Passionate Misfortune

Chapter Twelve

Loki and Delysia sat next to each other on the couch near the fireplace. Loki noticed how jittery Delysia was and laid his hand on her knee. Her body stilled and her eyes darted up to look into his.

"It's alright. It's just you and me." Loki said.

Delysia looked back at his hand and he chuckled nervously as he removed it.

"I don't think I can do this." Delysia said shakily.

"It's alright, Delysia. You're fine. I'm not going to judge you in any way." Loki told her.

"I'm scared." Delysia confessed.

"Why?" Loki asked.

"I'm scared that if I reveal what's happened to me, you'll leave." Delysia replied.

"I won't." Loki said quickly.

"Do you promise?" Delysia inquired.

"I promise." Loki replied.

Delysia smiled weakly and nodded her head. She took a deep breath and sighed before looking up at Loki.

"My mother and father were the last elves to ever rule as king and queen." Delysia began.

"You? You were the last of the royal family? I read about them when I was younger." Loki told her.

"I was. You heard of us?" Delysia asked.

"When Asgard had become aware of what Vanaheim was doing to the elves, we tried to stop it, but we couldn't handle them. I remember being with my father in one of his meetings about it." Loki explained.

"I was once a princess." Delysia said.

"Well, you fit in here." Loki chuckled softly.

Delysia smiled softly and put her head down as she sighed.

"It was the day of my brother's wedding when it happened. I think I was about maybe fourteen or fifteen at the time. But I had been around for a long time. Maybe a few hundred years to be that age. I don't remember, it was so long ago." Delysia told him.

"Elves and Asgardians are similar in that aspect." Loki said.

"We were at the reception of the wedding in our throne room. I remember everything and everyone in there so vividly, it's almost like a dream when I remember. I was sitting next to my brother's wife, Egnari. She was the most beautiful woman, besides my mother, I have ever seen. Her eyes were a dark purple or blue, I can't remember, but they were so striking and every time I looked into them, it was if she was looking deep into my soul. She was a saint too. She was so kind and loving. I was the only girl in my family and she was like a sister to me." Delysia explained.

Delysia played with the fabric of her night dress and hesitated on whether to continue or not.

"Please, go on. I want to hear more." Loki said.

"Egnari had been talking to me about how I was at an age that boys would be trying to compete for my affections since I had a lovely face. She was the one that could see my true beauty. My mother did all she could to make me even more attractive so my husband and I would have even more babies with lovely faces. I thought it was ridiculous. I wanted to fall in love not be forced into it. But, anyway, as I sat there, I never knew that would be the last time I'd ever speak to her, hear her voice again, or ever see her face. Most of the time when I think about her, I remember her being used and beaten by those men. She hid me under the table to protect me. I had to watch as they...as they..." Delysia trailed off as she swallowed back her tears.

"It's alright. I understand what you're trying to say. You can skip it over." Loki said.

"Before that, I watched as everyone was having such a wonderful time. Little did we know that those men were already killing our people in the villages. They were thorough about killing us off. They moved in groups. Everyone was drinking, dancing, and laughing with one another. The throne room looked so grand that night. The chandelier hung over us and gave the room a gold glow. I was wearing my best clothes. The day before my mother had tried to pierce more holes into my ear to fit an elaborate earring that she wanted me to wear. I hid from her the whole day so she would not do it. My father and mother were dancing and holding one another, my brothers were all flirting with any girl they found attractive. My eldest brother, Oleif, had married Egnari. The two were in love and I sometimes wondered what their children would have looked like. A few minutes before the wedding took place, Egnari had confided in me that she was with child. I promised to keep it a secret until their honeymoon was over." Delysia continued.

"I remember those names. They were supposed to come here for the honeymoon. The maids and servants were going crazy preparing their rooms." Loki reminisced.

"It was during their first dance when they barged in. They were so menacing and I was so scared. Egnari quickly hid me under the table before they saw me. I watched as they killed everyone I loved. All my brothers were dead within seconds of their attack. Oleif had fallen right in front of me. His eyes were staring right at mine. I wanted him to say something to me, but I knew he never could anymore. They dragged his body away and he was pleading with me to help him but I couldn't do anything. I remember watching my father holding my mother in his arms. As he stood up, he turned to face one of the men. He put his arms at his sides and accepted the sword. He had nothing to live for after that. He thought all of his family was dead at that point, but I was still alive. I knew that soon enough they would find me and I ran from under table and down the halls of the palace trying to escape them. I watched as our loyal maids and servants were slain where they walked. And then I heard the most terrible thing I could have ever heard in that time." Delysia explained.

