Chapter 43.
She read aloud to Vorn, his face stoic as he stood at his post and stared at the column directly ahead of him. She came to the end of the poem, sighing to herself and Vorin grinned then. They were alone in the hall, the quiet of it free of any other distraction and she enjoyed reading to him.
"I like that one. The description of the ocean being vast was wonderous, as if it were the body being the ship, and the ocean being eternity." Vorn said and she smiled from her seat on the bench next to him. He saw a sadness in her eyes that day, as if something had cut her deep and she sighed when she sat.
"I wish my happiness were as vast as the ocean." She said and he frowned, his eyes scanning the hall and he looked back at her.
"What do you mean Bloom?" He asked, using his nickname he gave her to strengthen their friendship. "You can tell me anything, I am your friend after all."
"I went to dine with Prince Loki last night." She started, her eyes filling with tears again and she added her hands. "He was with Lady Yolanda, and she insulted me. Acting if I were a speck of dust compared to her, which I am."
"Don't be silly. You are ten times the woman she is, and far prettier than she." Vorn whispered, Floria looking up in shock.
"You know her?" She asked, standing up and looking him in the face. "How? Please tell me."
"She is already promised to a Councilman, and he is rather old compared to her. She is also known for..." He started and paused to think a moment. "For sampling the husbands of other women."
"She is..." Floria started and gasped. "Oh! Do you think she wishes to do the same with Prince Loki?"
"She probably does. The child of a member of the Royal Family, even if it is a Bastard, would come with certain gifts from the Crown to keep the mother of it quiet." Vorn replied, and Floria felt pale. She hugged the book to her, the idea of her being cast off with nowhere to be again, making her tremble. She looked up at Vorn, her heart pounding and she fought tears.
"What of me then?" She asked, her voice shaking. "I have nowhere to go if she finds herself in my place."
"I will pray then that you do not loose your place, and that he sees what a delicate, and beautiful woman he stands to loose if her does turn toward the other." Vorn said, giving her a smile and returning to his watch. "Could you read me another? This conversation is depressing you, and I don't like you to feel so sad."
"Of course, do you want one about a great battle? Or a soft romance?" She asked and he grinned under his helmet.
"A great battle, then the one about romance." He said, she laughing and turning the pages of the text. She began reading, her voice filling the hall and he enjoyed the company more than anything in the world.
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"I did my best Sister." Vorn said groaning and she struck him again. Yolanda paced, her hands shaking with anger and she turned back to face her idiot sibling.
"Your best has not gotten her away from him! It is insulting to have a low born cow as his wife, especially when he could have a woman of Noble breeding. And for all my own attempts, he keeps breaking free of my control. He is just too powerful." She said and crossed her arms, sighing and looking back at Vorn. "I believe it is time to recruit our shamed sister into my plans. I will see her soon, and we will come up with a plan."
"You are not going to kill the Lady? Are you?" He asked, shock crossing his face and he looked pale. Yolanda picked up a dagger, turning the blade against her finger and smiled at her brother.
"I will do..." She hissed and walked toward him with a predatory grin. "Whatever it takes. Now I will work to make the little fool my friend, and to trust me. But I shall make one last attemot tonight."
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Loki was waiting for her when she arrived that evening again, his hands folded behind his back as he watched the trees outside his window. Lady Yolanda had just left, and he was hoping to have a quiet supper with his bethrothed that evening but she was late to arrive again. She apologised again for her tardiness, and he smiled at her and gave her his hand.
"Where did you vanish to all day Nightengale?" He asked her and she smiled, looking at her lap.
"I visited with my friend again, and we talked." She said and he set his fork down. He had heard rumors about she being flirtatious with a Guard, and her being out of sorts the day before was giving him the suspicion that they were true.
"The Guard?" Loki said and Floria nearly choked on her wine as she sipped from the glass. "What was his name? I had to find it out when I heard rumor that you were flirting with him."
"I was not flirting with Vorn Sir, I swear it. We are merely friends, and he is rather nice to me." She said, her hands shaking as she sat at the table. She looked down in thought, trying to find how anyone could think she was flirting with her friend.
"I believe it was seen differently." He replied and threw his napkin on the table. He sat back in his chair and drained his glass, the fire becoming the only sound in his chambers for a long time. "Perhaps he was flirting with you, and you liked the attention."
"The way you like the attentions of Lady Yolanda?" She asked him, wanting to cover her mouth for saying what she was thinking. She cringed, his eyes fixing on her and he saw the pain in them suddenly. "All she wants is a warm place in your bed, and me pushed out of your life. She would be the better match for you after all, high born, possessing graces I do not. And what was I before all this? Before you found me on that road? I was a Slave, a poor and lowest born Slave, beaten and left to die with no promise but to be sold to a Brothel."
"Floria, I did not mean to be cruel, and you are so much more to me than that girl who used to be a Slave. You are my gentle footed Bride, with beauty that she does not readily see." He said and she stood then, pulling away from his hand.
"But you are being so, you let her insult me as if I did not matter to you." She cried, her eyes shutting and she turning away from him. He walked to her, putting his arms around her and she sobbed. "You did give me reason to cry after all."
"And I did not mean to, please don't weep." He said and she looked at him. Her eyes had become puffy, and she hiccupped.
