A/N: Okay, I have to be honest. My life right now is really busy, what with schoolwork and applying to universities. I really am sorry that these updates are far apart, but my schoolwork comes first. It also depends on whether my muse co-operates for this story. All I ask is that you don't bug me for updates. Please don't. Saying you're excited and you hope I update soon? That's fine, and I love comments like that, I really do. But asking why I'm not updating often in quite a blunt/rude manner? It's somewhat irritating. Yet there are my reasons, listed above.

Anyway, unpleasantness aside, I appreciate every single review this story has gained. I'm amazed that I have so many people following this, so thank you to you all!

Mentions go to Shining Galaxy and Nausicaahime04 for their long and lovely reviews. Thank you both! :)

Story time now. Apologies for the slightly shorter update, but I thought it best to get something out to you guys :P


"I can't!"

Camille's face was broken, desperate, and Loki pulled her to his chest, trying to soothe her, his lips to the top of her head.

"You are not going anywhere, my love," he murmured. "That I promise you."

Tears were streaming down her face, and Loki tilted her head up, firm even as his heart wrenched.

"Listen to me. I love you; I would not fight for you if I did not."

"I don't see why you would," she said bitterly. "Clearly I'm not perfect enough for a prince of Asgard."

The rage was still bubbling within him.

Odin had begun to talk to Loki soon after his younger son had entered the chamber. It had not been what Loki was expecting.

And it had not gone well.

"What are you saying?"

"She is not strong enough, Loki," Odin spoke quietly. "You know this."

"You think that simply because she is not physically perfect, she is not worthy?" Loki's voice was pure horrified disbelief, and it quickly turned to anger. "How dare you!"

"It is not a case of physical perfection, as you put it –"

"No, that is exactly what it is," Loki cut in, embittered. "You think her weak because of her condition. As all Asgard does. This realm glorifies stamina and muscle, and physical strength. It is no wonder she is viewed unfavourably. You have never been able to value intellect; nobody here has. Ever." He was seething, and it took all he had not to scream at the man he was supposed to call 'Father'.

"Her body is fragile, Loki. She cannot live for eternity as she is –"

"I wouldn't want her any other way!"

The string had snapped, and Loki was glaring at the All-Father. Odin was horribly reminded of the moment when Loki had screamed at him in the vault, all those months ago, and his age-old heart tugged.

"I love her," Loki hissed, his green eyes flashing dangerously. "I love her. I care not for that which Asgard would call flaws. She is mine, she carries my child, and I will not cast her aside as if she were some whore that I bedded on a whim!"

"That is all she will ever be," Odin said, and the bastard actually sounded apologetic. "If she survives the birth, she will still be your mortal plaything."

The meaning in Odin's words hit Loki, and hit him hard. A mingled grief and fury painted his face, and the look in his eyes was desperate.

"You would grant Jane Foster the apples of Idunn, but not Camille?"

"Jane Foster has yet to be tested."

"And of Camille?"

Odin sighed, and turned away. "It would be futile, Loki."

"You won't even give her the chance? She would not fail, I know it! You do not know her as I do! All you see is the way she walks!"

Loki could not help but feel as though Thor were the favoured one. Again. Jane Foster was agreeable to most of Asgard, but Camille was looked on as if she were the runt of a litter. Was he the only one who could see her beauty, her inner strength? She was worthy of standing by his side, and he was worthy of standing by hers. They were equals – why could Odin not see this?

"She will never be a princess of Asgard," Odin responded, sounding more weary than Loki had ever heard him, even more than the time he had been about to fall into the Odinsleep. "She is not –"

"I love her!" Loki shouted furiously. "Does that mean so little to you? Should I cast out the woman I love in favour of another whom I will never care for in order to satisfy you? Should I?"

"She will live another seventy human years at most. It will pass in the blink of an eye for you. It would be kinder to let her go."

"She is with child!"

"A child that would have killed her, if you had not saved her. Does she know this?"

"Camille isn't a fool," Loki said, suddenly quiet. "She knows the dangers. And she has accepted them. Why can you not accept her?"

