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“But when she married Oren, your dad thought they might have a child?” I asked.
“Right,” he nodded. “My father wanted nothing more than for me to be King. It didn’t matter that I had no urge to be King, or that Oren might live forever and I would never be King anyway. ”
“Why did he want you to be King so badly?” I asked.
“He wanted power, more power,” Loki said. “He thought if I became King, we could rule the world or something. He never got specific about his plans, but he just wanted more. ”
“So what happened?” I asked. “I heard he tried to defect back to Förening. ”
“Yes, that was after everything went to hell,” Loki said. “My father came up with some plan to kill Sara. I don’t know exactly what it was, but I think he wanted to poison her. My mother found out about it, and she was…” He stopped and shook his head.
“My mother was kind,” Loki went on. “I’d been betrothed to Sara, so she’d become like a member of our family. My mother invited her for supper and treated her as a daughter. Even after Sara married Oren, my mother remained close to her. ”
“And your father was going to kill her?” I asked.
“Yes, but my mother wouldn’t let him. ” He chewed the inside of his cheek and stared straight ahead at the snow coming down. “So he killed her. ”
“What?” I asked, thinking I’d misunderstood. “Sara’s alive. ”
“No, my father killed my mother,” Loki said flatly. “He hit her in the head with a metal vase, over and over. I was hiding in the closet, and I saw the whole thing. ”
“Oh my god,” I gasped. “I’m so sorry. ”
“The King found out, and he didn’t really care that my father had murdered someone,” he said. “But then I told the King why my father killed her, about his plan to assassinate Sara.
“My father tried to make it back to the Trylle,” Loki continued. “He offered Elora trade secrets, anything she’d want to know. I’ve been told that she accepted, but he never made it there. Oren found him and executed him. ”
“I’m sorry,” I said, unsure of what else to say.
“I’m not,” Loki said. “But I am lucky that the King didn’t kill me too. Sara took pity on me, and I moved into the palace with them. ”
“The King and Queen raised you,” I said.
“They did,” he nodded. “Sara more so. The King’s never been that fond of me, although I don’t think he’s ever been that fond of anyone. ”
Silence settled over us, and Loki seemed morose. Bringing up the death of his mother would have that effect.
What happened to him was horrible, not that I had a great childhood myself. I thought back to when he’d arrived in Förening, and I put my hand on the scar on his chest. I’d felt like he was a kindred spirit, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized how alike we really were.
We both had a parent who hated us, and we were left orphaned at a young age. His father wanted him to be King, even though he didn’t want it, and my mother wanted me to be Queen, even though I didn’t want it. And we both shared a mixed bloodline of Trylle and Vittra.
“Why aren’t you like me?” I asked when I thought of it.
“Pardon?”
“Why aren’t you as powerful as me?” I asked. “We’re both Trylle and Vittra. ”
“Well, for one thing, you’re the product of the most powerful Trylle and the most powerful Vittra,” Loki said. “I’m the product of a very powerful Vittra and a fairly weak Trylle. My father was a low-ranking Markis. He had hardly anything. I did get his ability to render people unconscious, though, but mine is much stronger than his ever was. ”
“But you have more physical strength than I do,” I pointed out.
“Your father isn’t physically that strong,” Loki said. “Don’t get me wrong, he is very strong, especially by Trylle standards. But mostly he’s just… immortal. ”
“Just immortal,” I said. “That’s good. That’ll making killing him so much easier. ”
“We can turn back,” Loki offered again.
“No, we can’t. ” I shook my head.
The car hit a patch of ice and jerked to the side. Loki reached out, putting his hand on my arm to make sure I was safe, before straightening out the car.
“Sorry about that,” he said, keeping his hand on my arm.
“It’s okay. ”
His hand felt warm on my bare skin, and I moved my arm so I could take his hand in mine. I don’t know why I did it exactly, but I felt better. It helped quiet my nerves and ease the tightening of my stomach.
I stared out the window, almost embarrassed to look over at him, but he said nothing about it. He just held my hand, and eventually, he started singing along with the radio again.
