Leiyah had been practicing more. She felt more in control but was still scared to take off the necklace. She was wearing two now. She and Loki knew that today, the third day since Freya had left, they would need to inform the Allfather. Of her awakening, and of what it was that had put Leiyah into her sleep. They had decided it was not a smart idea to accuse Odin, that it may have been him who had endangered Leiyah's life. Aelinnea had not been allowed outside of their chambers and every time Tani came to bring tea, she was never allowed inside, due to the tiny princess not feeling well. Tani had been asking around the kitchen and the healers if they had tried to help the princess, but neither of them knew of any illness the child had. Loki shooed everyone away who was not part of the Inner Circle. (A/N: another SJM reference. Honestly guys, read her books. So good!)

Leiyah was putting on a rather simple dress. Her stomach slightly concealed by the flowing material. Not fully of course, one can't hide a third trimester pregnancy. Loki came up behind her. He pulled her hair back and then grasped her hands. He felt her pulse racing. "Nervous?"

"Petrified."

"Why?"

"I don't know how we will break the news. Do we just walk in? Do you go first and say I am resting? Would Odin let me rest some more."

Loki thought back to his adopted father, he had changed so much, or perhaps he had always been this way and Loki had never noticed it. He sighed and kissed her cheek, "No, I am afraid he will demand immediate answers."

"Lin knows not to mention Freya?"

"Yes, she is a smart girl. She knows how to keep a secret. She is my daughter after all."

Leiyah laughed slightly, "I know, and she adores you so much. A real papa's girl."

"Weren't you one as well?"

"Naturally."

Leiyah turned quiet again and asked, "What should we do?"

"Eat breakfast?"

"Loki, I am serious. Do we walk into the family chambers? The Great Hall? Wait for your mother first? Wait until Heimdall breaks down the barrier in a few hours?"

Loki pulled her to a sofa, "My barrier still holds, and you could probably make it stronger."

She did conjure up a shield around the two of them, feeling it settle the way it is supposed to. "Yes. But how long do we stay hidden here? Our chambers? Our home? Lin can't grow up like this."

Loki had been playing with a thought for the longest time. Leiyah struggled calling Asgard her home. Loki had been struggling with it lately as well. Lin was too young. "What if…. Perhaps we could leave."

Leiyah's eyes widened, "Dangerous words to say. Especially here."

"Consider it Leiyah. You do not feel safe, neither do I. After what was done. We still do not know who it was. Perhaps going back is the only solution."

"You know we can't win against Asgard."

"What if they let us leave?"

"Leave? You think Odin would let us leave? Now? I am carrying the heir to Asgard's throne. He won't let us leave."

Loki's voice was rising, "You said we could not keep ourselves cloaked the whole time."

"We shouldn't, Loki! That is what I said. It was a question. It is no life. Guarded as if we were nothing but common criminals."

"And I gave you a way out!"

"A way out that would only lead to more trouble." Both were yelling now. They hardly fought. It was not common for them. If they did, it had something to do with stress and unresolved issues around them. As it was today. But they never yelled.

"Leiyah, I do not understand what you want from me. You are unhappy here, so I suggest we leave. Go to your home. You say it is the wrong thing to do. So, we stay. But that does not work either. We cannot go to Midgard. In Alfheim we will have the same issues as in Vanaheim. So, I ask you, Leiyah. Where should we go? Do tell me!"

"I do not know, Loki! I only know it is not safe. And your daughter, no, all of your children will not be able to live their lives the way they are supposed do."

Loki understood where she was coming from. "Now they are my children? Because it is my fault? Without me you wouldn't have been here, none of this would have happened to you? You would still be in Vanaheim, helping the Crown. Helping your sister prepare for her coronation? One day marry some lord or noble man from Vanaheim and have adorable little children? Is that what you are saying?"

"Don't put words in my mouth Loki! You know I never said that."

"But you are implying it!"

"None of this is your fault!"

"Are you certain? Because Odin would not be watching me this closely if I had not tried to take over Asgard, and Midgard. Heimdall would not be watching us. I would not have been manipulated by a titan whose only joy in life is destruction."

