Chapter Two

We made our way down the hallway toward Oren's throne room. I had already tried to memorize the twists and turns of the palace, but I had given up just a few minutes in, so it was very hard to get my bearings. I envied the ease with which Loki moved throughout the palace, a calm but expressionless look on his face.

I gripped handfuls of my gown, pulling the long hem off of the ground so that I wouldn't trip on it as we walked. Loki's legs were much longer than mine, so I had to fast walk to keep up with his pace. We hadn't spoken since the very intimate moment we shared in the bedroom and I was still reeling from it. He had actually kissed my neck. At first, I thought he had simply pressed his face into my neck, but when he had pulled away, I felt the light breeze from the tiny bit of saliva he left behind. Even thinking about it as we walked made me shiver and goosebumps rose again.

We stopped in front of the ornately carved throne room door, depicting fantasy scenes of fairies and nymphs. It was almost funny that Oren seemed to be such a cruel and horrible man, but the decor on his throne room door depicted a happy little scene. He probably used that as part of his trick, trying to make his people believe that he wasn't a cruel person.

Loki pushed open the heavy door and held it open for me. I ducked under his arm and stepped inside, my eyes locked on the man in the throne in the center of the room as I heard Loki step inside and close the door behind him. Oren stood, a large grin on his face, but it didn't reach his black eyes.

"Welcome, daughter," he greeted me. I nodded politely, even though the look he wore as his eyes raked over Loki and I made my skin crawl. Dread began to creep into my mind, tightening the pit of my stomach with a nauseating twist. "Please, Markis Staad and Princess Wendy, come in and make yourselves at home. We three have much to discuss."

Loki held out a hand to me politely, which I took mostly to steady myself so that I wouldn't trip in front of my extremely intimidating father. He lead me over to the dark wooden chairs that sat in front of Oren's huge throne. I was seated first and then Loki, both of us looking up at Oren for the reason we were summoned. To my surprise, Oren stepped off the platform his throne was displayed atop and walked toward us. The silence in the room made me feel like he could hear my pounding heart beat as he circled mine and Loki's chairs.

"You two are such an adorable match," Oren complimented, chuckling. "Hopefully that will make this news a bit easier to swallow." He walked back around us to stand in front, looking down at us with his shoulders back and his chin held high. "The Queen of the Trylle and I have reached an agreement for the safe return of the Princess, as well as the mänkslig and the human boy."

My heart soared. Oren was going to let us go! I couldn't believe that Elora had convinced him, though I knew there was some repercussion. I tried not to focus too much on that and let the relief engulf me for just a moment. It was shattered with Oren's next statement. "Our agreement is that the Princess of Förening will wed the Markis and honorary Prince of Ondarike, in an effort to unite our kingdoms. This is a feat that was not achieved by Elora and myself, but our hope is that you two will be able to unite and bring peace."

My blood ran cold. They wanted me to marry Loki Staad, a man I barely knew and who kind of scared me sometimes. I took a moment to look over at Loki, who looked just as bewildered as I did. His neck was flushed pink and he turned to look at me, his eyes widened slightly. The first time I had come into contact with this man, he had invaded my human home with two Vittra trackers. The trackers were exceptionally rough with me, since we had all met before, but Loki had scorned the female tracker for hurting me. Loki had the power to put someone to sleep with a well placed look in his emerald eyes, and I hadn't forgotten that fact. He had used his gift to put me into a sleep so that I wouldn't feel the awful pain that the tracker had inflicted on me - but also to make me easier to transport to this palace. Now they wanted me to marry the man who had kidnapped me.

"I know this comes as quite a shock to the both of you, but I assure you that your compliance will be the smartest decision of your lives. Both of you must consent to this peace treaty of sorts now, and upon your agreement, Loki is immediately required to return you and your … friends to Förening until further notice." Oren crossed his arms behind his back. "Now that is not the ending of this treaty. Princess Wendy will need to agree to visit Ondarike regularly and work closely with the Queen of Vittra and myself as our peoples begin to accept this transition."

I hesitated. This was an amazing deal, one that I wasn't sure I completely believed. I replayed Oren's offer over and over in my mind, searching for any sort of loophole that could devastate Förening or any of my family and friends. I found none and realized I had been silent for several moments. Even though Loki had used his powers to knock me out in order to kidnap me, he had also gotten Sarah, Queen of the Vittra, to heal my broken ribs and punctured lung when I had woken up in Ondarike's dungeon. He had stayed by my side for most of the time since I had been taken upstairs to stay in the bedroom that Oren said belonged to me. Underneath the orders given by Oren, Loki seemed to be gentle and trustworthy.

"I agree," I spoke softly. Oren grinned broadly, turning his attention to Loki. Loki agreed as well, his voice steadier than mine was. Oren clapped his large hands together, shouting in congratulations. I flinched discreetly.

