Survive The Tide (Love Divides) -A Loki FanFiction-

Chapter Four: Only Just Dreaming

My eyes snap open, and I draw a startled breath.  My room is dimly lit from the vibrant light of the stars, yet otherwise is as silent as the nighttime outside.  Volva whimpers persistently from beside me, cuddling and pawing at the makeshift fur bed around her.  While she is still small, I’ve decided to let her sleep next to me to ensure nothing happens to her.

I sigh, trying to calm my racing heart.  As I swing my legs out of my bed, I search my mind for the troubling dream that tore me from sleep, yet I cannot find anything that remains from it except the compressing blackness.  Shrugging it off, I hurry to the vial Vidar had given me to feed Volva, and step into the washroom to fill it with water.  The fox kit in the other room seems to sense that she is going to be fed, because her whimpers turn to excited squeals, and it makes my lips turn up in a soft, affectionate smile.  

With a gentle murmur from my lips, the candle in the washroom lights to give me some guidance, and I wait patiently for the water to warm up.  As soon as it is, I fill the vial and watch with interest as it swirls into milk.  Satisfied, I pick up the candle and go back into my bedroom, sitting on Volva’s side of the bed.  Placing her in my lap, I feed her until she falls back into a deep sleep, and even then I continue to hold her.  She seems too precious and delicate in my arms, but a yawn escapes to remind me just how tired I still am.

I circle around to my side of the bed, yet am suddenly aware of another presence.  Smirking, because the only person ambitious enough to sneak into my room late at night is Loki, I turn.  

My breath catches in my throat, and the candle tumbles from my hand.  I don’t hear it hit the floor- I’m only focused on the creature looming in the darkest corner of my room as I stumble back into my night stand.  My hand covers my mouth, stifling a scream.

The creature looks just like Loki, but his smirk is menacing instead of playful.  His skin is an icy shade of blue etched with scar-like tattoos.  But its the eyes that make me believe it isn’t Loki at all, for the usual seas of emerald are instead a hungry, violent, blood red hue which glow in the shadows.  

In the time it takes me to blink, the creature is gone, nothing remaining except a chill down my spine.  I release the breath I hadn’t known I was holding, and my teeth chatter slightly from the sudden cold.  Deep inside, I almost could hear something resembling a malicious, sonorous chuckle, however it slipped away like a dream just beyond the point of recollection.

I frown, immediately making a move toward my thick, woolen robe to cover my nightgown.  Within moments, I’m out the door, making my way down the hall.  Two guards on patrol of the palace catch my attention, walking towards me from the opposite direction.

“Lady Brita, is something troubling you?” One of them asks, both of them coming to stop before me.

I contemplate for a moment, pausing slowly to meet them.  “Perhaps...have you seen anything odd around the palace tonight?”

“Odd, m’lady?” He echoes.

“Something, perhaps, that resembles a… Frost Giant?” I clarify.

Equal expressions of alarm course through them.  “Have you seen Frost Giants, m’lady?!” The guard demands.

“No!” I immediately say firmly.  “No, I’m sorry, it was but a dream, I just wanted to be sure nothing was amiss.”

The guards visibly relax, but their faces remain concerned.  “We have heard nothing, Lady Brita, but should something happen please alert the guard.”

I nodded.  “Of course.” I agree, giving a small curtsy before pushing past them.  They allow me to continue down the hall, but as I go I hear one of them scoff quietly.