Chapter 50.
Summer gave way to Autumn again, and Floria recovered from her previous illness for one after another to set in. The Court was happy to see her at social events and feasts, but still whispered that after four months of marriage that there were no signs of a child on her and that she was slowly going mad. She felt the frustration of her inability to conceive weighing on her, visiting the Healers once a week to see if anything had changed in her. Leaving them again, filled with heart crushing disappointment,and returning to a Husband that was not as amorous as he once was.
His lack of interest also weighed on her, making her cry and weep every time he was not with her. She retired some nights to her Chambers alone, hearing vouces through the doors and bursting through them to find him reading alone by the fire. Her paranoia leading her to suspect that he had a mistress somewhere, and she was afraid her thoughts were more than true.
That day was no different, and she sighed as she could not focus as she read in her Chambers. She felt a headache all morning, and chose to remain in bed to rest and see if it would ease itself away. She heard giggles, and Loki's voice purring to a woman through the doors and gasped in pain that made her chest feel hollow. Her heart breaking at the thought of he taking another woman to his bed and leaving her to suffer, was too much to bear. She slipped from her bed, walking to the door and heard cries of passion as she neared it. Her eyes filled with tears and she stormed through the Bathing Chamber to the opposite door, the pants of her husband getting louder and she threw the door open to see him standing with an elderly man and speaking to him.
"Floria, I am glad you are awake, I want you to meet Erus. He is a Master Sorceror and has come to see what is causing your illnesses." Loki said and she gripped her robe in her hands. She looked at the man and walked toward him, poking his shoulder and then glaring at Loki. She was never angry with him, and now she reached back and struck him across the face.
"LIAR!" She spat and slapped her hands into his chest. "You have a Mistress! I know it! I can hear you with her, your passions and still you hide her! How could you abandon me when I suffer so terribly? I promised you my heart and you have crushed it!"
"Floria, what in the nine?" Loki looked at her in shock, the old man staring and observing her behavior with interest. Loki stepped back from her and she pulled at her hair, her insanity showing and the old man waved a hand and pressed his lips in concern.
"Is it because my womb remains empty? Is it because I no longer stir yourl passions as I did before?" She wept, her bare feet pacing and she grabbed her forehead with the pain. "I heard a woman in her with you! Where is she?"
"Floria, there was no woman. I am scared for your health, that is why I do not love you as I have. I want you to heal, but you have only gotten worse. Calm yourself!" He said and the old man stepped toward her. She held her head, her nose starting to bleed and she cried out in pain.
"Does your head hurt often before you see or hear visions of Loki being unfaithful?" Erus asked and Floria looked at the man, he put his hand out to her and she nodded. Her hair was wild and tangled from pulling at it, and she wiped at her nose with her hand.
"Yes Sir. It pains me terribly." She said and looked at Loki. She fell to the floor, crying and crawled to him. Loki crouching down and holding her, pain in his eyes at her condition. "Please forgive me... I... I don't understand why this is happening to me... Please say you still love me."
"I do Nightengale, my delicate rose. Please, speak the Erus and let him tend to you." Loki said, his arms around her and his fingers combing her long hair. She clung to him like a child, and her fingers shook as she held her head again.
"My Potion, I... I need it. I need to cease this pain that threatens to split my head." She moaned and cried. Loki stood and grabbed the pearly empty phial, pulling the stopper and placing two drops on her tounge. Erus looked at the array of bottles and elixers on the table, frowning at the attempts to keep the girl free from her suffering. His hatred for suffering of any kind coming through, and he watched as Loki lifted the poor girl in his arms and carried her back to her bed.
He followed, taking note at how they kept the curtains drawn and how she had seperated herself from her Husband. He shook his head, looking around and finding several interesting points as he walked through the rooms. Loki calmed her, easing her to sleep and Erus folded his hands behind his back in thought.
"I am sorry, this is not like her to be so violent. She is under so much pressure, and her cycle started the other day. We had to restrain her one time, she tried to throw herself from a tower and then from the bifrost." Loki said and rubbed his cheek. His eyes filled with tears, amd the old man nodded back at him as the girl moaned in her sleep. Erus looked back at the sleeping woman and his eyes looked sad.