Leiyah was so angry now, "What is it that you want me to say, Loki? Yes, you did those things! Yes, that is the reason Odin and everyone else is watching you? Does that make you feel better? None of that will help now. None of this is us finding a solution to our problem."

Loki opened his mouth to yell again, but a small voice startled them both. "Mamma, Dada?" Aelinnea was standing in the door, eyes wide. She looked so small standing there. Loki's heart shattered. Leiyah walked to her daughter, "My gem, everything is alright."

"You yell."

Leiyah looked to Loki, the anger flowing out of her, "I know. I am sorry. We just … we don't know what grandfather will say when he learns that I am awake."

"No yelling."

Loki was beside her now too, "No. You are right. I apologize. We should not yell. We love you, sweetheart. Go on. We will not yell anymore. You can go play." Lin looked at them both and then left. Still looking so small.

"Leiyah," Loki's smooth voice started, "I apologize. I am not angry with you. I know you are speaking reason, but I do not know what to do."

Leiyah held his hand, "I am sorry too. It is a horrible situation we are in. With no way out. We are stressed, and worried. But know that I love you."

"I love you, too." He leaned in to kiss her, wishing he could take away the last few minutes. "Forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive. Let us just try to find a solution."

Loki sighed and pulled her to the mirror again, observing them both. "Perhaps, it would be smarter to go to the family chambers together. After breakfast. You are rested and have more color than you did while you were… sleeping."

"Alright. No mention of my powers. Do we tell them what it was?"

"I am afraid we might have to."

"But we don't reveal we know it was him."

"No. Just the bloodmonk and whitewith."

Loki nodded, concealing the necklace around Leiyah's neck. "For safety."

"Smart thinking."

A knock. A door opening, "My prince, I brought tea." Leiyah resisted the urge to scream, merely rolling her eyes. The insufferable maid was getting cockier by the day. Loki left the bedchamber and went to the maid.

"Who gave you permission to enter?"

She blushed, she wanted to rile him up. "I merely wanted to bring tea."

"You wait. Until I ask you to enter."

"Of course, my prince. I will accept whatever punishment you shall deem fit."

Loki narrowed his eyes, looking at her, at the cunning brain working behind the freckled skin. "You can leave. I do not wish to see you again today. And do not enter these chambers without invitation again."

Tani was startled. She had continued to bring the tea. She had assumed prince Loki would be needing release now more than ever. She knew the tea was being drunk, it was empty every time she came to collect it.

"Do I need to repeat myself? Leave."

Tani gave a small curtsy and left, not knowing why her plan was not working properly.

Loki washed the tea down the drain in their additional sink and returned to Leiyah. She said "I still do not think it was her doing. At least not alone."

"I thought of what you said. I agree. She isn't that smart."

Leiyah turned, she needed another moment for herself. She needed to compose herself. It was almost breakfast time. She was too nervous too eat. It took Odin and Frigga an hour to eat and return to the family chambers. In 68 minutes, Loki and she would start walking to the family chambers, using hidden corridors and shieldings. Once inside the chambers the shieldings would drop and Heimdall would see them too. It unnerved her. She liked the Gate- Keeper. He was kind. He was doing his job. Odin scared her.

26 minutes to go. She re- entered their living room and saw Loki sitting with Aelinnea, who was eating. He was talking quietly to her, and while she was eating, she was listening intently. Leiyah sat down next to them.

"What are you talking about?"

Loki wiped a bit of jam off his daughter's chin and answered, "I was explaining to Lin what we are about to do. The things we will not be mentioning."

Leiyah nodded. Aelinnea said, "I will not tell secret, momma. I promise."

A smile, "I know you won't. You are our smart girl."

A grin bloomed on her face, "Look, I wear the silver dress?" The silver dress had been a present from Odin a few weeks ago. He loved seeing her in it. Their daughter was so smart at a little over one year old. Vanir children were gifted with fast learning. Not many Aesir children could string together sentences like this. While Aesir, Vanir and Elf children learned and developed faster in the early years than Midgardian children, their daughter was even more advanced.

