A Game Of Love And Lies

Part 11

Loki

The following two days were rough. No form of entertainment what so ever. Dalia started to get on my nerves more and more every passing moment. I had nothing to discuss with a person that had no real experiences in life and only had lived inside of these walls.

I read almost all of my recommended books in my room and it was not a pleasant journey. Novels were not my specialty. I did not care who liked who. In the end, they all compromised leaving their lives and goals behind, to be with their one true love. How repulsive. I had started to believe that Dalia planted these books in my chamber to make me more romantic. 

I occasionally strolled on my own to get some peace. I even took the horse a couple of times but it always reminded me of her. Once I caught myself smiling while gazing at the city's harbor. On the day of that race, I could have won. I teleported myself only halfway through to discover if she would even try. I did not expect her to win considering I never had real competition in my field of expertise before. She beat me at my own game...cheating. How humiliating on one hand but how exhilarating on the other.

No one explained to me how and why she just left. They really thought I'd believe that an urgent matter occurred and she had to travel in the middle of the night to Mistan? I left her injured in bed and they expected me to believe such a lie?

The last two days Althea did not leave my thoughts but I refused to believe that I had caught feelings. I concluded on a more complicated but way more logical explanation. My whole life I did not enjoy permanent circumstances. When anything got serious in any situation I just came up with a new more disturbing plan to start fresh. There was a chance I had created feelings so I would doubt my moves and not marry after all. It was either that or I got cursed to have a weakness.

I am not a person with these kind of emotions. I've killed people with no empathy so of course, it can not be true that I possess any sentiments for a Midgardian. Thor would have laughed at my situation. I've teased and mocked him for liking a human, what would he say to me now? Have I lost my edge?

Any time she popped into my head I kept repeating these thoughts to ensure to myself I had not gotten insane.

I closed my book and left it on the table next to me. It took me all night to finish it but that one did not seem that awful. For a Midgardian one, I was honestly surprised.

I glanced at the view and realized tomorrow I would become king. I sipped my tea when Dalia barged in without knocking. It was a terrible habit that she picked up and I did not know how to stop it. She joined me outside on the balcony after grabbing a book herself.

"Which one are you reading now?"

"It is called Pride and Prejudice."

"Oh, that one is a classic."

"Why do you enjoy novels so much?"

She let down her own and thought about it for a few seconds.

"I suppose romantic books will not make sense if you have never experienced what the characters feel. The only way to truly enjoy it is to picture the person you love in it."

She smiled expecting that person to be her but she was so mistaken. Her words echoed in my head making me realize why this tale from all the others stood out.

I could relate to mister Darcy. Everyone including his future love interest despised him from the rumors spreading around. He had to fight for his redemption and for the woman he desired to love him. I was down the same path.

Knocking me out of my trance, Dalia delivered the most terrible news.

"I can not wait to meet your family. I have missed Thor as well."

I leaped up from my chair terrified of the meaning of her words.

"When you say to meet my family...what exactly do you mean?"

She stared at me like I had gone mad.

"Well, aren't they going to come for the wedding?"

"Are they?!"

"Of course, father sent our fastest spaceship on our engagement day to deliver the happy news. It could be arriving in Asgard at any moment now."

A million thoughts passed through my head but the main one was...I had to get off this planet. No one knew I was here and they were probably looking for me to imprison me.

I glanced at Dalia one last time. She was always smiling, she had probably never experienced or seen real sadness before. Why would she? Born after the war and being the wealthiest woman on the planet can be enough to make a person optimistic. Maybe it was time for someone to break her heart. To find out the hard way that no one really experiences their happily ever after.

"Dalia dear, I forgot I have to discuss something with your father before our big day. You will have to excuse me."

She was ready to ask about what that something was but I turned my back to her and left before she could.

I started strongly pacing around not so certain where I was going. I took a turn in a hallway no one would see me in and turned myself into one of the soldiers.

Now. Where are their safes?

I took many turns and entered many corridors that led nowhere. My palms were starting to sweat from the anxiety that was building up in me. In any second Thor could travel through the Bifrost and come after me. Not something I was looking forward to.

In my despair, I asked a soldier where the safes were.

As I was walking down the stairs I viewed two others standing in front of a big metal door that had to be the main safe. I froze when I realized I was looking straight at the face I chose as a disguise.

They were not shocked for more than a few seconds. In a kingdom where magic was real and known, they understood the situation rather quickly.

"Now if I tell you that we are twins and got separated at birth would you believe me?"

I guess they did not like my joke since they sped up and grabbed their swords.

"Fine."

I was not planning to actually fight them since they had a serious advantage with their swords and armor. I created two illusions and I hid behind a column. One illusion was me waiting for them to approach me and grab me only to find out that I was not real. The second one was supposedly me going through the door without the need of opening it. Common people like them were not aware of what was possible in magic and what was not. As far as they were concerned they just viewed a man going through metal.

Panic is a trickster's best weapon.  Worried that I would steal they opened the door to catch me before I did. I took a glimpse of the inside as they entered. Innumerable treasures everywhere. They could never know what got stolen. As they realized the wizard escaped they rushed to the top floor to alarm everyone about what happened.

They did not have the time to go through the process of closing the doors and it would not make any sense either since they had the impression that the thief entered, took what he wanted, and vanished.

As they run upstairs I rushed into the safe. The tesseract was sitting gloriously in the middle away from any other valuable. I turned into my true form not needing any more a disguise.

"We meet again."

I held it in my hands thrilled of possessing once again one of the greatest powers in the universe. This time I knew exactly where I wanted to end up and I was not going to waste any time. About twenty men run towards me,  my brother among them.

I gifted him with my mischievous smirk knowing I had won. Before everything turned into stars and galaxies I saw him pointing his finger at me like I was a little kid in need of discipline.

"Don't you dare..."