Chapter 51.
Loki paced, his frustration showing at the lack of a confession from Lady Yolanda, he needed her accomplice to ensure that Floria was safe. He needed answers as to how a woman with no magical gifts tormented her wife so well. He clenched his fists, knowing that he would eventually get the answers he wanted, he just was not sure how far he wanted to press his crusade. The woman was due to birth the child she carried any day, Floria begging him to show mercy to the baby was at the front of his mind. He could not risk harm to the mother without harming the child, and he could not face Floria if he acted in a way that caused it harm.
Frigga walked toward him, Lady Blum with her. Both women stopped and the pale woman curtsied to him, her smile soft. She had always been good to his Mother, her quiet demeanor making her a force that aided Frigga through troubling times. And often she did, leaving people to say that she was a calm that could end any storm.
"My Prince, Queen Frigga told me that you found the person tormenting Princess Floria. I am so glad that they were apprehended, she is such a sweet girl and suffered so." The woman said, her gray curls falling about her face in silver waves. The coloring was premature caused by the death of her husband and truest love, but she wore it with grace and pride.
"Lady Blum, I heard that your husband died some weeks ago. Allow me to thank you for your kind words, and offer you condolences." He replied and rubbed his tired eyes. She smiled and nodded her head in thanks for his words, giving him a curtsy.
"It does not surprise me at all that it was her, always a snake in the grass, scheming and such. Has she given up her accomplice?" Frigga asked and Loki shook his head.
"No. She is keeping that secret stubbornly, and any magic I use to peel the knowledge from her may hurt the child she carries." Loki said, his mind still thinking. "I promised Floria that I would be merciful to it."
"How kind of you My Prince, I know the poor babe will grow without a parent." Lady Blum said and sighed. "Would it be issue if I took it in and raised it as my own?"
Loki looked at the lonely woman and smiled at her, Frigga took Lady Blum's hand and smiled at her oldest friend. Her eyes warm with tears.
"If you wish to Adopt it, I will use my influence to ensure that the child ends up in a good and merciful place Lady." Loki said and he bowed to the two women. "The kind hearts of women are vast oceans of mercy and succor. I beg you to excuse me, I need to go to my Wife and be at her side now."
"Yes My Prince. Please give her my hopes that this is the end if her sufferings." Lady Blum said and stepped aside to let him pass. He bowed to them again, walking on and going toward his Chambers.
He opened the door and found her there, sitting by the fire and waiting. She stood, folding her hands nervously and lowered her eyes. Her hair fell over her shoulders in thick waves, and she walked forward quietly. She looked like herself again, a clean shift and robe on her and the waxiness of her skin completely gone. She still looked a bit tired, but rest would ensure that she would loose that weariness. Her sadness was what pulled at his heartstrings however, the shame she carried for her actions while cursed etched in her face.
"Do you wish me to stay?" She asked him and he walked toward her. His hand lifted her chin and he looked into her clear eyes, finding nothing of the curse and he rejoiced. Without a word, he picked her up in his arms and placed her on the bed.
"I would be mad to send you away Nightengale." He said and kissed her, laying on the bed with her and holding her to him.
"I love you." She whispered, her heart pounding and her gasps swallowed by his mouth.
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Floria and Sari walked the halls the next day, the Maid and she talking as they made their way toward the palace gates. They used a brisk pace as they moved, the conversation between Erus and Loki that morning still in her ears. She did not mean to overhear it while she bathed, but the stress on his voice was there. Loki needed to find the other traitor, and she knew she could help and where she could find that help.
They approached the Archives, Sari opening the door and both women slipping in. They walked to the desk and waited, the old man bending over a large book looking up from his writing and handing her another volume without a word. Floria opened it, looking down the names of births recorded for that particular family and her mouth opened. She looked at the man, closing the book and gave him a curtsy.
"I will return this soon Sir." She said and he nodded, Sari following her as Floria ran the halls toward the Dungeons.
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Loki heard the commotion outside the dingy cell, cat calls and lewd words filtering to them as he and Erus stood over the heavily pregnant woman. She was stripped of her fine gowns and dressed in a soiled prison shift of cotton, her hair cut off and cast in a corner rudely as she shook and cried. All the luxury she had indulged in was gone, and now a shell of the once proud woman remained. A small tap at the door made them both look, and he opened it to see Floria standing on the other side with a book crushed to her torso.
"You should not be down here! Norns Floria!" Loki said but she pushed past him, dragging Sari into the cell with her. She set her eyes, telling Loki she was not in the mood to be lectured.
"I found something, you need to see it at once My Prince." She said and smiled at Erus, ignoring Yolanda and her whimpers. "Thank you good Sir for helping me again."
"Floria, what madness brought you here? It is dangerous for you to be here, you could get hurt." Loki asked, the old man nodding to her and she opened the book to the entry she had found. She turned it toward him, and pointed at one name in particular.
"I found this in the Archives. It is a record of the births in all the Higher Noble households, and it has a very interesting entry." She said and Loki read it, looking back a Yolanda and closed the book in his hands. He returned his gaze to Floria, kissing her forehead and smiled at her as he pinched her chin in affection.
"Erus, once again a woman has proven to be more astute and clever than men." Loki said and old man silently agreed, taking the book and reading the entry. "Go back to our chambers and rest Nightengale, you have done very well. You endured so much, yet undertook this quest and delivered us with the results."
"Thank you Sir." She said and left the cell with her Maid. He waited, taking the book back from Erus and Yolanda shook in fear as he walked to her. He leaned close, looking into her eyes and grinned.
"Well then, you seem to have been undone by your intended victim. Tell me Lady, tell me all about your sister Amora." Loki grinned and Yolanda screamed.
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Loki returned to his chambers, finding Floria laying on their bed in a pale rose colored nightgown and reading a book. Her eyes scanned the page and he stood, leaning against the doorframe and watched her silently. She pushed some hair behind her ear, turning the page and continued to read undisturbed. Her fingers ran over the pages, and she looked up to see him and smiled.
"Good evening Husband." She said sweetly, a soft smile on her face and he walked toward her. He shucked off his vest and tunic, tossing them over a chair and looked down at her. She looked up at him and she looked down at the book, closing it and she looked nervous about his silence.
"Is there something wrong?" She asked him and he caressed her cheek with the back of his right hand.
"I was wondering where this clever, and very beautiful woman came from. Where she came to have the idea that she could go to the Archives and find such truth?" He said and she took his hand in hers and kissed the back of it.
"A wise man taught me how to read and filled my head with ideas." She said and he sat behind her on the bed, his fingers grazed the neckline of her rose colored shift, stopping over the ribbon and he gave it a sharp tug.
"What would ever make her think that I would want another woman when I had such a beautiful and clever Wife?" He teased, opening her shift and sliding it over her shoulders. He kissed the smooth skin, cradling her head in one hand and making his way up her neck.
"I was cursed, I... I could not tell real from fiction." She said, gasping for air as he nipped at her jaw gently, he pulled her back against his chest and his hand smoothed over her belly.
"Shall I show you how much I adore you dear Wife?" He asked her, purring into her ear. His voice was as smooth as velvet, drowning her in it and never letting her back from the precipice she stood at. She turned then, holding his jaw and kissed him deeply. She straddled his lap and he held her to him, their kisses becoming frantic and she caressed his cheek softly.
"Let me show you how I adore you." She said and their lips met in desire.