"Good. Grandfather will love that."

Lin grinned even brighter, knowing she had done something smart in choosing the dress. "Can I… May I play with my dolls?" Her nanny had been teaching her politeness lately and Lin wanted to prove that she was polite.

Loki chuckled, "Yes, you may. We will get you in a few minutes."

Leiyah watched her leave and sighed, "The burden we have had to put on such a young child."

"She is strong. She wants to help."

"I know. I just wish we could have spared her. Just for a while longer."

The door opened and their friends entered, all looking well dressed, well rested, but alert and anxious; ready for anything. "20 more minutes."

Leiyah sighed once more, gripping Loki's hand. Cool against her own warm hand. "If something goes wrong, we stick together. No one gets left alone."

A round of nods.

The clock struck. 5 more minutes passed. Leiyah went to freshen up her face, feeling hot. Loki got Aelinnea ready. Their time was up. They started walking, using the secret passages as well as the passages for the servants, shielding themselves whenever they needed. Standing in front of the golden double doors seemed daunting. Marielle shuffled. Vidal did not seem to know what to do with his hands, and Calia was grateful that she was holding Lin, not trusting herself is she had had nothing to do.

Loki nodded once and opened the door. "Mother, Father." He had chosen the word carefully.

Frigga's concerned voice came from their living room, a doorway away, "Loki?"

They walked in and Frigga gasped, "Leiyah. What?"

Odin stood, "How? Explain this."

Loki started, "Two days ago, Mechel was able to wake Leiyah, remembering something in an old book he had once read. She had been resting and regaining her strength ever since. We did not wish to keep you waiting any longer."

Frigga asked, "How are you, dear? Please sit. You must be exhausted."

Leiyah smiled at her mother- in – law and sat down, carefully choosing the seats, aware of where everyone was sitting. "I am much better now. I slept the last two days, else I would have insisted on telling you right away. But I was so I tired. And I could barely move." A lie. Delivered so smoothly it sounded like a song.

"Oh, of course. We were so worried."

Odin looked to Mechel, who was leaning calmly against the window, "What happened to the princess? How were you able to help her?"

Mechel straightened and adjusted his jacket, the picture of confidence, but humility in front of the Allfather. He started to recite the story in the same way Freya had told them to.

"I had been trying to go back, to the early times of my teaching. The times I was taught in other realms, smaller realms. I tried to enter the deepest parts of Leiyah's mind."

Frigga gasped again, "A dangerous thing to do."

"I was aware, but Leiyah was fading, and the twins…, well, they were dying with her. It seemed like my only option in the end. I threaded carefully, looking for something off in a person's mind. And I found it. Bloodmonk." Loki had been watching Odin intently, as had Vidal and Calia. Leiyah was listening, assessing the room, watching and keeping eye contact with her daughter. She was lightly slumped, portraying the picture of a person on the mend.

Odin looked genuinely shooked at the mention of Bloodmonk. Confirming their suspicion. It had not been Odin, who had poisoned Leiyah. "How? There is no more Bloodmonk!"

Mechel walked lightly closer to them, not too much, a mere step. "That, Allfather, I cannot say. I only knew I found it and I had to extract it."

"Bloodmonk would have killed Leiyah. It kills everyone." Odin was right of course.

"Yes, of course. I knew there must be something else. I kept searching and I found something else. Something that, when ingested for a long time, stays in your body for quite a while. Something that when mixed with Bloodmonk, can stop the spread of Bloodmonk, making the afflicted, Leiyah in our case, not die, but rather fall into a coma."

Odin waited for Mechel to continue. Unaware of Loki's piercing eyes not leaving his. "Whitewith."

Odin was a better actor than Loki gave him credit for. He remained completely still, but his eye widened slightly, and he sucked in his next breath a bit too harsh.

Frigga was genuinely shocked, "The aphrodisiac? Why would Leiyah be ingesting it? And for how long?"

