Loki decided to keep the news of her pregnancy a secret to everyone but her family and Iona. When it came down to the coronation and wedding, Loki thought it would be nice to have an intimate setting for it. He planned that it would take place in the healing rooms where Elisabete was resting in the presence of her family, Iona, Eir, the Warrior's Three, Lady Sif, and the official presenting her with the crown and deeming them husband and wife. They all pledged to him that they would keep quiet about the reasoning behind her being bedridden if anyone in the court asked. She felt much better by the time the ceremony was happening but Eir requested she stay in bed for another day to ensure she was completely healthy before she could release her.
When it came time to the coronation, Loki took the opportunity to crown her himself. She smiled up at him and he kissed her sweetly.
"You are now officially granted the title of Queen of Asgard." Loki told her.
"Thank you." Elisabete spoke softly.
The others clapped and Elisabete looked up at her family and saw them beaming with pride. With her title, Loki was able to anoint her siblings as princesses and tadeus as a prince, with her family being a lord and lady.
"Now we can proceed onto the wedding." Loki told them.
The priest came in and began to ceremony. Loki seated himself on the edge of the bed next to Elisabete. He held her hand in his as he placed the other on her belly, feeling the child there in her womb, as opposed to Sanit's belly where he felt nothing. The two were announced husband and wife and king and queen of Asgard. Fandral presented them with the rings and Loki placed her ring above the one already on her finger. He then helped Elisabete to put his on for him and he kissed her head as she leaned into his touch. When the ceremony had ended, everyone left to leave Loki and Elisabete to be by themselves. As her family left, the Warrior's Three and Sif hid behind a pillar, away from anyone's view.
"Now he is assured to keep his reign going." Volstagg huffed.
"We do have to admit that neither of us have seen him this happy." Sif pointed out.
"You're one to talk about that." Fandral chuckled.
"I'm serious. Despite what he's done, this can be an opportunity for us." Sif told them.
"How so?" Hogun inquired.
"With this new attitude, we can do what we can to find out what really happened to Thor. He wouldn't have just abandoned us like this. Thor is loyal to Asgard and always has been. With him on his good side as he rules, he may allow us to travel to different realms and ask to take a book or two from his private library. If we ask for something he hasn't allowed us before, he might accept our requests given his new mood." Sif explained.
"For all we know Thor could have had him banished and threatened Heimdall for his silence." Volstagg spoke.
"All I'm saying is that we now have the potential to snoop and take advantage of Loki while he's in this mood. He's going to be worrying over Elisabete and their baby. He's going to have his hands full." Sif told them.
"He might even make time in his schedule to be with her for several hours. That could give us enough time to ask around." Fandral spoke.
"I'm glad we are all on the same page." Sif told them.
Eir checked up on Elisabete and was happy to say that the baby was still healthy and growing.
"For now she should be alright and the baby too. I can release her tomorrow." Eir told them.
"That's wonderful news. That way we can have the wedding feast and you'll be present for it." Loki spoke.
"She should be fine for it in terms of health. What amazes me is how her body is accepting of the child. Her nausea has almost completely subsided whereas Sanit was sick for almost more than a week. You should be thankful for this child. However, I am still unsure what is to come so whenever you feel something out of the ordinary whether it be a small pain in your abdomen or some spotting, I want you to rush over here." Eir explained to the both of them.
"I'll be sure to do that." Elisabete said.
Eir exited the room and Loki ran his hand over her belly.
"I will give you a healthy boy, I promise you." Elisabete told him.
"Soon, we will have a family. I cannot even believe I'm going to have this child." Loki chuckled.
"I'm glad my body is the way it is to have accepted the baby." Elisabete beamed.
"You know, I felt a connection with my seidr." Loki told her.
"You did?" She inquired.
"Mhmm. I felt its presence with seidr and it made contact with my own." Loki replied.
"Does that mean the baby has your seidr then?" She asked.
"I think so." Loki smiled.
