Choices

Chapter 89
Loki wasn't sure what angered him more, the fact a man had been to bed with his wife, that she was pregnant and it was not his, or the fact he had been so callous and cruel in his words to her.
But it had to be that way. If his plans went badly those he loved would be targeted and so Loki had to remain bitter and angry. He'd woven himself into such a mess that no one would believe him should he tell the truth.
But it was the only way.
Until his plans came to a close and Asgard was safe, he would not show weakness of the heart.
Cephera would forgive him. He knew she had not wanted to betray him. At first his anger was real, but afterwards he knew better and his anger came from the fact someone had taken advantage of her.
It irked him that he sat in a cell, unable to protect her, touch her, comfort her. To track down and disembowelled the man responsible for laying his hands upon her.
But he couldn't.
"You are always in such deep thought," his mother's voice said to him.
Loki turned to see an image of Asgard's Queen smiling at him.
"I have plenty of time to think." Loki gesture around him.
"Of Cephera?" His mother questioned.
"Of everything." Loki scowled. Even with his mother, he needed to stay cold.
"It is not her fault." The Queen told him.
"I know, but it is better this way. What good is a husband if he will never see the light of day again." Loki waved off his mother's concerned look.
"Your punishment is harsh, but doubtful it will last so long." She soothed.
"How can you be so sure?" Loki snapped. "At least when Thor started a war he was sent off to live a second life with a condition for returning. I am left with nothing, not even a scrap of hope." Loki turned his back to her.
"Your crimes and Thor's are different." Frigga reminded him.
"Oh yes, I picked on the weak Midgardians, people who could never dream of waging a war on our people in return, and Thor stared a war that could have cost Asgard many of its own lives."
Loki really was bitter over that. Sure he knew he was due to be punished, but he never thought anything like this. It put a twist in his plot for sure, one he was eagerly trying to fix.
"Your father needs time to calm down. The other realms are in complete disarray from when the ByFrost was broken, Midgard is now creating technology based on destroying outer species, there is a lot for him to fix before his anger subsides."
Loki ignored her reference of 'father'. The way things were going, it was best Cephera was taken from him. If Loki failed and spent the rest of his days in a cell, what good would he be to her there.
He wanted to tell Frigga to look after her, to soothe her and assure her that her husband loves her still, but it was too risky to say it out loud. He could only hope that both women knew him well enough to know the truth.
(Cephera)
"Imbecile!" Cephera yelled at nothing, tossing a glass at the wall. Her sister had arrived only an hour ago and they had yet to talk. Cephera had been taking out her anger on anything nearby.
Cephera had gone from sobbing uncontrollably, to deep thought, and that quickly spiralled down to realize her husband had learned nothing during his time dead.
He was planning something...,
"He should have stayed dead!" She yelled, not for the first time.
Her Mechanovian blood boiled with rage. Anger at his dismissal of her, angry that he was alive and hadn't found a way to tell her, angry that someone was still playing with them all and mostly angry because he obviously didn't trust her enough to be truthful.
When he first called her a whore, and basically a liar, she was stunned and heartbroken, but now she dismissed those words to sum it up to Loki being a prick as he pushed her away while his mischief was at play.
She hadn't even had time to think about the man who was really her babies father, she was too busy breaking things and taking her frustration out over her idiot husband.
Chancing a glance at her sister, Seraphina threw a platter across the room and Cephera snatched it out of the air and through it into the fire. Her sister looked amused.
"I wish I had a camera."
Cephera was surprised her sister even knew what that was. After all, it was Cephera who enjoyed Earth studies, not her sister.
Cephera was in no mood to be taunted, she pounced on her sister knocking her off the bed to the other side where they wrestled.
Wrestling between her kind wasn't exactly friendly, by the time it ended, they were out of breath with Seraphina nursing a fractured arm and Cephera a bloody nose, split lip and several sprains, all injuries would heal in a few hours.
"That was refreshing." Cephera admitted, her primal instinct catching up to her after all her years of peacefulness.
"Been a while since I got to have a decent fight with you." Seraphina agreed. "You wanna talk now?" Seraphina offered, flexing her slowing healing arm.
"What's to talk about?" Cephera shurgged. "My husband is in jail, and while he was there...," she paused. "No..., longer." It had only been in that moment Cephera realized. "The man who pretended to be Loki had been visiting me for almost 8 months. I thought he was a dream brought on by my grief."
"8 months?"
"Yes, he must have been so careful." Cephera stood from the place they were sat on the bed. "He was always standing in the same spot wearing the same clothes." Cephera stepped to the spot in question, standing as he would stand.
Seraphina watched Cephera with narrowed eyes. Cephera knew her sister wasn't happy about all this. She assumed upon her sisters appearance that the Queen must have sent word to Seraphina.
Frigga had come to check on Cephera and it was during that time she was sobbing. She broke down and told the queen what had happened.
Cephera wasn't happy about all this either but she was done crying..., for now.
