“No, my father kiled 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 realy care that my father had murdered someone,” he said. “But then I told the King why my father kiled her, about his plan to assassinate Sara.

“My father tried to make it back to the Tryle,” 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 kil 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 realy 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 Tryle 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 Tryle and Vittra.”

“Wel, for one thing, you’re the product of the most powerful Tryle and the most powerful Vittra,” Loki said. “I’m the product of a very powerful Vittra and a fairly weak Tryle. 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 physicaly that strong,” Loki said. “Don’t get me wrong, he is very strong, especialy by Tryle standards. But mostly he’s just… immortal.”

“Just immortal,” I said. “That’s good. That’l making kiling him so much easier.”

“We can turn back,” Loki offered again.

“No, we can’t.” I shook my head.