Are you sure you want to do this, Maryn?" Tora asked the brunette as she helped her dress in leather breeches, a black corset and a billowing black calf-length tunic that was open down the front, the lining made of pleated cream linen. It had long sleeves which Maryn pushed up to her elbows and a black leather belt that was wide enough to act almost like its own corset , stopping just under her bust, with long straps that wrapped around her small waist twice before tying at the front. She was also wearing black leather boots that reached her knees.
"Thor has invited me to spar with him, Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. I could not refuse him. Besides, Loki wants to see me put my magic to use while sparring to see how well I do." Leaning forward to look into the mirror over her dressing table, Maryn debated whether she should put away her engagement ring and Loki's pendant but thought better of it knowing the dark prince would want to see her wearing his gifts. She left the pendant on, tucking it under her clothes for safe keeping and slipped on the ring. Sitting down at her dressing table she allowed Tora to plait her hair on either side of her head before gathering the dark curls and braids and tying them at the nape of her neck with a leather thong.
Tora smiled at the ease with which her mistress talked about her betrothed, "You and the prince seem to be closer than ever, lady."
Cheeks turning a light pink at the knowing look on her friend and maid's face, the princess looked down at the ring on her finger, her other hand reaching up to lay over where the pendant pulsed with magical warmth under her garments. "When he kisses me I long for more but there is still something that holds me back from him and that intimacy."
Tora's hands lighted on her shoulders and she leaned down so that her face was next to Maryn's, their eyes meeting in the mirror opposite them, "Is what Coros did to you the thing that makes you afraid?"
Maryn shook her head sighing, "That may be a part of it but I'm also afraid of letting him have all of me. What if I do so and he chooses another at the end of our hand-fasting period? What if he has taken another even though we are betrothed?"
Tora saw the emotions warring within the young woman flit across her face and raged internally at the deep hurt Coros had caused without a care, it had damaged the trust Maryn put in men forever, "And what if he is faithful and is as in love with you as you are with him?" she asked gently.
Shocked at the maid's words Maryn felt tears start to well in her eyes, "And if he is not?" she murmured brokenly.
"Oh, sweeting," Tora shook her head wrapping her arms around Maryn's shoulders and hugging her from behind, "I could just smack you both. How can two people so madly in love not think to say it to the other?"
Biting her lip to try and calm her fear and sadness, Maryn took a deep breath and lifted her gaze to her friend's once more, "I know your gift is telling you Loki is in love with me but what if you are wrong? I don't think I could survive his scorn or pity if I was to tell him of my true feelings and he did not feel the same."
Understanding the fear Maryn felt Tora moved around so that they were facing each other, "Is that why you will not give in to your need for him?" when Maryn nodded silently Tora gently tucked a wisp of hair behind her ear, "Watch the way he is with you today. See how he watches you, how he touches you. His actions are not those of a man unaffected by his feelings. He is a man in love even if he doesn't recognise it yet."
Taking a deep breath Maryn nodded as she let it out slowly, her mind and body a storm of emotions and thoughts.
A knock on the door of her chambers interrupted them and Tora smiled kindly. "Compose yourself, my lady. I will go and open the door for his majesty."
Maryn smiled at her and turned to look in the mirror as she wiped a finger under each eye erasing any sign that she had been crying.
She then stood and turned seeing Loki step into the room dressed in black leather breeches, a white linen shirt and a green sleeveless surcoat open over the top. His eyes moved over her body in a way that made heat settle low in her stomach. Dropping her gaze Maryn looked up at him through her eyelashes shyly.
Knowing they were not alone Loki didn't act on the thoughts in his head and instead cleared his throat and offered the small woman his arm, "Come, my brother is no doubt yelling impatiently about us being late."
Crossing to his side Maryn took his offered elbow and let him lead her from her rooms. The couple was silent on the walk from the royal wing of the palace to the sparring ring. They entered it to the sound of metal clanging against metal and Maryn's eyes widened in awe at the way Sif spun and thrust her weapon taking down one of the guardsmen she was sparring with while Hogun and Volstagg circled each other in another part of the curved enclosure. Sitting on a bench at the opposite side of the sparring circle was Fandral who was sharpening his sword, Thor beside him looking bored and downcast; that was until he saw her and Loki step through the archway and onto the packed dirt of the sparring ring.
