As Revna had expected, her lack of sufficient sleep recently had caught up to her that evening and she had retired early, or what seemed relatively early to Loki, though he too felt fatigue creeping over him. He had joined her, she curled up beside him in his bed in the guest room as he read to her the stories she had requested by the light of the lamp on the bedside table. She never heard the happy ending of the second tale, drifting off into dreams before Loki had reached it. Looking down at her tranquil form, Loki closed the book, setting it on the table and turning down the lamp.

It was a sea change from their recent 'activities' as Loki had labeled them, to simply share a bed and nothing more. Loki lay on his side in the dim light facing her as she slumbered and for the first time made a study of her. She was not the most ravishing woman he had ever known though she could not be considered plain. Even if she had been, even 'plain' women of Asgard, the vast majority anyway, still exhibited a certain uncomplicated prettiness. Her features relaxed in sleep gave her almost a child-like appearance, a purity that belied what he knew of her past. Perhaps it was that innocent air about her, even while awake, that made it easier for him to overlook and disregard that history. He had maligned other women in the past for less than what Revna had confessed to.

He tried to imagine a life with her. He had never had what would be considered a serious relationship with anyone before. He'd repeated excursions with the same women in the past but they had never really risen to the level of a relationship. He himself had never taken them as seriously as that or viewed them as such at least. He'd had an array of experiences merely for physical pleasure, both parties understanding and accepting that was all it was. The first woman he had ever been with in that way had been older than he and from his visits to her he had learned much and added to that knowledge as he'd gathered more such experiences. He'd gone through a rather adventurous period as well which had broadened his horizons. Loki relished new and varied experiences, even if in the end he concluded they were not for him or should not be repeated.

It was that quest for experiences, for novelty and variety that led him to wonder if he, a man not easily satisfied, would ever be happy yoking himself to one, forsaking all others. Perhaps that was why he had never done so in the past. No one had struck him as just the right 'fit' and Loki wanted things to be 'just right,' from relationships to the fit of his clothes. Maybe that was part of the reason for the friction between himself and his father and brother and perhaps even to a degree Asgard as a whole..he'd never felt like he fit in. It was akin to wearing ill fitting boots.

He had had the sense for some time that there was someone out there, that when they came together it would be like wearing a suit perfectly tailored to him. Was that Revna? He wasn't sure and that over everything else troubled him as he had always thought he would know from the get go, the moment he met her. But then perhaps that was the romantic side of him at work...he did actually have one, though others most likely would be surprised to know that fact as he kept it obfuscated, at least he had for some time now. There was a time when he was a boy when he hadn't and he had paid the price. He knew that was at least in part the origin of the wall he'd put up around himself, around his heart. Maybe it was like having to break in a new pair of shoes. They eventually become comfortable.

What he found most appealing about her was simply that she wanted to be with him, she wanted his attention and affections, his love, and not due to any benefits she could gain from his position. That in itself made her a rare and special specimen. That was something Loki hadn't really experienced previously and was not at all accustomed to. He had paid particular attention to her reaction when she had met his brother and though she appeared somewhat in awe of him due simply to who he was as well as his physical appearance, she had not seemed enthralled by him as so many others were. Loki had experienced in the past having an interest in a woman only to have her meet his brother and become enamored with him and forget Loki existed. He had found himself more than once being used by others to gain access to his brother. He now always found himself wary of the possibility. It struck him now that when he had first arrived she had not mentioned his brother at all. She had mentioned his father, but Thor's name was not among the descriptors she had used. As he had groused earlier, he felt that Thor's name was appended to his own. He wasn't, "Loki, Prince of Asgard," or even "Loki, son of Odin" but "Loki, brother of Thor."

Loki reached out, moving aside a lock of hair that had fallen over her face. Though he had bristled at her vacillation regarding her support of his plan, causing the darkness to well up within him when she spoke in any way against it as happened when anyone opposed him, he knew deep down that it was her concern for him that drove her to do so. So few had ever been concerned for him. Few would shed tears over his demise or even the thought of it. His mother and his recently passed grandmother were the only two that came to mind. Maybe Thor for a short time simply due to being used to his presence but he would quickly get over it, Loki believed.

