The Love Of a Trickster

2

I march into Odin's throne room and unceremoniously toss the severed head at his feet. The bloody sack falls from my hands and I drop down to one knee. "He refused to cooperate and spoke words of treason against you, my Lord. He was duly punished, I can assure you."

Odin lifts his gaze from the head to me. "And what of Loki? Where is he?"

"On his way, my Lord. He stayed behind to clean up the mess and search the building for anymore possible threats." I keep my eyes lowered, though I can feel Odin staring at me. I hear footsteps in front of me and dare to lift my head. Thor has entered the room and is standing beside his father. I bow my head again.

"What's this?" His deep voice echoes around the room.

"A traitor's head. Courtesy of Feyre."

I can feel Thor's gaze on me. "She is a child, yet she does the work of a man and kills for you?"

"She serves Loki."

"Oh I can imagine. What vile things has he made her do besides your poisonous requests?" My breath catches, as I hear Thor rebuke his father. Anyone else would be dead after speaking to Odin in such a manner. "Rise," Thor orders.

I stand and meet his gaze. Odin glares at Thor. "You are no king yet and she is not a Valkyrie. You both serve me and if you speak to me like that again, I will have her killed."

Thor bows his head. "My apologies."

"You are forgiven. What news do you bring?"

"There are rumors about a soldier on the loose. They say he escaped from Hel," Thor says.

"Hel? I would expect him from Valhalla. I will send Seekers to retrieve him and put him back where he belongs."

"What? No fun for Feyre and I?" I stifle a groan. Loki paces over to us and stands beside me. "Feyre did so well today. Perhaps we should find this soldier and prove her worthy to be a Valkyrie."

"Brother, do not risk this mortal's life for the sake of your own glory," Thor admonishes.

Loki rolls his eyes. "Don't fret, brother. She is never in harms way. You should give her more credit. I believe she could hold her own against you. Well, longer than most could anyway."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I spit.

"Anytime, love." He turns back to Odin. "So?"

"Fine. If you find this soldier and make it back from Hel alive, I will make Feyre a Valkyrie. What do you want? I assume you want something," Odin says.

"Oh, I don't want anything...yet. I'll let you know when I do." Loki smiles menacingly and wraps his arm around my waist. "Now, if you don't mind, we have a soldier to catch." Loki leads me out of the throne room. I can feel the god's gazes burning into us the whole way.

Once we are in the hallway, I shake myself free of Loki's arm. "What was that about? Why on earth would you want us to go after that Hel soldier?"

"Well, for one thing, this isn't Earth. For another, I have waited long enough for Odin to deem you worthy. It's high time you become a Valkyrie and to do that, I knew that Odin would need a little encouragement." Loki doesn't pause as he walks down the hallway. I scramble after him.

"Why do you want me to be a Valkyrie so badly? You don't need or care about anyone or anything," I say.

"You are correct there. However, there is one thing I need and only a Valkyrie can get it for me," he explains.

I rack my brain for possibilities. What does a Valkyrie have that Loki doesn't? He doesn't need wings or Reaping Mares. I catch the word. He needs me to reap someone!

"Don't bother worrying about it, love. You'll find out soon enough."

"You want me to reap someone for you?"

Loki laughs and shines that handsomely wicked smirk at me. "My, but you are clever.  Yes, I need a Valkyrie to reap someone for me, but not just any Valkyrie. Oh no. I need one that is loyal to me, not Odin."

"But when I'm a Valkyrie I will be loyal to Odin," I point out.

Loki ducks through a doorway and I follow. "Not exactly. You will obey him, yes, but you will be loyal to me over him because your life is pledged to me."

My mouth drops open. "I knew you were crazy but I didn't know you were a psychopath! No wonder you helped me!"

"Yes, no wonder. I only do something if it will be mutually beneficial to me. Haven't you learned that yet?" He stops and shakes his head at me. I take the time to locate where we are. Loki opens a doorway beside me.

His quarters, I tell myself. Great. Just where I shouldn't be. Loki motions for me to go inside. "Why?" I ask. "Why should I trust you?"

He rolls his eyes. "Oh for the love of...if I had wanted something more from you, don't you think I would have gotten it by now? We need to make our plans for finding this Hel soldier and no one will bother us in here." He pushes me in the room and slams the door shut.

I cross my arms and glare at him as he moves about the room. When he stops at the bookshelf and begins to rummage through it, I let myself survey the room. I have never been here before. It's always off limits. The room is dimly lit by sconces lining the walls. Piles of books are everywhere. There are knives stuck in spots on the wall, no doubt put there during a fit of rage. His bed is made, surprisingly, with only a few books on the comforter. Loki clears his throat and I cross over to him.

He has a map spread across a desk. I take in the names of the lands on the map. "You have a map of the Nine Realms?"

"You have your hobbies, I have mine." He points to a particularly gory image on the map. "That's Hel, where our soldier escaped from. We'll use the Bifrost to get there. First, we have to find the soldier. I'm guessing that he is in Svartalfheim or Midgard, judging the distances." He looks up at me, waiting for a response.

I nod. "That's what I would do. If he wants to escape Hel, what better place to go than Midgard where Hela won't follow?"

"Precisely. I suggest we start in Midgard and work our way down. We'll find him along the way. It won't be difficult to find a dead soldier, I should think."

"All right. When do we leave?" I resign myself to the fact that I will, again, be working with Loki on what could possibly a suicide mission.

"Tomorrow morning." He gazes at me, then smirks. "After all, don't I deserve my beauty sleep?"

"You're infuriating," I hiss.

"And you are adorable when you're angry."

I leave the room with a huff of indignation. How dare that slimy slithering son of a flying monkey think he has any right to... "Grh!" I growl aloud. "God of Mischief indeed. More like God of Misdemeanor!"