Mechel continued, a small nod from Leiyah the only thing he needed, "Before the twins were received. The twins are the result of it, of course. Well one of them."

Odin tried to regain to conversation, "Well, then we know why Leiyah was ingesting it, for another child."

Frigga shook her head, "Forgive me dear, why? Loki would then have been needing to ingest it too. But why would they? They just had a child. And from what I gather, neither have had any attraction problems."

Odin did not answer. Frigga continued, "Unless they did not know."

Loki shook his head slightly, "We did not."

"But who, and how, would it gave gone unnoticed? It has a pretty distinct smell."

Mechel answered, "It would need to have been mixed with something else. Herbs, for example."

Frigga looked to Odin, "Do you think we have all been exposed to it? Perhaps the cook-"

It was as if the Fates had smiled down on Loki and Leiyah today. The door opened and Tani entered, carrying a tray of tea. She looked up and stopped, starting to stammer an apology until she caught sight of Leiyah, sitting next to Loki. Slightly paler, but a pink sheen on her face. "How…?"

Frigga shot her a look, "What?" The news of Leiyah's illness had not been told to anyone.

"I apologize, I did not expect everyone to be here. I was just bringing some herbal tea." The wrong thing to say. Frigga stood. "Herbal tea." She was quiet for a moment. "Mechel, please lock the exits. I need to think." Mechel gave a bow and did what had been asked.

Tani was looking between Odin, Frigga, Leiyah and Loki. Odin refused to meet her eye, Loki was merely looking at his daughter, a gentle hand on Leiyah's leg.

Frigga continued, "Loki does not like herbal tea. And before the pregnancy, I have never seen Leiyah drink it either. We started receiving herbal tea at dinners because there was a sickness. And since then…" Frigga was piecing a puzzle together faster than Mjolnir could fly. They had all been suspecting the maid, of course, but Loki was fairly certain Odin was behind the command.

"What is your name?"

"Tani, Allmother."

"Right." A slight look to Odin, "You have been assigned by the Allfather to prince Loki and princess Leiyah. To care for them." A small jab at Odin for wanting Loki to use Tani as a concubine. "You have been bringing tea to them. Daily."

"Of course, it is my job."

"A tea, neither the princess nor prince have ever asked for."

Tani looked to Odin, who refused to meet her eye.

Frigga said, "You gave the whitewith to them."

Her eyes widened. While Odin was a good actor, she was not. "Your Majesty, surely you do not think I had anything to do with poisoning the princess."

Calia suppressed a small smirk, no one had ever mentioned the poisoning of Leiyah. Frigga said as such, "Whitewith does not cause poisoning."

Tani dropped the tray and started sobbing, "It wasn't me. It was not my plan. It was her."

Odin saw his way out, "Who, woman! Speak."

She dropped to her knees, "The Enchantress." Leiyah grabbed Loki's hand so tightly she drew blood and her magic made a few sparks appear on her hand. Odin had not noticed, but he called for guards to keep Tani restrained and to bring Amora here immediately.

Mechel was whispering to Leiyah, "Are you alright? In control?"

"Yes, it was just a tiny slip."

Loki's mind was reeling. Amora was behind the poisoning of his wife. She would die. As would the maid. Aelinnea had sensed the unease in the room and was squirming. She wanted to leave. She did not like the sobbing woman on the floor, never liked her touching her.

The doors opened and a shackled Amora was brought in. She lost the smug smile when she saw Tani on the floor and Leiyah sitting next to Loki. She asked, trying to sound bored, "Why was I summoned."

Odin looked at the maid, "Do you wish to repeat what you told us?"

Tani was sobbing, unable to speak. Amora turned to her, shackled by chains and two guards, "You told them about the Bloodmonk, you insufferable fool?"

Mechel answered, "She did not mention Bloodmonk."

Amora's eyes were looking between them all. Loki's eyes were cold and full of hatred. Odin meant to speak but Loki stood. "You! You bloodthirsty, hateful, spiteful, mewling quim! I will rip you limb from limb, I will make you regret the day you did not die in that pitiful Midgardian city!" A hand stopped Loki from charging towards her. Leiyah stopped him. "Your daughter."