"Loki! Maryn!" he grinned, standing and bounding over to them to pull Maryn into a tight hug and clap his brother soundly on the shoulder. The small woman smiled at him and then stepped back and laced her fingers with Loki's after he had let her down to her feet again. Turning to the men and Sif behind him he waved at them with a large hand, "Who will spar with my sister first?"
Loki spoke before anyone else, "I believe that is my honour, brother," he grinned stepping away from Maryn. "We will spar with magic and weapons."
Knowing that he wished to show off the results of his tutelage, Maryn nodded in agreement and they moved into the centre of the sparring ring facing each other. The others there moved away to sit on the benches lining the open area so that they could watch.
Maryn moved into a fighting stance, "Don't hold back," she told him.
He grinned, "I wouldn't dream of it, my love."
They stilled for a few moments before Maryn moved first. She twisted her fingers calling a blunted sword to her hands, her weapon of choice they had discovered when Loki was teaching her to fight with magic and arms. Loki's grin grew and a spear materialised in his hands. They circled one another studying each other's movements. They already knew the other's strengths and weaknesses but wanted to tease their audience until the last possible second.
Loki broke first. If Maryn hadn't seen the sparkle in his eyes change she would have been caught off guard. He lunged, the tip of the spear aimed at her heart. With a small smile the princess sidestepped him, her fingers glowing silver as her body flew back and she landed in a crouch as light as a feather on the railing encircling the training ground. Loki's eyes widened minutely in surprise, she hadn't shown him that she had learnt that trick and she tilted her head to the side and smiled coyly before stepping off the railing and landing gracefully on her feet. Turning she flung her sword toward his torso only to have him knock it away with the spear as he duplicated himself and rushed her before he and his copies disappeared to the sound of Thor's loud guffaws.
Feeling a soft, cool breath on the back of her neck Maryn turned and pitched backwards out of reach of the Trickster a moment before his arms wrapped around her. He came at her again barely missing the wall of rock she pulled from the ground with a spell. Maryn managed to spin and flit behind him using her levitation spell again but before she could put the dagger she had slipped from his surcoat to his throat he turned, catching her legs with his own and tipping her off balance so that she fell into his arms, the blade edge of the dagger she had given him at their hand-fasting brushing across her throat.
They were both breathing hard, each inhale pressing their chests together minutely they were so close. The sound of applause shook them from their locked gazes and the dagger vanished to be replaced by Loki's cool fingertips as he helped Maryn to her feet and they turned toward the praises of their friends standing side by side.
"I thought you had him, Maryn," Sif grinned as she came to stand in front of the shorter woman.
With a careless shrug the princess grinned at the warrior that was fast becoming a dear friend, "Next time I will."
Loki's knuckles slid along her own at her words and she smiled at Sif as she laced her fingers with his own.
A voice she hadn't heard in some time spoke up then, "How would she do without her spells against a true warrior; one that is not a magic wielder relying on his tricks?"
The group turned to see Lord Ulf, dressed once more in black with his wolf's pelt cloak slung around his wide shoulders, step down from the viewing balcony onto the packed dirt of the arena leaving a group of giggling ladies in his wake.
Maryn felt Loki tense beside her but he didn't speak on her behalf and the eyes of the Warriors Three, Sif, and Thor turned to her for her answer. "True warrior?" she asked with a cold smirk, "I know of six I could point out to you so that you could choose one."
The blond lord sneered, "If you are too scared to spar, your majesty," he spoke the title with contempt, "Then I'm sure I could find someone else with the courage to do so."
Maryn bristled but hid her anger well. "Choose you weapon, my lord," she curtsied mockingly and then turned tugging on her betrothed's hand so that he bent down instinctively and allowed her to press a small kiss to the corner of his lips, her irritation making her bold; she then slipped away to pick up a dagger and sword once more.
