A/N: As you can already can, I've decided to try and make something of this. There should (and I use the word 'should' very lightly) be four chapters after this one. My apologies for another long wait, we had exams this week. But we're on break now, thank God. Please keep the reviews coming...I really do enjoy them. -JC

It's my own desire

It's my own remorse

-Lorde, Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Chapter 10- Luna

I woke with the strange feeling I'd been asleep a long time. My dreams had been no less odd- the last thing I could remember was a single Frost Giant, smaller than the rest, standing over me, and the sharp sensation of searing heat across my flesh. I shuddered at the memory, and the sudden movement told me it wasn't just a product of my imagination. Burns that looked to be at least third-degree ran up and down my arms, my shoulders, the backs of my knees.

I spared a moment to take in my unfamiliar surroundings. I was lying in an over-large bed, with an intricately carved wooden headboard and canopy. The sheets felt like silk under my fingers. Twilight filtered in lazily through the long, narrow windows that decorated an entire wall. The view through them told me everything I needed to know. My mind rejected the sights immediately, unable to believe that I actually was inside the palace of Asgard. It didn't seem possible, and yet…here I was.

I glanced down at my extremely out-of-place, dirt-covered clothes, and a flash of color caught the corner of my eye. I turned my head to see Loki's cape lying on a table off to the side of the room, neatly folded, with patches of frost still clinging to the fabric.

Suddenly the door swung open, and Frigga stepped into, smiling thinly at me. I had only seen her in passing at Loki's trial, but on closer inspection I could tell that she must have been beautiful, before age and stress, no doubt from her husband and sons almost getting themselves killed numerous times, caught up to her. She sat down on the end of my bed, smoothing the covers down absentmindedly even as her eyes met mine, as if she was trying to distract herself- from what, I could only guess. "So, you're finally awake. How do you feel?"

"Fine, I suppose." The burns didn't hurt as much as they should have, and I suspected magic was involved one way or another. "Your home is lovely," I offered feebly, but she ignored me.

Frigga let a heavy sigh. "You've got a lot of explaining to do, I'm afraid. Odin isn't known for his patience. Trust me, Miss Haunting, it would be very intelligent of you to just tell me how you got here and why…" She paused, flicking a glance over her shoulder at Loki's cape. "Why you possess something belonging to my son."

I swallowed. "What's my other option?"

She paled. "You'd be better off not knowing."

I had already made up my mind. "In that case…anything else you'd like to know?"

"Loki's whereabouts and your relationship with him." She answered quickly, her words blurring together slightly.

I took a deep breath. "I know you'd rather I take the easy way, but even if I could answer most of your questions, I wouldn't." I resisted the strong impulse to take it back, but there was no way that I would willing give Loki up in any way, especially not to the monster that had raised him.

Frigga's response was bitter. "If you are positive that's what you want." I nodded, feeling sick. Her expression was deathly grim as she made her exit, locking the door behind her.

I was so screwed, and didn't I know it.

000

Loki

I forced the window glass out of its slot slowly, taking great pains not to break it. The second it was free, I slid inside the palace bedroom, throwing off my guard disguise carelessly. It was reckless, I knew, but I was tired, and the illusion was draining. Besides, I wanted my face to be the last thing he saw. I was well aware it was overly melodramatic, as was this whole business- every last bit of it.

The room was dark except for a fire burning low in the hearth, its dim light illuminating the face of the woman lying on the bed, her breathing deep. Only three days had passed since I had rescued her from Jotunheim, though it felt much longer. I'd had to become what was both my true form and the part about me I hated the most. Getting her out hadn't been easy, especially due to the fact I burned every living thing I touched that wasn't another Frost Giant. Somehow, however, I'd managed it.

Looking at her now, I realized it was going to be that much harder carrying out my plan. If I succeeded, I wouldn't be seeing her for a long time. I would to spend a good while in hiding- I couldn't delude myself in thinking I would not be an instant suspect, even if I was able to escape from here unnoticed, which would be nearly impossible. And if I failed…well, that was a different story entirely. By the time Luna got wind of what had happened, I would be halfway to Hel.

My gaze moved to the dirty blanket she was clutching onto, as if her life depended on it. I pulled it gently from her grip, its green color telling me everything I needed to know. How childish Luna could be, when it came to hanging unto to the last piece of me she had. Irrational rage built up inside me yet again, threatening my concentration, as I realized that one glance at my cape would instantly make him suspicious of Luna, and I shuddered to think what his simple suspicion could lead to and had led to before. Of course, when I was finished with him, he would not even have a chance to act on that suspicion.

Then again, it was partly my fault. I had left the cape with her, after all. But it was evidence against me, and I was going to have to get rid of it, whether Luna wanted me to or not. I ripped it in a hundred shreds, the fabric tearing easily under my fingers. One by one, I tossed the fragments in the fireplace. I watched with satisfaction as the flames attacked them hungrily. When I got down to just one strip, though, I hesitated before tucking it into Luna's pocket. Maybe she wouldn't forget me quite as quickly, the way mortals always did, if she had something to remind her.

I, on the other hand, would be wishing I had never met her. Thousands of years wouldn't change anything, except maybe my level of sanity. I would go right on missing her as if time had ceased to exist.

I shook my head to clear it. It was time to focus on the task I had come to do. I fingered the dagger in my pocket as I stepped out into the massive hall, heading for my father's chamber, welcoming the surrounding darkness I had long since been acquainted with.

I never even made it to his door.