The only thing that really concerned him about Revna was the apparent fragility of her mental state, these momentary bouts of madness, or what seemed to be madness. But then, was that really unexpected after all she had endured over her lifetime? He at times thought himself to be mad, or on the verge of madness. Though the thoughts of it had been fleeting, he had also considered escaping this life and its pain, loneliness, disappointments and frustrations. If she had no longer reason to ruminate on that past, every reason to be happy, would those episodes of madness not abate? She had asked him to read her stories with happy endings. He knew it was because she wished for her own as Loki also hoped for the same for himself. The characters in the stories he had read went through dark times and hardships and came out on the other side in one piece, the sun finally shining on them. Could that happen for them as well? Was hoping for that worth risking the pain of another disappointment in his life?

As he caressed her hair, unable to resist doing so after moving the tendril from her face and sensing its softness, Revna's eyes sleepily opened. She looked at him as he stared back at her.

"What is it?" she asked, her voice soft and drowsy.

"Nothing. I didn't mean to wake you." Loki paused for a moment, still touching her hair. "Are you certain you don't wish to return with me?"

"It's not that I don't wish it. I've told you my reasons. I hope you do not mistake it as a punishment. I would not have you say that which you don't mean as others have done."

"What if I were never able?" Loki asked.

"Then I would remain here."

"But you would be unlikely ever to meet another."

"I would not wish to." Revna replied. Her statement was simple but said far more, Loki easily comprehending her meaning. After his earlier statement concerning the einherjar and her reaction, he was somewhat taken aback that she would feel that way. Now that the darkness within him had settled, he realized how crass he had been. He averted his eyes downward.

"What I said about those who stand guard over my father's vault...those who do so and within the rest of the palace willingly vow to forfeit their lives if necessary. Your father once made the same vow. I was looking upon their potential sacrifice as for the good of Asgard if my plan does lead to my father rescinding his decree to place Thor on the throne. I expressed it in-artfully." It was the truth and yet not the truth. He was willing to sacrifice those who were aware that at any time they could be called upon to die for their King and for Asgard. He saw droves of these, to him, nameless and faceless einherjar daily about the palace, one seeming no different than the other in their identical uniforms and helmets that stripped them of their identities. He had seen numbers of them fall in battle. Loki knew who very few of them were and little or nothing about them...their names, if they had families. It was easy after centuries to begin to view them as little more than automatons, mechanisms like the Destroyer in a way, not people that mattered. If one, or even a few fell, there were more to step into the void they left behind, indistinguishable from those they had replaced.

"If you become king, you must always remember...even if their death is unavoidable they mattered to someone, as my father did." Revna said, the same sadness in her voice as there was any time she spoke of her father. "I know that at times battle is necessary. We must defend ourselves and others less able than we to do so. It is the revels after the victory that I despise most of all. It is as if the backs of the fallen are being danced upon with no regard to the feelings of those that loved them. Nothing that has led to the deaths of others and the decimation of the lives of those they have left behind should be celebrated." Revna said. Loki could hear the disgust in her voice. He himself had taken part in such revels. He wasn't sure he entirely agreed with her stance on the subject, but he understood why she held it.

"I think it is more those that live through it wish to celebrate their survival, that they did not find themselves among the fallen. There is little that reminds one more of the joys of living than to face an enemy in battle and the reality that day could be one's last. If all one did was recall what they had experienced and all they had the displeasure to witness in battle, had not some distraction from it, one would likely go insane." Loki responded. He spoke from experience having fought alongside his brother in the past. Unlike on some other worlds, on Asgard he who sat on the throne, as long as he was able, and his children were no more protected than any other during wartime, engaging the foe and facing death equally with every other warrior on the field. Odin himself had sacrificed an eye and bore other scars of hard fought and hard won battles. "I do agree however that those who have been left behind, their feelings should be considered, their mourning attended to."

Revna was silent, processing Loki's explanation. It was something she had not previously considered. Before his death, her own father had taken part in such revels. She had never thought to ask him why he did so having adopted her current mindset only after his and her mother's deaths, having seen the effect they had on her mother when she had witnessed them, which was hard to avoid, especially those following the Battle of Harridan that due to the ferocity of the fighting had stretched on for some time.

"I had never thought of it in that way." Revna admitted. "Have you lost many?"

"A few over the years. If there is one benefit to being little regarded by others, it is that there are few for one to mourn." Loki answered.

"But also few to mourn for you." Revna said in response. Loki recalled what Revna had told him of her fear, that she would have no one with her, no one to mourn her. Her end would mean nothing to anyone. She would quickly be forgotten as if she had never existed. He realized that it was something that they shared, though Loki would never admit to it.

"We should speak no more of such things for now. You should return to your rest and I should take my own." Loki said to her. She moved closer to him, draping her arm over him, closing her eyes.

