Galt struggled against his captors, his shackles rattling together as he walked. How they'd ever found him, he couldn't say. The traitors. Blindly following the self-proclaimed god of lies. Doing everything he asked, not bothering to protect one of their own. But not Galt. Never him. He would never bow to that rotten Jotun.
He glared at the usurper as he was dragged into the Throne Room. How dare that creature sit upon the sacred throne of Asgard? He was not worthy to sit where Bor and Odin had once ruled with a just hand and booming law. Why had Odin ever saved the pathetic whelp in the first place? The only good Jotun was a dead Jotun, and the true king should have slaughtered that ugly beast when he had the chance.
Loki looked down at the pathetic Asgardian who had the gall to treat a woman with such disrespect. He didn't even stand to recognize him. In his mind, this man was lower than the dogs. He briefly glanced up, searching for the guard's partner. None of the guards went on duty without a partner. No secondary guard stood in chains beside this one. An oversight if he ever saw one. He worked his jaw, back and forth. "And where is the other?" Loki asked.
"Dead, your majesty." One of the guards stepped forward and looked to Galt with contempt. "This one says he killed him and threw him off the side of the mountain."
Loki acknowledged the faithful guard with a single nod. Then, he turned his searing gaze to Galt. The man had come to his attention before, but never like this. Minor infractions, a misdemeanor or two, and perhaps once or twice when he subverted orders. Never as a traitor and a scoundrel, to boot. Loki glowered, the fury simmering just below his calm exterior. "Do you have anything to say about the accusation brought against you?"
Galt grinned wickedly and took a step forward, challenging the would-be king. "Mortals are a lot more enjoyable than we give them credit for." He smiled easily and stood calm, basking in a job well done. "And it's always nice to have a fresh piece of meat."
Slowly, trying to retain some piece of his dignity and royal decorum, Loki stood and clenched his fists at his sides. How dare he speak of her in such a way? How dare he address her as a piece of meat! The value of life had been one thing repeatedly ingrained in every Asgardian from birth. What had the palace come to, to hire one as base as Galt? Loki leveled his gaze. "Choose your next answer carefully. Why did you disobey my orders?"
"Because I only obey the king." Galt spat. "Not some usurper."
"Why her?" He flexed and stretched his fingers. He could almost feel the coward's neck crushing beneath his chokehold. He could imagine the life draining from his face and the fear he would finally display. Loki sneered in contempt. This guard, though he didn't even deserve the title, would pay for everything he had done. In the most excruciating way Loki could possibly provide.
"Because she is yours." Galt grinned wider and gestured vaguely toward the Throne Room entrance. "Oh, come now. Does that fat animal really mean so much to you? She's a mortal. Like flies, they are. Dead by dawn."
"Why kill Per, then? A fellow Asgardian." She wasn't fat, nor was she an animal. He used the word as a term of endearment, how had everyone misconstrued it? Loki chose to ignore the comment about his most cherished pet being a fat animal in favor of a more pressing matter. For now.
"He got in my way." Galt snorted. "I told the runt to move. He should have listened."
Loki made his way down the steps and to the floor. One foot in front of the other. Each boot step reverberated through the hall. With careful indignation, he approached the scoundrel. The piece of dirt who thought himself above others. Loki's green eyes blazed fire. "Surely you knew what your actions would bring upon you."
"I did." Galt gave another wicked smile and stepped as close as his chains would allow, easily closing the distance between them. "And I'd do it again, too. Just to hear her scream." His gruff voice rose an octave as he mocked Nancy's voice. "Loki! Loki! Master! Help!"
Liar, the voice in Loki's head hissed. He bared his teeth. She couldn't have screamed, not with the muzzle so tightly pressed around her mouth. This man only wanted to get beneath his skin. And it had worked. Not, however, to Galt's advantage. Loki looked sideways to one of the loyal guards. He would bear no more of this mockery. "Shut him up. Now."
One of the guards produced a muzzle and moved toward Galt. He thrashed and strained, fighting the device, but soon it was clamped around his mouth. Galt looked to Loki, hatred burning in his eyes. He should've killed the pathetic female mortal when he had the chance. Hurt this unworthy king even further. He'd merely hoped the wench would die on her own. How wrong he was.
Loki regarded the man for a moment and mentally took stock of Nancy's injuries. Every broken bone and violated area. All the harm that Galt had caused. And he knew the perfect remedy. "Take this man and lay out his punishment exactly as I instruct," he commanded the guards. The words hissed through his teeth like a snake before it bites. His anger blazed through his eyes and from every pore. Loki took a breath. And began. "First, pull his shoulder out of socket. Allow his screams to subside and the pain to register. Next, take his other arm and break it at the elbow joint. Then his legs, at the thigh bones. Take the heaviest metal beam you can find and break his left hip. Take the same beam and beat him with it until you are certain all his ribs are broken. Then..." He allowed a look of disgust to contort his face. There was no hiding it. "...castrate him. And when his voice is hoarse from screaming and he begs for my mercy, then—and only then—can you end his torment." Without a second thought, he waved a hand in dismissal. He was done with the offensive perpetrator. And he would never give him another second of his precious time.
