Temptation

Secrets and Lies

"I'm sorry. There is nothing more we can do. Erik is going to die, and soon."

The healer stood, head bowed as she spoke.  Erik and Harold had arrived in a swirl of green, surprising not least Erik himself. 

Barely conscious, he'd felt the motion of being transported, saw the green swirling mist. When it cleared, he realised that he was in the palace. It had been a very long time since he had been anywhere so grand.  Not since before... well, before Eva and Frederik had come into his life.

The healers had placed him gently on a soul forge and set to work. A projection of the sick man hovered above him, various points pulsing as they scanned and re-scanned him. His eyes followed the ghostly apparition, fascinated and terrified in equal measure. This was magic to people like him.  Although, as a wise man had once told him, magic was just science that you didn't understand... yet.

Harold briefly explained Erik's symptoms to them. Erik himself, after a draught of herbs and juices that seemed to soothe his stomach, spoke quietly and confidentially.

Well used to being able to melt into the background, Harold stood back. This was not a conversation he wanted to be part of. Erik struck him as a good man with a big heart.

Like Loki. He was also, basically, a good man with a big heart. He just didn't know it. All his life, he'd been led to believe he had a purpose, a destiny, and now? Now that had been ripped from his grasp.  If it had not been for Thor, then the Gods only knew what might have happened. As it was, the only person Loki was ever truly relaxed with was his own mother. Not even Thor fully knew - or trusted - the Jotun. Harold? He had decided long ago trust was for dogs and children.

Now, he stood and watched out of the window as a white stallion galloped over the bridge into the palace. He only hoped that if Loki had finally decided to get close to someone, he'd chosen the right someone.

Behind him, Erik and the healers spoke quietly. There was something about his tone, sad but unperturbed, that made Harold uneasy. He had the feeling Erik knew far more than he'd let on to Eva. His suspicions were confirmed as they nodded sagely, if not particularly hopefully. 

Shortly thereafter, Thor had arrived.  He'd been alerted to their presence by the healers - well used to random patients appearing courtesy of the Odinson brothers. To his credit, Thor let Harold take the lead. The last thing he wanted was to antagonise Loki by muscling in.

"I assume my brother is following on with Eva?" He turned to Harold at the news from the healer. "We need to be delicate about this. Erik is her only family."

Harold nodded slowly. "As far as I know, she had a brother, but he disappeared many years ago."

Thor turned to look at Erik, who was exhausted now and lay sleeping on the soul forge. They'd examined him after their chat with him, only half believing the tale he told.  No-one could possibly be that sick for that long.  What they found astonished them.  He should, in all truth, have been dead years ago.  Every organ riddled with growths. His lungs were struggling to cope. 

Something - someone - had given him a reason to carry on. But even heroes have their limits. Now, he was simply done. There was nothing more to be done other than make him comfortable.

"Erik?" Thor spoke softly. "Erik? Can you hear me?"

Erik's eyes fluttered open. "Your Highness?" His voice was peaceful but resigned. He knew his time was growing short.

"Do you have any idea where Eva's brother is?" Thor looked at him, and Erik shook his head.

"There's something you - she - needs to know." He started to cough, his eyes watering. "Frederick is n-not her b-broth.." he couldn't finish the sentence as he coughed and retched.

The healers rushed over and administered another dose of the sedative. Slowly, he calmed.  "Please, not too many questions, Your Highness. And..." she looked at him earnestly, "now would be the time to summon his daughter."

"Niece." Thor corrected her.  She shook her head.

"Daughter. He told us earlier... he has a daughter. He didn't know how to tell her he was dying. Her name is..."

Erik opened his eyes and half sat as two figures, breathless from running to the room, appeared in the doorway

"Eva." He rasped. "My daughter's name is Eva."