"That's amazing." Elisabete said breathlessly.
She looked down at her belly and rubbed it softly.
"You're doing so well aren't you?" She giggled.
Loki leaned down and placed a kiss onto her belly. The following morning, Eir released Elisabete and the two went for a walk through the gardens. As they walked, many court members in the area whispered to one another as they passed them by. She noticed them staring and pointing and put her hand on her belly, fearing that they knew already about her pregnancy. But that just spurred them on, making them furrow their brows and stop in their tracks to stare at them. She felt her nerves get the best of her and looked up at Loki as he sensed something was wrong.
"What is it?" He asked.
"I feel like everyone here knows." She spoke.
"Elisabete, no one knows of your pregnancy. They know nothing and they will continue to not know until we tell them at the feast." Loki whispered.
"I know but they're all staring." Elisabete sighed.
"They can speculate about your absence all they want, but it doesn't matter what they think. Now, don't get upset." Loki told her.
Elisabete wiped her tears away and shook her head softly.
"I feel like I'm going to be sick." Elisabete gasped.
Loki wrapped his arm around her and led her back into the palace to her chambers. She sat on the edge of her bed and Loki exhaled sharply as he paced in front of her.
"I don't want them thinking we got married in private just because I was pregnant. I don't want them to have that impression of me." Elisabete explained.
"Why does it matter to you? Why do you care what they think?" Loki scoffed.
"I want them to have a good impression of me. I want them to be a person they can look up to." Elisabete replied.
"And you can be a good person despite what rumors they come up with because they're rumors. They're not real." Loki told her.
"I know that but I don't want to give them a reason to make up those rumors." Elisabete said.
"They don't care if you're the best person in the world or the worst! They'll still talk about you no matter what because you're in the public eye. They'll make up rumors just to make their lives a little bit better! Why can't you understand that not everything is about appearances!" Loki yelled at her, getting frustrated with her.
Elisabete's lip quivered as she looked down at her lap.
"I do understand it's not all about appearances. I just want them to like me because of who I was before this. I just want them to like me and seeing them say things that aren't true hurts. I can't help how I feel." Elisabete explained to him.
"If you want to continue living here, you're going to have to grow a thick skin. Look at me. Do you think I let what they say get to me? I've had them say horrible things about me and many were true. I brought you here because I want to spend the rest of my life with you and watching our child grow. But I cannot continue to console you about trivial matters such as this when all you have to do is suck it up." Loki seethed.
She stood from the bed and walked towards the door. She opened it and Loki furrowed his brow as he looked at her.
"What are you doing?" He inquired.
"Get out." She said.
"What?" Loki scoffed.
"I will not have you stay here and yell at me like that when I've done nothing wrong." Elisabete told him.
"I am sorry if I've upset you but I am trying to help you." Loki spoke.
"Not by yelling. If you wish to stay, you will not raise your voice to me again." Elisabete told Loki.
"I promise I won't," Loki sighed. "You have to understand that you can't stop people from thinking or saying what they want. By showing that their words hurt you, you're showing your weakness. If you want to be a good role model to them, you have to act unphased by their words and actions and show no signs of weakness. You have to be strong."
When she listened to him speak, she felt a sense of familiarity with the words, remembering what the strange priest had told her when she visited Iona's church all those months ago. He told her to be strong as well. That man told her she had a heart of gold and that she was stronger than she led on. In her mind, she knew Loki was right. She shouldn't care what they say because they didn't know any better. He walked over to her and smiled when she didn't pull back. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you. I just want you to know that you are stronger than you believe because I believe in you with all my heart. If I didn't think you could handle this situation, I wouldn't have brought you here." Loki explained.
Upon hearing his words, she felt a sense of protection around her and smiled brightly as she kissed him sweetly.
"I forgive you. I do understand where you're coming from, but we cannot help the emotions we feel." Elisabete told him.
"I know. I just want you to realize that you have the power to believe in yourself and to realize you have value over everyone else here. You are innocent and pure. I don't want you to be corrupted by all the negative things they say about you or me." Loki admitted.
