Choices

Chapter 74
"Now remember, you go alone with no one who doesn't know the safe word." Seraphina reminded Cephera. It had been their only fail safe to protect her against Krystoff. Thor was not coming to the party, he was being an idiot.
"And you do not leave my side." Fandral said to Seraphina who glared.
"I don't need protection." She told him. "Even if Krystoff got his hands on me he can't get me pregnant now." She reminded him.
"No, but he might look for a way to make you lose the baby." Fandral placed a protective hand over her stomach.
"He wouldn't risk it. I've told you before this child is no threat to him. If their plan is to take over Cephera will be the only one they'll keep alive, no matter how many children I have." Seraphina didn't like being protected and Fandral knew it. But over this he didn't seem to care.
Krystoff was dangerous, that was true, but he wasn't careless.
"Still, better safe than sorry." Fandral gave her a look that told her he wasn't going to back down.
"If anything happens to either of you, I don't mind finding myself a comfy jail cell to see that sick bastard rot in hell." Loki told them. Seraphina was surprised by his words but then she wasn't. He would love for Cephera to forever be safe from Krystoff and if that meant Loki needed to murder him so be it.
Sometimes, Seraphina believed the only thing stopping Loki from killing Krystoff was the fact that he was worlds away and unable to get to Asgard. Had it been a different situation, they might have butted heads once more.
Seraphina wasn't sure if Loki could currently win a fight with Krystoff. Krystoff's training plus the black magic made him much more powerful.
"No picking fights, either of you. While we are there we ignore Krystoff and walk away if he tries to start a conversation. Remember, conversations with him are his way of stirring trouble without being noticed. He's only going to say things to try and either piss you off or look innocent." Everyone nodded.
Together they ventured to the Byfrosts center and Heimdall bid them a goodnight before opening the pathway.
***
So far so good. The usual fighting matches, birthing tributes, gifts and dance were enjoyed throughout the night and no sign of Krystoff. Seraphina's father had gotten drunk, which took a lot of alcohol, and had begun to offer different woman to the boys, even Loki.
All of them declined politely, but of course the drunken king wanted to hear nothing of it. Sex was on display in the many courtyards as one of the tributes to the conceiving of the baby. Seraphina always liked that sex was so casual at home, not like in Asgard.
"It's different," Hogun had said at one point when Seraphina asked what he thought. The last time they'd been there, open sex was not part of the party. Different celebrations called for different displays of culture.
He found it fascinating that after the volunteered women were finished they were taken to the lake to be washed clean. The men who helped mess them up where the ones to clean them. It was a sign of respect. It wasn't just about the feeling, it was also about the importance of it. No woman need lay with any man she didn't want to and those who didn't participate helped with the foods.
Because this was the first pregnancy since Seraphina and Cephera had been born, this was the first time they'd seen sex out in the open. They'd heard of it of course, but now they got to see it. They hailed the core and thanked it for the blessing within Seraphina's womb.
Fandral would stare from time to time, and to be honest so did Seraphina. Some of the men were hot, but alas none of them could produce a child with eachother, this was why her father had been trying to get the Warriors three to partake in the rituals and offerings.
"I'll never understand how you come from here, were raised here and still you are so quiet about sex," Loki said to Cephera calmly taking a sip of his wine.
"I've seen sex plenty of times, just not this large and not at celebrations. Taverns have sex here just like yours at home. As long as it's not me on display, I'm fine." She responded.
"If I wasn't the one pregnant I would have volunteered." Seraphina smiled.
"And had I not been the father I may have also enjoyed in it all." Fandral added and looked at Seraphina with a smirk. As they chatted Seraphina looked to her left and noticed Krystoff in the distance. He had no cup in hand and was keeping to the shadows.
"I have to go to the bathroom, the babies sitting on my bladder again," she announced and walked away. Fandral might have followed her if she hadn't gotten angry at him for it once already.
She made it clear across the yards, inside the palace and out to a balcony area, behind her she could hear Krystoff's footsteps, slow and sure. He stepped into view and looked her over from head to toe.
"That could have been us," Krystoff said to Seraphina. She wasn't afraid of Krystoff, but she did fear what he was becoming and what it meant for her sister.
"Oh yes, little deformed children is what I always wanted." Seraphina retorted. She wouldn't play dumb with him. He knew her biggest secret but she played it off as she always did in hopes he'd keep his mouth shut. She was good at that, pretending things didn't bother her.
She'd almost panicked when Katarina had told Fandral that Seraphina had a past with Krystoff. Who's side was she on anyway? One minute she was giving them warning about her brother and the next she was trying to interfere with Seraphina's life.
Seraphina had lied to Fandral, or rather she'd done what she always did and played it off. It was true she'd found Krystoff making moves on Cephera while she was passed out. That she'd given herself to him, but the reasoning had been the lie.
