The newlyweds wing
Thor closed the door, leaving them alone, all alone.
Loki still had Ameera in his arms. He stood there stoically, and she was calm and collected. She held still in his arms, looking straight ahead.
After a while, she finally said in a low voice, "you can put me down now, your highness."
He snapped his head down to her face, as if he had not even noticed he was holding her, "right!" He muttered, before placing her down carefully. She curtsied politely, and stood up firmly in her place.
His mind had been devoured with thoughts of revenge and possible freedom that he did not give much thought to what he would actually do once it was all said and done.
He was yet to figure her out, what her intentions were, but how was he going to go about doing that? Was she an enemy or a possible ally? He sighed heavily, lost in his thoughts, that he hardly paid her any attention. She stood there quiet.
Realizing he had to say something, anything, he finally went with his instincts, "you look beautiful, princess," he managed to say with a pale smile.
She curtsied, "thank you, your highness."
He waited on her to say something else, but she did not. It seemed that she never did.
"I hope you liked your ring," he said.
"The queen's taste is impeccable, your highness, how can I not?" She said quietly.
He raised an eyebrow at her, "how would you know it was not me who got you the ring?" He exclaimed.
Still not meeting his gaze, she answered, "did you, your highness?"
"I did not, but how would you know?" He asked curiously, "why not the king who got the ring?"
"Did he, your highness?"
"Do you have a habit of answering questions with more questions?" He asked, his smile slightly more prominent now.
"They are not questions, your highness, they are of the rhetorical nature, I already know the answer," she said with a soft smile.
"Aha! Which brings us back to my original question, how?" He asked.
"Women's intuition I suppose," her smile warmer.
"I see! .. so did you like it?"
"I did. I am grateful for such a beautiful gift," she said politely.
"Good .. good," he said trailing off.
She returned to her silence.
After a moment or two, Loki spoke again, "you do realize we are married now, do you not?" He asked with an unreadable expression on his face.
"I wonder what gave that away, your highness? Was it the wedding?" She stopped herself immediately, quickly apologizing, "apologies, your highness, I meant no disrespect. I was .. I was just .."
She was nervous, for a second there she fell back to her old self, but she had to quickly remind herself, this was not Alfheim, and he did not know her enough to tolerate her antics. He could think this was disrespectful of her, and she did not wish to reflect badly on her family nor on her heritage. A strong opinionated woman like herself was not easily accepted outside of Alfheim. Being her father's advisor and travelling the realms with him, she had seen firsthand how men respond to her essence. She used to have to work twice as hard to elicit their respect.
Loki smiled, an actual genuine smile, as he took one more step closer to her and cut her off, "that is quite alright, princess, I admire your forthcoming. You speak your mind, that is nothing to apologize for .. I suppose it was a foolish question to begin with," he said, maintaining his smile.
She smiled a small smile back, "I do have a tendency to speak my mind, but I mean no disrespect, and yes, I do realize I am married to you now, your highness," she said quietly.
"And how do you feel about that, princess?" He asked softly.
She contemplated his question for a minute and when she opened her mouth to answer, he spoke first, "how do I feel you would ask?" He smirked, and she smiled genuinely at him.
"Heavy!" He sighed.
"I am sorry you feel that way," she said sweetly.
He examined her face intently. She was still so hard to read.
"And you?" He asked after a moment of silence.
"Relieved," she whispered.
"Relieved?" He exclaimed.
She nodded.
"You should not lie to the god of lies, princess!" He said a little too loudly.
She snapped her head up in surprise, almost hurt, "I am not lying," she met his gaze and looked into his eyes.
"So are you relieved you married me?? Really? That is how you would describe your feeling?? If I was to lay my hands on you, right now, will you still be relieved, Ameera?" He was yelling at her.
She did not flinch. She did not waiver, but she broke eye contact and looked straight forward, and remained tight-lipped.
