Utter Devotion

Best Laid Plans

"Njord has summoned the Sword of the King to the throne room."

Ciannait looked up from her bed as one of her soliders stuck his head in her room before leaving her alone.

"This cannot be good." She said out loud to herself before she started chewing on her lip.

Njord never summoned her to the throne room unless she was either in a lot of trouble or there was something wrong with the kingdom, the last time he had called her to the throne room was to announce he wanted to attack Asgard.

She'd rushed back to her room after her surprise tryst with Loki, afraid her face would give her away, she had still been heated and had taken a cool bath, then she had tried and failed to take a brief nap, but instead found herself unable to relax, till she had been summoned.

She grabbed her sword buckling it about her hips, she didn't have time to change now she would just hope that the sword on her hip was intimidating enough for what ever Njord had planned.

Her steps didn't hesitate, as she marched down the corridors to the throne room, once she reached their she gave herself a brief moment before she threw open the door and walked in.

Njord and General Pinellas were staring at a projection from a data chip there were several glowing dots in major cities in Vanahiem.

Njord looked up at her thru the projection, his fishy grey eyes lighting up with greed his eyes lingering on her figure as she walked towards him.

"Ah Ciannait, I am so glad you could join us. We were just discussing our plan of action for dealing with Asgard. What do you think my dear?"

"What am I looking at?"

With her hands she enlarged the image of the nearest glowing dots.

"These are pockets of resistance, we have been announcing all day news of the grand return of Frigga to the land of her birth and the betrothals," Njord snarled over the word betrothals, Ciannait had managed to avoid him since the Feast, clearly he was still upset with Loki, over his showy thank you and with her for being absent when he looked for her, "They, of course, wrongly believe we are holding them hostage. We need to deal with them before Odin and his armies come, or we will fall from the inside."

She tuned out Njord and General Pinellas and studied the map, looking for closer details about the areas.

"General, I want you to lead a squadron Vanahiems soliders and oust the rebels, do what ever you have to, burn their homes to the ground, kill the families hiding any of them or if they offer them any assistance."

A sharp pain pulsated thru Ciannait's head, groaning she pressed the heel of her hand against her head and shook her head trying to focus past the pain, she didn't like the idea of just blindly killing anyone who disagreed with Njord.

"Father, if I may, I think we may win more hearts by taking the rout of diplomacy, rather than the sword."

Njord sauntered over to his throne and sat down looking at her.

"Oh? A strange notion coming from the Sword of the King. You may continue. "

Taking a deep breath she minimizied the image back to the entirety of Vanahiem.

"I noticed something when looking at these," she tapped on the largest glowing dot, "All of these rebellions are starting in the poorest districts, they already feel they have nothing to loose. If you make them martyrs, you'll find yourself facing down a full blown uprising with Odin at your back with a sword to your neck."

The lack of empathy in Njords eyes chilled her to the bone, making her wonder if he was even listening to her or just humoring her.

"What would you propose?"

With a gulp she prepared herself, either he would take her idea or she would pay for speaking out of turn.

"You need to convince them of your sincerity, that you honestly desire peace. Make of show of it if you must, a celebration."

"A celebration?" Njord spoke slowly, lingering over the word, with a wave he dismissed General Pinellas, who scurried from the room clutching his data pad to his chest.

"Yes, open the stores, shower the people with gifts. Make them love you. Then you'll be secure."

She waited, not meeting Njords eyes, she heard him get to his feet and walked over to her, his hand wrapped around her jaw and lifted her face to meet his eyes.

"Make them love me... like I did with you Ciannait?"

He applied the slightest pressure to her jaw, expecting an answer.

"We both know there is no love here."

Njord softly chuckled, letting her go.

"No dear, you have a heart of ice, so I must accept your steadfastness instead. Your dismissed. I'll consider your words. There maybe something of merit there."

She slipped out the side door of the room intent on stealing back to her own rooms when a dark shape caught her eye.

Ahead of her she saw a tall figure dressed in black and green leather walking away from her, Loki, and she decided now would be the best time to try and convince him that they shouldn't continue their... relationship? Was it even a relationship? All they were doing was fucking, she knew he had an ulterior motives, so did she, but by the acients she didn't want to stop... at just the mere thought of that night, she felt herself growing flushed and warm.

Her earlier orgasm by Loki's hand had taken some of the edge off of her want but now it was back with a vengeance.

She moved soundless following Loki, turning into the garden.

Honestly she didn't know what she was going to say beyond just getting his attention.

She turned into one of the smaller gardens, that had a fountain that was rather loud, an excellent spot for having a clandestine meeting if you did not want to be overheard.

She sped up so Loki wouldn't get away.

"Loki?"

The person's shoulders stiffened and turned around.

A beautiful raven haired woman turned to face her.

"I am so sorry I thought you were..." She blushed at her mistake though their resemblance was uncanny.

The woman smiled, she stalked towards Ciannait, reaching a finger up and twirling a lock of her hair around her finger while smirking at her.

"You were right Ciannait, I am Loki."