Birthright

Silence is Golden.

"Are you awake?" His voice was soft in her ear. She smiled but didn't open her eyes.

"No." She whispered,"Sound asleep. Sorry!"

They'd been back in Asgard for a couple of weeks, Fury and the team had agreed to 'banish' Loki for a while, pending an investigation of the
ShIELD actions that led to the disaster in Wakanda. Loki, for once, was more than happy to oblige. He even insisted on being under house arrest with his own personal - Valkyrie - guard.

His laugh was low and velvet warm. "Oh. I see. Then you won't want your gift, my love. It's ok. I can always return it. I'm sure the armourer won't be too offended."

She opened her eyes, sitting up abruptly. "Gift? Armourer?" Asa looked across to where Loki was walking towards the door. The Valkyrie in her couldn't resist a new weapon. "Loki! Wait!" She leapt from the bed, half dragging the sheet with her in her haste.

It tangled around her legs and hampered her progress, so Loki easily made it to the door. "No! Loki! Pleeeeeze!" She slumped back onto the mattress with a frown. Loki paused and turned, his eyes glinting wickedly.

"Ahhh, so you ARE keen to see what I got you then?" He smiled, and his tongue protruded from between his teeth in a grin of pure mischief. "Not sure I want to give you it now." He feigned reluctance, raising his eyebrows and shrugging. "Maybe I'll find some other Valkyrie to bestow it on."

"You WOULDN'T!" She huffed, entirely sure he was still joking. Loki looked at her sitting there. Swaddled in the sheet, her hair still a golden cloud, her face still a little sleepy. She looked, he thought, like nothing so much as a little wild kitten.

He thought back to the previous evening. Then, she had been a sensuous wild cat. All teeth and claws. He'd have to make sure he covered those scratches on his shoulder properly. If Thor saw them, he'd never live it down.

Smiling, he wandered back over and sat on the bed next to her. She put her hands on his chest and ran her fingers over the silk of his shirt. It was smooth and warm, like his skin. In his Aesir form, he was as warm as any other man.

"Here kitten. I had it made for you... well, you'll see." He handed her a velvet wrapped object of about ten inches in length. Taking it in both hands, she felt its weight. Solid, but not cumbersome.

She looked at him. "What is it?" He smirked.

"Now, where would be the fun in telling you? Where would be the surprise?" He said, starting to kiss her neck, slowly, deliberately. His lips made a soft noise each time they left her skin.

She groaned. She was torn. She wanted to see her gift but she wanted him also. A single kiss, a mere brush of his lips, and she was a raging inferno for him. Never had two souls been so well matched.

She pulled away, just as his hands began to pull the sheet away from her body. "Let me see!" She pleaded, and he grinned. "You are a wicked man!" She kissed him back and wriggled free, standing up. She puĺled on her velvet robe, tying it loosely. He felt his own desires stir again as he took in the sight of her body where the velvet didn't quite meet.

She walked to the balcony doors to see better. Unwrapping the cloth, she gasped. A dagger. Not just any dagger, though.

A bright silver blade, engraved in gold with runes of protection. The hilt, a gilded serpent twisting around a handle wrapped in the softest leather. The leather itself, forest green, edged in gold. Finally, the pommel. Set with an emerald as big as a blackbirds egg. Around it, holding it in place, a band of gold. Engraved with the runes for both Loki and Asa.

"Oh my Gods Loki! This is.... this is too... it's the dagger of a Queen." She looked at him, tears in her eyes. "This was the dagger of OUR Queen..."

Loki stood and nodded. "Yes, my love. It is a replica of my mothers. I had them change the pommel to a new stone and added runes engraved for us." He walked over, taking her hand, "it was - and still is - the weapon of a Queen. My Queen. If she'll have me."

He looked into her eyes, and she bit her lip. "Marry me, Asa. Please?" There were no fancy words, no deceptions, no ostentatious boasts of how much he loved her. Nothing except a man who loved a woman, asking her to be his forever.

Asa smiled. "Yes." She kissed him softly. "Yes, I will." Was her quiet answer. There was a stillness in the room that neither of them had ever felt before. A stillness in their souls. Peace and contentment that neither had known they could ever have.

"I love you, Asa." His forehead rested on hers, his lips whispering against hers softly.

"And I love you, Loki." they kissed slowly, deeply, lovingly.

She put the dagger on the table beside them. "Let me show you, just how much."

She took his hand and led him back to the bed. Crawling onto it and kneeling to face him, she shed her robe.

"Ohhhh, Asa....," he moaned softly, almost like a prayer. She was truly beautiful. She reached forward and began to unlace his shirt. Slipping it off his shoulders, it fell to the floor.

Her mouth slowly caressed every inch of his torso. Neck, shoulders, chest, abdomen. Her nails dug gently into his back as she pushed him onto her mouth. He tipped his head back and groaned, burying his fingers in her hair.

"I love you, my King." Was all she said before she could say no more.

Loki couldn't ever remember being quite so content. He was just glad he could still remember the spell to soundproof their room. No one in Asgard needed to hear what he had to say over - and over - again for the next few hours.