The gatekeeper met them outside their chambers the next morning. She wasn't sure the man ever slept, but it seemed rude to ask him about it, so she simply thanked him instead. "Heimdall, I can't thank you enough for all you done for us."
"It is my duty and pleasure, my queen. I only wish I could have been of greater help. I'm still not sure how I failed to see what was happening."
"Heimdall, none of us are perfect. It was one of my own maids and I didn't suspect a thing."
"One of your maids?" His golden eyes narrowed and he stopped in his tracks. "But your majesty, you only have one maid."
"No, there are two. Bera and Tora. I would never have thought either capable of this, but Tora was the greater surprise of the two. She's always been so sweet and helpful, even to the point of annoyance."
"I watch your servants very closely, my queen, and I've never seen anyone but Bera attend to you."
Loki watched the exchange in silence, taking in the implications of the new information.
"Search her," she now spoke to her husband. "Provide her with new garments and have everything on her person brought to us." She headed back towards their rooms with the men in tow. "Something isn't right and I want to see everything before I speak to her."
In less than an hour all of the items on Tora's person when Loki caught her were laid out on the dining table.
"Aside from the poison we retrieved, I see nothing of any consequence." Loki gestured to the scattered possessions with an impatient sigh."
"There has to be something. I honestly don't think Tora did this." Erna scrutinized the assortment, wondering whether they should rip the seams out of the clothing just to be sure nothing was concealed there.
"Little one, I know you don't want to believe this of her, but the proof is clear."
"I still don't think we have all the information," she asserted stubbornly.
She suddenly felt the need to actually touch each item on display. Later she wouldn't be able to attribute the sense of urgency to anything other than her daughter, but she listened to it immediately and began running her fingers carefully over each confiscated item.
Almost as soon as her hand brushed against a modest piece of jewelry, Heimdall shouted for her to stop.
"My queen, you disappeared from my sight as soon as you touched that!"
"But I'm standing right in front of you, Heimdall."
"I was referring to my other sight, your grace."
Both she and Loki exclaimed at the same time and she had to snatch the charm away from his groping fingers to examine it. He clearly didn't want her handling it, but she had to have a closer look.
It was a rather rough piece, once she got a good look at it. The small lump of stone looked like a misshapen bit of coal and it was crudely surrounded by a thin rim of gold. It was suspended from a simple gold chain long enough to camouflage the pendant with Tora's robes. All in all, it looked like something an apprentice jeweler would make when first learning their craft.
Nothing on the rock or setting belied where it had come from and it wasn't opulent enough to raise any suspicions about Tora illegally obtaining the item. She saw nothing that immediately explained why the holder of the necklace was immune from Heimdall's inner sight.
When she finally handed it over to Loki, he huffed in annoyance before making his own examination. She heard him mutter a string of soft words under his breath. The stone glowed pale blue for a matter of seconds before reverting back to its original state. Almost immediately, he looked up, a grimace on his face. "Either Tora is a brilliant magician, so gifted in the ways of magic that even I didn't detect her, or this came from elsewhere."
"What do you mean?" Why couldn't he just explain outright without being so damned cryptic? Likely payback for her own recent reticence regarding her Midgard plan.
"This is a very rare rock from Svartalfheim I've only ever read about. The dark elves learned to process it and used it to shield their ships from Aesir sight. It's a tricky bit of magic to take the raw product and enchant it into a usable form, so either I've greatly underestimated your maid or someone gave this to her. Someone quite powerful."
"And Heimdall, you've never sensed Tora before?"
"Not until a few minutes ago when she surrendered all these items."
"Which tells me she came to Asgard with this charm around her neck." The knowledge settled like a stone in her stomach. This was so much worse than a disgruntled servant. She swayed unsteadily on her feet, exhausted from the weight of the realization.
Loki was at her side before she knew it, strong arms supporting her. "Little one, you mustn't push yourself. Let me take you to bed and I'll deal with this."
"No!" It came out louder than she intended, so she tried to soften the refusal with a gentler tone. "Please. I must speak with her. If you insist on confining me to bed, then I'll have her brought to me."
"Absolutely not."
"Then take me to the dungeon and be ready to conjure a comfortable chair once we get there. I'm not at my strongest right now, but I can do this, Loki. I have to do this."
"Why did I have to marry the most stubborn person in all the nine realms?"
She grinned up at his exasperated countenance. "Someone has to keep you on your toes."
"This isn't a game, Erna."
"I'm well aware of that, Loki." She turned to face him fully, dizziness gone for the moment. "Carry me on a litter if that makes you feel better, but I will speak to her. I want this over and done with as soon as possible. And I know you do too. You won't sway me on this."
"I can't seem to sway you on anything," he groused.
But he ended up giving in, as she'd hoped he would. He didn't go so far as to conjure a litter, but he supported her so thoroughly on the trek downstairs that it was practically carrying her.
As soon as Tora caught sight of her, she rushed forward to the front of her cell, the most pitiful look of hope on her young face. "Your majesty! Please, you must know I'd never try to harm you."
Erna waved a hand for the girl to be silent while Loki attended to the practicalities. He took her suggestion to heart and conjured a plush chair, extra pillows, and an ottoman, insisting she prop up her swollen feet. She knew she'd have to make this interview count, as the threat of bed rest became more immediate by the hour.
Once she was situated to Loki's satisfaction, she asked her first question. "Tora, if you weren't trying to poison me, what did my husband catch you adding to my food?"
