“Sometimes he’d hit me.” Loki kept his eyes on me, letting me trace my fingers on his scars. “Or he’d kick me. But usualy, he used a cat.”

“You mean like a living cat?” I gave him an odd expression, and he smiled.

“No, it’s actualy caled a cat o’ nine tails,” he said. “It’s like a whip, but instead of one tail, it has nine. It inflicts more damage than a regular whip.”

“Loki!” I dropped my hand, totaly appaled. “He would do that to you? Why didn’t you leave? Did you fight back?”

“Fighting back wouldn’t do any good, and I left as soon as I was able,” Loki said. “That’s why I’m here now.”

“He held you prisoner?” I asked.

“I was locked up in the dungeon.” He shifted and turned away from me. “Princess, I’m glad to see you, but I’d realy rather not talk about this anymore.”

“You want me to grant you amnesty,” I said. “I need to know why.”

“Why?” Loki laughed darkly. “Why do you think, Princess?”

“I don’t know!”

“Because of you.” He looked back at me, a strange, crooked smile on his face. “I didn’t bring you back.”

“But…” I furrowed my brow. “You asked to go back to the Vittra. We bartered with the King so he could have you.”

“Yes, wel, he stil thought you would come around.” He ran a hand through his hair and sat up straighter. “And you didn’t. It was my fault for letting you go in the first place, and then for not bringing you back.” He bit his lip and shook his head. “He’s determined to get you, Princess.”

“So he tortured you?” I asked quietly, and I tried to keep the tremor from my voice. “Over me?”

“Princess,” Loki sighed and moved closer to me. Gently, almost cautiously, he put his arm around me. “What happened isn’t your fault.”

“Maybe. But maybe this wouldn’t have happened if I’d run away with you.”

“You stil can.”

“No, I can’t.” I shook my head. “I have so much I need to do here. I can’t just leave it al behind. But you can stay here. I wil grant you amnesty.”

“Mmm, I knew it.” He smiled. “You’d miss me too much if I left.”

“Hardly,” I laughed.

“Hardly?” Loki smirked.

He’d lowered his arm around me, so his hand was on my waist.

Loki was right next to me, his muscles pressed against me. I knew that I should move away, that I had no justifiable reason to be this close to him, but I didn’t move.

“Would you?” Loki asked, his voice low.

“Would I what?”

“Would you run away with me, if you didn’t have al the responsibilities and the palace and al that?”

“I don’t know,” I said.

“I think you would.”