The last time Loki had been here, he’d been held captive. We don’t have a real prison, so Elora had used her telekinesis to hold him in place, but that had weakened her so much it nearly kiled her.

In fact, she hadn’t recovered from it yet, and there would be no way she could do it again.

Besides that, I didn’t think Loki was realy capable of causing trouble. Not in this state, at least. And he’d come to us of his own free wil. We didn’t need to hold him.

“We need a guard stationed outside his door at al times, just to be safe,” I said. “I don’t think he’s a threat, but I won’t take any chances with the Vittra.”

“I can stand watch now, but somebody wil have to relieve me of my post eventualy,” Thomas said.

“I can take over later,” Duncan offered.

“No.” Thomas shook his head. “You stay with the Princess.”

“Do you have any other guards you can trust?” I asked.

Most of the guards seemed to be gossips, and when one of them heard something, they al knew it. But there were very few guards around to tel anymore, since most of them were out protecting changelings.

“I know of one or two,” Thomas nodded.

“Good,” I said. “Make sure they know they cannot tel anybody about this. This al needs to stay quiet until I figure out what I’m going to do. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Thomas said. It always felt strange hearing people refer to me as Highness.

“Thank you,” I told him.

Tove arrived shortly after that with the mänks doctor. I waited outside the room while he examined Loki. He woke up for it, but offered very little explanation for his injuries. When he was done, the doctor concluded that Loki didn’t have any serious ailments, and he gave him medication for pain.

“Come on,” Tove said, after the doctor had gone. “He’s resting now. There’s nothing more you can do. Why don’t you go enjoy your party?”

“I’l let you know if there’s any change with him,” Thomas promised.

“Thank you,” I nodded, and walked down the hal with Tove and Duncan toward my room.

I hadn’t felt like having a party before Loki crashed the palace, and I felt even less like having one now. But I had to at least try to have fun so I didn’t hurt Wila or Matt’s feelings. I know they had gone to a lot of trouble for it, so I would play the part of the happy birthday girl for them.

“The doctor thinks he’l be okay,” Duncan said, responding to my solemn expression.

“I know,” I said.

“Why are you so worried about him anyway?” Duncan asked.