Proposition

Harsh Reality

"I knew there was something happening with that mirror."

"And you were right, funny how you picked up on it but my seiðr using husband didn't, hm? Well, not that he can use anything as long as these are attached to him," Avena tugged on one of the chains binding Loki to the bed, shaking his leg violently in the process.

The sneer in her voice made me cringe, the cocky and arrogant tone she'd been using had become grating and uncomfortable to listen to the more she talked.

"You've completely lost it."

Avena looked at Loki, her eyes piercing as she grinned.

"Maybe I have, maybe I didn't or maybe I never had it."

Loki rolled his eyes, dropping his head down onto his pillow with a pained groan.

"Evil doesn't suit you."

"But crazy bitch does, that's why you fell for me in the first place."

Loki scoffed and let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head slowly.

"You know I never fell for you, this was a marriage of convenience more than anything."

Avena's face turned in an instant, one minute it had been a mocking sneer and the next her expression was nothing short of angered hatred.

"You loved me once, I know you did."

Loki sneered at her, a mocking grin that made even my heart pang despite that it wasn't being aimed towards me.

"I'm the God of Lies, you know what I want you to know."

An almost inhuman screech came from Avena and the point of her brandished dagger dug harder into the back of my neck, making me wince and attempt to arch away from it.

"Tell me the truth or she'll bleed out," she snarled through gritted teeth.

"We both know this was a marriage of convenience," he said, glaring at her, "why are you acting as if this is all news? You never loved me in the first place, this was all a convenient way to get a throne and a title."

"I don't want your throne, Loki, I want your life."

"My life?" He laughed, "why? In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly the favoured child of the bunch."

"And yet you still have a home, a realm, whereas your father destroyed mine entirely."

"As he has with many others, I don't speak for him so punishing me will do you no good apart from perhaps making you feel a little better."

"I didn't want to punish you," she snarled, pushing the tip in that much deeper, "I just wanted to integrate into a realm and rub it into Odin's face that my kind was still around."

Loki's eyes narrowed and he pulled on his binds as I whimpered in pain, the sting of the blade mixing with the heat of the blood that tickled my back as it trailed down slowly.

I had to lean forward to get away from the point, my already aching thighs not enjoying the weight shift as my bump pulled harder on my muscles and made my back start to ache in the position I was sat in.

"I thought that marrying you would knock him a few paces."

"And you thought wrong, Thor is the favourite, marrying him would have been a kicker," he glanced her over and then shrugged, "at least it would if you were actually significant."

"I'd watch what you're saying, in case you haven't noticed, I have your surrogate in a rather compromising position."

Avena shook her head, her eyes almost glazed over in pure madness as she stared at Loki in disgust.

"Your surrogate, she stopped being mine the second you slept with her behind my back."

"Are you really that surprised? You neglected my needs for months, you were never around and when you were it was like talking to a brick wall and then you decide to introduce another person into our marriage? What did you expect to happen?"

"Not this!"

We share a bewildered look at her outburst.

Although she had proven to be less than stable already, her cry sounded both manic and pained and it admittedly made me fill with guilt despite the situation she currently held us in.

It was obvious to me that she knew her mistake, that she played a part in her husband's infidelity and that it tore her up inside.

While the circumstances weren't surprising, the results were still devastating.

Perhaps even she hadn't anticipated the outcome and she did truly feel for Loki more romantically than anyone could have estimated, yet here we were, she the victim of an affair to a husband who felt unloved and sought attention from the surrogate mother of their child.

What a twisted tale that would make in a book.

It wasn't as much fun, however, when you were stuck in the middle of it and worried for the life of the child you were growing.

Somehow, I had thought of many outcomes and emotions that could have been trudged up because of this and yet, it never struck me that Avena could harbor deep feelings for the husband she had apparently spent so much time away from and that raised more questions than it answered.

"Did you set us up?" I asked, glancing at her over my shoulder.

"You could say that," she answered, "I had legitimate reasons for leaving, but I enchanted the mirror before leaving because I had my suspicions."

I glanced at Loki, panicked and wanting nothing more than for this to be over.

"Perhaps we can come to an arrangement? I'll leave, I'll forget everything."

"It's too late," she shook her head and the dagger was moved around to press into my chest, "the damage is done."

Avena applied pressure to the knife, cutting diagonally across my collarbone as she laughed at my pain.

Gritting my teeth, I closed my eyes to try and ignore the rising pain that felt like it would never end.

Until the pressure alleviated suddenly.

In one, too quick to process fully moment, the pressure was gone, Avena was flying across the room and the blade had clattered to the floor.