Chapter 20

Imogen's arm was thrown over her face as she lay on the bed, her dress bunched up around her waist. Her feet propped her legs up on the hard mattress, knees leaning out slightly… and her fingers delved between her parted thighs.

A part of her was ashamed.

A part of her was horrified.

But another part of her was lonely and missed her husband.

Her arm hid the tears fighting to break free of her eyes as she played with herself, remembering when Thor would do the same to her in their chambers.

She tried to envision his fingers, not hers. His fingers fondling her wet folds, giving her goosebumps of pleasure and making her forget her own name he made her feel so good. It was his fingers that caressed either side of her clit, her hips automatically rolling upwards for more.

It felt like she had been in this room for years but she knew it must only be weeks in reality. The only judge of time she had was her window gazing. By day, she stood at the window and watched the world. By night, she lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. There was no sleep. How could she sleep when she knew Thor thought she had cheated on him and plotted to kill him?

It had been so long since she'd last seen his face. The adorable way his blonde hair would flop over his face, the serious piercing blue eyes, the soft, yet strong touch in the palms of his hands… Imogen missed him. She missed her husband. He should be the one making her gasp in this bed, playing with her, making love to her…

Her fingers rubbed her clit harder and she groaned; it sounded more like a whimper though.

Was he missing her? Was she craving her as much as she craved him? What she would give to feel his soft lips on hers, to feel the weight of his body pressing her into the mattress…

She threw a pillow from behind her head and moved her arm to hug it to her body, imagining the pillow hugged to her torso was Thor's body. It was small compensation, but it was all she had. The pillow pressed into her, moulding around her breasts, brushing over the back of her hand that was stroking her nether regions.

Thor had not come to see her once.

She thought he would at least come to see her, to ask her himself about what had happened. Gods, she'd been bargaining on it, relying on it.

But he hadn't.

He had abandoned her here.

It was depressing, having nothing to do but think on the betrayal her husband believed she had committed. It had not been like that.

But like what? She did not even know the full extent of what she was accused of. Lord Roanull had shared the bottom line, but she was sure there was more to it than that, more lies the court were feeding Thor in her absence.

They had always hated her – this was their opportunity to finally bring her down. Perhaps it was their doing in the first place; perhaps they had paid Elga to make up the story against her. Would they really go that far? Or perhaps Elga didn't need the material incentive to condemn Imogen. Perhaps her own hating agenda was enough.

So much for being friends, Imogen thought bitterly. As petty as it was, she wished she hadn't been kind enough to bring Elga the food in the forest after she'd moved back into the palace.

That day had given Elga some meagre evidence for her scheme. Not adultery, not plotting, but Koli had been there and he had kissed Imogen. What proof did Imogen have that it was all one sided or that that was where it had ended? None…

Surely Koli couldn't be in on it too? That would be like him signing his own exile decree – if he was lucky! There was no way he would concoct this story, let alone confess to it.

But then again, what part of any of this made sense? It was all ludicrous! How could Thor buy into any of it?! She was a loving wife; she'd bore him a daughter, carried his next child, made love to him by night and supported him by day – how could he think she had been unfaithful to him?

He had locked her in this room, alone, and left her there. What did he do in the meantime? Consult with the court while they fed him false evidence? Lie with young, beautiful women? Did he think of her at all, wonder if it had all been a misunderstanding?

Or perhaps he didn't care and this was the opportunity he'd been waiting for to get rid of her.

Her teeth dug into her lip at the last thought and a stray tear finally slipped though her barriers, running across and down into her hairline.

She wasn't exactly the ideal queen; she was rebellious and spoke her mind, bold and exuberantly dressed. She was not the humble, modest women that usually took the role of queen. Perhaps Thor had finally had enough of her…

In the back of her mind, she wanted to deny those thoughts, but it was difficult – especially when Thor was not here to prove them wrong. He had not even come to check on how she was.

Who was looking after Shelby? The wet-nurse? Thor's mother perhaps? Imogen missed her baby more than anything, longing to hold her again, just to see her little face. She was used to seeing the little angel every day…now she started to wonder if she'd ever see her ever again.

What would happen to Shelby if Imogen couldn't look after her anymore? Would the court turn on her next, try and have her expelled from the palace and from Thor's life? Imogene didn't put it past them to try. Even while she was just a little child, not even out of infancy! If they could do this, there wasn't much else they wouldn't do, surely.

