That night, as Elisabete gave Sanit her dinner, she gasped softly as she felt the necklace slip past the fabric of her dress, revealing itself. She quickly managed to put it back so the emerald was hid but wasn't quick enough to prevent Sanit from seeing it.
"Who gave that to you?" Sanit asked.
"No one, my lady." Elisabete replied.
"You didn't have it when you were this morning? Who gave it to you?" Sanit growled.
"It is getting late and I must attend to the boy." Elisabete told her.
Elisabete walked towards the door as Sanit sat up in her bed and threw her dinner onto the floor. The clatter caused Elisabete to jump as she turned to face Sanit. She was gripping the foot of the bed as a few healers rushed into the room to see what the commotion was.
"Who gave it to you!" Sanit screamed.
Elisabete felt her eyes well with tears as she quickly ran out of the room. She rushed towards the boy's room and wiped her eyes before entering. There, she was surprised to find Loki sitting on the floor next to Faust as he played with his toys. Seeing them together made Elisabete's heart sink in her chest. Just seeing the smile on Loki's face felt like she was being stabbed in the chest. Although the boy was Thor's son, he was innocent and did nothing wrong. He hadn't asked to be born. She watched as Faust played with his toys and Loki simply watched with a smile on his face.
"He'll get too riled up if he doesn't stop before bed." Elisabete spoke up.
Loki turned to look up at Elisabete and beamed as he chuckled softly.
"I hadn't thought of that. He was just so adamant on playing, I didn't want to say no and upset him." Loki explained.
Elisabete nodded her head as she seated herself across from Loki.
"If you want to play with him, you can you know." Elisabete chuckled.
Loki furrowed his brow at her and Elisabete shook her head as she picked up the same dog toy as before and started to join in Faust's game. He was holding two wooden figurines, similar to a king and a queen, and was telling the two of the king's laws and his rule and about his queen and how she was very pretty. When Elisabete had the dog join in, Faust said it was the king and queen's dog. Whenever he acknowledged the dog being there as the king toy, Elisabete barked softly, making Faust laugh by how ridiculous it sounded.
"See? It's easy. You just pick up a toy and play. Didn't you do it as a child?" Elisabete asked.
Loki looked down at the wooden figures and blindly picked one up.
"Now, Faust, who is this in the court?" Elisabete asked.
"A servant." Faust replied.
"So, like me?" Elisabete asked.
"No, you're the queen." Faust giggled.
Elisabete furrowed his brow at him as Faust looked up at Loki.
"And he's the king." Faust stated.
He giggled as he looked down at the wooden figures and played with them. Elisabete and Loki looked up at one another and then back at Faust.
"Faust, I am a maid. There is no queen in Asgard...yet." Elisabete spoke.
"You're a queen here." Faust told her.
"In Asgard?" Elisabete scoffed.
"No. Here, in my room." Faust replied.
"Well, that is very kind of you." Elisabete smiled.
Shortly after, Elisabete tucked Faust into bed as Loki watched. She hummed a soft melody that Faust quickly fell asleep to. Once he was out, Elisabete stood from the bed and turned to face Loki.
"You are quite good at this." Loki grinned.
"Well, I have two younger sisters, so I was used to caring for them as infants." Elisabete told him.
Before Loki could speak, a maid entered the room frantically.
"My king, my lady is requesting you visit her. She is much distressed and enraged." The maid alerted him.
"I will be right there." Loki said.
The maid ran off and Loki looked back at Elisabete, as if waiting for an answer.
"She saw the necklace." Elisabete replied.
Loki took a deep breath before pacing out of the room and to the healers. Upon arriving there, he could hear Sanit screaming and yelling from outside the room. He burst open the door and glared at Sanit as he saw her dinner across the floor. She was thrashing at the sheets demanding to be taken out of the bed as a few healers held her down. Eir was watching her and making sure she was not distressing herself too much to harm herself or the baby. Loki thought she looked possessed as she moved on the bed. When her eye caught his figure, she managed to push the healers away from her and crawl towards the end of the bed. She gripped the foot of the bed and glared at him as she bared her teeth, panting heavily like a wild beast.
"You. You gave her that necklace, didn't you! She gets a necklace while I lay here recovering to provide you with an heir! What has she done to you that lets her get a gift!" Sanit yelled at him.
