The Midgard Woman

Malekith was fuming as he stalked the plains of Svartalfheim, completing a circle and then following back around to the beginning of his stride again. He had been doing this for some time now and his companions watched him, uneasy of his frustration, which he would more than likely take out on them were one of them to provoke him.

“Damn those Jotuns!” Malekith finally spat, the first words he had spoken since returning from Asgard. Thanks to those savage brutes, as the Svartalfhar had always thought of them, their attempt to finally rule the Nine Realms with eternal darkness had failed. “To Hel and back a thousand times!”

He couldn’t quite understand how they could be so forgiving towards the Aesir. When the news that the tensions between the two realms were running high due to Princess Georgiana’s attempted “kidnapping” Malekith had hoped that this would present the perfect opportunity to attack Asgard, for without the strength of the Frost Giants behind them they were an easily defeated race. And yet the Jotuns had turned up in the midst of the battle regardless and now many of his soldiers were either dead or severely wounded. Now there were only a handful of capable Kursed warriors left and Malekith felt a surge of loathing towards the Frost Giants.

Algrim, his most trusted warrior, and usually the only one who could speak with him reasonably whenever he was in a mood like this, stepped forwards, and the others admired him for his bravery to do so. “My Lord Malekith?”

Malekith swung around to him, and merely scowled his question “What?”

Unfazed by his Master’s sharpness, Algrim stood his ground and ventured “As dire as our situation might seem, do not forget that our enemies are also divided now, that is, the Princes of Asgard and Jotunheim fell from the Bifrost, and without the Bridge there is now way they can return home.”

Malekith glowered at him. “Is that supposed to bring me cheer?” he snapped, turning and circling his now so-familiar course once again. As he did so, however, a thought occurred to him. “And there are only two of them...wherever they are...no armies to back them up.”

“Indeed, my Lord,” Algrim agreed.

Malekith ceased his pacing and turned sharply to his Seer Kursed. “Orvar,” he barked, “how long until the Bridge is mended.”

Orvar, the only Svartalfhar to ever have his eyes permanently closed, or rather welded shut with searing fire thousands of years ago, to ensure that he may never lose focus of his powers, flinched at the sharpness of the tone but maintained his calm air as he answered “Three days, my Lord, at most.”

Malekith nodded and spun on his heel again to resume his pacing. “And the Princes,” he said the word with contempt and venom, “are still in the same place? They haven’t moved at all?”

“No, my Lord,” was the reply.

“We must move fast, Sire,” ventured one Kursed warrior, tentatively, and Malekith spun, briskly, to face him. “The second the work on the Bifrost Bridge is complete, the Aesir and Jotuns will search for their lost men.”

“I am well aware of that,” Malekith sighed, “which is why we shall be poised to strike the very second the Bridge is repaired, no matter how long it takes. The Princes will not be expecting our attack, so we have the advantage of surprise.”

Algrim bowed his head, acknowledging the genius of this plan. “Indeed, Sire.”

“Begging your pardon, my Lord,” a second Kursed piped up, nervously, shrinking under Malekith’s piercing gaze, “but what exactly will killing the Jotun and Aesir Princes achieve? After all, they are just two representatives of their races?”

Malekith walked right up to this particular warrior until he was towering over him. The Kursed all shrank back further, wishing they could hide themselves away inside their shells like snails, hide away from their ruler’s wrath, as he glared at the one who had dared speak out.

“They may be only two people,” he hissed, “but do you forget that they are also the heirs to their respective thrones. Without heirs, both kingdoms fall. Who will rule Asgard after Odin is gone? Who will rule Jotunheim after Laufey is dead?”

“The Prince of Jotunheim has a wife,” another Kursed piped up in a tiny voice, quite ill-fitting for a soldier.

“The Midgard Woman?” Malekith let out a scornful laugh. “You think she can hold any power over the realm without her husband by her side? She is a woman, do not forget, and a Midgardian besides! She is merely a pebble on the beach amid the mountains we shall bring crumbling down!”

The Kursed warriors all nodded at once, knowing that to disagree or question would certainly mean death, even though at this moment in time Malekith could not afford to lose any more warriors. Straightening himself, the ruler of Svartalfheim turned to his remaining troops, who all stood to attention at once and awaited his orders.

“Be ready,” was all he ordered. “When the time is right we shall emerge and engulf the world in darkness. Our enemies shall fall and be as dust at our feet, and then the Dark Elves shall take their rightful place as rulers of the Nine Realms forever.”

This was met with a battle cry of cheers from his warriors.

“A brilliant plan, my Lord,” Algrim muttered in a respectful aside.

Malekith nodded. “Take away the Princes, you see, and you take away the futures of both realms.”

Meanwhile, blissfully unaware that his own downfall, as well as that of his new friend’s, was being plotted many miles away from where they now lay, Loki lay idly in the extremely comfortable guest bed that Margaret had assigned him, the room that he and Georgiana always slept in whenever they visited for more than one day at a time, tossing an inkwell in one hand and thinking. As usual his mind was on Georgiana. It was rather early in the morning, in fact the sun hadn’t even risen yet, but he had woken feeling restless and unable to go back to sleep. Finally catching the inkwell for what would be the final time that day, he sighed, took a deep breath and placed it back on the table beside the bed before once again attempting to summon a book from the shelf behind the door using magic.

