The Queen Of Winter Book One

For your precious love

The trio wandered down a large hallway that glowed in the light of the sun that was coming in from the floor to ceiling windows at the bottom of the hall. They stopped half way down the hall in front of a large set of double doors with beautiful carvings of trees. Loki opened the door and held it open as Anna and Thor entered. The room had huge ceilings and beautiful carvings and paintings keeping in with the decor of the rest of the palace. There was a gigantic 4 poster bed with voile drapes encasing it. There was a fire place on the wall opposite the bed and next to it was an ornate dressing table with a mirror with beautiful flower carvings dusted with gold leaf. There was also a huge wardrobe in the same style. There were celling to floor doors that lead out onto a balcony. In front of these doors was a plush green velvet chaise. On the chaise Anna noticed her bags and guitar. She had wondered what had happened to them when they had gotten to the roof of the compound.

"This shall be your room when ever you come home to Asgard, please feel free to do whatever you wish to make it feel like home." Thor gave Anna a smile as he gestured around the room.

"Thank you Thor....It's incredible." Anna began to wander around the room exploring her new home.

"I have some business to attend to. Please excuse me. I shall meet up with you later. Hopefully then we will find your answers Annabelle."

Thor bid Loki and Anna farewell. He closed the doors behind him as he left. Loki leaned against the door as he watched Anna continue to explore the room with wonderment in her eyes. Anna felt Loki's eyes watching her from the other side of the room. she stopped and turned around to face him. She had so many questions. She knew Loki knew a lot more that he had let on.

"So...Njorddóttr....what does it mean exactly?" Anna asked. She had a good idea of what it meant but she needed to hear it out loud.

"Daughter of Njord" Loki spoke softly and began to walk towards Anna. She moved towards the bed and took a seat. Loki sat down beside her. They sat in silence as Anna processed what he had said.

"Daughter of Njord....Njord....Njorddóttr...okay" Anna mumbled as she nodded her head. "So Njord is my fathers name?"

Loki took Anna's hand in his and stroked in gently. "Yes kötrr."

"Did you know him?" Anna asked with hesitation.

Loki nodded. "I do. Njord is the God of the sea." Loki tilted his head so he could see Anna. She was being unusually quiet. He was desperate to know what she was thinking. The silence was unbearable. Loki found himself rambling on to fill the void. "I am afraid that is all I know. I had no idea he had child. He spent a lot of his time on Midgard. There was a time he was worshiped there almost as much as Odin as people tried to please him so they would have safe passage across the seas to journey to new lands. He loved the attention and the people so he would spend most of his time there."

Anna let out a huge sigh. She fought back tears as she looked up to face Loki. "Why didn't he want me Loki?" Anna's voice cracked as she spoke. She couldn't hold her tears back any longer. All the hurt and fear and pain she had felt throughout her life came rushing out. She buried her face in her hands as she sobbed. Loki wrapped Anna in his arms. He wanted to take all the pain and hurt away from her. He wanted her to know just how special he thought she was and how much he adored her. Loki pulled away from their embrace and tilted Annas face up towards him with his thumb and pointer finger. He gently wiped away her tears and looked into her eyes as he stroked her cheek.

"I do not know my darling. You will have to ask him that for yourself." Loki's voice was soft and soothing. Anna still couldn't contain her tears. Once again Loki dried her eyes. They glistened so much more when they filled with tears.

"Please do not cry Kærasta." Loki soothed. "Why anyone wouldn't want you is completely unimaginable. You are kind and compassionate and brave and funny. You love so deeply and are loyal and....and...infuriating...and stubborn..." Anna smiled lightly and gave a small laugh to Loki's compliments. They were staring directly into one another's eyes as Loki continued. "You are beautiful...the most beautiful creature I have ever laid eyes upon.." Loki and Anna were so incredibly close now. It seemed as if the rest of the world no longer existed. It was just the two of them. They inched ever closer together. "And I would very much like to kiss you now." Anna felt as if her heart was going to come crashing through her chest it was beating so hard. Loki cupped Anna's face in his hands. He pulled her face up to his and planted a soft delicate kiss on her lips. Anna wrapped her arms around Loki as he moved his hands from her face into her hair deepening the kiss. Loki's lips were cool and soft. Anna felt as though all her worries had melted away. They kissed passionately at long last. Both of them savouring the feel of the other. When they pulled away from he kiss they rested their foreheads against each other and smiled.

"Finally" Loki joked causing Anna to giggle.

"I hope it was worth the wait." Anna said as they both sat back a little so they could look at one another.

"My darling, I would have happily waited until the end of time" Loki tucked Anna's hair behind her ear. He noticed how she would try to hid behind her hair when she felt nervous. He wanted her to feel completely at ease around him and he also wanted to be able to see perfectly her beautiful face. "Come my dear, let me give you a tour of the place while we wait for mother and Odin to be ready for us."

Anna took Loki's arm as they walked around the palace. Loki showed Anna the various halls and ballrooms and the library. The walked in the gardens together and occasionally were greeted by nobles in the palace. Anna still couldn't get used to everyone bowing to Loki and treating him the the Prince she knew he was.

The gardens were beautiful. They were filled with flowers of different colours and sizes. Many of which Anna had never seen before in her life. The smelled divine. Loki pointed out as many as he could remember. He told Anna about his mother's love for her gardens. As Anna looked around the gardens her heart sank a little she she saw the Lady Sigyn approach them. Loki pulled Anna in closer to him as she approached and looked at Anna with distain. She greeted Loki in the correct manor and completely ignored Anna to Loki's annoyance. As she spoke to Loki about some magic council meeting, Loki lightly kissed the top of Anna's head then, looked at her and spoke. "My darling, the magic council is what I am the head of. Lady Sigyn had been taking the lead while I have been on Midgard. It is a requirement of everyone with magic abilities to attend such meetings. This will include you now." Loki kissed the top of Anna's head again making Anna blush.

Sigyn looked at Anna with a mixture of shock and disgust. Loki smirked. He wanted to show off that Anna had magic abilities and that she was his. He knew it would infuriate Sigyn but it was a necessary step to take to get her to back off. He did not like the way she was treating Anna. Loki saw Anna as being his queen and wanted her to be treated with the same respect he was shown. There had once been a time where it was thought Loki and Sigyn might have courted but Loki was never interested in Sigyn that way as he knew she was only interested in him for the title she would acquire.

A royal guard approached Loki and bowed. "Your majesty. The All Father and the Queen request the presence of you and Lady Annabelle in the library of the All Father."

"Thank you Ivan" The guard bowed again towards Loki and Anna and then took his leave. "Excuse us please Lady Sigyn. My lady and I must meet with mother and father."

"Of course your highness" Sigyn bowed and looked at Anna with confusion as she turned to leave.

When Sigyn was out of earshot Anna gave Loki a playful smile as she looked at him "You know, I think she likes you."

Loki laughed nervously. "As I already said Kötrr, she is an old friend nothing more and in any case I believe I am already spoken for." Loki winked at Anna and gave her his most mischievous grin.

"Loki Laufyson! Is this your way of asking me out?" Anna laughed.

"Yes, I believe it is. Annabelle Njorddóttr will you allow me to court you?" Loki smiled a bright white dazzling smile. Anna couldn't help but smile back just as wide.

"I would like that a lot." She nodded.

Loki held her close to him planted a soft kiss on her lips. "Good. Now let us meet with mother and Odin and get you some answers Kærasta."