Loki sighed angrily, and started pacing the floor. Was she playing him? What kind of game was she playing. He finally smiled to himself, "alright princess, let us see how relieved you are."
He took delibrate strides towards her, until he came face to face with her. He placed his right hand on the small of her back, and his left hand on the nape of her neck. He leaned in close to her face, until his nose was almost touching hers. His breath was hot on her, "if I was to kiss you now, would you still be relieved?" He whispered intimidatingly.
She did not wince. She did not move or react to his touch. She was very guarded and knew how not to show emotion, when needed. She refused to meet his gaze, and refused to answer.
"Answer me!" He seethed.
She took in a breath, and said almost peacefully, "are you angry with me? What did I do, your highness?"
Her response took him by surprise. He was not prepared for that. Why couldn't he intimidate her? Why was she so calm?
"You lied to me," he fumed.
"I assure you, I did no such thing."
He still held her, and stared daggers into her eyes, "relieved?"
"That I am, your highness, maybe it was my mistake to answer truthfully."
"Explain!" He demanded.
"How do you explain a feeling?" She asked quietly.
"Try!"
"I .. I .. I cannot, but I am not a liar, your highness," hurt apparent at her voice.
Something in her voice shifted his focus from his ever-raging anger to her.
He removed his hands from her and put them by his sides, "my turn to apologize, princess, I did not mean to raise my voice at you on your wedding night," he said softly.
"It is your wedding night as well, your highness," she smiled at him, this time not so warmly.
"I suppose so!" He muttered.
He was angry, angry at everything and everyone. How was he supposed to feign a relationship with someone he did not know? He was fed up with all of it.
"Did someone give you a fertility potion, Ameera?" He asked bluntly.
Ameera's cheeks turned crimson red. "I ..." She could not string together any words.
"Answer me, please!" He said, trying to remain calm, and not scare her.
"No," she managed to get out.
"Me neither. It is tradition to give both of us a fertility potion on the night of our wedding, but truth is no one would want my offspring ... who would?" He was speaking in a low husky voice, before turning sharply to face her.
"Do you wish to consummate this marriage, Ameera? Do not answer that with a question back."
"No," she said composedly and without hesitation.
"I thought as much ... I cannot force myself unto you, princess, but if you would agree to it, we can keep up appearances," he said evenly.
"Do you wish to ..?" She started, but he cut her off, "No."
He searched her face for a reaction, but she did not display any. He felt surprisingly guilty for answering back like that. It did not feel right to him.
"You are a very beautiful woman, Ameera, and it is not a question of desire, but it is ... complicated," he was rambling out of guilt.
"Your highness, I told you before, you do not have to explain yourself to me," she said serenely.
"I just ...," he started, but it was her turn to cut him off, "I appreciate your concern for my feelings ... I sadly did not extend you the same courtesy when I answered. I am not that fragile, even if it was a question of desire, it would not necessarily break me."
"And what would .. break you?" He asked with a playful smile.
"Would it be wise for me to answer that?" She matched his smile.
"No, I suppose it would not," his smile wider.
"Your highness, if I may speak freely?" She asked politely.
"You did not ask for permission before now, did you?" He raised a cocky brow at her.
"I am a fast learner," her smile was brighter.
"As long as we are alone, you have permission to speak as you wish, Ameera," his smile widening.
"I appreciate that, your highness," he cut her off, "you can also call me Loki."
She smiled politely, "I would rather not."
"And why is that?"
"I would rather it came naturally to me," she answered honestly.
"Understandable. Now, what did you wish to speak freely of?"
"I owe you an explanation as to why I do not wish to consummate our marriage," he cut her off, "you do not. I understand. Who in their right mind would want to tie themselves forever to me?"
"Your highness, many would," he interrupted her again angrily, "spare me the fake courtesy."
She drew in a slow breath, as if to collect herself, "that was honest, your highness, many would want to court the prince of Asgard, son of the Alfather," he shot her a sharp look, "I know what you might think," she added.