"Why shouldn't I? I am to be put on display during our Wedding Night. Made entertainment while you make use of my body, and I enduring it in silence." She said and he groaned to himself about that tradition. He hated it, and had a plan to keep from making a spectacle of them both that night.
"Don't worry, I have a plan for that. But Floria, you must be careful in the future. Vorn... He keeps Ladies under his thumb and uses them for his own gain himself. He wenches at every chance he can get, and he will ruin your reputation." He said, holding her close as she shook. She looked up at him and he smiled at her, kissing her forehead. "He only befriends a woman for one reason, to warm their bed and then blackmail them later to keep his silence. He is drawing a pension that is very lucrative from those means, and he would ruin you in the process."
"What?" She asked him, her mouth falling open in shock.
"He only wishes to use you Floria. Stay away from him, and I shall avoid Yolanda at all costs." He said holding her. His fingers ran through her hair and he leaned close to her ear. "You are more than she ever will be Nightengale, your virtue and pride keep you that way. I know of a friend that you can trust in, she is coming to be your Maid."
"Who is she?" Floria asked and Loki guided her back to his chair, sitting down in it and placing her in his lap. She blushed, her hands folding as she looked at him and he picked up some of the meat from his plate, holding the fork for her to eat.
"She is a friend that grew up with Thor and I, Sif's younger sister. Her name is Sari, and is very excited to meet you, I think you will like her very much." Loki said and she took the bite of food, smiling at him. She chewed, swallowing the morstel and the food warmed her stomach.
"I do like Lady Sif, she has been nothing but nice to me." She said and took the fork from him, picking up some of the food and offering him some meat. "As for Vorn, he is no true friend if he truly treats women that way."
"I agree, you are so pure Floria." He said and some of the gravy from the meat dripped onto her wrist. He grinned, looking at her and took the bite from the fork, holding it and he brought her other arm to his mouth and licked the gravy away. She gasped, her heart fluttering and she took another bite of food and swirled it in the gravy. He smiled at her, his arms pullung her tighter to him and she fed him the potato.
"That was sweet off of your skin." He said and she blushed, he dipped his fingers into the cream tart on the other plate and dabbled it on her neck. "Let me see how this compliments you."
His mouth cleaned away the cream, his tounge dancing over her skin and she gasped again. Her heart pounding and she took in a shaking breath, his hands pullIng her closer and she trembled. A warm feeling filled her stomach, and he smiled as her kissed to her shoulder. His fingers felt so smooth as the glided over her, her skin the soft flesh feeling like silk to him.
The door behind them opened suddenly, and Floria jumped. They turned, Yolanda standing in the doorway and staring in shock at the both of them. Floria's eyes widened, and she stood slowly from Loki's lap.
"Am I interrupting something?" Yolanda said and Loki smirked at her. Floria hid her face, her eyes looking at him in fear and she pulled the shoulder of her dress back up. She shivered in remembrance of what almost happened and Yolanda crossed her arms, glaring at the both of them.
"Nothing you have probably already done." Loki said, taking Floria's hand and kissing it. "Of course, you wanted to be in Floria's place. Did you not?"
"I would have made you happier, and not looked so ashamed when caught." Yolanda said, her eyes falling on Floria and Loki snorted. "She looks like a child standing there, trembling and embarassed by her whoring."
"Forgive me Nightengale." Loki said, standing and walking toward Yolanda. He grabbed he roughly, his hands on her arms as he shoved her toward the hall doors. "You will not say such things before your future Queen! Now leave these chambers and never haunt them again. You say she is whoring, but it is you who are nothing but a whore."
"How dare you." She hissed back at Loki, slapping him across the face and he glared at her. "I am no whore, and my father..."
"Will do well to marry you off, I only pity your future husband." Loki said and shoved her into the hall. "We all know that others have known your charms, and that many more will. The only difference between your Chambers and a Brothel, is than no money exchanges hands!"
He slammed the door, Floria jumping and he walked back to the table. She stood, rooted to her spot and he picked up the bottle of wine and refilled his goblet. He drank from it, pulling her close to him and he held her.
"She should not have struck you." She said, and he kissed the part of her hair.
"She is shamed by her actions, don't fret over it." He said and looked down at her. "Sit and eat, you are shaking like a leaf and need the nourishment."
"Yes Sir." She said, kissing his cheek before returning to her seat. She ate, chewing slowly but her mind kept returning to the feeling she felt with his lips on her neck and shoulder. She had no idea that something so erotic would ever happen to her, and she wished that they had not been stopped by Yolanda. She finished her meal, and sighed. Her stomach filled to satisfaction, and her eyes growing heavy. Loki watched her, wishing the same thing but knowing she was still to shy to take to his bed in that manner.
"Shall I draw you a bath?" He asked her and she smiled at him softly.
"If it pleases you Sir." She said, Loki smiling and walking to the Bathing Chamber. By the time he returned from filling the tub with warm water and fragrant oils, she was dozing slightly. He gave her a soft shake, she walkng and looking up at him.
"I will knock and check on you in a while. I can't have you drowning on me Nightengale." He said and helped her to stand. She walked into the room, closing the door after her and he stood in the empty room. Thinking to himself about how she had lost faith in him, his heart cracking at the pain she suffered as well.