They'd always been told to steer clear of that family, but secretly Seraphina had wondered what it might be like to be under Krystoff's touch. She'd been jealous to see him touching her sister. What she had told Fandral was a one time thing, was not. Behind her sister and her fathers back, Seraphina continued her strange illicit affair with Krystoff Fevour not knowing what kind of dangers she was putting herself in.
Every chance she got she'd find herself consuming his touch like an addiction. It kept him away from Cephera. However, Seraphina was disgusted, angry and jealous when she'd found Krystoff with his own sister. She kept the findings to herself because everyone would question why she'd been to his room. Krystoff himself didn't even know why she'd suddenly turned so cold to him.
When he'd cornered her and asked she once more played it off as if he was just another man she'd gotten tired of. After that, Seraphina vowed to never allow her feelings to cloud her judgement and sex was just sex.
Sometimes she thought she was the reason Krystoff had gone so bad, but thinking back to him trying to take advantage of her twin she knew the evil had always been in him.
"You had your chance." She shrugged him off. He looked annoyed and it made her feel good.
"After this one, we could have another chance." He offered.
"Still not interested Krystoff. My interest in you died out a long time ago, you know that." She replied. "Though your interest in my sister hasn't. Don't think I'm not watching you." Seraphina glared hard at him.
"It would be most disappointing if anything should happen to you or that child before birth." A dark look crossed his face.
"I certainly hope that's not a threat, we both know I don't follow rules like Cephera and you will find yourself under my feet. I won't hesitate to harm you." She warned.
"Just voicing my concern for your health is all." His face looked smug and she wanted to punch him so badly, but held back. He was lucky she wasn't as hormonal today or she would have.
He smiled at her. Oh the powers that be..., why did he have to be so handsome when he smiled. She was reminded of how he looked back in the old days, back when she still knew his touch. It sickened her that even now he had an affect on her.
"I always loved your spirit." He told her still smiling.
"You love nothing and no one but yourself." Seraphina retorted.
"If only that were true, life would be so much simpler." She didn't enjoy his implication, it made her feel guilty and nervous. She hid her feelings well.
"Don't you have anything better to do than chase the past." Seraphina remarked snidely.
"Currently my future is busy." Seraphina knew he meant Cephera and all her old nostalgic feelings fled reminding her of who he was and always had been.
"Keep dreaming, it's what your best at." Seraphina taunted as she walked past him. She didn't flinch or move far from him. She would not show tension nor fear. She was stronger than that.
"I've heard she takes care of her Chosen Ones children from another woman. It doesn't bother her to know his cock had been otherwise occupied?"
"The circumstances surrounding that were tragic and not a tale of adultery as you'd like to weave it in to." Seraphina told him, turning and glaring. It was scary that Krystoff knew Cephera well enough to know that cheating would break her heart. For most Mechanovains there wasn't such a thing.
"I also hear they are monsters, I suppose that's a good sign that she'll accept any child that burst forth from her own womb seeing as she accepts those who haven't." Seraphina clutched her hands together so tightly she drew blood from her palms. He was the only one who could anger her this way.
"She'll love any child create by Loki." She corrected, emphasizing Loki's name, and refused to listen to more. "I'm going back to my party, the air out here is getting stale." With that she walked fully away.
"Tell Cephera I send my regards to her and Loki. I'm sure it will be a match she'll regret later. He doesn't seem the one woman type." Krystoff yelled after her.
At that point she really did have to go to the bathroom and did so quickly and rushed back to the party. She found Fandral and the rest talking by the food. "Sorry, I ran into him." Seraphina told them, even though 'running into' was half a lie.
"Are you hurt?" Fandral dropped his chocolate treat.
"Do I look hurt?" She asked him with irritation. "He's expressed his interest in Cephera playing mother to Loki's children, and of course still dreaming of his own." Seraphina scrunched her nose up.
"Over my dead body." Loki growled, his hand on Cephera's shoulder.
"Calm down. He's also heard of your engagement and thinks that you'll regret it, big surprise there. He's probably hoping you'll go running to him, which you won't." Seraphina added giving her sister a warning look.
"I would rather die first." She swore.
"Too much talk about death at a celebration meant to honor this new life, leave it for another time." Hogun interrupted. "Let Krystoff fade from your minds and enjoy the idea of the coming future."
It had been the wisest thing Hogun had said thus far, and so pushing thoughts of Krystoff aside they went back to simply enjoying the events. It would continue an entire month, the whole kingdom was in a positive uproar and who could blame them.
Everyone stayed at the palace and for once even Seraphina felt at peace. Falling asleep each night with Fandrals hand on her belly was calming and thankfully Krystoff and his family made no move to harm any of them. All doubts she had about having a kid and being a mother seemed to vanish by the end of the month when all the celebrations died down. Maybe the powers that be would grant her new found patience to take on her motherly roll once the child was born, she could only hope.

Notes