Hate Me

“He saw her!” Thor shouts, his booming voice rattling the windows in his room. “He knows about her! How could you be so careless?!” Thor glares down at Cora who has yet to say a word during his yelling. With a heaving chest, face red and his veins throbbing, Thor paces back and forth twirling Mjolnir in his left hand. He is out of words…for now. Glancing up from the red dress in her hands, Cora raises an eyebrow.

“Tell me again how Xaven got a hole in this dress?” Cora question and Thor stares at her blankly.

“I am talking of Xaven’s wellbeing and here you sit wanting to converse about a dress?!” Thor asks in outrage and Cora sighs.

“Okay, okay,” She mummers and sets the dress down on the bed beside her. “You have my undivided attention, what is the problem?”

“The problem? Have you not heard a word that I have spoken?”

“I tend not to listen when I am being yelled at,” Cora admits with a shrug and Thor’s eyes darken. Cora rolls her eyes and stands up, “Listen to me Thor,” Cora walks over to Thor and stands in front of him, “You are over reacting-“

“Over reacting?!” Thor’s voice raises and Cora cringes. “Have you gone mad? Do you even understand how stupid-“

“What do you want me to say?” Cora shouts, her clam composure going up in smoke as she throws her arms up in the air, clearly done with Thor’s anger. “What? Do you want me to apologize? Is that what you want?” Cora asks and she shakes her head. “I can’t be as sorry as you think I should.” Cora runs a hand through her hair and walks away from Thor. She walks over to the open window and steps out on the balcony. The sunlight warms her skin and she leans against the wall, her arms crossed over each other. Thor walks out and stands beside Cora, Mjolnir left behind somewhere inside.

“I do not understand,” Thor states and Cora glances over at him. “Do you not care for Xaven’s wellbeing?”

Cora shakes her head laughing without any humor, “Do not insult me so, Thor. You know I would give my life for that little girl,” Cora snaps and Thor doesn’t respond. “You told me that Loki killed innocent people and has changed. You say that he is not the same man that we once knew, but he is still your brother. He is family and family, no matter what deserves a second chance.” Thor opens his mouth to comment, but Cora gives him a warning look to stay silent. “I understand your worries, but I do not agree with them. Loki would not harm a child, it matters not of whose blood. Do you think so little of your brother to not trust-”

“Be mindful of your tongue, Cora. You do not know of which you speak. You did not see Loki on Midgard, nor did you see him prior to his…fall,” Thor interrupts and Cora pushes away from the wall. “You live in blissful ignorance of the reality surrounding Loki. You let your feelings for him cloud your judgment.”

“My feelings are what let me make judgments. How can you be so cruel? Has being a father taught you nothing?”

“Has being a mot-” The look on Cora’s face makes Thor swallow his words and he looks away. “Being a father has taught me to put my daughter before all else,” Thor whispers and Cora nods her head understanding. “I trusted you to keep Xaven’s hidden and you failed me. Loki knows of her and I am fearful of what that could mean.”

“And if it means nothing?”

“If it means something?” Thor argues back and Cora bites her lip in thought. “Swear you will say nothing to Xaven if she asked about Loki.”

“I swear,” Cora vows, placing her fist over her heart. Thor nods his head and kisses Cora’s temple.

“Thank you,” Thor mummers and Cora nods her head when Thor pull away from her.

“Where is your daughter?” Cora questions and Thor points to the gardens in the distance.

“Xaven is with my mother, tending to the flowers.”

Cora and Thor stare out at the garden in silence. Cora glances at Thor watching as a halo of light wraps around his bulky frame. His face is clam, but his eyes hold so much worry and sadness. “Thor?”

“Yes?” Thor doesn’t bother to look at Cora as she says his name.

“She will need a mother at some point in her life. Frigga cannot fill the void forever,” Cora whispers and Thor sighs deeply. He was wondering when he would have this conversation with Cora. Thor knows that with Xaven getting older she will need a woman in her life to teach her the ways of a lady. Thor would love for Cora to take that role, but that would be selfish of him to ask for so much.

“There is something I need to tell you.” Cora looks at Thor and he motions for Cora to follow him back inside. Together the two head to the main chambers and sit on the couch facing each other. “I have thought about remarrying…I have no one in mind, but it must be done. Xaven does indeed need a mother, I cannot depend on Frigga and you for the rest of my life.” Thor scratches his beard and licks his lips, “Father wishes to make me King, once I restore order to the nine realms. I cannot even focus on such a task right now, I am worried that I will not be able to find a proper mother for Xaven,” Thor admits and Cora places her hand on top of Thor’s knee.