The snow had lessened by the time we reached the Vittra palace. It looked more like an old castle. I hadn’t really had a chance to look at it the last time I was here. The brick towers and spirals loomed against the overcast sky. Tall trees without any leaves filled the surrounding forest, and I almost expected there to be a moat to cross.
Loki pulled up in front of the massive wooden doors and turned off the car. I gaped at it and tried not to let my nerves get the best of me. I could do this.
“How do I find him?” I asked. “Where’s the King?”
“I’ll show you. ” Loki opened his car door.
“What are you doing?” I asked as he got out.
“Taking you inside,” he said and slammed the door shut.
“You can’t go in there,” I said once I’d climbed out of the car. “The King could do something to you. ”
“What kind of tour guide would I be if I didn’t show you all the sights myself?” he grinned at me, but it was weak.
“Loki, be serious. ” I wouldn’t walk with him up the path so he turned back to face me. “The King will throw you in the dungeon again. ”
“Maybe,” Loki agreed. “But I don’t think he will if you succeed in making a deal with him, and we’re both counting on you to make a deal. ”
“I don’t like the idea of you going in there,” I said.
“Yeah, well, I don’t like you going in there either,” he shrugged. “So we’re even. ”
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Reluctantly, I nodded. I didn’t want to put him in danger, but he had a point. If Oren agreed with me, which is what I was counting on, I could get amnesty for Loki thrown in along with it. He would probably plan on recanting once I became Queen, but we wouldn’t make it that long.
Loki walked beside me up the pathway to the doors. I tried to open one, but it wouldn’t budge. Loki laughed a little and reached around me. He pulled it open like it was nothing, and then we stepped inside the Vittra palace.
13. The Truth
I’d forgotten how cave-like it was inside the King’s chambers. The room was windowless, and the walls were dark mahogany. The ceilings were high, and candelabras cast a pale glow over us.
We sat in elegant red chairs, the only furniture in the room aside from a bookcase and large desk. Loki, Sara, and I sat, saying nothing, and waited for the King. Loki chewed his thumbnail, and his leg bounced nervously. Sara had her hands in her lap, and she stared off with a blank expression on her face.
As soon as we’d come inside the castle, Sara’s little Pomeranian had charged at us, barking. He growled at me, but he was thrilled to see Loki and peppered him with kisses. Sara came right after, responding to the sound of his barking.
When she saw us, she blanched. She only stopped and stared, and Loki asked if she was happy to see him. Instead of answering him, she sent a nearby hobgoblin to get the King, and she led us to his chambers to wait for him.
She handed the dog off to Ludlow, one of the hobgoblins, and motioned for us to sit down. We waited in silence for what felt like a long time but may have only been minutes.
“You shouldn’t
have come here,” Sara said finally.
“I know that,” Loki said.
“You shouldn’t have brought her,” Sara said.
“I know that,” he repeated.
“Why did you come back?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Loki said, growing irritated.
“That you don’t know?” Sara snorted. “He’s going to kill you. ”
“I know,” he said quietly.
“I won’t let him,” I said firmly, and Loki turned to look at me.
“Forgive me, Princess, but you are so naïve,” Sara said.
“I have a plan,” I said, sounding more convincing than I felt. “I will make it work. ”
“He will never let you go,” Sara said as if to warn me.
“He will,” I insisted. “As long as I offer him something larger than myself in return. ”
“What do you have that’s more than that?” Sara asked.
“My kingdom. ”
Loki tried to change the subject by pointing out two swords that hung on the wall. While any metal probably could kill a Vittra, Oren had a special set of swords made with platinum and diamonds. He used them for all his executions, to be certain they would get the job done.
I’m not sure how that fact was supposed to be ease the tension in the room, but it didn’t last for much longer because the double doors to the chamber were thrown open when the King walked in.
Loki’s leg immediately stopped bobbing, and he dropped his hand to his lap. Oren smiled at us, and it made my skin crawl. Sara stood when he entered, so I did the same, but Loki was slow to follow.
“So you finally brought her?” Oren asked, giving him a discerning glare.