"I will say no more on this," Odin replied, his tone ringing with finality. Loki stared at him, enraged, and promptly vanished, appearing in the chambers he and Camille shared. She had risen from the chair upon seeing his face, having come inside from the gardens, and when she asked him what Odin had done, Loki was so angry that for moments he could not even speak, robbed of his tongue.

And when he eventually could… he wished he hadn't. Even with Loki's careful editing, Camille instantly knew what Odin thought of her, and it was a near-trigger for everything she had fought to bury. Loki had embraced her tightly as she wept. Amongst her crying, rage had emerged; she was alternately breaking and seething, and Loki would be lying if he said it didn't terrify him. She was unpredictable – he'd half-expected her to march up to Odin and yell at the old man. But the All-Father had clearly hit a nerve.

A whore. That was all she'd ever be seen as.

It was Angrboða all over again.

For Camille, it wasn't the fact that she couldn't be immortal that bothered her. No. It was the fact that Odin outright disapproved of her. Normally she cared nothing for other people's opinions of her, yet the All-Father had specifically mentioned her disability as the reason why he did not think her fit to be Loki's… Loki's what, though? Lover? Partner?

Wife?

No. Loki could not be thinking of marrying her. It was too soon. They'd known each other less than a year!

Thor suddenly burst into the room, looking agitated, and his eyes grew even more so when he saw Loki holding Camille to his chest.

"Jane said that things were amiss – what is it, brother?"

Loki did not relinquish his grasp on Camille, and his tone was bitter.

"Your father will not grant Camille the apples."

There was silence, and Thor's face was incensed.

"He what?"

"He will not grant her immortality, Thor," Loki said, and his voice was weary. "I shouted and begged and pleaded, but he would not relent."

"I will go and speak with him."

Loki raised a hand, attempting placation.

"Thor –"

But the god had already left and was striding down the corridor. Loki sighed, though secretly touched that Thor cared about Camille enough to do such a thing. He returned his attention to the trembling woman in his arms, and he tilted her head up. His eyes were gentle, and he cupped her cheek.

"You are mine, as I am yours," he said softly. "I will not allow an old man's prejudice to separate us. Besides, I have never followed his orders to the letter; I am the god of mischief, after all." That earned him a small smile, and he suddenly thought how he loved that, the knowledge that he had been the one to curve her lips so.

Norns, but he was getting soft. Damn it all.

"Why would you ask about the apples?" she asked quietly. "It hasn't even been a year, and you're thinking of –"

He surprised her by laughing, and he kissed her forehead tenderly.

"As I said all those months before, our liaison is hardly what I would call orthodox, my love," he said, still chuckling. She bit her lip, fighting another smile, her cheeks tinged with the faintest pink.

"I remember."

Loki stroked her cheek with his thumb, marvelling at the softness. She had the most beautiful skin, and he adored kissing and caressing every inch. Her scars especially. They told stories, they were beauty in themselves. He wished she could see that, but he knew scars were a sensitive subject with her, and most probably would be until years from now.

"Do you really think I want the mother of my child to succumb to mortality?" he reasoned then. "Our child will be as immortal as I; I will not lose you to old age, as you mortals put it. No."

Camille's expression was suddenly wry. "You assume I want immortality."

That threw him. He actually looked uncertain then, and a little hurt, so much so that she instantly felt bad for saying it.

"Do you… not?"

Hesitant. Afraid.

"I do," she said calmly, and the relief on his face made her feel even more guilty, "just don't assume things, okay? I know how you love to be all alpha-male and strong, but that doesn't mean you can't consult me. That you shouldn't consult me. Especially when it's my life in question."

"You've thought about it."

She shook her head at him in exasperated amusement. "Of course I have. My other half is a Norse god; you really think immortality wouldn't pop into my head? I love you, Loki. If immortality is an option, I'll take it. But if not… I'll still take what I can get. Though I doubt you'll still want me when I'm old and cranky. And wrinkly. Ugh."

