“Are you guys ready?”
“For what?” Matt asked.
“To run. I don’t know what’s on the other side of the door, or how long I can hold them off,” I said. “As soon as they open the door, you have to be ready to run as fast as you can, as far as you can.”
“Aren’t you just gonna Star Wars them?” Rhys asked, completely unfazed by the idea. “When Obi-Wan’s like, ‘These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.’”
“Yeah, but I don’t know how many guards there are, or how dangerous they might be.” My thoughts flashed back to Finn and how he hadn’t been at my house. I shivered involuntarily and shook my head. “Let’s just get out of here, okay?”
Matt didn’t look convinced, but I don’t think anything could’ve convinced him. This whole thing had turned into a giant horrible mess, all because I hadn’t wanted to stay in Förening and be a stupid Princess.
If I had, none of this would’ve happened. Matt and Rhys would be at their respective homes, safe and sound, and Finn would be… Well, I didn’t know where he’d be, but it had to be better than whatever really did happen to him.
With that thought burning in my mind, I pounded on the door, knocking as loudly as I could. My fist hurt from how hard I hit, but I didn’t care.
5. Hobgoblin
“What?” A deep, craggy voice asked, and a slot slid open in the middle of the door.
I bent over to peer through, and I saw the hobgoblin that had come in with Loki.
His eyes were buried under bushy eyebrows, and I wasn’t sure if I had a good enough view to persuade him. Or even if it worked on actual trolls. They appeared to be an entirely different species from me.
“Ludlow, is it?” I asked, remembering the name Loki had shouted when sending for help.
“Don’t try to sweet talk me, Princess.” The hobgoblin coughed, retching up phlegm and spitting it on the ground. He wiped his face on the back of his sleeve before turning to me. “I’ve turned down far prettier girls than you before.”
“I need to go to the bathroom.” I dropped any pretense of being friendly. I had a feeling that honesty and cynicism would go farther with him.
“So go. You don’t have to ask me for permission,” Ludlow laughed, but it wasn’t a pleasant sound.
“There’s no bathroom in here. I’m not gonna squat on the ground,” I said, genuinely disgusted by the idea.
“Then hold it.” Ludlow started to shut the slot, but I put my hand out. He pushed hard, but I stopped it easily. If it came down to it, I could totally overpower the hobgoblin.
“Can’t you get a guard or something to take me the bathroom?” I asked.
“I am the guard,” Ludlow snapped, sounding huffy.
“Oh really?” I smirked at him, realizing this might be far easier than I thought.
“Don’t underestimate me, Princess,” Ludlow growled. “I eat girls like you for breakfast.”
“So you’re a cannibal?” I wrinkled my nose.
“Ludlow, are you harassing the poor girl?” A voice came from out of sight of the slot. Ludlow moved to the side, and I saw Loki swaggering towards us.
“She’s harassing me,” Ludlow complained.
“Yes, talking to a beautiful Princess - what a rough lot you have in life,” Loki said dryly, and Matt snorted behind me.
Ludlow muttered something, but Loki held up his hand, silencing him. He was too close to the door for me to see his face. The slot was at Ludlow’s eye level, which was about at Loki’s waist.
“What seems to be the problem?” Loki asked.
“I need to go to the bathroom.” I leaned in closer to the slot, peering up at him. I wanted to catch his eye, but they stayed out of my vision.
“And I told her to go inside the cell,” Ludlow said with pride in his voice.
“Oh come now. She’s not a common mänks. We can’t leave her in squalor!” Loki chastised the troll, sounding genuinely displeased. “Open the door. Let her out.”
“But, sir, I’m not to let her out until the King calls for her.” Ludlow looked up at him nervously.
“You think the King would want her treated this way?” Loki asked, and the hobgoblin wrung his hands. “You can explain to the Majesty that this is all my fault, if it comes to it.”
