Chapter 39.

Floria entered the sitting room, and gasped at the chaos around her. The couches were overturned and smashed into splinters. The table shattered and bits of torn cloth littered the floor, her eyes searching and expecting to see Loki buried under the debris and injured. She heard something slip against the floor in the Bed Chamber and she set the tray down on the floor, not seeing a better place to put it. She found a path through the destruction, being careful to not snag her skirts and stepped softly through the door.

She did not see him at first, only the pile of rubble that was once his bed and the fluttering papers and torn books around him. She shivered, scared that she would startle him and end up a broken body on the floor and walked toward a low sound against the far wall. She saw him then, his green tunic torn and his black leather trousers askew. He leaned his head against the wall, his hair framing his face in a tangled mess and she gasped at the large cut on his bare foot. His hands rested in his lap, and he looked so very lost. His head turned toward her and she froze, his eyes looking at her dress and rough shoes. Out of courtsey, she curtsied, her hands shaking as she lifted ger skirts a bit.

"My Prince." She said, and he chuckled darkly, his eyes on her and she shivered.

"Back to formalities? I at least thought you knew me well enough to call me by my name. No matter, you will leave again soon and I will remain here." He said and she saw how red and swollen his eyes were from the tears he shed. She walked closer and he looked away suddenly, his irritation at seeing her showing.

"I thought it would be best to be formal, given the situation. You are bleeding, may I fetch you a healer?" She asked and she made small, slow movements to be kind to him in his fragile state.

"Why are you here? I let you go, cast you off so that you could find another." He snapped and she found what looked to be an intact chair. She set it upright carefully and saw it looked to be stable, but he waved a hand causing the legs to break off and the furnature to smash against the wall.

"I was asked to come back, there are those who care about you and are worried." She said and stepped over the remains of his desk. She picked up a quill, her heart aching at the memory of how she once held it as he taught her how to write.

"Go away, I do not want you here. Return to your little family, leave me to my misery." He said and let his head hang forward. She looked at the feather in her hands, turning it over and found courage in herself. The courage to fight for the person she loved, even if she had lost his affections in return. She shook her head, holding the pen and stepped toward him and resolved to not leave until she knew everything.

"Why will you not tell me why you acted so cruelly? What shame is there in being honest, what crime in saving some part of what we were?" She asked and he growled at her. His eyes flashed red, and he glared from under his hair.

"It is none of your concern. NOW GO!" He screamed at her, and the window behind her shattered out. She jumped, closing her fists and she stomped her foot at him. He looked shocked at her sudden outburst, looking at her and she crossed her arms in a stubborn stance.

"Men do not turn kind, then cruel, then kind again without reason. I will not abandon you, and I refuse to watch as you destroy everything you own. Stop acting like a petulant child and please, help me to see what caused you to act that way!" She shouted back and he laughed at her. His eyes meeting hers and seeing how powerfully stubborn she was, despite her fear, she was so determined to speak to him.

"You know nothing of men then, nor of me." He said, shifting into a Jotun and she blinked at him. "I am monster that few will ever care for."

"No, you are so very wrong in that assumption. Only you call yourself that, and I am willing to still love you. You are so much more, and you are not what you say you are." She shot back, finding a pillow and sitting on it. "I refuse to leave until you tell me the truth. I will stay here and starve in front of you before I leave you alone here again."

"You are either very brave, or a fool."

"Better to face all that I fear as a brave fool then. For everything that I cry over, that has caused me to cower, to feel weak, never wore your face."

"And now confess that you fear me." He said, shifting back and she crossed her legs neatly. She made sure her skirts were covering her in a modest way, and sat quiet for a moment.

"No. That is you twisting my words. Nothing more than your misery making you a fool." She said and he looked back at her. She sat quietly, waiting for him to talk and he blinked at her.

"What do you know of fear and pain?" He said and dismissed her derisive laugh.

"Did you forget how you found me in the woods? I was a slave, beaten for even having the audacity of looking at my Master. I am intimate with suffering on a level you will never know." She said and lifted her skirts to show him a brand on her hip. "I was property once, but am now freed. I am still forced still to wear his mark in my skin, and never forget how low I started life as. My birth, my life, and this place I live in now, without you, is a great pain in my heart I bear with grace."

"Then you do understand, and perhaps would hear my story with a sympathetic ear." He said and she nodded, smoothing her skirts down over her legs and he let out a long breath. His voice shook, and he covered his face with his hand and rubbed it.

"You would be suprised, all that I would be sympathetic to and understand." She said and he sighed.

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The light in the room was dim when he finished his story, she having halfway through taking his foot into her lap and cleaning the wound on it. She then tore up her apron, using the strips as a bandage and she wrapped it to stop the bleeding.

She sat now, his story making her want to cry and he watched her closely. She shook her head, unable to find words to express anything she wanted to. His torture and suffering, the way another being broke him and twisted his mind to use him for his ends. It ached her to think about and she blinked back tears, his pain becoming a part of her sadness along with her own.

