Bab 3: Chapter 1.3 A New Beginning Part 3

The Aesir watched his clone for an hour before deciding to move in, and Loki waited with bated breath, finding that this was all quite exhilarating. Thoughts of his future changing forever, dreams of his destiny beginning flooded through his mind and he grinned, almost excited in a strange way. He knew that this would generally be a situation that would strike fear in the hearts of many, but Loki trusted himself and his abilities. If he needed to escape, he believed he could.

The Aesir was moving across his room towards his clone in the bed almost silently, and Loki widened his eyes in minute disbelief when he saw him summon lightning, and strike him with just enough of it to cause him to fall unconscious. Of course, if this hadn't been a clone, the lighting would've caused him to faint, but because it was a clone, it just caused it to puff into nothingness, which made the Aesir inhale sharply and turn to look around the room wildly.

Loki decided that he needed to restrain the Aesir before talking to him, and used seidr to bind his arms behind his back, revealing himself from the shadows. "So you're the Aesir that's been following me? You're more handsome than I expected."

Remaining silent, Thor found his eyes drifting up and down Loki's figure, a large part of him blown away by how stunning he looked in his nightshirt. Loki was even more divine in person, and Thor found himself rendered speechless when the niouvi stepped closer, his nightshirt riding dangerously high.

"Why are you in my room?"

Thor tested at the seidr chain binding his wrist, finding that he could break it. "Someone paid me a lot of money to bring you to them. I'm afraid you're going to have to come with me." Breaking the seidr chain next, Thor stood up straight, surprised to see that Loki was actually shorter than him. "And they asked that you be delivered safely and in one piece, so it will be much easier for the both of us if you just come with me."

Seeing the Aesir break his restraints did surprise the niouvi and he cast out another spell to restrain him, shocked beyond belief when he suddenly found that he was on the ground on his stomach, a forceful knee wedged between his shoulder blades. "Gah!"

He was blown away that this Aesir was so agile and was beginning to wonder if he had made a grave mistake. The Aesir told him that he was being sold to someone, and judging by how adept the man was, he could only be from a renowned guild. This meant that whoever paid this man was wealthy, and outside of the kingdom.

This was taking an interesting turn indeed. Loki pretended to put up a struggle, knowing that his acting was believable. If this Aesir suspected that he was willingly leaving, he would be wary of him, and that was the last thing Loki needed.

Thor held Loki down while he bound his arms together tightly behind his back and tied his ankles together, relieved that kidnapping him was easier than he originally believed it would be. He made sure to gag Loki with a cloth, as he didn't want the witch to cast any spells that could hurt him. Once the niouvi was fully bound and restrained, Thor picked him up and threw him over his shoulder, jumping out of the window and flying them to the edge of town where his men were waiting.

Loki struggled in Thor's hold as they flew down to the edge of the vast royal city, and grunted when Thor tightened his hold on him, annoyed that he was restrained. There was no way he could realistically get himself out of this with a spell, and while he could easily snap the restraints - Jotnar were quite strong - this was something he allowed to happen, as he wanted to gain more information before reacting. If the person that paid for him to be kidnapped was rich enough to do so, then they were rich enough to sustain him and his lavish lifestyle. He didn't know how this little adventure of his would turn out, but he was determined to see it out before possibly escaping, so he pretended to put up more of a struggle in the Aesir's arms, surprised that the man was so strong.

Hefting Loki over his shoulder again more securely, Thor landed right outside of the city and met up with his group of men, each of them grinning when they saw that he had successfully kidnapped Loki. They didn't have much time for celebration, as they needed to get as far away from Glefgir as possible. They only had a few hours at most until the king discovered Loki had been kidnapped and they needed to get moving.

"Get him on a horse," Gruffed out one of his men, taking the reins of Thor's horse and guiding it to him. "Hurry!"

A young man stepped forward and took Loki in his arms while Thor got onto his horse, passing him back over once Thor was settled, and slapping the horse's rear and sending them both along.

Loki fought against Thor's hold the entire time they rode, but the Aesir held onto him with an iron grip, stronger than any Aesir he'd ever encountered. He kept testing out different movements to see if the Aesir would slip up and accidentally lose his hold on him, but all of his experiments were met for naught.

This Aesir wasn't letting him go anytime soon.

Loki began to wonder where he was being taken to if this Aesir was so intent on keeping him this close to him, and decided that he would find a way to glean this information from him once they stopped to rest. He had a feeling that they wouldn't keep him bound and gagged, so he began to craft his plans, watching and listening to every move, every interaction, and every word shouted amongst the group of men, planning what he would say and who he would talk to.

He was nothing short of a brilliant tactician and received everything he ever had in this life because of his intellect. If there was any being that could sway a situation to his favor, it was him, and he almost let out a cocky laugh, feeling that same rise of excitement from earlier begin to show itself.