"Sanit, calm yourself." Loki spoke.
"How can I calm myself when I lay here while you're off gallivanting with her! I am your mistress. I should be receiving gifts that like! Not her!" Sanit told him angrily.
"You are not my mistress! I never awarded you that title and for you to think you are my mistress is insane! You are delusional to even think that I would make you my mistress!" Loki snapped at her, practically screaming at her.
"So what am I then? What is she? I am going to have your son!" Sanit cried.
"And that is all you will ever be to me," Loki explained to her. "I know you love me but my feelings for you are gone. All you will ever be to me is the mother of my son and that is it. You are nothing, Sanit. Leave her out of this."
"Leave her out of this? This whole argument is about her, Loki! She's trying to take you away from me! She's a little whore, Loki, can't you see that? She's nothing but a stupid harlot. She can't love you like I do." Sanit exclaimed.
Loki stalked towards Sanit and smacked her across the face with all his force, causing her to fall back against the bed, clutching her lip and seeing her fingertips stained with blood. She glared at him as she watched him be held back by three healers.
"A whore? You dare call her a whore when you are one yourself! She is anything but a whore and I will not have you tarnish her good name! If I ever hear you call her that name again, I will have you killed! Do you hear me? I will have you executed for this!" Loki screamed.
Sanit sat back up on the bed as the healers took a step back from Loki as he stopped fighting against their hold on him. Sanit wiped her lip as she looked up at Loki and trembled as her rage got the best of her. She thought back to what she had said and the realization soon came to her as her eyes widened.
"You...you bastard! You gave her the necklace as a gift because she's your mistress! You fucking bastard! How could you do this to me? To me! I'm the one carrying your child, not her. I'm the one who loves you, not her. And I am the one who holds the status to be queen of this realm! The child I carry in my belly is proof of that! A maid cannot be a mistress. I gave you one night with her to satisfy your needs! How much more can you want from her? She's a good for nothing peasant who only wants the luxuries and riches of this world we live in. She cannot love you, Loki! She's faking it! Loki, I love you. Please do not cast me aside." Sanit screamed at him.
Loki kept his cool as he listened to her. When she finished, he scoffed at her, watching as the blood pooled in the corners of her mouth.
"You don't know what you're getting yourself in to, so I suggest you shut up." Loki snapped as he stormed out of the room.
"Get back here, Loki! I'm not finished with you!" Sanit screamed in a hoarse voice.
As the door slammed shut, Sanit broke down in tears as Eir examined her and the child to ensure their safety. Sanit pushed Eir away from her and demanded everyone clear the room. Eir and the other healers did as they were told and Sanit cried herself to sleep.
Loki rushed to his chambers and opened the door to find Elisabete standing at the side of his bed and walked towards her.
"I'm sorry. I tried to hide it, but it came out, and she-"
"Shh, it's alright. You have nothing to be sorry for." Loki interjected.
He wrapped his arms around her and Elisabete gripped the back of his jacket tightly, not wanting to let go. She cried softly into his chest and Loki hushed her, cradling the back of her head.
"Don't cry, Elisabete. You did nothing wrong. You're safe here." Loki whispered.
That night, Loki and Elisabete lay in his bed together, holding each other. Loki pushed back some of her hair behind her ear and Elisabete leaned into his touch.
"Does she know?" Elisabete asked.
"She does, yes." Loki replied.
Elisabete's eyes widened as she shook her head and Loki caressed the sides of her face as she began to panic.
"What if she tells someone? What if the other maids or people at court hear it? What will they think of me?" Elisabete asked frantically.
"Nothing will happen. I have this under control, alright. I'm taking care of it." Loki told her.
"Okay." Elisabete sighed.
"Come here." Loki spoke.
Elisabete curled herself around Loki as he wrapped his arms around her. His hands ran over her back, trying to calm her as he kissed her.
"Sleep now. Rest your mind." Loki whispered.
"I can't. I must go home." Elisabete whispered back.
"Stay." Loki smiled weakly.
"I'm sorry. I must leave. If I stay the night, I have no idea what Edric would say, or even do, to me." Elisabete told him.
"Then I will go with you. I'll take you home." Loki suggested.
"I can't let you do that." Elisabete sighed.