"You're right. I shouldn't care what they think when I know the truth about myself." Elisabete said.
"That's right. Now, all that's left is to have our wedding feast. It will be announced tonight and will be held in a few day's time. Then we'll announce the pregnancy that night." Loki told her.
"Wait, but won't they figure out I was far into the pregnancy when the baby comes early to them?" Elisabete questioned him.
"Well, then we say the baby came early due to some complications. Or we tell them the truth." Loki replied.
"They deserve the truth." Elisabete sighed.
"Besides, the court members know better than to question the legitimacy of any child of mine or to question my own personal matters. If they speak out of line or try to slander our good name, they can be imprisoned. It is the law." Loki explained.
"That seems a little harsh don't you think?" Elisabete asked.
"It's not that bad compared to what I have done in the past." Loki told her, remembering how he had killed two people in the past few months just to protect Elisabete from any harm.
"Like what?" She inquired.
"You don't want to know nor will I ever tell you." Loki replied.
"That bad?" She winced.
He nodded his head and Elisabete sighed, not knowing what to say. She knew of Loki's explosive anger and rage since she had dealt with it many times. However, it irritated and frightened her not knowing exactly what Loki has done to others when his rage got the best of him. She's seen how he reacted to Sanit's outbursts, remembering how he had thrown her to the ground and screamed at her. She knew what he was capable of doing to others, knowing he fought in many wars and battles, but it bugged her not being able to envision what he did to people. In some ways, she thought that him not telling her was a good thing. A part of her didn't want to know the abuse and torture he'd done to people, but the other part wanted to know every little detail. This man was now her husband and the soon-to-be father of their child yet she still knew very little about his own personal thoughts and struggles that made him act the way he does. However, Elisabete knew better to than to pry. In the past, she had seen how Loki got worked up whenever one of the Warrior's Three or any of the council members pried and she didn't want to be the target of his rage.
"Well, I won't bother you any further." Elisabete stated.
Loki smiled and kissed her sweetly. He was glad Elisabete acted the way she did. He couldn't deal with another Sanit. If he could keep her innocent and stop her from asking questions, he would be happy. He loved her too much for her to know the truth about him because he knew for a fact if she knew all his dark secrets, she would leave him, and he loved her too much for that to happen. He grinned softly as Elisabete got on her tiptoes to kiss him.
That night, Loki announced that their wedding and coronation had already taken place. He simply stated that Elisabete had been sick days before the actual ceremony and to save everyone the trouble, they had it in the healing rooms. All that was to be held was the feast to celebrate their nuptials. As Elisabete was getting ready for the feast, Iona was helping her.
"In some ways, a lot of people in court think you are much like Sanit." Iona spoke.
"How?" Elisabete inquired, feeling repulsed by even the mere thought of being compared to Sanit.
"Well she was the king's mistress, was pregnant with his heir, and quite possibly could have been the queen. Many of the court members were envious of her role here given she was not a true Asgardian, being born on Vanaheim, and because she had the love of the king. Many of the women here desire to be queen." Iona explained.
"I am nothing like her, Iona." Elisabete stated.
"I know that. You are much better than her and ten times as kinder than she could have ever been. All I am going to say now is that you be careful with this pregnancy and make sure everything goes right. All those women are waiting for a mishap to happen where Loki will cast you aside like Sanit so they can end up his queen." Iona told her.
"Luckily for me, I am not going anywhere. Eir says there is a good chance this baby will survive, so Loki will have heir, I will be his queen, and we will love each other until the day we die." Elisabete smiled brightly.
"Besides, they're just jealous, in my opinion. You deserve to be in the position that you are in right now." Iona told her.
"And you don't think you deserve the same?" Elisabete questioned her.
She turned around to face Iona and she sighed as she shook her head.
"I'm a maid and that's all I'll ever be. I've come to terms with it." Iona explained.