He chuckled. "I would love you however you looked. You love a man with blue skin; I do believe a few lines and blemishes on your body would be insignificant compared to a wholly different and highly unusual flesh tone."

Well, when he put it like that…

"You have a point."

"As always."

She smacked his chest, and his eyes twinkled, mirthful, before leaning down to capture her lips. She melted instantly, and one hand slipped down to rest over her belly, feeling the lazy roll of his daughter within. Ysabel was contented, as was normal for her, and a happy curiosity bubbled up as she felt her father's mind brush against hers. He smiled, and leant his forehead against Camille's.

"She's perfect," his beloved marvelled, and he could hear unshed tears. But happy ones this time.

"Are all expectant women so emotional?" he teased, and she responded with a bite to his lower lip. He growled.

"Oh, you minx –"

She started laughing, yelping simultaneously when he lifted her in his arms, before continuing to giggle, the mischievous look on her face doing absolute wonders for his libido.

Had anyone cared to listen at the doors, they would have heard raucous laughter and loud approval of certain inspired actions (the both of them were nothing if not inventive) and it would probably have traumatised Thor for the rest of his entire existence, had he been on his way back from Odin's chambers.

Luckily for him, he was still with his father, and voicing his outrage.


He had stormed into the chambers, and Odin had risen from his chair, unsurprised that his eldest was making an appearance.

"What is the meaning of this, Father?" Thor asked, surprisingly quiet – a dangerous sign, for it meant that he was trying to keep a leash on his infamous temper. "You will not give Camille the apples? Why?"

Odin sighed. "She is mortal –"

"As is Jane."

" – and I cannot test her."

Thor was silent at that. He knew Jane would have to be tested, to determine her worthiness, but for Camille to not even be able to attempt it?

"That is not fair and you know it."

"She is weak, Thor."

"She is the strongest woman I have ever had the fortune to meet," Thor replied steadily. "She would have to be, to be capable of being by Loki's side. Why can you not see this? She is the only thing keeping him from falling into the abyss again. The last thing the Realms need is for Loki to be what he was all those months ago. She has saved him, Father, and I do not say that lightly. Are you truly willing to let her live as a mortal, willing to watch my brother's heart break? She carries his child! Your granddaughter!"

Odin's expression did not change, and Thor wanted to bang Mjolnir on the nearest table in sheer frustration. Was the old man really so set in his ways?

"She would be unable to cope with the life of an Asgardian," Odin spoke quietly. "She struggles daily as it is."

"And has overcome every obstacle in her way!" Thor retorted, losing his calm demeanour. "The only reason you will not give her the fruit of Asgard is due to your own narrow mind, Father, and you cannot deny that!"

"What if you should pass, Thor? What if you ceased to live and Loki ascended the throne? The people would never accept her as Queen."

Thor's response was bitter.

"That is entirely pointless. You would never allow Loki the throne; do not say things you know are meaningless. This is nothing but your personal prejudice, simply because she bears scars and a supposedly imperfect form!"

Odin's eyes flashed.

"I am doing what is right for Asgard. Argue no further, Thor. It is done."

"Father!"

"Enough!" The All-Father's tone betrayed anger for the first time, and Thor stared at him, irate.

With a look of utter vehemence, Odin's eldest turned on his heel and stormed from the chambers. He was not the god of thunder for nothing, and everyone in his path quickly moved out of the way, fearing his wrath.

After all the wrong that had been done him, and after all the wrong he had done, the least Loki deserved was a little redemption. Wasn't it?

It just so happened that his redemption came in the form of a petite, fiery brunette who would fiercely deny any notion that she was Loki's salvation. Typical Camille.

Angered, confused and more than a little saddened, Thor walked the pathway to where his own mortal love waited. It only took one look at his face before Jane rushed into his arms, and he held her to him, inhaling the scent of her hair, silently hoping that she would pass whatever test the All-Father would set.

Because he wasn't sure how he would cope if she failed.

Suddenly he knew how Loki felt.


A/N: I hope that satisfies you! I really will try to update sooner, but alas, I can make no promises :/

Lightning xoxo