It was an hour before the throne room cleared and left the group with the king. Her words had changed a lot of opinions and left room for change in the minds of others. The opinion that mattered most was that of the man sitting on the throne. He was not a fool and though her story had the ring or truth he wanted those things left out. So with Loki and Thor's help Althia gave an abbreviated account of the events of the night sticking to the facts. Odin was especially interested in the arrival and actions of Hela. Loki tried to evade the topic but finally Althia snapped at him. "What are you hiding? You were amazing and brave and if you hadn't done what you did I wouldn't won my fight with that woman. Hela's assistance helped save every man and woman on that base. We might have lost ten times as many lives if Hela hadn't appeared when she…" the look on her face changed from annoyance to surety. "You called her didn't you? You called her because you thought you were going to die and didn't want me to be caught." She whispered the last part. "That's why you panicked when she came to me. That's why you told her no." He looked at her with a calm cold face but she could feel the turmoil inside his mind and knew. "Loki Odinson you haven't successfully lied to me in the entire time you've known me. Don't think you can get away with it now!" She forgot where she was as she remonstrated him. "Actually I did rather well after you finished chopping that hideous woman apart." Was his only response and that made her blush bright red. "Don't think I forgot about that either but you aren't going to sneak out of this, tell me yes or no. Did you contact Hela in any way in an attempt to get help to protect me or defeat the enemy that had attacked us?" she worded her question carefully her eyes intense and focused on him. "By the terms of my punishment I…" She held up her hand and looked at Odin "Does he do this with you? Ignore the question or babble as if he is incapable of a direct answer?" Odin chuckled she had grown into a formidable woman since he'd seen her. "Frequently." He said drolly. Thor couldn't help himself he laughed out loud and Jane snickered. Althia looked at the offended prince, "It was a yes or no question." She could feel his amusement turning to anger and looked down that wasn't what she'd intended. "Answer or I will probably come up with a worse scenario than the truth and you know it." Loki stared at her and once again wanted to smack her and kiss her at the same time. He agreed she would likely make a terrible assumption if left to her own devices. "No, don't look like that. Loki please, please tell me." She whispered her face softened glancing at him and she looked down chewing her lip. "Did you ask for help or does Hela have motives I don't know about?" With a sigh he responded "Yes, I did. Happy now?" she looked up at him and smirked "You have my thanks my lord I appreciate your cooperation." He threw his hands up making an inarticulate noise of frustration and stormed off to the laughter of his father and brother. "Tell me Thor has she always handled him so well? Even your mother was at a loss to get a yes or no out of him." Odin asked watching his second son storm off; Thor simply nodded. Althia managed to avoid telling Odin the question Hela had asked about Loki by skipping to the joining of their powers. She asked him how Hela had taken her power across the field to heal so many and leave the Hydra soldiers hurt or dying. He smiled "She can sense and be present at any death. Not wholly but in something that is more than a vision. She carried your power with her when she sent her magic out to see who was dying. I believe that the same reason you enemies could find you is how you achieve this magic." Althia was confused but she figured if she got Loki alone she could get him to explain it better. "Come all of my court awaits your arrival. You have a gift for tales child." With that Odin gathered the three and led them to the dining hall. Althia didn't see Loki at first he was surrounded by people congratulating him.