"He never spoke, just sounds when he made love...," she stopped. The words sounded wrong but how could she explain it. Whoever he was, he acted just as Loki would act, or at least in her grief it seemed that way. She had thought she'd been dreaming and didn't note anything different. She shook her head. "I always woke up as though I hadn't moved from the bed. The blankets neatly lying over me."
"He was very cautious then." Seraphina's frown deepened. "Was this his plan? To get you pregnant?"
"I don't know. The way he handle me, with such care. He didn't seem to want to harm me." Cephera sighed. No one could plan a pregnancy with a Mechanovian, so he was either very lucky..., or he used magic.
"You sound as though you enjoyed yourself." Seraphina commented and Cephera shot her a look.
"Even now it's hard to tell myself it wasn't Loki. It all felt like him." She retorted. "Maybe it all was a dream except that last night. Maybe this guy was working me toward actually bedding him without questioning him."
"Okay who cares about the why, what about the how." Seraphina pointed out.
"It had to be a spell." Cephera felt that jab in her gut. The one where her worry began.
"Or an illusion." Seraphina offered. Cephera hadn't considered that. "A potion could allow someone to take a different form for a short time, there is nothing dark about that."
Her sister was right. If that was the case, Cephera's child would be perfectly normal.
Then there was the conflict. The thoughts in her mind that desperately wanted this baby gone from her. She wouldn't dare tell her sister, but Cephera at one point during her sobbing had wished she had a potion to rid herself of the problem.
The thought quickly turned to shame.
A child was sacred. A child was a blessing. To have any thought like that was sacrilege and it had been the worst thing to ever cross her mind. She wouldn't dare tell her sister.
"He may still come back." Cephera told Seraphina.
"What do you mean?" Seraphina edged closer, lowering her voice as Cephera did hers.
"No one knows I'm pregnant save for you and the Queen."
"And Heimdall, and Loki." Seraphina added.
"Provided this other guy doesn't know I'm pregnant, he may come back. If pregnancy was even his goal." Cephera sighed. She'd thought long and hard about what she would do if he did return.
'I think we need to plan this right,' Seraphina said using their rings so their conversation became private. Cephera nodded.
***
She'd never been nervous like this. She had gone to bed almost an hour ago and sleep didn't come. She tossed and turned, trying her best to sleep, trying her best to even look asleep.
The plan her and Seraphina had hatched was what kept her awake and on edge. They had to work with what they had without alerting anyone to anything odd. After all, they didn't know who could be trusted. Seraphina did the leg work, Cephera pretended to sulk in her room.
If she couldn't fall asleep, she doubted he'd come to her. So she stilled and willed her breath to become even and soft. She led back on to the side of the bed he usually appeared by so he couldn't see her face.
She felt exposed. The sheet clung to her naked curves below. The fact he'd seen her, touched her, didn't ease her. She still had a mixture of disgust and curiosity over everything. Maybe, when she found out who he really is, she'd be able to wash away the fantasy he'd created.
It was late before she felt a chill hit the air and a wide blow across her ear. Was this how he woke her? Gently blowing on her skin.
She turned and looked up at him. Stood in the same spot as always, same position, with that half smile on his face. "I miss you so much," she said, slipping out from under the sheet, trying her best not to flinch or even bat an eyelash.
He didn't speak, he reached out for her, forcing her to step into his arms. 'He's here,' she mentally called to her sister, who was waiting for the heads up.
Cephera steps into his arms, his fingers touching the skin of her back softly, sending shivers up her spin. His breath was warm on her hair and his lips were just as hot when he kissed her.
Distracted, Cephera used her free hand behind him to conjure the item her sister was honing from her room. The weight of the shackles linked onto Cephera's palm. She fumbled as he pulled back in curiosity. He was clearly on guard.
She managed to snap only one cuff on his wrist before he pulled away with a scowl. The chain yanked in her hand, but Cephera held on tightly.
She dove forward and down to sweep him from his feet. Shocked, he tumbled to his backside. Cephera meant to pin him, but he yanked on the shackle to bring her down to her face beside him.
He grinned at her when she managed to pushed herself up. "Who are you?" She demanded, glancing to his free wrist and wondering how she might get to it.
He didn't answer her, he kept on grinning.
The bedroom door flew open, Seraphina came dashing in. Unable to think of anything else to do, Cephera clasped the second shackle to herself in hopes of stopping him from getting away, but even as she did his body began to disappear with laughter.
"No!" Cephera screamed in frustration and lashed out with her hand only to catch his chin with her fingernails before his shackle fell empty against her bare thigh.
"Dammit!" Seraphina cursed, coming to a sliding stop. She released Cephera from the shackle and Cephera threw them to the floor. Because she'd only gotten one on him, his magic was still free to use. "Fuck, he really looked like him, didn't he," Seraphina commented.
"So much so," Cephera nodded. She looked down at her hand, her fingertips stained with a trace amount of blood.

Notes