The Pretty Cage

Loki waited until the sun had fully crossed the horizon before making his way to his bedroom door. He stood staring for a moment while he pondered if he should knock or just walk right in. These were his chambers, but he was still a gentleman. It felt a little absurd, but he knocked softly and listened for a reply. When none came, he slowly turned the handle, relieved and a little surprised she had not locked the door.

Eisa was sleeping soundly on one side of the large bed, slightly on her side, one leg uncovered and slung over the duvet. One arm was curled around the top of her head, and her other hand was holding onto the blanket with a closed fist. Loki studied her as she slept, he imagined she had a restless night's sleep. He knew as well as anyone how difficult it could be to sleep comfortably in a new environment.

She had tied her wild hair up in a messy knot on the top of her head and put on a loose, shapeless, cap-sleeve nightgown. It was white, the material barely thicker than gossamer silk. A thin green bow was sewn on the point of the short V-neck, trimmed in a thin, delicate lace. It would look like something a young girl would sleep in if it weren't for the material of the garment. It was quite thin; not sheer, but opaque enough that he could tell she wore nothing underneath but a small pair of white cotton panties.

He forced himself to look away from the outline of her rose-colored nipples and the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she slept peacefully. He knew he shouldn't be staring, but the sight of another person sleeping in his bedroom made the events of the last few days seem even more unreal; like he could wake at any moment and be back in his cell in the dungeon. It would not be the first time his mind constructed images and memories that had never happened.

Dragging his gaze down her bare leg to her foot, he turned and made his way over to the closet to pull clean clothes to wear. What he saw there caused his eyebrows to shoot up and irritation rankle his skin.

Eisa had hastily thrown open her trunks and riffled through all of them. Clothes, shoes, and accessories were tossed about and littered the floor. The cases she had remembered to close behind her had bits of garments falling out the sides. The mess and disarray shocked him. Greta would need to get in here and sort this out right away.

As he turned, he noticed her wedding gown and corset thrown carelessly over one of the trunks. The dainty silk panties were on the floor nearby. She had slid them off and stepped out of them without giving them a second thought. He stood there staring at them, conflicted if he should be furious with her for being so inconsiderate as to just leave her underwear discarded on the floor or furious with himself for becoming aroused by the sight of them, wanting to pick them up and bring them up to his face.

No, no, no, he chastised himself as he chose a tunic, it was just a simple scrap of fabric. He had to adjust himself as he went to the chest of drawers where his casual trousers lived. A scrap of fabric fitted snugly against the tender folds of a sweet cunt. The memory of the fragrant musk of an aroused woman caused Loki to groan quietly as heat raced to his pelvis. He loved the unique scent of a woman slick with desire. He was at his most content with his face buried between a beautiful lady's thighs. The sounds of pleasure they made as he delivered hungry kisses to their heated sex? Norns! He lived for it.

I am going to have the cleanest cock in all Asgard, he laughed to himself as he made his way to the shower and the soapy washcloth that would relieve the lusty mood that had struck him.

He groaned audibly when he locked the bathroom door behind himself and saw a used towel and a hairbrush full of her long hair left on the counter. A dried glob of tooth-cleaning paste abandoned in the bowl of the sink. And, to his horror, pots of moisturizer and lotion lying OPEN with their lids nearby.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath, shaking his head, reminding himself that she was most likely just exhausted and eager to get comfortable and go to sleep. No one can possibly be so messy on a daily basis.

When he finished getting ready for the day, trying very hard to ignore the water spots on the mirror, he slipped from the bathroom intending to head straight for the sitting room to ring for Greta.

Eisa sat up slowly as he came through the door, "Loki?"

"Who else are you expecting, child? These are my chambers."

"I- well yes, I see your point," she said sleepily. "Can we talk?"

"I would rather not." He continued to the door.

"Perhaps over breakfast?"

"Why ruin a good meal?" Loki closed the door behind himself.

Eisa let out an indignant huff and flopped back down onto the bed. Someone is cranky in the mornings.

oOXOo

Eisa came out of the bedroom dressed much more modestly than she had been the day before as Greta was serving Loki his breakfast in the dining room. She took a tentative seat across from him, "Good morning, Greta."

"Good morning, Your Highness."

"Greta, the girl, in her exhausted state, must not have realized how slovenly she was being last night. After breakfast, could you please help her tidy her belongings and show her where to put her dirty clothes for the laundry?"

"It would be my pleasure, My Prince." She set Eisa's breakfast in front of her and gave her a little wink.

"My apologies. I never seem to notice the mess I make until someone else points it out to me," she looked down in embarrassment as she laid her napkin across her lap.

"Well, let us hope you grow out of that soon." Loki broke open his soft-boiled egg with his spoon.