“I didn’t bring her, Sire,” Loki said. “She brought me. ”
“Oh?” Oren looked surprised but he nodded approvingly at me. “You found the trash, and decided to return it, like I asked. ”
“No,” I said. “He’s coming with me when I leave. ”
“When you leave?” Oren asked, and his laugh echoed off the walls. “Oh, my dear sweet Princess, you’re not leaving. ”
“You haven’t heard what I have to offer you,” I said.
“I already have everything I want in this room. ” Oren had begun slowly walking around us in a large circle. Loki turned with him, to keep his eyes on him, but I didn’t.
“You don’t have Förening or any of the Trylle kingdom,” I said. “You don’t even have the remains of Oslinna. You may have devastated it, but it’s still ours. ”
“I will get your kingdom,” Oren said, his voice right behind me.
“Perhaps,” I said. “But how long will it take you? Simply possessing the Princess doesn’t ensure a victory over them. In fact, they will only fight you harder. ”
“What are you proposing?” Oren asked, and he walked around so he was in front of me.
“Time,” I said. “Give me time to get the people behind the idea so you can avoid the uprising that happened when you married my mother. ”
“I quashed that uprising. ” Oren smiled slyly at that, probably remembering fondly all the women and children he’d killed.
“But you lost the kingdom, didn’t you?” I asked, and his smile faltered.
“What could you possibly do to guarantee me the kingdom?” Oren asked.
“I will be Queen soon,” I said. “You saw Elora. You know it won’t be much longer. ”
“And our embargo will end,” Oren said, his words threatening.
“If you let me have the time from now until I’m Queen to get the people in order and prepared for the transition, we could do it,” I said. “I could get them on your side. If I convinced them I was ruling with you, not under you, they would go along with me. ”
“You would not rule with me,” he growled.
“I know,” I said hastily. “I just need to get them on my side. Get them behind you. Once everything is in place, and you are the King over all of the Vittra and Trylle, they would bow before you without complaint. They would serve you as you desire. ”
“Why?” Oren raised a skeptical eyebrow and stepped back. “Why would you do this?”
“Because I know that you’re going to keep fighting, and eventually, you will win, but at the cost of thousands and thousands of my people’s lives,” I said. “I would rather work with you to ensure a bloodless takeover now than a brutal one later. ”
“Hmm. ” Oren seemed to think it over and nodded. “Smart. Very smart. What do you want in return?”
“No more attacks on any of our towns,” I said. “Stop all fighting against us. If you keep slaughtering them, it will be hard to convince my people to trust you. And besides that, if it’s all going to be your kingdom, you’re destroying your own property. ”
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“Those are valid points,” Oren said. He’d taken to walking again, and he had his back to me. “How does Loki play into all of this?”
“He’s Vittra,” I said. “By being kind to the Trylle, he will help convince them that you’re not bad. That this has been a misunderstanding. He’ll help gain the trust of the people on your behalf. ”
“Are you sure you want him though?” Oren turned back to face us. “I could send Sara in his place. ”
“They already know Loki,” I said. “They’re beginning to trust him. ”
“You mean you trust him. ” Oren smiled wider at that. “He didn’t tell you, did he?”
“That’s too vague,” I said. “I can’t possibly know what you’re referring to. ”
“Marvelous!” Oren laughed. “You don’t know!”
I licked my lips. “Know what?” I asked.
“It’s a lie,” Oren laughed again.
“It’s not all a lie,” Loki said quickly. From the corner of my eye, I saw the way his skin paled, and I heard the tremor in his voice. “The scars on my back are not a lie. ”
“Yes, well, you earned those. ” Oren stopped laughing and gave him a hard look. “You failed me one too many times. ”
“I didn’t fail you,” Loki said carefully. “I refused you. ”
“No, you failed. ” Oren stepped closer to him, and Loki struggled to keep eye contact with him. “She didn’t run away with you. She chose someone else over you. So you failed. ”
“What?” I asked, and a sick feeling grew inside my stomach.
“I wouldn’t have brought her back here,” Loki said, and he wouldn’t look at me.
