Heart of a Dragon Rider (Revised) (Loki x Reader)

6. Dungeons

As the doors opened I looked past the two towering princes into the throne room. The room was ginormous with golden walls expertly crafted. The floor looked to be made out of some polished stone, of what variety I couldn't tell you, but it glistened in the soft natural light that was coming from the elegantly carved windows. Along the walls, people in beautiful clothing stood as if they were in the middle of a meeting. Guards lined what I assumed was the walkway that led down to an elevated golden throne that sat on top of an altar where an old man sat in ceremonial armor.

The soft hum of talking came to an abrupt halt when everyone in the room heard the doors open, all of them looking towards our small little group.

"My sons." The man on the throne, who had to be Odin, greeted us. His voice was regal and carried across the room like distant thunder. "I see you have returned from your hunt."

The two princes in front of me nodded, and then they both simultaneously began to walk forward into the throne room, giving me no choice but to follow. We walked between the two rows of armed guards that stood as still as statues, all of their eyes trained on my every move.

My heart hammered in my chest, pounding against my rib cage. Blood roared through my ears, and I had to fight my tunnel vision. 'Come on.' I told myself, forcing my eyes to glance around the room, looking for exits, or weaknesses in the room. 'Think, look. You need a backup plan. Remain calm, don't get overwhelmed and look!'

But the more I looked the more I felt overwhelmed. Even though I worked under the king of Dakarus as a Dragon Rider I never really spent time in the castle. Instead, I spent the majority of my time outside in the wilderness, or the stables. If I was spending my time inside it would be because I was in class or in the dorm rooms where most of the young adult Dragon Riders lived. I didn't know the first thing about castles, or how to navigate them. The only way out I knew of was the way we came. Which was heavily guarded by armed guards who were all probably trained to fight since birth. I stood no chance.

I followed the princes down the room to the base of the throne, where they knelt and bowed to their father. I copied them, taking one knee and bowing my head to the floor. 'Act weak.' I told myself. 'You are a nobody, show the king that.'

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw both Thor and Loki lift their heads, but remained still. I wasn't sure if I should lift my head yet or not, so I kept it down, trying to look meek and worthless. I could feel the piercing eye of Odin on me, probably trying to figure out why his sons brought back a small, strangely dressed, girl.

"Explain," Odin ordered at last, and the two princes next to me rose while I remained on my knees.

Thor began to explain their trip from the beginning. Talking about how they began to track down a creature that was not from Midgard. He talked about how the last night there he and his friends chased after the creature intent on catching it. But when they were getting close Loki had called for backup. "Loki had insisted that this girl," Thor said, gesturing to me on the ground, "was more important than the supposed dragon we were chasing."

When Thor said that I could hear low chuckles coming from the people that lined the walls. They were probably Odin's court, I realized, now that I had time to think about them.

Odin then tuned to Loki. "More important?" Odin asked the dark prince, and to my absolute horror, he didn't sound upset or offended that Loki would think of me as important. Instead, he sounded curious.

"Yes All-Father." Loki agreed. "I found this woman in our campsite with a dragon."

Again I could hear faint laughter coming from the court behind us as Loki spoke. "A girl with a dragon." I heard the soft voices of unbelieving laughter.