While they continued with the seemingly endless procession of well-wishers, Tove found his eyes searching the crowd for Bain. Though he never found him again, it did solidify Tove’s commitment to his marriage with Wendy.
It was another selfish reason, one that made him feel guiltier, like he was tricking her into this somehow. But the only way that Tove could ensure that real social change would be made to the Trylle—namely, who they were allowed to fall in love with—would be if he was in a position of power. He had to be King.
3. Loki
Saturday, October 28
The light above him flickered, and Loki glared up at it as he paced his cell. He loathed the dungeon, but not for the reasons Oren wanted him to. It just always seemed too over-the-top, with its dank bricks and dirty floors and hobgoblins at the doors. It was too predictable to be horrifying.
Not only that, the structure wasn’t even very strong. Loki’d been chained to the wall, and while Oren had been smart enough to use heavy metal for the chains and cuffs around his hands, Loki had easily been able to yank them from the concrete. Now he walked around, dragging a chunk of brick behind him, but he could move freely.
The slats on the front door clicked as they slid open, and Loki groaned.
“If you’re going to spend this much time with me, sire, you ought to set me up in the marital suite next to yours,” Loki said as the door began to open. “It’ll save you the trouble of walking all the way down here.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but it’s only me,” Sara said, and she came inside the cell.
Loki stopped pacing and glanced over at her. He hadn’t thought she would visit. She’d sworn to wash her hands of him if he failed in his mission, and he had. Since he’d returned to Ondarike, she hadn’t even spoken to him.
Now she came into the dungeon, carrying a tray with a few scraps of food and a cup of water. He eyed her, only to check for bruises or marks, but when he didn’t see any, he looked away.
“What do you want?” Loki asked.
“That’s no way to speak to your Queen,” Sara said.
She shut the door behind her when she came in, noticing the door was dented in quite severely, probably from Loki’s attempts at escape. He would say he cared nothing for his life, but he wouldn’t fight so hard if he didn’t want to get away.
“You’re right.” Loki gave her a sardonic smile. “Why don’t you throw me down in the dungeon? That ought to teach me a lesson. Oh, wait…”
“You know I didn’t want you down here,” Sara said. “I never wanted to see you like this.”
“No?” He shook his head. “You didn’t stop him from putting me here.”
“What was I supposed to do, Loki?” Sara stepped toward him, pleading with him. “You failed him, and you know it.”
Loki said nothing to that. He merely stared at the ground, his jaw tense. His shirt was gone, and Sara could see the fresh lashes he had across his back. So far, he only had a few—bright red lines cut across his flesh.
But the King was only just beginning. He’d been known to drag out his punishments for months, sometimes even years, torturing his victims over and over again.
“I brought you food,” Sara said quietly and held out the tray toward him.
He stared derisively at it, and for a second Sara was afraid he would smack it out of her hands. Instead, he reached over and picked up the glass of water, his chain clanking against the metal tray.
Before taking a drink, he muttered, “Thank you.” He gulped it down quickly, then set the cup back on the tray.
“Don’t you want the food?” Sara asked, and he shook his head. “You should eat. You’ll need your strength.”
“It’s better if I don’t have my strength.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Death will come quicker then.”
“Don’t say that.” She pursed her lips. “You don’t mean that.”
“I don’t mean that?” Loki laughed darkly. “Of course I do! Oren is going to torture me until I finally die, so yes, I wish for a fast death. That’s the only sane thing to do.”
“He might not.” Sara couldn’t even look Loki in the eyes when she said it.
“Yes, he might not,” Loki agreed with false cheer. “I might be lucky enough to be immortal like Oren, so I can spend all eternity in this dungeon. Wouldn’t that be grand?”
“Why couldn’t you just bring her back?” Sara spat, surprised by the intensity in her voice. She was still staring down at the floor, but when she lifted her head, there were tears in her dark eyes. “If you’d just brought the Princess back, you wouldn’t be here.”
He met her eyes for a moment, then shook his head and looked away. “I couldn’t do that to her.”
“If you care for her, then you should’ve done it,” Sara went on. “He would’ve had you marry her. You could’ve lived forever with her, ruling this kingdom.”
“First of all, you know as well as I that the King will never give up his rule,” Loki disagreed with her. “He just wants her because she’s a shiny new toy that the Trylle have. He’ll never let her take over for him.”