The rest of breakfast was spent in silence. He read the news as he enjoyed his meal slowly and Eisa picked at her food while resisting the urge to ask him a million questions.

After Greta cleared the breakfast dishes, she seized her opportunity.

"Loki?"

"What is it?"

"Well, I was hoping we might talk about yesterday."

"What about yesterday?" he continued reading.

Eisa tamped down her temper, He thinks he is clever.

"I know emotions were running high- for everyone. I was hurt and I let Anina's words dampen my spirit. I have been doing a lot of thinking, and I have decided to give this another chance."

Loki almost choked on his coffee.

"You have decided?"

"Yes." She smiled widely at him, "I took vows and I intend to hold to them. You are my husband now; I want to be a good wife to you, Loki. Please let me know what you expect of me, and I will do it. I will do my best to be tidier. If you will just be patient with me, I-"

"This whole situation is preposterous." Loki was trying to remain calm.

"How is it preposterous? People are betrothed and wed every day. Husbands and wives live together all the time."

"First of all," Loki took a breath, "not that I owe you any explanation, I only agreed to marry to get out of prison."

"That is understandable. I cannot fault you for that."

"Secondly, this was not supposed to be a real marriage, just a way for Odin to save face after his golden boy broke off his betrothal to your sister."

"Well-"

"Lastly, the thought of actually bedding you is wholly ridiculous."

Eisa sat back in her chair and pouted, "Ridiculous?" She stared at her hands in her lap, "So, it is true? The rumors I have heard?"

"What rumors, girl?"

"That you prefer men over women?"

"I do not prefer one over the other. I enjoy them both equally. What I do not care for is being forced to marry a child and expected to take her to bed!"

"I am not a child!" Eisa slammed her palm on the table.

"Please spare me."

"I am a grown woman! I may be the youngest of my siblings, but that does not make me a child. I am highly educated, and I am your wife! I am a woman, dammit!"

A devilish grin spread across his face, "Is that so?"

"Yes," she said meekly, suddenly unsure of herself.

"A woman knows how to pleasure a man. A woman knows what to do with a cock. Do you?" He raised his eyebrows at her expectantly.

She deflated and looked at her hands in her lap again.

"Oh, come now. Where is that fire I saw just moments ago?" He laughed as he rolled up his scroll. "Tell me, have you ever seen a man naked? Would you even know what to do if I pulled you into my arms? Would you even know how to make those heirs Odin wants so desperately?" He tossed the scroll to the table and sat back in his chair, stretching his legs out and slinging one elbow over the wooden arm, "No? Then you are a child still."

"I can learn. You can teach me."

Loki gave her a sardonic smile, "First lesson: I would need to find you desirable for my cock to work. Luckily for you, I do not."

Eisa felt the sting as tears formed in her eyes.

"I am not here to educate you. You should have fooled around with your schoolmates like everyone else."

"You would fault me for obeying my parents? For saving myself for marriage? I was always told that my husband would appreciate an innocent wife."

"You were lied to."

"No," Eisa shook her head as she fought back the tears. She did not want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. "That is not true. You are angry about being misled and I understand that. But you cannot take your anger out on me. I have done nothing to earn it."

He sat upright again and laced his fingers together in front of himself on the table, "Haven't you? You were a lamb to the slaughter; Odin set you up to be sacrificed and you trotted along willingly. If you had any idea what you had truly agreed to you would be shaking with fear right now. So just sit there and enjoy your blissful ignorance and leave me be."

"I know what I agreed to, and I am not afraid."

"You don't know what you are saying."

"I admit that I know nothing about sex. I admit that I have never seen a man naked. I even admit that I have never been kissed. But I am not the ignorant little girl you think me to be. I know a good person when I see one. I know how to be patient. I know how to be kind. I know that when someone is hurting, they lash out at others." She stood and looked him straight in the eye, "I know where a person was born does not determine their worth."

She picked up her teacup and went outside to sit on the balcony.

Loki sat in disbelieving silence as he watched her turn her back to him and make her way across the room.

It wasn't possible. There was no way she could know the truth. It was Asgard's most closely guarded secret. The longer he sat there the more agitated he became. He had to know; he had to find out what she knew.

He charged onto the balcony to confront her, "How would you know where I was born?"

She finished her sip and placed the cup back in its saucer resting on the ornate wrought iron and stone table. The bright midmorning sun shone down on her, illuminating her hair to shine with a fiery hue, "Your father told me, of course."

"How is that possible?" he asked her sarcastically, "I exterminated my father; killed him right here inside the walls of this palace."

She took a deep breath and toyed with the handle of her teacup, "There is more to being a father than biology, Loki. I thought everyone knew that."

