AUTHOR'S NOTE: Proofread is finally done! Sorry if you had read the chapter already but I needed to post it again. I have expanded it a bit at the end too. I felt the original draft was not really to my liking.

Born to be a King

Chapter 12

The Inkeri village was lost in celebration, thousands of years of waiting and hoping had finally born fruit. The Promised One had arrived, and the Promised One was finally going to bring peace to the realms. Warriors posted at the village gates kept the people at bay, hundreds of over-excited citizens who wished to set eyes on The Promised One. But Stingadr's orders had been direct; none was to go near him. One, a young woman had managed to sneak through and had returned shaken with fear, but refused to say anything when chastised and questioned by the leader.

Was Oknskephe, The Promised One, really that fearsome and powerful?

As music played, people danced, feasts were enjoyed and the night raged on, two individuals snaked their way through the city to the biggest dwelling in the center. Having Loki placed the same spell of invisibility on both he and Barbara, they were unseen as they inched in on Stingadr's abode where his spear and Barbara's swords were being kept. His stables sheltered Svartur and Twilight. They soon reached a small plaza in front of the large home, where they crouched down behind the edge of a large fountain and watched the comings and goings of town folk partaking in the festivities.

"I hate having to disturb my own celebration" Loki jested, watching people lost in merriment.

Barbara chuckled. "So what's the plan?"

"Our weapons are kept in an underground chamber. We walk in, take them, walk out. They won't even notice we're gone before the sun rises"

"Just like that?"

"Just like that, but I'm afraid we must leave the horses" he instructed.

She nodded in agreement but saddened at having to part ways with her beloved steed. Together, they stood and made their way to the entrance, maneuvering around people to avoid bumping into anyone, thus blowing their cover. Like stealth cats, they entered and looked at the spacious and rather comfortable dwellings of the Inkeri.

"So much for being a jungle-dwelling primitive tribe" Barbara quipped upon seeing the luxurious interior. Magic was everywhere, from the suspended chandeliers that illuminated the place, to the golden doors that suddenly vanished when approached from either side. Staircases that were not there suddenly appeared when anyone stepped on the landing to the floors above. Symbols and statues of past ancestors lined the halls and columns of beautiful marble adorned with gold supported the structure.

"This way" Loki said, leading them to a landing that opened up to a staircase that led below.

The winding stairs snaked through a tunnel that was dimly lit, and upon reaching the underground chamber, they entered Stingadr's weapons vault. All manner of both blade and power weapons lined the walls and on a table in the middle, resting on two golden stands, were Loki's spear and Barbara's swords.

"Hmm" Loki mused, noticing the sensors built into the stands. The moment they took them, alarms would sound and they would be surrounded by Inkeri in no time.

"What now?" Barbara asked.

"Plan B. We take the horses" he replied, moving to the table.

They stopped in front of the table, then looked at each other. They nodded and together, reached out and grabbed their weapons. Immediately, alarms began blaring throughout the house. Footsteps and shouts began to be heard.

Barbara pressed herself against Loki, he threw his arms around her and they vanished just as a horde of Inkeri warriors descended the stairs. They entered to find an empty chamber, void of both intruders and their weapons kept within. Then they rushed back to the main floors upon hearing shouts from above.

"Haalalom veserikk icci!" They're escaping!

The gates to Stingadr's stables exploded and Loki and Barbara burst through, riding Svartur and Twilight. Citizens gasped and screamed, running out of the way as they whizzed through the village. Warriors raced after them, their weapons aimed and ready, but halted in their steps when Loki and Barbara suddenly stopped at the entrance to the village.

Loki laughed, seeing Stingadr break through the crowd and look at him stupefied.

"People of the Inkeir tribe: I understand that my arrival gives cause to merriment and celebration, and by all means, carry on in my absence. Alas, glorious purpose and a pressing obligation to reach my destination force me to depart but I promise you that these festivities will be greatly increased in both scale and enjoyment once I am your king"

Barbara shouted the message in their language, and the crowd erupted in cheer. Stingadr stared at Loki and shook his head in disbelief, but the smallest trace of a smile pulled at the corner of his lips. Loki touched his fingers to his temple and gave Stingadr a salute before turning and galloping into the jungle, Barbara in tow. The warriors moved to go after them, but Stingadr stopped them.

