Loki's Daughter, Mortem and Mischief

Chapter Twenty Seven

"Are we...are we going to do it?" I asked, looking up at my father. He paced around my room with his brows tightly knit together. We had been discussing our plan for last hour and had just barely come upon an agreement.

"I will, you shall not have a single part in this," he said firmly, stopping to look at me, "You shouldn't have to even be contemplating this in the first place, I certainly can't let you be the one to carry out this plan."

"But papa," I protested, "This is my mess. I can't possibly ask you to do this for me. Not when I'm the one who messed up."

"Hela, darling," he sighed, rubbing his temples, "We have very little time. At the very least, dear, please just...learn from your mistakes. That's all I ask of you."

"But-" I attempted again but he did no more than shake his head and say, "No."

I knew then I couldn't protest any further. I needed to hold my tongue and simply follow his lead. Taking initiative had gotten me into this mess, it certainly wasn't going to be the thing that got me out of it.

My father looked to the clock and took a deep breath before he said, "We must act fast, your coronation is within the hour at this point."

"I'll come with you, I know where you need to go," I offered.

He shook his head and caused a dark cloak to appear around his shoulders.

"If your mother truly is alive within this universe, I'm sure she's panicking right now in preparation for your coronation," he explained as he brought the hood over his head, "If she were unable to find you in time for the ceremony, I'm quite sure she would suffer a heart attack."

"Are you sure?" I asked cautiously, "You need someone there with you, what if it all goes wrong. You need backup."

"I need you to stay here," he corrected, brandishing a knife in each of his hands, "If everything goes according to plan, I will back in time to crown you myself. You stay here and wait for your mother, alright?"

"Alright," I echoed, sitting on my bed. I felt helpless and altogether quite guilty for my father was about to do.

He stopped before the door, pausing for a moment before he turned back to me. My father pressed a kiss to my forehead and tucked my hair behind my ear.

"It's all going to be okay," he assured me with a soft smile, "I'm sorry your birthday is turning out to be so...interesting."

I smiled lightly, "Thank you."

He nodded before finally leaving. Before he closed the door behind him, he flashed me a quick wink. Then, he was gone and the door was shut tightly behind him.

I was crawling in my seat, dying with absolute anticipation. I was terrified that the plan might fall through or even fail. Neither I nor my father had room for error in this scenario, I could only pray that everything went right.

The pit in my stomach grew with every passing moment. My hands were sweaty and I was biting my cheek in nervousness. I simply couldn't take it.

I grabbed my knife and tucked it securely into my corset. There was no way I was letting my father go about all of this alone. I grabbed the doorknob and just as I was about to pull open the door, it was pushed open before me. I stumbled back as my mother and at least a dozen nursemaids flooded in.

My mother smiled brightly at me, "I'm glad to see you're still here," she whispered, "I was hoping you'd make this choice."

"About that," I attempted, "I've-"

"Your highness, your hair and your makeup is simply a mess," one of the nursemaids said, immediately attacking me with makeup brushes and bobby pins galore. I had no opportunity to get a word in, and by the looks of it, my mother didn't really care. In her mind I had made the decision to preserve this timeline and keep it just how it was. Little did she know, the choice I made was actually quite different.

"There's barely half an hour till we all need to be in place," my mother sighed, glaring at the clock, "Have you seen your father anywhere?"

"No," I lied.

"Amazing, just when I need him he disappears," she muttered, "We should begin to at least make our way to the throne room. Nearly the entire kingdom had gathered for this, we mustn't be late. At the very least, we owe them our punctuality."

I nodded as the nursemaids stopped their preening, deeming me altogether perfect in appearance.

"You look perfect, alright, now we must go. Everyone's waiting on us and oh dear, we're already three minutes behind schedule," my mother said frantically before ushering in guards to escort us down to the throne room.

"Shall we go over everything one more time?" I asked, trying to ease my mother's nerves as we walked down the long halls.

She nodded, "Well, we'll meeet your grandfather at the doors. And since your father and I shall be at the thrones, he'll be the one to introduce you. You'll walk down the isle yourself, yada yada, the prayer and ceeremony will then be conducted by your father. God, this is a mess."

By the flush of her cheeks and her shaking hands, I could tell my mother was more than stressed.

"If this doesn't go perfectly, your father will throw a fit," she muttered as we marched along. By mention of my father alone, my anxiety rose again. Oh god, what if our plan didn't work? I began to feel sick just thinking about it.

"I don't even know where your father is," she grumbled as we came to the doors of the throne room, "Or your grandfather for that matter."

My mother took a deep breath and promptly stated, "I'm going to look for them, alright? You stay right here. No wandering off today. Please?"

"Yes, of course," I replied with an uneasy smile, "I'll stay right here, whatever you wish."

She nodded, smoothing out my skirt before cracking a small smile, "I'm so thankful you decided to stay, my dear."

My mother pressed a kiss to my forehead before running off to find both my grandfather or father. I was left alone with no more than a few guards around me. I was simply bursting with anticipation, my mind was whirring with emotions galore. I was terrified for my father, fearful he would be unable to execute our plan. But furthermore, I was also comforted by his presence and the fact that there was someone here that I truly knew. And all the while, I couldn't suppress my excitement. Just minutes away, I was to be crowned Queen of Asgard, something I had dreamed about my entire life.

I could hardly sit still, just dying to see how everything would end up. Would my father be alright? Would he be alive? Would I really be Queen? But most of all, would everything turn out alright?