Chapter 16

Kari pursed her lips for a moment, she knew there was no reason to lie. "Apparently so. I cannot control it, but it would seem that Loki was somewhat a muse for me."

"Is you mean." Thor clenched his jaw. "And I was not."

"I cannot help it Thor, and if you must know, what I have sketched today has absolutely nothing to do with him."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"Yes, I do actually, have I ever given you reason to doubt me in a century of marriage?"

"In that century he has not been here. In the day that he has, you have ceased wanting a child and have started drawing again. What am I supposed to think?"

"You are supposed to accept that I do not want to be forced to carry a child, or perhaps that I feel like a failure for not having conceived one, or hell even both. With regards my art, I cannot help that Thor, but nothing I have drawn is regards him."

"Show me."

"What?"

"Show me what you drew, prove it."

"Thor, I don't show people my…"

"You showed him! You gave him work. It still hangs in his rooms." Thor became angry.

"It took me time to trust him enough to show him." She argued, become more and more upset.

"So you trust him but not me."

"No, I do not trust him now, I don't know him anymore, I have no idea how he would react."

"And me?"

"You do not want to see what I have drawn to look at it, you want to see it see if I drew him."

"Show me Kari!" Kari stepped back startled by his demand.

Angered and upset, she went to the place she stored the few drawings from the day and grabbed them; she looked at Thor for a moment to see him glowering back at her and threw the pages at him. "Don't bother waiting for me tonight, or any night in the near future." She stated furiously as she walked out the door.

Thor looked at the drawings in his hand for a few moments and cursed the Norn's. He let them fall to the floor and walked after her. When he got to the hall outside, he looked both ways, noticing that it was empty. He went to the rooms she had used before she was wed, but it was empty bar a maid tidying it once more. He walked to their rooms and picked up the pieces of paper.

The sketches were fantastic. The flowers in a vase on their table, two birds that must have landed on their window, and finally, Mjolnir, the shading on the hammer was perfect, it almost looked as though it was the hammer itself. She had spoken the truth, none were of Loki, his being there simply caused her to want to draw. He looked again at the birds and frowned.

It was Huginn and Muninn, the sheen of their feathers were perfect. Why had she drawn them, Odin kept the ravens in his quarters, they rarely left them except for when he ordered them to. It dawned on him then that his father had sent them to spy on her. He became enraged, he was acting like Odin. And if there was one sure way to guarantee the ruin of his marriage; it was to treat Kari as Odin treats her.

There was only one to assist him now. he knew he would have to swallow his pride, and that he would be listening to Loki for a long time to come, but he had to try. Taking the pictures, he walked to Loki's rooms.

Loki was reading one of his favourite books in his rooms, one that Kari had given him on his name's day when they were betrothed. She had seemingly scoured more than one realm for it, and though it was not a favourite of hers, she loved when he read her passages from it. He felt angered at the thought of her in Thor's arms after he had finally been able to sleep with her in his. He was no fool, he knew what they had done was wrong, yes she was Thor's wife, but she was his soul mate.

The knock on his door drew his attention back to the world once more. He called for the knocker to enter, and was slightly bewildered when it was Thor that entered. "Should you not be with Kari to make up for forgetting her parents anniversary?" he asked in a bored tone going back to reading his book.

"I messed up Loki."

"Yes, we established that." He looked at Thor. "Wait, you mean you have messed up further? How in the Nine Realms has this marriage lasted a century?"

"You were not here."

"So you are blaming me for your woes and troubles?" Loki challenged, placing the book down and getting to his feet.

"No, no I am not." Thor's shoulders slumped. "I am messing up, and I am to blame. I said something to Kari and now she has run off, and I know not where."

"What did you say this time?"

"I…I…" Thor sighed. "She stopped drawing when you left."

"And?"

"The night before you arrived back, she began again. Like it was a sign of your impending return. You were her muse Loki, you apparently still are."

"I'm honoured." Loki said plainly, though internally he delighted in that knowledge.

"She drew these when she returned from the healers today. They are terrific."

"Wait, she let you see them?"

"That is what I cannot understand, she used let you see her work, but when I asked, she became defensive."

Loki shook his head. "You do not understand Thor. See this is why…" he took a deep breath before continuing. "She never wants people see them because she fears what they will say." He looked to the paper in Thor's hand again. "So if she did not permit you to see them, why have you got them? Have you taken them without her knowing?"