"Watch your tone with me, child!" He stalked the stones across from where she was seated. Pacing back and forth trying to keep his temper controlled. "Odin told you the reality of my true parentage?"

"Yes."

"Why would he do that?"

"He swore me to a vow of secrecy, but he wanted to make sure I knew the truth before I agreed to the proposal. He said I needed all the facts before I made up my mind."

He stopped stalking and ran both of his hands through his hair before pointing an accusatory finger in her direction, "You knew what I was before you agreed to go along with his scheme? What did he offer you? Gold? Land? Seiðr? What did he give you to make you agree to this?"

"It is a marriage, not a scheme!" She stood and took a step toward him. Loki backed up in response. "I would not have taken any of those things if he had offered them to me. He did not give me anything other than the chance to be your wife; to be the mother of your children. Love cannot be bought and sold. Gods, Loki, do you truly think so little of me?"

"Love?!" Caught off guard, his face scrunched up in confusion. He shook his head trying to make sense of her words. "You are bewitched!" He looked up sharply and closed the distance to her quickly, he took her face in his hands, looked deep into her eyes, and searched for any trace of magic there, "Odin put a spell on you, tampered with your mind somehow."

"No, Loki," she said softly as she slowly covered his hands with hers, "Nothing suspect is going on here." She turned her head and placed a soft kiss on his palm before lowering his hands from her face. "I cannot pretend to know or understand everything you have been through. I cannot pretend to think I know what goes through your mind." She gave his hands a gentle squeeze, "I only know I have never wanted to be married to anyone else but you. I have loved you from afar for the entirety of my life. For as long as I can remember, there has only been you."

Loki shook his head, "This is nonsense." He pulled his hands out of hers and stepped back. "You do not love me. You do not even know me."

"I have always known you, Loki! You may not have ever paid any attention to me, but that does not mean I wasn't always there. Every stupid feast for every stupid occasion, I found a way to be near you. Every royal event I was dragged to was only made bearable by your presence."

"You didn't know what I truly was then."

"Why would knowing you are adopted change how I felt about you?"

"I am not just adopted, you daft girl! We," he motioned back and forth between the two of them, "are not even the same species!"

"So?"

Loki stood staring at her, speechless; words and thoughts fleeing from him for several moments.

"You are certifiably insane." He turned abruptly and made his way back inside.

"Now that is just rude!" She followed behind him, close to his heels.

"It all makes sense now. You are crazier than a bag of cats." He walked swiftly down the hall toward his library.

"Excuse me?"

"You need extensive appointments with a mind healer. There is something wrong with you." He closed the door before Eisa could get through. She stomped her foot and slapped her hand on the heavy wood.

"Why-" Eisa started to shout through the door, then remembered that Greta was most likely somewhere in the apartment listening. She tried the handle and it turned, much to her surprise. Closing the door tightly behind her she went to find Loki in the rows.

"Why would you think there is something wrong with me?"

He was running a finger along the spines of a row of books on a shelf slightly above his eye level. "Because there is. Your mind has been corrupted in some way. Trust me. I know the signs."

"I am sorry if I made you uncomfortable out there. I should not have been so forward with my affection so soon, but I just felt it right for you to know how I feel about you. How I have always felt about you."

He pulled a modestly sized book from the shelf and walked away from her again.

"Loki! Please stop and talk to me."

"I will not act as an enabler in your delusions." He made his way to the settee near a large stained-glass window. It depicted the Asgardian countryside with mountains in the distance.

"I am not delusional!"

"Nothing you have said today makes any sense." He sat with his legs stretched out across the cushions, letting Eisa know she was not invited to sit with him.

She threw her hands up and let out a frustrated groan. "Fine! If you insist on being obtuse, there is nothing I can do about it."

"I beg your pardon? What did you call me?"

"I called you obtuse! If you are unfamiliar with the term, you should look it up. I'm sure there is a dictionary around here somewhere." It was her turn to storm away.

"I know what the word means, girl! How dare you suggest that, of the two of us, I am the dullard here?" He abandoned his book in his seat as he leaped up and followed her.

"It was not a suggestion. I do not know how I could have said it any plainer."

Just as Eisa was about to leave the room, Loki's large hand pushed the door closed again. She spun around to find him looming over her, his hand pressed flat against the wood so close to her head she could smell the soap he had used in the shower this morning.

Eisa crossed her arms defiantly and waited for him to reprimand her.

"You have some nerve, little one."

Eisa's lips twitched, "Thank you." She had to fight the urge to curtsey, remembering the night they collided, spilling the absurd number of desserts she had pilfered.

Loki's mind must have just recalled the same moment because he could not stop the laugh that escaped him as he lowered his arm and took a step back.

"You have no sense of self-preservation."

