Passionate Misfortune

Chapter One

Thor and Loki walked behind Odin as they walked into the castle of the leader of Vanaheim's army, the king, Arnor. He sat at a round table with war plans and maps scattered all over it. As Odin skimmed over them, he scoffed and knew why they had been so easy to defeat.

"You have defeated my army. What more do you want?" Arnor asked.

"We are here to claim a war prize." Odin replied.

"We have no riches here for you." Arnor said.

"I have been told by some of your men you hold one of the most valuable possessions in all of the nine realms." Thor told him.

"We have obtained it through years of war and destruction. We cannot give it over so easily." Arnor explained.

"My army has defeated yours and we demand you give us your prize as a peace offering so that we do not have to fight again." Odin told him.

"It is not something that Asgard's people could handle." Arnor said.

"Our people can handle anything." Thor challenged.

"Really? Your people have never seen one of these." Arnor told him.

"Loki, what do you think?" Thor asked.

"If it is your most prized possession and we have defeated you, I would say that it be best you hand it over before we start another war over something as useless as some artifact." Loki replied as he rolled his eyes.

"This is not some artifact!" Arnor exclaimed.

"Well, then show it to us." Odin said.

"Guards, bring the possession in here!" Arnor called out.

The guards walked out and came back in moment later pulling on chains. The three heard a groan from the shadows and Loki and Thor furrowed their brow.

"Oh, don't be shy. Pull it in here." Arnor said angrily.

He took the chains from the guards and pulled on it harshly revealing the war prize.

"A woman? You bring us a woman as your prized possession?" Thor asked angrily.

"Not just any woman, prince." Arnor said.

Loki watched as she furrowed her brow in pain. Her chest heaved as she panted and her hair covered her face. It was dark brown, unwashed and matted to her face. Her clothes were stained with dirt, dust and dirty water. It hung off of her body and her legs wobbled as she stood before everyone.

"Push back her hair." Arnor instructed.

Odin and Thor rolled their eyes as Loki squinted.

"Please do hurry this up, Arnor. We do not have time for your tricks." Odin told him.

As the guards moved away, she tried to cower back but Arnor pulled on the chains causing the woman to cry out in pain as the cuffs dug into her wrists. With her movement, the three gasped as their eyes widened when their gaze fell on her ears.

"An elf? How have you come across it?" Odin asked.

"She was the last one left after we destroyed her race when we fought against them to occupy their lands. She had hidden herself in a cave. Luckily we found her and have kept her in our prisons for years now." Arnor explained.

"What did you do with it all these years?" Odin asked.

"We put her on display and had the people pay to see her. Used her as a spectacle to make money for weapons and other matters. I suggest you do the same with her. She will bring you a lot of money since she is the last high elf in existence...and because she has a pretty face." Arnor explained.

"I understand why you would not want to give it away." Odin commented.

The woman's eyes scanned Loki, Thor and Odin as she cowered behind the guards. Arnor yanked on the chain and she gasped as he wrapped his arm around her throat gently. He held her head in place as he laughed.

"She was what kept me wealthy. Hopefully, you'll do good with this one." Arnor said.

He released his grip on her and the woman panted as she put her head down. Arnor went to hand the chains to Odin but felt them be pulled back by the woman. They all turned to look at her and she shook her head. Arnor yanked on the chains again and she yanked back. After a small tug-of-war, Arnor was able to hand the chains over to Odin and sighed as he did.

"What's it's name?" Thor asked.

"Ever since we took her in all those years ago, she never told us. Never even spoke a word to us while she was here." Arnor replied.

"Thank you for this wonderful prize." Odin said.

The three walked back out and Thor and Loki could not take their eyes off of her.

"Father, I know what we could do with her." Thor said.

"And what might that be?" Odin asked.

"Let me marry her. She would make a fine wife to the soon-to-be king of Asgard." Thor replied.

"As pleasing as that sounds, you are betrothed to Sif. You must go back on your vow." Odin told him.

Thor sighed as he followed Odin to their army as they got ready to travel back to Asgard. The men all gathered around as Odin walked to them and quickly took note of the woman in chains.

"What's with the girl?" One man asked.

"This, gentlemen, is our war prize." Odin replied.

"A woman?" Another asked.

"The last high elf in existence." Odin told them.

All the men quickly ran over to Odin and examined the woman. They put their hands on her, ran their fingers through her hair and admired her as she tried to cower away from them.

"Leave her now." Loki said causing the men to pull back.

The woman glanced at Loki and then back down at the ground.

"When we return to Asgard after this victorious day, we shall hold a meeting of the councilors to see just what we shall do with the elf." Odin explained.

Once in Asgard, the woman quickly looked around her in the Bifrost and her eyes widened in awe of the elaborate system of travel. Her eyes then landed on Heimdall and she furrowed her brow as the two stared at one another.

"How have I not seen her before?" Heimdall asked.

"Arnor kept her hidden away pretty well for someone who doesn't know how to hide from the enemy." Odin replied.

Odin tugged the woman along and once back in the palace, Frigga welcomed her husband two sons back into Asgard. She quickly noticed the woman and gasped as she walked over to her.