A commander approached and whispered in perfectly spoken Aesir: "But sire, he knows not what awaits him. He might cause..."

"Let him go" Stingadr cut him off "alert the king that he makes for the capitol. Prepare our mounts, we leave for Dwyvendale at once. We must get to the king before he reaches the city"

Morning dawned under a huge deluge. The skies had clouded over and torrential rains poured over the realm. The two travelers now made their way on foot as they crossed the last stretch of jungle. Finally, they reached a road. Even better, they heard the sound of thundering hooves in the distance: A search party that had undoubtedly been sent out to capture them. Loki looked at Barbara and motioned toward Svartur and Twilight. It was time to put their plan into action.

Loki remained hidden in the thick vegetation close to the road, listening for the soldiers who were getting closer and closer. When Barbara returned after hiding the horses, they both disappeared. The small battalion of soldiers rode past, then the one at the fore stopped and placed his arm aloft. Something was off. He peered into the jungle though the rain made it hard to see. His vision caught only a pair of lemurs clinging to the trunk of a tree, staring right at them. One twitched his tail as if overly excited, the other had unusual, bright, burning golden eyes...

Suddenly, all soldiers fell off their horses and were slammed forcefully against the ground, over and over until they were all unconscious. From a tree, Loki and Barbara jumped down. Loki slipped on the mud and fell on his back, and Barbara landed on him.

"Aow!" he groaned in pain, then burst into laughter. Barbara lay splayed across him, laughing along.

"Now tell me that wasn't fun" he joked.

"That it was" she chuckled "I thought you were rather cute as a lemur"

"Don't get any strange ideas now" he goaded, causing her to erupt into a fit of giggles.

Quickly, they rose and moved toward the fallen soldiers. They stripped two horses of their mounts, then Loki took a good look at the soldiers and with a wave of his hand, both he and Barbara were now disguised as them. They replaced the mounts on their horses and rode off on the road.

The rain had finally ceased and the suns broke through when two lone scouts emerged from the jungle and reached a narrow but deep gorge that separated the jungle from the wide open plain where the majestic capitol city sat. The shining city of Dwyvendale rose proudly toward the heavens, made entirely of crystal rock. Behind the city rose a colossal mountain from which the biggest waterfall they had ever seen spewed forth. Rivers ran through the city and filled the gorge around it turning it into a raging river that broke into wide streams that fed the jungle around. Bridges also made entirely of crystal connected the city to the rest of the realm. Loki and Barbara were amazed at the sight, overwhelmed by the sheer splendor of it all.

"Ragnar was not exaggerating..." Barbara finally spoke.

"A city whose majesty rivals that of Asgard" Loki echoed Ragnar's words "and ripe for the taking"

"Well then, in that case, shall we, my king?" she quipped.

"After you, my queen" he winked.

They crossed one of the bridges towards the city. Entering through the gate, they rode straight for the palace in the center. It rose higher than the rest of the buildings in the city, supported by gigantic foundations. Upon seeing the two soldiers, guards let them pass. Dismounting, Barbara immediately spoke in the language of the Inkeri and asked to see the king, saying they had been attacked by the two infiltrators, and that only they had survived. They were instantly let through, and told that the king was waiting for news in the throne room.

Once inside, they walked down the massive hall. The light of the suns came through in perpendicular directions, turning the glass walls and columns into giant prisms, and the halls were filled with multicolored rainbow lights. Upon closer inspection, Barbara was stunned to find that the rainbow effect of the crystal came not only from the sunlight, but from the crystal themselves. The rock was rich with magical power, and the soft humming of the energy that reverberated from within echoed in the hall. As he looked about him, one thought came to Loki's mind: Was this the same crystal from which the Rainbow Bridge was built?