"But I was a maid too. Now look at me." Elisabete chuckled nervously.
"I know and I am so happy for you. But not all of us are destined for greater things. You were put on this realm for a purpose and that is to become the queen and help our home become a better place. You are in this place to help those who are needy, like me, have a better life to live." Iona told her.
"Just because we are seen as being of different statuses does not mean we should be seen as different people. We are all equal and deserve everything this world has to offer." Elisabete explained.
"That is true but the world isn't always fair. Not everything works out the way you hope it does." Iona told her.
"But that isn't right." Elisabete sighed.
"Do not worry yourself over this. I'm completely fine in the position I'm in. I have you as my friend, a loving family, and a good life. I'm happy where I am and I wouldn't wish to change it in any way." Iona smiled happily.
Shortly after, there was a knock on the door and Iona answered it. Loki stepped inside and he beamed with delight upon seeing Elisabete. She was truly glowing and her smile radiated pure joy as she looked up at him. He took her hands in his and kissed her knuckles. He then knelt down in front of her and she furrowed her brow. He had knelt down in front of her before, but that was after she had done it first. Seeing him kneel in front of her as she stood looking down at him made her feel powerful. For the first time in her life, she looked down at Loki, but not in a negative way. In that moment, she knew she had power over Loki in her position. She could help make a change in this realm by talking to Loki about it. She could make him see things he'd never opened his eyes to before.
He then placed his hands on her hips and leaned forward, closing his eyes as he laid a kiss to her belly, all the while Elisabete stared down at him with a loving gaze. She finally had everything she had ever wished for. She had a healthy family, a loving husband, a child on the way, and potentially many more, all the luxuries the realm had to offer, and she was officially the queen. She felt like she could do anything. In that moment, she felt above Loki and above everyone else. She had the power to do whatever her heart desired.
He then stood from the floor and kissed her sweetly. She placed her hands on his cheeks and smiled through it. When they pulled back, the two gazed into each other's eyes for a moment before she let her hands fall to her sides.
"Are we ready to go?" Loki asked.
"Yes...we are ready for the feast." Elisabete replied.
The two exited the room with Iona following behind them. Upon entering the throne room, a guard announced their presence as the king and queen of Asgard. She looked down at all the guests with a new sense of pride that made her hold her head up high and ignore the sour faces of some of the women in the room. They made their way to the banquet table where her family and Ugo were already seated. The two stood at their seats and he raised his glass into the air, allowing a servant to pour wine into the glass.
"Now, I am sure you are all upset that we held our marriage ceremony in secret, as well as my queen's coronation," Loki told everyone. "However, we had good reasoning for it. The days leading up the wedding, my lady had grown ill and was bedridden because of it. Not wanting to stress her out and not knowing if she would be better by the time of the original wedding date, we went through with both ceremonies. The reasoning for this was because...in several months, Asgard will have its heir."
At this announcement, all the guests clapped and cheered. Loki wrapped his arm around Elisabete and kissed her sweetly. As she pulled away, she looked over his shoulder and spotted Ugo clapping enthusiastically with a huge smile on his face. Something about his smile and his face made her feel as though she had seen it before. Nonetheless, she bowed her head towards him and then directed her attention at everyone else in the room. As the night went on, almost all the guests came and gave Loki and Elisabete their congratulations. As Elisabete went towards the dining table, she saw in the corner of her eye a couple of women conversing together. To listen in on them, she took her time picking the foods she wanted on her plate when really she wanted it all.
"Good luck to her carrying that child in her womb." The first chuckled.
"It'll probably die before it's born just like Sanit's." The second added.
"That's what he does. Once they're pregnancy he seems to cast them aside for someone younger, the lady gets jealous and the stress causes her to lose the child." The third told them.
"Well, I don't think it was stress." The first spoke.
"Why not?" The second lady inquired.
"Haven't you heard any of the rumors about him? He's a Frost giant. He's not even Asgardian. And Jotun blood doesn't mix well with Asgardian." The first explained to the two.
