Ch. 10

In the throne room again, the queen looked breathtaking in a bejeweled pale blue gown that matched her eyes. She grinned wickedly as she saw Loki drag me into the room, fake blood dripping onto the white marble tile.

"So, I see that you have thoroughly enjoyed yourself last night," she said, clapping her hands and crowing with delight.

"Indeed, I have, my queen. I was worried that she would give out too quickly, but as you can see, she still draws breath."

"Well, not for long. Shall I do it or should you?"

"Please give me the honor, my queen." Loki bent over me and I was wrapped in purple ribbons of light coming from his fingertips. I writhed as though in pain and then lay still.

"As you can see, she is gone."

The queen descended from the throne and leaned over me. "Very good, very good. And if I were a normal fairy, I would believe it. However, I am queen. This is an obvious attempt at trickery. Guards, seize him."

All the guards in the room surrounded Loki, pointing long swords at him.

"My dear Loki, what a disappointment. And I would have made you my King. Not for long, mind you. I had intended to kill you on our wedding night. You see, the mother that you so desperately search for, she was a princess, Driede, from the only province still not under my control. By marrying you, I would have solidified my last claim to this realm."

"Why did Laufry take her?"

"Don't you know anything about your true father? This comes of not truly studying your enemy. Laufry was obsessed with royalty. He married into nearly every royal family in Jotunheim. He had a harem of wives. Even began raiding some on Midgard, kidnapping young princesses left and right. That's what's started the war with Odin. But even after his actions started a war, it was not enough for Laufry. So, one day, using the Ice Casket, he snuck into the fairy realm and stole a princess. Pity she didn't survive the birth. And, of course, the half breed was a runt left in the temple to die like a dog."

"There is something that I should tell, my dear queen." Loki grinned his million watt smile.

"And what is that, my half breed prince?" the queen spat out.

"Never gloat. You'll always regret it."

All of a sudden, a second Loki appeared behind the queen and placed both hands on either side of her head. "I take your power from you, usurper." He hissed.

The first Loki in the middle of the room, surrounded by guards, disappeared as they lunged forward with their swords.

The queen began screaming in pain and I could see the illusions being stripped away. First from the throne room. Although the basic physical layout was the same, all the tapestries, rich marble, and gold trimming faded away and became common wood. Next, the guards changed from huge, hulking nearly identical brutes to small, twisted Gollum type characters.

The last illusion to fade was that of the queen herself. Her beauty drained away and twisted. Her skin became gray and frail and she looked about eighty years old.

"Go, live out your days. You will possess no more magic. You will hurt no one else." Loki said almost gently.

The queen fell to the ground and was then ushered away by one of the guards.

"You let her live," I said as I stood up and Loki's "punishment" illusion melted away.

"Yes, she has no ability to hurt us now. Taking her life is unnecessary."

"No, I agree. It's just . . . I guess, I've been hanging around with vampires too long. They're the type to kill first and ask questions later."

"I see. Well, let's just say that I understand what it is to need mercy."

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Next, we traveled to Driede's province which was only about a day's walk. When we arrived, Loki identified himself as Driede's son and found the current royal family. Loki regaled them with stories of our cunning defeat of the evil queen, although he greatly exaggerated my part in it. He met a few of his cousins that still survived and talked over their plans to regain their kingdom. It turned out my great-grandfather had not been killed by the queen, but rather banished to another dimension. Loki's cousins promised to work on his release.

With the restriction of not eating or drinking anything from the fairy realm looming over our heads and the provisions that we brought running low, we had to leave after a day or so with many promises that we would return as soon as we could. Luckily, Loki's cousins were able to magically transport us directly back to our portal, saving us days of more endless walking.