"I want to. Besides, I wouldn't want you leaving this palace all shaken up. Let's go." Loki told her.
Loki wrapped an arm around Elisabete as he walked with her to her station to gather her things. There, he walked down the dirt road with her she took every day. The night sky was filled with stars and Elisabete found herself looking up at them as she walked, smiling. Loki looked down at her and could see the stars in her eyes as her face lighted up with joy.
"I've been alive for so long, yet I've never found the time to really gaze at the stars and admire them." Elisabete stated.
"When you've been alive for as long as me, you'll learn to appreciate them even more." Loki told her.
"How?" Elisabete asked.
"When we're young, we take things for granted. As we get older, we realize just how little time we have left on this realm and we take our time to enjoy the little things life has to offer...such as the stars." Loki explained.
"Or you're just very busy with certain tasks you never find the time." Elisabete stated.
The two continued down the path and as they entered her village, Loki put the hood of his cloak over his head, not wanting to be seen by anyone. As they walked, Elisabete pointed out her family home and Loki could not believe the hold home where she used to live. It was broken down, more so than the others. The wood was chipped and some walls were stained and windows broken and cracked.
"In the beginning of your reign, many of the villagers mocked us for being true to you as a king. They took it out on us and after some time they stopped. The cleaning wasn't the worst part of it." Elisabete told him.
"Why don't you just move?" Loki asked.
"I've told you this. I would but my parents are too sick to travel and I cannot leave them. My older brother, Tadeus cares for them as well, but I'd never forgive myself if I just abandoned them." Elisabete replied.
"I see. Could one of the healers come and see them?" Loki inquired.
"They are too ill now. Nothing could save them and I wouldn't want you to go out of your way and do that." Elisabete told him.
"Please, I'd do anything for you." Loki chuckled nonchalantly.
Although he seemed to not care about what he said, Elisabete knew he meant it. They reached Edric's home and Elisabete's breath hitched in her throat when she saw a light on in the bedroom. Loki gave her a look and rubbed her arm to try and soothe her.
"He's awake." Elisabete spoke.
"Well, here is where I bid you good night." Loki told her.
"Thank you for walking me home. It was a nice trip." Elisabete smiled.
"I shall see you tomorrow." Loki said as he took her hand and kissed her knuckles softly.
Elisabete giggled as he pulled back and teleported back to the palace. As he used his magic, she wondered why he hadn't used his magic to just teleport them here instead of walking. Nonetheless, she entered the home and made her way to the bedroom.
As the next few days passed by, Eir kept checking on Sanit every few hours. In her bed, she expected Loki to come and check on her but he never came. If she lost his love, she would lose everything. Without him, she would have no prospects and be forced to return to her home on Vanaheim with Faust. This child served no purpose for her gains anymore. It meant nothing to her if Loki did not care for her. Finally, she had gained her strength back and Eir dismissed her from the healing rooms. She immediately made her way to Faust's room and found him playing on the floor. Her eyes welled with tears as she looked on him and smiled with joy as she walked towards him. When Faust turned around to face her, he exclaimed happily and ran towards her.
"Mama! Mama!" Faust laughed.
"Oh, my boy. My sweet boy." Sanit cried as she held him in her arms.
Loki asked Elisabete to come into his chambers and she tried to hide her smile, knowing what was to come. Once he closed the door behind them, Elisabete giggled as Loki picked her up into his arms and walked over to the bed. He threw her down onto it and the two laughed as he laid himself over her body, kissing her deeply. When he pulled back, he looked down at her chest to see the emerald laying against her pale chest as it heaved. He picked it up into his hand and looked down at Elisabete with a smile on his face.
"Elisabete, I think I-"
"I knew it." A voice interjected.
Loki and Elisabete looked over at the door to find Sanit standing in the open space. His eyes widened as he stood up straight and called out to her.
"Sanit, it isn't what it looks like." Loki told her.
"Do you think I'm stupid? I can see you were going to sleep with her." Sanit said shakily.
"Just hear me out, Sanit-"
"How long have you been sleeping with her after that night?" Sanit inquired.
Elisabete quickly sat up from the bed and looked over at Sanit, seeing her glare daggers at her.
"Sanit-"
"How long!" She exclaimed.
