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Fill 34 Card 3: Curse
Jul. 1st, 2023 12:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
innitmarvelous_ogLoki's attention was drawn by the snort of a horse, that signaled the arrival of his anticipated guest. Letting go of the fractured twig he held, he managed a smile that failed to reach his eyes, and then he pivoted to greet them, "Greetings, Mother."
Frigga dismounted gracefully from her horse and approached him without hesitation, confident that her steed would remain in place. She accepted both of his outstretched hands, and after exchanging cheek kisses, she gazed at him a moment before she remarked, "Tell me the reason for your fear, Loki."
He tried to keep his voice light as he responded, "What fear, Mother? Perhaps I called you here because I wanted to see you? After all, Eva and I do not—"
Frigga quieted him with a meaningful gaze, one that only a mother could give to her child, "Your message requested secrecy, and I sensed the spells you cast upon this place as I approached," she said. "You wouldn't take such risks without a powerful motivator behind them like fear, my son. So, why have you hidden us from Heimdall's sight and hearing?" The risk she referred to was the fact that when Odin released Loki from prison, Loki had sworn never to shroud himself from Heimdall again. "I'm waiting for an answer, Loki. I want to understand why you're jeopardizing your freedom and the life you have with the woman you love."
Loki turned, and walked away from her, not speaking for some time.
"It is for Eva that I've risked my freedom," he finally said.
"Go on."
He walked around the circle he'd made for them another few steps before he inquired, "Mother, do you remember Rowena of Vanaheim?"
The Queen of Asgard nodded, although he was not looking at her, "Yes, I remember her. She was one of the more powerful wielders of magic the Nine Realms have ever seen. I have not heard her name in almost nine years now. Pray tell me why you are speaking it now, Loki."
Loki continued to pace the boundaries of the protective circle that he had created as he spoke, "The reason you have not heard that name for almost nine now is because soon after I wed Eva, Rowena was becoming a threat to the peace of the Nine Realms, and so the All-Father commanded that the Einherjar put an end to her. Because she was such a sorceress, I was dispatched along with those sent to deal with her."
"The battle did not go well," Frigga stated, not asked.
"No, it did not. Over half of the Einherjar died within minutes of engaging the witch. The only reason I was able to come near her without being slain is because of my own power. I put spells on my daggers and then hurled them at her. Her power was strong, but she was not able to keep my daggers from finding her. She fell to the ground in a heap. I had to be sure she was indeed dead, and when I approached the hag's shell, she grabbed my wrist. She pulled me to her, smeared her blood on me, and told me..." He stopped, closing his eyes.
"She told you what?" Frigga asked, pulling her cloak tightly around her.
"She spoke an incantation, and she told me she had cursed my Eva to die as she had." Loki turned to face his mother at last, "She told me that Eva will bleed to death, in childbirth, when she gives birth to our first child. A daughter, Rowena said."
His words fell into the heavy silence around them as both of them pondered the past.
Frigga walked over to her son, and lifted his head up so he was looking at her, "Hear me, Loki. Her last words were not a prophecy of unavoidable certainty. Yes, they were a curse, but curses are breakable. Eva is not doomed to this fate. I promise you I will make it my personal quest to find a way to shatter Rowena's hateful curse."
Loki's eyes glistened, and he allowed her to pull him into her embrace.
"Thank you, Mother. I can't bear to lose her."
The Queen of Asgard held her youngest son close, "I know this, Loki, and you're not going to lose her." She held him even tighter to her when the dam holding back his emotions begun to break. For several minutes, the only sound in the circle was that of his sobs as he finally released the fear and grief that he had borne alone for so long. When his tears were finally spent, Frigga asked, "Is Rowena's curse the reason you and Eva have not been blessed with a child of your own for these years of your marriage?"
Loki nodded against her, and then he pulled away, wiping his eyes, "Yes, it is. When I returned to Asgard and after I had told Odin everything that had transpired with Rowena, I begun putting spells into place that would prevent Eva from conceiving a child. I've maintained them until only just recently when I could no longer do so. Eva wants a child so much that I believe her heart is breaking at the thought we may never have one. In Midgardian terms, she has less time to conceive a child than she once did. Soon, Mother, I believe she will soon conceive, and I do not know how I will react to the news."
"With joy, Loki. You will react with the great joy all expectant fathers react with. Then when her time comes to be delivered of your child, you will find out in the moment you hold your child, what unconditional love feels like for the first time in your life."
"Pray let it be so, Mother."
"It will be, Loki. It will be everything that you and Eva dream of."
Two months later, when Eva joyfully shared the news with Loki that he would be a father, they wept in joy together.
Tags:
- !-x2 (or 3 or more!!!!),
- ++done,
- +fill,
- bingo,
- bingo: checkerboard: 3,
- card 3,
- drama,
- eva stark (ofc),
- fandom empire bingo,
- fanfic,
- filled: card 3,
- frigga (mcu),
- loki,
- loki/eva stark (ofc),
- odin (mcu),
- original female character(s),
- prompt(s),
- prompt: curse,
- prompt: ghostwhite,
- rated pg,
- the snowflake verse