As the guards dragged the brute out the Throne Room doors, a young healer stepped forward. Her mousy brown hair was swept back in braids and tied tightly at the back of her head. She was clad in the brightest of golds, the color of the healers. A bronze tablet was tucked neatly under one arm, holding her precious notes and calculations.
"Highness." her voice was soft and comforting, "Your mortal is awake. She cries for you."
Just like that, the anger fled. Relief flooded him. Despite all, she asked for him. Cried for him, the healer said. She did not hate him, then? Did not blame him for all that had happened. How could she not? He had put her there, and he had left her to that dog. Loki sighed. "Take me to her."
The healer curtsied once and immediately turned to lead Loki to the healing room. Hallway after hallway, the Throne Room felt miles away from their destination. The healer knew the horror that awaited her king. The grotesque scene of the mortal struggling for her life, her body collapsing around her. Finally, as they rounded a corner, nearing the room, a piercing scream of pure agony filled the hall.
"Loki! Master!" Another scream rang out. Nancy was in pure torment, now fully conscious and unable to rest, surrounded by strangers who were only hurting her more.
Loki rushed in at the sound of her agony and dropped to her side. He cradled her to himself and squeezed his eyes shut. He had done this to her, unknowingly. He could sense it still, the pain and the fear mingled. He could do little for the pain that the healers had not already tried. He doubted it would work, but perhaps he could distract her. "Tell me what you fear."
She couldn't understand his words. She didn't care. All Nancy could feel was the pain, multiplied exponentially by Loki's firm grasp on her. The shriek that left her newly-healed lungs was absolutely deafening. Her broken bones slid past one another under Loki's fingers.
"Sire, she's in unbearable pain!" the lead healer screamed over the sound of Nancy's cry, "She woke and will not rest! We gave her enough sleeping potion to fell a horse, but it does not work on her! She is under some sort of spell!"
Loki felt his heart break with the weight of his despair. He pressed her head to his shoulder in an effort to stop her pained shaking and closed his eyes. Was he destined to lose everyone he came to love? Had the fates so decided his desolate future? No. He would not allow it. He lowered his voice to the most pleasant, soothing tone he could possibly muster. "Sleep, love. Please sleep."
All at once, as abruptly as it had started, Nancy's scream died away. She fell unconscious against Loki's shoulder, completely numb and unconscious to the pain.
The healers worked on her for hours, straightening the bones and sealing them back together. Stopping the blood and patching any remaining wounds. One wound in particular was especially difficult to heal. A tear in the wall of one of her reproductive organs. An old wound, reopened by blunt-force trauma. The blood it spilled was great, but the healers did all they could to seal it closed. It would heal the rest of the way itself… in time.
A few hours after dark, Nancy was finally allowed to return to Loki's chambers. She was barely conscious and very weak, but alive.
Loki himself carried her to his chambers, through every dark hallway and past every guard. Loyal and almost certainly disloyal alike. He settled her on the bed, in his spot – he so liked the look of her there – and moved to the chaise. He knew he would not be able to sleep. Not with the knowledge that all that had happened was his fault. If only he hadn't been so stupid and selfish. Perhaps she would not have been harmed. He couldn't bear the idea of his own thoughts. So he kept watch.
/
Nancy whimpered and thrashed as flashes of the incident played through her mind. In her dream, she could only helplessly relive the event. With a gasp, she sat upright and stared into the dimly-lit darkness around her. She felt the soft silk of the sheets covering her. The velvet of the dress she now wore. The plush pillows behind her. Nancy knew where she was, but it was so dark, she couldn't see where Loki was.
"Master?" she whimpered, tears rising to her eyes. A sob escaped her throat. She couldn't hold back any longer. "Loki!"
Hearing her cries, Loki rose and settled by her side. He deftly reached to hold her close. She would need the comfort, he knew. She had once said that mortals needed physical touch. That it was comforting. He hoped he chose the right method to calm her.
Nancy turned and sobbed into his shoulder, clutching desperately at his tunic. Her body wracked with her sobs and trembled with her fear. "Never leave me again."
"Not if I can help it." Loki held her even closer and planted a kiss to her head. No. She would never leave his side again. He would watch her constantly and even create a shield around her no one could penetrate. If only she would stop crying.
