The Trickster's Bride

Chapter Eighteen: Loki

Even after suffering through hundreds of eyes watching my every move, I found no peace once I was back in my rooms. I had hoped to keep to myself and wind down from the day's events. I had considered going back to Laufeyson, but to do so would only bring more gossip. I figured one more night wouldn't hurt.

It wasn't long after I retired that I heard a knock at my door. I ignored it. I had no desire to be bothered. My first meeting with Rani still had me agitated, and I needed to wind down. But one set of rapping knuckles became two, and I heard Lady Sif's unmistakable tone. "Loki, we know you're in there! Open this door or I'll splinter it!"

With a scowl, I stomped to the door. Thor, I could test all day long. But Lady Sif was another matter. I opened the door to see Sif and Freyja both fuming at me.

"Why, what a lovely surprise," I said sarcastically.

The women pushed past me. "I don't recall letting you in," I said dryly. I knew I should have just gone home after the party.

"I don't recall you ever being such a blood-curdling jackass!" shouted Sif, unable to contain herself. She was not her usual prim self, with her brown eyes glistening angrily, and her face flushed.

My brows raised, I shut the door. "There may be children about," I muttered.

"The only childhere is you!" Freyja yelled. "What were you thinking, treating Rani so terribly?" Her hands were on her hips and her mouth frowned comically.

"Excuse me," I said, keeping my tone much lower than the ladies were, "I believe I was the one being insulted."

"Insulted?" Sif yelled, her hair streaming out as she shook her head in disgust. "I'll insult you." She lurched forward to grab me, but I dissipated and reappeared behind them.

"Now, now," I teased, "You're not being very ladylike."

Sif turned around and huffed like a fighting bull. But Freyja held her back. "Enough with the games, Loki," Freyja implored. "You've just about destroyed Rani."

I scoffed, ignoring the guilty feeling in my chest. "She was the one giggling like a schoolgirl over everything I said!"

“She was nervous!” Freyja defended her sister vehemently.

"If you had a sense of humor," spat Sif, "then you would have understood. She thought you were being witty!'

"What?" I snapped, growing angry. I considered throwing the ladies out. They were the ones who had intruded on my privacy.

"She told us exactly what you said," Freyja told me, "and even we laughed. Are you really that dull?"

I was losing my patience. "Are you going to stand here and insult me all night, or can I go to sleep eventually?"

Sif threw her hands up and stomped to the door, leaning her head against the wall. "I really don't understand what the big ordeal is," I admitted, folding my hands behind my back. "Perhaps you might care to explain?"

Freyja sighed, slumping into a chair. "Loki," she said, her voice finally in a non-soprano pitch, "you hurt Rani's feelings. She doesn't understand why you got so upset."

"Perhaps she should grow up then," I said coolly, "and use her adult feelings."

Freyja's eyes turned to cold steel. I had crossed a line, and I knew it, but what did I have to lose? Freyja and Sif were the ones who had barged in here like lunatics.

"You," she said, her voice dangerously low, "are a cold-hearted snake. Youare the one who deserves to be left in a lake somewhere. You don't know Rani like we do. She is an angel, you prick, and you are one lucky man to even have a shot at her!"

I raised my eyebrows, trying to hide how much Freyja's words stung. Freyja was not a fighter; she tried to see the good in everyone and approach situations with kindness and compassion. To put it bluntly, I had made a huge mistake.

"You are just too stubborn," Freyja continued, rising slowly, "and too concerned with having the upper hand all the time. You will regret this. If I were you, I would apologize to that wonderful woman right this minute. But then again, when have you everdone the right thing?"

With that, she and Sif left, slamming the door behind them. I let out the air I'd been holding in. Freyja was right. I had behaved horribly, after I had misread Rani's intentions. I'd let my own petty anger ruin the chance of friendship between my future bride and I.

I flopped down on my bed, hating myself as usual. I always hurt the ones who cared about me. But it was for their own good! At least, that's what I told myself.

Rani was wonderful, as Freyja had said. She was beautiful, strong, kind, and caring. Everything I longed for, everything I wanted to create in myself. I did not deserve such beauty in my life. I was a monster, a selfish cruel monster. I wasn't even an Asgardian. What if Rani did somehow fall for me? When she saw me as a Jotunn, when my skin turned blue and my skull distorted, would she love me then? No, she would not. She would run away screaming, and I would be left alone.

What Freyja and Sif didn't understand was how ugly I really was. What I was truly capable of. The things that forced me to drive everyone away. I was much, much worse than the rumors claimed.