Eagle (A Loki love story)

Chapter 108

Loki hadn't been joking when he said crack of dawn. He literally dragged me out of bed and dressed me with magic before anyone in the palace was awake aside from servants! We snuck through the halls, tacked our own horses, and were out of the stables before the sun peeked over the horizon.

We'd stayed out for three whole hours, returning the way we had left: stealthily. It had taken me a good half hour to actually wake up after we left and I was sore from yesterday's training so when Loki went off to a 'quick' council meeting just after lunch, I decided to treat myself to a self-given spa treatment and hot bath. I spent quite a bit of time shaving my legs, getting every itty bitty stubborn hair off, combed my hair and put it in a bun, and drew the bath as I put on (and took off) a face mask. The tub was huge and took so long to fill that I was able to get in the proper amount of time with the mask and not have to keep the still water waiting for long. Once I was done, I grabbed my book from yesterday and climbed into the water.

Picking up a page before from where I'd left off yesterday, I began again, hoping for a different result. Before long, I was once again immersed in the story of a ellith of Alfheim followed her brothers in their many adventures. However, after a length of time I did not know, I began to feel a pull from the real world. I was...cold? No, hot! Wait, now cold again! My body was freezing, making the water I was in seem very, very hot. By the time I paid it any attention, the difference was too severe for me to do anything. The last thing I remembered was frantically thinking to myself that something was terribly wrong and trying to contact Loki before everything went black.

Loki's POV

At last! That damned meeting was over and I could be with my beloved once more! The meeting had ended an hour earlier than had been anticipated. Half the council not showing up may have had something to do with it, fewer people agreed on more things faster. I nudged the door open, but found the room vacant.

"Mira?" The bathroom door was ajar, so I took that as silent permission to come in. If she had not wanted me to enter unannounced, she would have closed it.

"Kitten?" I knocked gently on the doorframe and pushed the door open. When I got no response, that's when I knew something was wrong. I burst in and saw her in the tub, her head and right arm resting against the side. For a moment, I thought she had fallen asleep felt relief. That is, until I noticed her right hand shaking and a book in her left hand, totally immersed in the water.

"Mira?!" I ran to the tub, taking the book first and tossing it away. It was ruined, but that didn't matter. Mira was unconscious and trembling involuntarily. I lifted her out of the water as quickly and carefully as I could but what I saw nearly made me drop her. Her entire frontal midsection was blue! And not just any blue, but my blue! My Jotun blue! I took her to our bed and laid her down, ran back to get a towel, and began drying her off. Since she was out of the water, her shaking had gone down somewhat, and that was good but every good feeling was replaced with true horror when my skin brushed against her stomach and came away Jotun. There was something horribly wrong with her. She needed help. Now. Help that I would not be able to give her. I knew what I was going to have to do, but it would be a risk. Either way, I had no choice. I put her nightshift on her, cloaked us, and sprinted to the healing chambers. Then, I allowed only Eir to see us.

"Everyone, out. This instant." The junior healers all jumped and scurried out and I dropped the cloak.

"Help her! Please!"

"Lay her down. Right now." I put her on the nearest bed, "What happened to her?"

"I found her unconscious in the bathtub. She was shaking. Her stomach was blue." Eir pulled up her shift and I saw that not only was the blue still there, but it had spread.