Chapter 2.4 A Test of Time Part 4

After being led to the king's room, the servants left, and he was now alone in the room. He understood that he only had a short window of time to escape, and began to pace back and forth nervously, wondering how he would do so. He was quite high up in the palace, and he couldn't just jump out of the window to the ground below.

Quickly opening a window, he looked out of it, trying to make an escape plan. The roofs of the lower walls of the palace were quite broad, and if he jumped onto them, he would be alright. If he managed to do this though, he still didn't know how he would get out of the city. He couldn't just blend in - he was the only being with blue skin for miles and miles around. Even if he did manage to hide, the king would most likely shut down the city and he'd be trapped there until they found him.

He wasn't the type of person to just give up, so he kept running through different scenarios in his mind, knowing that sooner or later, he'd be able to find a way out of this hellish life he'd inanely put himself in. It seemed like he would be forced to lie with the king tonight though, and he bit a lower lip, thinking of how he could prevent this.

Perhaps if he made a clone, the king could have sex with that instead, and once the king finished, he could dissipate the clone and return to the king's side.

This plan seemed to be the only way he would get out of having sex with the king, and he let out a quick sigh, thankful that he'd come up with this. He suddenly realized then that he could leave his clone here, and make an escape during the dead of night as his clone remained with the king until he was safely out of the city. Grinning, he thanked the Norns for blessing him with his brilliant, quick-thinking mind, and summoned a clone, directing it over to the king's bed while he climbed out of the window. He betted that the fall from this window to the ceiling 10 feet below wouldn't hurt him, and took in a deep breath, his heart pounding out of his chest.

He knew it was now or never though, and forced his fears to the back of his mind, jumping out of the window and stifling his cry of surprise as he landed with a loud thud onto the ceiling below the window. It seemed that this alerted some guards nearby, as they came over to investigate what this sound was.

Loki's heart nearly beat out of his chest when he felt someone grab him and he quickly turned to strike this person dead, stopping only when he saw it was Thor.

The Aesir took hold of him quickly and shot up into the air, getting high enough to where the guards would not be able to spot them in the night sky.

Thor was honestly relieved that Loki tried to escape on his own, as he had been having trouble finding him. He was also awed that the niouvi took his fate into his own hands and held onto him tightly, propelling them through the night sky. He didn't slow down until he felt Loki shivering from the cold and began to head closer to the ground now that they were out of the city.

He didn't stop flying until they were within sight of his men, and although he was tired, he knew that they needed to press on. It was imperative that they got out of the kingdom of Muspelheim before the sun rose so that they weren't captured. Finally, Thor caught up to his men and called out to them, laughing when they spotted him and began to cheer. Settling on his feet, Thor helped Loki stand, keeping a supportive hand on the small of his back. "I told you I would make it back."

One of his men brought him his horse and clasped at his shoulder, relieved that Thor was able to escape safely. "And you weren't followed?"

Scoffing, Thor helped Loki up onto his horse, and climbed on behind him, gesturing for his men to begin riding again. "There is not a giant alive that can fly. No one noticed us while we escaped." He grabbed the reins of his horse then and urged it to gallop, making sure that Loki was secured between his arms.

Thor and his men rode until the middle of the next day, not stopping until they arrived in a town for travelers. They were relieved to see that it was a Midgardian town, which meant that they were out of Muspelheim, and had escaped being captured. He knew that they could stop here for the day so that their horses could rest, and after setting them up in the stables near the inn of the town he paid for their rooms, asking Loki to place a protection spell over the cart with their money in it.

Loki put a powerful protection spell over the cart with their money in it and used an illusionary spell as well, making the money appear as hay to any who gazed at it. He was still in shock that Thor actually came back for him and didn't know how to feel, an almost wondrous state of disbelief taking over him.

Once he and Thor were alone in their room, he sat down on the edge of a bed, disbelief still plain on his face. "... You came back for me…"

Thor sat down warily beside Loki, surprised to see the normally witty and chatty niouvi struck by awe and silence. "You and I made a promise to each other. My settlement needs you, and I would never be able to live with myself if I left you to rot in Muspelheim." He gently took Loki's hands then, trying to make him feel more comfortable. "If we're going to marry, we need to have some level of trust between us. I'm not going to hurt you or toss you aside at the earliest convenience."

His words seemed too good to be true and Loki looked away, a deep-set frown on his face. He'd never felt this conflicted in his life, as he couldn't believe that it seemed things were finally going to be okay. Thor coming back to save him did establish a tendril of trust between he and the Aesir though, and if he couldn't believe any other word or action that came from Thor, he would trust that Thor was a man that stuck to his word.

Now it was his turn.

Finally, he looked back up at Thor, his heart skipping a beat when he noticed the concern in the Aesir's eyes. "... I believe you."

Confessing this was the most terrifying thing Loki had ever done, he inhaled sharply when Thor caressed his cheek, finding that he didn't mind the action. He moved to hold Thor's hand in place, and continued to stare at him, accepting that this was his best-case scenario. He wanted something like this to happen and because of that, it was time for him to act like it.

He knew that he would have to sleep with Thor eventually - there wasn't a man alive that didn't want children - and looked back up at the Aesir, wondering what he would do now.

Thor seemed to feel the same, and pulled his hand away, feeling awkward as well. "I won't touch you without your permission."

This caused a small laugh to leave Loki's throat and he smirked up at the man, feeling better about his decision to marry him. "I will not turn you away if you touch me. I've gathered from our travels that you're not a brute and that you care deeply for others. If I felt like you would harm me, I wouldn't have offered myself to you."

Eyes flitting back over to Loki, Thor observed him for a moment, wanting to be certain that Loki felt this way.

They'd been together for a month, so while they weren't strangers, they'd never held each other or been intimate before. Loki wasn't opposed to sleeping with the Aesir, as they would be getting married once they returned to Thor's guild settlement. Now that Thor had proven himself to him, he felt more comfortable going into this arrangement that he concocted.

Of course, he was terribly sweaty from their escape out of Muspelheim and wanted to shower before doing anything with the Aesir. "I'm going to take a shower. We can continue our discussion after we're clean."

Thor let out an amused laugh and nodded, getting up from one of the beds in the room and looking through his things aimlessly. It was nerve-wracking to have all of the money from this escapade just sitting outside with the horses, and although he saw Loki put the illusionary and protection spells on it himself, he was still paranoid about someone taking that money.

He decided that he would rest on one of the beds in the room and waited for Loki to exit the bathroom, rendered speechless when he saw Loki's dripping, naked form come out a few minutes later. If there was ever an ethereal beauty in this realm, it was Loki, and Thor was in complete and utter shock that for the rest of his life, Loki would be his, and his alone.

Seeing Thor's reaction put a devilish grin on Loki's face, and he sauntered over to the Aesir, resting careful hands on his broad showers. "Why don't you shower so that we can entertain each other?"

Thor felt like he was in a dreamy haze almost and found his hands pulling Loki in closer, his mouth suddenly pressing a soft kiss against the niouvi's bare skin. Loki's skin was so soft and supple in his hands and he marveled at the smooth expanse, eyes locking with Loki's once again.

Loki was delighted to see that Thor was so entranced by his figure and reached out to caress his cheek, marveling at the way Thor reacted to his touch. "I'll be waiting for you."

Gently taking Loki's hand, Thor kissed the giant's knuckles before standing up, forcing himself to go shower and scrub off the dirt and grime from their travels. He was relieved that Loki seemed to trust him a bit more and thought about how their lives would be now that they'd agreed to this marriage of convenience. He knew there was no love there now, but found himself hoping that one day, it would be.