Chapter 27.
Loki dismounted the horse, nearly running to the door of the stone cottage that Hogun had called home. He knocked, impatient to see Floria and his heart pounded at the thought of the two days that had passed without coming to her. Two days since Thor was diminished from favor, and Loki made Heir Apparent. He raised his hand to knock again, Velora opening the door and she gasped. She dipped into an immediate curtsy, her eyes on the floor.
"I came to see Floria, Lady Velora. Is she here, please tell me she is safe." Loki said and the look on her face told him all. He leaned against the doorframe, his heart sinking and he nearly screamed.
"She took ill, a terrible fever. It came on a day ago, and she is in her bed now." She said and a soft moan came from a room off the main one. He stepped past Velora, she cradling her growing belly and he walked to it. He opened the door to see a small bed near a fireplace, and on it was the sweaty, pale form of Floria.
"Mama." The girl moaned, the weakness in her voice pulling at his heart. "Please... water."
"Has a Healer seen her?" Loki asked and Velora nodded, her face drawn.
"She was seen, and they said if the fever did not break soon that we would loose her." The woman sobbed, Loki looked at her an idea coming to him.
"We need to cool her. Bring water for me to give her, and i beg yoy to not let Hogun murder me." Loki said and Loki stripped off his boots and coat. He unhooked his armor, laying everything aside and pulled his tunic off over his head.
"What are you doing?" The woman gasped, picking up his clothes and staring wide eyed as he shifted. She marveled at the blue, Jotun form and covered her mouth as he lifted the blankets and lay next to Floria under them. He gathered her into his arms, holding her close to his skin and she moaned and shivered. His hands soothed away her aches, and he began gently singing to her to help her sleep.
"Water, she needs to drink." Loki said and Velora nodded at him. He lay close to her, the heat radiating from her body like a furnace and he slowly brought a cup to her lips. She drank from it, and gasped as the cold from his skin whispered through her shift. The virginal, white silk and lace alluring to him but his desire to preserve her life overcoming his lust. He gave her more sips of water and she opened her eyes slowly, focus coming to them and he smiled at her. She shivered and he held her tighter, his arms both frightening and calming to her.
Velora returned, leaving a full pitcher and she looked at her child. She then looked at her growing belly, a look of guilt crossing her face.
"I have heard that you wish to make her your wife." Velora said and she folded her hands nervously. He nodded, Floria drifting to sleep and she choked back a sob at his answer.
"I do, for she is the sweetest, kindest soul to ever dwell in Asgard, and she deserves so much. I will make her very happy Lady Velora, give her children, and we will grow old together." He said and Velora shook her head.
"You are so very kind, and generous." Velora said, and looked at him. "She is barren, and it was the fault of her former Master. He made the drink a toxin as a young child, one that made her terribly ill and ruined her chances for children of her own. He always intended to sell her into Pleasure Slavery, and I could not stop him."
Loki registered her words, holding his beautiful Floria close and he glared at her mother. He looked into her sleeping face, putting a kiss on her forehead and vowing to have healers check her as soon as she was better. They would confirm or deny her ability to conceive, yet he still found himself unable to care if she could give him children or not. He lay next to her, still holding her and made himself comfortable.
"I care not. I still love her, and she is truly the only woman I could ever desire as I do now." He said, closing his eyes and holding her to his chest. He noticed, before falling asleep, that her fever had dropped a bit and her sleep had become comfortable.
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Floria woke hours later, something so very cool and refreshing pressed against her body. She still felt weak, but shifted and felt whatever it was move beside her. She lifted her head, her eyes going wide at seeing Loki laying next to her with no clothes covering him. She gasped, her hands bracing against his chest and she realized he still wore his black leather pants he lay next to her in. He stirred, looking at her and moved some of her hair back over her shoulder. She felt shy then, and her lips trembled.
"Be still." He soothed her, and he kissed her forehead. "This was the fastest way I could think to reduce your fever. You are untouched still, and I only wanted for you to live."
"Thank you My Prince." She said, her fingers tracing a ridge on his chest and he watched her. "We should not be like this, it is improper."
"I know. I will move as soon as I am sure that you will recover. However, if you keep doing that with your fingers, the space between us may turn to tigers." He warned and he saw her turn pale and fear fill her eyes. She froze, and she took her hand away from his chest and shifted so that she could lay with her back to him.
"I am sorry Sir." She said and she shivered with silent tears. Her fears coming back to her, and he rested his chest into her back.
