Author's note: Hello everyone, here is a new chapter. Let me know if you like it ;) Enjoy!
He woke up before her, finding the girl asleep next to him, her back turned against Loki's torso. His left hand was holding her elbow, her own arms crossed in front of her chest, covering her naked breasts to the rest of the room. He could hear her breathe, easily, steadily, and he closed his eyes, enjoying the day ahead. He had asked Thor to have his back in case Odin felt the sudden and unexpected wish to pay him a visit or summon him for god knows what.
A quiet knock outside the room announced breakfast, the door opening just enough for one servant girl to push a tray inside his apartments before leaving again. Solweig moved ever so slightly, from the brief disturbance or from the smell of food and he opened his eyes again and kissed her shoulder. She moaned sleepily before turning around and she rested her head on his folded arm, now facing the God of mischief. He glanced at her very intensely and he removed some strands of hair from her cheek, revealing her face which was so beautiful that he kissed her again, on her forehead and on her temple until a small smile parted her lips and she whispered him good morning.
After long minutes of drowsiness she asked him what time it was and he said it was late already. She opened her eyes only to find him staring at her, his features very serious, almost stern. He was handsome and she raised her hand to caress his very dark hair and his jaw, resting her hand on the crook of his neck. She shut her eyes again, her attention gathered on the touch of his skin under her palm, of his breath against her face, of their legs intertwined.
"Why are you still here?" she managed to articulate, bit by bit reconnecting with reality.
"I am taking a sabbatical"
The girl had an airy laugh, her eyes still closed and she joked whether it was even permitted for gods to take some time off. Loki smiled because her laughter brought him joy.
"I mean it" he whispered. He kissed her chastely on the lips and she opened her eyes to watch him stand up and walk towards his closet. She frowned and sat up, her weight on her left arm beneath her, the other covering her chest with the bedsheet.
"Hurry up sweetheart, we don't have all day" he ordered and she shot him a quizzical look.
"We're escaping" he joked with a smirk.
The girl raised her eyebrows as she was about to seek more details but he was already unlocking the bedroom door. She walked towards the couch and slipped into her green dress before turning around. Loki was waiting for her in the doorframe, impatient. He reached for her hand when she approached him, his grasp around her fingers both powerful and decisive as he led her through the labyrinth of corridors. Solweig was almost running behind the God of mischief who sometimes abruptly came to a halt whenever they heard the sound of guards passing by. She tried to repress her laughter after he glanced at her menacingly because she'd been giggling while they were hiding behind a pillar, Loki's hand on her mouth to cover the sound she was making for they heard the hoarse voice of Asgard's finance councillor emerging from one hallway.
"I forgot you're so terrible at hide and seek" he complained once they exited the palace near the stables, the cold and bright light of winter making them squint. She pinched her lips together, falsely offended.
Two horses were awaiting them and Loki took the lead, heading North in the direction of the highest mountain of Asgard. As they trotted higher, roaming through the woods covering the hill, the air got cold and she shivered. He glanced at her and a thick cape of wool appeared around her shoulders, the white collar of fur tickling her chin. They climbed further for what seemed like hours until they finally reached a clearing, the afternoon light bathing the plains, sparkling on the white flakes that covered the grass. Loki crossed the field towards the edge of the mountain.
He jumped off and helped the girl from her horse. He grabbed her hand and headed to the cliff in the crunching sound of their steps in the snow. The princess' eyes widened as she looked down, observing the palace from above, now not bigger than the size of a nut.
"I know that place!" she blurted, grinning. "You brought me here once!"
He smiled.
"It's beautiful" she murmured.
She recalled how he had led her to that mountain one night, a long time ago. On that very evening, she had been quietly sobbing in her bed, her knees folded against her chest, the blanket over her head as if it shielded her. Loki had knocked on the door and sat on her bed, lowering his face where he assumed her ear would be and whispered that he wanted to show her something. He had felt accountable for her sorrow for he had taken a habit of visiting her at night, whenever he thought he could hear her cry. She had been in Asgard for a while but it seemed like she had trouble adapting to the life in the palace. The raven-haired prince would lie on the bed next to her and narrate the forgotten myths of Vanaheim, the stories unfolding magically in front of her eyes in an interplay of light and shadow against the darkness of her room. In his tales, her parents were still alive and they fought bravely against the Aesir, her mother merciless and her father triumphant. Solweig hung on Loki's every word and as the nights went on, she became fascinated by those stories. The Allfather took a dim view on that interest of hers, fearing she would one day feel inspired to scheme against Asgard and he decided it was best to nip the revolt in the bud. One day, he forbade in all realms to speak any good word about her parents and he ordered all books that dealt with the Vanir pantheon to be burned. She had shed bitter tears, watching the giant fire erasing any account of her past, feeling her own existence waning within the flames. Later that night, after she'd been weeping in bed, Solweig had followed Loki up the cliff, witnessing the sunrise from the edge where they now stood. He had held her hand, saying that he would rewrite all the books about the Vanir if she'd ask him to.
Solweig shook her head ever so slightly, emerging from her thoughts and she noticed that her hand was in his.
"You were always so kind to me when we were young" she whispered.
She sensed Loki moving behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, his chin resting on the top of her head. They remained like that for a while, still, staring at the winter scenery of Asgard and she could feel Loki's chest moving, respiring the crisp cold air of December. She broke her silence and asked if he was not cold, to which he said he never was. She suddenly realised that she had not even wished him happy birthday, and she turned around, facing him. She murmured the congratulatory words in his ear and he savoured them, his eyes closed and he held her tight. For a moment, he wished he could go back in time, when everything was so much easier because he did not need to put into words what he felt for her nor what she meant to him. He wished she could be everything at once, his sister, his lover and his slave, his mother and his friend, all imaginary figures merging into one, the Vanir princess, Solweig or Sólveig, the goddess of beauty and fertility. He inhaled as he wished for the past and the present to join, united into a bright future of prosperity and quietude. The delicious thought of her bearing his children one day popped in his mind, he imagined her pregnant, plump and gorgeous in her motherhood. He quickly chased away that reverie, a sudden ache in his chest replacing the previous desire, for he knew this would not happen.
He took a step back, their bodies parting and he guided her back into the woods.
—-
Once they reached the stables, Loki asked her to go back to the slaves' quarters because he needed to see Daia. She had hoped to share his bed again and concealed her disappointment the best way she could. He seemed to have noticed it for he stroke her cheek from the back of his hand.
"I will have you tomorrow" he promised, clasping her shoulders, as if to console her, or cheer himself up. She saw him turn around and leave, his tall silhouette disappearing in the darkness of the hallway and she felt a hole growing within her, for she missed him already, so much that she felt herself sink into the ground of the stables, the beaten earth swallowing her whole.