"It is worse than I thought." He said simply, and walked back to her. "You suspected magic to have a hand in her illness?"
"Yes. I felt something on her, but it was so very faint. After our wedding, she complained of being out of sorts. I thought she was as anxious." Loki replied and Erus opened her robe and shift to expose the skin over her heart. Loki wanted to stop him, but let him work. He placed his hand on her, closing his eyes and his face pinched in anger.
"Yes. I can feel it. It is hiding, and a clever work, but it is there and very foul." He said and closed her shift back up. Floria slept on, her face relaxed and thin from all the weight she lost. "Tell me of her other symptoms."
"She bled as if she lost a child one time and complained of stomach pains, another time she could not keep any food at all down, the delusions and headaches have gone on for three months and only gotten worse." Loki said and he looked at her in shame. "I cannot bring myself to lie with her because of her illness. She is my heart, but I shun her like I am a bastard with a mistress."
"Understandable." The old man said and looked at Loki. "Do you have Mugwort, Anarak, and Dandelion Seed in your herbs?"
"I do, I keep them all ready and other ingredients for potions and such." Loki replied, looking at the old man and he sat in a chair next to the bed.
"Brew them in equal parts into a tea, we have to start immediately." He said and looked at Floria. "She is cursed, and I can save her, but we have to act now."
"Cursed? By whom?" Loki demanded and the Old Sorceror held up a finger. He wanted to kill whoever was behind this, tear them to pieces and make them pay for every moment of her suffering.
"One thing at a time, I will give you back your adored Wife first. Go and make the tea, and bring me something she can wear, a necklace or bracelet." I plan to protect her with a tallasman.
"I have just the thing in mind." Loki said and opened her jewelery chest. He selected a simple chain of gold with an emerald hanging from it, handing it to the man and he appreciated the symbolism of the stone.
"This will do very well, now hurry. I am going to work on removing the first curse from her while you work." Erus said and put a hand on Floria's forehead and began to chant. Loki went back to his Chambers, Frigga standing in them and he saw her.
"She is cursed, Dark Magic is at work. He found it and she can be saved, I have to hurry." He said and Frigga gasped. She looked at him and blinked, her eyes wide.
"What can I do to help?" She asked and Loki looked at the Mugwort he had on hand. He gave Frigga the jar and she pinched her lips.
"I need fresher Mugwort than this, do you have any?" He asked her and she smiled at him. Opening her sleeve and showing him some she had just picked from her garden to aid her own works.
"I grow it, it is a powerful plant for healing and meditation." She said and gave it to him. 'I will just have to cut more later."
"Thank you Mother." He said and he began to work, putting a kettle on and bringing the water in it to a boil.
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"Who are you Sir?" Floria asked and opened her eyes to the old man with the long beard, he moved his hand away from her head and smiled at her softly.
"My name is Erus, Princess Floria." He said and motioned for her to sit up. He lifted her chin, looking into her eyes and smiled kindly.
"Are you a Healer?" She asked and he laughed. He returned to his seat and regarded the fragile and painfully thin woman with gentle eyes, sadness filling them at all she suffered.
"No. I am a Master Sorceror. You Husband had a feeling that you were under the influence of a Dark Magic and he asked me to come to help you." He said and sighed. "He was very wise, because you were."
"Who... Why would they want to hurt me? I have never done anything wrong to anyone, except run away from a cruel Master." She said and looked around her. Her face began to recover a healthy glow, and her rosy cheeks began to fill back out. He continued to work, concentrating and muttering counter curses under his breath. He could see the effects of the curse leaving her and he saw the door open, Loki entering with a tray.
"We will trace the source of the magic later. But for now, you need to drink this tea, it will strengthen yourself against any further attacks." Erus said and poured her a cup of the dark liquid. Loki walked to her bed and sat next to her, his eyes filled with tears at her recovery and restoration. She turned shy, looking at her hands and unable to meet his face. She glanced at him, embarrassed for her behaviour and smiled softly.
"Don't cry Dear." She said and hugged him. "I am so sorry for all that happened, I meant none of it at all."
