The next several days passed slowly, but peacefully. Loki and Aemilia went about their days as they normally did, not always together, spending the daylight hours absorbed into their own affairs, and nobody seemed any the wiser that something was amiss.
Two days after Loki deduced her pregnancy, and one day after they mutually decided to not do anything about it, he conjured up a potion for her to drink in the mornings that would ease her sickness. It worked to an extent, easing it enough to where she could eat without ejecting every bite almost immediately, but it did not take away her lingering nausea. It did help her to act and carry on as she normally would, and nobody seemed to notice how she'd traded wine for juice at dinner.
The peace between them was not entirely solid, still a bit tentative, but Aemilia felt less and less nervous with each night that passed free of a fight or tension. Though they had yet to decide what exactly to do with their new secret, and when or how they would eventually disclose it, Aemilia was happy with how they'd handled it so far. She was especially relieved that Loki had not instantly banished her back to her parents' house, or demanded that she "get rid of" the unplanned life they'd created as soon as he'd learned of it.
But Loki's lack of cruelty didn't mean that he was particularly warm about the news. In fact, most of the time, he seemed neither pleased nor displeased. Instead, Aemilia noticed a deep concentration almost constantly present in his eyes, belying what she knew must be a racing and fearful mind. And she understood completely, because she was just as terrified as she suspected he was.
It was five nights after they had found out that Aemilia found herself in Loki's bed, alone, as the midnight hour approached. She had left the still-raging celebrations early that night, exhaustion settling in far earlier than it should have, and Loki had told her to retire to his room and wait for him. That had been a little over an hour ago, but she didn't think much of it. Thor seemed to always find ridiculously hilarious escapades to drag Loki into when he was spectacularly drunk, which the future King was every single night these days, and Loki rarely denied him.
She tried to stay awake, but Aemilia had just begun to drift off to sleep when she finally felt the bed shifting under new weight being pressed down to it. She opened her heavy eyes and then sighed when a hand slipped between her arm and her side, sliding over her stomach and then pulling her gently against the warmth of a half-naked body that hers now molded instantly to at first touch.
"Finally," she murmured as his fingers gently ran through the hair draped over her shoulder, brushing it back and away from her skin. "I wondered when your brother would release you from your bonds of merriment."
"Mmm," Loki replied, pressing his lips to the expanse of skin between her neck and shoulder no longer obstructed by her hair. "I thought the fool would never leave me be."
She sighed at his soft kisses upon her neck, then laughed softly at his words. "Don't pretend that you don't relish his attention, Loki. You light up like the Bifrost itself when you have it."
"Not nearly as much as you 'light up' when I do this," Loki teased before biting her sharply but playfully, just beside her pulse, then letting the tip of his tongue sooth over the mark.
She squeaked and then giggled at him, turning over to face him and running her fingers up to his face as she smiled at him. "Why must you always change the subject?"
"Well, I'm so good at it," Loki smiled back innocently, smiling wider before she tangled her fingers in his hair and pulled him into a soft but insistent kiss. He mirrored her actions, taking a handful of her hair in his hand and pulling her closer, his clothed legs easily entwining with hers through her thin nightgown.
As the kiss deepened and his tongue slid deep into her mouth, she felt his hand press into the small of her back and pull her closer to him as he groaned softly against her lips. The sound sent a flicker of heat down her spine, but it was at odds with the constant nausea that had been keeping moments like these short for the last few days. This was, so far, the absolute worst side effect of pregnancy - her desire being suffocated and suppressed by the constant sensation of being on the verge of vomiting.
He broke away to ask a question that she'd come to predict. "How are you feeling?"
She wanted to lie and tell him that she felt perfectly fine, that he could have her as he pleased, but she knew he would detect her dishonesty. "... The same."
He was trying hard to be understanding and patient, she knew, and so far he'd far surpassed her expectations. He only sighed and nodded, dropping a small kiss to her lips and shifting to lay on his back. This was where Aemilia's true frustration came to life.
The fact that her hormone-induced sickness left her feeling too ill to enjoy giving herself to him didn't mean that he had to be left wanting, but he seemed to stubbornly think just that, and she found it terribly frustrating, not to mention out of character. Like she had done the last several nights at this point, she shifted closer and leaned over him, catching his eyes before lowering her lips to his neck and placing her hand on his bare chest. He sighed and closed his eyes as her kisses became gradually harder and her hand ran slowly over the smooth planes of his abdomen.
The nip of her teeth pulled a soft moan from his throat, but her fingers had barely grazed the waistband of his pants before he snatched up her wrist and pulled away from her.
"Stop."
"But I want to -"
He shot her a sideways look and placed her hand at her own side, looking weary, annoyed, and resigned all at once. "No."
"But why?" she asked, sitting up and looking down at him as he raked his fingers through his hair and stared at the ceiling. "Just because I'm ill and suffering doesn't mean you have to suffer as well."
He closed his eyes briefly and sighed, still not meeting her gaze. "Yes, it does. It means exactly that."
"But -"
"You're not going to let this go, are you?"
She paused. "No, I am not."
"Of course not," he chuckled, shaking his head. Then he looked up at her and placed his hand over hers, gently tugging at it and pulling her back down to lay at his side. He turned on his side, facing her and brushing his knuckles under her chin as he said, "Do you not understand that being unable to return the pleasures you would bestow upon me would be far worse torture than going without?"
She swallowed and shook her head. "No, I did not understand that. And that's curious, coming from a man who claims to be innately selfish."
He shrugged, the corner of his lips quirking up. "It's the truth. It pains me even now to hold you like this, look upon you and touch you and yet be unable to properly reduce you to nothing but gasps and moans and desperate pleas..."
His words brought another jolt of heat straight through her, but the now-familiar churning of her stomach and accompanying light cramping effectively squashed it.
"Are you going to start retching?"
She shook her head, turning away from him and his body heat before it made a liar out of her and she did retch all over him. "I'm sorry."
"Nothing to be sorry for, darling," he sighed, turning his eyes back to the ceiling as she did the same, both of them laying on their backs. "Though I do hope this phase of things is fleeting."
"According to the pregnancy books I've been sneaking from the library, it can last anywhere from only a few weeks to the entire duration of the pregnancy," Aemilia replied.
Loki snorted. "Your case had better adhere to the former, otherwise I may lose my grip on sanity entirely."
Aemilia smiled and glanced to him, letting her fingers ghost over his as she spoke. "And you will still desire me when I am enormous and swollen with your child?"
He met her gaze, sending a shiver down her spine when she saw the sudden hooded quality of his eyes. "Possibly even more so than I do now."
Her eyes widened. "But... why? I will be large and cumbersome and restricted in movement and..."
He laughed at her, almost derisively, but mostly in amusement. "You clearly know nothing of a man's more... primal nature, my dear sweet girl."
She looked at him, quite confused, and shifted to her side, closer to him. He did the same, tucking one arm under his head and watching her amusedly as she spoke. "Primal?"
He smiled at her, the way he always did when he had to explain something to her that she didn't understand yet. "Once the shock of discovering that you were pregnant wore off... once I had accepted that it was real and true, that you now carry my child in your womb... it made me desire you on a level I previously did not know existed."