“What of Lady Arana?” Cora offers and Thor raises an eyebrow. “She is in your mother’s court, only a century younger then you and I have heard that she is often with Xaven when Frigga is called away suddenly by Odin,” Cora explains and Thor runs through his memory trying to put a face to the name.

“Did she carry Sif’s train down the aisle?” Thor asks and Cora nods her head. “Lady Arana…yes I remember her. Her father owns a vineyard across the sea and Lady Arana would often be by his side when he visited. Yes, yes she would make a fine mother.”

“Now wait a minutes Thor. This is a serious issue, you need to ask permission from Frigga if you can court Lady Arana,” Cora points out and Thor frowns. Courting, he forgot all about courting.

“Very well. I will talk to my mother in her chambers later today, will you take Xaven?”

“After supper?” Cora asks and Thor nods his head. “Do you want me to get her ready for bed?”

“No, I will do that.” Cora smiles and stands up from the couch.

“As you wish, my prince. Now if you’ll excuse me I must finish repairing Xaven’s dress.” Cora bows and with a flick of her wrist the dress on Thor’s bed is in Cora’s hand. Thor frowns at the trick, but says nothing of it as he watches Cora leave his chambers, humming to herself. With a sigh, Thor sits back against the couch and rubs his hands over his face.

“Courting…” Thor laughs and shakes his head.

~~~~~~~

Later that night after supper, Cora takes Xaven back to her chambers. Xaven runs right into the room and climbs up onto the couch while Cora heads into her bed chambers and changes into something more comfortable. She removes her jewelry and replaces her heels with gold slippers to keep her feet warm. Xaven’s giggles fill the air and Cora smiles, looks like Xaven has found a way to entertain herself. Walking out of her bed chambers Cora’s eyes widen when she sees Xaven has found a way into Cora’s paint. Xaven is sitting on the floor with paper spread about and a brush in her little hand.

“What are you painting?” Cora asks finding it hard to be mad when Xaven has such a proud and happy smile on her face. Xaven looks up at Cora and giggles. Moving across the room, Cora sits beside Xaven and watches as she splatters paint onto the paper in front of her. Cora moves the pieces of paper that Xaven has forgotten about so they can dry.

“Look, Cora!” Xaven repeatedly taps her hand on Cora’s arm and Cora gasps as she looks down at the paper, Xaven just finished.

“That looks beautiful!” Cora exclaims and Xaven beams. Cora takes the paper that has different shades of blue crashing into each other and she sets it aside. Muttering a quick spell under her breath, Cora blows on all the wet paper and they all dry up. Xaven notices and her eyes widen before she claps her hands. Cora makes a pen and a jar of ink soar in the air before it drops into her open hand. “What should I draw?” Cora asks and Xaven looks at the blue paper.

“Kitty!” she shouts and Cora nods her head. Dipping the quill in the ink, Cora leans over and she sketches out a kitten for Xaven on the blue spotted paper. “This mine?” Xaven asks and Cora giggles.

“Yes. Do you want to make daddy one?” Xaven nodes her head, her hair flying about her face and Cora hands Xaven a piece of blank paper. Xaven sets the paper in front of her and she mixes colors as she paints. Cora watches and she’s impressed, for a two year old, Xaven is quite the artiest.

“Done,” Xaven announces and Cora dries the paper before she takes another and shows Xaven how to use the quill and ink. Xaven copy’s what Cora shows her and Cora smiles watching as Xaven scribbles over the orange and red blotches of paint. “For Daddy,” Xaven giggles and hands Cora the paper.

“I think daddy will love it,” Cora tells Xaven and Xaven hums to herself happily as she goes back to painting. To pass the time, Cora grabs another one of Xaven’s painted papers and drawls over it.

There is a knock at the door soon after and Cora calls out, “Enter,” as she looks away from her art work.

“Daddy!” Xaven yells and she scrambles up to her feet, running for Thor. Thor squats down and catches Xaven in his arms, holding her tightly as he wraps is large arms around her. Xaven wraps her arms around Thor’s neck and kisses his cheek. Thor chuckles and ruffles Xaven’s wild hair before he lets her go and stands up. Xaven reaches up and grabs hold of Thor’s hand. “Come on Daddy,” Xaven says and she tugs Thor over to where Cora is sitting on the floor.

Thor looks around on the floor and he looks down at Xaven, “Did you make all of these?”

