Chapter 5.
She sat at the table alone in his Chambers, her fingers rolling a pen made of clear glass on it. She had used pens carved from reeds in the past, but never had seen one as elegant as the one in front of her now. Loki had left her that morning with a new list, and she finished it after eating and bathing. Her afternoon now left with nothing to do but wait until he returned and filled her with fear. Sometimes he took her out of these rooms, perhaps to the gardens to walk or on another errand in the city. This was how the last month of her life had been spent, and how she feared the rest of her life would be lived.
She smoothed her hands over the rose colored dress she had been left, and she picked up the writing utensil in her hand. She drew a piece of paper toward her from a stack and she dipped it in some ink, being careful to not let it drip onto the pristine wood. She grew a simple line, marveling at how fine it was and she then dipped it again, filling the page with swirls and a rough sketch of a flower. Her boredom lead her further into her own world, her silence filling the room when he was present but now she was busily writing with the beautiful pen and her soft humming filled it. She added her name, the gentle curve of the L curling into the rest of the letters as she wrote Lorien on the page.
She admired her work, dipping the pen again and wrote Inge next to her name, missing her sister deeply and she began drawing more flowers and leaves around the two words. She sketched out a vine, and added a bird to perch on it and she smiled at her work. She drew out another bird, and she blew on the page to dry it and began sketching more flowers. She was so lost in herself, she did not hear the door open and close silently behind her. The person who entered walked toward her, looking over her as she drew a squirrel hiding in the leaves and added a mouse to another part of her drawing.
"What are you doing?" Loki asked her and she jumped to attention, dropping the pen and it shattered on the floor. Her breath came in gasps, and she stepped away from the desk to get away from him. She knew that she would be punished for dropping the pen and she moved away slowly, her heart pounding and he waved a hand and the pen restored. He picked up the page she had been doodling on, looking at it and he set the pen on the rest.
"Who is Inge?" He asked her, and he turned the page to show her how she had drawn the flowers and vines around the name. He tapped it with his fingers and he stepped closer to her, making her feel so small. A tear fell down her face and she shook, falling to her knees and putting her hands together in a plea.
"I... I am sorry... for breaking your pen Sir." She said, looking up at him. "Please don't... don't beat me Sir."
"I am not going to beat you Lorien, but I expect an answer to my question." He said and pointed at the page. "Who is Inge?"
"My younger Sister Sir." She said and he stepped back, laying the page on the desk and he folded his hands behind his back. She stood slowly, her skirts flowing like water as she took to her feet and the butterfly shaped comb in her hair shone in the diffused sunlight.
"It is hard to forget that many of you have families elsewhere, seeing as how we buy you and use you for our own gain." He said, and turned back to look at Lorien. He studied her for a moment, his eyes flowing over her and he let out a breath. "Do you miss her?"
"I do Sir." She said and he nodded, he lifted a finger and waved it at her. She worried that he was going to be angry with her, but instead he remained calm.
"I do not mind if you choose to indulge flights of fancy, I do however ask that you not use the parchment to do so. Third drawer down has wood pulp paper, use that." He said and sat in a chair and picked up his book, she knew that she would have to sit quietly to not disturb him and she curtsied to him.
"Yes Sir." She replied, and she folded her hands while sitting on a stool near the fireplace. She looked her hands a moment and sat in silence, her eyes raising to Loki, taking him in and she studied the way his hands cradled the book he held. He turned the page, his eyes scanning the next and she tucked her feet under the stool and she saw how his neck moved when he swallowed. To her, he had a proud jaw and forehead, his mannerisms making him a bit more intimidating and regal at the same time. His long fingers being an Artist's hands, and he sat with his knees slightly apart and shifted his long legs to find a comfortable position.
"Staring is rude girl." He said and she jumped, looking at the floor and he smirked at her. He saw how she sat as still as a leaf, and he wondered for a moment how long she would stay in her position. He turned the page again, reading on and he found she was still silent and still as a statue as she sat on her perch. He got an idea then, subtly waving his fingers and he saw a smooth movement under her skirts and he waited for her to notice it as well.
