even. Oh, no, the god of thunder can have no equal! So you insist on forever looking at me as you did in our youth, some feeble erudite with a panache for magic who needs your protection."
"Is that really what you believe, Loki? Is that how you think I see you?" Thor asked as a look of utter bewilderment settled over his features. "Your strength amazes me it always has, your fearlessness to be true to yourself no matter what anyone else thinks. I have never been good at words but…"
"Enough!" Loki ordered as he turned his body away from him once more. His dark emerald eyes focused again on the horizon as he tried to block out his brothers words. "This conversation is over."
"You would never let the relationship with the woman you love suffer because of idle traditions and the fear of losing the acceptance of people around you." Thor continued as he moved to step in front of his brother and force him to look him in the eyes. "If the fates ever grace me with the gift of children I can only pray that I could be even half of the father that you are. The confidence and self-worth that you have instilled in your daughter, Loki… I… brother, you must forgive me the silly jests of my youth. They were never more than the idle play between fledglings testing their wings, no more than a cover for my own insecurities."
"I'm… I'm not listening to you," the young god murmured as he struggled against his emotions. He dropped his gaze to the ground beneath his feet. "You may be foolish enough to believe in the fairy tale that your father fed you as a child but I'm not your brother and I never was."
"Now who is being the stupid one, cow?" the thunder god mused with a half-smile. "Do you think I don't know how important I am to you?" Before Loki could respond the ground shifted beneath his feet as a slight rumble began to move across the land.
"What was that?" Frigga entreated as she sauntered toward them. The horses began to stomp their feet back and forth in a nervous gesture. The gods moved quickly each taking their own leads from her hands. Their conversation lost and forgotten as they attempted to sooth their steeds and figure out what had caused the tremors around them. There was an unnatural feeling in the air. The horses must sense it, too. Loki contemplated as his eyes scanned the horizon. Then he heard it. The large ripping sound that rebounded in the distance and the flash of light that emblazed the sky before them.
"They have opened another portal," Loki gaped. "Why in Odin's name would they open a gateway all the way out here?" It was then that he felt it as he scrambled up onto his stallion as fast as his legs could carry him. His wife was afraid, if only for a moment before she steeled herself for whatever was to come but he felt it through the bond for those seconds as sure as he felt his heart beating within his own chest. "She is not in the tunnels anymore," he divulged as he turned toward his brother. "Natasha is somewhere close to that gateway. I can feel it." It was no coincidence that the sensation he felt through their bond came at the same moment in time as the portal. He was certain of it. It was the only explanation that made sense. But why? Why would she ever leave the safety of the tunnels? He kicked his horse in the sides. He slackened the reins to encourage the beast to move faster as he tore off in the direction of the noise. It felt like an eternity as they sprinted through the vastness before them. Then the wooded timberlands of Gladsheim appeared ahead. She was so close, so close. His heartbeat thundered in his chest as he zoomed into the forest. Thor and Frigga close behind as they followed after him at top speed. He heard a whizzing sound through the trees. It was another portal, only much smaller than the first he presumed by the difference in volume. What the Hel was happening? What would they be doing out here of all places? His thoughts were interrupted as his horse suddenly reared up on its hind legs. Loki pushed his weight forward as he kept himself centered, cracking his stallion on the ear in an attempt to get him back down on four legs. The moment the animal descended to the ground he dismounted from the horse as his eyes fell on what had caused its displeasure. The dead body of a Frost Giant sprawled out before them. Loki stepped forward as he scrutinized the beast along the ground, the fletching of an arrow jutted out from its back.
"There was a battle here," Thor remarked as he came up to his left side. "But between who? There are no soldiers stationed out this far."
Loki ignored his brother as he strutted forward. There was a deathly silence to the forest not even the smallest creature seemed to be stirring. It scared him to the depths of his soul as he feared the worst. He passed several more bodies of the Jotunn. The sense of his wife was getting stronger and stronger with every stride but it was the Royal Healer that he saw first kneeling over her pallid form. Loki released the reins of his horse as he dashed towards the black widow. He fell down to his knees at her side. She lay deathly still but she was breathing. "What happened," he gasped. "Why… why… why is she like this? Where is Rowan? Answer me, you bloody imbecile!"
