A Royal Arrangement

Chapter 28

- Loki's Pov -

I should consider myself lucky that the Hawthornes lived nearby, but even their proximity did not prevent me from feeling winded by the time I reached their house. As I approached their front yard, I noticed the well-manicured lawn and the vibrant flowers that lined the walkway. Despite my exhaustion, my heart raced with excitement at the prospect of seeing my dear friends. I dashed towards the door and pounded on it with urgency, eager to be reunited with the Hawthornes once again.
"Vesper!" The door remained shut, so I slammed it a few more times "Vesper! Vesper! Please open the door," but it was no use; there was no answer, so I repeated my previous actions. This time I hit it so hard that the door began to show damage and then suddenly I saw the butler, Corleys standing in front of me.
"Lord Odinson, Your wife has informed me that she doesn't want to see you so you can stop destroying our way of entrance," he said in a drawling tone.
"Corleys. Let me pass. You don't understand... I need to see her," I tried to wriggle past the tall man but failed to do so.
"I'm sorry, sir, but I am under orders not to allow you over the threshold," said the butler before the door was slammed in my face. I had to see her. So I started banging on the door.

- Vesper's Pov -

Loki did not give up so easily and started shouting again and working the door. Thankfully my father and sister were out. But that did leave me with Lilith. And my brother, who was somewhere in the house.
"Tell him to stop. Talk to him," commanded my Lilith "He is giving me a headache with all that banging,"
"No, Lilith. He wouldn't talk to me so why should I talk to him now?" I replied angrily. I was truly angry at my husband; at the way he had treated me at the palace.
"I wish you would just go and be a decent wife. Hiding here like the spoiled child you are is not good for the family's reputation," Lilith shook her head.
"I do not care about that. He was an ass. Yes, divorce was my idea but that does not condone speaking to me like he owns me," I crossed my arms.
"You are his wife. Of course, he owns you and that brat in your stomach," Lilith pointed to my stomach "And yes, I know. I'm not stupid. You will sort this marriage out for the sake of that thing,"
"Thing? It's a baby, Lilith," I stated, pressing a hand against my stomach "I will not be with Loki just because we are having a child. You can't make me," Lilith grabbed a chunk of my hair.
"Firstly, I am your mother. You will address me as such and secondly, That thing in your stomach is just a bunch of cells. Sort this marriage out or I will have them removed. I will not have a bastard in my family," Lilith warned, shoving my head into a wall. Well, at least she tried to. Killian pulled her off me and pushed her away.
"Touch my sister and I will throw you down the stairs," He warned. Lilith went towards us but Killian stood his ground "Do one, Lilith,"
"I am the Lady of this house. You will speak to me with respect,"
"Hell no. You are not our mother. You do not deserve that title. Now, Do one," I snapped. Lilith growled and walked off. He flagged her and turned to me "I can get rid of Loki if you want?"
"No. He will give up eventually," I sighed. Killian looked at the front door. I walked away to my room.
"Or that door will," he mumbled as he leaned against the railings "My money is on the door,"

Loki went on and on for another 30 minutes and no matter how much I wanted to ignore him, I could not. I had just thought about letting him in when he kicked particularly hard, almost knocking the door out of its hinges.
"He is persistent, I will give him that," My brother sighed. I crossed my arms and stared at him "Let Loki in, will you? I will deal with him. You go hide somewhere," The doorman finally let Loki in.
"No, I've had enough of this," I wanted to scream at him but then I saw a bucket of mop water and then picked it up from the floor.
"What are you doing?" my brother asked me. I smiled and walked towards the corridor with it in her hands. At that moment Killian caught on and understood my intentions and backed away "No. Stop. Don't do it," He sarcastically begged. But then he grabbed the bucket off me.
"Killian. Give it back,"
"You are pregnant... You shouldn't be carrying the bucket... Allow me," he grinned. I laughed as he had run off with it. I watched as Killian stood above Loki.
"Killian," Loki said when the door opened, and he smiled at my brother "Good to see you. I need to speak to your-" but at that specific moment Killian picked up the bucket from the floor and flung it towards him.
"I said I would deal with him,"