Loki immediately looked towards the small girl, such fear in her eyes. He dropped to his knees, "Forgive me. I promised." He turned to Odin, "Please, father. Allow Mechel to shield her from this. She should not have to witness this."

Odin, who loved the little girl, nodded, "Yes. But she cannot leave. Not while we do not know who we can trust." Mechel nodded, conjuring a small device, a learning- play- device from Vanaheim. He shrouded Lin in a magical bubble, smoke around her, making her senses unaware of what was happening around her.

Leiyah nodded her thanks and turned away. Odin continued, "Very well. Amora, this is a crime that can not be overlooked. You-" Loki interrupted, "But, Amora was not here before, to give us the Whitewith. That was someone else."

"The maid."

Leiyah spoke slowly, "What use would the maid have of another child between Loki and I?"

Odin laughed shorty, "Well, to win him back."

Tani nodded rapidly. Amora merely groaned, "Please" and rolled her eyes. Leiyah turned to her. "Tell me why? Why poison me?"

"You know why."

"I want to hear you say it."

"To kill that precious baby in your womb."

A small smile from Leiyah, almost lethal, "No. That is not it. And why give it to me when you knew I was also ingesting whitewith still?"

Amora turned to Tani, yelling, "You continued to give her the whitewith? You stupid girl! Of course, she would not die from it!"

Tani shuddered even more. Leiyah smiled even more, "Thank you."

Amora looked back to her. Eyes confused.

"To confirm that it was her."

Amora screamed, "You stupid cow. Couldn't you just die? With your death Loki would have been miserable. Open for anything. An alliance. An alliance to kill Odin and rule over the realms together!" Amora must have truly gone insane without her seidr, she would have never revealed her plan normally.

Odin announced, "You will be executed for this Amora! You will not burn nobly; you will not ascend into Valhalla."

Amora laughed, a wicked, insane laugh. Loki looked away, towards Odin, "But who gave the whitewith to the maid?"

"Does it matter?"

"YES!" Loki's own powers now chocked the maid, an illusion of his holding a knife to her throat. "Speak! Who told you to bring us the tea? Where was the bloodmonk."

"On her cup." She gasped.

Amora laughed more, "Loki, look at you! Pathetic. Wasting power and energy over a stupid, little princess. A princess who has nothing! Maybe the maid would be better suited for you."

Loki dug the blade further into the maids throat, "Why go to Amora? Why try to kill my wife?"

"Because I want you! You were mine. She is nothing. She has corrupted you. Made you weak."

There was so much happening, so many people screaming.

"Who gave you the order to use the whitewith?"

"That stupid slut should have died! She would have done all of us a favor."

Leiyah was trembling.

Loki yelled again, cutting deeper, more illusions cutting into her arms, "Who gave the order?"

Blood was running down her body, not enough yet to kill her. Amora was laughing and said, "Maybe we should have just killed your daughter, and the twins she is carrying" at the same time Tani said, "Allfather."

The next thing Loki saw was blood dripping down his hand as he had cut the stupid maids throat and then a blinding light, purple and angry, shooting at Amora, choking her, circling her. Power coming from Leiyah. Uncontrolled, angry. Amora screamed, enduring pain she had never felt before, before her neck snapped and she fell to the ground, Leiyah's power cutting off her head to be sure.

Mechel was screaming, yelling at her to stop. Frigga was looking at Odin, at the words the maid had spoken. Guards were rushing to hold Vidal, Marielle, Calia and Mechel.

Odin yelled, "I knew her powers would cause trouble!" Leiyah was panting. Crying. Mechel looked to Loki, "Haven." It was a plan Loki had come up with Mechel, a week before they had awoken Leiyah. In case things went bad. And they had. Loki dashed for Lin, picking her up, holding her close and closing his other arm around Leiyah, before Mechel blasted at them one more time. Leiyah yelled, "No!" but it was too late. Golden light enveloped them. And then it turned black.