Outcast's Love (Loki Fanfiction)

Chapter Eight:

Lola sat perched on the window seat, watching as the rain slipped carelessly down the window. The sky hung low with cloud, the wind wailing through untended holes and cracks. Lola lowered her stitching and went to rub her swollen stomach. The budge was so huge it was getting harder and harder to conceal. The dress she wore seemed to stick to her like an additional layer of grey coloured skin. In between the groaning wooden beams and rain falling against the window, she heard his whisper breathe down her neck.
Lola.
Even though she was warm, her skin started to shiver. The hairs on the back of her head stood up on their own accord. His single word made her stomach twist. Invisible fingers, lighter than air, trailed down her back. She gripped her stomach. She could feel her arousal rising up inside her throat.
"Yes," she whispered, closing her eyes. "I feel you -"
There was a knock on the door. Lola turned round, her eyes snapping open. Ever since she had left Asgard nine months ago, she had yet to receive any visitors. Now there was someone here. Lola stood up, walking unevenly across the cobbled stone floor. Her hand closed over the door handle. She opened it to a shadowy figure, whose face was concealed beneath a dark black cloak. Lola watched as the figure removed the hood from their face with pale thin hands. Lola recognised them immediately.
 "Miranda?"
"Shush!" The maid, who Lola had become good friends with, pressed a shaking white hand to her mouth.
"I am not supposed to be here, for if the King realises I have left I will receive a most severe punishment." She looked around fearfully. Lola opened the door, ushering the other girl through. Miranda stood in the middle of the room, shrugging off her dripping cloak. Lola took it from her and hung it from a hook above the window. Miranda glanced at Lola's bulging stomach.

"How long?" she asked softly.
Exhausted, Lola flopped down onto the window seat. She beckoned Miranda to take a seat beside her.
"Nine months," Lola answered, tentatively laying a hand against her stomach. "Nine months and four days."
A flicker of remembrance passed across her face, causing her to smile.
"So what is it you have come to tell me? News from Asgard?"
Miranda nodded. The tension seemed to fall from her face.
"It has been so long since I have seen you last," Miranda began. "I now I have news that I believe you will want to hear." Miranda clasped her hands together in excitement. Lola looked on curiously.
"The Lord Loki isn't dead!" Miranda squealed delightedly.
"What?"
Lola did not know whether she was relieved and overjoyed or horrified and bewildered. She felt her insides turn to water, her breath taken away.
"Loki isn't dead?" Lola whispered, having finally found her voice again. "How can you be so certain?"
"The King has said himself that Lord Loki has been appearing to him inside his dreams. Only a few nights ago did the King see the Lord handing him a goblet of blood. He has a theory you see that the Lord has been trying to pass across to him. If he is ever to waken, he is to be given a goblet of blood of which belongs to someone closest to him."
After Miranda had finished, Lola immediately felt a twist of jealously unfurl inside her. She had only ever been able to feel Loki's presence, but had never been approached by him inside her dreams. Sometimes she felt that she had only ever imagined the experience and had convinced herself that they were real. Lola got to her feet, swaying slightly.
"I must return to the palace," Lola decided. "To Asgard. I need to be beside Loki."
Miranda stood up, preventing Lola from letting her pass.
"You mustn't do that," Miranda said anxiously. "For if you return, you will die for certain."
"Loki needs me," Lola spoke coldly. "If you will not allow me to see him then I shall go anyway, whatever you say."
Lola moved past the other girl and started to collect her few belongings together. Miranda was standing behind her, shaking her head in disgust.
"You are willing to murder your own unborn child? Is that what you want?" Miranda asked, her voice dropping to a whisper. Lola froze, her fingers lingering over a piece of clothing.
"I have no other choice," Lola answered without turning round.
"Yes you do!" Miranda cried. "Stay here. Keep you and your child safe. I do not want to see you hurt." Miranda stifled a pitiful cry. Lola turned to the other girl and hugged Miranda to her.
"You have been a good friend to me," Lola said. "I am thankful for your concern, but if Loki is to awaken and I am not there, what is he to think? He will think I have betrayed him. Please try to understand."
They stood looking at each other for several moments, watching one another in silence.
"Okay," Miranda said with uncertainty. "At least allow me to accompany you. I cannot see you go alone."
Together, Lola and Miranda prepared to leave for Asgard.