Your Majesty - Loki x OC

42: Massacring My Cloak (For a good cause)

FREYJA

My heart did a nervous little flutter in my chest as Loki went limp against me, but my concerns were dulled as soon as it dawned on me that he overused his magic and was not either dead or dying.

"He's fine." I looked between the anxious faces of the Frost Giants around me, who all simultaneously thought that their new King just died. I flitted like a butterfly between their minds, their worry bright and hot like a fire in the dead of night. "Just overdid his magic."

Though I had no trouble bearing Loki's weight, he did have a couple inches on me, so I had to adjust to support his size. I pressed myself closer against his side and held on to his arm, which was slung over my shoulders. I could feel the warmth radiating from his body through my layers of clothing.

"So he's not dead?" Steiner asked with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

I tried for an awkward smile. "No, he'll be fine. He only needs to sleep it off. Is there somewhere that he could-?"

"Er, yes!" Geir and Keld immediately straightened up. "We'll take him to the King's room!"

Without even waiting for a confirmation from me, Geir snapped his fingers and Keld scooped my friend up and began carrying him out of the arena and towards the hallway, away from the onlookers.

The corridors, it turned out, were already flooded with giants longing to see their new king. Blue bodies pressed in on me and the others so tightly that I had to pull my cloak closer around myself to keep from having it stepped on. Everywhere my head turned, there was another pair of red eyes watching the procession move down the hallway.

"He has magic." Whispers chased us through the halls. "There has never been a spell caster king on Jotenheim before..."

"Loki, son of Laufey and Farbaudi..."

"...took off his armor in combat! Unheard of!"

"Leif is dead..."

"...coronation..."

"Hey! Look! It's the queen!"

A hand the size of a dinner plate came out of nowhere and brushed against my arm. I shied away from the touch and tried to stop from tearing off down the hallway at a dead sprint.

"...Last female." Another hungry voice added. A finger grazed the end of my braid, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

Soon, they were coming from everywhere. It was suffocating, having so many beings closing in from all sides. I was trapped. Rough, gnarled hands reached out to feel my arms, my chest, my face. They clamped down on my arms and legs with shocking strength, and I could barely even keep walking. A fingernail scratched my neck, and it was like being thrown back into a battlefield. A Frost Giant with its hand closed around my throat...

I snapped.

"Back up!" I screamed, and a surge of adrenaline flooded my system. "Everyone, back up!" I clenched my fists, and the strangest thing happened. It felt like when I was practicing telekinesis with Loki and moved the book, only this was wilder, more uncontrolled. A buildup of energy I didn't even realize was there got released all at once, like the breaking of a wave. It erupted out of me, even as all I could feel was panic.