She shrugged slightly, "Perhaps not."

He looked her over thoughtfully for a minute.

"Leave me. Go find Greta and help her clean up the mess you made in the closet."

"Fine, but only because I want to."

"Fine."

"I will see you at afternoon tea." She gave him a small nod.

"Are you foregoing lunch?"

"No, Finna and I always eat lunch together in the dining hall and then walk the grounds for a while afterward. It has been our routine since I graduated."

Loki took another step back as a solemn expression fell across his face. "The bars are so pretty the little dove forgets she is in a cage," he said quietly.

It took her a second to process what he had said. Remembering she was no longer free to come and go as she pleased, she brought a shaky hand up to her mouth. "Oh, no."

oOXOo

Instead of the warm welcome Viggo had expected when he returned home from his three-week hunting expedition, he was bombarded with utter chaos as soon as he walked through his front door. His chambermaid, Berta, broke down into an incoherent, babbling mess. Finna looked as if she hadn't bathed or slept in a week and reeked of alcohol. The men Viggo hired for security kept mumbling something about the King and the Einherjar.

It took him longer than it should have to piece together the fragments of the story that had been hurled in his direction from the unreliable witnesses before him. It wasn't until he had read the letters in Eisa's own handwriting that he could believe what he had been told.

A week ago, while he was far from home, the King took it upon himself to betroth and marry his favorite daughter to his adopted son who was not only a war criminal, but also a Jötun pretending to be Asgardian. Not only did he arrange her marriage behind his back, but he also forbade her from leaving the Prince's chambers or even having visitors. He was holding his baby girl captive.

Viggo was seeing red. The primal scream that broke from him sent Berta running for the exit. He grabbed the closest man to him and punched him so hard that he fell unconscious for several minutes.

Realizing he had lost the upper hand with the King, he fisted the letters in his grip and made his way to the throne room, determined to expose the King in a bad light.

"What have you done?!" Viggo came storming through the heavy golden doors, waving Eisa's letters as he charged past a line of people waiting for the King to hear their complaints as he held court.

A row of Einherjar lowered their spears before Viggo could reach the dais.

"Answer me! Where is my little girl? I demand that you release her to me this instant!"

Odin smirked, "You dare make demands of your King? You forget your place."

The king was well-protected and had a look on his face that Viggo had not seen since before he married Frigga. A look that was almost begging for a fight. Odin was almost vibrating with excited energy, even Gungnir appeared to be shining brighter than he remembered.

Viggo choked back the scream that threatened to erupt from him again as he bared his teeth. He took several deep breaths and tried to school his expression. He had to play by Odin's rules now.

"Your Majesty," he quickly bowed to the King, "Please, my daughter, my baby girl, my Eisa. I have been wronged. I did not approve of her betrothal. I did not give my permission for her to marry."

"No, but I did."

"But I am her father."

"And I am her King," Odin said calmly, "and her father by law. She belongs to Loki now."

"Please. She is just an innocent girl."

"She is a wife, a princess, and a future Queen Mother."

"No!" Viggo grimaced, "I will not allow that... thing... to mate with my little girl." He brought a hand to his temple. "Remove this knife from my head so that I may speak freely!"

Odin placed a hand over his heart and looked about, "I see no knife, old friend. You are in complete control of the pain in your head. If you wish for it to cease, you simply must will it to."

Viggo stood and seethed, wanting to unleash all his vitriol on the King, but the sharp pain in his head was causing him to see spots.

"It is unfortunate you were out of town on your daughter's big day. She looked lovely. She reminds me so much of her sweet mother."

Viggo felt like he had been punched in the chest. Odin was playing dirty and there was nothing he could do about it, no way to retaliate at this moment.

"Please, let her come home. Her sister is sick with worry." Odin was unmoved. "Let me go to her. Let me see her with my own eyes and ensure that she is being cared for and treated well."

"That can be arranged. Although we could not just show up unannounced. You remember what it was like to be newlywed; rarely leaving the bed for anything, let alone entertaining guests."

Viggo kept his face neutral, but underneath his façade, he was raging. "If you would be so kind as to let me know when the plans are confirmed, My King."

"Thank you for stopping by Viggo. I am sure you are exhausted from your journey. Go home and get some rest. I will send for you tomorrow."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," he said curtly as he bowed.

Viggo squared his shoulders and made his exit. The crowd parted, giving him a wide path to the doors.

If he so much as touched a hair on her head, I will kill him with my bare hands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's note: We are at about the midway point of our story. I hope you are enjoying the ride so far. Thanks for coming along on the journey with me.

In the next chapter, be prepared for more drama and angst as Loki and Eisa continue to try to adjust to their new living arrangements and their fathers pay the newlyweds a visit.