Soon, a black snake appeared from under her dress and began making it's way around her shoes. She jumped from her seat, screaming and the furniture overturned and she picked up her skirts to shake them out. She screamed again, the snake turning toward her and she jumped onto the Lounge. He laughed to himself, watching her stare at it and grab a fireplace poker to attack the offending creature. His laughter became louder as it vanished, leaving her bewildered but still shaking.
"I knew you would do something other than remain as a statue if I did something of that nature." He laughed, her confusion melting to a bit of embarassment. He pushed air through his teeth to make a hissing noise and she screamed again, jumping off the furniture and her foot caught in her skirts. She crashed to the ground, the poker flying from her hands and she lay against the floor. He stopped laughing then, and his breath caught in his chest. Slowly she sat up, blood dripping from her cut chin and he summoned a cloth to hold against the wound.
"Damn my nature!" He cursed, the shaking girl bleeding and he used some magic to heal the cut and make the blood vanish. She shook as she looked into his eyes, curling into a ball and tucking her knees into her body. She stayed still, and he held his hand out for her. She remained inside herself, staying small and he snapped his fingers. She took the hand, letting him stand her up and she stood while he picked up the fireplace tool and righted the stool.
"I apologise for that, I was only looking for a bit of fun but caused you injury." He said, she looking at the steel rod in his hand. She shook and he set it aside, returning it to its place by the hearth.
"It... it was my fault Sir." She said and he was about to argue when a knock came to the door. He waved a hand at her, motioning for her to stay put and she lowered her eyes as Loki opened the door to find the Nobleman that frightened her mor than Loki in the doorway.
"Lord Brom, may I ask what brings you here?" He asked, his eyes falling on the red haired girl in the ragged dress behind him. Her eyes were swollen, and she was covered in bruises and welts from what Loki could see. He frowned at the sad creature, the Councilman shoving her forward roughly as he stepped to the side to admit them both.
"I came to ask you about your girl. This one has yet to be properly broken in, and I wonder if you have any advice to keep them... obedient." He sneered, the girl staring at Lorien in her fine dress and her eyes filled with tears. Lord Brom walked toward Lorien, running the back of his hand over her cheek and he grinned at her while licking his lips.
"I would like it if you did not touch her. Lorien came to me well behaved and obedient, she had a few moments of transgression but I think she learned her lesson." Loki said, walking to stand between the terrified girl and the Councilman. Lorien saw how abused the other girl was, and she felt grateful for Loki being a wall between her and the other man. The girl looked at her in a longing way, her eyes taking in her dress and the Councilman grinned at Loki.
"May I use her then? Or at least watch you make use of her so that I can learn how to make this bitch behave?" He asked and Lorien shivered at the thought. She wanted to shake her head, holding the dress to her chest and praying to all the Norns to make her keeper say no. Loki looked back at her, and he turned and lifted her chin softly with his fingers. His eyes glinted with something and he put his nose close to her ear and he looked back at the Councilman.
"You lack the finesse to touch my Little Flower, she requires a firm, yet gentle hand." Loki said, turning her face and he pressed his lips to her mouth. He lingered, her heart pounding and she felt his gently nudging at hers as she parted her lips a bit and he slowly caressed her cheek. Her fingers trembled as she put her hand over his, her lips moving on their own accord and she could smell something so masculine yet soft about him. Her head spun a bit, and he pulled back and looked into her eyes. Her first kiss from a man not related to her, and it took her breath away by how gentle it was.
"You see? She is a tender and sweet girl, her lips as soft as rose petals. You would break her, bruising and biting her as you did with yours." Loki said and returned his attention to the Councilman. Her eyes found the other girl, and she stared in open jealousy of what had just happened. She folded her hands and returned her gaze to the floor, Loki standing close to the man and he growled.
"She is not to be shared, she belongs to me and I will not allow or tolerate another man using her." He warned, raising a finger. "If I should hear of you ever placing a finger on her, I will emasculate you and give it to your wretch to pleasure herself with. Am I understood?"
"Completely, My Prince." He said, grabbing the girl and shoving her toward the door. She looked back at Lorien, her eyes burning with jealous rage and Lord Brom dragged her into the hall. Loki stood against the door, turning back toward Lorien and she looked away shily. She heard him walk back to her, and he stood silently for a moment.