His hand reached down to her, hovering over her belly before he grabbed the material of her nightgown and gathered it up in his fist. He then pulled it up her legs, over her hips and then over her still perfectly flat belly, letting the cool air dance across her skin as his eyes fell to it. She swallowed unexpectedly hard as he spoke again. "To know that within this body grows a child of my own creation... that you will carry this child, bear it, feed it from your breast... I never would have thought that such thoughts would make me feel as they do."
"Me either," she replied, her eyes a little wide as his slowly trailed up her body. The thoughts that he'd just detailed were more the type to make her utterly panic, but then again, she was going to be the one doing the actual carrying, bearing, and feeding, leaving him free to be as possessive and "primal" as he wanted while he merely watched.
His hand released her gown and his palm slid over her belly as he raised his eyes to hers, his body hovering above hers now. "You've been mine and mine alone since the first night I had you," he said lowly, eyes falling to her lips and then back to her eyes. "Since the first time I touched you. And I've spent... a great deal of time and energy... marking you," he swooped down and bit gently at her neck for emphasis, "as my own. But this," his fingertips tapped on her belly and he raised his head to stare down at her, "this means far more than a nip of my teeth or the bruising press of my fingertips ever could."
There was something thrilling about this, something that made her chest ache and her limbs tremble. He leaned down, his lips just a breath away from hers and his gaze boring into hers as he all but hissed, "So yes, Aemilia, I will still desire you when you are enormous and cumbersome, fully displaying the child that my seed placed in your womb. In fact," his tongue flicked out and traced her neck just under her jawline, "I may never let you leave this bed once you are in such a state."
She let out a slightly strangled sound and reached her hands up to his hair, gripping it tightly and pulling him up for a hard, bruising kiss. She still didn't quite understand what was so appealing about the idea of her belly being huge and round but, during the last few days, when she found herself deep in thought over the pregnancy, she had allowed herself to imagine what Loki would look like, holding a baby of his own - of their own - and her reaction had mirrored the one he was currently in the throes of.
She kissed him until she physically could not any longer, when the heat of it all got to her and began triggering her much-hated gag reflex. He didn't try to chase her when she pulled away, instead drawing a deep breath to steady himself as he dropped his face down to her neck and gently rolled to the side.
Once his heat was gone, a chill swept over her bones, and she sighed in frustration. She was always either freezing or so hot that she felt on the verge of sickness, and there was rarely anything in between. But she was starting to despise the heat intolerance far more than the chill, because it always resulted in Loki laying next to her, rubbing his eyes with his fingertips as he willed himself calm.
"I am going to experiment with some other potions," Loki muttered, eyes closed as he rested his forearm on his forehead. "There must be something that can ease your symptoms fully."
"I do hope that you are right," she replied, mind drifting as her hand came to rest unthinkingly on top of her belly.
Silence stretched between them for a few moments, and Loki's breathing became so even and quiet that she might have thought he was asleep before a question tumbled unexpectedly from her lips. "Do you want a son? An heir?"
His eyes opened and he dropped his arm from his face. "Heir to what? I will not be King."
"No, but your child will be in line to the throne just as you are."
Loki glanced back at the ceiling and pursed his lips. "Much further than I. After Thor marries Sif and they have a litter of little warriors, any child of mine would hardly be in line for anything."
Aemilia eyebrows knit together. "Thor and Sif?"
He glanced at her and chuckled. "Of course. Who else would Thor marry?"
"I don't know, but... he doesn't seem to think of Sif as anything more than a brother in arms."
Loki shrugged. "It matters not. My Father has willed them to marry since we were children. It will happen in time."
"Well... be that as it may, your child will still be of importance to the kingdom."
Loki seemed to consider that for a moment, silently looking up at nothing before he turned back to Aemilia. "Which would you prefer? A son or daughter?"
"I honestly do not believe that I have a preference," she replied. "Perhaps I will once I've fully gotten my mind around the fact that I'm actually having a child."
He smiled lightly at her, a faint turn of his lips that she nearly missed. "I don't believe I've ever asked if you desire children."
She looked at him and nodded slightly. "I do. I always have."
"Strangely enough," Loki replied quietly, "so have I."
"But not like this," she said, echoing his words from a few days earlier.
"Surely the same is true of you."
Aemilia sighed and looked away. "Well... I grew up imagining myself eventually marrying a man who loved me and then giving him children. I admit, I never quite imagined myself in a situation like this."
"If it's any consolation, neither did I," Loki replied, a faint smile still on his lips. "You've been quite the... unexpected complicating factor in my plans."
"My apologies, your highness," she shot back playfully. "Far be it from me to unexpectedly complicate the life of my Prince."
His smile lingered on his lips for a moment, then faded as his expression became more solemn. "I've never even held an infant before."
"It's not difficult," she smiled. "They're more durable than they appear."
"You have experience with them?"
She nodded. "There are many children in my extended family. My mother made sure that I learned early on the... primary points of childcare."
"Ah," Loki murmured in reply before falling silent.
Aemilia turned to him, observing the tense set of his jaw and the way his eyes were slightly scrunched as he stared at the ceiling. "Am I wrong to assume that you are terrified?"
"Are you not also?" he shot back, raising an eyebrow to her.
"I am," she admitted quietly. "But I am immensely less terrified with you by my side."
He laughed without a trace of humor, eyeing her skeptically. "And what help am I to you, Aemilia? Honestly? What knowledge or usefulness have I regarding any of this?"
She widened her eyes. "How can you ask me that?"
He gave a light shrug, looking up as he spoke. "Objectively speaking, I've brought nothing but chaos into your life. I've been the catalyst for the disruption of your life, your family, your relationships, your home... I took your innocence and helped mold you into the woman who rests before me now - a woman who got herself banished by her own mother for her crimes and now lays in a Prince's bed with his child in her womb. Objectively speaking - I've ruined you, darling, and you know it."
"And from the first night that you took me to your bed," she replied feistily, "I welcomed that ruin with open arms. I've always known what I was risking, involving myself with you, Loki. And the only time that I've regretted a moment of it was the time that I thought I'd lost you for good."
"You don't regret it, even now?" Loki inquired.
She shook her head. "I do not. This may not be ideal, but... who am I to question what the fates have bestowed upon us?"
He chuckled. "The fates... I've never particularly given much credence to them."
"Call it what you will," Aemilia shrugged. "But whatever's brought us together, to this night, be it the fates or just our own misguided, foolish lusts... I wouldn't change any of it."
Her fingers had moved to lace through his as she'd spoken, and Loki looked down at their hands as he spoke. "You will not always say so."
Her brows furrowed, and though she tried to ignore it, something in his words amplified the churning in her stomach. "What makes you say that?"
He shrugged. "An easy future does not await us, regardless of when and how we reveal this. If you're called my whore by some now... you will be called worse when they learn you carry my child."
"I know," she replied. "But it will not make me change my mind. It will not make me regret you."
His fingers slid casually through hers, his eyes watching all the while. "You will not always say so."
Aemilia's stomach twisted again when he repeated those words. He seemed so sure of it... but why? "Are you this unaccustomed to loyalty, Loki, that you've convinced yourself of this?"
His gaze rose to hers, just before he slowly extricated his fingers from hers. "Perhaps. Or I simply know myself far too well to believe that you will always remain happy in my company."
She sighed and shifted herself closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder and letting her arm wrap loosely around his chest. He embraced her in return, both of his arms wrapping around her and holding her snugly to his side. "Give me a bit of credit," she said, closing her eyes. "I've made it this far with you, and you haven't made it particularly easy for me to do so."