She took of the hand that wrapped around hers but she did nothing to remove it from her grasp.

"'Get her'," Delysia told him. "One of those men had seen me and I kept running. I ran until I was out of the palace. I had seen the damage they had done to our villages so I ran straight for the forest. I was taught by my father about that forest and what was inside. He taught me what foods to eat and not to eat and how to survive. I think a apart of him knew that one day, this would have happened. I ran into the forest and I could hear the horses galloping after me. They shot arrows at me and they all missed. As I ran, I remember praying to the gods for one to strike me."

"Why?" Loki gasped.

Delysia looked up into Loki's eyes and smiled weakly.

"I had no one left to care for me and love me. My whole family was dead within a few minutes of the attack. All my relatives were being killed at that party. All my people my family ruled over so graciously. I wanted to be with them. I wanted an arrow to strike me in the back and end me. It would have been so much easier." Delysia explained.

"It wouldn't have been easier. You wouldn't be here to live and share these stories. You wouldn't be able to pass down your culture." Loki told her.

"But every day I have to live with the fact that my family is dead. All my people. I have no one to relate with. I'm the last one. I don't want to be the last one. I want to be with my people. I didn't want this. I didn't want to be captured, tortured, and made a mockery of for money and be brought here and have people still see me the same way." Delysia cried softly.

"I didn't see that way. I wanted to help you. I wanted to end your never ending cycle. I think that's something to live for." Loki said as he gripped her hand tightly.

"You'll never understand until you have everything taken from you. None of you will until the people you loved are taken away," Delysia told him. "We could have made a compromise with them to give lands back. It didn't have to resort to what it did."

"That's true. I won't understand your pain. But I can help you deal with it." Loki said.

Delysia nodded her head and Loki sighed as he bit his lip.

"What happened after they went after you?" Loki asked.

"I managed to escape their arrows and other weapons and I outran them. I guess they believed I would perish by myself out there. My best clothes were torn and stained with mud and other things. I was a mess by the time they found me. I picked some food and I found a cave to sleep in. I had made myself a small fire and tried my best to survive. I even thought I might die in there. But days later, they came searching in the night when I was asleep. Each night, I had to fall asleep to the sounds of people cries and screams. I even heard children screaming in agony. When they found me, I was a wreck. I thought they were going to kill me. I was so scared. But as they looked at me, I heard them whisper to one another. I thought they were planning on how they would kill me. I didn't know if they would use me, beat me, and then kill me, or beat me, kill me and then use me, I was so afraid. I screamed for help as they grabbed me and forced me out of the cave and that's when they told me I had no one left. There was no one in our kingdom to help. They were all dead." Delysia explained.

Delysia smiled softly as Loki handed her his handkerchief.

"Thank you." Delysia said softly.

She wiped her tears away and held the handkerchief in her hands as she looked back up at Loki.

"What did they do to you after they took you?" Loki inquired.

"They chained me and threw me into a cell. There were no windows for sunlight or the stars to be seen. For years, all they did was torture me because I was an elf. I was there for so long, I forgot so many beautiful things. After so many years and taking over our land, they finally decided to use me as a spectacle to make money off of. The last living elf in the world. They invited people to enter my cell and do what they wanted. I thought one day, they would finally kill me and end my suffering, but they never did." Delysia finished.

"How long?" Loki asked.

"I was most likely fifteen when I was taken and I believe I'm twenty-five but our aging processes are the same so, what looks like ten years is really..." Delysia trailed off.

"Hundreds of years." Loki finished.

Delysia nodded her head and Loki's brow furrowed as he inhaled sharply.

"What did they do?" Loki asked.

"Some whipped me, others did beat me, they barely fed me. They made sure I was so close to death but never let me die." Delysia replied.

"Oh my god." Loki gasped.

"I still have the scars to remind me of what they did." Delysia cried.