"I am so very sorry you endured all that." She said, wiping her eyes with her hands and he looked at her.

"Sorry because I was weakened and made to suffer? Or sorry because you can not find any affection in your heart for me?" He pressed and she looked at him. She did not know why she did what she did, but she knew she had to show him that there was still room in her heart for him. She shot forward, grabbing his tunic and pressed her lips to his. He froze, and his eyes opened in shock and eventually closed as his arms wrapped around her. He returned the kiss, his heart bleeding and begging her to stay with him. They stayed in the embrace and he kissed down her throat then, his mouth desperate to cover as much of her as he could in his affection. Her fingers wove into his hair and he groaned and she sighed against him, her heart pounding and she wanting him to hold her tighter. He pulled her into his lap and he slipped his hand over the brand on her hip, a gasp escaping her lips as she tried to pull away and he held her fast.

"I... I am... I am not ready for that." She said, her mouth open and he put a finger over her lips. He muttered a single word and the mark on her flesh vanished, his smile widening and she felt his hand slide up to her waist.

"You bear his mark in your flesh no more." He said and she kissed him, his hand coming out from under her skirt and holding her close to him as their mouths worked against one another. She gasped and he held her to him, and he slowed. She caught her breath and he held her close to him, willing his heart to slow.

"I should not have tempted you." She said and he laughed at her softly. His hand caressed her cheek and he smiled down at her, his fingers sliding over her lips softly.

"You are a temptation to me by walking into the room alone." He said and held her to him. He slid down the wall and lay on the floor, she resting her head on his chest. She lay still for a long time, listening to his heart and she looked up at his calm face.

"What an awful mess I have made of things." He said and she picked at a thread at his shoulder from the torn tunic.

"A broom, some dusting, It can be all fixed." She said and he looked at her. "The true question is one thing alone, can we be brought back together? Or do we part and go our seperate ways?"

"I can't let you go Nightengale. I would rather live without air than you." He said and wrapped his arms around her. She lifted her head, kissing his chin and smiled at him.

"Two weeks." She said and she looked at her. "We have two weeks until the Wedding, marry me then."

He blinked at her, smiling silently and caressing her cheek. Their lips met and he pulled her further onto his chest, she looked into his eyes and they kissed again. Their hearts racing and he looked at her softly, he held her cheeks in his hands and rested his forehead against hers.

"Be my wife, and I will worship you for all time." He said and she nodded, her eyes closing as he kissed her again. A sharp clearing of the throat distracted them from their affections, and they froze. They both looked up to see Hogun standing, his arms crossed and he was glaring at Floria.

"Floria. Come home, we have much to discuss." He said and she stood, folding her hands and hanging her head.

"I want to stay Father." She said, her voice turning small and Hogun shook his head.

"Come home." He said and Loki stood up against the wall, he saw Floria shake her head again and she muttered a very soft no. Hogun crossed the floor, grabbing his daughter by the arm and shaking her, she cried out and whimpered.

"Father! You are hurting me!" She said, her voice shaking. She cringed, hiding her face and her rough shoes slid over the floor as he pulled her along. She fought him, slapping at his hand and she stumbled over some debris.

"You will not marry him, and you are to come home. That is an order!" Hogun hissed and she tried to get away from him. She wrenched her arm free, backing up and he struck her in anger. She spun, hitting the floor and sat up slowly and trembled as her hair covered her face. Loki grabbed Hogun, forcing him away from the girl and fisted his tunic in both hands. She held her burning cheek, crying and shaking as the fell back to the ground and she prepared for another blow.

"She is your child!" Loki shouted, and put a finger into his face. They locked eyes and he held the warrior back, Floria lay on the ground among the debris. He body prone and she cried, a scattered doll among his things.

"She is my child, and she went against me to come here. I take back my permission, you are no longer allowed anywhere near my daughter and are to leave her alone." He said and Floria looked up in shock. He motioned to her, and she rose to her feet and kept her eyes low.

"Come Floria. Say goodbye and we will walk home." He said and she clenched her fists.

"No." She said and he made a move toward her, Loki shoving him back.

"She is not to be struck again in my presence." Loki warned and Hogun glared at him.

"All the easier for you to strangle her?" Hogun said and he looked at Floria. He stepped back, pointing at her and she looked shocked.

"Marry him, and you have no family." He said and she looked shocked, her eyes wide and she stepped over some debris.

"Father... Why?" She asked and he spat on the ground. His eyes narrowed and she looked at Loki, she was being forced to make a choice and the line was clearly drawn in the sand. She stood, looking from one man to the other and she started walking toward Hogun. He held his hand out and she paused, her body shaking and she turned to Loki then. She threw her arms around him and he held her, scared that it was the last time.

"I choose a life with you." She said and Hogun turned on his toes and left the room. The last words before he slammed the door behind him, made even Loki quake.

"My Daughter has died this day." He said and the echo of it make her cry out and whimper in sadness.