"I'm still waiting for you to come to your senses," Loki murmured against her hair.
"Even if I did, I doubt it would matter," she replied. "Unless all of your 'I will never let you go even if you beg me to' talk is only the blustering of a egomaniac in the throes of passion."
"Indeed," he replied, and she could hear the smirk in his voice. "Does it vex you, being unsure of my sincerity in such moments?"
"It used to," she admitted. "I was a bit terrified after what you said during our first night together."
"Only a bit?"
She gave a light shrug. "I was far more aroused than fearful."
"Mm," he muttered approvingly. "When you say things like that, my dear, it makes me wonder how I could ever possibly find a lady more suited to me than you."
"I'd rather you not find out," she said, lifting her head and placing a kiss to his chin. "Especially now that I'm 'ruined', as you say."
He smirked down at her, and she wiped the grin from his lips with a kiss to them. One of his hands rose to her hair and tangled in it as she opened her mouth to him, sliding her tongue against his until he groaned and broke away.
"You really must stop," he said slightly breathlessly. "I only have so much self-control when it comes to you."
"Really? I've never noticed," she grinned, running her hand softly over his chest. "But I really don't have to stop, if you don't want me to."
Her hand started to slide downward again, and this time he caught her wrist with a frustrated growl. "You are testing me, woman."
"I'm only trying to keep my Prince happy," she smiled as he did not relinquish her wrist, but brought it to his lips before placing feather-soft kisses along the inside of it. "I wouldn't want to risk you seeking satisfaction elsewhere."
He nipped at her wrist before her words made him laugh. "You like to say the most ridiculous things at times, darling."
"It's happened before," she shrugged.
His grip on her wrist suddenly tightened, and he glowered down at her as he spoke in a much less amused voice. "You know why I did what I did. Don't act as if I actually enjoyed committing that idiotic mistake."
She looked at him, blankness covering her features as she replied, "It still bothers me sometimes. Not often. But when I see her, it bothers me. I can't help but envision her in this very room, on her -"
Loki cut her off with a quick, hard kiss to her lips, then urged, "Do not waste your thoughts on it. I won't have it, Aemilia."
She paused. "It's only when I see her."
"Then I will have her removed from court," Loki replied. "Would you like me to do that?"
"Yes," she answered honestly. Really, the woman served no purpose anyway, and most of the court's other women despised her too.
"Then it is done," Loki said. "Now put her out of your mind."
"I will do my best," Aemilia replied, laying her head back down on his shoulder.
"You shouldn't be shy to ask me for what you want," he said softly, hand trailing lightly up and down her back. "I thought you'd learned that long ago."
"I suppose it depends on the situation," Aemilia replied, mind drifting back to more pressing matters. Only a moment or two of silence passed before she said, "I think we should tell your mother."
His hand stilled mid-stroke. "Aemilia..."
"I don't want to conceal myself and keep putting off the inevitable," she continued. "And of everyone, I know that your mother would be willing to help us the most."
Loki was silent for a moment before he said, "We should at least wait until after the coronation. If word were to get out before then, I would be accused of trying to steal attention away from Thor. Not to mention marring his time of celebration with a scandal."
"Well... we could still tell your mother. I am sure that she would not tell anyone. It's just..." she raised her head and rested her chin on his shoulder, "I feel as if she could help us. Give us some sort of guidance with this. Do you not agree?"
"I can already tell you, word for word, what she will say."
"Yes, but," Aemilia sighed, "I would just..."
"Yes?" Loki pressed, sliding a finger under her chin and making her look him in the eye.
"I would simply like to have someone to talk to," she finally said. "I don't have my mother. I'm not close enough to any other woman to feel comfortable speaking about this with, apart from your mother."
He stared at her for a moment, and she watched his inner conflict play out beneath the blank exterior of his face before he finally closed his eyes and muttered, "Fine. Fine. We will tell her tomorrow."
Aemilia smiled. "Thank you."
"But only my mother," Loki said sternly. "Nobody else."
"Agreed," Aemilia nodded.
Loki sighed and reached out a slender finger to brush away a lock of Aemilia's hair from her eyes. He tucked it behind her ear and said, "How do you do this to me?"
"What?" she asked innocently.
"My mind can be utterly made up, and yet a few words leave that pretty little mouth of yours and I'm changing my mind for you. How?"
She smiled. "Well," she said with mock-drama, extracting herself from his arms and shifting back to her side of the bed, "as the mother of your child, I do hope I hold some sway over you, your highness."
She turned on her side, away from him, and she just knew that he was smirking as he followed her. She settled her head comfortably against her pillow and smiled lightly as his arms came around to encircle her once more. She unconsciously bit her lip as his chest rested against her back and his lips kissed the back of her shoulder.
"The mother of my child," he mused between gentle little kisses up to her neck. "I may never get used to hearing that."
"I may never get used to being that," she replied with a chuckle. She placed one of her hands over his, resting just beneath her chest as he settled in behind her, and before she barely had a chance to think about it, she pushed his hand down over her belly and held it there gently.
She expected the slight stiffening that she felt take place behind her. She didn't even really know why she'd done it, or what she hoped to accomplish, so she simply held her breath and waited for him to either pull away or ask what she was doing.
He did neither. He kept his hand where she was holding it, and after a very long, very stiff moment passed, he let out a deep breath and lifted his head to press a soft kiss to her cheek. He then brushed his lips across her ear and murmured, "Go to sleep, darling."
He laid his head back down behind hers, and a pleasant warmth washed over her as his thumb began swiping softly back and forth soothingly over her belly.
They had a long way to go, and she still had no idea what they were doing, but it was hard to despair when she felt so safe and content in his arms.
Aemilia spent the next morning mentally preparing herself for she and Loki's impending conversation with the Queen, while simultaneously hiding her physical symptoms from Gunnvarr. The latter was easier than the former, though only fractionally, and by the time Loki came around to collect Aemilia for breakfast with the Queen, she was rather queasy and quite appetite-less.
Gunnvarr let Loki in to Aemilia's chambers when he arrived, then busied herself tidying up as the Prince ventured to the washroom, where Aemilia was giving herself a once-over in the mirror. When his reflection appeared next to hers, Aemilia let out a breath.
"Is it time?" she asked quietly, turning to face him with a slightly nervous smile.
He shook his head. "My mother's visit to Vanaheim has been extended for another day or two. She was meant to return this morning, but apparently there's been a bit of wrinkle with one of the princesses," he shrugged. "We will have to wait a few more days."
She was both relieved and disappointed. "Okay."
His fingers entwined with hers, taking her by surprise as she looked up at him. "I'm going to be in the library for most of the day. With any luck I can find a way to improve the potion, help you along a bit," he whispered low enough for Gunnvarr not to hear in the next room. Aemilia nodded gratefully, and he gave her fingers a slight squeeze with his. "You can join me, if you'd like."
She nodded. "All right. As long as I don't hinder your concentration."
He grinned. "Well, that's entirely up to you and how you behave, darling." She smiled back and he gave her hand a tug. "Come. You must first eat something small, at least."
She grimaced but nodded, following him out of the washroom. Even if the potion she was currently taking helped to keep her food down, she still dreaded meal times with a growing loathing. But, Loki's gentle insistence on making sure she didn't skip any meals was unexpectedly touching enough to make her obey and consume what she comfortably could, which was very little.
