You moaned softly as you came to. You were moving and in pain. What the hell was going on? You opened your eyes and Loki held you closer to him. "Y/N, you're awake," he said softly, worried.

"I think so," you replied, still unsure on that particular point. You remembered what happened and why you'd been unconscious. "You're going to yell at me," you whined and laid your head more comfortably on Loki's shoulder as you took in your surroundings. You were in Loki's lap on his horse, riding away from the village.

"Maybe later," he replied with a smile in his voice. "Right now, I'm just glad you're ok,"

"I'm not sure I'm up to ok yet," you grumbled. Your entire right side was bandages from your stomach down and it hurt. Moving wasn't fun either and horses moved a lot more during transport than cars did. Loki was trying to support you, but he could only do so much.

"We got you stabilized at the village and determined the best option was to return to the palace. The palace healers are there and I know you'll feel better healing at home instead of a remote village," Loki explained.

"Do you need me to take her for awhile?" Thor asked from his horse when you'd made a small pained noise at a bump in the road.

"Sorry, love, sorry," Loki whispered into your hair.

"Why don't you just teleport back? We'll see that your horse is returned safely," Sif suggested, which just ignited Loki's temper.

"Don't you think I would if I could?" Loki snarled in reply, holding you more securely in his arms.

You leaned up and kissed his cheek, calming him. "I'm ok," you told him.

"You're bleeding from a knife wound down the entire side of your body," he replied dryly, grumpily. You could tell he felt bad. "And I didn't see the illusions or shields you'd used to patch yourself together during the battle," he added softly. "I would be impressed with your work at hiding an illusion from me if I weren't so upset that you're hurt,"

"I couldn't let the people see I was injured," you told him softly, being awake even this long while injured had drained you. "They have to see that the royal family is strong, even when we are not," you reminded him.

He kissed your forehead. "You did admirably, darling, now rest," he bid you gently.

"You used magic," you accused him. You were falling asleep too quickly, especially considering the amount of pain you were in.

"I did," he agreed pleasantly. "Very good, darling," he teased, pleased you had noticed the magic. It was a subtle spell. "But there is no need for you to be in pain and the journey back will be long and unpleasant for you if you must be awake for it,"

"Cheater," you mumbled. He chuckled.

"Rest, darling. I'll wake you when we're home,"

"When we get home, not a moment later," you grumbled the order at him. You could agree to skip the long trip home, but you wouldn't miss what happened when you got there.

"As my lady wishes, now please go to sleep," he told you with loving exasperation. One of the warrior boys made a whip cracking noise. You were pretty sure he got a dagger thrown at him for his efforts. You snuggled more comfortably in Loki's arms and did as you were told. For once.

*

"Darling, we're here," Loki told you gently as his spell lifted. Your eyes opened to see the stables of the palace around you. "I'm going to pass you down to Thor now," he warned once you were awake. "I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt." You nodded and let yourself be handed down to Thor. You wrapped your arms around his neck, biting your lip to try to avoid making pained sounds.

"It's alright, little sister. I have you," Thor told you gently. You could hear the concern in his voice too. He passed you to Loki once Loki had dismounted.

"I'm taking her straight to the healers. Call Mother to join us," Loki ordered. You could tell by his tone that he was worried, he was being too blunt and snappish with Thor for their repaired relationship.

Thor didn't seem to mind, just clapped Loki on the shoulder. "Take care of your lady. Mother and I will join you shortly." You laid your head on Loki's shoulder and he went straight for the healers with more speed than his usual dignity would have allowed.

"Your Highness!" one of the women in the healing room greeted the two of you. One of them led you to one of the beds in the healing room.

"My lady was injured during the battle at Sveldhar village," Loki explained, more concern and emotion in his voice and expression than he would ever let the palace staff see, were you not the one involved. It took effort and a lot of 'your highness'es for the healers to get Loki out of the way so they could get to work. You wondered briefly how the healing women in the village had managed.

Thor and Frigga arrived a moment later. Frigga jumped in to help the healers with no more than a token invitation from the healers already at work. Thor grabbed Loki by the arm and dragged him bodily from the room, despite Loki's protests. Ah, that's how the healing women had managed; Thor must have helped. "Brother, your presence will not help here," Thor told Loki kindly as he dragged Loki away. "She is in good hands with Mother,"

"Sigyn, what happened?" Frigga asked as the last of the bandages were removed so the healers could see what they were working on. The gash was nasty and ran from just under your ribs, curving over your hip and down your right leg to nearly your knee. You briefly explained the battle and the injury you took.

At her prodding and disapproving look that you were obviously leaving something out, you added the part where you might have slapped shields on the wound as a makeshift bandage and illusions so the people wouldn't see that you were injured and how there was an ever so slight possibility that you had rejoined the battle afterwards. And an even more slight possibility that you had healed the entire village before anyone found out you were injured. "I see..." Frigga's voice was amused. "I don't think anyone will question that you are a good match for my son when that is your explanation when cornered," she laughed. "Rest now. Let us get this treated quickly before Thor has to pin Loki down with Mjolnir to keep him out of our way."

The other healers hid their laughter and got to work with a mix of magic and medicine, led by Frigga's experience. The pain eased in a moment and you faded back to sleep due to the magic of one of them. You never did figure out which one. They were obviously well used to working in magical harmony, as they all worked on the healing together. "It is also impressive, my dear, that your magic is strong enough that you were able to hide an illusion from my son. Your magic may very well be stronger than his..." With that last thought for your brain to think about, you fell completely into the healing sleep.