Hope you enjoy! Won't be able to update tomorrow, but I'll try for Friday :D

~Nobody's POV~

The altercation between Thea and her father inspires more than one conversation.

Fjodr's mansion is built much more traditionally than Neidra's. It is a towering, lodge-like structure made of wood panels, luxuriously created designs etched in the doorway and along the columns. Flames stutter from torches in the chilly weather, and a flag with the crest of the Mortepay family (a dragon holding a spear tightly in his jaws) flaps in the wind. The house stands on the crest of a hill, or, more accurately, a small mountain. The back of the house overlooks a large valley, a basin of grassy plains surrounded by rocks like a bowl. Small streams run from around and under the house, falling over the mountain to join into a larger waterfall that hits the ground about a hundred feet below. Several blocks of the mansion sprawl over the water, with arched, wooden bridges bracing over the little rivers.

As the sun beams into the house, a woman pulls shut the curtains opening up the sitting room to the view of the valley, so that the room is only lit by candlelight and torches. Besides the woman, there are three other people in there. A powerfully built man with thick dark hair, tied in a short ponytail at his neck, and large black eyes stands near the fireplace, his hands tightly on the back of a red velvet chair.

In the chair that Fjodr is leaning against,, sitting ramrod straight, her pale hands folded in her lap in a dignified way is Saissa. She is wearing a black dress that trails at her feet and pools around the chair. A gold circlet sits atop her black hair, which hangs in straight sheets around her elliptical black eyes.

Finally, Caomh leans lazily against the fireplace, the flames throwing his chiseled face into a game of shadows. His arms are crossed, but his countenance is casual. He also looks very bored.

Neidra walks back over to the three of them. The red adder is coiled around her wrist, and hisses softly. She holds herself regally, her raised chin and sharp silver eyes authenticating her to the person in charge of the room.

Regardless, Fjodr, still leaning against the chair, says, "What you ask of me is treason."

"Treason?" asks Neidra smoothly. Her approach with Fjodr is vastly different than her approach with Loki. "How could it possibly be treason when you are defying the power that has so subjugated you to heart break, the power that you have no desire to obey. How is that treason to go against those who wrong you? It is not- it is liberation."

"And besides," says Caomh in his lilting voice, his eyes seeming to crackle even more than the flames, like a fire demon, "You get the throne in return, and vengeance on Loki's family."

Fjodr raises an eyebrow, but says nothing. He looks suitably impressed.

"Do not deny to me that you have desire for Thor's crown," says Neidra, "I know that this is true."

"It is not something of great shock to many."

"Then you should not be afraid of the consequences. If you work with me, the benefits far outweigh the costs."

"What are the costs?" asks Fjodr.

Neidra smiles. But Fjodr, for all his intellect, does not have the sharp mind of Loki and so cannot see that Neidra's smile is not one of eagerness, but one as devious as Lilith, "I need only your influence. I can do the rest."

"And the benefits?"

"Shall I list them alphabetically?" queries Caomh, "Or numerically?"

"Well the most ornamental of the benefits that you will reap is a silver platter."

"A silver platt-?"

"And upon it shall be Loki's head."

"Loki is dead."

Neidra smiles toothily, "Not quite as dead as you would imagine."

"How is that possible?" Fjodr demands, "He died in the same ambush that killed his mother, the same ambush he blamed me for."

"Yes, that was unfortunate," says Neidra, ignoring Caomh's smirk, "But Loki never died. He is a sorcerer. He faked his death and has been living with us still for all these years. You cannot remember because he placed a spell upon those around him several months ago so that he may again be invisible to his victims' thoughts. Consider this."

Neidra snaps her fingers, and both Fjodr and Saissa suck in quick breaths.

Fjodr blinks, and whispers, "This is impossible. That snake!"

"Oh, it gets so much better," says Caomh, looking at his fingers, which are adorned with garnet rings, "Loki is currently in the house of Gunther. Except Gunther is buried somewhere, and Loki has disguised himself as his father. Whom he killed."

Fjodr's eyes bulge, "This is impossible."

"You said that already," says Caomh.

"Do you mean to tell me that the Asgardians do not know that they have a murderer on their throne?!"

"Precisely," says Neidra.