Of course, the thought of him being sold as a slave did come up, but he dismissed it, as there wasn't a being alive that would pay this much money for a slave. If anything, he was being kidnapped to be the bride of a wealthy man, and all that would be required of him would be to bear healthy sons. This was something he didn't care too much about - niouvi were often touted as "breeders" and while that moniker did bother him, he understood that his body was meant to do things that the body of a woman couldn't - so as long as he was given his freedom to do as he wished, he would have all the children his spouse wanted him to have.

Thoughts of who paid to have him kidnapped did run through his mind as well, and he began to hope that it was a king. If he was being given to a king, that would make it that much easier to attain his goal of ruling the realm with an iron fist, and he was persuasive and seductive enough to get what he wanted. Of course, he prayed to the Norns that it wasn't the king of a realm that was notoriously barbarous or weak. He'd have to think of another plan of escape if he discovered he was being married to the dwarven king, Queen Hel of Helheim, or the King of Muspelheim.

The group of men rode on until the afternoon, and Loki dozed in and out of their journey a few times. His kidnapper never once let him go, and it wasn't until they slowed to rest near a spring that Loki decided to put his plan into action. Judging by what he'd overheard and experienced, his captor was the one that would be easiest to gain information from. He'd noticed the way the Aesir looked at him when he first revealed himself, and because he was still in his nightshirt, there wasn't much of him that could be left to the imagination.

The entire journey, the Aesir had done what he could to preserve Loki's modesty, and this let Loki know that the Aesir had a heart that could be used and swayed to do what he wanted him to do.

This information was vital for Loki's plan of gathering more information.

Thor's horse slowed down to a trot before coming to a complete stop near the water of the spring and craned its neck down to drink greedily, obviously tired from their trek. Thor knew that he needed to keep Loki healthy on this journey, and carefully brought him down from his horse, setting him down onto the ground with a distrusting look. "If you try to cast a spell when I remove your gag, you'll go hungry and thirsty for the rest of our journey."

Loki shot the man a deadpan look, raising an unamused eyebrow at him. Once he was ungagged, he inhaled deeply and coughed, relieved that he could finally speak. "Norns, every story about the Aesir has proved themselves to be true. You're all such brutes!"

The Jotun's voice was as captivating as his face and figure, and Thor found himself wondering if Loki had enchanted his voice. "Stop talking."

Loki narrowed his eyes at him but remained silent, so Thor nodded, deciding that it would be safer if Loki remained quiet during their journey. He didn't want to risk being charmed into doing something that could put them in jeopardy. "In fact, I want you to remain silent during this entire trip. I can't risk you charming me with a spell." This seemed to put an amused expression on Loki's face, but the niouvi didn't respond, so Thor huffed, finally turning around. Reaching into his bags, he pulled out a cup, filling it with water from the spring and moving to bring it to Loki's lips. "Here, drink this."

Loki was admittedly parched and drank every drop that Thor offered him, looking up at him and conveying that he was still thirsty with his gaze.

"Would you like more?" He waited for Loki to nod before getting him more water, and found himself wondering why the niouvi wasn't putting up more of a struggle. He was being strangely compliant, and he frowned, raising a distrusting eyebrow at the giant. "Why are you so calm?"

"Well, screaming and fighting against you and all of your men would only end in disaster for me, captor," Huffed Loki, finally sated. "If I kill all of you, then I have to try and find my way back to the kingdom alone. If I do this, I won't last a day by myself." He looked Thor up and down then. "I'm not used to living in the wilderness like one of you savages."

Being called a savage caused Thor to snort, and he turned away from Loki, searching through his bags for dried meat. "A savage, you say?"

A lilting wind breezed through their encampment then, and Loki cursed when it blew his nightshirt up, revealing him to Thor and his men. He laughed softly to himself though when he noticed how they all reacted to seeing his unclothed form, and locked eyes with Thor, unable to hold himself back from taunting the man. "Do you like what you see, captor?"

Thor immediately reached out and pulled Loki's nightshirt down, glaring fiercely at his men. They were all leering at Loki and it did annoy him, as it wasn't very fair to the giant. "Alright, that's enough! Stop staring! Leon, give me your spare cloak!"

A young man nodded quickly and grabbed his cloak from his bags, making his way over to Loki to cover him in it. He seemingly couldn't resist grabbing at Loki lecherously though and took hold of an ass cheek, squeezing him roughly and licking along the length of his neck. "King Surtr didn't say we couldn't touch him. We-"

Loki was out of his bondages quicker than anyone anticipated and he'd twirled around, grabbing the young Leon around the neck and pointing a dagger to his jugular. "Oh, I wouldn't do that. Not everyone is allowed to partake in the fruits of this garden."