The day passed by uneventfully, most of indeed spent in the library as he'd predicted. Aemilia scanned through a host of books on the vast, seemingly endless shelves as Loki sat hunched at a table, taking notes and reading through several enormous tomes. She would glance at him occasionally, study the set of his brow and the stiffness of his jaw as he read and wrote, and sometimes he'd sense her gaze and meet it with a faint grin. She would smile and half-heartedly return to whatever book she was currently skimming.
The subjects she perused included magic, music, history, and of course, pregnancy. She tried to avoid the subject at first, as reading about labor and childbirth only served to make her teeter on the verge of panicking, but she also couldn't help herself. A terrifying as it all was, she wanted to know what she was in for.
After reading a particularly troubling paragraph regarding the loss of certain bodily functions during labor, she hurriedly closed the book and set off to find a very different subject to read about. She soon found herself in a portion of the history section, eyes vaguely scanning the spines of the books when one stood out to her. Midgardian Tales and Myths inspired By Asgard.
She snatched the book and opened it as she began slowly walking back to Loki's table. She didn't know much of Midgard's myths involving her realm, short of the basics - that centuries ago, when Asgard defended the young world from the Frost Giants, some of the humans began to worship Asgardians as gods, as well as create fantastical stories involving them. She'd never paid much attention to what those stories actually were, but now that she was deeply involved with one of the prominent characters of those stories, she was suddenly extremely interested in how he was portrayed.
By the time she made her way back to the table, her jaw was hanging slightly open and her free hand covered her mouth to keep from laughing.
"What's so amusing, little one?"
Aemilia looked up and saw Loki lounging slightly in his chair, apparently taking a break from his research and looking at her curiously. He motioned for her to come sit on his lap, and as she made her way to do so, she grinned. "You really do have quite the reputation on Midgard."
He winced at her words as she eased down on his lap. "Oh, for Bor's sake, what are you reading?"
She smiled and displayed the spine for him to read, then lowered the book and flipped several pages as his hand came to rest on her hip. He groaned. "Aemilia, really, why do you even want to know what a lot of primitive fools think I did?"
"It's interesting!" Aemilia replied, swatting his free hand away when he tried to pry the book away from her. "They've given you so many children over the years... if you could call them children. They think you gave birth to Odin's stallion!"
Loki sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, I am aware of this tale."
She giggled, scanning the pages involving Loki again. "This describes the humans' perception of you as being a 'sexually insatiable god of mischief who relishes in the causing of chaos and eventually brings about Ragnarok, or the cycle of death and rebirth for the Aesir.' Well," she sighed, "it's at least partially accurate. Oh! Apparently you've been married several times. Three times, in fact. My, my..."
Loki groaned again. "Must you read this?"
"Yes, I must. So you are mother to Sleipnir, father to two daughters, a number of monsters, and two sons... and you were bound to a rock deep within Midgard by ropes made of your slain son's innards, underneath a great serpent, whose dripping venom was caught in a bowl held over your head, by your most loyal wife, Sigyn. Sigyn..." Aemilia trailed off, eyes drifting from the page. "Is she not a healer?"
Loki nodded. "One of the best our realm has ever known. She made several journeys to Midgard centuries ago, which is how they know her name."
"Ah," Aemilia replied, turning back to the page. "But when the bowl was filled, Sigyn had to empty it, allowing the venom to drip on Loki's face."
"Thus causing the earthquakes on Midgard," Loki finished for her. "Utterly and completely ridiculous."
"And quite horrifying," she added. "To be chained to a rock by the insides of your own son! Where do they conjure these ideas from?"
Loki widened his eyes in a "no idea" gesture. "Humans are bizarre creatures, Aemilia."
"Is there truth to any of it?" Aemilia asked, glancing at him as she lowered the book slightly. "Any of the tales? Like these... dalliances with a giantess?"
She smiled when she asked this, and Loki scoffed. "Oh, yes, they are very much true. Of course not - I've never even seen a Jotun female, let alone bred monsters with one."
"And Sigyn?" Aemilia inquired.
"What of Sigyn?" Loki replied blankly, lacking all of the scoffing tone he'd held a moment before.
Aemilia raised an eyebrow. "Is there some truth there?"
"Do I appear to be married and have two sons with the woman?" Loki deadpanned.
"No, but were you ever... involved? If I remember correctly, she's rather lovely."
Loki rolled his eyes again. "Does it truly matter?"
"I take that as a yes," Aemilia chuckled. "Just tell me. I already know that you've slept your way through half the servants and most of the court, so really, there's no harm in telling me."
Loki sighed and took the book from her hand, dropped it to the table and began, "Thor and I were once involved in a slight skirmish on Niflheim. I was injured badly enough to require a healer upon my return. Eir did the initial work and left Sigyn to watch me for the night." Loki then shrugged to imply what came next.
Aemilia furrowed her brows. "Why were you reluctant to tell me that? Compared to most of your tales, that's rather tame."
"Well, she had just been married not two weeks before."
Aemilia's eyes widened. "Oh."
He grinned. "And they call her the 'Goddess of Fidelity' on Midgard. It's quite ironic."
"It's rather cruel, even for you, to seduce a newlywed wife," Aemilia pointed out.
"You assume that I seduced her," he chuckled. "All I did was lay on a cot in the healing room."
Aemilia raised an eyebrow. "I find that unlikely."
"Apparently she had harbored quite the crush on me since she was a little girl," Loki shrugged. "I didn't want to thwart the fulfillment of a beautiful woman's lifelong fantasy."
Aemilia shook her head. "You are terrible, Loki."
He shrugged. "You asked, darling."
His fingertips began to lightly trace the neckline of her dress, and her thoughts began to wander to something she'd wondered about before but never managed to ask him about. But, while they were on the subject of Loki's past trysts...
"Who was your first?"
Loki's hands stilled and he stared up at Aemilia as if he couldn't believe that she was still on about this sort of thing.
She rolled her eyes. "Being that you're my first, I think it's only fair that I should at least know of your own first time."
He shifted under her, getting slightly more comfortable, as he chuckled. "I don't understand what you gain from knowing this."
She shrugged. "Just call me curious."
He stared at her for a moment, then sighed. "Fine. Some centuries ago, a grand coming of age celebration was held in mine and Thor's honor. My mother insisted on one party for the both of us for the sake of equality, I suppose, and because we're 'close enough' in age, as she said. I suspect she merely didn't want me to see how much less enthusiasm would surround my party as opposed to Thor's."
Aemilia's brows furrowed a bit at that. It saddened her to hear Loki speak so blithely of his apparent second-rate status and just how aware of it he truly was.
"Anyway, it was a very grand celebration, filled to the very rooftops with nearly every maiden known to this realm. Thor and I had a bit of bet between us, as to who could gain the attention of the most beautiful guest. You know of Lady Freyja, yes?"
"Freyja?" Aemilia repeated. "Of course. Who doesn't know of her?"
"Indeed. To Thor and I, she was the ultimate prize to be gained by a young Prince," he grinned. "To bed the Goddess of Sex and Beauty on the night of one's coming of age celebrations... you understand."
Aemilia raised her eyebrows. "I suppose I do, yes."