"What is it Nightengale? There is no reason to weep so, tell me so I may see you through your sorrows." He said and she whimpered into her hands. She pressed a fist against her mouth, and he frowned and gave her time to decide how to express her fears.
"I am afraid." She whimpered and he hugged her from behind.
"Of what Dear Floria?" He asked her and she turned her face into the pillows. She shook, not wanting to say, and he leaned back on the mattress. His brow furrowed, and she cried into the pillow harder. Her hands forming an indecent gesture and he groaned, remembering how Thor and Fandral spoke about how it was painful for a Maiden the first time.
"Floria, look at me." He softly said, and she turned her face toward him. He shifted back into himself, moving her hair gently and smiled at her.
"Yes Sir?" She asked him, his smile gentle and he longed again to smother her in kisses. His hand caressed her cheek, his eyes looking at the lace that covered her chest and he felt himself stir at the view. He looked away quickly, and he traced a thumb over her nose.
"You do not have to share my bed until you are ready. If it pleases you, you may come to me when you are not so scared. It is a small matter and we can still have eachother as we are now, and I would be most pleased to keep you as you are, for as long as you wish. I only desire you, not your body, nor the pleasures it can bring a man. I desire all of you, and want you to feel safe always in my arms." He said and her lips parted in shock. She moved closer to him, seeking that safety and he held her close to him. He played with a bit of her hair, shifting back at realizing that her fever was not completely gone.
"I thought you being here was a fever dream Sir." She said and he twirled the strand around his finger. "You were gone so long, I felt abandoned."
"I am so sorry, forgive me. Odin and Frigga wanted to start preparing me for my future, my thoughts were on you alone the entire time. I am a man smitten, besotted by you, and you are my peace in the chaos." He said and she curled her arms against her chest. He pulled her tighter to him and he sighed, sad that she was afraid to be intimate with him physically but still happy she would recover. He continued to play with the bit of hair, she drifting to sleep and he grinned at her trust of him. He would talk to her about her fears later, even making a note mentally to have her mother address them. He could not push her into giving in, and he saw her shoulders rise and fall with each breath she took.
His eyes felt heavy then, his arms wrapping around her and he cradling her as she slept. He let his eyelids droop, and slowly fell into sleep himself.
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He woke later, a fire burning in the small fireplace and a figure sitting in the chair nearby. He sat up, laying Floria on the pillows and was pleased to find her fever gone. Hogun regarded the scene, and Loki covered her with the blankets and put on his tunic again.
"It was the only way to aid in reducing her fever." Loki said and Hogun looked up from the box he was carving. He pointed to the other chair, resting the knife on his knee and studying him for a moment.
"She will recover because of you. Thank you." The grim warrior said, Loki nodding. His expression gave nothing away, his hand picking up the knife again and returning to his work.
"I meant no harm by laying next to her, I only wished to help." Loki groaned, afraid of letting Floria go and never seeing her again.
"I am not angry, you did right. I am now worried what will happen to you." Hogun said, his knife scratching out a fine detail.
"You mean with my new status." He replied, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I admit, this was what I wanted in the past, but my goals have drastically changed now. I seek a different future, with a different outcome."
"Then time truly has changed you, made you wiser and less arrogant." Hogun said and set the finished box on the table. Loki admired the fine carving, the tiny flowers surrounding a river and trees growing around it. His eyes returned to the sleeping girl, a pain filling his chest at the thought of forcing her into the politics and intrigue of Court.
"I am only glad that no damage was done to her reputation." Loki said and looked at the fire. "Thor thought to have her as a replacement for the lost Mortal."
"I have not shared my thoughts with him on that subject. I am too angry to speak with him at this time, his actions nearly broke her heart, and caused my family a great deal of strife. She wept the next day when you did not come, the day after she worried herself into illness." Hogun said, Loki's heart sinking. He looked back at Floria, finding that she had kicked the blankets off her and that the shift had ridden up her legs.
"I am sorry that she was made to worry. I should have sent her a message, a letter anything." He said and flicked his wrist to use his magic to cover her again. "I will explain to her when she wakes that it is best that she remain here until this all blows over, and will come to visit her every day."
"Should your schedule allow." Hogun said and Loki regarded him.
"I will come, damn my schedule. She is more important to me than any Crown." He shot back and Hogun cracked a smile at him.
"Then you truly are in love with her." Hogun said and stood, he clapped him on the shoulder and walked out of the room. Loki relaxing into the chair and letting out a long breath as he watched the fire. His thoughts, a hurricane compared to the calm of the room.