After a long night of tossing and turning, Rhi awakens the next morning exhausted and feeling alone.
Her room was right next to Thor's so she wasn't truly alone, of course. However, knowing Loki was alone in the dungeons made her heart ache.
After a quick bath, she gets ready for the day, opting for a simple floor length brownish dress she found in the wardrobe.
When she's done, Rhi makes her way to the dinning hall to meet Thor for breakfast.When she enters, Thor rises and meets her halfway to escort her to her seat.
"Good morning, Rhiannon." He smiles
"Morning, Thor."
"Sleep well?"
"Not really. Don't get me wrong, the beds here are super cozy. But, I had too much on my mind last night."
"Come, let me introduce you to everyone." He escorts her over to the table. "Rhiannon meet Sif and the warriors three, Hogan, Volstagg, and Fandral.
"Hello everyone." Rhi smiles
Fandral gets up to kiss Rhi's hand. "Thor why have you been hiding this beautiful vision from us?"
Rhi gives him a fake smile as she removes her hand from him. "Our relationship is still in its early stages. Between me living on Midguard and Thor traveling back and forth. We've just been taking things slow."
"Rumor has it you are here to testify at Loki's trial on his behalf." Sif says. Rhi nods as she starts to eat. "What do you gain from helping him?"
"Excuse me?"
"Sif..." Thor warns.
"No, it's ok Thor." She turns back to Sif. "I have nothing to gain. I just simply want to help my friend."
"The trickster has a friend?" Asks Volstagg
"Is that so hard to believe?" Rhi questions back
"Very." Says Hogan.
"Why is that?" Rhi questions while trying to keep her temper at bay.
"Let's see...he lies." Fandral says.
"Manipulates." Hogan says.
"He's self centered." Adds Volstagg
"He's a monster." Says Sif.
Rhi stands up and slams her hands on the table, her magic flaring in her hands and eyes. "Take. It. Back."
Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogan are taken aback by her outburst. However, Sif doesn't hesitate and stands up. "Or what?" Sif challenges.
Rhi conjures her knives. "Why don't you come over here and find out." Sif draws her sword and starts walking towards her.
"Enough!" Thor quickly gets up to stand between them. "Watch how you speak of Loki. After all, he's still my brother, and your prince."
Sif puts away her sword and the warriors all look down at the floor and continue with their meal. Thor gestures Rhi to her chair to continue the meal.
"No thank you, I've lost my appetite. Excuse me."
She nods at Thor and then heads out of the dining hall and decides to go and see Loki again. So she places an illusion over herself and teleports back to the dungeons where she finds him laying on a cot facing away from her.
"What are you doing here?" Loki says still facing away from her.
"I wanted...needed to see you."
"Did you now?" Loki says coldly.
Rhi sighs as she knew he was only acting this way to try and push her away."Yes. I missed you and thought you could use some company. I know I do."
Loki now sits up on the cot and faces her. "I thought Thor and his friends were keeping you plenty company."
"Yes. But, I prefer yours, especially over Sifs." Rhi says as she notices a small smile appear on Loki's face. "You guys were a thing at some point, weren't you?"
"Once."
"She really doesn't like you." Rhi eyes him suspiciously as she notices him shift nervously on the cot. "What did you do?"
Loki clears his throat. "I, uh, cut half her hair off after she feel asleep."
Rhi chuckles. "No wonder she hates you. Anyone else I need to know about?"
"Fandral." Loki says hesitantly
"Really?" Loki nods. "You know now that you mention it, I can totally see it."
"It doesn't bother you?"
"You sleeping with a man?" Loki nods. "Of course not. Loki, I already know you've been with other people before me and I don't care what gender they were. I'll admit I'm a little jealous knowing you've slept with others, sure. But, I know you love me and that's all that matters." Rhi smiles. "Does Thor know?"
"I'm sure he has his suspicions, but no. Fandral swore me to secrecy and Sif threatened to kill me if I were to ever mention it to anyone." They both laugh.