"Naturally, Thor thought the competition was over before it had even begun. So he was rather surprised when Freyja's preference for me immediately became evident, rather early in the night."
Aemilia blinked. "Your first time was with a woman who is literally known as the Goddess of Sex."
Loki looked entirely too proud for his own good. "She was drawn to me for the very same reasons you were. In fact, she used the very same words as you. Dark and different. Thor was in shock."
"... She is so much older than you. You were barely a man."
He shrugged. "Her appearance was as young as any other. Still is."
Aemilia laughed, caught between judgement for the goddess and the knowledge that Loki had lived every male youth's dream in losing his innocence to her. "Well. Was it all you hoped it would be?"
"Far better," Loki smirked. "But she saw herself as much more of a teacher than a prize. And I received a rather thorough education."
Aemilia cringed and brought a hand to her face, even as she laughed. "I'm sorry. I know I asked, it's just... oh my."
He laughed with her, gently grasping her wrist and pulling her hand from her face. "Would you like to know something else?"
Aemilia eyed him warily. "I genuinely do not know at the moment."
He took her answer as a yes and grinned. "She told me that night that not in some millennia had she encountered a tongue so 'resplendently burnished'."
Loki was looking at her as if he were letting her in on a secret joke, but the words went over Aemilia's head. "Resplendently... what?"
"It's merely a more complicated way of saying 'silvertongue', darling."
She stared at Loki's maddeningly smirking face, then gasped quietly when she finally pieced it all together. "Your nickname came from her! But I thought... I thought it was just an ironic nickname, that it came about because of your... skills in persuasion, and just happened to also encompass your other skills."
Loki shook his head. "It's more the other way around, in that it just so happens to ironically also encompass my skills in persuasive speech."
She again placed a hand to her face, still laughing. "And she said this your first time? When you had no prior experience?"
"I was a natural, what I can I say," Loki shrugged innocently. "It's not so hard to believe. You were much the same way. Every bit as eager and quick to learn as I was."
As if to emphasize his point, Loki brushed her mouth with his thumb. She rolled her eyes and replied, "I'm glad I didn't know this until now. I would have felt terribly nervous knowing that I had a sex goddess' memory to compete with."
Loki scoffed. "Freyja is... every bit her title, but she is not suited to me. I was never tempted for a repeat performance of that night."
"Really?" Aemilia asked skeptically. "I can't help but doubt that."
He shrugged. "It's true. In fact, there were very few women I've ever wanted to see a second time. I've had the occasional obsessions, but overall, it simply hasn't been in nature. Not until you came along."
When he put it in those terms, in that perspective, Aemilia understood him even less than she already did. She wasn't one for insecurities or self-questioning, but just logically comparing herself to the staggering amount of women he had bedded, including a literal Sex Goddess, she had to wonder exactly how she had been the one out of all of them to actually capture his full attention.
"You once told me that I'm better at certain things than any other woman you've had," she said, looking him in the eye. "Did you mean that?"
"Sincerely," he replied, his eyes the very picture of truth.
"Even better than Freyja?"
He chuckled softly. "Freyja's education was rather one-sided, Aemilia. I can't compare your mouth to hers."
Aemilia's brows furrowed for what felt like the hundredth time that night. "Oh. Then she wasn't as thorough as you implied."
"She was very thorough in teaching me how to please a woman," Loki replied. "And I enjoyed it far too much to ask for such things."
Aemilia didn't question him, unsure if she'd ever be able to shake the mental image of a young, inexperienced Loki being "educated" by the much older goddess many believed to be beauty incarnate. But that wasn't her primary concern at the moment.
"Why me?" she asked quietly, sliding her arm around his shoulders and shifting in his lap just an inch or two closer to him. "Of all the others? Truly?"
"I could ask you the same," Loki replied, glancing down at her lips, "and I may not believe your answer any more than you'd believe mine."
She almost sighed in frustration. Sometimes she hated when he spoke in circles. Instead of saying anything in return, she laid her head down on his shoulder and closed her eyes.
She was busy inhaling his distinct, familiar scent from his neck when his voice rumbled softly into her ear. "And who was your first kiss, darling?"
She was about to snap her head up and stare at him incredulously when it suddenly struck her that he actually didn't already know the answer. For some reason, it almost made her giggle.
"Hmm?" he pressed when she didn't answer.
"My first real kiss? Not part of any shows I've performed?"
Loki nodded, lifting her chin and making her look at him. "Yes."
"You," she smiled, tone light. "I thought you knew."
She saw several reactions flicker across his face, so quick that she nearly missed them. First came surprise, then amusement, smug pleasure, and finally, slight confusion. "How? You are hardly a child - I would have expected at least one or two men to have stolen a kiss from you before I did."
"I've always been rather picky," Aemilia replied. "I didn't come across anyone I liked enough to allow to kiss me until you."
"Hmm," he murmured, running his fingers through her hair. "And you let me kiss you when we'd barely exchanged two sentences."
"I think we've long established that my judgment is often lacking when it comes to you," she smiled.
"I don't dislike this fact," he replied with a chuckle before pressing his lips to the side of her neck. She sighed and leaned into his touch, ignoring a light cramp in her lower abdomen. It was barely there, and all the books she'd skimmed said it was normal in early pregnancy.
"What if I went to Midgard?" she asked at random, a small smile on her face. "With you, the next time you visit? Perhaps I would fall into their legends with all the rest of your great loves..."
He snorted and drew his lips down to her collarbone, muttering between kisses, "I haven't been to Midgard in centuries, darling. And Asgard has largely fallen from their memory."
She sighed. "Just when you're about to actually have a child. Poor timing."
He ceased his kisses then, laying his head gently on her shoulder as he groaned. "It still jars me to hear you speak of... this."
"I know," she sighed, fingers reaching into his hair and running softly through the dark, straight locks. "It jars me too."
It was the bilgesnipe in the room, the thing that no amount of lighthearted discussion could change or rid them of. Aemilia closed her eyes as Loki exhaled in a huff against her skin, both of them wondering how in the world this could turn out in their favor.
Loki didn't want to spend the night in a state of perpetual mental hand-wringing or angst. He didn't want to watch Aemilia tiptoe around him or stoically pretend that the stress of the unknown wasn't weighing on her. He also didn't want to stay holed up in his room with her, unable to touch her in the manner that he craved lest she succumb to a fit of sickness. So, in lieu of those options, he persuaded Aemilia to put on a pretty dress and venture out with him to the celebrations.
It took some convincing, but eventually she agreed. His briefly boosted mood was threatened when she emerged from her chambers in a dress that immediately earned his disapproval. It was long and form-fitting, long-sleeved and sheer on the top with embellishments keeping the necessary places covered, all the way down to the trailing skirt. The neckline cut across her collarbone and the lines and shape of the dress was beautiful, but there was a rather glaring problem - it was a deep shade of red.
"You don't like it?" she asked in surprise as he stood still in the hallway and stared at her gown as if it had personally wronged him.
He glanced at her eyes briefly before stepping forward and touching a single fingertip to the edge of the sleeve at her right wrist. From his touch, the scarlet fabric slowly began to change into emerald, spreading up her arm and then across her chest towards the other arm, eventually engulfing the entire dress. The embellishments became a mixture of gold, black and green, and when it was done, Loki grinned and met her gaze. "Now I like it."