"Then by all means, let us make haste to the nearest village and relay this information! Loki will be torn down quickly, and make our-"

"Don't think so rashly," says Neidra, "The people of Asgard are still attached to Loki and Thor, their whole family. And I cannot remove the spell on an entire realm, so we would be considered lunatics. But there is something else."

"It gets even better," says Caomh.

"What is that?" asks Fjodr, ignoring Caomh.

Neidra turns to Saissa, bends down, and sets her hand on the girl's shoulder, "You do remember Thea, do you not?"

Saissa curls her lip and subconsciously trails her fingers up to her cheeks, which still have faint lines criss-crossing them, from burns, "Yes."

"Well," says Neidra lightly, "Thea is Loki's daughter."

Saissa stares.

"By blood?" demands Fjodr, "He has claimed before that he feels protective, so-"

"Thea is Loki's biological child," says Neidra, "His only child. And thus his only heir."

"No," spits Saissa, "That bitch cannot take the realm of Asgard from me!"

"She won't, she won't, my darling," croons Neidra, "She is weak and-"

"She is not weak," says Caomh, "She appears fragile, but she has her father's temper, his strength, and his fire. As I saw you discovered firsthand, Saissa."

Saissa looks furious, "It was pure luck that she managed to beat me. Any day, I could have-"

"What if I told you that Thea will be dead by the end of the day?" asks Neidra.

Saissa breaks off her rant, "What?"

"I have placed a spell on Loki that will make him subject to one whim of mine. One. And I have ordered him to kill his own daughter."

"Why not just kill her yourself?" asks Fjodr.

"My son spoke correctly," says Neidra, "Thea has more to her than would seem. I could easily tear her little head from her neck, but I am thinking abstractly. Loki knows her. He knows her fighting still, her behavior, her fears and deepest desires. More than this, Thea craves love from her father. His mind, as of late, has been influenced, and he has turned away from her, and so she desires her father back. With this, he can trick her. And kill her."

"You could still kill Thea," says Fjodr, "You have the power and the cunning, I know this."

"Your words are kind," says Neidra, "But there is one other thing to consider. I placed this spell upon Loki because he has one weakness, one weakness that I have exposed. That weakness is his daughter. His love for Thea is deep, as he cares only for her in all the realms of the universe. But, as I have said, it is his weakness. The spell will break when he mortally wounds her. When he sees that he has killed his daughter, he will be destroyed. Loki by himself is a powerful being, one too powerful to take on without a bit of help. But by destroying that one bit of humanity, I will have destroyed his will. He will be no trouble after this."

"Tell him the best part," says Caomh.

"Oh yes," says Neidra, "You'll be able to kill Loki after that. After his mind is so unhinged from heartbreak."

"What must I do in the meanwhile?" asks Fjodr.

"You must filter through all the villages, spreading one world. One world that can do so much for our cause."

"And what word is that?" asks Fjodr.

"Revolution."

*

Neidra walks through her own house, and then opens the door to her bedroom. Loki is inside, pacing. His hair is long and mussed, and his skin pale and splotched. He is staggering, and limping. His face is bruised, and his lips are pursed and red. The golden bracelet around his wrist glistens.

"I thought she would be dead," says Neidra, slamming the door behind her, "Why isn't your daughter dead?"

"She...she..."

"She what?" snaps Neidra, her fingers darting to the whip still coiled around her waist, emitting short sparks. "That little mite of a girl managed to beat you down?"

"She called me Daddy," whispers Loki.

"Are you in your right mind?" demands Neidra, "Oh, of course you're not. But you are supposed to have killed her, not let her get away just because your ice-cold heart melted a little at her pleading words!"

With that, the whip comes around and snakes around Loki's waist, snapping against his back. He cries out and falls to the ground.

Standing over him, Neidra hisses through her teeth, "I cannot keep feeding you this potion. You must kill Thea! She is in your way to the throne!"

"But..."

Loki cries out again as the whip strikes his face this time, cutting down through his face, drawing his blood.

"Do it," spits Neidra, "And kill her little vampire and human friends while you're at it. They're getting annoying."

There's a pause. Then, Loki says, his voice slightly clearer, "I will."

Oh dear...Please VOTE and COMMENT!

~Sierra