"My lady, he-"
"You shut up!" Sanit snapped at her.
"You do not speak to her like that." Loki told her.
"And you can speak like that to me? I came here to tell you that I have been release and all is well and instead I find you here with her. How could you betray me like this! I am the one carrying your son, not her!" Sanit exclaimed.
Loki was about to speak when Sanit stormed out of the room and down the hall.
"Sanit, no! Come back here!" Loki called out to her.
He ran out after her and Elisabete followed him. Loki caught up to Sanit and gripped her wrist tightly, forcing her to turn and face him.
"She is your mistress! She is in no way deserving of such a title due to her status! I cannot believe you have been sleeping with her while I have been recovering from the nausea your child has given me!" Sanit shouted.
"Sanit, keep your voice down." Loki growled.
"Why? So that no one will hear of what she is? I want them to know what she's done. I want them all to know that your maid has been sleeping with you!" Sanit screamed.
Loki panicked as he saw a few maids walk around the corner towards them. He quickly grabbed Sanit as she thrashed at him, trying to push him away. She screamed and punched at his chest, causing the maids to stop in their tracks and run away from the commotion around them.
"Sanit, be quiet! Stop fighting!" Loki exclaimed.
At that moment, Elisabete came running around the corner and panted heavily as she watched Sanit fight against Loki's hold on her. She cried against him as Loki hushed her, thinking that everything would be alright. However, as Sanit raised her head to speak to Loki, her eyes wandered to the figure behind them, revealing Elisabete to her. Just seeing her made her rage bubble inside of her, making her cry out in frustration. Loki was confused and momentarily loosened his grip allowing Sanit to stalk towards Elisabete. He turned around and he inhaled sharply as he saw Elisabete frozen in place.
"You! You did this!" Sanit exclaimed.
"Sanit. Sanit, no!" Loki called out to her.
Before she could touch her, Loki wrapped his arms around Sanit's waist and held her tightly against him. She arched her back and bucked away from him as she thrashed at his hands and at Elisabete.
"You think you can destroy everything I've ever worked for! You think you can just stroll in here while I'm away and take him away! He has always loved me from the moment we set eyes on each other during a feast! I'm going to have his child and be his queen. You...you're nothing to him. You're just his little plaything. You're the dirt under my feet! You can never love him like I do. How dare you come into my life and ruin it! You're a little wench, do you hear me? A fucking wench, is what you are, and I want everyone to know it! Elisabete is a wench, a slut! A good for nothing-"
Sanit broke down crying as Loki dropped her to the ground. Elisabete watched in horror as Loki gripped her arms and pulled her over his shoulder. The two fought against one another and he glanced back at Elisabete.
"Go to my chambers and stay there." Loki instructed.
"Yes, my king." Elisabete spoke.
She ran off as Loki stalked towards the healing rooms, not caring as the other maids and servants watched him and Sanit with confused glances. He set her onto her feet and pushed her into the room.
"You stay here and calm yourself. I am this close to throwing you on the street." Loki warned her.
"But that's what she is, isn't she? Your little toy to play with while I'm gone. Tell me that's what this is." Sanit told him.
"I will come back later to check up on you." Loki stated.
He left the room and made his way back to his chambers. He slammed the door shut and locked it, giving Eir the key. Sanit banged on the door and cried out in agony as she leaned against the door and slid down. As she lay there, she felt a sharp pain through her lower body and panicked as she felt her vision blur and her head spin.
Loki found Elisabete sobbing as she sat on the floor against his bed. He rushed towards and knelt in front of her, taking her hands in his.
"Shh, she's gone. I took care of her." Loki told her.
"Loki, people heard." Elisabete gasped.
"What?" Loki asked.
"When I turned the corner to run away, they were there. Maids had listened and heard it all. They know." Elisabete told him through her cries.
"Don't cry. I can make it right. Just don't cry. It pains me to see you this way." Loki spoke.
"How can you make it right? They think me to be a whore." Elisabete exhaled sharply.
"Now, Elisabete, I never want to hear you say that word, or call yourself that, ever again. Do you understand me? You are not a whore." Loki told her.
"I understand." Elisabete nodded her head.
Loki took her face in his hands and she moaned softly, ceasing her cries as she calmed herself.