Despite what he had just said, Loki could not will himself to sleep. Their talk of loss and mourning had brought back to his mind Frida's vision that Revna had related to him and that he had experienced himself, likely due to Frida's subconscious manifestations at the time. He was quite sure that he would be in no danger as his plan was carried out. The Jotuns would be even bigger fools than they would already find themselves to be once they came face to face with the Destroyer to venture beyond the vault. Besides, as he had told Revna, Laufey had no knowledge of Loki's involvement, there would be no reason to target him. If the Jotuns were to make an attempt on anyone's life, it would make more sense for them to try to end Thor or his father.

Frida had also rambled nonsense about his father being on Jotunheim among other things. How reliable were any visions she'd had? Revna had also said that she administered a sedative to help his grandmother sleep. Such things were known to often cause strange dreams. Perhaps that was all it had actually been...drug induced dreams she had mistaken for visions of the future. With nothing to go on but a vision of his corpse, no clues as to time, place and circumstances, there was little he could do about it anyway. It was best to just file it in the back of his mind to be recalled if more information was later forthcoming or something about a future situation he might find himself in were to lead him to recall it. Finally succeeding in quieting his thoughts, Loki joined Revna in peaceful slumber.

Revna woke near to her usual time, but had not risen, wishing to enjoy the last morning she would find Loki in bed at her side. His impending departure was to her like being roused from a dream from which she wished never to awaken. She lay beside him, watching him as she had the day before, attempting to seer those moments into her memory.

Neither did he have any desire to leave the bed and her side once he had awakened. What had started off as the sharing of a simple kiss to greet the morning developed into far more. Energized upon waking, both wished to leave the other with the experience foremost on their mind, to be called up in the days of their separation, though the longing that memory could induce could very well have the effect of making that separation more tedious and difficult to endure.

Unable to put it off any longer, the time of Loki's departure growing near, Revna had reluctantly changed into the dress she had worn for two days already, the other blood stained. Revna feared they would not come out and it would have to be burned, her wardrobe, which was already even less extensive than Frida's had been, depleted by one. Though he didn't voice it, Loki was becoming more certain that it would not matter in the near future, her only dilemma would be which of those of a more elaborate nature she now had access to would she choose to wear on any given day.

Carrying her bag over one shoulder, her father's sword in her hand, Loki escorted her through the forest back to her dwelling. He had offered to see her there to gather more clothing and anything else she needed to spend the days until his return in Frida's cottage but she had insisted on returning to her own home to remain there, saying she would return to the cottage only to tend the garden. Though she carried her father's sword, she no longer appeared fearful and anxious. Perhaps she had accepted that what she had seen was merely the product of her mind and she would be troubled by it no more, Loki thought. He hoped so anyway. Even though he was more than reasonably sure now that the beast did not exist, he still feared, as she had done the day before, that she could injure herself while experiencing another hallucination.

After entering her abode, she had deposited her bag and the sword on the bed and stood silent with her back to Loki for a few moments. Loki felt hope rise within him that now that his departure was imminent she was experiencing a change of heart and would agree to return with him and he would have no cause for anxiety thinking of her there alone after what had recently transpired. Those hopes rose further as she turned to him, tears beginning to spill from her eyes. Crossing the room to where he stood she threw her arms around him, pressing herself against him.

"I will miss you." she said tearfully. Loki could not recall hearing another express such a sentiment to him. So much he had experienced in a short time that he wasn't accustomed to...feeling wanted, his presence desired, his absence mourned. Yet he still questioned the situation. What if her feelings were due merely to having been alone for so long, her only company an aged woman? Would she feel the same after a time were she to again live among others? Was it merely that she felt herself to be a simple girl and thus her head was turned by the attentions of someone of his elevated status? Those questions would take time to answer. He soon felt her lips pressed against his. "I will be waiting for you."

"I…" Loki said before pausing. If he could just say it, even if he were not sure if it were true, she would return with him, she would be safe. There would be no cause for him to worry over her. Revna looked into his eyes, hope dawning in her own. "I will count the days until I return to you." Loki said. Revna smiled but there was sadness in it and not only due to knowing he would soon be gone from her.

"As will I." she replied.

"That reminds me." Loki said, holding out his hand and seemingly out of thin air producing a book within it. It was the rather large volume of stories he had begun to read to her the evening before. "I thought it may help pass the time. You're welcome to any other if you should finish it." Revna took the book from him.

"I hope they all have happy endings."