She half-glared at him, clearly unimpressed, but she took his arm nonetheless when he offered it. "Now I can't wear red?"
"I'd prefer you didn't," he replied as they began to walk down the hall. In truth, the color had looked stunning on her, bringing out the red in her hair and making her look fiery and utterly sexy - but it wasn't enough to keep him from almost recoiling at the sight of her wearing one of Thor's colors.
"It is only a color, Loki."
"Colors are symbols," Loki replied. "And I want others to have no doubt whom your loyalty lies with when they look at you."
"Yes, because the arm band made to resemble your helm isn't enough to signal my loyalty," Aemilia shot back, gesturing to the golden horned band that rested on her upper left arm, the one that was currently entwined with his.
"Precisely," he smiled, glancing affectionately at the arm band In question.
She sighed. "Perhaps you should just tattoo your name across the top of my chest, just in case anyone in this realm has any lingering doubts."
His smile became a smirk. "I don't require the aid of a tattoo to permanently mark your body as mine, my dear." He continued to smirk as she sighed at him again, but he saw the corners of her lips turn up by just a fraction as they turned a corner and drew closer to their destination.
The Great Hall was already awash with raucous merriment when they arrived, and Loki could almost feel Aemilia instantly groan at the sheer amount of people and activity they were faced with. Truthfully, he had much the same reaction, but Aemilia seemed to always enjoy herself when they ventured here together, and he genuinely wanted her to have a few pleasant hours before they retired for the night.
As he led her to an empty table near the front of the Hall, he caught sight of Thor at a crowded table of his own, face apparently buried in the ample bust of a woman who was lying down on top of the table's surface. Thor was only lost in those depths for a moment until he resurfaced, a small, empty glass attached to his lips before he snatched it off with his hand and sent it shattering to the ground, inevitably roaring for "Another!", which sent the whole crowd gathered around him erupting in cheers.
"Charming," Aemilia commented, having been watching just as closely as Loki was. Loki snorted in agreement and looked around the Hall, finding no sign of the All-Father, which would explain the rather early and open debauchery.
Eventually they happened across a table containing Sif - who clearly did not want to watch Thor take drinks off of random women's bodies - and a few other quieter individuals, and Loki felt Aemilia tug at his arm, urging him to sit them there. He hesitated but then acquiesced, indulging Aemilia as she sat between him and the lady warrior.
It was times like these that he felt glaringly and unpleasantly like an outsider, like something was intrinsically different in him that separated him from all of the boisterous and belligerent folks that surrounded him. It wasn't that he didn't like a good party - he did, and if he so chose, he could drink even Thor under the table and had on numerous occasions - but he saw very little that could be enjoyed in what was happening around him.
Aemilia was having a pleasant-sounding conversation with Sif, and that pleased him. She was even eating a bit of the food piled high in the center of the table, and that pleased him even more. But he was rather caught up in the very tempting idea of magically causing an abrupt flood or fire in the room that would send all the drunken revelers staggering and stumbling out of the Hall far too early for their liking.
But, he controlled his urges. He'd have his satisfaction in a few weeks, when the day that all of these celebrations were in honor of was spectacularly and decisively ruined. Let Thor behave like the hilariously immature and ridiculous Prince that he was. Soon, he'd be flipping over tables in fury and throwing the mother of all fits over his big day crashing down beautifully all around him.
A laugh from Aemilia caught his attention, and he slipped out of his daydream long enough to glance at her and feel a smile threaten his lips. He did love to hear her laugh. It was nearly as melodic as her voice.
His eyes traveled from her face, noting a faint shiver travel through her shoulders - she was always so cold all the time now, how odd - then went downwards until his gaze reached her belly. He stared for a moment until he looked away, finding his previous thoughts much easier to deal with than the pit of confusion and unease that he nearly sunk into every time he thought of the child that lay secretly in Aemilia's womb. He didn't plan to admit it to her, but he was relieved that she had insisted on telling Frigga. He needed his mother's guidance for this, but he wouldn't have brought himself to seek it until much later, probably beyond the point where it could have done him any good.
He still wasn't sure how Aemilia had managed to convince him to change his mind with so little effort, but she had a habit of doing that, and he wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
He was debating this when his eyes drifted to her again and caught her glowering across the table. He followed her gaze and quickly saw who was earning her glare, unsurprised to find Ilyana standing amidst a gaggle of idiotic men a few tables over, laughing and shooting back a glare of her own.
Slowly, he leaned over and brushed his lips against Aemilia's ear. "Ignore her, darling. By week's end you won't see her stalking these halls any longer."
"I despise her," Aemilia hissed back.
Loki slung an arm around her shoulders and glanced back at Ilyana as he spoke again. "You shouldn't waste your time and energy despising something so irrelevant and meaningless."
Aemilia seemed to like his description of Iylana as a thing rather than a person. But she still murmured back, "And you shouldn't have placed yourself in a mouth so vile and used."
Well, he couldn't argue with that. Just as he opened his mouth to retort, a large black blotch climbing up the skirt of Ilyana's deep blue dress caught his attention. His brows furrowed as his vision focused on the thing, and he realized that it was a very large, very strange, spider. And it was scurrying up the woman at an impressive speed.
His jaw dropped open a little bit when the big hairy legs of the creature tickled and then mounted the woman's arm, just above her wrist, and continued its journey upwards. She must have felt it on her bare arm, because she looked down and then promptly began screaming as if she was being lowered into a pot of boiling oil.
Loki stifled a laugh. Ilyana flailed and shrieked as the men surrounding her sprang into action, trying to knock the spider away, but the creature merely scampered up to her shoulder and then crawled up her mane of white-blonde hair before settling down on top of her head. She screamed even louder.
The entire Hall had stopped and stared as the scene unfolded. She knocked at her head futilely, the spider almost seeming to be fused with her hair. Two of its legs dipped down over her hairline and tickled her forehead, making her scream her most shrill sound yet. Desperate, she picked up a nearby empty bottle of wine from a table and prepared to smash it over her own head.
Then the spider burst into flame. Ilyana's hair ignited with it, and her voice reached octaves previously unknown to exist.
Quickly, one of her male admirers dumped water over her head, but he wasn't quite quick enough; her incredibly fair hair was singed, smoking, and quite ruined at the crown of her head. She was wailing, crying, shaking, shrieking, and all in all, suffering the worst embarrassment she had ever experienced in her life.
And she was glaring daggers at Loki, clearly under the impression that he'd been the culprit. He merely gave her an uncaring shrug, utterly unaccustomed to being the innocent party for once.
Now laughing with very little care as to who saw or heard him, Loki glanced at Aemilia to share in the joy of the spectacle, only to freeze when he saw her hand faintly glowing green on her lap, under the cover of the table. He stared at her hand for a long moment before drawing his gaze up to hers, and when their eyes met, a proud little smirk crossed her lips. She folded her hands as the traces of magic dissipated into thin air, and Loki stared at her with a mixture of shock, awe, and pure unadulterated pride.
"She had it coming, don't you think?" Aemilia shrugged, looking up at him through her lashes.
Slowly, his lips spread into a wide, utterly delighted smile, and his green eyes danced with mischief. "Oh... Aemilia... I find myself at a loss for words."
His voice was low and it dripped with sudden lust that made Aemilia blush. He couldn't help himself - his reaction was immediate and overwhelming.
