Providence Of Divinity || Loki X Reader

Chapter 13

"You can open your eyes now." 

You heard Loki say the words, but dare you trust them? He might have led you to the very edge of the wall just for kicks. He is the God of mischief, after all. 

You opened your eyes tentatively, and found yourself in a small enclosed room with no door. The exit lead out onto the perilous wall walk. You let out a breath of relief, and Loki pried your fingers off of his arm one by one. He got to the second hand before your brain resumed proper function and you released him. "Sorry," you muttered, flexing your sore fingers. 

"Now, please recall that earlier I said I doubted that last dark staircase would be the final one--"

"Oh, no. Don't freaking tell me--"

"It's not like I'm intentionally picking them--"

You groaned in a highly dramatic fashion as you looked at the spiral steps that led downward. You glanced around the tiny room, and cut off mid-groan. "A torch!"

"We don't have anything with which to lite it," Loki pointed out. 

You resumed your groan, and Loki started down the stairs. You followed reluctantly. This staircase seemed even longer than any of the others so far, and you were thinking of ways to avoid ever evening looking at stairs again in your life by the time you finished your decent. 

The darkness had almost fully set in when you emerged at the bottom of the wall. There was a guard post around the entrance that would lead one entering from this side upward, but it was unoccupied. Why?

"They probably have all personnel inside looking for us," Loki answered with a shrug. 

You turned sharply to him. "I didn't say anything."

Loki looked over at you, confused. "Oh? I thought. . . My apologizes, I suppose I must have imagined it."

"You imagined the exact question I was just pondering?" What an unsettling development. "You can't hear my thoughts, right?"

"What? No, of course not. I thought you had spoken."

You let the topic slide, following him down the icy path that lead off into the distant city, concealed by the cloaking shadows. The Jotun city was as you had seen it, with tall spires reaching off buildings, with hovels and homes layered in between. You couldn't make out an orderly layout from the distance, but you knew it would look as you expected up close. 

You were relieved to have escaped the palace, but concerned about the results of the endeavor. From the ever-gloomy feelings that Loki was beginning to sink into, you guessed he may be dwelling on the same topic. You didn't think you had found whatever you had sought. Was it possible the answer had been staring you in the face? Perhaps, you thought, literally?

"Loki, I know you don't feel like talking and would rather brood the whole way to the city, but may I run by you a certain inconsistency I have just stumbled upon?"

Loki sighed, mostly at your annoying start to the proposition. "If you must."

"The vision I had that first night, I saw the throne room."

"Yes, and what a spectacular waste of time that was."

"Hush. More specifically, I saw the throne. And it was, pointedly, empty."

"And?"

"And the damn throne wasn't empty, you mopey git! There was a self-styled queen sitting her illusiony ass upon it.  And what's more, she had a hell of a trump-card she was trying to obtain, but did not yet possess. Don't you think that might -- I don't know -- matter?"