I Want My Soul Back (GxG)

28. You killed her!

Loki and I walk hand in hand down the hallway on the way to my mother's dinner. Atla is being watched by one of her servants. She was sleeping deep when we left her, and I guess she will be okay. We stop in front of the closed door and Loki takes a long, deep breath.

"Everything will be okay," I say, and she laughs ironically to my words.

"We are about to step into a room where everyone hates me. It's like putting every leader of the clans that I destroyed around the table." Her words make me almost laugh.

"What?" She raises her eyebrows, wondering why I am giggling.

"Nothing." I smile.

"The truth now?" She says seriously.

"It's just,  I missed this, you." I smile at her, and it makes her roll her eyes at me.

"Come on, the faster we go, the faster it finishes," I say, pulling her after me as I open the door and drag Loki with me inside the dining room. Everyone is around the wooden table, except my mother. She is not here yet, I assume.

Einar is sitting on one end of the table, while his children are all facing each other. Ivar has a grin of enjoyment on his face as he is sitting next to his father.

There are two chairs available next to Froya, which I imagine is for Loki and me. I pull Loki after me and let her sit next to my stepsister. I can't let her sit on the end, because my mother would be right next to her and the last thing we want is a battle at the table.

My step brother's and sisters stop giggling and talking as soon the door opens. The royal highness comes inside. Her face is all blank, but you can see a tone of fury. I know she is not glad about this meal.

But still, she sits down, fulfilling her husband's wishes. Everyone remains silent, but Ivar keeps staring at Loki, the foe she is to him. I hope to the Gods that she will destroy him. I grab Loki's hand underneath the table to keep myself steady.

"Let the food be served," My mother sighs clearly. I remember when I was younger, my father was always the one to say that before our meal. It's a pleasant memory, but I am starting to questioning my childhood, my family.

Men and woman come inside the room with the feast. They place everything on the long table. I haven't seen a meal like this since I was a child. Food of different variants is on the table, from pork to chicken and drinks from water to wine. Einar really wanted a feast.

Everything starts with an awkward silence. Where we all fill our plates and cups from bottom to top, you can even tell that my younger step-siblings are confused and feel uncomfortable.

"How is the training going, Froya?" My mother breaks the quietness with a question.

"It's good," She smiles brightly.

"The new bow and arrow are amazing. The handling is way easier, and the aim is perfect." She sounds so excited.

"Loki is amazing with bow and arrow," I tell Froya, who seems intrigued, but Loki kicks my leg, wishing me to stop talking. As kind as I am, I ignore it.

"Maybe if you want to she can show you." I smile at her, and Froya looks at Loki, but she avoids eye contact. She doesn't want attention, I know, but I want at least someone to like her.

"That would be nice," Froya smiles.

"Well, you might need to do it tomorrow, because of the day after she is not going to be here," Ivar says, earning horrible looks from everyone for making this dinner worse than it should be. Loki ignores it and keeps eating her food.

"Is the arena clear?" Erica asks, and Ivar nods to his stepmother.

"Yeah, it's all clear." He says with an awful grin on his face while looking at Loki, and as before she doesn't care at all.

"It's going to be the most-watched match we have ever had," Ivar says exited.

"Why?" Bjorn asks, I don't blame him for asking such a question he is just a child.

"Because we have never had an outsider in the arena before, especially with someone with her name." He says, which now causes a reaction in Loki. She looks at him, setting her green eyes on him as if he is a target she is ready to hunt and put down, like an animal.

"Name?" Bjorn sounds confused about all of this. Ivar rolls is eyes of annoyance.

"You haven't heard about her? She is from the most feared clan of them all. Just have one of them is a virtue, but having the head of it is just pure." His eyes are as cold as war, and his hunger for the battle is all over his face.

"Careful now, Ivar," Einar warns. I don't understand who has taught him all of this. Einar doesn't seem like a man who would feed his son with these things. I believe it's my mother, but I can't see that either. She wanted to forget about her past, even though she hates Loki's clan with everything inside of her.

"You have heard the stories. It's what everyone talks about here." Ivar says.

"They slaughtered my mother, your wife!" He shouts in anger, exposing the ugly truth. I look at Loki in worry, and she seems confused.

"You killed her!" He yells, standing up while pointing at Loki in anger. Einar looks down at the table in embarrassment, but also facing the fact. Loki seems to be lost in confusion and her thoughts.

She has been in so many battles, and I will imagine her remembering each and everyone is like me recalling each step I have taken. I know Loki didn't mean all the death that has happened.

Loki surprises me with standing up gently. Her eyes on Einar and Ivar, but then at everyone else in the room. She swallows hard before words find out of her mouth.

"I have killed more men and women than I can recall. Some of them deserved it, and some didn't. I am not going to deny it, I have done things that I shouldn't," Loki takes a deep breath.

"I apologize for what I have done, to each and every one of you. I am sorry Erica for what I did to your family," She looks at my mother, but I can tell she is not accepting Loki's apology.

"I am sorry for what happened to your mother, to your wife. At that time I felt like I didn't have a choice," She bites on her lower lip while her gaze falls.

"I did what I had to do. My clan has done this for centuries, and changing all of that would have been my demise, which was selfish of me. But I have realized that maybe I had a choice," Loki's eyes fall upon me.

"I could have left, but I didn't. I am sorry." Loki says, before finding the exit, and I get out of my chair and follow after her.

"Loki," I call her name, and she stops for me to reach her.

"Are you okay?" I question.

"I am okay. I want to be alone for a little bit." She tells me, and I nod as I watch her walk out the door and close it behind her.