Tabula Rasa (Unlike Loki: Book Two)

Chapter 48

"How is the boy doing?" the terrifying being asked.

"He is improving at an incredible rate, going far beyond our expectations. He grows stronger by the day, my lord." The woman bowed before the man as he sat on his large throne. It looked to be made of ebony, pure and black. But the woman knew that there were bones entombed within, bones of his first victims.

"Excellent." The evil man grinned. "And his parents?"

"They are searching rapidly. To them, it has only been a single day." The woman said. Time moved faster here, by whatever spell the terrible being had cast long ago. She had been training the boy for almost a month now. If the Asgardian pair took the full 14 days to find their son, 10 years would have passed here. Time sped at an alarming rate here, even though it felt normal, it made traveling difficult.

"Very well. Does the girl know what I want from her?" he asked, making eye-contact with the woman.

A shiver went up her spine, though she was good at hiding her fear of him by now. "She has no idea, my lord. The old witch woman was killed before she could tell her."

The man grunted, closing his eyes. after a few moments of terrible silence, he opened his eyes. "Find the rogue prince of Jotenheim, and bring him to me."

The woman nodded, "Of course, your greatness. But-"

"But, what?" the man said angrily, his skin shining in the dark light of the cosmos.

"The boy. Who is to continue his training? He cannot stop now, or all the progress gained will be lost." She bowed her head, so that he knew that she meant no disrespect.

"I will take over his training." The terrible man said in a quiet voice.

The woman waited for more to be said, but when she heard nothing but silence, she looked back up at her King. "Wonderful, my lord. And the girl, Talia?" she ventured.

"My youngest daughter will be sent to Jotenheim to make a deal with the King. He is soft for his kind, and is more like the God of Thunder than he is of Laufey, even though he shares no relation to the Asgardian. He is too noble, and wants to make allies. My daughter will give him a fake alliance, and turn him away from Asgard, just before they seek his help. She will work by his side, when, in reality, he is digging his own grave." The evil man laughed horribly. "My child will become the Queen of Jotenheim."

The woman had to hold back her rude remarks. He appreciated this girl more than he appreciated her. She had been around for much, much longer, and had done greater things. She was his daughter too.

So why did the little bitch get a throne?

"I am sorry, my lord, but I do not see how making her rule beside the Frost-Giants is at all beneficial to our cause." She held herself tall, even when he glared at her, and she kept her face blank.

"Because, my child, she will be the only ruler of Jotenheim." He clenched his gigantic hands into fists and smiled.

"I see." The woman said, breaking her gaze from the man who continued to ruin her life.

"Father?" a small voice said.

The man and woman turned to the sound, and found Talia at the edge of the platform on which they resided. She had grown taller and curvier in the short time she had been back. And she was starting to show her beauty, which made her look even more like her mother. Her hair was dark now, for reasons only the man knew, and her eyes were a constant black. This angered the woman, seeing as she was physically deformed from the experiments her oh so gracious father had ordered be performed on her.

"What do you want?" the woman snapped.

Talia turned her head quickly in the direction of her older sister, though they shared no blood, they were still required to call each other sisters. "Don't you have to go find my future brother-in-law or something?" Talia retorted, smirking and cocking her head, her hair shimmering in the dark.

The woman inhaled deeply and ground her teeth together.

"Leave us." The man said simply.

The woman spun her head to look at her father. "What?" she blurted.

"Leave. NOW!" The man bellowed.

The woman couldn't believe this. She stared at the horrible being before her for another moment, and then glanced at the newest addition to the family, and just about lashed out at Talia when she saw the look of triumph on her little face.

The woman spun on her heel and stormed off, diving deep into the darkness.

When they were alone, the man turned toward Talia.

"Are you ready?" he asked her.

"Of course I am, Father." She bowed.

"I expect that you won't disappoint." He said, lifting his chin up.

Talia chuckled. "I will exceed all expectations." She looked up at him, "As I always do."

And then she was gone, like the flame blown out of a candle, and was off to a planet filled with ice, that was soon to be her glorious kingdom.