Loki raged through the palace. He was beyond livid. Odin had not kept his promise. He was forcing the marriage even more now. Loki adamantly refused. Surprisingly, Thor had stood with him. As had Baldr. There was not a lot of love lost between the siblings but Loki guessed they could see just how miserable he was with his betrothed. Yet, Odin refused to dissolve the betrothal. So here he was essentially throwing a temper tantrum and breaking shit. Breaking shit gave him some satisfaction but not enough. He needed to see her. He had to touch her again.

“Loki?” It was Baldr who approached him.

Apparently, he terrified even the mighty Thor in this state.

“What is it Baldr? I’m really not in the mood for placation.”

“Thor is distracting Father. You have a window of opportunity to go see her. I suggest you take it quickly before it closes.”

“What of Signe? That woman sticks to me like a leech.”

Loki shuddered at the thought.

“She is busy choosing fabric for her wedding dress,” Baldr answered with a shrug. “That should take her a while considering I had all the worst brought in first. And believe me there are far more bad types of fabrics than there are good. She’ll be at it a month at least. Thor and I will endeavor to keep father busy for as long as we can.”

“If you cannot keep him busy just tell him I’ve locked myself in my chambers to keep away from the leech and refuse to speak to anyone,” Loki suggested.

Baldr smiled and shook his head at Loki. He knew that Loki would always have an excuse ready whenever he wanted to avoid something particularly unpleasant.

“Thank you Baldr and thank Thor for me too when you can get him away from father,” Loki laughed before disappearing on the spot.

The heat wasn’t nearly as oppressive as it had been when he’d first been here. It was nighttime so Loki made his way to the Sacremonte and the cueva where he’d seen Seona dance for the first time. He got lucky that Seona was performing tonight. He made his was inside and took a seat at the bar. He ordered a drink and waited. After the performance, he made his way to the stage. The sight that met his eyes made him see red. Seona was laughing at something a handsome young man had said. Loki had seen him before. He was the site director at the excavation in the Alhambra. And the upstart was talking to Seona and making her laugh. He stormed up to the pair and wrenched Seona away from him. Seona looked up in surprise at first then her face morphed into one of anger. Loki couldn’t understand why she was angry. Her hand connected with his face and caused the entire room to fall silent.

“What the fuck?” she growled.

Loki looked at her confused.

“Why the fuck did you yank me away from Loxley?” she demanded.

“He has no right to talk to you, you are mine,” Loki growled glaring in Loxley’s direction.

“Yours?” Seona’s voice dropped dangerously low. “I’m not a fucking possession for you to own then discard you fucking bastard!”

“I told you my father called me home,” Loki sighed.

“For two and a half months?” Seona demanded.

“Yes.”

“Bullshit!” Seona snapped shaking his hand off her arm and returning to her original place.

“Can we not do this here?” Loki asked her.

“No we’re doing this here and now because I have very little patience these days.”

Loki sighed. He supposed he deserved some of the animosity Seona was giving him but this much? He was confused as to why she was so mad.

“Seona…”

“Don’t! Don’t say my name like that!” she snapped.

“What do you want me to say?” he asked.

“I want you to tell me why!” she shouted with tears in her eyes.

“Remember what I told you about before I saw you dance for the first time?”

Seona nodded.

“My father wanted me to get to know her and he promised me that if I still felt the same after a month he’d dissolve it but he lied. He’s pushing for it even more now. I had to fucking sneak away just to see you.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because I love you.”

“Do you? Do you really?”

“Of course I do or I wouldn’t be risking the wrath of my father and neither would my brothers. They could see I was miserable.”

“Oh you were miserable?”

Loki nodded.

“That’s fucking laughable. You have no idea what I was going through while you were gone.”

Up until now, Seona had been facing away from him and he hadn’t really gotten a good look at her. Now, she turned to face him fully.

“This is what I have had to deal with the past 2 ½ months!”

Seona was pregnant. With his child. Loki did something he never thought he’d ever do in his life. He fell to his knees and cried. And not just silent tears. Heart wrenching, gut wrenching sobs wracked his entire being. How could he have left the woman he supposedly loved to deal with all of this alone? Nothing he could say could make up for this.