This woman, this confounding creature who had so bewitched him, drawn him, enticed him, learned magic from him and now carried his child within her, had just surpassed and obliterated his expectations of what she was capable of. It was a trick worthy of his own skill, his own doing, and he was rather sure he'd never been more quickly and suddenly and wholly aroused in his life.
He bit his bottom lip as he smiled at her. Her own smile became deceptively, alluringly shy, and he knew that she knew full well what sort of reaction he was having.
Her hand slid discreetly to his leather-clad thigh and she leaned in a bit, still smiling that treacherous smile as she all but purred, "Have I made you proud?"
He exhaled sharply as her nose skimmed along his neck. "You have made me... many things, darling."
"Oh... my apologies," she replied in a very unapologetic tone, kissing his jaw as her hand crept further into his thigh.
Her other hand materialized in the hair at the nape of his neck, and she gave it a sharp little tug as she nipped his neck at the same moment. The light groan that left his lips was beyond his control.
Next to them, Sif pointedly cleared her throat. Aemilia stilled and smiled against his jaw. Loki grinned and wrapped his arm around her, glancing at Sif and giving her a wink that she rolled her eyes at.
"Come on, little sorceress," Loki murmured before standing and vanishing them out of the Great Hall without a goodbye to anyone or any ceremony whatsoever. They reappeared in the middle of his room, and Aemilia instantly grabbed him by his shoulders and shoved him back until the backs of his knees hit his couch.
She pushed him down with a smile on her face and then lowered herself to his lap, straddling his hips and again taking his hair roughly in her hand as she wrenched his head back. "I don't care what you say, Loki. I am going to take care of you," she reached down between them and hastily began yanking at his pants, "and you are going to let me, whether you like it or not. Do you understand?"
He was dazed, profoundly turned on, and utterly entranced by the woman on his lap. It was moments like these where he came dangerously and embarrassingly close to blurting out something stupid like a grand declaration of his undying love and gratitude to her for being the most perfect creature he'd ever laid eyes on.
But he managed to rein in his more idiotic impulses and simply laughed in exhilaration and said breathlessly, "As you wish. Take me however it pleases you."
"Good boy," she grinned, and he shuddered again, hoping against hope that this side of her came out to play more often.
She sealed her lips to his in a searing kiss, and Valhalla, he'd never been so sure that he'd never, ever, tire of this little singer.
Aemilia hadn't been in a particularly teasing mood, certainly not after days of her selfless advances being rejected, and Loki didn't seem to mind at all. Not even when it only took a bit of skilled handwork and a potentially embarrassing small amount of minutes to leave him sprawled out on the couch, on his back, disheveled and scrambling to catch his breath. She was quite pleased, knowing that it was not often that he came undone so quickly, and she took pride in being the cause of his loss of control.
As he recovered, she placed a little kiss to his lips and then extricated herself from him, standing carefully off the couch and not bothering to fix the dress that clung oddly to her skin In the wrong places after Loki had clawed at it but not managed to get it off. Rather than struggle with the material, she waved her hand, and the dress was off and in its place was her thin white nightgown. Magic was a wonderful thing - not only did it make every day tasks beautifully easy, but it also allowed her to finally see some justice served in Ilyana's direction.
It had been a great night so far, there was no denying that. Truthfully, she'd conjured the combusting spider on a whim of disdain for the woman, but any regret or guilt she may have experienced after was rendered nonexistent with Loki's delicious reaction to seeing her do such a thing. The lip-biting smile was something she'd never seen from him before, and it had stirred her so quickly and thoroughly that it gave her all the resolve she needed to not take no for an answer.
And clearly, she thought as she looked back at Loki as he continued to lay helplessly and happily on his back, it had been in his best interest to finally let her have her way.
Quietly, she began preparing for bed, disappearing into his washroom for a moment or two and going about her usual routine. When she walked back to his room, she found him sitting up at last, running a hand through his hair and shooting her a grin when their gazes met.
"You look satisfied," she noted with amusement, leaning against one of the posters of his bed.
"I'm never satisfied," he pointed out, and the sad thing was, she knew it was true. "You only make me crave more with your every touch. You should be proud."
She smiled and hugged her arms to her chest before replying, "I am proud. I am also freezing. I'm going to take a warm bath, if you'd like to join."
"Give me a few moments and I will," he replied, standing up from the couch. "I just remembered that I need to look over my notes for your potion that I'm going to make for you in the morning."
"Okay," Aemilia replied, heading back for the washroom while he made for his desk. Their paths intersected briefly and Loki's hand found hers as they paused.
"You are exquisite, darling," he said, his other hand rising to her face, where he gently brushed her cheek with his thumb. "Truly."
She smiled and tried to play off his remark. "Be careful, your highness... I'm starting to think you may actually care for me."
He leaned in and placed a quick kiss to her lips. "Let's not get carried away now."
He smirked and she rolled her eyes, disentangling their hands as they again headed in opposite directions.
He sat at his desk and she disappeared into the washroom once more, moving to Loki's enormous bathtub and turning on the taps before perching on the edge and reaching for the little glass vials that held a variety of bath oils. She poured some in as the tub filled quickly, and then stood to untie the laces that held her gown together in the back.
When she stood, a quick, sharp pain shot through her abdomen, so quick that she wouldn't have noticed it if it hadn't felt like a knife slicing through her insides. She froze and her hand shot to her belly reflexively as she took a quick intake of breath.
That was strange, she thought as stared down at her hand. She shifted on her feet and then froze again at the sudden sensation of something ice-cold sliding down her thigh. Not trickling or dripping, but flowing steadily and quite quickly. Her eyes widened, she held her breath, and she looked down.
There on the golden floor, pooling swiftly around her feet, was a puddle of bright red and bizarrely almost-freezing blood. As soon as she saw it, the pain returned, this time sharp enough to make her double over before she screamed.
At his desk, Loki dropped the quill he'd been scrawling on a note with and felt his own blood run cold at the sound of Aemilia's scream.
Somehow, even before he teleported straight into the washroom and found Aemilia half-collapsed on the floor, panicking and pale as she screamed for his help, he already knew what had happened.
Thor had been on the way to his chambers to retire for the night when he passed his brother's rooms. There were two lovely maidens - well, two lovely women - waiting for him in his own room, and he did not plan on any detours until a blood curdling scream stopped him dead in his tracks.
He backtracked quickly, reaching Loki's doors just as a second shriek hit his ears. Though he'd never heard the girl scream before, he knew that the terrible sound belonged to Aemilia.
"Loki?" his deep voice boomed in a half-shout as he pounded on the large, intricately carved doors. "Loki!"
There was no answer. Thor looked around, seeing servants who had also heard the scream starting to scurry towards the scene. He outstretched his arm and held out his hand, and in mere seconds, Mjolnir flew into his grip.
He slammed the hammer down against Loki's doors once, and they blew open immediately.
"Loki!" he called again, stepping inside his brother's chambers and seeing nothing amiss at first glance. But then he heard voices coming from the washroom - rapid gasping and Loki's quiet rush of words that Thor couldn't discern - and fearing what he may see, Thor walked to the open washroom door.
What he saw made his face go pale and his heart sink. Aemilia was half-laying on the floor, in a pool of blood, shivering and as white as the red-stained nightgown that clung to her skin. Loki was cradling her and whispering rapidly in a language Thor didn't recognize, his hand glowing an iridescent green as it hovered over her midsection.