"Did I do something wrong?" Nancy buried her face deeper into his shoulder, wishing she could just fade away. "He just... started hitting me. And then he muzzled me. And then he… he…" Another sob escaped. She couldn't say it.
"No, love, no." Needing to be closer, Loki pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. He would never let go. Never let anyone hurt her again. He couldn't bear the thought. "It was not you, but rather his black heart. You will never see him again."
"Did you kill him?" The words came out soft and cold, a darkness behind them she'd never felt before.
Loki paused. How did he answer a question with so much emotion displayed in her voice? Had this, too, destroyed her further than he ever intended? He certainly hoped not. He couldn't bear the added weight to his already guilty conscience. "Do you wish him dead?"
"Yes."
"Then you should know as your attacker and a traitor to the crown, he will be dead before the week is out." If not sooner. His instructions could not have been misconstrued and Galt would not escape with the amount of guards he had set in place to watch over the proceedings.
"He should suffer for what he did."
"He suffers as we speak." Just thinking of the man – no, worm – made Loki set his jaw firmly to keep from lashing out. He had given the orders. He must put the man from his mind. Permanently.
Seeking relief from the darkness of her thoughts, Nancy snuggled closer to her beloved. "Are you going to send me back down there?"
"No. I was coming for you when I received the news of your attack. You will not return there." Ever. She would never see the dungeons again under any circumstances, and he would never allow her imprisonment. He had been wrong to think it in the first place; he saw that now.
"Then you'll let me stay here?" She nuzzled her head under his chin, only seeking his closeness. "I don't want to be away from you."
"You will stay here. And, if I must leave, I will arrange for my most trusted warriors to stand guard." Hesitantly, he paused. It was not necessarily wise to tell her this next part, but he could not stop the words from falling from his lips. "There are games afoot, pet, and much as I detest it, I may have need to leave once or twice a day."
She nodded slowly. Of course he would need to leave. He was king. He had duties to tend to. But she still had him. In this moment, he was hers. And she would never leave his side again.
Nancy turned fully and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him. It was all she could do to thank him for his kindness. She let her head rest against his shoulder, planting a soft kiss on his neck as she did so. She never wanted to be away from him again. All she wanted was to remain like this forever.
Loki simply held her like that, enjoying the feeling of her close to him, knowing that she would require time to heal. Much time. More time than he would like. But, for her sake, he would allow her that time. He would not hurt her as Galt had, and he would leave the terms of their relationship up to her. If she never wished to speak to him again, he would understand.
There was knock on the door.
Nancy nearly jolted out of her skin. She screamed and clung to Loki, as if a monster was at the doors.
"Shh. Shh. I will not allow anyone to hurt you." He cleared his throat to better project his voice toward the door. "If it is not a matter of life and death, for Valhalla's sake go away."
A guard's voice came sailing back at him. "A matter of treason, majesty."
Of course it was. Now that she needed him, they would call on him as their sovereign. Fate certainly had a strange way of dealing with him. Though, perhaps he had brought it on himself. Loki growled. "Summon them." He lowered his voice and spoke mostly into Nancy's ear. Promises he intended to keep. "I must tend to this. No longer than an hour, I swear it."
Nancy looked up at him, her eyes wide with fear. He was leaving her again. So soon. "Seal the room, please. Lock it with one of your spells." Tears formed and threatened to spill over. She couldn't take the chance one of the guards would be disloyal. "Please, master."
"I made you a promise, did I not?" Loki leaned his head down to whisper against her hair, letting his promises sink in. "My best warriors. And a spell to seal the doors if you wish."
Nancy nodded her understanding and slowly released him. "Hurry back." she whispered.
Reluctantly, Loki moved her off his lap to settle her on the bed. She was terrified, and rightfully so. He would not leave her like this. Not for any longer than he absolutely had to. He must settle her nerves before he attended business. Yes, he had ordered traitors be brought to him as they were found, most in conjunction with Galt's treacherous acts. He never intended for it to so interrupt the comfort he desperately needed to give her. He stood, careful not to jostle her too much.
A soft knock sounded on the door.
Loki sighed. It was now or never. "Enter."
The door opened silently, to reveal the warriors with their fists over their hearts. His chambers were not a foreign sight to any of them. No, they had all come to thrash him here at some point or another. One by one, they looked up. A blonde man with a twinkle in his eyes, a man with a ridiculous beard, and a woman with hair as black as night.
The same heavy sigh escaped Loki's lips and he nodded once, signaling them to relax a bit. "Sif will remain inside. Fandral, Volstagg, keep guard without. No one approaches except me. No one." He strode through the doors and sealed them behind him, leaving Sif behind. With one glance, green shimmered around the edges, providing proof to his pet that he had indeed kept his promise to seal the doors with magic. He hated to leave her, but it could not be helped. Not this time.