"Make sure she's awake," a man's voice said, "I want her conscious for this. She shall not be spared any pain by sleep, just as Drin felt the full force of her brutal attack."

"The pain was… numbed… somewhat," Maisy muttered as her eyes opened, "He was really… really… drunk."

"Silence her," Tyr said gruffly, "She will speak only lies."

A stinky piece of cloth that Maisy suspected (with horror) was an old sock, was tied tightly around her mouth and it cut into her cheeks. It tasted worse than it smelled and the texture bothered her teeth. Plus, whoever had tied the knot had gotten some of her hair tied up too and pulled it painfully.

"Remind me to reduce Caxton's pay," Tyr said, "It has taken her much too long to wake up. He drugged her too thoroughly."

"At least she did not fight us at all on the way here," one of the lackies said.

"But we could have been found before she came too! Then my revenge would be ruined and Drin would never be avenged."

"Good point, sir."

"Now that she is awake though," Tyr walked over to her and bent to look her in the eye, "Let's make this fun. And painful."

He grabbed Maisy's wrists, which were tied together in front of her, and he dragged her over to one of the apple trees. It was the biggest apple tree Maisy had ever seen, as most of the ones she'd seen in real life were short and covered in sticky fruit and bees. This one was like one from a fairy tale: tall, sturdy, and if it had been springtime it surely would have been covered in beautiful buds. She hated the fact that she was probably going to die next to it.

Tyr tied her tightly around it and then grabbed her chin forcefully, tilting her head this way and that.

"I don't know why Drin would waste his time with you," he said, "Or our wayward prince for that matter. Norns, even that Muspelheim boy was mad about you. What did you do to them all? Hmm?"

Maisy would have spit at him if she could. When she tried, however, drool just soaked the sock in her mouth and dribbled down her chin a little. Tyr let go of her face before his hands could be dirtied.

"It doesn't matter what kind of spell you cast over them. It ends tonight, girl. You won't be tempting any others," he smiled, "Not when you're food for these magical trees and the worms in the ground."

He stepped back and drew a sword from his side. It finally dawned on Maisy what was about to happen and she began to tug against the ropes with all of her might. Which wasn't much might at all, considering feeling was only slowly returning to her limbs. She limply pulled against the bindings, but she knew it would do no good.

Her dad would be broken when he found out. And it would probably take a while for anyone in Asgard to find her body if Tyr was going to bury her here in this grove or wherever they were. She'd be declared missing for a while, but no one would think to tell her dad. Then they'd find her, probably in the spring when people came to take care of these trees. Or maybe they wouldn't. Maybe they'd bury her so well that the springtime grass would grow right over her and she'd never be found. Her dad might never even know. He'd just be distraught when she stopped visiting him.

The thought of her dad made her cry out through the sock and tears began to pour down her cheeks as she pulled against her bonds. Tyr shook his head sadly and touched the tip of his sword to her neck. He was probably going to make her choke on her own blood, just like Drin had.

Linn would be worse off than her dad, because she'd know that Maisy had vanished. She'd know that there was a chance they'd find her dead someday, and if they did find her… Maisy didn't want to think of Linn seeing a decaying face. She was too young for that. And she'd be out of a job at the palace with no lady to serve.

Maisy pressed the back of her head against the tree, squeezing her eyes closed and breathing heavily.

"Open your eyes, girl. I want you to see your doom."

She shook her head.

"Open them or I'll make this last longer. Death can be quite the time consuming thing if you aren't careful."

Maisy kept her eyes closed for a moment longer and one more face popped into her mind.

Loki.

She didn't want to think about how he'd react to her going missing. He'd probably tear the realm apart and if he didn't find her he'd try Muspelheim. He might even make Surtur mad and then they'd have a war on their hands. And if he didn't find her in the fiery realm he'd turn to Midgard. Oh, how the Avengers would hate that. They might even kill him if he got too crazy.

Or maybe he wouldn't care. She hoped that was the case. She wished that it could be, even though her heart assured her he'd be in agony. He didn't deserve to go through losing someone again. Not when there were no others in Asgard - save Linn - who cared about him. Maisy begged those Norn things to make it so Loki didn't even bat an eye at her death, if they were capable of pulling that off. She didn't want him to be in pain again.

But he would be. Just like she would be if they switched places.

She opened her eyes and glared at Tyr. He took a step back in surprise, but raised his sword again quickly.

"Ready to die, then?" He asked, "Good. I'm more than ready to kill you."

"Sir!" A lackie approached, "Do it quick, someone is coming!"

"I can't do it quickly," Tyr snarled, "It must be drawn out, just as Drin spent a night in the healer's wing fighting for his life! I want this girl to know his pain!"

"Then I can do it, sir, but you must leave or else you'll be discovered!"

A floating boat thing flew over head and began to touch down. Tyr cursed loudly and cut Maisy's bindings, allowing her to slide to the ground. He ran into the orchard and disappeared, his men going with him.

