Loki's Queen

Chapter 8

Thor and Loki shared a look of absolute disbelief.  "You lie," Loki said shaking his head.  She smiled then, a cold humorless smile, more a showing of teeth which left him uneasy.  

"Really? Unlike you trickster, I have no reason to lie," she hissed.  "The Ulfhednar were men," he sneered. "As told by whom? Your history books? Your mythology? Written by whom," she chuckled, "Men, written by men."  

"If what you say is true, that would mean," Thor looked between the two women, "You're of Asgardian descent."  "We are, though we hold no love for that place," Aes said coldly.  "I don't understand," Rogers said leaning forward on his knees, "if you're from Asgard why are you here?"

Aurora shrugged, "We've been here a very long time, long enough to integrate into your societies.  We love, marry, have children and die.  We lead rather mundane lives.  Some of us are doctors, artists, musicians and some of us still choose to seclude in the mountains, the forests. I, myself was studying bio engineering and mechanics."

"Why," Thor asked crossing his arms over his broad chest.  Aes turned eyes of barely concealed hatred on him, mirroring his stance.  "Why don't you ask your father," she snarled.  "Please aunt, they didn't know.  You know the stories, as we all do," Aurora said placing a calming hand on her arm.  Loki understood that kind of hatred, he'd felt it often towards his adopted father.  What has Odin done this time?

Aestrid ran a hand through her hair before finding a chair to sit in.  With her legs braced apart she leaned her elbows on her knees.  "Sooo you're a werewolf queen," Barton asked trying to put everything together.  She laughed, "Your lore of werewolves comes from us but we're not tied to something as mundane as your moon and silver does nothing to us."  Aes sighed and looked up at Aurora, "I'm not fit to be queen, that was your mothers birthright.  She was the oldest and she died.  Her and her mate died because of me."  

She sat back in the chair and closed her eyes, suddenly looking very tired.  "You've been hiding here all this time," Loki asked wanting to hear the full tale.  She opened those beautiful eyes and looked at him, a soft sad smile playing about her lips.  "What would you do for your freedom," she asked.  "Anything," he growled.  She nodded, "Exactly.  You see after the fall of the Valkyrie Asgard looked to us to pick up the fight.  And we did, fighting alongside the Beserkrgangr.  When the dust cleared we were victorious but now we had garnered the Allfathers attention.  He saw how useful we could be in war.  He then had an idea, as great men often do.  What would happen if you bred the Ulfhednar with the Beserkr?  The logical assumption would be that you would create an army, unstoppable."

She sat back in the chair staring unseeing.  "Then it was decreed that we would become breeders for the Beserkr, we were no longer allowed to take up arms because our bodies were to be used for a different purpose.  Oh, yes," she went on, unshed tears in her eyes, "we were promised riches and comfort but in return our freedom."  Loki felt sick, he'd known the old crow was dastardly but this was horrific.

After a few minutes of silence Natasha spoke up, "If it was decreed how did you all come to be here?"  Aes smiled then, a wide monstrous smile, "We did what we were good at.  We fought.  My great grandmother was queen then, she and her mate, a beast of a man came up with a plan to escape.  The Beserkr were sent after us, the very men we were supposed to breed with were sent to hunt us down.  We lost many in that battle including my great grandfather but we managed to wipe them out to ensure that the could not come after us.  Once they reached Midgard they stayed together for a time, building a small village in the deep woods.  But eventually my great grandmother sent them out into the world hoping that they would find their one, their mates.  By that time they understood what they'd lost, what we all lost to gain our freedom."

Thor shook his head, "I don't understand."  Aurora spoke up then, feeling her aunts pain at having to recant the tale.  "While in Asgard we had the freedom to travel the nine realms.  When the girls came of age groups of five would go on a pilgrimage of sorts. Traveling through the realms, often offering theirs services or getting into mischief.  The hope was that they would find their mates as the Norns gifted us with only one.  And he could be anywhere, he could be Midgardian, Asgardian, Vanir, Jotunn, dark or light elf even fire demon.  The hope was that you either didn't return choosing to stay with your mate in his realm or you returned with him by your side.  Once they reached Midgard and realized they could not travel through the realms they knew that many of us would never find our mates for they are simply not here," she said sadly.

Aestrid stood and stretched before turning to them.  "I know what you're thinking, why didn't we just do as we were told?  Give Odin what he wanted?  Even if we had been such spineless cowards as to accept it, it doesn't really work that way," she chuckled tiredly.  Loki frowned, "Why is that?"  She grinned genuinely, sparks of mischief lighting her eyes, "We can't conceive with any other than our mates.  I guess it's the Norns way of making sure we can't overpopulate the system."

Grabbing her leather jacket and putting it around her nieces shoulders she turned to them, "I believe that's quite enough.  Now that we're done with the history lesson it's time to move on."  Steve shot up from his chair, "Wait, you can't just leave!"  She turned her head slowly to look at him, "Would you like to stop me?"  "Lady Aestrid, perhaps it would be wisest if..."  Cutting Thor off with a glare she said simply, "Your blind loyalty to your father is well known, as a warning if you come hunting us we will be ready."  Grabbing Auroras hand she looked back at Loki, an unreadable expression on her face before they both disappeared in a spray of turquoise sparks.