"Thank the All-Father you're here, Your Royal Highness," Tobit remarked off-handedly. His eyes still focused on the woman lying along the dirt before him. His hand resting firmly against her abdomen as a faint blue light ghosted from his fingertips and extended out across her middle like a shield. "I was at my wits end, if you'll pardon the expression. I don't think I'm quite in shape to carry her very far, not even in my younger years was I the fittest of men and I couldn't imagine it was very safe staying out here in the open." He shook his head mournfully as he continued to perform his enchantment over the woman at his side. "I'm afraid the energy she required to fight them off brought on another seizure."
"Where is my niece?" Thor's deep voice resonated through the trees around them.
"I'm very sorry, Your Royal Highnesses, truly sorry," the doctor expressed forlornly as he turned his gaze up to them for the first time. "But they took her… her and that other man."
"Who took her… Where?" The thunder god ordered. But Loki knelt there speechless as his dark emerald eyes remained glued to his wife. The Jotunn took his daughter. Those monsters had his child. He would kill every last one of them.
"The Frost Giants, of course, they took them through a portal just a short while ago," Tobit revealed quietly. "I'm afraid… her skin… it gave her away… my lord, they know she is your daughter."
"The… the baby?" Loki whispered despairingly. He could feel the sting of tears as he struggled to keep a reign on his anguish. They had his daughter. Helblindi wanted nothing more in this world than to pay him back for killing Laufey and now the bastard had his daughter.
"Your son still lives for now," Tobit replied in his normal tone. "I was able to…"
"For now… for now?" The trickster seethed as he grabbed hold of the elderly man by the arm. "You have a horrible bedside manner, you miserably little twit! My son still lives for now, you say. Well, you better hope it stays that way or I swear I will…"
"Loki, please," Frigga interrupted. "My son, I know how you are hurting but threatening the poor man it will not help your family. He is doing all he can."
"Why about my wife? Why is she still like this?" Loki inquired as he let go of the healer's arm and reached for her. He placed his hand against her cheek and leaned down to place a delicate kiss on her lips. "Natasha? Natasha, can you hear me? Please wake up, my little spider."
"The pain was rather excruciating, if you don't mind me saying, the very worst that it has ever been. It has taken its toll on her, I'm afraid. Her body is exhausted. Her pulse is very weak." Tobit answered timidly as he glanced nervously at the demigod at his side. "I know this is not what you want to hear, Your Royal Highness. But if you want an honest answer, it is quite possible that she may fall away from us."
"What in the name of Hel are you saying?" Loki snarled. A flash of red moving across his eyes as he glared at the elderly man.
"Despite my strengthening spells her breathing continues to grow shallower." The Royal healer divulged slowly. His fear from what he was about to say was too great to meet the trickster's gaze so he kept his eyes on Natasha as he spoke. " I have given her all that I can. I know you have somehow bestowed on her a measure of your own healing powers. I could sense it but it is flittering like a light being turned on and off, if you pardon the expression. The pregnancy, having your child inside of her, it is counteracting against your gift. It is only a matter of time before it is cancelled out completely." Tobit took a deep breath as if to fortify himself as he finally looked up at the young prince. "I'm sorry, but it would be remiss of me if I didn't give you all the facts. There is a chance the Lady Natasha could die. I'm not saying that she will… it's just… there is nothing more to do than to wait and hope for the best."
"Tobit," Thor ordered from his place behind them. "Show me precisely where this gateway was opened. Come, I want you to tell me everything that you saw." Loki barely registered the sound of their footsteps as they walked away. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it tenderly. He needed to find a way into Jotunnheim. He needed his wife to open her eyes. He understood what the weasel of a man had just said but it was as if it was a dream. Just strange words that were being told to someone else not him. Natasha could never leave him. He felt the gentle touch of his mother's hand against his shoulder.
"What if she doesn't wake up, Mother?" His voice was like that of a little boy hoping for his mother to make everything alright. This could not happen, he told himself. There was nothing he feared more in the world than to lose his wife except for his daughter. And now they were both in jeopardy. His daughter needed him. How scared she must be. His thoughts were a jumbled mess. He couldn't survive without his wife and daughter. Natasha couldn't die.
"She will be fine," Frigga murmured soothingly. "I have never met a stronger woman." She leaned forward and kissed the top of his head softly. "I'm going to tie up the horses. I'll be right back, my son." Loki ran his fingers along her strawberry curls, spinning a ringlet gracefully through his fingers as he continued to gaze hopefully at his wife. The tears filling up too quickly for him to suppress as he felt the first trickle glide down along his cheek and fall wistfully against her hand as he continued to clutch it tightly.