Maisy's wrists were still tied, a fact that was quickly catching up to her and reminding her of her time in Muspelheim. She was bent over on all fours, wrists burning at the weight of the rope around them. She was panting and screaming and the sock tasted terrible. It felt like she was going to run out of air, but then there were footsteps moving toward her and cool hands around her middle. The hands pulled her back until she was sitting, propped up against the tree and then she could see the face of her rescuer.

She honestly was not at all surprised to see Loki. Who else would have possibly come for her?

Loki removed the sock from around her face, yanking some of her hair as he did so. Once it was off Maisy still couldn't find words to speak with her wrists bound in front of her still. She was breathing heavily and lifted her hands to him.

"Please," she whispered, squeezing her eyes closed, "Please, Loki."

"Of course, of course," his dagger slashed through the ropes in two strokes and then her arms were free to wrap around him, "It's alright, Maisy. You are safe now. Everything is alright."

She sobbed against him for what felt like an hour. When she'd finally stopped shaking she pulled back and looked at him. His eyes looked wet, but she knew that couldn't be true. He never cried.

Her mind raced with a thousand things to say ranging from "thank you" to "never ever leave me". Her tongue didn't seem to function well enough to say anything, but she finally managed something short:

"I love you."

"I love you too," his hands brushed her messy hair from her face, "It's freezing out here, isn't it? We should get you inside."

"How can you tell if it's freezing?"

"I am no expert on Midgardian anatomy, but I doubt your fingers turning blue is a sign of warmth," he scooped her up and carried her over to the flying boat thing, setting her on the floor and tucking his jacket around her, "We'll stop at Idunn's cottage. It's close by and so toasty inside that you'll probably melt."

Maisy only nodded, still too shaken up to be able to say much.

Soon they were at a bright little cottage and Idunn was racing out to meet them, her golden hair flowing behind her and her bathrobe flapping in the chilly breeze. She rushed right to them and as Loki carried Maisy inside the woman clucked nervously.

"She's so cold she can't walk?" Idunn asked, "We ought to summon a healer!"

"I can walk," Maisy said, "Probably. If the drug has worn off."

"Set her down then!" Idunn said, "Moving will get heat into her limbs!"

Loki complied and Maisy wobbled for a moment before finding her balance and smiling. She was fine. She was with two people who she knew would keep her safe. And now she was warm too. Even if Tyr still wanted to kill her she was safe for now.

"Right," Idunn was pulling the blankets back on the one bed in the single room cottage, "I'd say it's well past both of your bedtimes. Get in."

"Idunn," Loki said, "I really should keep watch. The people who kidnapped Maisy where holding her in your orchard. They might still be out there."

"In my orchard?!" Idunn huffed and then used a leather cord to tie her long hair in a loose ponytail, "Prince, if you don't mind, I will be the one to keep watch. I want to have the satisfaction of destroying anyone who would dare think to commit a crime in my orchard!"

"Are you certain you can handle it?"

"My bow and I are more than capable of picking off a few disgusting monsters!" Idunn grabbed a bow from the wall and strung it with speed like Maisy had never seen. There were arrows in her hand in a moment and then she left to go sit by the door.

"I'm not sure I will be able to sleep after what has happened," Loki said, watching Maisy closely, "Perhaps you should describe what happened to me before bed?"

"I…" Maisy shook her head, "Tomorrow. In the daylight. You don't have to sleep, but I want to."

"I can keep you company at least," he nodded and they both climbed into the bed, pulling the soft, handmade quilts around them.

"Now, that bed's pretty small, so please," Idunn looked at them, "No canoodling. You might break it."

Maisy snorted with laughed and snuggled closer to Loki. He chuckled as well and promised they'd do no such thing. They both drifted off to sleep not much later, with the smell of apples filling their nostrils and the feeling of each other breathing rocking them to sleep.

A note from the author: I love Idunn. She's awesome. I should really try to incorporate her in more chapters.

Just a random reminder that I sometimes post my drawings and character design thing-a-ma-bobbins on Deviant Art under the same username I have here. I just recently added one that I had a lot of fun making of Loki, Maisy, Linn, and Bjorn. :)

Thank you for reading!

Special thanks to my lovely reviewers:

Ninja Squirrel: My sister says hi back! My younger brother was disgusted when he heard us saying "faaaart craaaap". XD I hope you enjoyed Loki's brief attack, don't worry, he gets more violent later in the story. ;)

irisheyes85: Thanks!

ferbette: They are a pretty great team! And that's a hilarious Valentine's card, thanks for sharing! XD

Old-fashionedAnglophile: Yeah... not one of Caxton's finest moments. He should have just closed the bar and pretended no one was home. :P

nina del carmen: I'm sorry to hear about your computer! I don't know very much about antivirus things but I know that Norton doesn't work very well (or at least it did not for my mom). Sorry I can't help more!

Guest: What can I say? I love cliff hangers! ;)

Thanks so much everyone! You're the best!