To his surprise, the thing flew neatly into his hand barely had he made the deft summoning movement with a flick of his wrist. Loki stared at it for a second and then sat bolt upright, realising what this must mean.

“Yes,” he whispered incredulously and then “Yes!”

If his magic was strong enough to do this, then it was certainly strong enough to project an illusion back to Jotunheim. With a racing heart, Loki closed his eyes and concentrated hard on the one place he desperately wanted to be.

Georgiana, Georgiana, Georgiana...

Opening his eyes, he perceived once again the room lined with heated stones across the walls and floor and the wide ice windows that looked out over the snowy plains of his home realm. Turning, his image projected standing up rather than lying down, he smiled at the sleeping form of his wife. Georgiana had tucked his pillow under the furs beside her and was snuggled up to it, hugging it close to her, her cheeks flushed slightly with sleep, the neck of her nightgown slipped down to expose the white of her bare shoulder beneath, her hair mussed, her lips slightly parted and her eyes tightly closed, and yet she had never looked lovelier, Loki decided.

He badly wanted to lean down and kiss her, kiss her pale shoulder, her flushed cheeks, her beautiful soft lips, but he resisted, knowing that doing so would shatter his illusion before he had even had a chance to alert her to his presence, so instead he crouched beside the bed and whispered, urgently, “Georgiana? Georgiana, darling, wake up.”

Georgiana blinked and raised her head, focusing on him with a small frown. Then her eyes widened. “Loki?” she whispered, raising her hand.

Before she could touch him, however, Loki drew back from her reach. “Just an illusion,” he informed her, gently.

She smiled, feeling tears spring to her eyes. “I know. You flickered just now.”

“I did?” Loki sighed. Well, a flickering illusion was better than nothing and at least he could still see her this way. “Sorry, my magic’s weakened, I’m afraid.”

Georgiana sat up properly, feeling a swell of relief within her. “You’re alive,” she said, softly, wishing that she could touch him. “You’re safe.”

Loki smiled. “Yes, dove. I teleported us both to Midgard, which is what drained my magic. But it’s repairing itself enough now to be able to see you.”

“Midgard?” Georgiana felt even more relieved as she pushed back the covers and knelt in front of him, brushing her hair out of her eyes. “Whereabouts?”

“Your Mother’s house,” Loki replied, with another smile. “We landed not too far away from Daventry.”

“Thank the Norns,” Georgiana breathed. “And you’re alright? You didn’t get hurt?”

“No, I’m fine, we’re both fine,” Loki said. Then, looking straight into her eyes, he added, softly, “But I do miss waking up beside you.”

“I miss that too,” Georgiana whispered. Her heart gave a small twinge as she reminded herself that it would still be a while before they would share a bed together properly again. Her throat felt tight and she swallowed back any tears threatening to overwhelm her. “I wish you could hold me.”

“So do I,” Loki murmured. Hesitantly, he raised a hand and brought it close to her face, almost able to feel the warmth radiating from her skin. Georgiana closed her eyes, picturing the feel of his fingers against her cheek. “The second I return, I am going to kiss you breathless,” he promised.

Georgiana giggled. “Well, it may interest you to know that you won’t have to wait very long to do that.” Opening her eyes, she smiled at Loki’s surprised expression and explained “You are not the only one who is a master of projecting illusions, my love. Queen Frigga has been keeping me informed of the work on the Bifrost Bridge, and it will be repaired soon.”

Loki smiled. “Did she mention-?”

“Your Father’s fine,” Georgiana cut across him. “They’re all fine there. Apparently, the Dark Elves were defeated and so they left.”

“What, they just retreated?” Loki asked in surprise.

“That’s what she told me.” Georgiana frowned at him. “Why?”

“I don’t know, that just doesn’t sound like them,” Loki replied, thoughtfully. “Dark Elves don’t usually surrender easily.”

“Perhaps it was because they were outnumbered,” Georgiana suggested.

“Perhaps,” Loki agreed, although he didn’t really believe that this was the case. “Or,” he added, thinking of the more likely scenario, “perhaps they’re planning something else, some larger-scale attack.”

“You think?” Georgiana asked.

Seeing that his words were causing her to tremble, Loki quickly fixed his face into a more relaxed expression. “I hope not,” he said, calmly, “although perhaps we should all be prepared just in case.”

Georgiana nodded, calming herself down. “We have strong forces here anyway, don’t we, even those who aren’t soldiers?”

Loki nodded and then brought his face closer to hers, longing to be able to kiss her. “It will be fine,” he said, softly, and she nodded again. Looking around for a way to cheer her up, he added with slightly mischievous smile “So, how are you enjoying taking care of Jotunheim, Princess Regent?”