"Really? I've never heard that." The third said.
"I have and I'm not sure. The late queen did have trouble with Thor didn't she? It makes sense if they sheltered her during her pregnancy with Loki to keep him safe." The second replied.
"That child she's carrying will be a Jotun hybrid monster and I won't be shocked if it comes out blue and ugly." The first told them.
Elisabete took her food and made her way back to the table. For the rest of the night, she was distant from everyone around her. She quietly ate her food and smiled weakly as Ugo sat next to her in Loki's vacant seat.
"You look down." He spoke.
"Well, when you have people here speculating the validity of my own child and how it will appear when it's born, then you'll know how I feel." Elisabete told him.
"You shouldn't let it bother you. That child will be safe and healthy." Ugo smiled.
"How can you be sure of that when not even Eir is sure of it?" Elisabete scoffed.
"I tend to know a lot of things." Ugo grinned.
His smile gave Elisabete a sense of ease and comfort as well as making her feel confused.
"So what if they think that baby will be Jotun? If it is Jotun, so be it." Ugo whispered.
"I never mentioned they said that." Elisabete gasped.
For a moment, she saw a look of shock in Ugo's eyes, something she'd never seen before. He was always calm and collected and to see him react this way even for the shortest second, it put her on edge. She didn't really know who Ugo was as a person and it made her begin to question what his motives were for helping her.
"Well, I happen to know that that is the biggest rumor surrounding Loki. As I've said, I tend to know a lot of things." Ugo explained himself.
She narrowed her eyes at him and slowly nodded her head as she went back to eating her food. Once the feast had ended, Elisabete stood at the end of Loki's bed in her sheer nightgown. Loki was seated against the headboard reading a book. Quickly casting his eyes over his book towards Elisabete, he furrowed his brow when he realized she was standing there staring right at him. He sighed as he placed his book on the nightstand next to the bed and crossed his arms over his chest as he gave her a look.
"What is it?" Loki asked.
"Can you show me your Jotun side?" She inquired.
"Why?" Loki retorted, his expression turning cold.
She swallowed the lump in her throat as she tried to read his face, not being to see what he was thinking.
"Well...you told me you are a Frost giant and I was just curious." Elisabete replied.
"That's a lie." Loki told her.
"Yes." Elisabete said softly.
"I've never shown it to anyone besides my mother and father, and Heimdall, but he had seen it due to some...unfortunate circumstances. Why do you want to see it?" Loki questioned her.
"If you say you'll get mad again." Elisabete replied.
"I promise to you I won't. Tell me the reason." Loki demanded.
Elisabete walked over to his side and smiled weakly as he reached out to take her hand.
"Some women were gossiping about your heritage and what the baby would look like and I..." Elisabete trailed off as her voice wavered.
"Go on." Loki whispered.
"And I wanted to know what the baby might look like if he were Jotun." Elisabete finished.
Loki chuckled softly as he shook his head. He looked up at her and could see her beginning to cower away from him, expecting him to lash out at her.
"Oh, Elisabete. Come here." He cooed.
She stepped closer to him and he pulled back the covers, letting her sit on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her as she laid her head against his shoulder. He kissed her head and tsked as he saw the tears begin to fall from her face.
"I'm so sorry, it's such a horrible thought to have." Elisabete whimpered.
"Shh, you have nothing to be sorry about. Honestly, I was expecting at some point for you to ask about it. I mean...you can't just know about it and not want to see it." Loki told her.
"You're not mad?" She asked.
"No...no I'm not. Do you really want to see it?" Loki retorted.
Elisabete thought for a moment as she pulled back from Loki and wiped her cheeks of her tears. He was smiling at her and she put her head down as she solemnly nodded her head. He moved her so she sat down on the middle of his bed before standing from the bed before her. He stripped himself of his clothes and Elisabete took him in as his Aesir self. She then glanced up at his face and he pursed his lips together, waiting for her to tell him to continue or to stop. She simply raised her brow and Loki sighed as he closed his eyes. He changed into his Jotun self and scrunched his nose up, dreading to see, or even hear her reaction to him. He knew she was not a judgemental person, but he could not help but think she would leave him when she saw him. He panted softly and waited to hear the door slam shut.
