khaleesi ― 𝐋. 𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐅𝐄𝐘𝐒𝐎𝐍

━━━━ CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  ˖*°࿐ chapter thirty-one.
XXXI. BETRAYED

"THOR!" LAELIA RAN UP TO her brother-in-law, seizing him by the waist tightly as he hugged her shoulders. "How have you been? Is Asgard alright?" He chuckles at her, holding her close. Though both of them only talked once and sent a letter, they talked like old friends; after all, they both lost someone they had loved dearly. "Laelia! Asgard is great, the BiFrost has been fixed!"

"I know, otherwise you wouldn't be here," she laughs as she pulls away slightly to take a look at him. She noticed that his hair was different. "Your hair is longer." She plays with the tips of it, the only part of his hair that she can reach without standing on the tips of her toes.

"Yes, well I decided to let it grow out," he ran a hand through it.

He was certainly nice, and Laelia couldn't help but notice subtle differences between him and Loki. Loki was sometimes rude to others, Thor always treated others with respect. Loki wore dark colors, Thor wore reds and blues, but mostly red. Loki could manipulate things, but Thor hasn't been able to do that yet. He could only strike down lightning with his hammer. "Now, would you please tell me why there was a decaying smell outside?"

"The Masters of Quiri murdered a multitude of innocent children," she begins walking, gesturing for Thor to follow her, "and crucified them. They murdered one hundred and sixty-two little children, boys and girls alike, and hung them on mileposts. So, as revenge for what they've done, I decided to do the same towards them. My Unsullied are taking down their bodies at this moment."

She opens a door, letting Thor walk ahead, and they continue walking down the corridor. "You answered injustice with cruelty?"

"I answered injustice with justice," she replies, stopping to look at him. Her eyes were fierce; hard and cold. "I have to talk with Ser Allister, but you are able to come into the room. I'm sure I would need help from another royal, especially one as worthy as you are," she points to his hammer, giving him a smile as he winks at her. "Or, if you don't want to speak, you can at least watch and learn for your turn as king of Asgard."

"Surely, Your Grace."

***

ALLISTER WALKS INTO THE THRONE ROOM, Thor giving him a once-over, and the older man begins stepping closer to the queen, Korben, and Grey Worm coming closer to stop him. He places his hands behind his back, ashamed. "Why did the usurper pardon you?" Laelia asks in a soft voice, but wonder and authority were laced into her words. Allister's mouth opens a little but no words come out. He is regretful, remorseful for all he's done, and now he can't speak because of it. "We could speak alone?" Allister asks.

"No," Laelia shakes her silver head. "Speak to me here. Explain it to me."

"Who do you think sent this to Quiri? Who profits? This is the work of Nestar Leygood, he wants to divide us. If we're fighting each other, we're not fighting him."

"The pardon was signed for the year we met," Laelia responds, raising her eyebrows. "Why were you pardoned?" She wanted him to spill it all out, to tell her all the secrets he's held from her, for him to even cry and blubber each and every little thing that he's done that was against her without her knowledge; she wanted the person she's trusted for so long to tell her she wasn't supposed to trust him as much as she did. "Unless you're saying this document was forged."

"It is not forged."

"Why then?"

"I sent letters to Larris, the Spymaster of Estanding," Thor places a hand on Laelia's shoulder, quietly telling that he was there if she needed anything. She places her hand over his, like the way a brother and sister would help communicate with one another without saying a word.

"What was the content of these letters?"

"Information.

"What information?" Her heart was breaking; here was a person she trusted so much standing in front of her and saying that he was working with a Spymaster of the opposing side.

"When you and Aeneas arrived in Seral, his plan to marry you to Loki, when you were married, when your brother died."

"You told them I was carrying Loki's child?" This came as a surprise to Thor; he never knew he was going to be an uncle. He was disappointed in Loki, though not surprised at that. He knew his brother would never tell him he was going to destroy Jotunheim, let along that he was going to be an uncle. "Yes or no?"

"Khaleesi —"

"Don't call me that. Did you tell him I was carrying Loki's child?" Allister has tears in his eyes, making him look down in regretful fear. One word was spoken against the silence of the room: "Yes." Laelia stood up, staring down furiously at the man in front of her. "That wine merchant tried to poison me because of your information."

"I stopped you from drinking his wine."

"Because you knew it was poisoned."

"I suspected."

"You betrayed me," Laelia says, "from the first." He bends to his knees, placing his forehead on the stone steps, begging for her forgiveness, though the trial was futile; she could never forgive him. "I never meant it. Please, Khaleesi, forgive me."

"You sold my secrets to the man who killed my father, that had sold my brother's throne and you want me to forgive you."

"I have loved you," he confesses.

"Love? Love — How can you say that to me? Any other man and I would have you executed but you, I do not want you in my city dead or alive. Go back to your masters in Estanding, collect your pardon, if you can."

"Laelia, please —"

"Don't," she raises a hand as Thor, Grey Worm and Korben raise their weapons, "ever presume to touch me again or speak my name. You have until dusk to collect your things and leave this city. If you're found in Quiri past break of day, I'll have your head thrown into Slaver's Bay. Go. Now."