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 puled 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 wals 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 thriled 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 finaly.

“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 kil 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 wil make it work.”

“He wil never let you go,” Sara said as if to warn me.

“He wil,” 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.”

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 folow.

“So you finaly 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.