Guards paid them no mind as they made their way to the massive doors carved out of two massive green marble slabs. As they neared them, they opened, and they entered the throne room...

They stopped in their tracks the moment they set foot within.

The magic that disguised them faded away, and they now stood as they were. There, on a throne made out of solid gold and flanked by the gigantic statues of a wolf and a serpent, sat the king. Old and ancient, dressed in white robes and with long white hair cascading down his back, his presence was awe-inspiring. Next to him stood the most beautiful woman Barbara had ever seen; with pale skin, piercing blue-green eyes and midnight black hair that fell in tumbling waves of obsidian silk. And there, standing on the steps to the throne... was Stingadr.

Whatever grand introduction or deceitful preamble Loki had concocted in his mind suddenly failed him. Instead, he walked slowly to the bottom step of the dais and with all the reverence of a prince acknowledging a great king, fell to one knee. Barbara followed suit and fell to her knees next to him. Loki kept his head lowered, finally looking up when Stingadr spoke.

"His All-Supreme Lord, King Beyard, Ruler of the Five Kingdoms of Verdandi, welcomes you to his capital city of Dwyvendale" he spoke in perfect Aesir. Barbara's eyes went wide upon hearing him speak their language, Loki simply looked at him with a knowing smile. He had sensed his charade from the beginning.

The king stood. The woman followed him as he slowly made his way down the steps. Loki braved to look at King Beyard, and his smile vanished. There was something odd about the old man who was approaching him. Something unsettling. Then as he became closer, he realized what it was: In his eyes he saw wonder and aspiration, and the old king looked at him in a way that was all too familiar to Loki...

The same way that Odin always looked at him.

"Stand" the king ordered and signaled with his hand. Loki and Barbara stood, but the king had only eyes for one of the two. His eyes were fixed on Loki, and Loki felt transfixed by his piercing gaze. Loki's features were perfectly schooled, and his face betrayed not the raging emotions that suddenly began to storm within him. Then, much to Loki's astonishment, King Beyard reached out and touched his cheek. He sighed, as if finally releasing centuries, maybe even millennia, of hoping and longing...

"We have waited a long time for this day, Prince Loki of Asgard" he spoke. His soft voice resonated in the throne room, like the thundering voice of the heavens.

"How so?" Loki's voice was but a harsh whisper.

"Why, do you not know? Is that not why you are here?" the old king leaned heavily on his staff as he studied Loki closely with the loving gaze of a father setting eyes upon his long-lost son for the first time.

"And why am I here?" Loki rasped, fighting against the tightness in his chest and the tears that suddenly stung his eyes. His entire body shook yet it was only barely evident in the slight trembling of his hands, which he kept fisted at his sides. His mind raged; why did he suddenly feel so inadequate, so little, so meager, so insignificant in the presence of this stranger that spoke to him as if he had known him all his life?

The king's next words chilled Loki to the bone in a way he had never felt before.

"Did Odin, your father, never tell you? Oracles spoke of your birth ages before you were begotten. Kings gazed upon you with hope when you were but an infant. I held you once in my arms, and I praised the universe for finally letting my old eyes see you... Oknskephe..."

A single tear escaped, shimmering and sparkling, from the king's eye.

"...The Promised One"

End of Chapter 12

Responses to reviews:

CLTex: Thank you hunni! The big, huge reveal of Loki's truth will come in the next chapter. Thank you so much for your love and support! Muah! :)

Guest: Thank you so much! :)

