"We're not really going to give into his demands, are we?" Tatum asked.
They had left the waxy throne room to continue their meeting in the map room.
"We may not have a choice," Vahl said. "Loki thought this out very well. I need my magic to power the Elements, but the only way I can get it back is if we don't use the Elements to stop him. Finding a piece of land with nobody around will not be difficult."
"What about the third deal?" Alyssa inquired.
She sighed. "Loki knows how desperate we are to get the prince and princesses back."
"But we can't just hand somebody over to be his wife!" Tatum exclaimed. "We might as well be making a sacrifice to the Devil!"
"He said his bride has to go willingly. I think we should announce this to the citizens and see if anybody is willing to make such a sacrifice."
Madisyn had been silent the entire time. She couldn't get over the fact that Loki had been there. The way he had spoken to her, touched her, looked at her, it gave her the shivers. She told herself she was being paranoid, but if that was the case, why did he seem to single her out?
"We should at least accept the terms of the first two," Vahl decided. "If I had my magic, we could be able to find another solution, and it would be easier to think if there weren't pigs flying outside."
Everybody nodded in agreement.
"What about Anna?" Mirrak Mora asked. "And our daughter?"
"I want her back too, Mirrak Mora," his sister assured him, "but to sacrifice one of our own..."
"I don't like the idea either, but...Loki has a point. Instead of losing four, we would only lose one. And...I don't know how long Anna will last."
"She's strong. No matter what her conditions, she's always been able to pull through. Auer and Harleen will be strong too. Wherever they are, I'm sure they are holding out."
"You want to get married?!" Harleen scoffed after Loki had told them his plan. "Who in the world would want to marry you?"
"Go ahead, laugh!" Loki said, rolling his eyes. "Just thought you would want to know what your lives are going to cost."
"You will never get away with this, Loki!" Auer bellowed.
"Yes, yes. The whole 'you will never get away this' speech. I will respond with the usual comeback: 'oh, but I will!' Any other cliché's you would like to point out, Auer?"
"Just you wait until Mirrak Mora gets here!" Anna snapped.
"You mean Prince Good-for-Nothing who always needs his baby sister to come in and save the day?"
She growled and lashed her hands through the bars of the cage. Loki simply laughed.
"Oh, you three are just too amusing! Either of you willing to save the others and accept my proposal?"
Harleen spat at him while Auer shouted, "Never!"
"And I'm already married, creep!" Anna barked.
"Hey, just asking," Loki said innocently.
A voice called from outside the cave. "Loki!"
The Frost Giant turned. "Oh, would you look at that? Sorry to leave you, guy and gals, but I have a meeting."
With a wave of his hand, the cage vanished and he went to meet his visitor. Vahl Dragonborn and her five companions were standing at the entrance.
"Ah, my old friends! Have you made your decision already?"