"Thank you Sir." She said, feeling guilty for how well she was treated and still being afraid of the Prince next to her. He nodded, adjusting his vest over his tunic and he grinned at her.
"I should thank you, that was a kiss I shall remember for a long time." He said, returning to his chair to read. She placed the tips of her fingers to her lips, her heart pounding at the memory and she blushed. He mind whispering how she would as well, and how she did not want it to happen again.
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Lorien lay in the bed that night, her nervousness after that kiss filling her with dread as to what was coming. But he did not return to his chambers, Thor having invited him to go to a Tavern in the city with him and he agreeing to go. She thought so hard about that moment and the soft kiss, her heart pounding at the memory and a strange feeling filling her stomach and womanhood. She covered herself, huddling under the blankets and tossed about and sighed. Her thoughts drifted to her sister again, praying that he was not going to seek to have her brought into her nightmare and she remembered the red haired girl again.
Her torn dress hanging off her body, the angry bruises and welts that covered her. She thought about how the only person that had caused her harm was the Traders and their Handlers, not the Prince who currently owned her. For every day, she was given clothes, shoes, food, warm baths, and she was not forced over a table for anyone to use. Her body was left sacred, and she wondered if it would be so bad to let a man with such a tender kiss have her, he would most likely be as kind as he had been that afternoon.
She imagined his breath on her neck as it was this afternoon, and the slight stirring within her body became stronger. Her thighs tensing and pressing together as she turned to her other side, but not relieving an ache she was starting to feel. She had felt it before, watching the men who worked for her father bathe in the pond near their home. Their bodies so different from hers as she peered through the Bush she hid under, their lean muscles and tanned skin sparkling with beads of water. Her heart pounded then, and she had held her breath as they moved.
She gasped, biting on the pad of her thumb as she pressed her knees tighter together and the men faded from her memory. She was just a girl encroaching on womanhood then, her body changing and she would lay at night and marvel at how her secret hair was coming in like her Mother's. She touched where it was under the shift she wore and nearly wept at the loss of it, the pride she felt at coming of age and realizing she was grown lost by cruel fate. Her fingers found smooth skin and she bit her lip to stifle a sob, and she lamented being so stripped.
She shot up then, scared that they had used her body while she was unconscious and she hugged herself. She rocked back and forth on the bed, wondering if they had taken her maidenhead and cried into her hands. She had sworn to her Mother and Father to stay pure, to hide her secret from ever being discovered. What if they used her, and now her undoing was coming in the form of a child? Her shaking fingers moving back under her shift to check, her heart pounding and she wanted to cry harder at her own fears. The door handle shifting startling her before she could confirm that she was still innocent, and she lay down and pretended to be asleep as the door opened.
She cracked her eyes to see Loki enter, his back to her and he swayed on his feet a bit as he bid Thor a pleasant evening. The drunken Prince laughing in the hall and he could hear a woman giggle with him. She pinched her eyes shut, curling her legs closer to her and she hid her fears that Loki was going to drunkenly assault her. But as soon as he closed the door, his act dropped and the dark haired Prince sighed and shrugged off his long tailed vest and he looked around the room.
"Lorien?" He whispered, and she closed her eyes to make him think she was asleep. She lay on her side, and she felt the bed sink under his weight in front of her and a gentle finger moved her hair out of her face. She remained still, willing herself to not stir and she felt a soft pat on her shoulder. He was not trying to wake her, only touch her in a gentle way.
"I wish I could make you trust me." He said softly, his hand moving and she listened to his words. "I will not hurt you Little Flower, I only bought you to ensure that you did not end up with a crueler Master. I saw how small and frightened you were, and I feared seeing the light in those beguiling eyes fade. I loathe the laws permitting the practice of Slave Ownership, I want them all abolished and I want you freed to return to your sister."
He buried his face in his hands, his back to her and she opened her eyes and stared at his back. She saw him shaking a moment, and he stood up to walk to the Bathing Chamber. He closed the door behind him, and she lay on the pillow for a long time as she turned his words over in her mind. She blinked back tears, and she closed her eyes as the door opened again and she felt him lay on his side of the bed. He shifted his weight for a moment, finding a comfortable position and he lay still as he fell asleep.