DoctorLokiLove: Hahaha, I know what you mean. Barbara is no longer the sweet, innocent, naïve lamb of Game of Shadows. She is truly now Loki's equal, and just like him, she has flaws that are deeply rooted. My main goal as her creator is not to make her perfect, and judging by your comments, it seems that I've succeeded. Considering the fact that Loki pretended to be screwing Karnilla in the last story, it would not seem far-fetched for Barbara to react the way she did when any type of female so much as looks at Loki. It's a curse she'll have to live with for as long as she lives, and judging by her personality, she may not always react in the same way. But anyway, I'm very happy to hear the good news on your scholarship. I wish you the best of luck in this new semester. And also good luck as you finally move on from that guy, from what you've told me you guys have been going back and forth for a very long time. Such relationships never go anyway, I know, I was stuck in a vicious cycle with a guy for SEVEN YEARS. It takes time to finally find yourself again and move on with your life, but it will happen, and you'll be a better person for it. To answer your questions, no I'm not seeing anyone at the moment, I'm single and have no time to mingle due to work and... gasp... school! Yes, I decided to enroll and soon I will begin classes to further my teaching credentials and my degree in Child Development. Thanks for your review as always 'Becca and I hope you're doing great!

Jjocasta: Oh my goodness, that was such an awesome read! Don't ever feel bad about putting your thoughts out there, I love reading reviews like yours! They're like every writer's dream! Thank you so, so much for your comments. A movie based on the series? Oh shucks! It looks though as if the MCU is going for the Amora angle, considering they already featured Lorelei (Amora's sister) in one of the episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I also really appreciate your thoughts on Barbara. She and Loki have very different personalities, and I really wanted to showcase a few of those differing character traits. You are absolutely correct, they both react differently and when they do act erratic and overreact, it is done very differently. Loki bottles things up and explodes in a rampage of vengeance and destruction, whereas Barbara just explodes immediately. She still has a lot to learn as both a character and as a person. I must say that I laughed my head off at your little story about your experience with Spanish class. I've had a similar experience too. I wanted to learn French in high school (you were correct there, secondary is high school) but I had a horrible teacher. I still do wish to learn French, but now I'll just lazy lol. Don't ever think that you're talking my head off, and now I will never hate you (except if you go back to anonymous creeping lol j/k ), so talk on as you please! ;)

Chloe741: Hi Chloe, it's been such a long time! How are you! Glad you found me again, and I can't wait to read what you think of this new story! Missed ya girlie! :)

Hell's-FunnyHome: Hello again! That was such an amazing review, and thank you once again for your sweet message on Tumblr. Yes, I did receive it and I replied to it! ;) Oh, I don't know about me being up there with professional writer, I'm just a fan who likes to imagine things lol. And you definitely grasped my purpose for writing the stories: When I set off to write Game of Shadows, yes, I did want to write a smut story, but I also wished to fill in one plot hole I found in The Avengers. I wanted plot just as much as erotica, if that even makes sense. I really wish I could say I thought of the last chapter of Born to be a King before I penned the first chapter of Game of Shadows, but alas, it isn't so. The stories pretty much wrote themselves as they progressed, with this one being no different. I do have a plot set in stone in which I am writing the story around, but the details and the most intricate parts of the plot come as the chapters are written. And yes, I do make my stories fit Loki. I try to keep him as close to the character that Tom Hiddleston created as much as possible. He has evolved, and I have taken great liberties with his character and borrowed from both comic and mythological source, but I always go back to the Loki that he created. I feel like I owe respect to Tom's Loki, and that I have no right changing him or molding him to MY liking. I'm not the one who created him, and therefore I need to respect him and keep him as wholesome as he is in the MCU. Thank you also for your comments on Barbara. Like I told another reader, my goal is not to make her out to be a perfect character. Just like Loki, she is damaged and imperfect, and that's what drives me to write her. And of course I had to make her a Latina, I needed to pay homage to our heritage! ;-) I hope to read more of your reviews in the future, please don't be a stranger. Once again, thank you so much for your review, and I hope you continue to enjoy what I have in store! :)

Hiddles-Skittles: It was you who gave me the wonderful idea for how the Inkeri should look, so of course I was going to depict them how you imagined them! Lol Thank you Di! Your favorite? Yay! You know, one of my friends says the same thing about The Avengers, and sometimes when we're watching it she would make comments like: "Isn't that the part in the story where Barbara...?" I don't know about Thor 2 though, since we have yet to pay homage to the events of that movie yet, and I can't wait to get to that part! Talk to you later, Di! ;)