Since she was staying with Tove, I took her room. The four-poster bed sat in the corner, draped with red curtains and sheets.

One of the wals was very crooked, practicaly leaning on top of the bed, and it made the room feel even smaler.

“Are you going to be alright now?” Loki asked. He’d walked me over here, and he waited just inside the doorway.

“Yeah, I’m great,” I lied and sat down on the bed. “The entire kingdom is faling apart. People are dying. I have to kil my father.

And my husband just went crazy.”

“Princess, none of that’s your fault.”

“Wel, it feels like it’s al my fault,” I said, and a tear slid down my cheek. “I only make everything worse.”

“That’s not true at al.” Loki walked over and sat on the bed next to me. “Princess, don’t cry.”

“I’m not,” I lied. I wiped at my eyes and looked over at him.

“Why are you even being nice to me?”

“Why wouldn’t I be nice to you?” he asked, looking confused.

“Because.” I pointed to the scars covering his back. “That’s because of me.”

“No, it isn’t,” Loki shook his head. “That’s because the King is evil.”

“But if I had gone with him in the first place, none of this would’ve happened,” I said. “None of these people would’ve died.

Even Tove would be better.”

“And you would be dead,” Loki said. “The King would stil hate the Tryle, maybe even more so if he blamed them for brainwashing you. He would eventualy attack them.”

“Maybe.” I shrugged. “Maybe not.”

“Stop.” He put his arm around me, and it felt safe and warm.

“Not everything is your fault, and you can’t fix everything. You’re only one person.”

“It never feels like enough.” I swalowed and looked up at him.

“Nothing I do is ever enough.”

“Oh, believe me, you do more than enough.” He smiled and brushed a hair back from my face. His fawn eyes met mine, and I felt a familiar yearning inside of me, one that got stronger every time I was with him.

“Why did you want me to remember?” I asked.

“Remember what?”

“When we were in your room, you said you wanted me to remember that I wanted you to kiss me.”

“So you admit you wanted me to kiss you?” Loki smirked.

“Loki.”

“We were about to go see the King, and I didn’t know what would happen,” Loki said. “I thought he might tel you the truth about how I was sent to seduce you, and you would hate me for that. But if you remembered that you’d wanted me to kiss you, maybe you wouldn’t hate me quite as long.”

“You knew that the King would expose you, and you took me anyway?” I asked.

“I couldn’t let go you alone.”