"How are you holding up? And don't lie, you know I can tell when you do."
Loki shrugs. "About as well as you would expect for someone who's going to be executed."
"You don't know that for sure."
"You and I both know, this trial is only for show. Odin has already made up his mind about me." He then walks up to the glass and places his hand on the wall, Rhi does the same. "What I wouldn't give, to just hold your hand once more. If only for a moment."
Rhi thinks to herself for a moment. "Maybe you can."
"You can't teleport in here, these cells are enchanted with a very powerful magic."
Rhi closes her eyes and places both of her hands on the cell wall. "I've seen Vision use the mind stone to phase through walls. If he can, then maybe..." She trails off as she focuses her energy until she successfully phases into the cell. "Holy shit! It actually worked!" She shouts as she runs to Loki and jumps into his arms, crashing her lips onto his.
Loki clings onto her as if she will disappear at any given moment and walks them over to the cot where he lays them down with her underneath of him. All while never separating their lips from one another.
Things quickly get heated as Rhi feels Loki's hand starts grazing up her thigh and his lips start to work their way down her neck.
"Loki, we can't."
Loki sighs in defeat. "I know." He then pulls away to cup her face and look down at her. "Mitt vakre lys." Rhi raises her hand to cup his face as well. "My King." She smiles.
Loki suddenly turns his attention to something outside of the cell and then looks back at her and quickly helps her up. "Someone's coming." He places one last soft kiss on her lips. "I love you."
"I love you too, mischief." Rhi whispers against his lips before phasing out of the cell and teleporting back to her room.
Once she's back in her room, she hears someone knocking at the door.
"May I come in?" Thor asks as he pulls a pastry from behind his back.
"Only because you brought food." She smiles and steps aside to let him in. "Sorry about my outburst from earlier."
"There's no need to apologize. I can see how much you care for Loki."
"I don't just care for him Thor, I love him. He's..."She pauses trying to find the right words. "My soulmate."
"Come, theres something I wish to show you."
Rhi follows Thor to a bedroom that looks like it hasn't been occupied in a while and grabs a dress out of the wardrobe and hands it to Rhi. It was a floor length white dress with gold metallic accents.
"It's beautiful." Rhi exclaims as she brushes her hand over the dress to feel the soft silky fabric.
"It was my mothers."
"What!" She rips her hand away. "Thor! I couldn't possible where this."
"She would want you too." Thor smiles. "And I know Loki would love seeing you in it."
"Thank you." She says as she hugs him.
* * *
"Everyone's staring." Rhi says as she wraps her arm tighter around Thor's .
"They're just jealous." He winks
"Yeah sure." She mumbles
Odin stands and taps his spear, Gungnir, against the ground to silence the crowd and nods at the guards standing by the door. The doors open and Loki is brought it. Rhi silently gasps as she sees him with chains around his neck, waist, wrists, hips, and ankles while being guided in by a group of the Einherjar.
She watches Loki slowly make his way to the front of the throne room feeling a mix of emotions bubbling to the surface again. Thor places a hand on her shoulder for comfort.
Loki quickly glances at Rhi and smiles sadly to himself before looking up at Odin and chuckles as he gestures to the guards around him.
"Are you sure you have enough guards? I think you could use a little more."
"Silence!" Odin booms. "The only reason you are still alive and standing trial, is because Thor tells me you've been on Midguard seemingly atoning for your actions. Is this correct?"
Loki takes a deep breath. "Yes. I was working with S.H.I.E.L.D., a Midguardian extra-governmental counter-terrorism and intelligence agency. In return, they allowed me to live amongst them. However I was confined to the Avengers' compound and was not allowed to leave."
"And how did they monitor your whereabouts?"
"They assigned one of their agents," He gestures to Rhi, "to me as both my partner and handler. She can wield a powerful magic therefore able to track my whereabouts and take me down if necessary."
"Why did they agree to this?"