Ludlow nodded his reluctant compliance. He slid the slot shut, and I let him this time. I stood up and listened to the sounds of the bolts and locks clicking and turning.
“I don’t like this,” Matt said, throwing his disapproval into the ring.
“We don’t have much of a choice,” I whispered. “I got us into this, and I’ll get us out.”
The door opened a bit, and I stood back, expecting it to open farther. I thought Loki would step in, I would use persuasion, and we would be off. But he and Ludlow remained hidden outside.
“Well?” Ludlow asked. “I’m not holding this door open all day.”
Ludlow had left the door open a few inches, barely enough room for me to slide my body through. I squeezed my way out, and as soon as I had, Ludlow slammed the door shut. I stared down at him, already busying himself with locking it up.
“The bathroom is this way,” Loki said.
He gestured down the hall. It had the same dank bricks as the cell I’d been in.
The floors were dirt, and torches on the wall lit the way.
“Thanks.” I smiled at Loki and caught his eyes easily. They were really quite beautiful, a dark golden color, but I pushed that thought from my mind.
Concentrating as hard as I could, I started chanting, Let them go. Let us go.
Open the cell and let us go. It took a few seconds before I saw any response, but the one I got wasn’t at all what I was expecting.
A bemused smile crossed his lips, and his eyes sparkled with wicked pleasure.
“I bet you don’t even have to go to the bathroom, do you?” Loki smirked at me.
“I - what?” I fumbled, startled that nothing happened.
“I told you we shouldn’t let her out!” Ludlow shouted, defending his position.
“Relax, Ludlow,” Loki said but kept his eyes on me. “She’s fine. Harmless.”
I redoubled my efforts, thinking I hadn’t tried hard enough. Maybe I’d weakened myself by using persuasion on Rhys so recently. Healers were tired and aged after they used their abilities. I was probably the same way, even though I didn’t feel tired.
I had started repeating it in my mind again when Loki waved his hand, stopping me.
“Easy, Princess, you’re going to hurt yourself,” he laughed. “You’re persistent, though. I’ll give you that.”
“So what? You’re immune or something?” I asked.
No point in pretending I hadn’t been trying to use persuasion on him. He obviously knew what I was doing.
“Not exactly. You’re far too unfocused.” He crossed his arms over his chest, watching me with that same curious expression he always seemed to have. “You’re quite powerful, though.”
“I thought you said she was harmless,” Ludlow interjected.
“She is. Without training, she’s almost useless,” Loki clarified. “Someday, she’ll be a great asset. Right now, she’s little more than a parlor trick.”
“Thanks,” I muttered.
I hurried to rethink the plan. I could definitely take down Ludlow, but I didn’t understand how all the locks worked. Even if I got him out of the way, I wasn’t sure that I could open the door.
Loki stood right in front of me, and I already knew how well I’d fare against him.
Besides being taller and stronger than me, he had the ability to knock me out just by looking at me. I had no plan.
“I can see your mind spinning,” Loki said, almost in awe. I tensed up, afraid he might be able to read my mind, and I tried to think of nothing. “I can’t see what’s on your mind. If I had, I wouldn’t have let you out. But now that you are, we might as well make the best of it.”
“What do you mean?” I ask
ed warily, moving away from him.
“You overestimate my interest in you.” Loki grinned broadly. “I prefer my Princesses in unsoiled pajamas.”
My clothes would’ve been relatively clean, if it weren’t for the blood on my sweater and some dirt on my knees. I’m sure I was a mess, but it wasn’t my fault.
“I’m sorry. I usually look much nicer after I take a beating,” I said, and his smile faltered.
“Yes, well, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that now.” Loki recovered quickly, his cocky edge returning. “I think it’s time you went and saw Sara.”
“Sir, I really think that’s unwise -” Ludlow tried to interrupt, but Loki glared at him and he shut up.
“What about my friends?” I pointed at the cell.
“They’re not going anywhere.” Loki smiled at his own joke, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
“I know that. But I’m not leaving without them,” I said firmly.