"That's it. Everything will be better. I'll make it work. I'll do whatever I can to make you happy and content with your life." Loki whispered.
He kissed the side of her mouth and wiped away her tears.
"You will stay here for the remainder of the day. You will leave once everyone else has left." Loki told her.
"What about my duties?" Elisabete asked.
"Forget about them. For now, you stay here where you are safe from their words." Loki replied.
Later in the day, Eir had ran around the palace trying to find Loki. She repeatedly knocked on his chamber door and was relieved to find him open the door. However, her gaze glanced back at Elisabete as she was sitting at his writing desk eating a meal. She then looked back up at Loki as he moved himself, obstructing her view on Elisabete.
"What is it?" Loki inquired.
"It is Sanit and..." Eir trailed off.
"And who?" Loki asked.
"The baby." Eir replied.
Loki rushed into the healing rooms to find Sanit, pale as a sheet, on the bed, curled on her side.
"My king, I am sorry, but I had warned you of this. I told you what would come if we did not intervene." Eir explained to him.
Loki walked into the room and closed the door behind him. As he looked down at her, he couldn't help but admit he felt sorry for her. He believed her to have remained true to him and he had hurt in her in more ways than none. However, his empathy turned to anger when he realized that Sanit had miscarried his son, his heir. The child which he knew he never could have was killed because of her jealousy and envy. His hopes of having a child were completely gone and knew better than to have believed he could have had one.
Sanit looked up at him and chuckled as she shook her head.
"Do not blame yourself for this, for the only one who is to blame is Elisabete." Sanit spat at him.
Loki swallowed the lump in his throat as he stared at her.
"You lost the child." Loki stated.
"She caused it." Sanit scoffed.
"No...you caused it with your behavior. You acted horribly today and that caused you to lose the child that could have been my heir." Loki told her.
"I didn't even want it!" Sanit exclaimed.
Loki's eyes widened in shock as he heard her confession, seeing her immediately regret it.
"Why?" Loki inquired.
"It didn't feel right to me." Sanit spoke.
"I'll have you know that that child was the only thing keeping you here." Loki told her.
"So, what will you do with me then? Cast me aside on the street with Faust?" Sanit asked.
"Possibly...or just you. I quite like the boy." Loki replied.
Sanit slowly sat up on the bed as she glared at Loki.
"If I am to be gone...I don't want Elisabete coming near him. You assign another maid to care for him." Sanit told him.
"That will be hard. The boy likes her too." Loki stated.
"Well, she isn't his mother so he'll just have to deal with it!" Sanit snapped.
Loki cast her a look and sighed as he looked down at the floor.
"I will assign another maid to bring you your meals here." Loki told her.
"Oh, so you can spend more time with her?" Sanit scoffed.
Loki left the room and Sanit broke down crying as she laid back against the bed. As night came, Sanit had managed to pick herself up out of the bed and walked down the halls towards Loki's chambers. She was not finished arguing with him. She knew that it was almost Faust's bedtime and she did not want Elisabete going near him. She opened the door to find Loki and Elisabete at his writing desk. Loki glared at Sanit as she stood in the doorway.
"Elisabete will not attend on Faust anymore." Sanit told him.
"You do not hold the authority to make decisions such as that. She will remain where she is." Loki announced.
Elisabete listened as the two argued over her and Faust. She knew she had to say something but didn't know how to without destroying Loki's feelings.
"Why are you so adamant that Elisabete stays away from your nephew?" Loki inquired.
"Because...because..." Sanit trailed off.
"Yes?" Loki asked.
"I know why." Elisabete interjected.
The two turned to face her and Sanit scoffed as she shook her head.
"You don't know anything, you're just a silly little girl." Sanit told her.
"I do know." Elisabete stood her ground.
"What are you going on about?" Loki inquired.
"I have known for a few days now and I am sorry I never said it before to you but...Faust is not her nephew. He's her son." Elisabete confessed.
Sanit's eyes widened as she inhaled sharply.
"How did you know?" Sanit inquired.
"He's not just her son too." Elisabete continued.
"Stop it." Sanit said softly.
Loki looked at Sanit and furrowed his brow as he could see the look of shock on her face.
"Go on, Elisabete." Loki said as he kept his eyes on Sanit.
"Faust's father is Thor." Elisabete admitted.