She smiled that was how it should be for him. Respected and treated with dignity he was calm and diplomatic. He felt her eyes on him and looked at her a warmth suffused his smile and she went to him as his attention turned back to those speaking to him. She didn't think about Bruce or what effect it would have on the people of Asgard. To see a woman change their second son into a man they could approach and respect was creating a fascination all its own. She didn't think about the way it would change things for her either. He was her friend and she wanted to stand by him and watch him enjoy the acclaim he had earned. So focused on reaching him without making a fool of herself she didn't notice the man in the shadowed alcove till his arm snaked around her waist and pulled her into the corner out of sight. "Talented tongues have better uses from such a lovely lady. Why waste yours on that treacherous bastard?" a man with broad shoulders and brown eyes so dark they looked black in the shadows had her pulled against his body hiding her from the crowd. "What I choose to do with my tongue is not your concern." She didn't get to finish because he mashed his lips to hers, his hand wrapped around the back of her neck. She was scared and at the same time furious she relaxed opened her mouth and when his tongue darted into her mouth she bit down as hard as she could. He snatched back blood on his lips and released her. Leaning back against the wall she used both legs to kick him in the chest with every ounce of power she could. He wasn't expecting such an attack and it landed him on his back sliding into chairs and people. She walked over to stand above him staring coldly into furious eyes. She spit his blood on his shirt before speaking "You tongue need better training, as do your manners. In the ways of a woman it leaves much to be desired." Loki was at her side the moment he saw blood on her mouth. He fussed over her and tutted at her, acting for all the world like she'd had someone spill a drink on her. His behavior got those close laughing at the man on the floor. Loki offered her his handkerchief and turned to haul the man off the floor. "My good man, you should know better than to try such things on a bladed warrior." Loki straighten the man's cloths roughly. "It would be wise to avoid offending her she's got shape teeth; among other things." With jokes and diplomacy Loki ease over the situation. He wasn't sure exactly what had happened but seeing the man's bloody mouth and Althia's he was fairly certain he knew. Keeping a lid on his anger he turned the man away before taking Althia's arm.
Althia let Loki lead her out onto a balcony, the man's blood made her want to vomit and she was shaking, fighting the rage pouring off Loki. When Loki stopped finally she lost her control. "Is that what it is like between men and women here?" she was mad and scared. Loki let her rant and rave for a few minutes before he couldn't contain himself and burst out laughing. She rounded on him "What is so funny, I get assaulted by some gorilla and you think it's funny!" she stormed over to him. He stood his eyes and face said one thing but his emotions were alarmed and suspicious; he grabbed her arm and snatched her against him holding her arms at her sides loosely with one arm and her head locked in the palm of his hand he kissed her.
She stiffened in shock till he spoke against her lips. "We are being watched be still." He breathed across her mouth. She stayed in his arms listening and trying not to enjoy his lips as in a very chaste brush of skin he grazed across hers. He stood up "You can come out now Ms. Foster." He said "Sneaking up on me isn't a skill you'll ever have." For some reason now he was mad. "I thought you weren't going to try and ruin Althia and Bruce's relationship? You couldn't even wait a day after we got here." Jane accused him. "I had hoped you really had changed but you're still a selfish, vindictive, opportunistic bastard." She was livid and completely wrong. "I know what you're doing. This is some dirty trick to get back at Bruce for beating you in NY." she accused him "Oh, really?" he said in cold mildness. "So glad you noticed; seeing as you spend all your time mooning of my brother. I'm surprised you don't wander off a cliff. Though that would be ever so satisfying to watch." He hissed at her. Jane Foster turned and stormed back into the dining hall. Loki was hurt, angry, and below it all sad. Althia touched his arm and he shook her off storming back into the dining hall himself. She stood there unable to decide what to do. This was new, Jane was wrong but Althia didn't think she'd listen to reason and it hurt that Loki had shaken her off when she just wanted to let him knew she understood but he wasn't in a listening mood. She walked over and careful of her sword sat on one of the benched around the balcony. She missed the compound, escaping to the infirmary would be a great thing right now. She picked at the embroidery around her waist and let herself think of Bruce's arms. She closed her eyes and pulled herself into the memory of his skin and smile. The little crinkle around his eyes when he laughed was real enough her fingers ached to cress them. She sat there and let the memory of his whispers comfort her till she could feel his arms easing around her.