"If I recall correctly, I believe they do. I must be going." Loki said. He turned, walking to the door, Revna following, holding the book with one arm against her chest. Loki stepped outside then turned, taking her unoccupied left hand, the one she had previously injured, and pressed his lips to it before turning again and making his way down the path towards the forest. Revna watched him until she could no longer see him after he had entered it before closing the door.

Walking back to the bed, she placed the book upon it near her father's sword before walking to the chest in the corner of the room, opening it. Lifting the box containing the gown Loki had gifted her, she placed it on the floor and reached into the chest, pulling out the heavy cloak stored within it. Laying it over her arm, she went to return the boxed gown back to the confines of the chest before she stopped herself. Closing the chest, she picked up the box and carried it to the bed and placed it and the cloak onto it. Reaching into the bag also lying on the bed, she retrieved the box containing Frida's earrings. Removing the simple gown she wore, she opened the box, revealing the elaborate green gown and donned it once again. Removing the earrings from their box, she placed them into the lobes of her ears before walking over to the mirror above her dresser, staring at her reflection. Though there were still tears in her eyes, she smiled at herself.

Unexpectedly, a knock came upon the door. Revna turned towards the sound. Loki must have forgotten something else after almost forgetting to give her the book. Crossing quickly to it, she opened it.

Night had come again some time before on Asgard as Loki stood on the balcony of his chambers as he had the day his mother had approached him, informing him of his grandmother's wish that he visit her. He now thought of that day not long ago, how he'd had no idea then what was to come, how that visit could possibly prove to change the trajectory of his life. 'Could' and 'possibly' were the operative words. He still did not know for sure if that would be the case, if his feelings met the definition of love or if that was what she sincerely felt. He was sure she believed she loved him at the moment, but would it prove true? Would it last?

He heard the door across the great room of his chambers open and turned to see his mother enter. She smiled the familiar, warm smile she always exhibited when she saw him, though he always thought there seemed to be a touch of sadness and worry in her eyes despite it. Of course she still mourned the loss of her mother at the moment, but there was more to it than that.

"Mother...I'd have thought you'd have retired for the night."

"I go now to do so. I first wished to see you. I'm sorry I was occupied earlier when you arrived. I'm pleased to have you home." Frigga crossed the room to join Loki on the balcony, as she had also done the day Loki had just been reflecting upon.

"I left Amma's things in your chambers." Loki informed her. Frigga examined Loki's face noticing what she thought was a hint of anxiety.

"Are you well?" she asked, sounding concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine. A touch fatigued, perhaps. I will likely take my rest as well soon." said Loki. Both looked out into the darkness over Asgard. "May I ask you something?"

"Of course, what is it?"

"How did you know that you loved father?" Loki asked. Frigga was quiet a moment, contemplating the unexpected question.

"Our story is unique, but I believe it was how anyone knows they love another. When you are able to put them and their happiness above your own...when you know you would do all to protect them and everything they hold dear, even if it would mean sacrificing your own life to do so. When without their presence you no longer feel as if you are whole." Frigga explained. Loki looked out over the balcony, silently contemplating her words. "Does that answer your question?"

"Yes, I believe it does."

"Goodnight my son. Sleep well." Frigga said before kissing his cheek.

"Goodnight, Mother. Thank you." Loki said, kissing hers in return. Frigga took hold of his hands, squeezing them as she smiled at him before turning and exiting the balcony and his chambers. Loki turned back to gaze into the distance through the darkness.

Loki had retired to his bed but found his thoughts too persistent to allow sleep to come. He turned what Frigga had told him over in his mind. Did what he feel for Revna meet those qualifications? Frigga had mentioned no undefined feeling, being overcome by no great epiphany...but then perhaps knowing all those things were true in regards to another was in itself the epiphany. Would he put Revna and her happiness above his own? Could he? That was difficult for Loki to say. He thought he would, but then he had always had difficulty putting anything ahead of his own desires. Perhaps that was because no one else, save his mother, had seemed to much care about what he desired so someone had to. Believing one would do something and actually doing it when the time came could be two different things.

Loki lay in bed in the darkness of his bedchambers. He turned his head to the empty space beside him, sensing that emptiness as he never had previously, before looking towards the ceiling. He began to will his larynx to make sound, his lips to form words from it, words he could not recall having ever spoken to another save his mother and grandmother. He managed to do so, though so quietly he could barely hear himself. He willed those words to come again, a bit louder this time. After the third time he had managed to utter them he closed his eyes, satisfied with his accomplishment, finally finding peace in sleep.