“You’re in luck. You’re not leaving.” Loki started taking a step back, still facing me. “Don’t worry, Princess. They’re perfectly safe. Come on. Talking to Sara would be in your best interest.”
“I’ve already met Sara,” I said, attempting some kind of a protest.
I looked apprehensively at the door, but Loki took another step back. I sighed, deciding that talking to higher ups would probably be the only way I could barter Matt and Rhys’s release. Even if I couldn’t ensure my own.
“How did you know?” I asked as I fell into step with him.
He walked next to me down the hall as we passed several more doors like the one on my cell. I didn’t hear much of anything or see any other hobgoblins standing guard, but I wondered how many other prisoners were here.
“Know what?”
“That I was… you know, trying to persuade you,” I said. “If it wasn’t working, how did you know?”
“Because you’re powerful,” Loki reiterated and gestured to his head. “It’s like a static. I could feel you trying to push your way inside my head.” He shrugged. “You’ll feel it, too, if anyone tries it on you. I’m not sure if it’d work, though.”
“So it doesn’t work on Trylle or Vittra?” I asked, doubting he would give me a straight answer. I wondered why he was telling me anything.
“No, it does. And if you were doing it well, I wouldn’t have felt anything at all,” Loki explained. “But we’re harder to control than mänks. If you do a sloppy job of digging around in our heads, we’ll feel it.”
We reached concrete steps, and Loki bounded up them, barely waiting for me.
He showed no concern for me escaping, and he divulged more information than he had to. As far as I could tell, Loki was a really terrible guard. Ludlow should’ve had more authority over him.
He pushed through the massive doors at the top of the stairs, and we stepped out into a grand hall. Not a hallway kind of hall, but hall as in a large room with vaulted ceilings. The walls were a dark wood with red accents, and an ornate red rug lay on the center of the floor.
It had the same kind of opulence that the palace in Förening had, but the tones were all deeper and richer. It felt more like a luxurious castle.
“This is really nice,” I said, not hiding the surprise and awe in my voice.
“Yes, of course it is. It’s the King’s home.” Loki looked at me, bemused by how stupefied I appeared. “What else would you expect?”
“I don’t know. After the downstairs, I assumed something creepier and dirtier.” I shrugged. “You didn’t have electricity down there.”
“It’s for dramatic effect.” Loki gestured widely. “It’s a dungeon.” He walked on down a corridor leading away, decorated the same as the hall, and I followed him.
“What would happen if I tried to escape?” I asked.
I didn’t see anyone else. If I outran Loki, I could probably get away. Not that I knew where to go, and I still wouldn’t be able to free Matt and Rhys.
“I would stop you,” he replied simply.
“The same way Kyra did at my house?” A pain flared up in my rib, as if reminding me of the damage she caused.
“No.” Something dark flickered across his face for a second. He quickly erased it and smiled at me. “I would simply take you in my arms and hold you there until you swooned.”
“It sounds romantic when you say it that way.” I wrinkled my nose, remembering how he’d made me pass out by staring into my eyes. It hadn’t been painful, but it hadn’t exactly been pleasant either.
“It is when I envision it.”
“That’s a little twisted,” I said, but he shrugged in response. “Why did you kidnap me and take me here?”
“I fear you have too many questions for me, Princess,” Loki said, almost tiredly.
“You’d do better saving them all for Sara. She’s the one with the answers.”
We walked the rest of the way there without saying anything. He led me down the hall, up a flight of stairs carpeted in something red and velvet, and down another hall before stopping at ornate wooden double doors. Vines, fairies, and trolls were carved into the doors, depicting a fantasy scene in the same vein as Hans Christian Anderson.
Loki knocked once and with a dramatic flair, opened the doors without waiting for a response. I followed behind him.
“Loki!” Sara shouted. “You are to wait to be let into my chambers!”
