by Trisha Lynn
Chapter Thirty-Five
“Loki, this is a Kaitsou stone. It is meant to bring out thoughts of lust, betrayal, dishonesty, greed, and thirst for power. Generally speaking it is called a sin stone. It is a very unique and dangerous tool that the dark witches and even some dark Fae have used in ancient times. It is incredibly hard to come by, and even those that do come by it have no idea what it is, or the means to properly use it. A very dark spell needs to be cast and infused within the stone, and a tiny piece of the casters soul is ripped and harnessed within it. It is one of the magical tools that need some essence of a soul to be made useful to its full capacity. The castor then has some small amount of control over the sin in which it wishes you to feel.”
Magistra's green eyes were fierce on his face, as she watched him digest this information. “This is a dangerous thing to possess, Loki. May I ask how you came about it?”
Loki gripped the counter, his knuckles turning a dangerous white. He wanted to rip something apart, or scream, or hit something. Anything to take out the utter confusion and anger that ripped through him. The entire situation made his stomach roll. The fact that something like this existed made him want to bash it into tiny little pieces.
A gentle, warm hand touched his arm. “Tell me, Loki.”
His dark flamed eyes turned to her gentle ones, and he told her everything. Except the part about his fantasy with the Princess. He did tell Magistra that Marla slipped into the room and did as she pleased with him, but he did not say that he envisioned it Adeila the entire time.
It felt good to get it all out, at least the parts he could share. He'd always trusted Magistra, and thought of her as a mother figure since his was far away in the North. His own mother was good friends with Magistra and he'd known the woman since he was a baby. It was why he and Sorryn were more like brothers then friends or team mates.
After he'd told her everything he could, she said nothing, just looked at the stone in question as it sat on the black velvet blanket on her counter. Then she sighed. “Let me take a closer look.”
Loki wanted nothing more than to vomit. Rehashing the entire tale was harder then he thought and made him relive every moment with more clarity each time.
“This is a very complicated and complex spell, Loki.” She put a magnifying glass on the stone, then after several moments of inspection, she set the stone, carefully, in a bowl of lavender colored, steaming liquid.
After about ten minutes the water turned a dull brown and Magistra removed the stone, then she dipped her fingers into the water and ran them in strange symbols along a piece of parchment close by, then she cupped the water in her hands and let it sift through her fingers, slowly.
A few more minutes passed, he watched her intently.
Finally, she turned to him. “Well, the good news is that Marla did not infuse this stone with bits of her soul, just a complex spell designed to make the person in possession of the stone have very lustful thoughts. Thoughts meant to consume them. Loki, honestly, the control you showed at the dinner party was impressive. With a complex spell like this, you should have been – excuse my language and all - but you should have been nearly humping anyone that you found attractive. The fact that, outwardly, you seemed quite normal is a testament to your will and control. This stone, in combination with the Chysbis, would be cause for a very confused, fogged and completely erotically open mind. It does not surprise me that then combined with the binding stone; Marla slipped in and did as she pleased with you, and you being a willing participant. Your mind was a complete sexual outlet. It is completely disgusting of her, and breaking about a thousand different moral, ethical and kingdom related codes.”
He nodded solemnly, too awestruck and dumbfounded by all of this to speak just yet.
She looked at the stone with her head cocked. “I will need to study it further to find some kind of counter spell and ritual, to make the effects go away. Possibly leaving the realm will sever the effects or at least dull them, but of that I even cannot be sure.”
He let out a long, deep sigh. “Do what you can, Magistra. Please. I will be back soon.”
Magistra sighed and set the now dry stone back into the black velvet. “What do you plan to do about Marla, Loki?”
“Of this I have no idea.”
.~.
.... Adeila ....
This meeting, just as she assumed, was not going so well. Her father raged, while her mother sat quietly looking disappointed, which she was quite sure was worse.
“You cannot keep me here; this is not my home yet. It is stunning and I am so thankful to have spent the time here, but I have a life on the human realm. I still have months of high school to get through. I've worked my ass off for my grades to be what they are, there’s no way in hell I'm going to give up on that.”
The King only stared at her. He was clearly not expecting her to still want to leave after the weekend here. It had been a very hard decision. Probably the hardest she had ever made, or will make in a very long time. Everything about being here felt right, felt like it was her destiny. But she was stubborn and wanted this on her terms. In her way.
She knew, instantly, that her father would be far harder to convince then Loki.
“Once I finish high school I could come back. I could try this out for real, but for right now I want to be a normal teenage girl. Not a Princess to a Faerie throne.”
“Do you not realize what kind of dangers you may be in?”
“I've been in the human realm for almost eighteen years I haven't been in danger yet.” Her heart pounded in that half-truth, as the face of the creepy bald guy came into view. Her real father, the King, did not need to know about that. She was pretty sure the Fae could not read minds.
“That is entirely beside the point. You've already been told that by entering the Fae realm, a beacon has been set upon you. Who knows whose eyes and ears are looking to you now?
“Well, I'll just cross that bridge when I get there, but there is no way I'm staying here. I am going back. I feel like I have to. I owe myself that much. I started something in the human realm, and I want to finish it. At least just high school. Hold that diploma, throw my cap at graduation. Let me have this, please. I beg of you. I only have like five more months.”
“You have a life here. People that love you. A bonding with an ancient, magical being.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “And I assume those things will still be here when I do return.”
The King's brows rose. “Just like your damn mother. Stubborn, pig headed, bull headed and everything else.”
He turned to the woman in question; who Adeila could see had tears in her eyes but laughed at his completely ridiculous outburst and shook her head. Adeila hated this - hated saying goodbye. So she refused to do so.
“I am not saying goodbye. I won't. I will see you again, in time. In my time, I will, I can promise you that much.”
The King growled, and she could almost see his heart twisting, the shimmer of tears in his eyes; but then a dark cloud passed over them and her warrior Fae father was back. “If your mind cannot be swayed then you will be followed in the human realm by our people. By that, my daughter, I can assure you.”
He turned his full attention on Loki. “You will assign two more agents to be in the school with you, and two more outside of that loop as lookouts. And I want you personally responsible for my daughter’s safety. We never made the oath final before, because I knew it was more of her will if she wanted to return and not so much about safety. Now I want the Oath to be finalized, if you will still bear it?”
Loki swallowed and his golden eyes turned to Adeila, she clearly read in them that she was turning into a giant pain in his ass. But instead of voicing anything that his eyes were clearly telling her, he turned completely and got down on one knee in front of her father.
“I swear to you, my King, by my very soul and the blood of the North, that I will keep your daughter, Adeila, safe from harm or I will die trying. Until you release me from
this Oath with honor, or death claim me. I will uphold this ancient Oath of protection.” As soon as his last words were spoken, he produced a dagger. She hadn't even seen it on his body. He sliced the sharp blade neatly across his palm.
Her father stepped forward. “I know many things you have asked from me in the past, Loki, which I didn't always deliver. Things that I questioned; but no longer. I will give you anything you wish, son. Anything.” He sliced his own palm, from a dagger that she hadn't seen him produce either, and clasped his hand with Loki's. They held each others hands, and stared into the others eyes for several moments, before clasping in a very male hug and stepping apart.
