The Unthinkable Offering (A Loki FanFic)

The Bloodlust - Part One

"Hand over the girl and no one else gets hurt."

The man was an ox. Shorter than Loki but broad and thick. He wore a leather helmet that concealed most of his face and sleeveless leather armor over a loose tunic, giving him excellent mobility to wield his sword. He had all the tell-tale attributes of a mercenary, a soldier for hire, a professional combatant who fights for whichever side is willing to pay the most gold.

Loki stepped in front of Eisa and gave the man a maniacal smile. "This one is mine. You will have to find your own."

"You think this is a joke? I will kill every living soul here, starting with you." He pointed his sword at Loki's chest. "Give me the girl and we walk away. No one needs to die tonight."

Loki smirked, "You seem to be under the impression I care if you slaughter any of these people. That was a mistake on your part. Like I said before, this one is mine. I will not freely give her to you or anyone else, so I suggest you take your thugs and leave, while you still have legs to carry you."

The man laughed, "Unarmed and powerless yet still taunting? You truly have a death wish. How do you intend to cut the legs from under me?"

Loki was maneuvering slowly in an arc, herding Eisa toward the main staircase, "I have fought and killed men twice your size with only my cunning and my bare hands. I may be unarmed, but I can assure you, I am not powerless."

"Don't take another step!" The man grabbed Greta by her hair and yanked her up to her knees, pressing the flat side of his blade to her neck. Her hands were bound behind her back. Tears were streaming down her face and blood was running from her nose, dripping onto the front of her ivory cotton nightgown.

"Greta!" Eisa moved like she was going to step around Loki, but he pushed her back sharply.

The man smiled down to the maid on her knees, "Greta, is it?" He shook her head roughly, her hair gripped tightly in his fist. Greta's scream of pain was muffled by the dirty piece of cloth that had been stuffed in her mouth. "Is this one yours, baby doll? Tell the disgraced Prince to let you pass and I will let you free her. If you make me go through him to retrieve you myself, I will make you watch while each of my men take a turn with her."

Greta squeezed her eyes closed as she choked on her sobs.

"No! Loki, please?" Eisa was crying now.

Loki ignored her, "It is rather presumptuous of you to assume your men would prefer the middle-aged servant over the young princess. Do you intend to keep sweet Eisa to be yours alone?"

"Don't listen to him, girlie. No harm will come to you. Come with me willingly and no one suffers."

"No harm? Interesting." Loki tilted his head and studied the man. "So, you believe this to be a rescue mission on your part?"

"I don't need to tell you anything."

"I tell you what, I will let you live so you may go back and remind her father that she belongs to me now. He has no claim on my wife."

The mans scoffed, "I neither know nor care who her father is. I don't give a fuck if she is your wife or your whore. I have a job to do. Go back to whatever hole you crawled out of before your unwanted resurrection." He yanked Greta's hair again.

Loki smirked, "Now why would I do that? I am starting to grow fond of this new life." Without looking at her, he reached behind himself and squeezed Eisa's hand, pushing her back slowly toward the staircase again.

"Trust me, I don't fucking care; I will cut you down without a second thought."

"Likewise." Loki gave him a taunting wink.