Her room was much the same as the rest of the house. A large four-poster bed sat in the center, with crimson sheets unmade on top of it.
A dressing table sat on one side of the room, and she was in front of it on a small stool. Her hair was pulled up in the same firm ponytail I had seen her with before, but she’d changed out of her clothes. A long black satin robe hung around her.
When she turned to look at us, the fabric moved as if it was liquid. Her brown eyes widened with shock at the sight of me, but she hurried to compose herself.
A hobgoblin stood next to her, the same kind as Ludlow. He had attempted to dress, wearing a small butler’s uniform, but he had the same horrible skin and haggard appearance. Long necklaces, layered in diamonds and pearls, hung from his hands. At first, I didn’t understand why, but I realized he was holding them for her, like a living jewelry box.
A yapping ball of fur jumped off the bed when we came into the room. It stopped just short of us, and I saw it was only a Pomeranian. The majority of its rage seemed directed at me, and when Loki told it to be quiet, it fell silent. Eyeing me warily, the dog walked towards Sara.
“I didn’t expect to see you so soon.” Sara forced a smile at me, and her eyes turned icy when she looked at Loki. “I would’ve been dressed if I had known you were coming.”
“The Princess was getting restless.” Loki lounged on a velvet couch sitting near the end of the bed. “After the day she’s had, I thought she deserved a break.”
“I understand that, but I’m a tad unprepared at the moment.” Sara continued glaring at him and gestured to her robe.
“Well, then you shouldn’t have sent me to retrieve her so soon,” Loki said, returning her stare evenly.
“You know that we had to do-” Sara cut herself off and shook her head. “Never mind. What’s done is done, and you’re absolutely right.” She smiled at me, her expression leaning towards something warm. Or at least something far warmer than my mother Elora ever managed.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Even after all they’d done, I still had no idea what the Vittra really wanted with me.
I knew only that they refused to stop coming after me.
“Yes, we should talk.” She tapped her fingers on the table for a minute while she thought. “Can you give us a minute so we can talk?”
“Fine,” Loki sighed and got to his feet. “Come on, Froud.” The little dog ran happily to him, and Loki scooped him up. “The grown-ups need to talk.”
The hobgoblin set the jewelry carefully on the table, and then headed towards the door. He walk
ed slowly, his gait wobbly thanks to his stature, but Loki meandered so that the troll made it out of the room before him.
“Loki?” Sara said when he reached the doors, but she didn’t look at him. “Make sure my husband is ready for us.”
“As you wish.” Loki made a small bow, still carrying the dog. When he walked out, he shut the doors behind him, leaving Sara and me alone.
“How are you feeling?” Sara offered me a smile.
“Better. Thank you.” I wasn’t certain that I should be thanking her. She had healed me, but she had something to do with me getting hurt in the first place.
“You’ll want to get changed.” Sara nodded to my clothes as she stood up. “I might have something in your size.”
“Thanks, but I don’t really care about my clothes. I want to know what’s going on.
Why did you kidnap me?” I felt exasperated, and I know it came out in my words, but she didn’t seem to notice.
“I’m sure I have something,” Sara continued, as if I hadn’t said anything. She walked over to a large closet in the corner and opened the door. “It might be a little big on you, but I’m sure it’ll work.” After looking for a matter of seconds, she pulled out a long black dress.
“I really don’t give a damn about the clothes!” I snapped. “I want to know why you keep chasing after me! I can’t give you what you want if I don’t know what it is!”
As she walked to the bed, I realized she was uncomfortable looking at me. Her eyes seemed to go everywhere just to avoid me. Any time they did land on me, she was quick to look away. She went over to the bed, laying my dress on it.
“You sent them out to talk and now you won’t say anything?” I asked, growing even more frustrated.
“I’ve imagined this day for a long time.” Sara lovingly touched the dress, smoothing it out in the bed. “Yet here it is, and I feel so unprepared.”
“Seriously. What does that mean?” I said.
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