- Killian's Pov -

Whatever the maids were just cleaning... it was awful. Well, the water smelled awful, and I knew that his outfit was ruined. He cursed several times, then straightened himself up and went on with what he was doing, much to everyone's irritation. So, she walked up to the balcony on the first floor that was facing the street and looked down.
"Hold it right there!" I grabbed his arm and blocked his access.
"VESPER!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. Thank God, none of the neighbours had noticed them so far with the amount of ruckus Loki was causing.
"What? What do you want?" she asked. He glanced in the direction from where the sound came, then took a few steps backwards and looked up to where he saw her standing: her eyes fiery, her gaze even more so. I ran to the top to stop him from going any further up "You didn't want to talk to me, so I don't want to talk to you,"
"Vesper, my dearest, sweetheart-" I think I am going to puke with all this sweet talk.
"Spare me the flattery please and get to the point," she snapped. I noticed that my other sister and father had just walked through the door. I placed a finger to my lips.
"Alright, I will do that. Can you come down? I am not comfortable talking to you like this," He begged. Vesper shook her head. Loki nodded before taking a deep breath and placing a foot on the stairs in front of him. I gripped his arm tighter
"You can stay there," I ordered. Unless Vesper tells me otherwise. I am the guardian of the stairs. He shall not pass.
"The matter you wanted to speak to me about... Is it about you being with child?" he asked my sister, indeed coming straight to the point.
"I thought you didn't get to tell him," I spoke over my shoulder. Her face contorted into surprise, and he knew it was true and started to smile.
"But that's great! That is fantastic! Darling, I'm so happy. So glad," he smiled.
"This doesn't change anything," she said insensitively. Of course, it did change everything. I am now stuck with Loki as a brother-in-law. Which was okay. I liked his brothers. Him, I guess I could tolerate.
"I beg your pardon," he frowned, genuinely confused. Not that it took much to confuse the man.
"She said this doesn't change anything," I repeated. Slowly for him. I wonder if his Frost Giant heritage makes him a bit slow.
"Loki, We're going to get divorced," she added. Loki stumbled down a step.
"But Vesper, I don't want to get divorced from you! I want us to stay together," Loki begged. It's quite fun seeing a God beg.
"Well, I don't need your pity. We don't have to stay together just because we are having a child,"
"What? That is a preposterous thing to say, really it is," he asked whereupon she glared at him and almost wanted to run away "Sorry, sorry... I didn't mean it like that. Listen. Please.. I will tell you why I, foolishly might I add, started the divorce proceedings," and then he took a short pause before continuing.
"Very well," My sister crossed her arms.
"I had Skurge track you down and he told me you were in Alfhiem," His eyes flitted down as if he felt uncomfortable suddenly and so he felt because he had to tell the truth now "He also told me that Dimitri had visited you twice," he held up two fingers "And then maybe I drew a conclusion I shouldn't have," he stated uneasily.
"Oh, you are an idiot," I rolled my eyes. Loki agreed with me. I looked at my sister and the gods, did she look pissed.
"You thought I was getting back together with Dimitri?" she asked; not hiding the frustration nor the emergence of anger in her voice. At that moment, I wanted to run and hide.
"No, no of course not.... Well, I presumed you might have invited him or something. It was weird that he knew where you were and I didn't," he said defeated.
"Dimitri's aunt lives in Alfhiem as does my cousin, Jack. It was not difficult for him to find out my whereabouts I'm afraid," she said coolly. I frowned at my sister as did my father. Dimitri's aunt doesn't live in Alfhiem. unless it was a different aunt from his father's side "As for not telling you where I was... I should have done so, and I apologise for keeping you in suspense," He nodded, biting his lip and then the two were silent for a little while until he broke the quietness.
"Did... did he make you an offer to marry him if you and I broke up?" Loki whispered.
"He did," and instantly we saw him become extremely irritated.
"And?"
"And what?" she asked, playing dumb on purpose.
"What was your answer?"
"I told him no," thank the gods. I much prefer Loki to Dimitri. A small smile played on Loki's lips; just for a moment before he continued with his 'questioning'.
"Why? Why did you say no?" and he desperately wished to know this.
"That doesn't matter, does it? Not anymore,"