'Arms around her.' with a start she dove off the bench spinning to come face to face with Fandral. "Lady, why are you crying on a night for feasting and merriment?" he asked his face gentle. "Was it that oaf? You certainly seemed calm enough what you put him in his place." He tried to goad her into smiling "I haven't seen him thrown like that since he tried Lady Sif's patience." He chuckled infectiously and she grinned a little as she straightened. "There that's a little better. Come, sit and speak with me." He looked in the door and caught the eye of a server. He lifted two fingers and nodded when the server bowed slightly. "Lady, I promise you I won't be as foolish as Lord Gorminain. Just tell me what makes such tears." He stayed seated and let her think it over. Slowly she moved back to the bench. She couldn't sit on the open side her sword wasn't going to lay right. He saw her brow knit and saw her hand move to the sheath at her hip. "Ah," he said "allow me." He scooted over giving her the right side of the bench. "I understand the problems of a sword. The first weeks carrying one can lead to an odd assortment of problems." She smile gratefully at him and sat down on the open edge where her blade wouldn't tilt and jab her in the side. "There's a different style sword belts for state occasions. In the morning if you are agreeable I shall bring you one. They aren't fit for the battle field but perfect for day to day wear." He lifted the side of his tunic and showed her the odd hooks and loops that went around the sheath at his side. "I had no idea that carrying a sword would be such a problem. It isn't something I ever expected to do." He raised a sculpted eye brow. "You handled it well when Loki presented it. Did you think your training was …?" he stopped unable to form the question. She understood "How much do you know about what happened to me?" she asked quietly. "Only what you told the court. Is that not all?" he asked rising he walked no he almost danced over to a server who had brought two large goblets and plates. Taking the tray; he sent the man off before returning and setting the entire tray between them. "Tell me why your past has anything to do with your sword." He began eating keeping his eyes on her. Althia picked up a goblet and took a sip of the sweet potent wine. She hesitated but she wanted to talk and then forget again. Her room was large everyone should be safe from her. Staring into her wine she decided to tell him. "Eat first, most people lose their appetite when I tell them." She smiled slightly when she said that understatement. Fandral scoffed "That is not a weakness of mine lady. Speak and worry not about me." She insisted and nibbled at the food till he was mostly done. She told him that she had no memory of a time before she was a prisoner; all that Loki's had learned about her. Fandral was patent and quiet and at the end curious. "So, you are not mortal then?" She sipped her wine again before answering "No one knows what I am or where I'm from." He nodded and she drank the rest of her wine in one long pull.
"I'm not even close to being as strong as I need to be or even a whole person." She stated and he chuckled before responding "That I am hard pressed to believe." The look in her eyes stopped him cold "Fandral for two hundred years at least a man on Earth used every metal, every type of blade or device, or other means he could think of to try and cut me open. Every day without respite for the last seventy years I've been strapped to a table and butchered like an animal. Every day for hours on end I screamed." She wrapped her arms around her chest gripping her forearms tightly. "For a while I begged to die but I healed. It got to the point I stopped begging to die. Everything that was done to me. I heal." She whispered the last in horror as the memories started to flood her mind.
She came to with an enormous man holding her hands away from her body in a bruising grip on each wrist. A woman in a golden dress she didn't recognize was staring at her panicked. There was a golden blond haired man with a long mustache holding the doors to the balcony closed. "Get Loki! Now!" the man in front of her roared. She flinched back her breath catching in her throat. Someone she hadn't noticed slipped through a crack as the mustached man opened the door. There was blood on her fingers and she whimpered again. She couldn't remember how she got blood on her hands. Minutes ticked by and she stared at the strange people around her as the man holding her spoke. His words were familiar as was his voice but she couldn't place him.
A dark haired man tall and slender came through the door. He slowed as he approached her staring hard into her eyes. "Althia, do you know me?" he asked in a voice smooth and low. She stared at him blankly. He came and sat next to her leaning his face towards her as the big man let her go. She couldn't run something about him drew her. His lips touched her forehead moving with words and his power glided like silken ice across her skin. "Loki?" she made it a question. He slowly reached up and touched her face as he sat up right. "Yes little queen. Have you been making mischief again?" his voice was joking but she could feel his worry in her head. An echo she knew was him. "Loki!" she snapped out of the blackness and threw herself at him. He caught her in his arms and held her. "Yes, I'm here, you are safe." His voice caught s if he didn't know what he was saying. She cried in relief and let him hold her, wishing for her angel. Her heart ached for Bruce so bad she thought her chest would split. "Fandral make our apologies to the court tell them…that the battle and telling of the tale in the throne room exhausted her. Tell father I will speak with him as soon as she is comfortable." With those words Loki lifted her into his arms; a rage on his face that had made battle hardened warriors flinch in the past. Althia whimpered and fought against the anger he spilled into her. "Please don't be mad at me." She whispered and it shifted his mood enough for her to breath. "I promise you; I am not mad at you." He said and she felt his arms tighten slightly as she tucked her head under his jaw. "Thank you my prince." She whispered as she let the feeling of familiar arms and his scent comfort her. He wasn't Bruce or Tasha but he'd been willing to die for her.
