The Brightest Star

Chapter 26 - Odin's Ultimatum

(Kára's POV):
I awoke the following morning, once again entangled in the arms of Loki, although this time Frigga was not waiting for us to wake, which was certainly a good thing with the lack of clothing that we had on. Even though he was not fully recovered, most of his strength had returned to him and neither of us had the will to restrain from such pleasurable activities. Besides, Loki had promised to be more sensual the next time we made love and I could not wait any longer to see how well he exceeded at that, and to be completely honest he met my expectations and then some.

I slipped out of bed and got redressed, leaving a note to Loki that I had gone back to my room to prepare for the day, not wanting to disturb him in his peaceful sleep. To my great relief, I arrived in my room before Eydis came to wake me up. I had already had to explain to her why I had not slept in my bed the night before, I did not need to do it again. Frantically I played with my sheets and pillows to make it seem that I had spent the night in my room, fairly proud with the result I achieved.

There was a knock on my door, causing me to jump, but I quickly recovered and allowed Eydis entrance, trying to calm my breath. She met me with her normal enthusiasm, immediately starting to get me ready for the day. I bathed first, then she tied my hair back in my normal style, finally helping me into my everyday gown.

"Lady Kára, now that you are dressed, I have been told to inform you that your lesson this morning has been postponed and instead the All-Father has requested your presence," Eydis informed me as she finished fastening the armor part of my attire.

I stood and spun to face her, "what? Why would he wish to see me? Have I done something wrong?"

Eydis shook her head, "I do not know why the All-Father wishes to see you, I simply know that you must go to him as you will surely be punished if you do not."

I bowed my head, "thank you, Eydis, you are dismissed."

As soon as she left the room I felt my collected facade collapse as I melted into panic. Why would Odin wish to see me? Had Frigga said something to him? Did Thor? Did he discover how close Loki and I had grown?

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down, knowing that I could not keep him waiting. The last thing I needed was to create a terrible first impression by being late. I did not have to walk far down the hallway before running into a guard, who I requested show me the way to the throne room as I had never actually gone there before.

The All-Father was seated on his golden throne with guards flanked in either side when I arrived. He looked the picture of royalty: clothed in golden robes, a golden staff in his hand, his right eye covered in a golden eyepatch, and a look of superiority permanently resting upon his face. Too nervous to make direct eye contact with him, I kept my gaze on his throne as I approached him and knelt before him with my right arm across my chest.

"All-Father, I heard that you requested to see me," I spoke while on the ground, trying to keep myself from panicking.

"Kára, I see that you have picked up on the behaviors of the nobles," he replied, a hint of disdain in his voice. "I heard that you have told my wife that Loki is becoming less troublesome."

"I would not exactly put it like that, Your Majesty. He is still the God of Mischief, but he is less cruel to those around him and does not seem to feel the need to establish dominance over everyone he encounters, which is certainly an improvement. He has become quite willing to open up to me, even tell me about his past. I think that he may be ready to receive more freedoms."

Odin scoffed at that, "of course he was willing to inform you of his past, he was probably trying to make it seem to you that he was never truly in the wrong."

"With all due respect, Your Majesty, I believe that you have misjudged him. He did not try to cover up or sugar coat any of his wrongs, even blaming himself for deaths that have indirectly occurred as a consequence of his actions."

"I trust that he has told you the lie about not being in complete control of his actions?"

"Yes, but I highly doubt it is a lie," I confessed, watching as Odin's expression seemed to challenge me. "We have done a number of things in our lessons and one of which was practicing blocking access and getting access to each other's minds. One time when I penetrated his mind, I felt this powerful presence lingering in his mind. If the mind stone is as powerful as he claims, it would make sense that was what I felt was the traces of that on his mind. When I made contact with this presence, I felt an overwhelming surge of power and a desire to kill."

Odin tilted his head as he observed me, "he let you read his mind?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, it was part of one of our lessons," I explained, feeling quite uncomfortable under his scrutiny.

"How close have the two of you grown?"

"Well, I-I would like to think that he has come to respect me as a sorceress as I have been able to teach him many skills that he did not have before, not to mention I did save his life the other day."

"You are blushing, Kára, am I right I'm assuming that you have developed feelings for Loki?"

"Perhaps, but I can assure you that-"

"And has he told you of his true parentage, or has he kept that information to himself? He is a frost giant, Kára, a monster, I suggest you protect your heart before you meet the monster that resides within him."

"How could you say such a thing about your son? Yes, you may have adopted him, but he is still your son. He is no monster, but if you constantly tell him that he is then he will become one. Loki did inform me that he is a frost giant, but I do not treat him differently because of that, nor should anyone else."

Odin's eyes flashed with anger as I put him in the wrong, "or maybe you are blind to anything that does not paint him as your perfect prince because you are in love with him! Your relationship with my son is entirely improper and I am afraid that I must ban you from the palace if you cannot keep your emotions in line!"

"My relationship with Loki does not affect my observations of his character. Yes, perhaps I sympathize with him more than I would if I did not love him, but I would not have fallen for him if he was not capable of being a good man. Please, reconsider your ultimatum and I promise that if our relationship begins to have negative effects on him then I shall gladly pack my bags and leave."

"There is no need for that, I shall not allow your relationship to grow that far. I expect you to have returned to your true home by lunch tomorrow, do you understand?" Odin spoke, shocking me with his harshness. "Be grateful that I am giving you a chance to say goodbye, I could just as easily kick you out at this moment."

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(A/N): Part of me felt bad making Odin such a villain in this story because he's not that bad in the movies, but then I remember how he treated Loki and how he's like a million times worse in the original mythology and suddenly I really don't care that I'm making him the villain because he deserves it rip him. Also that gif of Loki is so unbearably hot and I am not ok