Loki: Game of Thrones

Chapter 66 - A Vigil Kept

Sansa filled a bowl with warm water, and took a clean rag back to Loki's chambers. Sitting down on the mattress, and avoiding the bloody sheets (which she could not change), Sansa began to clean Loki up. Wiping the blood from his skin, she soon revealed the paleness she had gotten used to, and even liked seeing. Once all the gruesome blood was cleared away, Sansa covered him with a blanket, and cleaned up the mess she had made. When she picked up the shirt she had had to cut through, she looked at all the blood covering it. It was ruined, that was for sure. Turning it over to a part that was not stained with the crimson tide, Sansa brought it to her nose, and inhaled the scent of Loki's sweat. Of course, that was when she noticed her own hands were still caked in his blood, and she glanced down at the hem of her dress. It was also stained. Sansa stepped out of Loki's room, but kept the door open in case he woke up. That was of course when she saw the strip of blood on the floor from where Loki fell and she had dragged him. Not to mention his hand print on the wall. The eldest Stark daughter sighed, and went to the kitchen, retrieving a bucket of hot water and two rags.

Sansa knelt down on the hard stone and began to scrub the blood away. It was hard, and she scraped her knuckles, and chafed the palms of her hands, but she kept at it. Sansa had been at it for a while, when she saw water dripping onto the floor. It only took her a moment to realize that she was crying. Sansa tried to wipe her tears, but she only sobbed more. She finally threw the rag onto the ground, and stood up. Alfheim appeared from Loki's chamber, and meowed loudly. "I don't care, Alfie! I'm going to the sept! Loki doesn't believe in the gods, but I do. And I'm going to pray to them," Sansa said. She was stalking off towards the door, when she saw Loki's cloak hanging on the peg. She snatched it off the wall, and slung it over her shoulders. Sansa pulled the hood up, and pulled a dagger from the display on the wall. She tucked it to her side, and opened the door. Alfie let out another pitiful meow, but Sansa had closed the door behind her. The hot sun of Kings Landing beat down on her from above, but Sansa ignored it. She knew where she wanted to go, and nothing was going to stop her. The poor people extended their hands to her, but Sansa ignored them. When a drunk tried to grab hold of her borrowed cloak, Sansa lashed out at once. She sliced his inner wrist, and he began to bleed. Screaming, he called her a bitch, but she walked away. "One less vagrant for the world to worry about," Sansa muttered to herself as she finished her walk to the Sept of Baelor.

Upon entering, she was not surprised to find that it was basically empty. Just a few septas, and the priest, but nobody else. Sansa walked over the altar where the shrine to the Stranger had been built. Only a very few votive candles were lit. She took the switch, lit it, and set a candle aglow. Putting the stick out, she bowed her head, the light shining off Loki's dried blood on her skin. "Oh, Stranger, master of the dead and the unknown; I, Sansa of House Stark, daughter of Eddard and Catelyn, do beseech you. A man I... care... very much for... is lying at your door. His name is Loki Laufeyson. He is not of my faith, and he believes that you were once Vanir of his world. If you were, and you see fit to, restore him to me. Do not take his life. Give it back to me. I believe in you... but, if you take him from me... strip him away like you did my father... I will renounce you. On my very soul, this I swear," Sansa threatened. Most people would tell her what she had just said was blasphemous, and the gods should not grant her what she desired. But, Loki would tell her (if he had heard her defiant words) that she was daring the powerful to risk her wrath, and not give her what she wanted. Sansa stepped away from the altar, and was going to walk out of the sept, when the doors opened, and Cersei Lannister entered. Her guards surrounded her, but Sansa could recognize her among them. Her grip tightened on her already bloody dagger, and she had a sudden urge to kill her. Kill the woman who would have forced her to wed Joffrey. The woman who was just as much to blame for her father's death as Joffrey was. Sansa took a step forward, but that was when Cersei looked towards the shadows where she was standing. The Queen Mother and the wolf girl locked us. Cersei stiffened, and Sansa raised her head. Cersei was about to order one of her guards to seize her, when Sansa stepped into the darkness, and the green cloak enveloped her. When Cersei blinked, all she saw was the dim light the Stranger's votive candles provided. Sansa Stark had disappeared!

Sansa was transported back to the portis satis tuto as soon as Alfie sensed the presence of someone who would hurt her. She glared at the cat, and he meowed back. "Fine! I said I would come back after I was finished with my prayers. And I did!" Sansa snapped angrily. She returned to Loki's chamber with a tumbler of water, and saw that he was still asleep. She checked his breathing and his wounds, before she pulled up a chair and sat down. Sansa propped her cheek in her hand, and simply watched him. The gentle rising and falling of his chest was some consolation, but at any moment, it could stop. Cease altogether, and she would be alone in the world. "I'll go get a book to read," Sansa said, rising up. She figured Loki, even in his sleep, would like to hear a story. Sansa went to the library in search of a book she could actually read to him. She finally came across a simple black book, with a little golden design of vines on the cover. In the Common Tongue, it said Book of Spells. Sansa was partially curious, and since Loki liked magic, this would be perfect. She brought it back, and took up her seat once again. "This is a book of spells apparently. Let me see if I can make some magic," Sansa said as she flipped to the front of the book. On the inside cover was a sweet note, and Sansa knew it was always meant to be read with the rest of the book.

"My dear boy, I give you this book so that you might expand your knowledge of the mystical arts. Your thirst for new challenges pleases me, and I reward you with this literary work that is sure to ease your inquisitive mind. Devour this book, my son, and know that I will always care for you. Frigga." Sansa glanced at Loki, but he was still sleeping. "Wish my mother was like that. She would compliment me for my diligence and needlepoint, but... I always wanted something more," Sansa admitted. Turning the page, she found the table of contents, before moving onto the first spell. "A Spell for the Sleepless." Sansa read on and on and on. The spells continued, getting more powerful as she read, but Sansa knew that she did not possess magic, and therefore, could do nothing with these spells. She just wanted to read to Loki. Let him cling to her voice and follow it back. Sansa was his tether, his life line to the real. "A Spell for the Loveless-" Sansa stopped, and glanced up quickly at Loki. He had turned over slightly, and Sansa put the book down. She carefully adjusted the sheets and blankets, examining his bandages. When she was satisfied that he was comfortable, she picked up the book again. "Ahem! A Spell for the Loveless: alone you stand, your heart hollow. Open it like a flower welcomes the sun. Like the sun, let it fill your heart with warmth and light. These are the words. The words for a loveless heart."

If Sansa had been intuitive to magic, she would have felt something stirring in the air at this sentence. It did not take a sorcerer to enact this spell. Just somebody who was lonely. Sansa closed the book and moved over to the mattress. She placed her hand on his shoulder. She brushed a few strands of hair from his sweaty forehead. His skin, instead of feeling cool like it always did, it felt rather warm. "Loki... this is hard for me to admit. After all my talk of remaining pure, listening to the Mother, and waiting to be properly courted. I will be a hypocrite... but... I don't care. I want you to live, Loki. And, not just because you take care of me, and look after me; but... because I love you. And if you die, I'll die too." Sansa rested her head carefully on Loki's shoulder, and closed her eyes. "I love you." If Sansa had looked up at his face at that moment, she would have seen Loki's eyes flick.