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Chapter 5: The King of Asgard

Celestrial tried to keep up with the guard who was bringing her to the throne room. She had been summoned by the king. This made her happy knowing that Odin was awake and well. She still had some questions for him that were about to be answered. Making sure she was clean, and presentable, she made her way up the stairs ready to meet the All-Father. What she saw however, was not expected. There, sitting comfortably on the throne was Loki. He was in armor, complete with his horned helmet. Not knowing how to react, she simply bowed. "Ah, my lady. How do you fair?" "I am fine my prince. Although, I am here to see the king. He has sum..." "I am the king." She quickly looked up to meet his gaze. Surprised, she asked, "Is Odin alright?" "He is still in the Odinsleep. However, mother fears he may never awaken. So, with Thor gone, the throne has fallen to me." Honestly, she was shocked. How could the All-Father not wake up? It's just a deep sleep that helps renew his energy. Did this mean he could die? "I see the questions in your face, Celestrial. Let me start with why I sent for you. Come closer please."

She slowly raised from her bow, and came closer to her new king. "That is close enough," he stopped her, "now then. Over the past several weeks, I have tried and tried to get you to marry me. All you wanted was Thor. Is it true that all you really wanted, was power? Well, now you can have it. Be my queen, and rule Asgard with me. Receive the power of which you seek. Marry me.. and I shall lift Thor's banishment. I shan't make this offer again. I am growing weary of your games." Again, shock. So many emotions were running through her, but the main one being shock. "My pri...my king. I respect your offer, but I must decline. I do not know of why you think I only want power. I love Thor, and I believe he will come back to us in his own time. I have accepted that, but I cannot accept your offer of marriage. For when Thor triumphantly returns, he shall be the man that I marry."

His smile turned to an angry scowl. He stood before her, making her realize how much taller he was compared to her. He took her hand into his own, placed his staff on the throne, and bent down to kneel in front of her. Opening his hand, she saw the same ring he has tried to give her several times. Her memory flashed back to the last time he presented this ring to her.

His lips were cold, and the kiss was rough. He pulled away and smiled at her. This smile however, quickly faded when she slapped her hand across his face. Wide eyed, he looked down sadly to his hands. She followed his gaze and saw what it held. Clasped in his fingers was that same band of white gold he tried to give her the other day. He tried to propose to her again, she figured that's what the note was about. Filled with mixed emotions, she did the only thing she could think of. Run.

She felt like slapping him again, but thought quickly against it. "My king," she softly whispered, "if I were to marry you, I could not give you my heart. I do not love you. I will become an empty shell. Emotionless. Forced to be under your rule. And when you lift Thor's banishment, his heart would break, and I shall probably die. I am sorry Loki, but I just cannot marry you..." "Celestrial, I beg of you. Please, do this for your ow..." she tried to cut him off, but he abrubtly cut her off with a "No!" This startled her, for she had not seen this kind of anger in his eyes. "You will listen to me," he almost growled, "I will do anything for you. I would destroy Jotunheim. I would kill everybody and everything in the nine realms. I would jump into an abyss of nothingness for all eternity for you. My father may not awaken, and I have become burdened with Asgards' rule. I miss my brother, maybe even more than you, but I won't become an 'empty shell' because of it." "Loki..." she shakily muttered, "You're frightening me. I just wan..." "Celestrial, I will have you one way or another! And let it be known, that if I can't have you, nobody will!" He finished with a huff and ordered a guard to take her away.

As soon as she was placed back into her room, Celestrial climbed off her balcony, and ran to her parents' house. "Mom? Dad?" She called out, but nobody responded. Looking around the entire house, she noticed something wasn't right. The fireplace was piled with ash. All of the beds were messy, and the drawers empty. She noticed a note on the kitchen table. She quickly ran over to pick it up.

Dear Cellie,

I am sorry if you are reading this letter. That means we have yet to return from our trip. We decided to travel to your grandparents house. They haven't seen the girls in a while, and I knew that you were probably busy living in the palace. We will return within a few months. I love you Celestrial, take care.

Sincerely,

Jacob

P.S. The honeysuckle is still sweet. Remember the ones by the old marble bench?

Something was definitely wrong. Her father never called her 'Cellie', she has no living grandparents, and he never ended his letter with his name. He always wrote 'Daddy', and the note about the honeysuckle.. It was a code for something, but what? She quickly took off back to the palace with the note tucked into her small waist bag. She was going to talk to Sif and the warriors three about this. She figured that if anybody saw her family leave, they would have seen it.

It was nightfall before she caught sight of the people she was looking for. And she only found one of them. "Volstagg," she called out helplessly, "have you seen my family?" "Why of course my lady. I saw them leave in a hurry this morning. They looked rather worried if you ask me." "Can you tell me in which direction they left?" "Oh, I'm sorry my lady," he replied sadly, "I had to hurry off. Why? Is something wrong?" He seemed worried about Celestrial. "I'm not sure. I must find Loki. I think he has something to do with this." As she hurried off, Volstagg called out to her, "Just be careful my lady. And let me know if you find out anything."

"Thank you," she called out over her shoulder. She headed towards her own bedchambers to take off her necklace. For the first time ever, it started to hurt to wear it. She figured it was just a loose chain and decided to look at it later. Right now, she had to deal with a certain God of Mischief. Slowly opening her door and looking around, she quietly exited her room and made her way to the throne room.

Halfway into the hallway, barely even outside her door, she saw Loki walking right to her. "My king, I was about to..." "Quiet. Return to your chambers. I shall come with you. We need to talk." He said this with anger in his voice. She quickly went back into her room. Thinking she was in trouble for leaving the room in the first place, she started to apologize, "Loki, please forgi.." He cut her off with a kiss. She stood there, upset, as he turned around and closed the door. Walking towards her small table area, she heard the lock of the door click. She spun around to see Loki with a mean scowl on his face. He slowly walked towards her with determination in his eyes. "Um, Loki, why did yo.." "Please. Just listen to me. This will be my-final-offer." He quickly used his body to press her up against the wall, his eyes staring down into hers. "You, will marry me. Thor gets to come back home. Then, he will watch as we rule Asgard, with my sons playing at the feet of my throne." Her eyes widened at that. "Yes. You will give me children. That is your duty as my wife."

"Loki, I refu.." He cut her off by kissing her even harder this time. "Marry me, and I will spare you." Frightened by this, she stuttered out, "Wha-what d-do you m-mean, s-s-spare me?" He backed away a little, and gave her room to breathe again. Eyes locked onto hers, he made his way to the table and sat in one of the chairs. He blatantly stated, "It would be a shame if your drink were to be poisoined." She gasped. It finally hit her, what he's been saying this whole time. If he couldn't have her, nobody would. He was going to kill her if she didn't marry him. Has he really changed in this way? Just a month ago, he couldn't bear to see her heart break. Now, he was ready to watch it stop. This frightened her more than anything. If she married him, Thor could come home. But, she would not able to be with him which is the only reason she would want him back. If she doesn't marry him, he will kill her. Either way, Thor ends up being hurt. How could she do this? How could she be forced to choose between two terrible choices?