"Oh, but it does. To me it does," he replied a tad annoyed. She shrugged as if the matter really wasn't important when of course it was "So, you're not going to tell me the answer," he sighed.
"I have told you everything as far as I know. The most important bits, at least," she retorted, trying to be nonchalant once more.
"Alright, so... now what?" he asked her.
"What do you mean?" she retorted in an even tone. I sat down on the stairs and picked at the skin on my nails.
"Will you please stop this? You and I know you're not dumb so stop acting like it!" he snapped. Even though he was right, it would have been better if he had held back, as his reaction only caused her to get angry.
"Shouldn't have said that," I mumbled. I looked over at Vesper "I am not throwing another bucket," She looked at Loki in an annoyed manner.
"I am not doing anything. This conversation is going nowhere and is pointless. And all we do is argue so it seems. I am actually beginning to think that maybe I should have said yes to Dimitri's offer. Maybe that would have been better," she said to hurt him and succeeded.
"You shouldn't have said that," My other sister spoke, hiding her face in her hands.
"Excuse me, what did you say just now?" Loki asked with a venomous tone; tilting his head to her as if he hadn't heard what she just uttered. Father walked up the stairs but Vesper shook her head. Father then frowned and held his nose.
"You heard me," she retorted bravely but I knew Vesper had regretted saying the words out loud.
"Oh, I am sure I did. My ears work properly but I am giving you the opportunity to take back your words and rephrase your sentences," he hissed "Because what you just said, was outrageous and inappropriate," he claimed.
"He has a point!" I spoke loudly.
"Whose side are you on?" Vesper hissed at me. I raised my hands and moved down a step. She then turned to Loki "Sorry... It was an ill-worded thing to mention," she said in a pinched voice. He sighed deeply and looked at her wearily and at that moment she suddenly felt tired too, very tired.
"I am sorry too, dearest," he softly changed, making a complete turnaround in behaviour "Vesper... I should have never-"
"Before this roundabout conversation starts again, I have to ask? What is that god-awful smell?" Father remarked.
"It's me... Lord Hawthorne. I was unfortunately drenched with the contents of a bucket filled with dishwater," Loki held his hand up.
"Mop water, actually," corrected Vesper from where she was standing on the balcony.
"I think that's much worse," Loki grimaced and to his annoyance his wife started giggling "Don't laugh, that's not funny, not funny at all," but he had to suppress a chuckle himself with difficulty.
"Right. Whatever it is... nasty. I suggest you go home and have a bath and then come back and talk to each other,"
"But, father-" Vesper wanted to protest because having the conversation at this distance from him was fine somewhere; until she saw father's icy gaze.
"It is better if you talk to each other sitting down. Vesper, I know your balance when it comes to stairs and I think I speak for all of us when I say sit down," Father crossed his arms. Everyone agreed "Loki... Vesper will see you later in the drawing room," Father's eyes fell on the shabby state of the door. It didn't take him long to work out who the culprit had been, so he turned to the God of Mischief with a firm look.
"I'll pay for a new one," Loki said quickly.
"You better," My father said. Loki looked at the balcony where Vesper stood and the two exchanged glances; which ranged from uncertain to regretful to hopeful; a mix of everything and anything with each other.
"I'll be right back," he said and was gone.

Thankfully, my father is from a Druid family and mended the door with ease. It was a power that he hid from Lilith.
"I won't charge him. Just make him feel bad," Father grinned.
"So how did Loki end up breaking the door and getting wet?" Tallulah asked.
"He banged the door down and I wanted to throw the bucket over him but the Killian took it off me and threw it at him," My sister shrugged as she sat on the bottom of the stairs "I also threatened to throw the witch down the stairs,"
"The witch?" Tallulah looked at me and then at Vesper "Oh, you mean Lilith,"
"Why?" Father asked as the door was finally finished. Between Vesper and I, we explained what happen with Lilith and Father looked pissed.
"This happened about 10 minutes before I threw the bucket on Loki," I sighed.
"I ain't even mad. The Allfather is going to help us. I just don't know how," Father sighed, leaning against the door "Still, we have a more pressing issue. We need you ready for when Loki comes back and I have a feeling he won't be long," Father pointed to Vesper.
"I am not getting dressed up," Vesper crossed her arms.