Love & Mischief

Chapter 19

After lunch, Annabelle decided to go to the library. She took her book and sat in her favorite chair by the fireplace.

Surprisingly, today was a pretty good day. She was expecting to be a nervous wreck until they got back but, thanks to the Allfather, she had enjoyed herself.

After sitting in the library for who knows how long, she heard the large doors open. It was one of the guards. He walked toward her and bowed. Annabelle then stood from her chair and transported her book to her chambers.

"Princess," he said, "Prince Thor has returned."

"Thank you," she said and made her way towards the throne room.

As she descended the stairs, she saw Thor approach the doors to the throne room. He then noticed Annabelle and then made his way over to her.

"You're back!" Annabelle said happily as she hugged him. "Where's Loki?"

Thor looked at her sadly. She instantly knew something was wrong. The longer he didn't say anything, the more she knew. Something was very wrong.

"Wha- what happened? Where is he?"

"I'm so sorry," he said and tears began to fall from her eyes. "He's gone."

"No..." she said crying, "no, no, no..."

Annabelle transported herself to her and Loki's chambers and collapsed on the bed.

"No... no, no, no... this can't be happening!" Her heart broke into a million pieces. The love of her life, her everything, was gone.

She cried into her pillow for what felt like an eternity. This pain was worse than anything she had ever felt. It was like someone ripped her heart out and crushed it.

Suddenly, she felt something by her hand. Annabelle lifted her head and saw a piece of paper beside her. She picked it up and read;

                                 No matter what happens, everything will be alright. I promise.

It was written in Loki's hand. Something so familiar. This only made her cry more. The fact that she would have to go on without him felt like a knife in her heart.

"My love, please don't cry."

"Loki?" Annabelle whispered and looked up to see him standing before her. "You're... you're alive?!" She stood up and walked over to him. He nods. "Is it really you?" She put her hand on his cheek.

"Yes, darling, it's me," he said with a smile and kissed her lovingly.

"H- how? W- what?" Annabelle was extremely confused. "Huh?"

Loki laughs a little at her reaction.

"You came back to me..." she said with a smile.

"Did you ever doubt I would?"

"Well, Thor's statement gave me pause..."

"Well here I am, and in one piece I might add," he said and took Annabelle to sit on their bed.

"What happened?" she asked.

"It's a long story..." he began.

"My favorite!"

"Well long, long ago, a young prince met a beautiful maiden and fell in love."

"Wrong story, my love," Annabelle commented with a smile.

"Let me continue..." Loki said with a grin.

"The two grew up happily together and eventually got married. The wedding was the biggest affair the Nine Realms had ever seen. It was absolutely, positively, perfect. On that day, they pledged themselves to each other for the rest of their lives.

"Eventually, it was time for a new king to be crowned. The happy couple had always dreamed of ruling side by side. But, the other prince was chosen for the throne instead. The two of them both knew that the prince wasn't ready and decided to prolong the coronation. In turn, the future king was banished and the couple learned something. The information made the prince think he was a monster, but his love convinced him otherwise. The two temporarily took the throne until the banished prince returned. Because of this, the couple was separated.

"Eventually, they were reunited but were soon taken from each other once more. After what felt like an eternity without the love of his life, the prince was freed and saw his wife once more. But, his brother was trying to separate them yet again and the prince could not allow that.

"So, he decided to take the guise of his father and stay with his wife as his illusion went with his brother. The prince was able to spend the day with his wife and he couldn't have been happier about it but, he couldn't tell her it was him or his plan would've been ruined. It killed him that he couldn't hold her close but he knew he would be able to soon.

"Eventually, his illusion had died and his brother thought it was true. His brother then returned and told his father what happened and surrendered the throne to his brother's wife, knowing she would be a wonderful Queen. Later that day, he told his wife the story and devised a plan to get everything they'd ever wanted. And eventually, they did. Then they lived happily ever after. The End."

"Wait a second," Annabelle said, trying to process all the information. "You were here the whole time?"

"Yes," he said with a sad smile, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I was worried something would've gone wrong."

Annabelle nodded slowly. "And you pretended to be your father all day?"

"Yes"

"That's why he asked me to lunch. It was you..." she said putting the pieces together. Loki nods. He was worried about how she was going to react. "So, you faked your death, and- wait! Did you say, Queen?!"

"I did," Loki said with a grin. He wondered how long it would take her to realize that. "Thor gave up the throne. He said that he'd rather be a good man than a great king. And that you deserve it. He said that it's what I've always wanted and that you would be a wonderful Queen. Which is all very true."

"What in Valhalla?!"

"I know! This is amazing!"

"This can't be happening! Wait, how are we going to do this?" Annabelle asked.

"We can tell everyone that I was gravely injured but returned to the palace just in time to be healed. And once all is well, we can take the throne!" Loki said happily.

"But what about the Allfather?"

"Oh, don't worry, he's fine."

"Loki... what did you do?" She gave him a stern look.

"He may or may not be on Midgard..."

"He what?!" Annabelle exclaimed.

"Don't worry, he's fine," Loki assured.

"Ok then... I'm not even going to ask," she said. "But, what about Thor? He's bound to return eventually, what do we do?"

"Oh, we don't need to worry about that."

"What did you do to your brother?"

"I did nothing!" Loki said and raised his hands in defense. "He said that he wishes to live out his days on Midgard, protecting it from whatever threatens it."

"Well... that was convenient," Annabelle said and smiled.

"Indeed, and he asked me to say goodbye for him. He went to the Bifrost after we talked."

"Oh, I wish I could've said goodbye," she said looking down.

"He wanted to tell you himself but he couldn't bring himself to see you after the news he delivered."

"I understand."

"Well..." Loki stood up and offered his hand, smiling. "Shall we, my Queen?"

"We shall," she replied and took his hand as she stood up.