She took her stance facing Ulf and waited for him to make the first move. It wasn't long in coming. He lunged at her with the full force of his strength behind the sword he had also chosen as his weapon. His movements weren't as fluid as Loki's but he was still a skilled warrior and she could barely keep up as he attacked with a ferocity that scared her as much as it made her angrier and more determined to win. She spun, kicked, parried and swung at him trying every way she knew how to back him up but he just came at her again and again. After one particularly ferocious blow her sword was knocked from her hand and she barely had time to duck the swing of his weapon before he grabbed a handful of her hair and flipped her over his shoulder. She hit the ground with a cry, the force of the fall driving the air from her lungs and sending her knife flying out of her hand and spinning out of reach. Ulf took advantage of her disorientation to drop his full weight down on her and wrap his hand around her throat.
Panic surged through Maryn's chest at the feel of that huge hand encircling her throat and her palms pressed against his chest, "No!" the cry ripped from her throat at the same moment Ulf's body flew across the training ground and slammed into the dirt a few feet away dazing him. Scrambling to her feet, Maryn tried to fight off the mind-numbing terror racing through her body but it was no use. She turned and ran from the sparring arena without a second thought, her mind screaming at her to flee the feeling of being crushed under another's weight and her breath being stolen from her lungs. She kept running until a strong arm wrapped around her waist and she was lifted off her feet, a large hand covering her mouth a moment before she screamed for help.
"Maryn, my love, you're safe," Loki's deep voice broke through the terror in her and she collapsed back against him, stopping herself from clawing at his hands and burst into tears.
Loki transported them to his rooms in a moment with a murmured spell, and sat down on the settee in his library holding her close while she sobbed against his shoulder.
When she had calmed down enough to speak, Maryn kept her face against his neck and apologized for breaking down, "I-I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."
Loki was silent for a moment before he leaned back and lifted her face so that she was looking up at him. "Tell me," he murmured his voice soft and soothing.
Maryn knew he was asking for her to explain. She closed her eyes a single tear tracking down her cheek as she did so, "Coros…" she took a breath to calm down and started again. "Coros enjoyed torturing me. He would find me when I was alone and trap me under his body or against a wall. He would bear down on me with all his weight and cover my mouth with his hand so I couldn't scream for help." Feeling too exposed in Loki's arms, Maryn stood and moved to the bookshelf closest to them, her delicate fingers running along the leather spines of the books there comforted by the feel of the slight roughness of them. Taking a breath she continued, her voice low but clear so that he would hear, "Wh-when I grew older he would tell me that he would rape me if I tried to fight him and then he would put his hand around my throat and squeeze until my vision went dark. When I woke up he would start all over again…He seemed to enjoy smothering me the most." There was a tone to those words that made Loki's stomach roll and she saw the look in his eyes when she glanced up to see his reaction, "He never made good on that promise. My virtue is intact, my lord," she spoke bitterly seeming to think that he was only worried about that fact.
Pushing away his own anger at the treatment she had endured, the Trickster rose from the sofa and crossed to stand behind her, his hand reaching out to pull the leather tie from her hair freeing the heavy locks to start to unravel from their braids and fall down her back, "My wife still having her maidenhead on our wedding night is not one of my concerns, Maryn." Blushing at his words she shivered at the deepness of his voice and marvelled at how trusting and safe he had made her feel in such a short period of time. "My only concern is that you were afraid and hurt. How can I take that burden from your shoulders, sweet one? How can I banish his memory from your mind?"
She turned; her heart swelling with love at his words. It was on the tip of her tongue to just tell him her feelings for him but he moved quickly, pressing his lips to hers and silencing all her thoughts. His hands settled on her hips pulling her closer to him until their bodies pressed flush against each other. One hand left her hip and reached up to cradle her cheek as he walked her backward until she was trapped between his body and the bookshelf she had been standing in front of. He tilted her head back when her hands rose to twist into the front of his shirt and he groaned, deepening the kiss and pressing harder into her, the build-up of tension between them having reached boiling point.