“Yes,” Xaven says and she lets go of Thor’s hand before she skips over to a mass of papers on the floor. Now free from Xaven, Thor looks at Cora and he notices that she is wearing his brother’s color. Thor opens his mouth to comment, but Xaven skips back over to Thor with a paper in her hands. “This for you.” Xaven shoves the paper at Thor’s legs and Thor bends down, so that he’s almost eye leave with Xaven. Thor takes the drawling and his eyes light up in pride and joy as he stares at the paper in his hands. “Daddy like?”

Thor looks at Xaven and pulls her into a one armed hug before he kisses her temple, “I love it, Xaven,” Thor breaths out and Xaven squeals in delight.

“Cora, Daddy make one?” Xaven asks and Cora smirks at Thor who looks horrified at the idea of arts and crafts.

“I’ll give Daddy everything and you two can make whatever you want in your room,” Cora says and Thor narrows his eyes at her which makes her smile. Xaven claps her hands and attacks Cora’s legs in a hug as Cora stand up, almost making Cora fall over. Laughing, Cora pats Xaven on the back and she lets go of her. Cora grabs a tray and load it up with paint, ink and quill pens for Xaven. Cora knows that Thor has paper, so she is not worried about giving him any. Thor stands up and takes the tray from Cora with a frown on his face. “Have fun Daddy,” Cora mocks jokingly and stand on her tip toe to press a light kiss to Thor’s cheek.

“We will talk later,” Thor warns and with his free hand, Thor takes hold of Xaven’s hand and together they leave Cora’s chambers. Cora giggles when the door shuts and she claps her hands together looking around at the mess Xaven made. With a flick of her wrist, Cora sends everything back to its proper place in the room and smiles pleased with herself. Resting her hands on her hips, Cora bites her lower lip in thought. A full twenty-four hours has passed since Loki has returned to Asgard and there has been no whispered words about him. Cora has no idea what happened between Loki and Odin after she left, but she knows for a fact that Loki is locked away in the dungeons, the only question is for how long? Cora looks down at herself and groans, the dress, of course. Cora saw the way Thor looked at her and she heard the tone in his voice when she promised that they would talk later.

Shaking her head, Cora drop her arms and head to her bed chambers. Her slipper clad feet shuffle across the floor and Cora drops down onto her bed. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breathe in, holding it before she lets it out. Loki is back and despite what Thor has said, he doesn’t seem to have changed at all, at least not to Cora. His hair has grown and he looks a little on the sick side, but other than that nothing screams murder. Though Cora knows that Thor would not lie about the death of innocent people…“I have to talk to him,” Cora mutters and she shivers remembering the way her name sounded from Loki’s mouth. The way Loki looked at her, Cora was sure if Loki were not in chains and she had not been holding Xaven, Loki would have taken her right there and then, noting caring about Frigga or Odin, hell not caring about anyone for that matter.

The thought makes Cora’s stomach tingle and her face heat up. It felt amazing to be able to have Loki in her arms again, if only for a few seconds. She felt the new muscle mass underneath the chains, the way Loki’s heart sped up when she hugged him, the way his large hands held Cora’s smaller ones so tightly, yet so gentle, Cora knows Loki did not want to let her go. Cora can still feel the coolness of his hands, smell the scent of smoke, sweat and wind on Loki’s clothes and Cora can even hear his voice whispering words of love and adoration. With a saddened sigh, Cora sits up and crawls farther onto the bed. Kicking her slippers off, Cora gets underneath the covers and she lays on her side.

Looking next to her, Cora smiles as green eyes stare back at her. “My prince,” Cora breaths out, her heart skipping a beat when Loki smiles at her. Cora resists the urge to reach out and touch Loki, for if she does the illusion will disappear and she does not have the power to make another one so quickly. “Will you stay until I fall asleep?” Loki nods his head and stares at Cora.

“Whatever you wish for, my darling,” Loki purrs and Cora smiles sadly. She does not want to sleep now, for she knows the second sleep touches her, Loki will be no more. “Sleep. I will be here when you wake up.” Cora’s eyes sting with tears and before she can cry she waves her hand and Loki shimmers away. Cora’s chest tightens, but she refuses to cry. It is her own fault anyway, she will not cry over something that is not real, no matter how badly it hurts. Turning her back on the empty side of the bed, Cora closes her eyes and forces herself to sleep.