All Iduna felt was the bitter cold. It held her tight, chilling her blood and bones. She couldn't move. She couldn't even breathe. Everything hurt. Her limbs, her head, but most of all, her heart.
The wind howled through the day and night, pounding on the thick icy wall of the Frost Giant's fortress. At least, Iduna believed it had already been a full day and night since she had been brought here by her captor. She could not tell for sure.
Darkness reigned in the realm of Jotunheim, and ever more so in the dreaded Thrymheim. Not even the full moon could cast its beautiful light into the abyss the Frost Giants called home (at least, she assumed the white orb she'd seen in the sky some time ago had been the moon). Yet, Iduna refused to give up. In all her years, she had learned one thing — the heart died in loss and despair.

So she would not. She would hold on to life. To hope. By now, the Aesir would have noticed she was missing. If she was not there to tend to her precious apples, they would wither and shrivel into nothing, as would the Aesir. They would not let it be so.
Help would come. Sooner or later, someone would come. Yet, the one person the Goddess would expect to come to her rescue was the same who had delivered her to her jailor.

Iduna kept herself from crying at the thought of him. Tears would only leave a frozen trail on her cheeks. Icy scars on an already fractured being. Broken by the man she believed her own dear friend.
It was no secret Loki held some rancour against the Aesir. But that he would betray their friendship so... She could not fathom it. And to serve a Frost Giant's purpose, no less! Loki was part Jotun himself, but he held no love for that particular part of his lineage. He despised it, even. It kept him from truly becoming a member of the Aesir.

Loki... Why did you do this to me? I was your friend. I cared for you when no one else would. How many times did I defend you against the others? How many times did I speak right of you, even when your mischief caused us harm? Was it not enough? My kindness, my faith, my... Why would you betray me thus?

Iduna huddled into the furs her o so gracious host had provided 'for her comfort.' Her rage warmed her more than those flimsy cloths. It was a shame her powers could not influence the Frost Giants. If they could, Iduna would show Thiazi a thing or two about discomfort. She would make his blue skin ooze until he was drained dry and crumbled into dust. She would watch his icy eyes glaze and crystallise until they popped.

"How is my darling bride doing today?"

Iduna glanced up when she heard the low, grumbling voice of the Frost Giant. Thiazi stood on the threshold of her chamber. There was barely any room; otherwise, Iduna would have tried to make a run for it. Though she doubted she would have got far. She was too worn out by the cold and hunger.

"Do not worry; you will not remain in this chamber for much longer. We shall wed this evening. The hunting party is already on its way back. But just for you, I shall catch our own meal with my bare hands."

He grinned maliciously. It seemed hard to imagine this foul creature had truly been the same enchanting human boy she had met on Midgard. A masterful ploy on Loki's behalf.

Loki...

"I shall greet you this evening, my dear. We shall eat and drink and feast, and you will share your gift with my people. And when the moon is once again at its highest... we two shall be one."

Iduna shuddered at his thunderous laugh as Thiazi departed from her chamber. The thought of having to share a bed with that horrid beast was more than she could bear. With some luck, the Aesir would find her before then. If not... she would rather surrender herself to her despair.

No! Someone will come. Someone has to come. Anyone...

Iduna heard a soft ticking noise near to her. Probably just an icicle dripping somewhere. But then she heard it again, louder this time. And strangely insistent. She looked up.
There, at her window, sat a hawk. A beautiful bird with warm brown feathers and a sharp beak. And his eyes were gorgeous gold—no, wait. They weren't gold as she suspected they would be. Nor brown even. They were a greenish-blue.
Iduna squinted at the hawk. She knew those eyes. They were so full of... mischief.

"Loki?"

The Goddess struggled to her feet, pulling herself up by the icy wall of her chamber. She shuffled to her window and pulled. It wouldn't budge. She tried again, her strength returning to her as she held on to the belief that this bird was who she hoped it to be.

At last, a creak appeared at the window, and the hawk pushed its head against it to open it further. It flew into Iduna's chamber and landed majestically before her. Bird turned into man, and Iduna gazed at her dearest and closest friend in all Nine Realms.

"You didn't think I would let Thiazi have his way with you, did you?"

The tears Iduna then cried were not of despair or cold or hunger. They were of joy. Loki had not abandoned her.
He came for her.