Once he was transformed into his Jotun self, Elisabete's eyes widened from shock and curiosity. His entire body was a dark shade of blue whereas the marks on his chest, ribs, arms, legs, cheeks, and forehead were a light blue. Seeing him like this made her want to cry. She wanted to cry because she couldn't understand why Loki hated this part of him when it was so beautiful and exotic. She thought he was a magnificent creature. Never had she come in contact with a Frost giant before. She knew of them through her schooling and what they might look at, but she never had a book to show her a drawing of them. Elisabete took a deep breath as she quietly stood from the bed and tiptoed towards Loki. As she got closer, she felt her heart sank seeing his face contorted in such a way. She slowly reached her hand towards his face and smiled weakly as she brushed her fingers against the skin and over his markings. He had opened his eyes and snapped his head to look directly at her. She jumped in surprise and her breath hitched in her throat upon seeing his red eyes peering into her own.
Loki brushed his hand across his cheek where Elisabete had put it and exhaled sharply as he put his head down. He felt his eyes brim with tears and he did his best to hold them back.
"I knew you'd hate it." Loki muttered.
"What? No, you have it all wrong." Elisabete told him.
She took his face in her hands and moved his head up to look down at her. She laid her head against his and smiled brightly as she chuckled, shaking her head.
"I don't hate it and I don't hate you. Aesir or Jotun...you are beautiful, Loki," Elisabete whispered. "So...no matter what race our child decides to become when he is born...I will love him unconditionally, just as I love you, for there is nothing wrong with being Jotun."
Loki pulled back from her but she didn't let go of his face. She wiped away his tears with her thumbs and kissed him sweetly, grinning from the cool touch of his skin. When she pulled back from the kiss, she took his hands in hers and caressed them softly.
"How? I'm a monster." Loki scoffed.
"The monster that you think is within you is long gone," Elisabete explained. "Whatever you have done to Asgard or to your family is in the past. Working for you, I have never seen a monster. I've merely seen a man trying his best to gain the trust of all his citizens back. You are giving back to this realm and I admire your spirit and perseverance despite some of the stubbornness of some people. I say we must forgive people's wrongs and treat everyone with kindness. Whatever it is you have done, whether it be in the past or now, I forgive you. I forgive you, Loki. I forgive you for everything...and so will our son because he will love you too."
Loki broke down into sobs and wrapped his arms around Elisabete, crying into her shoulder. The reason he was crying was because with her forgiveness, he realized she was forgiving him for killing an innocent child and Edric, and he knew that was something that could never be forgiven. In that moment, Loki knew that everything he was going to do to make this realm better was all for Elisabete. To thank her for everything she'd done for him, he would give everything back to her that she deserved...and she deserved the world. He pulled back from her embrace and smiled weakly as Elisabete wiped his tears away. She saw the good in him that he was blind to and he was going to do everything he could to try and see it for himself. He wanted everyone to know that he was a good man, just as good as when he was the mischievous man before Thor's coronation.
"I'm going to make you proud of who I am." Loki spoke, transforming back into his Aesir appearance.
Elisabete furrowed his brow once she heard his statement.
"But I am already proud." Elisabete stated.
Loki shook his head and took Elisabete's hand in his, leading them to the bed. He never said a word to her the rest of the night as they laid in bed together, falling fast asleep. As she slept, Loki put his hand to her belly and used his seidr to feel the child within her. He felt the child's presence and smiled brightly being able to feel that it was healthy. He still could not understand how her body was accepting of his seed. Nonetheless, he was grateful to the gods for allowing this to happen. He was finally going to have the perfect life in his eyes and nothing could stop him. He finally felt complete.