Before Loki could speak, Delysia sobbed into his handkerchief and Loki sighed as he moved close to her and wrapped his arm around her back. He laid his other hand on her right shoulder and hushed her. Delysia tried her best to stifle her cries as Loki rubbed her back. As he did, he felt Delysia tense up and he realized why. She wore a thin nightdress which allowed him to feel the scars on her back. Delysia quickly stood from the couch and Loki stuttered to say something.

"Delysia, I'm sorry. I didn't know that-"

"I think it's obvious that I have scars there." Delysia snapped.

"I didn't do it on purpose." Loki retorted as he stood from the couch.

"I'm going to bed." Delysia said.

Loki walked over to Delysia and her eyes widened as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. He cradled her head to his chest and hugged her tightly. Delysia cried softly and slowly raised her arms to wrap around his body. She gripped his night shirt tightly and sobbed as she remembered all the terrible things she had endured.

"It's alright, Delysia. Let it out. You're safe here and no one can hurt you." Loki whispered.

Delysia pulled away and looked up into Loki's eyes. He furrowed his brow and smiled weakly as Delysia took his face in her hands. She caressed his cheeks softly and her eyes looked over his face before looking back into his eyes.

"Thank you." Delysia whispered.

Loki smiled softly as he leaned forward and sighed.

"You're welcome." Loki whispered back.

Seeing how close he was, Delysia walked away from him and Loki furrowed his brow as he shook his head at his own actions.

"Thank you for telling me this, Delysia. I know how much it must have hurt for you to tell me, but, I'm glad that we're now open with one another." Loki told her.

"It felt nice to finally talk to someone about it." Delysia said.

"That's good." Loki chuckled softly.

"I'm tired." Delysia sighed.

"You must be exhausted after that." Loki told her.

Delysia nodded her head as she sniffled. Loki walked over to her and helped her into the bed. Loki got into the bed and felt different laying beside her.

"I'm sorry for everything that's happened to you. No one should ever go through what you've been through. Those men deserve to rot in Hel for what they've done." Loki told her.

Delysia nodded her head in agreement and Loki turned on his side to face her.

"Can I ask you something?" Loki inquired.

"Mhmm." Delysia hummed.

"Your other bruises? Have they been there long?" Loki asked.

"Sometimes, it feels like they've been there longer than time itself." Delysia replied.

Loki was about to speak when Delysia shook her head.

"I don't understand how you can keep me safe when there are men and woman out there who would gladly kill just to take me and use me for their benefits." Delysia stated.

"But no one would dare try given your status here. The people here know right from wrong and although they think of it, they would never go through with it. Only if they wished to be imprisoned or killed for their actions, would they do it." Loki explained.

"Are you sure?" Delysia asked.

Loki nodded his head and Delysia smiled weakly.

"You were so kind to me when you came to give me food." Delysia stated.

"That's just who I am." Loki sighed.

"Really? Or is it something more?" Delysia asked.

"I care for those around me. That's it." Loki replied.

Delysia went to speak but Loki cut her off.

"You should sleep now. You'll have to be rested if you want to speak with my mother tomorrow." Loki told her.

The following morning, Loki awoke to find Delysia changed, bathed, and ready for the day. She was sitting at the writing desk, looking at him.

"When did you wake up?" Loki asked.

"Early." Delysia replied.

"How early?" Loki inquired as he sat up in the bed.

"A couple of hours ago." Delysia sighed.

"Well, I might as well get ready for the day then too." Loki smiled.

Once Loki had got out of the bed, Delysia began to make the bed and Loki chuckled.

"The maids will do that." Loki said.

"I know." Delysia said softly.

"Why do it then?" Loki asked.

"I've never done it before and I want to know what it's like." Delysia replied.

Loki smiled weakly and went to change in the bathroom. Once he stepped out, he found the bed to be poorly made and he couldn't hold back his chuckle.

"What?" Delysia asked.

As she put her hands on her hips, Loki laughed loudly and she furrowed her brow.

"I tried my best, you know." Delysia told him.

Loki shook his head as he laughed and Delysia's lips curled into a smile as she chuckled along with him.

"I told you I had never done it before." Delysia giggled.

Loki stopped laughing and sighed as he walked over to Delysia and took her hand in his.

"Let us go to breakfast." Loki told her.