"The little bastard has the overwhelming need to dole out every bit of information that he possesses no matter how improbable," Loki quipped as he attempted to stifle back his tears. The sight of her sallow complexion chilled him to the bone. His brow furrowed from the emotions threatening to erupt as he desperately tried not to give in to despair. "Natasha, my darling, please wake up," Loki whispered in hushed tones, his fingers still playing with the lush red curl. "Let me see those gorgeous blue eyes of yours. You know how I love to stare into them. You had me from the very first look, you know, the very first." His voice was trembling and the tears became harder and harder to control. "Our daughter needs us both. We need to get to her. Are you listening? I can't do it alone. I can't…" The young prince lifted her hand and pressed her palm against his cheek hoping somehow that he could make her begin to caress his face by the mere force of his will. "You can't leave me. I won't allow it. I won't." His voice cracking like a petulant child. He gazed ahead of him for a moment as he cradled her hand against his chest. He could see his brother a few yards beyond them searching around the scorched earth where the portal must have been opened. "Stupid fools couldn't even open it properly," he seethed. "When I get my hands on them I will make them pay every single…" Loki stopped in mid-sentence as he gazed back down at his wife. "Listen to me… you are right I'll never learn… revenge, what has it ever gotten me? All I want is you." He leaned forward kissing her cheek as he choked back a sob. "You can't leave me. You can't. You remember what I was like when you first met me. I cared for nothing, for no one. You're my heart, Natasha, I need you." He laid his head against her shoulder and breathed her in. The scent of her perfume was like sweet wild flowers faint against her skin as it mixed with the aroma that was uniquely her. He could not bear the thought of being without her. He needed both his girl's terribly.
The first rays of dawn slanted in through the blinds. Loki smiled as his eyes fell upon her naked body sloped against him. Her skin was stretched taunt over the bump on her stomach. Natasha's arm rested gently against it as if she were holding the baby within. His grin grew wider as he rolled onto his side, inclining on his elbow as he rested his other hand over her belly, leaning forward to kiss it softly before continuing to stare at the beautiful sight before him.
"I love it when you look at me that way." Her voice floated toward him as he peered up into her sweet blue eyes. She extended her arms out over her head as she stretched herself more fully awake.
"What way is that?" He quipped before placing another series of kisses along her swollen tummy.
"Like I'm the most amazing thing since sliced bread," Natasha giggled. Her smile was contagious and warmed his heart in a way that nothing else ever could. He wondered if their child would have her smile. He hoped so.
"Sliced bread? Is this one of your Midgardian sayings?" the young prince smiled as he glided his hand in a soothing motion along her belly. "Because it makes absolutely no sense to me." He moved his lips across her stomach once more. "You are so beautiful, my little spider, you grow more beautiful every day."
"Will you still be saying that when I'm out to here?" She laughed as she stuck her hand out in front of herself and extended it as far as she could reach. "And I can no longer see my toes."
"You sound as if you doubt me," Loki grinned mischievously as he changed the light whispering kisses that he had been engaging in to a more sensual, drawn out movement of his lips along her skin. "I would be more than happy to prove all over again just how enticing I find the changes in your body." He pressed his mouth against her stomach with a devilish glint in his eyes as he gazed up at her. Then he felt a light flutter beneath his lips. He cocked his neck back as he stared in awe. "Was that?" Natasha sat up, her grin near to bursting.
"Did you feel it, too?" the black widow beamed. "Oh my god, there it is again." She pressed her hand against her stomach excitedly. "I can feel our baby moving, Loki, I can actually feel it. Put your hand right here. This seems to be the favorite spot." He rested his palm as she directed and watched as she laced her hand over his. The tiny beats quivered along her skin. "It's so incredible." Her eyes were moist with joy.
"I… I'm… eh heh heh heh… I'm speechless," Loki chuckled as he brushed his lips once more over her stomach. "Good morning, Little One," he breathed against her. He looked back up at his wife. His dark green eyes filled with emotion. "I don't deserve either of you but by the All-Father, I swear, I will love you for the rest of my days."
Loki opened his eyes and sat back up as he felt his mother kneel down next to him. "She'll wake up soon," he remarked half to himself. "We will need to figure out a way into Jotunnheim. I need to find a way around this damn spell that the dark elves have put in place or locate a portal stone. I'm not sure where…" Frigga wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a tight embrace as he allowed himself to weep for the first time.