Imogen was condemned by pure hearsay. There was no evidence, no proof. How could this accusation stand as a possibility?

The severity of the accusation was the only thing that sustained it, that gave Thor warrant to investigate if there was any truth to the claims. What 'evidence' had he found so far? Imogen couldn't help but wonder. The debate must still be ongoing if she was still stuck in here.

And Thor hadn't come to see her though. That had to be a bad sign.

She didn't dare consider the possibility though. She felt numb, constantly cold. Nothing could revive her; not food, nor blankets, nor wine…

She did not dare linger on the severity of her situation and yet she was filled with a darkness just by existing in it. In the back of her mind, she guessed she knew this could only end badly, one way or another. But she wasn't ready to come to terms with that yet. She did not want to think of her final charge and sentence – that would mean Thor had actually considered the claims.

In the depths of her heart, she still clung to a thin slither of hope that it would be brushed aside as a misunderstanding and Thor would come for her.

Any day now, it had to be. He must be battling the Lords, fighting down their puny evidence, waiting until he had conquered their arguments fully before he released her.

He had to release her…

Until Thor came to see her and hear her plea for himself, she was relying on Koli and whether he denied it or not.

Her eyes snapped open and she threw her arm away from her face, clinging to her tiny shadow of hope. Thor would come for her, she told herself, picturing her husband's face as her fingers rubbed faster. She envisioned him here with her: looming above her, crystal blue eyes burning with feral passion as he thrust into his wife, stray strands of hair swinging in time with his hips…

She finally came apart with a cry, her back arching off the bed. Her eyes stayed wide open, one single thought in her head.

She would get out of there.

XXX

"She betrayed you."

"She is a witch."

"She plotted against you."

"She is evil."

The words echoed in Thor's head, whispered in his ear all day by the generals and nobles. Even his own father…he didn't know what to believe.

He sat in the nursery, cross legged on the floor with Shelby in his lap, rocking the infant gently. She was giggling adorably, so carefree and delighted at the attention from her father. Thor had hoped she might lift his spirits somewhat…

It had been weeks since Imogen had been taken away from him. Even though he had been forced to endorse her arrest it felt like she had been stolen from him. He didn't want to do it like this. He wanted to speak to her. He didn't believe that the woman he had fallen in love with was capable of trying to kill him, but the witnesses were telling a different tale.

Since the original accusation, more and more people had been coming forward attesting to his wife's adultery. He didn't want to think about the piles of letters waiting for him in the council room. The sting of hearing them in person had been hard enough, so many people coming forward to attest to Imogens bad, unfaithful character.

And none had come to defend it.

He could barely bear thinking about it. Imogen…lying with another man… wanting him dead…how could his wife do that to him?

He thought she loved him.

The original story alone tore him apart. Her and Koli, together… he guessed that was where she'd gone that night when she'd disappeared, wandering home the next morning...had she been with him?

And then all that time he was away fighting; even her own mother had confessed she had been out of the house all day every day after he had left for battle. Where had she been then? She had no friends to see, and from the few reports Thor had looked through, all of them seemed to pin Imogen to the forest. Secluded. Private. Exactly the sort of location you would go to meet a secret lover.

His eyes fluttered shut as he thought about it, and his head fell forward in defeat. Thor could defeat any foe, recover from any injury. But this? How did he fight this?

Imogen was his wife. For as strong as he was, he loved Imogen. He'd never imagined she would hurt him like this. That was why he'd trusted her, why he'd married her. He could have sent her away those few years ago, but he hadn't.

And now she plotted to kill him? It was the deepest betrayal, the deepest hurt that Thor had ever experienced.

He bobbed his leg up and down gently and Shelby giggled, her bubbly high pitched laughter warming her father's heart slightly. This little one would never betray him. She would not leave him.

That brought him some minor comfort.

Leaning forward, he pressed a kiss to the top of the infant's head and thanked the gods that she had no idea what was happening. He was glad that for now at least, she was saved the heartache. He didn't know the outcome of this situation and knew that one day he might have to break some wrenching news to his baby girl, but for now, she could enjoy knee bobbing happily, like she should.