"No, she knows I have them. I demanded them from her."

"You…" Loki's eyes widened.

"She has not drawn in a century, then you turn up and she is on the floor day and night sketching."

"So you demand she hand over part of her soul to you? Is it not enough to force her into solitude, you must take from her the one thing she loves as well?"

"Her soul?"

"That is outlet. Mine is seidr, mother's is her gardens, yours is, well whatever. That is her most intimate thoughts and ideas and you demanded them from her as though they are merely scraps of paper. And why, because you thought them of me. And out of curiosity, are they?"

"No, they're not." Thor conceded, looking down again.

"Oh Norn's, you are such an idiot. Have you any idea what you have done? You could have crushed her fully now."

"I have not crushed her."

"I have yet to be permitted to be in her company for long, but I can tell you, that woman that stands by your side is a shadow of the one I was set to marry. She is thinner, colder and melancholic, she is not the woman I knew."

"Cease Loki." Thor shook with temper, thunder cracking loud outside the windows.

"Why, because I am telling you that you are failing her miserably. I should have brought her with me. Even if we were caught and sent to Jötunheim as that bastard said he would do to her, at least her death would have been swift. This is only prolonging the inevitable."

"I said enough!" Thor stood nose to nose with Loki, lightning flashing brightly outside.

"You know I am right Thor, you know you have crushed her. And me being here is causing you to do it more and more, and that is why you are angry at me, because I am the realisation of your faults not only as a husband, but as a man."

"Leave Loki." Thor snarled through gritted teeth.

"You know that will not solve it. In fact, it may end your marriage altogether. If she does continue to draw, which may be in jeopardy due to your fuck up, it will save her from her solitude."

"I never even thought of her having ladies-in-waiting." Thor frowned.

"Of course not, you are too selfish, you had your friends, what would you care about her having any?"

"She was not forced to remain by herself."

"Has she ever been forthcoming enough to make them alone, she is naturally a quiet person? She would have needed you."

Thor stood back conceding that Loki was right. Kari was not outgoing, and he knew it, and he did nothing to help her.

"You're pathetic. You are a king for Norn's sake, act like it. Now get out of here, you are ruining my evening, I am under instruction to relax for myself while I heal." Loki sat back down and took up his book again. "Although I would love to see what you have planned next, and how ridiculous that will end up being."

Thor stormed out before Loki could anger him further. He looked around and thought, Kari had nothing with her, she needed clothes, she was dressed like a pauper, so she would need to go back to their rooms, or send her maid there. With that in mind, he went back there to wait.

Loki chuckled to himself in his rooms. "The fool." Not long after, he heard the door open quietly. "I wonder who that could be." He grinned. Looking up from his book, his jaw dropped.

Kari was standing in front of him, looking more beautiful than he ever recalled. She looked dishevelled and unkempt, and it was utterly bewitching. He rose from the chair and took quick strides over to her, as she jumped into his arms and they kissed passionately. Ensuring to lock his doors, he brought her into his bed chambers. "Where did you run off to my darling?" He asked between kisses.

"I had to deal with two little pests." She grinned.

"What did you do to them?"

"I just locked them in the weapons vault. That will cause Thor to have to deal with them and in turn their insufferable handler."

"You devious little minx." Loki chuckled as he kissed down her clothed body. "I do not think you ever looked more beautiful."

"You are blind."

"If this is the last thing I ever see, I will be happy for it." He grinned as he pulled the dress up. "No undergarments? God's you are out to kill me Kari."

"I thought you would appreciate it." She smiled.

"Allow me to show my appreciation." He pushed the dress up and kissed up her thigh, not stopping until he reached the apex of it, then using his tongue to lick and suck at her.

With her fingers gripping his hair tightly, Kari grinded her core up toward his mouth as he worshiped her body as she voiced her pleasure. As she reached euphoria, she called his name out.

"I wish I had stayed now. we missed out on a century of this." Loki grinned, opening his pants to allow himself free of it confines.

"As do I." Kari concurred, kissing him and tasting herself on his lips. "Loki."

"Already wanting more my darling?"

"Can anyone hear us?"

"Of course not." He grinned.

"Then I implore you, take me."

"Ehehe." He chuckled before aligning himself with her core and pushing in with one stroke. "Hold on to the headboard, for I am about to show you how much I truly adore you like this."

She gripped the wood so tight her knuckles whitened. "Take me."