The blush that enveloped her pale face spoke more to embarrassment than guilt. "Vitamins, your grace."
"Vitamins?"
"Yes. I wanted to be sure you and the baby were healthy."
"So you thought it would be best to secretly dose me?"
"I've been told that you generally refuse all medicines when you're ill, that it would be best to have you take them without realizing it."
"Bera told you this?"
"No, my queen." She curtsied nervously and Erna was struck again by how earnest the girl seemed. If she was plotting the queen's death, she was a master at hiding it. "Someone in the household told me before I joined your service. They said it was very important I remember that."
She changed subjects abruptly to see how Tora reacted. "Who gave you this?" Erna dangled the necklace and hear a displeased Heimdall grunt behind her. She could tell how upset he was about the concealment.
"I..." Tora hesitated for the first time. "I can't tell you that."
"Can't or won't?" Loki clearly couldn't hold his tongue any longer.
"Can't, your majesty. I was forbidden." The blush was back and something about the maid's expression jangled alarm bells in Erna's head.
"Tora, if you aren't a hundred percent truthful with us we can't help you." She ignored Loki's snort of derision at the word help and continued. "You must understand how this looks. The king caught you putting something on my food that turned out to be poison. If you don't help us find an explanation you'll be convicted of treason. The penalty will likely be death, Tora."
"But I promised, your grace. I swore I wouldn't tell."
"Is this promise worth your life, Tora?" Loki managed to sound both resolute and menacing.
"I... I don't..." The words spluttered out and she looked around, eyes now frantic in panic. "But my queen, I'd never wish to harm you of all people!"
"Of all people?"
"You're his... I mean... I cannot betray my vow."
"Tora," she began, keeping her voice low and level despite the growing feeling of uneasiness. "The person who gave this charm to you is a man. You just confirmed that. Is it the same man that gave you the potion?"
She nodded quickly. "Yes, your majesty."
"This is the man you feel like you'd betray by telling me his name?"
"Yes."
"But Tora, he gave you something that made me ill. If we're to clear up this misunderstanding," she dug her nails into Loki's forearm to keep him quiet, "then we must know his identity."
"I have to protect his reputation, your grace."
"It can stay between the four of us, Tora. If this is all a mistake, we can clear this up quietly."
Loyalty truly was one of Tora's virtues. She nodded again, shoulders sagging in relief and the words began to tumble out.
"We have to keep everything quiet until he leaves her. Then we must wait an appropriate amount of time before we can marry. I'll have to leave your service, your majesty, but we'll be family!"
The sick feeling in Erna's stomach magnified as the naive girl's words sunk in. There was no other explanation. "My father. He gave you the potion and the necklace." Anger was slow to come as she grappled with the implications. Now it was just a cold numbness.
"I know it's wrong, but we love each other! He sent me to serve you so I could get to know you better. I didn't want to be like your stepmother, constantly at odds with you. She's so horrible to you."
"The necklace was a parting gift, no doubt. A promise of what was to come."
"He made it himself, your grace." Tora seemed lost to memories of their tryst. Erna greatly doubted her father actually loved the girl, but she kept her voice neutral.
"And you began sneaking the potion... vitamins into my food, because my father told you how much I hated to take medicine. You thought you were doing what was best for me."
"Yes, your majesty." The girl beamed back at her, happy to be unburdened of her secret, and believing the whole matter was cleared up.
"Tora, I must rest now, I'm afraid. Bear with me a bit longer while we sort this out with the guards. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Thank you, your grace. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding." She curtsied again, untroubled smile still suffusing her face.
"Yes well, it wasn't your fault." She was already on autopilot. Wanting to get a far away from the duped maid as quickly as possible. She needed to yell and howl and hit something, the numbness rapidly turning into white hot rage. "Please get me out of here," she whispered to her husband.
Ignoring all pretense, he scooped her up into his arms and rushed her away from the dungeon. Overwhelmed by anger and helplessness and betrayal, she took no notice of their path, trusting Loki to ensure her safety.
And as shocked as she was, a tiny part of her accepted it without question. It saddened her to realize how quickly she saw the truth. For whatever his motives might be, she was certain her father was capable of this. It was the same sense that told her Tora had been an unwitting pawn and she trusted that judgment.
They'd never understood each other, Reynard even seeming to dislike his eldest daughter, but that was a far cry from plotting her murder. What led him to something like this?
Surprised to notice he was tucking her into bed, Loki answered her unspoken question. "This is my fault, Erna. Ever since I flew off the handle at that horrible dinner, his hatred climbed to a whole new level."
"No, Loki." She reached up and cupped the side of his face, forcing him to meet her gaze. "He behaved badly and you reacted. None of your actions were grounds for what he's trying to do. We haven't even met her yet and I can't imagine ever wanting to hurt our daughter. In no situation would that ever be in my nature. Or yours."
"Little one, you must rest now. I'm going to fetch Eir to give you a check. She said too much stress could be harmful and we have to make sure you're both all right."
"Loki, we have to do something about this. Now is not the time to confine me to bed!"
"Now is exactly that time. You're exhausted and you've just had a major shock." He sat down beside her, gently easing her back into the pillows. "Nothing changes the fact that you two are my primary priority. We can take some time for an examination before worrying about anything else."
"Fine. But after they check me we're having a serious talk. I won't be left to wonder and wait while you handle this on your own."
"You have my word, little one."