It made no sense. "Brother... what's happened?"
Loki's head snapped up, and Thor almost staggered back when he saw the sheer terror and panic in Loki's eyes. Never before had he seen such a thing, not even when they had rode into nearly impossible battles together in the past.
Voices behind him jarred Thor's attention, and hurriedly, he ran to the now-broken door to shoo away the small group of servants either gawking or trying to come in.
"All is well - the Lady merely slipped. She is fine. Go, all of you."
When only one of the servants obeyed, Thor hardened his gaze and bellowed, "Go!"
They then dispersed quickly, and Thor rushed back to the washroom, dropping his hammer on the floor as he went. He clearly didn't need it tonight.
When he was back in the doorway, Loki had stood and was cradling Aemilia in his arms. She was gripping the collar of his shirt and shaking with even more violence than a moment before.
Thor was dumbfounded. "Loki, tell me what's happened!"
"I'm taking her to the healing room," Loki panted, eyes wild and slightly unfocused. "Grab my arm, Thor."
Thor obeyed without thinking twice, and a second later, all three of them were in the middle of the healing room. Loki shouted desperately for help as soon as his feet hit the ground.
Two young healers appeared out of nowhere, rushing to them. Even now, blood was trickling down Aemilia's dangling legs, the pace of the blood loss alarmingly rapid, and the front of Loki's clothes were as ruined as her nightgown was. Her grip on his collar went slack.
"What's happened?" the older of the two healers immediately questioned, quickly holding out her arms to take Aemilia from him.
"She... I don't know, I don't know, but she's pregnant," Loki blurted, and Thor's eyes widened as it all suddenly made sense. "She was fine and then she screamed and I found her bleeding."
The two healers quickly transferred her to a table. By now Aemilia was barely conscious, her bottom lip and chin trembling uncontrollably along with the rest of her body.
"She's ice cold," the younger healer commented. "Even her blood is cold."
"Get Eir," the older healer commanded the younger. "Get her now."
"What happened?" Loki suddenly demanded as the healer worked, his hands clenched into nervous fists at his side as he paced and shook. "What made this happen?"
The healer looked to Thor briefly and evenly commanded, "Your Highness, take him out of here while we work."
Thor nodded, stepping forward to place a reassuring hand on Loki's shoulder as he guided him out, but Loki shoved him away and exclaimed, "I am not leaving! Tell me what made this happen! Tell me you can fix this!"
Ignoring him, the healer placed her hands to Aemilia's abdomen said, "Get him out. Now."
Gritting his teeth, Thor grabbed Loki's arm. "Come on, brother."
Loki tried to shove Thor off again, but he held fast, and Loki was far too shaken to escape his grip. "No! No, Thor! I will not leave this room until I know that she is safe!"
"Brother, please," Thor pleaded as Eir appeared and rushed to Aemilia's side. "Let them do their work. She is in the hands of our best healer."
Loki continued to struggle and shout and fight in futility as Thor dragged him away, his own heart breaking as he did. He'd never seen Loki like this - Loki, who was always so controlled and calculating and cool, even in the heat of battle, was completely out of control and useless.
Thor got them out of the healing room and into the hallway, and as soon as he let go of Loki, he whirled around and punched Thor squarely in the face.
"I brought you with us to help me!" Loki shouted angrily in his face. "I'm no help to her out here!"
"You are no help to her in there!" Thor argued, jerking backwards to avoid another punch. "You've done what you can, now let them heal her!"
Mindlessly, Loki growled and lunged at Thor again. Thor easily wrestled him to the wall and held him there, one arm firm across his chest while his other hand grasped the side of his face. "Loki. Listen to me. There is nothing more that you can do. Eir is taking care of her, right now. She will be fine."
Thor watched as tears filled his brother's eyes, washing away his previous rage and replacing it with despair. Loki said nothing as he stared at Thor and allowed his face to crumple.
Thor could count the number of times he'd seen Loki cry since he reached adulthood on one hand and have five fingers left. The sight nearly made him cry himself.
"Loki," Thor said softly, "why didn't you tell me she was expecting?"
"We've only known for a week," Loki said, his voice shaking. "We told no one. Not even Mother."
Knowing that his rage had now passed, Thor slowly released his hold on Loki and took a step back. Loki slumped against the wall as Thor searched for the right words. "I'm sorry, Loki. I truly am."
Loki squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them, the action releasing the tears he'd never had a hope of holding in. "I could feel her heart slowing to almost nothing when they took her from me, Thor. It happened so fast. How could she lose that much blood that fast?"
"She will recover," Thor said confidently, not daring to show a trace of doubt. Not now, not when Loki clearly needed someone to be strong. "She will."
It was obvious that the child was already gone, however. They both knew it. Thor didn't know how to even begin addressing it, so he didn't.
Instead, he looked at Loki and quietly said, "You truly love this woman, don't you?"
Loki didn't reply. Thor didn't expect him to. He just stared at the floor, breathing shakily through his mouth as his eyes betrayed how he was on the verge of panicking all over again.
Thor stepped forward and pulled him into a sudden, nearly suffocating embrace before Loki could lose his mind again. "She is strong, Loki. You know that. She is young and strong and she will recover."
Thor could repeat himself over and over - and he did - but the truth was, neither of them could truly know if those words were true. All they could do was wait.
Loki clung to his brother with the same fierce grip that he used to as a child, when he'd wake from a nightmare and come wobbling into his big brother's room to seek comfort and protection from the monsters that plagued his dreams. Thor couldn't remember the last time they'd actually embraced, and it saddened him even further. They hadn't been the brothers that they used to be for a long time, and Thor hadn't even stopped to realize it until that moment.
"All will be well, Loki," Thor said, not knowing if he was lying or not, while Loki shuddered with all of the force of his paralyzing fear and dread. "All will be well."
A/N: *looks around nervously* Sooo... dat angst, amirite? :p I have a feeling that half of you reading this are mildly relieved and the other half is pissed off at me, but what can I say, I like to torture characters and make them even more miserable than they already are in canon. It's a problem. *shrug* I particularly enjoyed writing a little bit from Thor's POV in this chapter. It was weirdly refreshing to have a change, and I think the end is my favorite Thor/Loki moment I've written so far. Oh, and before I forget to mention this, so I know I sort of made Sigyn kind of a slut here in my little personal Thor-movie-verse, and I apologize if that displeases some of you. I like Sigyn and some of my favorite Loki stories are Loki/Sigyn, but I figured I'd try for a different angle from most other fics, so voila, we have mildly slutty non-faithful Sigyn. Oh well. Sorry. I kind of see almost all Asgardians as being a little bit slutty anyway (by our human standards lol) because seriously, you're gonna rack up some mileage in a 5,000 year lifetime, jussayin. (And let's not even get into the man-whores my interpretations of Thor and Loki are. I think it's accurate though :p)
ANYWAY... thank you guys for all your reviews, feedback, faves, alerts, messages, I luv you all and give you huge e-hugs :D Also my thanks to midnightwings96 for her help with this chapter, and for helping motivate me to write when I'd rather sit around and get lost in the raging vortex of doom that is the Internet. :p Oh! And extra special thanks for the good luck wishes with college! It's going good so far, and I even got an update here done, so hopefully I keep it up:D until next time, my dears :D