"I highly doubt that, princess," he said slyly.
"Let me try and reword that, then, I think I might know what you might think, your highness," she smirked.
He took in her playful features, "better!"
"Whatever it is you might think, I would assure you that my desire not to ... consummate .. this marriage .. has nothing to do with your person, but rather with the circumstances of this marriage. I have known about this arrangement since I was a little girl. I had time to make my peace with it, and I made my choice, while you clearly did not. You should take your time to come to terms with everything, to accept it all," she said bashfully.
He stared at her as if he was seeing her for the very first time. He went deep into thought, and she allowed him his time. After quite a while, he said, "thank you."
She bowed her head respectfully.
"So you would agree we need to keep up appearances?" Loki asked in a monotonous voice.
"Yes, your highness. I promise to be your dutiful wife, and I will do all in my power to represent you well," she said courteously.
"And I promise to be a perfect gentleman," he bowed his head for her, "now, I do not suppose you would be alright with sharing a bed."
She blushed slightly, "what do you suggest, your highness?" She said, flustered.
"You can have the bed, but I cannot leave the room, in case someone is watching, so if it is all the same to you, I would take the floor."
She sounded extremely uncomfortable, "no, your highness, I cannot in good conscience let the prince sleep on the floor."
"And I cannot in good conscience let a lady sleep on the floor." He said folding his hands in front of his chest.
She looked around the room as if searching for a solution. There was the bed in the middle, to its right was a huge wardrobe and the door to the washroom. To the left of the bed, there was a big dresser, the vanity and its chair by the window, and a small desk with a chair.
She looked back at him, "this is a huge bed."
"Are you suggesting ..?," he said a little surprised, "yes, I am," she answered before he finished his question.
"Are you sure about that?"
She nodded her head.
"Alright, if you would not mind, I would like to use the washroom first." Loki said politely.
"Absolutely, your highness," she curtsied to him.
He walked into the attached washroom, and she headed to the vanity, where she took off her diadem, all of her ornamental jewelry. She also removed her makeup. She then opened the wardrobe, and chose a nightgown for the night. By the time she was done, he was standing leaning against the door frame of the washroom. She had not noticed him, and had no idea how long he had been there. He was already in his sleepwear, and he gestured for her to go into the washroom to freshen up and get ready for bed.
She walked in, holding her nightgown, leaving him alone in the room. He looked at her jewelery laying on the vanity, and held the diadem in his hand. He was lost thinking, when he heard her clear her throat.
She was wearing a white simple nightgown, she had her hair swept to the side and braided, and her face was fresh of any makeup.
She could feel his eyes on her, and she tried her best to remain collected. He gestured for her to get into bed first, and she did. Settling in and pulling the covers over herself, she watched as he also got into bed.
She laid on her back staring at the ceiling, and he did the same, although he had to admit that ceiling was far prettier than his cell's. There were moments of uncomfortable silence, before she finally broke it, "good night, your highness," she said as she turned her back to him.
"Good night, princess," he said but remained in his same position. He could not turn his back to her. He did not trust her, he did not even know her. He was surprised that, with all that she knew of him, she turned his back to him, no one should turn their back to the god of mischief.
He listened carefully, and after a few moments, her breathing evened out, and he could tell she was asleep.
He remained by her side, but a small glint of green illuminated the room momentarily, as another Loki kneeled by her bedside. She was fast asleep. She looked serene, and she laid comfortably. He was astonished she managed to fall asleep with him in the same room, let alone laying beside her. Another glint of green, and there was only the Loki laying next to her, deep in thought, he remained still, he did not know how long he was up for, but sometime during the late hours of the night, he closed his eyes, and he too drifted to sleep.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
A/N: how are you all? How are you feeling? Talk to me :))))
Ready for this journey now with the two of them?? Let me hear your thoughts.
Much love,
-Z