Lower Your Eyes (A Loki Romance Fanfic)

Chapter Fifteen: Who meant for that to happen?

Light flickered against Davos's face as I sat beside him on the ground, leaning against the couch. Glancing over my shoulder, the firelight fell on three of us—on me, on Davos, and on Loki's face, which was covered partially by his hand as he sat at his desk.

Guilt rang through me at the sight of him, but I couldn't place the source. Save for his drunken escapade, he'd been entirely tight-lipped—especially tonight. Though, who could blame him? I'd put him through the wringer tonight, barging into his room the way I did, weeping...

I let out a sigh.

If ever there was a portion of the Prince's sober mind that clung to propriety, he must have thought that my behavior tonight was atrocious. And now that Davos was out of the fire, I'd had time to consider it, too—to see the night for what it was. To see that I'd practically dragged Loki from his chamber. That I took advantage of our—prior—closeness to save someone I loved that I exposed us both to the castle guards in doing so.

And while I knew that Loki would never punish me for it, I began to wonder whether he regretted ever meeting me at all...

I turned back to Davos, brushing a dark curl out of his face, roving over the handsome lines of his eyes and cheekbones. Tears rose to my eyes as I remembered being in his place. The horrible feeling of being bound by the wrists, the abhorrent sensation of my skin ripping like fabric. This was the first time he'd ever been subjected to this level of punishment, and it was all my fault.

Gripping his hand tighter, I lowered my head against the cushion and let the tears spill soundlessly.

Why did we deserve this?

The door opened, and my eyes snapped up as the queen strode in, her older son at her side. Davos was out cold, totally unperturbed by the sounds. Frigga paused at the sight of him, at the bandages sparsely covering his backside. Thor's brows furrowed, eyes slightly widened as he stood rooted in place.

Frigga's lips thinned as she turned her attention to me, eyes glistening as she knelt at my side. "How is he?"

"I couldn't do it all the way," I muttered shakily, looking over his wounds. "This took hours, but I don't think I did it right. Some of them healed...wrong."

A bit askew in some places—in others, the wounds had opened into smaller, adjacent fissures.

"You'll need more practice before you attempt something like this again," she said, looking at me with worry and concern in her eyes. "But this will do, for now."

I looked at her, remembering the time when my mother warned me about the royal family—Loki and the queen, especially. I remembered her warning that they could be deeply offended if they knew of our practices, considering us a defilement of the craft. If she could see me now...

Tears brimmed as a fresh sob escaped me, and I laid my forehead down against the sofa.

"Oh, my dear..." Frigga gathered me in her embrace, cradling me as I wept. Somewhere in the corner, Loki's footsteps approached us, stopping beside his brother—who still hadn't moved.

"I couldn't let him die," my voice choked. "I couldn't let him die, too."

"He will not die." She gripped me tighter. "Listen, child, I've prepared something for you."

I pulled away. "W-What?"

Over Frigga's shoulder, Thor's hand moved to Loki's tense shoulder, gripping it tight.

"We will hide your friend in another chamber, where no one will disturb him," the queen replied. "And I will charm the doors so that only one of us will access the room—anyone else that approaches will feel an urgent need to turn away."