The young prince remained locked away in the confines of his room for a whole day. No one bothered him-they all assumed he was still in mourning. After three days, Natalia began to worry. She had passed by his bedroom door early in the morning and noticed that the tray containing his dinner had been left untouched. "Loki?" she softly asked. He never answered her, so she jiggled the brass door handle.

"Natalia!" his voice snapped. That was enough to startle her and send her running off. Loki didn't mean for his temper to flare, but he wished to be alone. He assumed Natalia confided in his Mother because later in the morning, Frigga allowed herself into his room and forced him to eat. She didn't stop there. Loki was forced to stay out of his bedroom and spend the day with his Father. Odin tried his best to be cheerful and even ordered extra of Loki's favourite custard for the wedding reception. Loki put up a façade in order to please his parents for the next few days. Despite the distractions of finalizing his wedding plans, he still found himself thinking about the murder he committed.

"Loki?"

Her voice called out to him and instead of pushing her away, he decided to allow her in. "Yes, Natalia?" he answered. She opened the door and Loki watched as she made her way towards the bed.

"I've missed you," she murmured, wrapping her arms around his middle. "What happened to you?"

The prince let his fingers mingle in her curls. "Never mind that, my darling. I wish to move on, is all." She kept quiet as he whispered words of love to her. For a moment, he wondered if she had fallen asleep. "Natalia?"Her body suddenly felt extra heavy against his chest. "Natalia?" He grabbed her chin and gently lifted her head so their eyes could meet. His face contorted with sheer terror when he saw his fiance's glassy eyes boring into his as she reached for a dagger that was lodged in her throat.

"Why?" she croaked. Blood poured from her wound, covering both she and Loki with the sticky wetness. "Why did you do this to me?"

Loki awoke with a start, screaming and gasping for air. The smell of blood was suffocating him. He felt his damp shirt clinging to his chest and his heart nearly stopped. It wasn't until he felt beads of perspiration roll down the sides of his face that he realized it was sweat. He quickly removed his shirt and tossed it aside. Loki exhaled deeply, thanking God that it was all a nightmare. Never in all his years had he had such a horrifying nightmare. There was no chance he could ever fall asleep after that. Loki felt an urge to make sure that Natalia was alive and well. Until the itch was scratched, he wouldn't be able to rest. He took a deep breath and felt his heart slow as he closed his eyes. When he opened them, he was in Natalia's room, standing over her while she slept. He envied how peaceful she looked. If only he could find comfort as she did. She unexpectedly stirred in her sleep, burying herself beneath her blanket. Loki softly smiled and reached down to stroke her silky curls. He felt her body stiffen, and the next thing he knew, she had seized hold of his wrist, glaring at him with a need to kill.

"Loki!" she gasped. Natalia felt the fear leave her as anger took over. "What the hell are you doing? I thought you were a witch!" she hissed.

"Forgive me!" he said quickly. "I... couldn't sleep." He felt her tight grasp loosen its hold.

"You still have no right to come in here," she quietly warned him.

"I'm sorry." He sat down on the bed, feeling grateful that she was there with him. "If it makes any difference, know that I will never again disrupt your slumber," he added with a hopeful grin.

"Good," she smirked. "I'm glad you've learned a valuable lesson." The princess couldn't help but take a moment to admire his lean, muscular frame. His milky white skin had a lovely glow to it as the moonlight poured in through the window.

The corners of Loki's lips fell as feelings of dread resurfaced. "Natalia, I can't sleep," he admitted. "Please don't make me leave." His pleading eyes gazed into hers. "I can't, I-" He wasn't about to tell her about his nightmare-that would only frighten her.

"It's alright." Natalia peeled her blanket away to invite her prince closer.

"This isn't right," he whispered as he accompanied her beneath the sheet.

