The Witch's Familiar

Chapter 51

You dismounted and tethered the horses outside the Cursemonger's mansion. You took Loki's hand before you headed inside. You had to admit that you were afraid of what the Cursemonger would say, or what he would demand. Loki pulled you closer and kissed your temple. "It'll be alright, darling. Everything will work out,"

"But what if he demands something that we can't give him in return?" you spoke your fears again. You didn't expect this would be easy. You didn't expect that the only person in the realm who had this particular magic would be willing to use it so easily. Or without a high cost attached.

All magic came with a price.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure we can pay it, magelet. Thor and I are princes and have the crown's authority to grant practically any favor. You are a noble of Asgard in your own right on top of being my lady. We'll do whatever it takes to free you of that curse," Loki reassured you.

You nodded and he raised your hand to his lips to kiss your knuckles. He dropped your hand so he and Thor could walk in together. You recognized that the brothers were well practiced with working together and knew what parts they were going to play. They were demonstrating a strong force with the two princes arriving together to deal with this problem.

You followed behind the boys with Sif, hoping against hope that this would work out.

You entered the mansion through the shop entrance. The Cursemonger had his shop attached to his mansion of a home. He was wealthy for the work he did, it seemed. Of course he was, people would pay out the nose to get rid of curses. Or possibly inflict them upon others.

You really hoped it wasn't inflict them upon others.

The four of you made your way into the shop to be met with a weaselly man with greasy sleeked back hair and a sneer to his eyes. He looked like a used car salesman and you hated him on sight. "Well, well, the princes of Asgard come to see my humble establishment," he sneered at Loki and Thor.

"We come seeking your services," Loki replied carefully with his silver tongue. This was more his area of expertise than Thor's and Thor knew it. Thor was great for muscle. Not so great for careful negotiations.

The Cursemonger could hardly hide his delight. "How could I possibly be of service to the master magician of Asgard?" his voice was oily and made your skin crawl.

Your feelings about this were getting worse and worse by the moment, but you stepped forward when Loki gestured for you anyway. "My lady has been affected by a curse and we were told you would be able to remove it," Loki explained as you showed him your hand with the mark and spells etched into your skin.

"You could remove the hand, that would remove the curse along with it," the Cursemonger said with a shrug, goading Loki. You and Loki both knew he was goading you.

"We were hoping for a less debilitating solution. I guess this was not the correct place to go after all," Loki said innocently and turned to lead you all out.

"Wait! I can do it!" Cursemonger protested.

Loki paused. "Hmm? You can remove it? And the mark?" he asked pleasantly. Too pleasantly.

Silver tongue vs Weasel.

Hopefully silver tongue won.

"I can," Cursemonger agreed. "And I'm the only one in the realms with the spell and skill to do so. So it will not come with no price,"

Loki inclined his head. "There is a cost to all magic," he agreed, still too pleasant. He was waiting to see what the terms were before he entered the negotiations properly.

"Of course quite a bit of gold will be involved"

Loki inclined his head again. "Naturally,"

"And I will keep the curse for my collection-"

Loki narrowed his eyes. "Absolutely not. The crown will not allow such a dangerous curse to be resold and afflicted on someone else." Thor gripped Mjolnir tighter at Loki's words and tone.

Cursemonger swallowed, noting the threat. "Very well, you can take that, but there is still the rest of the price," he started speaking quickly then, wanting these negotiations over before Loki got pissed at him and had Thor squash him into a pancake with Mjolnir. "A favor from the throne to be named at a later date, a large sum of gold, and the magic requires retribution,"

"What retribution?" Loki demanded coldly, his tone turning icy. At least ice hadn't started forming around his feet yet.

Cursemonger searched for words. "For you to care for her as she once cared for you. That is what the spell required,"

You blanched at the implication of his words.

No, he couldn't mean-

No.

Nonono

"Of course I would care for my lady," Loki's tone wasn't warming any and he looked close to summoning a dagger.

Cursemonger shook his head. "She is broken inside from the loss of her familiar," it unnerved all of you how much he knew about you. "This spell will take a lot out of her. When you went to Midgard, it was in feline form. So she will be until she has recovered. That is non negotiable. It is the spell's desire and the spell's price,"

"How long?" Loki snarled. He didn't like it, but he would accept that the magic had a price.

Cursemonger shrugged. "Until she heals. It could be days, weeks, months?"

Months? Months as a cat? With probably limited magic and relying on Loki?

He'd relied on you when he'd come to Midgard.

You had to trust he'd return the favor.

You knew he'd take care of you.

Loki turned to you, silently asking your opinion.

It took all of your will to nod.

Anything to get rid of those spells and that mark. Especially if it wouldn't cost your hand in the process.

And this was your last option. You saw it in Loki's eyes when he looked at you. You all knew this was your only option.

So you nodded and hoped you weren't making a terrible mistake.