"Why have you brought back this woman?" Frigga asked.

"It is our war prize. The last high elf in existence." Odin replied.

"War prize? Why have you kept her chained?" Frigga asked angrily.

"It was given to me like this, Frigga. For now, until we can decide what do with it, I will take her to the prisons where she will guarded securely." Odin explained.

"Odin, you cannot do that. This woman is the last of her kind. She needs to be given rooms and maids and-"

"It will be given whatever it needs after we decide what to do with it. For now, it will be kept in the prisons." Odin told her.

Frigga huffed as she walked away from the woman and towards her chambers. Loki ran off after as Thor and Odin took the woman down to the prisons. She was thrown in the cell and the chains were put onto the wall so she could not move freely around the cell as much as she wanted to.

"Mother, are you alright?" Loki asked.

"Of course I'm not. Your father and those men will want nothing more than to put that beautiful woman on a pedestal. All will agree so the vote will be unanimous and they'll get what they want. This woman is so fragile she needs to be given the care she deserves. She is the last of her kind." Frigga replied as she paced around the room.

"Well, is there anything I can do to help in the meeting?" Loki asked.

"I don't think there is." Frigga replied.

"Well, I can stop them from doing it since I won't allow it either. I saw into her eyes and I could see her pain and frustration." Loki told her.

"No, they'll just ignore you, Loki." Frigga said.

Loki sighed knowing it was the truth.

"We need to come up with something that will make the councilors turn their heads towards you. It needs to be something that they'd never think of." Frigga explained.

"Do you have any ideas because I have none?" Loki asked.

"None so far." Frigga replied.

"Back in Vanaheim, Thor wanted to marry her because he was star struck by her beauty. Can you believe it?" Loki asked as he laughed.

Frigga's eyes widened as she looked at Loki and he furrowed his brow.

"What is it?" Loki asked.

"That's it." Frigga replied.

"What is?" Loki asked.

"Marriage." Frigga chuckled.

"You want Thor to break off his betrothal to Sif for this woman?" Loki asked.

"No, not Thor...you." Frigga replied.

"Me?" Loki asked as he pointed to himself.

"Yes you," Frigga replied as she put her hands on Loki's arms. "It would be unexpected and if you married her, we could continue her race. It's the best option for us."

"Mother, I'm not going to marry her. I don't even know her." Loki told her.

"Loki, I know but, arranged marriages happen all the time in royal families." Frigga said.

"This is outrageous. I'm not going to marry her. I don't even know her name. She won't even speak." Loki told her as his face scrunched up in disgust.

"She's just scared, Loki." Frigga said.

"I'm sorry mother but I cannot marry her." Loki told her.

"I understand. Do you have any other ideas that might work?" Frigga asked.

"Like you said...any other idea I'd have would be ignored." Loki replied.

Frigga sighed as she nodded her head.

"Mother, I know how...rare this woman is but I cannot help. I'm not going to marry a woman just to save her and continue her race mixed with ours. I'm only twenty-seven years old. I have a life ahead of me." Loki told her.

"You should be married by now. You're overshadowed by your brother. Which is why this marriage would work and benefit Asgard." Frigga told him.

"If you want a marriage make her marry Thor." Loki said as he stormed out of the room.

Frigga bit her lip as the door slammed and she sat on the edge of her bed. Without realizing it, he made his way to the prisons and took a tray of food from one of the guards and made his way over to the woman's cell. Inside the cell, he jumped as the woman did as well. She let out a small shriek and Loki tried to calm her.

"It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you. I've brought you food. I thought maybe it'd be better if I gave it to you instead of a guard." Loki told her.

She looked up and down at Loki and he smiled softly. As he looked at her, he could see how scared she was. He didn't know how long she'd been alive for but he knew that what she had gone through before must have been horrible for anyone to go through. He also knew that if they did what Vanaheim used to do, she would die here and not live the life she was supposed to. Elves, especially high elves, can live as long as the gods and those that die shortly are mourned for weeks in their culture. He knelt in front of her and set the tray down within her reach. Once the tray was on the floor, she lunged forward and quickly ate the food. Loki observed her and after a few moments, the woman looked up at him and Loki knew he was staring.

"Sorry...I didn't mean to." Loki chuckled nervously.

The woman nodded her head and went back to eating.

"You must be starving. Did they ever feed you in Vanaheim?" Loki asked.

The woman didn't reply and Loki sighed as he licked his lips.

"You can trust me." Loki spoke.

The woman stopped eating and gave him a look as he smiled weakly.

"You can trust me because...I know a way where you won't have to live like you have ever again." Loki told her.

The woman nodded her head slowly and Loki smiled.

"Tomorrow, you'll be taken from this cell and you'll live a wonderful life like you did before Vanaheim took your land and killed your people. They're monsters and I'm sorry for what they've done." Loki told her.

"Delysia." She whispered.

Loki's eyes widened in surprise and he stuttered to say something.

"What?" He asked with a smile.

"My name is Delysia." She replied.

Loki smiled as he stood up. But he knew that this idea he would share at the council was only to make his mother happy, although, deep down, he began to think otherwise.