“You say that now,” Oren said and stepped away from him. “But that’s not what you said when you got back. ”
“I was in the dungeon, and you were beating me!” Loki shouted. “I would’ve agreed to anything. ”
“You did agree to anything,” Oren said. “You agreed to seduce the Princess, to trick her into falling in love with you so you could bring her back here to me. Isn’t that right?”
“That’s right, but –” Loki started, but Oren cut him off.
“You went to her palace and got caught on purpose so you could stay with her, spend time with her, manipulate her,” Oren said.
“That’s not exactly how –” Loki said.
“And when Sara brought you back, you told me you almost had her,” Oren smiled, as if telling a funny anecdote. “You told me how she’d nearly kissed you, and the way she blushed when you suggested that she marry you instead of that idiot she’s with now. ”
Loki said nothing. He stared at the floor and bit his lip. A horrible pain grew inside my chest, because I knew it was true.
“Didn’t you?” Oren yelled, and Loki jumped, but he kept looking down.
“I had no choice,” Loki said quietly. “I was following orders. ”
“That’s okay then, isn’t it?” Oren smiled when he looked at me. “Everything that has ever transpired between the two of you is a lie. But he did it because I asked him to, so that makes it okay. Doesn’t it? It’s okay k
nowing every word he ever said is a lie?”
“That’s not true,” Loki said and lifted his head. “I didn’t lie. I never lied. ”
“How can you trust anything he says?” Oren shrugged.
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked, surprised by how even my voice sounded.
“Because I was hoping you would reconsider,” Oren said. “You can go back to your palace, go back to your husband and your kingdom, but leave Loki here with me. You don’t want or need him. He’s useless. He’s trash. ”
“No,” I said, meeting Oren’s eyes. “He goes with me. If you want the deal, if you want me and my kingdom as soon as I become Queen, then he goes with me now. Or the deal is off. ”
“He means that much to you?” Oren asked. He walked up to me, stopping in front of me so close I could feel his breath on my face. “Even knowing how he’s betrayed you, you still want him back?”
“I promised I would take him back with me, and I will,” I answered deliberately.
“You keep your promises,” Oren said. “Good. Because if you don’t keep this one, if you don’t give me your kingdom as soon as you are Queen, Loki will be the first one I kill. I will do it right in front of you. Do you understand me?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Good,” he smiled. “Then we have a deal. All of Trylle will be mine. ”
“And until then, you won’t lay a hand on any of the Trylle people or towns,” I said. “You will leave us all in peace. ”
“Agreed,” Oren said and held out his hand.
I shook it and I couldn’t help but feel like I’d made a deal with the devil.
Sara walked us to the door, and I didn’t say anything the entire way. She said very little, but at the door she told us both to be careful. She hugged Loki, and it looked like she wanted to hug me, but I wouldn’t have let her.
Loki and I went out to the car, and I refused to even look at him. When we got in the car, I stared out the window, and he started in.
“Wendy, when I agreed to it, it was before I knew you,” Loki said.
“I don’t want to talk about it. ”
“Wendy. ”
“Just drive,” I snapped.
He sighed but said nothing more, and the car pulled away from the Vittra palace.
I should’ve felt more relief. I’d gone to talk to Oren, and I’d gotten what I wanted. Oren hadn’t killed either of us, which had actually been a very real possibility, and I’d bought more time for my people.
I didn’t even realize how much I’d cared about Loki until I found out it had all been a lie. Loki had just been following orders, and in a weird way I didn’t blame him for that. But I still felt like a foolish idiot, and I don’t know why he’d continued to play games with me even after he’d left the Vittra.
What hurt the most is that I had been tempted. The night that Loki had come for me in the garden, I had been tempted to run off with him. I even felt bad for turning him down. I’d been afraid that I’d hurt his feelings.
But it had all been a lie.
I kept twisting my wedding ring and refusing to cry. I suppose this is what I deserved for cheating on my fiancé, for wanting to cheat on my husband. Regardless of what kind of marriage Tove and I had, that didn’t justify whatever I had been feeling for Loki.