Loki's long stride carried them to his rooms. She needed quiet and time to put herself back together. He slid her down speaking softly as he maneuvered her into his room. Cloaking them against prying eyes he secreted her away from the world. Giving her the peace she needed to gather her strength and calm before dealing with the court. She hadn't spoken the whole time just nestled in his arms her eyes closed her breathing careful and even. Loki had no idea what triggered her reactions but part of him blamed himself. He'd abandoned her in a strange, and for her, alien place. He went to lay her on the bed and her sword was still on her hip. "Little queen, your sword prevents me." He spoke to her as he set her on her feet. Passively she unbelted the sword and without touching in she lay it on the table. "I'd like some wine please." She asked and a small smile touched his lips. He nodded and went to the door. "Wine and a glass. Be quick I have no patience." Loki commanded in a harsh voice that always got quick responses. A servant turned and ran, well aware of who had spoken. She was still standing where he had left her. Staring out the window at the rising moons. "Althia?" he made it a question. She didn't look at him lost in thought. "My lady would you care to rest?" she looked at him holding his eyes. 'What a vision even standing there in moon light lost in pain her sleeves torn she is exquisite.' He thought as he approached her and directed her to a chair by the balcony doors. She looked at the chair blankly he couldn't stand her just passively looking where ever he directed her eyes. He wanted her to be herself unfettered by her past. Scooping her into his arms he took her out on the balcony. It looked over the gardens, fairly quiet during the dinner hour at night. She didn't struggle in his arms just laid her head on his shoulder inhaling deeply. He settled her in a chair and grabbed a throw from near the fire place. She watched him passively as he tucked it around her. He sat watching the moon rise.
"Did you know?" She asked quietly. "What happened sometimes at night when I was dumped back in my cell after…" she couldn't say the words again. He glanced at her, then back out over the garden his eyes searching every inch. "The dream, after you healed me. Yes. I saw some." He responded schooling his voice in a conversational manner. "Where?" she asked. He knew she wanted to know where she was that he saw her. "The cell was large empty and had cream walls. Was that where Thor and his Avengers found you?" he wanted to draw her out. Get her away from the cage she locked herself in. She touched her arms when she habitual would gouge holes in herself. "I kept myself bloody and stopped eating after that and they didn't…" she was quiet. Long enough for them to hear a polite tap at the door. She looked alarmed "The wine." He assured her. He stretched before walking to the door and taking he bottle from the man.
Loki poured her a glass and set it in her hand. "Drink, you need it." she took the glass and swallowed it without tasting it and held it out to him. He nodded and poured her a second then a third willing to let her get as drunk as she liked. The third she sipped tasting the wine slowly. He watched her tongue dart out to catch a drop on her upper lip and he had to fight his own inclinations; turning he sat briskly on the other chair. The bottle dangling from his fingers all but forgotten.
"They are so hateful to you here." She said surprising him slightly with the subject change. "I suppose so, I'm not an easy man to tolerate." He admitted. They were quiet music, soft and distant came from the direction of the dining hall. "You don't do well when people make assumptions. It's different." She defended him and it made him smile. She sighed listening to some sort of waltz, she hadn't heard it before but then she had very little music experience. The alcohol didn't take long to catch up with her. She hadn't really eaten all day; she wasn't used to it and she didn't care. "If we go back will you dance with me?" she asked him staring off. "If I recall you do like to dance." She smiled remembering the party and her drunken escapades outside the residency hall. "Yes, I learned watching videos on the Helicarrier. I loved watching and it wasn't difficult to duplicate. Well except the part when I had to stand on my toes for the ballet." She finished her wine and held out the glass. He filled it again, "At this rate we are going to run out" he said tipping the bottle to his lips. She smiled around a giggle at him and he smiled back around the bottle.
They were quiet for while she finished the glass and stood swaying to the music. He watched her move for a while before rising and taking her hand. He set the glass on the rail before she settled in his arms and he took her through the dance. She flowed where he wanted and they didn't see the group of warriors below watching them. Fandral smiled salaciously "I see our prince has found a lady to partner." He quipped to his companions. Quietly the three pulled back into the shadows as Loki danced the petite healer.