Stolen Relic ~ A Loki Fanfic

Chapter Eighteen

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Kenna and Loki talked and schemed for hours, trying to come up with a solution for the coronation. It was to be a major event on Asgard. Odin had ruled over the nine realms for millennia's after the death of his father Bor. Odin's decision to step down so his son could take the throne was unheard of. Important and powerful beings from all the nine realms would be there. It would be no small undertaking to delay such an event, but they had no choice. Thor wasn't ready. The very event Odin was using as a catalyst for handing over the crown was their victory. Not Thor's.

Kenna made them each another cup of tea. Loki had offered to brew the second cup but his work on the first had been nearly undrinkable. Kenna has managed to choke it down to spare his feelings. Despite being a master of magic and herb lore he was terrible at tea. She teased him about it as the kettle heated. Loki laughed good-naturedly at her ribbing and Kenna watched him laugh in the flickering green light.

"As a prince," Loki said still chuckling. "I'm afraid I'm not often called upon to make my own tea."

Kenna smirked and shook her head as she poured the water. "Well, lucky for you you've found me," she said as she turned back to face him.

Pleasure glittered in Loki's eyes as he watched her. "Lucky me," he agreed his voice suddenly serious.

Kenna's cheeks heated and she turned her face away as she felt his sincerity.

Kenna walked back over to her pallet carrying both mugs. Loki was leaning back against the wall, one long leg stretched out, the other up at an angle where he rested his arm. She handed him his chipped cup and dropped down to sit in her nest of blankets beside him. As the depth of night settled around them, even the fire in the hearth wasn't quite enough to keep the chill away. She settled in beside him and Loki shifted her blanket back over her legs. The cold never seemed to bother him, but he was mindful of the fact that she was sensitive to it.

Once she was settled back beside him she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, chewing on her lip.

"Yes?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I have an idea," she said slowly.

"I can practically feel you thinking," he teased, taking a sip of his tea. She made it better than he did and he savored the sweet spices as they opened flavorfully across his tongue.

"It's not a very good one," she confessed. It was by no means more daring than other plans Loki himself had come up with, but it was closer to treason than any other she had suggested. She felt a brief moment of trepidation, a moment of doubt. Loki was a prince, that alone awarded him some element of protection. When the collar was removed it was easy to forget she was not who she had once been. Here she was not the daughter of Ljosalfar, here she was no more than a slave.

A slow smirk tugged at the corner of Loki's mouth. "The suspense is killing me," he teased, and his emerald eyes were sparkling with mischief. There was something so pure and almost innocent about Loki in his sincerity it made Kenna's chest hurt. They had been through so much together in such a short period of time. Only Odin could have ordered the use of the collar and every time Loki removed it he risked his father's wrath. And still had he come, for nothing more than to wake her from a nightmare.

Loki was considered the god of mischief and lies, but all he had ever shown her was kindness, and she could feel his sincerity burning warm within her. It was all the encouragement she needed. 

She set her tea aside and pushed herself up onto her knees so she was facing him. The blanket tangled around her legs but she shoved it aside in annoyance. He snorted and helped her disentangle herself before she managed to dump herself into his lap.