"You need your rest, my Prince. If this will help…" Natalia felt the warmth of his body so close to hers and a wild idea came to mind. She desperately needed him in order to hide her growing secret. As much as Natalia hated to think about it, she was certain that she was pregnant with Clint's baby. She needed to act quickly in order to play it off as Loki's. The faster the better. "Loki…" She forced herself onto his lap, the corner of her lip upturned in a playful smirk. "Let me help you relax."

"No!" Loki shook his head, fearful of where she was taking things. "Natalia, we can't!"

"Do you not love me?" she asked, jutting her lower lip out.

Loki turned his head, trying to not be affected by her womanly charms. "You know I love you very much. Which is why I suggest we wait another three weeks."

Natalia rubbed her hips against his and let out a soft moan. "What difference will it make? I'll still love you then." She pressed her lips against his jaw as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"Natalia," he gasped. "No."

She silenced him with a kiss on the mouth. He was talking far too much for her liking. "My King," she breathed in between fervent kisses.

Loki responded by forcing his tongue past her teeth, letting her hot breaths mix with his.

She moaned, franticly rubbing against his hips as the burning need between her legs became unbearable. The prince grabbed her hips and forced Natalia onto her back. She cried out as a pleasant shock of surprise jolted through her.

He hungrily kissed her, letting his hand squeeze her breast. If not for his mouth against hers, he was sure she would have screamed.

"Oh, God!" she groaned. Natalia locked her ankles around his narrow hips and swore she could feel his hard length pressing against his trousers.

"You're making this difficult," he warned her, letting a hand trail up her nightgown.

Natalia let her body relax against the mattress, allowing for Loki's cool fingers to better reach her core. He was dangerously close and a part of her was afraid that Loki would let fear hold him back. She grabbed his wrist and guided his hand towards the apex of her thighs. "God!" she moaned.

Loki's fingertips traced against her slick folds, evoking another delicious moan from Natalia. His body was aching for her. There was no denying relief to his throbbing cock any longer. "Oh, Natalia," he groaned, rubbing her core and letting her sticky fluids coat his fingertips.

"Loki!"

"Shit!" Loki hissed. The prince was taken by surprise and thought that the voice belonged to someone in the room. He whipped his head around to face the doorway and found a Wisp awaiting him.

"Loki?" Natalia breathed. Why, of all times, did he need to stop?

"Look at what you've done, Loki!" the voice said.

"What?" he muttered under his breath. Loki followed the ball of blue light towards the window. He looked out towards the forest where he saw a pair of red eyes illuminating the darkness. "I need to go," Loki said quickly.

"Loki!" she whined. "What's gotten into you?!" she left the bed to stand at his side. Natalia could recognise the look of fear in his eyes and she turned her head to see what had him so distracted. A set of crimson orbs glared in Natalia's direction and she shoved past Loki as she broke out into a sprint.

"Natalia!" Loki charged after her, grabbing her by the arm to stop her.

"Let me go!" she demanded. "The King needs to know!" she shouted. "Thor!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, hoping that her guard would hear her. Even Sif would have sufficed-anyone who could take care of a witch.

Loki panicked, fully aware that he was in an awkward position. Without thinking, he vanished from the warmth of Natalia's room and into the cold, dark forest. If the Wisp informed him of the witch, then this must have involved him in some way.

"My Lady?" Thor came bursting through the door, fast as lightning.

"There's a witch!" Natalia shouted. "In the forest." She pointed out of the window to show Thor. As she showed the blond the outside view, she noticed that her prince had somehow disappeared.

"I'll get the others," Thor promised. He darted past the princess in a mad rush to summon the other hunters.

Once Thor was gone, Natalia checked under the bed, wondering if Loki had hidden out of shame. "Loki?" she whispered. There was no sign of him anywhere. Natalia knew that he couldn't have left the room without her or Thor noticing him. It was like magic… "Loki?" she called out. She approached the window, only to find darkness.

"Were you expecting to find something?"

Natalia whipped her head around, only to have a cold hand grab her neck and clamp her mouth shut.

"Or someone?"

Natalia's eyes widened as she found herself face-to-face with a pair of blood-red orbs.