He wondered if she missed Imogen. Did she know she wasn't here? Could she tell that it wasn't her mother feeding her, but a wet nurse? That Imogen's face hadn't looked upon her in days? He wondered if it was something the infant noticed while she was still warm and fed and young.

He liked having her close though. It took his mind off things somewhat, having her near. He would probably bring his sheets into the nursery tonight to try and get some sleep, trying to set his mind at rest for the first time in a week.

Closing his eyes, he saw Imogen. He saw her smiling. Laughing. Sleeping. Glowing with pregnancy. Beautiful. Loving. Flushed as she lay in his arms. She was always so dazzling, so his. What had changed? What had he done to drive her away? That killed him, not knowing. What if she'd never loved him in the first place? What if everything had been a lie, that she'd only married him because she had little other option after she had fallen with his child…

He had so many questions but he didn't have the nerve to go and ask Imogen face to face, afraid of her answer. He wasn't sure he could bear hearing that she'd never cared for him at all.

But all that left him instead was the council, the people's word. And what they had to say about his wife was not pleasant.

Traitor.

Adulteress.

All the witnesses said the same. The council had told him as much. All said that she had lain with another beside the king and had met with her lover in the forest. Workers of Koli attested to his distain for the king and lust for Imogen, how he spoke of besting Thor in battle, ruling with Imogen as his Queen.

And the worst evidence of all: Koli's confession.

Thinking about it, the god leaned forward and hugged his little girl, holding her against his chest.

He loathed this, every part of it. Imogen was his wife – she would not do this to him. But there was no smoke without fire; the rumours and witnesses had to come from something.

Some were even saying that their last child had not been Thor's, but Koli's and that the gods had killed it as punishment for Imogen's adultery. Others said Imogen had tried to lose the child to cover up its illegitimacy. Thor couldn't believe that she would ever do something as cruel and evil as to harm an innocent child..

But she had not been herself after that. Not just grief, but anxious. Jumpy and scatty, wide eyed and frightened… Thor had feared she had been losing her mind. Perhaps it had been something more than grief that had done that to her..

Thor didn't know. He didn't want to know, he didn't want to think about it. He wanted to pretend that this was all a bad dream.

But what if it wasn't and Imogen slit his throat while he slept as soon as she was back in his bed? He couldn't risk that. Not for himself, Shelby, or the kingdom.

So as much as he hated it, he couldn't just pretend. He had to investigate, weigh up the evidence for and against his wife and finally make a decision for her fate. He knew how much was at stake here. Imogen either came back to his arms as Queen…or she went to her death.

Thus far, it didn't look good. And there was little that Thor could do about it.

Shelby groaned slightly against Thor's chest and Thor eased her back, looking down to the small girls little face. She was growing. Her round, glistening blue eyes were gleaming up at him imploringly, the dark brown curls around her angelic face reminding him of her mother. Those eyes that told him she was definitely his though, and he clung to that.

A small smile pricked on his lips at the comforting thought; she would always be his. Her little palms pressed against his chest as she tried to support herself, her small feet bracing against his thighs as she tried to stand. Bless her, the god thought with a smile. It was just a shame her mother was missing it.

"Hush, little one." He sighed, scooping Shelby up so she was sitting on his thigh again, the side of her head rested against his chest instead. His hand stroked her hair gently.

Would he one day have to raise this little girl all on his own? Watch her torturously morph more into her mother every day, who herself would be out of his reach. It was the future he dreaded, but he had to start to consider it might be a reality someday. And that choice lay with him, and how he decided the next few days and weeks.

"What are we going to do, darling?" he murmured softly to his baby girl. "What has your mother gotten into this time?"

He let the sigh breathe from his lungs and let the weight of his stress press down on him. Tomorrow he would have to face the accusations all again, telling him that the love of his life wanted to murder him.

A/N

A few people have mentioned, and I'm sure that many more will with the chapters to come, that this story is a bit darker than the God of Thunders Mistress and it doesn't seem to be everybody's cup of tea. If that is you, then I apologise for the disappointment. I have no intention of changing that. Basically, I want to push these characters beyond what they can do in the bedroom and want this story to be more than just another smut fic. I am sorry if it is not what you were expecting or hoping for, but alas, this is what it's to be.

Feel free to drop me a message or review with any comments you might have, positive or otherwise, and happy reading!

Thank you for your time.