"Don't be Nightengale, all is better now." He said and brought the cup to her mouth. She sipped it and began to cry, shaking her head and looking frightened.
"I was awful to you, and you did not love me anymore." She said and he urged her to drink more.
"I still loved you, I was afraid of hurting you because you were so ill." He said, kissing her forehead. "I cannot begin to explain how seeing you restored makes me so happy."
"I have lifted much of the curse as you can see, but she is still in great danger. You will need to keep her close until we trace the magic back to the source, take her back to your bed after she finished drinking the tea. It will add some protection over her against foul workings." Erus said and held up the necklace. "I will bless this and bring it to her. Make sure to wear it at all times."
"Yes Sir." Floria said and looked at Loki, his hands holding the cup to her and she drank from it. Erus left to return to his Chambers, anger coursing through his body at the thought of such an attack against such an innocent and sweet woman. He stepped through the halls, a blonde haired woman in black walking past him with a heavy belly. His sense making him pause at the disturbance she left as she moved toward the girl's chambers, these was something on her that was darker than midnight and he followed her as she entered to see Floria nearly recovered.
"Princess Floria! What a suprise, to see you looking so well." Yolanda said and Floria finished her second cup of the tea. Loki poured her a third and Yolanda held out her hands for it, a smile on her face.
"Loki and the nicest man found that I was under the influence of Dark Magic. I am so much better now, and feel like I could run for days through the gardens." Floria said and frowned at Yolanda's dress. "I am so sorry tour Husband died, it is so sad for you."
"I still have my child, and I am determined to see him do well." Yolanda said and took the cup from Loki. She covered it with one hand, working at the ring to pour the posion into it and Erus grabbed her wrist before she could open it.
"Erus. What are you doing?" Floria asked and the old man removed the ring, throwing it to Loki and he took the cup.
"We may have found one or the persons responsible for your Wife's illness. I could sense dark workings on her, like a stain on her soul." Erus said, Loki turning the ring in his hand and seeing the hidden compartment that held the potion she intended to sneak into Floria's tea. He walked over, his eyes hard and he glared at the woman.
"I should kill you where you stand!" He said, gritting his teeth and grabbing her wrist. Floria moved back against her pillows, scared and shaking her head in fear.
"I did it to save the Nobility from her low bred blood! A slave is nothing but the trash we leave in the street, not a Queen on a cushion of silk! You have shamed your family and your birthright by marrying such filth!" Yolanda shouted, protecting her belly and the child in it. "You tarnished us by taking that whore into your bed, ruining our Noble rights and wasting them on her! She does not even deserve her name, nor does she deserve the bed she lays in now! Odin and your lot would see us all reduced to beggars, the way he shamed my family years ago by removing my Father from his council! He owes me and my house a debt, for we kept the secrets he could not bear to let out! He..."
"ENOUGH!" Loki shouted, two Guards bursting in to investigate the noise. Floria screamed, covering herself and slapped her hands over her ears. To her, shouting meant a beating and pain and she wanted to hide. Her body trembled, Loki seeing her fear and lowering his voice.
"Take this wretch to the dungeons, she will be interrorigated as soon as I am done here. She has a comrade in this treason, and I aim to learn their name so that they may join her in death." Loki said and he heard Floria make a strangled cry. She looked at Yolanda's belly, her eyes wide and she shook her head. The men in the room regarded her, and she cried.
"Show mercy on the baby." Floria said, begging him with her eyes and she trembled. "Please. Let her baby live... It did nothing wrong, and should not die because of its mother's crimes."
"Such compassion, she deserved no suffering at all." Erus said and Loki regarded the old man. "Such a gentle girl, that you nearly condemned Lady. Learn on this moment, and I pray the Norns show you the mercy the Princess begged for your child."
The Guards shackled Yolanda, leading her away and she glared back at Floria. Her eyes filled with venom, and Loki looked at his Wife in sadness.
"I will return shortly, we will discuss everything then. Rest, and put your fears out of your mind." Loki said, his hands trembling in anger and he left her chambers before he screamed and raged as he wanted to.