Maryn gasped, ripping her mouth from his, going rigid at the feeling of his large body overpowering hers. He froze where he was for a moment and then turned them so that his back was to the shelves and she was free to step back if she so wanted. Gentling his grip on her he made sure she didn't feel trapped and then bent down again to capture her lips in a tantalizing kiss.
His gentleness brought tears to her eyes and she leaned heavily against him, her hands sliding up over the contours of his chest under his surcoat and over his shirt and neck to cup his face. The heat growing in her lower belly spurred her on and she nipped at his bottom lip with her teeth eliciting a deeper moan than before.
"Maryn," he murmured somewhere between a warning and a plea against her mouth and stroked her tongue with his own before biting gently at her bottom lip in retaliation.
Her hands seemed to have a mind of their own because the next thing she knew she had pushed his surcoat off his shoulders hearing it slip down and rustle as it settled at his heels. His mouth left hers and travelled over her jaw and down her neck as he pulled the right sleeve of her tunic off her shoulder and pressed open-mouthed kisses to her collarbone there dragging panting breaths from her and a soft breathy sigh as he did so.
Maryn thought her heart was going to beat right through her chest, and her head swam like she had consumed too much wine. Her left hand slid up to twist into his soft black hair, her grip tightening there when his cool breath caressed the slope of one breast which was visible above the black leather corset she was wearing under her tunic.
"Loki," she whined not comprehending what she was asking for but knowing that he was the only one that could give it to her.
And he seemed to understand. He magically transported them once again and she gasped as they tumbled into the middle of his bed, her body leaning over his, her hands braced on the mattress at either side of his head and her knees at either side of his waist holding her up over him. His mouth found hers again and one hand slid up her outer thigh as the other started to work on the belt around her waist.
The knowledge that she was about to give him her virtue there in that bed after she had told him of the torture she had suffered at Coros' hands hit her and made her heart pound for an entirely different reason. She wasn't ready to give herself to Loki in this; she couldn't do something like that without knowing his true feelings for her. "Loki," she murmured trying to ignore the heat that coursed through her as her belt slid from her waist and her tunic fell open. His hand slipped under the soft material that had warmed from contact with her body, his arm encircling her waist and pulling her against his chest. "Loki, we must stop," she said urgently.
"Let me, Maryn my love," his voice was horse and his lips moved back up to press to the sensitive skin under her ear, "There is no shame in this." She moaned and arched into his touch, his hand slid up over her hip and pressed deeply into the small of her back, the brush of his lips and breath on her suddenly oversensitive skin made her shiver.
"Valhalla, do you understand what you do to me?" he groaned against the dip where her neck met her shoulder.
Knowing they were both close to losing control, Maryn pulled away, her small hands pressed to the centre of his chest to hold him still, "Please, Loki, I wish to wait until our wedding night."
She saw reason come back to him in a rush at those words and his lust-darkened gaze sharpened with understanding. He clenched his jaw and dragged himself away from her forcefully to stand with his back to her as he laced his hands behind his head, his shoulders tense and his body faintly trembling.
Pulling her tunic over her chest Maryn felt tears fill her eyes once more, "I'm sorry," she whispered.
He turned back to see a tear fall from her downcast eyes to the rumpled silk coverlet beneath her. He wanted to curse and yell and break things, but seeing how broken she was and scared, he took a deep breath and carefully sat down on the edge of the bed, his upper body turned toward her, "Forgive me, my love," he murmured trying to keep his voice low and soothing, "I lost control for a moment. It will not happen again I promise you."
She still would not look at him, "I'm sorry for acting as if I would…I-I mean…" she trailed off her cheeks burning with shame, only to jump when Loki put his fingers under her chin and lifted her face so that she would look at him.
"There is nothing to forgive, Maryn," he murmured with a calming smile, "I did not know your feelings on the matter. Now that I do I will not lose myself again."
Feeling tears well in her eyes for a completely different reason, Maryn threw her arms around his neck and hugged him, "You said once that you did not deserve a pure woman, but you had it wrong." She held him tighter as his arms wound around her body, "It is I who does not deserve a man as kind and forgiving as you."