The Myriad Misadventures of a Midgardian Queen-In-Training || Loki x Reader

Chapter 63

"America is your home country, correct?"

"Yeah, I - and you're from Germany? You're from Germany."

She laughs - not meanly, just a light chuckle. "Yes, Stuttgart." You must look bewildered, because she goes ahead and clarifies. "My city."

At sixteen, new to the palace and terrorized by Rosa and terrified out of your mind, you hadn't had much time to wonder why the name of some random city in Germany had sounded so familiar.

But now you know.

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Loki looks at you like you've just spoken in gibberish. "What?"

"Her hometown." You recalls clips of newsreels from years ago: his manic gaze, a horned helmet and glowing staff, screaming at a crowd of terrified civilians to kneel before him. They hadn't shown much footage past that, but they had announced an estimated twenty or so casualties. Known casualties. You remember that much. "The first invasion - Loki, you went to Germany, be-before New York."

"That's right, darling. Remember, Your Majesty? Although, why would you - I was just another head bent to the ground. My father didn't bend, though. He refused to kneel, and you - you - " She swallows. "I've waited so long for this, you know. I changed my wardrobe, my speech patterns, my whole lifestyle to get here, to the top of the polls, so I could take from you what you took from my father ." She's practically spitting now. "But now...now I see. Taking your life won't do anything, will it? Instead, I think - "

And now her hand, the same hand you've seen pen elegant speeches and coax melodies from an out-of-tune piano and brush tears from Sapphire's cheeks - now her hand is on you . It's so much stronger than you remember, gripping your upper arm with a deadly force, swinging you around so that you're held against her as she holds the knife just below your chin.

I probably should have seen that coming... but it's a little late for should haves at this point.

"R-Rhea." You swallow as she presses the blade into your skin - gently.

She was always so gentle, there was no way I could have known.

"Ah, ah, ah." She delivers a sharp look to the approaching guards, who have now frozen in place after a gesture from Loki. "You so much as point a weapon at me, and I slit her throat."

You try again. "Please, h-hear me out."

" H-h-hear m-me out, " she mocks. "You can't even get through three words without stuttering."

"You don't want to do this."

"Well, I gave up my life, my time, and a good portion of my sanity to get this far, so maybe, just maybe, I might be just the teeny, tiniest bit invested in this. And you..." She pulls your back tighter to her chest, and you tense up. "Little Lady (Y/N). You were the only thing in the way of my plan, do you know that?"

"You knew he wasn't proposing to you," you choke out. "You lied. "

"I figured if I could get you to think he had abandoned you, you'd leave. For good this time."

"You've changed - "

"No. He," she snaps, jerking her chin at Loki, "he changed me."

"The way we've changed him?"

She seems taken aback. "What?"

"Yes." Loki speaks now. "Lady Rhea, you cannot imagine how..."

Her scoff rings uncomfortably close to your ear. "How what? How sorry you are?"

"At least."

"Apologies won't bring my father back, Your Majesty."

"I know." He takes a step forward, but stops when Rhea drags your back a step in response. "You have every right to be angry with me. But I swear, I was...I wasn't myself, then."

Rhea lets out a hysterical laugh. "I'm sure."

"During the initial invasion of Midgard, my mind and actions were under the control of another." He presses his lips together tightly. "A fact I should have been more transparent about in the years since."

If you were in a movie, you're certain this is the part where the audience of the ballroom would gasp. As it is, a murmur arises, diffusing the tense silence of before.

He's announcing this here ? After keeping it secret for so long?

All to save me?

"But you still...you..." She falters a moment, before steeling up again. "I don't want excuses, I want my father back ." At this, her grip loosens a bit—not enough for you to pull away, but enough that you can breathe without fear of nicking yourself.

"My family is watching this, Rhea," you whisper. "My parents. My brother. My little sister. We talked about them, remember? Erik? Carlie?"

"I remember." You feel Rhea's hands shaking now—not comforting, since one of them is still holding a knife to your bare throat. Your own hand, clutching at your dress, feels something hanging from it. Something hard and sharp and hidden in the billowing fabric of your skirt.

Yes.

"You know what it's like to lose someone you love." You keep talking, hoping it will distract her as you pull on the chain, sliding the fork up into your grasp. "Don't take me from them . Please—"

Speech was clearly the wrong tactic, because she tightens her grip again. "He's going to keep hurting people. He should have given up when he had the chance."

"I am."

Your eyes flick up to meet his.

He nods.

Rhea doesn't seem to get it at first. "What?"

"As current monarch of Midgard, it is my duty to act in the best interests of the realm." He takes a deep breath. Without lifting his eyes from you and Rhea, he raises his voice so that it carries to the rest of the room. "After consulting with some trusted individuals, it's been determined that it would be in the best interests of the realm to relinquish my claim, and allow things to return to the way they were before my rule."

His eyes are determined, but behind that you see a layer of that softness you know. The sincerity. The same look he gave you yesterday when he asked you , "And if I weren't king?"

This isn't just something he's saying to get you out of Rhea's grasp.

He's stepping down from the throne.

This seems to hit Rhea like a ton of bricks. The hand she has on your arm goes limp, and you summon up every last ounce of courage you have in your body.

Here goes nothing .

You jab the fork up between the knife and your neck, yanking the chain free of your dress. By some stroke of luck, the blade gets caught between the tines, and you twist it, knocking the knife out of Rhea's hand and spinning yourself out of her grasp in a movement reminiscent of the Spider's Waltz you danced in this very room, all those years ago.. The momentum nearly knocks you over, and as the guards descend upon Rhea, you find yourself stumbling forward into Loki's arms.

He crushes you to his chest, and you return the embrace in kind, wrapping your arms around his waist.

"You're stepping down?" you half-whisper. You don't know how her hears you above all the commotion, but he pulls back a moment to catch your eyes in his.

"You said you didn't know if you could remain your family's daughter if you were to become my queen." He cups your face in his hands, looking at you as though you were something unspeakably precious. "You said nothing of the sort with regards to becoming my wife."

"You - for me?" The tears of fear turn to relief, now, spilling over as your hands find purchase over his. "I can't believe you'd do that, I can't believe you did that—"

"For you?" He leans down, pressing his forehead to yours. "Anything."