Georgiana managed a smile. “I think I would enjoy it more with my husband alongside me, but so far it’s proved to be anything but uneventful. How are you holding up spending time with Thor; at least I’m assuming you two have stuck together? Is it terrible being stuck with someone you despise?”

To her surprise, however, Loki actually flushed. “I wouldn’t say “despise” as such, Georgiana...”

“Oh?” Georgiana raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“Well, he’s not as bad as I originally thought, put it that way,” Loki began.

“I’m sorry, is this Prince Loki of Jotunheim actually admitting he’s wrong?” Georgiana teased, laying a hand over her heart to emphasise her “shock” at such an admission. Loki coloured a little more but didn’t deny it and she smiled. “Well, what’s brought this on?”

“Well, for a start he apologised for “kidnapping” you,” Loki replied, meeting her gaze. “And it seems that the basis for his beliefs about Frost Giants lie in all those Dark Elf rumours about us being savage beasts. But I think he’s changing his opinion about us now.”

“So, he’s not such a big-headed oaf after all, then?” Georgiana smiled.

“Not that big-headed, no,” Loki agreed and they both laughed. “Plus your Mother seems to like him.”

That was true, he had been able to tell in the way that Margaret conversed with the young Prince of Asgard. But then, he reflected, there weren’t many people that Margaret didn’t take to easily; he and his Father were living proof of that.

“Oh, well, if he has Mama’s blessing, then he must be worth befriending,” Georgiana teased.

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” Loki smiled. “We’re allies, that’s all.”

“Still...” Georgiana smiled. “Here I thought you’d hate him for the rest of your life.”

Loki shrugged. “He sort of grows on you after a while.”

Georgiana took a deep breath and then moved her hand to almost cover his, longing to be able to take it in her own like they were always able to when together. “You’ll...you’ll be safe, won’t you? I mean, I know that Midgard isn’t as dangerous as the rest of the Nine Realms can be, but-”

“I will be,” Loki promised. “And if it makes you feel better, I’ll keep an eye on Thor too.”

“Cross your heart?”

“Cross my heart.”

It was inevitable, really, they both knew that they were going to attempt it, their separation was too great, to painful, for them not to. “I love you, Loki,” Georgiana whispered.

“I love you, Georgiana,” Loki murmured back, and then he leaned forwards and met her lips with his own. Both knew that they were just kissing empty air, but it had been too great a temptation not to do so. Had this been a typical conversation between them, had they both been in the exact same place, together again, it wouldn’t have mattered so much, one kiss very much like another, but like this, with Loki only an illusion, it broke the connection between them the second they touched. Georgiana opened her eyes to see him fading before her eyes with a regretful expression on his face and she took a deep breath, willing herself not to cry and reminding herself that she would see him again soon, for real this time and not just an illusion she couldn’t touch without losing.

Back on Midgard, Loki opened his eyes and sighed, fancying he could still feel the warmth of her skin, still smell the sweet scent of her hair, as if she were in the same room as him now. It was painful being so far away from her with no way back until the Bifrost was repaired. Still, he reflected, at least now he knew that she was alright and she knew he was alright and soon they would be together again. And, he also realised, now his magic was almost fully recharged, so he could use it properly again, and he quickly sprang off the bed and hurried from the room, making his way towards the room where Thor was snoring.

“Thor!” he exclaimed, barrelling through the door without bothering to knock.

The Aesir Prince awoke at once with a jolt and a groan. “Loki!” Without moving from where he was lying, Thor blinked sleepily at him. “It’s not even light yet!”

“It’s not like you were doing anything important,” Loki retorted, quickly flinging himself onto the bed.

Thor groaned again and rubbed his eyes. “What is it? We’re not under attack, are we?”

“Yes, and the bed’s on fire,” Loki replied.

Thor shot bolt upright at that. “What?”

Loki laughed. “I’m jesting! Norns, you’re easy to fool!”

Thor threw a soft punch at his arm. “Don’t do that to me! Now, are you going to tell me what this is all about or what?”

Loki grinned at him. “My magic’s recharged.”

“And that couldn’t have waited until it was daylight?” But Thor was grinning as he said it, rubbing his face to wake himself up properly. “That’s great, Loki, really.”

“Thanks,” Loki replied, stretching casually. “I must admit it feels good.”

“So, are you going to put your wife out of her misery, then?” Thor asked, stifling a yawn.

“I’ve already done that,” Loki replied, “and she’s told me that your Mother told her that the Bifrost will be repaired soon, so we won’t be stuck here much longer.”

“Oh, that’s a pity,” Thor replied, not quite managing to stifle his yawn this time. “I was just getting used to the place.”

“Weren’t you saying only yesterday that you never really saw the point of visiting Midgard when you were younger because it seemed so primitive compared to Asgard?” Loki teased.

Thor shrugged and pulled the covers back over him. “Well, it sort of grows on you after a while.”

Loki looked at him, or rather what he could see of him, in surprise. “Yes,” he managed to agree.

Perhaps they weren’t so different after all.