"Loki, you may retrieve the keys to one of the cars in the garage. Princess, help yourself to any of the gowns or items in your bedroom, as they belong to you officially now. I will leave you both now to discuss and ready yourselves for travel. Ludlow will be waiting for you to retrieve the mänkslig and human boy." And he just turned and left the room, exiting through a second door behind his throne that led into a drafty hallway. So nonchalant, like he hadn't practically sold his daughter that he had never seen before a few days ago to a man who was ruled by him.

Loki stood up, holding his hand out to me. He still looked a bit surprised by our exchange with Oren, but he wore a confident smile to hide most of it. "Shall we, Princess? I keep luggage in my usual vehicle for long term travel. Do you need anything from your bedroom?" I shook my head and took his hand, standing up beside him. "Let's go see Ludlow then." We were finally leaving.

—

Matt and Rhys tried to storm the door when Ludlow opened it. Loki and I quickly stepped out of their way as they stumbled into the hallway and held their fists up, prepared to fight for their freedom. When they saw that it was just Loki and I, Rhys paused, but Matt was instantly furious.

"You better not have hurt her, you bastard," Matt growled. He was dusty from the dirt floor of the dungeon and looked very tired with blood shot eyes. A pang of guilt twisted my stomach and I chewed my bottom lip. Loki held up his hands in surrender and I stepped forward to hug Matt. He hugged me back, but I could tell by his stiff demeanor that he still didn't trust Loki enough to let his guard down.

"Elora made a deal with Oren, we can leave now. Loki is coming with us." I didn't have time to explain the entire situation and I was a little embarrassed about it. I was standing beside my now fiancee, a man I barely knew but was insanely interested in. "We need to leave now before Oren changes his mind."

"Wait, Wendy, what did you agree to?" Rhys asked, his eyes narrowed at Loki in suspicion. I grabbed his hand and Matt's, pulling both of them toward the stairs that would lead to our freedom. I just needed to get them out of the palace and then I would explain, my face hot with embarrassment and adrenaline.

"I don't have time to explain right now but I promise to tell you both in the car. Let's go." They followed me then, Loki pulling up the rear to make sure that no one followed us. We all quickly went through the palace's front door, Loki hissing directions to me from a few feet back. We turned toward Oren's gardens and travelled through a maze-like area of dying shrubs before stumbling upon the huge garage a few hundred yards from the palace.

Loki unlocked the garage's side door and we all filed inside the building, then loaded up into the large blacked out SUV that Loki unlocked with the key fob. I climbed into the passenger seat, Loki in the driver's seat, and Rhys and Matt in the back. I waited until Loki had opened the garage door with a remote and sped out onto the cobblestone driveway before I took a deep breath.

"Wendy, what did you promise Oren?" Rhys asked again after a few moments. We were safely inside of the vehicle, speeding away from the palace. I knew I had to tell them the truth. I turned around in my seat and looked at both of them.

"I don't want either of you to freak out. Elora and Oren must have communicated quietly over the last couple of days and came to an agreement. Loki and I will get married to unite the kingdoms, like Oren and Elora attempted before I was born." I watched their bewildered faces closely. I saw Loki shift in the driver's seat uncomfortably, both of his hands gripping the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles were white.

"Wendy, how could you agree to marry someone you don't even know? Someone who kidnapped you?" Matt was pissed, sneering at Loki in the rearview mirror. "And how do they think that's going to work? Their marriage didn't last, what's to say yours will? You're only eighteen years old, Wendy, that is way too young to get married."

"I know how upset you are, Matt, but I think this is the best course of action. It set us free, right? I'm sure that Elora poured over their agreement for hours before accepting. When we get back to the palace, I'm going to go over any written agreement between them with Elora to look for loopholes, just in case. As for me being too young," I sighed, realizing that my childhood had ended as soon as I met Finn Holmes what felt like a lifetime ago, "I'm a Princess now. I don't have much time to grow up."

Rhys spoke up then, his eyes wide, "Are you two happy to be getting married?" It was a good question, one I hadn't even considered asking Loki myself. I looked over at him then and when his eyes met mine, I felt something spark. There was no denying that I was attracted to him, as I had been attracted to Finn when I was around him often at the palace, but there was a different connection between Loki and I. There was a fire that burned wild and hot between us, that much was undeniable. It was stronger than the fire I had felt with Finn.

"Who wouldn't be happy to marry a gorgeous princess?" Loki said, smiling softly at me. I flushed and looked away, catching Matt's disproving glare and Rhys' frown. "Wendy is beautiful with a big heart and an attitude. I'm extremely lucky to have the chance to marry her."

I smiled at him, embarrassed that he was saying such nice and intimate things in front of my brother and the boy that my mother stole away to put me in his place. I turned around to sit properly in my seat and sighed through my nose, watching the scenery fly by the SUV as we approached eighty miles per hour on the highway. I knew it would be a few hours until we reached Förening and I was still exhausted, so I leaned my head against the window and closed my eyes. When we reentered Förening, I would be an engaged woman.