"While I did invade and try to conquer Midguard. I only did so...because of the influence of another."
"Explain!" Odin says while eyeing him suspiciously.
"The wormhole brought me to a far corner of space. There I met the titan, Thanos and he..." Loki pauses for a moment, taking a deep breath to keep himself calm and composed. "He imprisoned and tortured me until I gave in to his request."
"His request?"
"To use his army and the scepter to retrieve the Tesseract. In exchange, he offered me Midguard to rule while he conquered the rest of the universe."
"And you say you were influenced?"
Loki nods. "The scepter. It corrupted and clouded my mind. Made it to where I only wanted nothing but vengeance."
"Do you have proof of any of this?"
"I can attest to it, Allfather." Rhi says as she steps forward. Odin nods for her to continue. "Thanks to my magic, a skill passed down to me by my mother, the late Queen of Alfheim, I'm able to read minds and detect the true emotions of a person. With those skills, I was able to peer into Loki's mind and confirm his story when he informed me. And, even though he was under the influence of the scepter, I've witnessed Loki work hard to atone for the consequences of his actions, including saving my life." Rhi quickly glances at Loki and smiles. "I was fatally injured during a mission. Fortunately, Loki was able to use his magic to heal me."
"I see. Thank you, for your testimony." Rhi bow's her head and steps back next to Thor. "However, seeing as there is no physical proof of this, Thanos' involvement, I have no choice but to dismiss this evidence."
"No." Rhi cries to herself and turns her attention to Loki who was biting the inside of his cheek in an attempt to keep his face neutral.
"Loki. Even though you say you've atoned for your actions, you have disgraced not only me, but the very people of Asgard, and have done irreparable damage to the balance of the nine realms. Therefore, I have decided to do what I've should've done in the first place...to sentence you to death!"
Rhi feels her heart shatter into a million pieces as tears start streaming down her face. If it weren't for Thor holding her, she probably would've dropped to the ground.
"Remember what you promised me, my love."
Upon hearing his voice, Rhi glances up to see Loki looking at her with tear filled eyes.
"Your execution shall take place at dawn. Guards, take him back to the dungeons." Odin proclaims as he gestures for the guards.
"NO!"
Suddenly everyone goes quiet and turns their attention towards Rhi.
"Come again?" Odin asks.
"I'm sorry, did I not make myself clear?" Rhi says as she steps forward, eyes glowing bright with her magic. "No!"
"Rhiannon..." Thor warns as he quickly grabs her arm.
"Remember your promise, Thor." She yanks her arm free and continues to walk forward until she's in front of Loki and stands protectively in front of him.
"I knew we couldn't trust her." She hears Sif sneer as she drew her sword.
Loki looks at her with a mixture of anger and love. "What in the nine realms are you doing!?"
"I'm not going let him take you away from me."
"You dare defy the orders of a King!"
"If by orders, you mean executing the man I love because you're nothing but a pompous ass...then yes." Her magic now flaring in her hands.
"Very well. Guards! Arrest her!" Odin orders
As the Einherjar and warriors three approach, Rhi she looks down at the dress she's wearing, "This won't do," and uses her magic to change into her mission outfit.
"Much better."
Using a combination of her knife skills and magic, Rhi quickly fights off the guards. When the first wave is defeated, she quickly uses her magic again to destroy Loki's chains.
"ENOUGH!" Odin shouts as he slams Gungnir to the ground, sending a wave of magical energy towards Loki and Rhi.
Loki quickly grabs Rhi's hand so they can combine their magic to create a shield strong enough to stop the blast and rebound it back in Odin's direction, knocking him over.
As the Einherjar rush over to help Odin, Thor quickly runs over to them and Rhi stands protectively in front of Loki.
"I'll hold them off."
"Thank you." Rhi gives Thor a quick hug and then turns back to Loki. "We need to figure out a way out of here."
"I know a place." He grabs her hand and teleports them out of the throne room.
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