Looking for a key
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Amora had seen her husband off with a kiss and a smile, though she was terrified of him going. But he was going for her, she knew this, and she wanted things to be a success, even if they were scary thoughts. But of course her husband was a good man, it didn't occur to him he didn't need to go searching for the child Amora had taken from her some seventeen years before. And while she hoped he was safe, and wished she could go with him she felt a bubble of guilt bloom in the pit of her stomach because she would take this time to do something he would never approve of.  The turmoil that had come into their lives thanks to Sven was entirely her fault, and she would have to fix it so it didn't fall on her family to do so. 

The story of Amora and Sven was one that was new even to Amora. Once upon a time the daughter of Owle, Lord in Alfheim and the son of Laufey, King of the Jotunns had apparently been in love. So much so that Amora had agreed to marry the man who proved to be the most powerful being in all the nine realms. For Amora, who at that age was power hungry and craved control of all things, it was a blessing. She and her sister Lorelei had spent years fawning over Loki unknown at the time to be the son of Laufey. But Sven was handsome, charming and powerful. And for a long time the young couple was unstoppable. They were poised to gain control of all the nine and Amora was content with that until she had a child. With a new baby she waited until Sven slept and called a meeting with Odin, the King of Asgard. She pleaded with the all father to help her ensure that Sven wasn't killed in his attempts to control everything, that her child would be safe.

Unfortunately for Amora Odin had no intention of keeping his word to her. He wasn't going to banish her husband as she had thought, but instead freeze him. She went home, took  final night with Sven and then everything changed. Sven along with the innocent child was frozen, unbeknownst to Amora. Then his powers, along with Amora's and Loki's were used to wipe Sven from the collective memories of everyone. There was no trace of him left. Amora's own father helped to tie up lose ends, when she gave birth to a second child nine months later her memory was again wiped when her pleas for help went unanswered. 

When Sven had woken he had come looking for Amora, a much weaker Amora then he would remember. Her powers had long since been weaker and she could never remember why, but now she thought it was something she could reverse. He brought with him their first son, stolen from her. He thought that taking Amora and bringing back her memories would undo the twenty years since their last meeting. But Amora had moved on, with or without he memories of Sven there was no replacing her life, the husband she loved or the family she had made together with him. In the end Sven had tried taking her for a short time, but released her, with the baby, and a promise he was going to find their other child. 

Now Amora made sure her daughters were safe, all tucked up together with their protectors, her sleeping son, still nameless was surrounded by family, and she slipped away on the lie she wanted to take a bath. While she would ultimately bathe so her daughters didn't suspect a thing she had another plan in mind. She headed down the main corridor of bedrooms in her families wing of the palace. It was a way to keep the larger family together but give all their smaller sub groups their own space. At the end of the hall was a room Amora had been using with her uncle to practice with her lacking magic. Now she slipped in, locking the door and quickly mixing the ingredients she had seen in one of the many books scattered around. What she ended with was a fine white powder, half of which she poured into a bottle and tucked into the top of her dress, her undergarments keeping it from moving. 

She then knelt down, using the powder to create a circle. It was an ancient trick, used by her people for stealthy transport, because the quick travel the gods replied on could be tracked by others.  She spoke the old incantation, in the same ancient tongue her mother had taught her as a child, and it took her to the place she desired, her old home with Sven. There was a moments pause when Amora landed in the front foyer, and she paused to listen. But just as her husband was, out and searching for her son she had assumed correctly Sven would be doing the same. She stopped for a moment to look at the photos on the wall frowning before she moved to the stairs.

Her face was all over the walls, her portrait far outnumbering Sven. But there were also images of them together that she didn't like, they all felt wrong, especially now that she knew the truth. She had tried dismantling all of the pictures when he had trapped her here before, before she remembered their past, but he had undone her work in seconds, proving he still far out powered her. Now her steps were quick rushing up the winding staircase that let out on the landing she remembered from her last visit here. She knew that the bedroom was the last door on the right, the baby's room had been next to that, so she counted, seven from there, and just across the stairs was the room she was looking for. Her old study and the place she had hidden all of her darkest secrets. 

Opening the door she slipped in and shut the heavy wood behind her, not wanting to alert Sven that she was there if he came back for some reason. Standing in the room she had spent hours on end in once upon a time was not something she enjoyed, the onslaught to her memories wasn't pleasant. But she tried to muscle on. Strapped to her thigh was the dagger her husband had given her when he tried training her to fight. It bumped against the desk now as she leaned over, grabbing an old leather satchel from a top shelf. In the desk she knew just what she was looking for, a small leather case, that held rings from her mother, that she had once enchanted for different purposes, it was the first thing she settled in the bag.

Amora spent a good twenty minutes cleaning out the desk of things she needed or wanted, things she had not known she missed until now. And when she was sure there was nothing else she moved on to the far left wall which on the outside looked like just a long wall of book shelves. But the lower panel was special. Kneeling down she pushed in on the bottom two shelves and watched them spring out, smiling when she saw her things still there. A Diary of sorts, closer to a ledger where Amora in her misspent youth had gathered information, things people owed her, things she owed others, favors and secrets. Information was power and she had taken it very seriously once upon a time. Here she might find information on who had helped Odin with her requests many years ago, or those who still owed her and could help unlock whatever hold the old spell had on her powers. With the book tucked in her bag she slung it over her shoulder and pulled the small vial from between her breasts, repeating the same circle she had at home knowing it wouldn't lead Sven back to her, it was a one time spell. 

White circle on the floor the same chant that had gotten her there took her home. Relief at not being discovered by Sven was replaced almost immediately by guilt at not having told Thor. Pulling the dark leather from her shoulder she tucked everything into the chest her uncle had helped her charm, something to store volatile substances so her children couldn't get into it. I opened under her palm and hers alone. Once everything was safe she locked up the office and rushed down the hall to her bedroom. The shattered furniture from large men fighting had been removed and now she could strip down and pad barefoot to the bathroom for a quick shower. As she started the steaming water she thought over the best ways to sit her husband down and tell him what she had done, and by the time she stepped into the hot spray she was formulating a plan. He would ultimately understand she knew, even if he didn't approve, or was angry. But she was looking for a key, something to help her unlock her powers again, powers that would in the end help keeping her children safe. 

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