War Creatures (Ch.36)
Pairing: Loki X Reader
Summary: In a crossover of the Nine Realms and Westeros, you find yourself in the dawn of a rebellion. Odin, Lord of Pyke, has made alliances with your family, House Grover of Highgarden. Your father’s army will join Odin’s army to overthrow the King and take the Iron Throne. There is just one cost to this alliance.You must marry the dark, young prince Loki.In a world where Kings do as they wish, where war is an oncoming storm, and peace is nothing but a dream, you are lost but brave. Loki is more powerful than he seems, and love will grow from the flames of war.
Words: 2078 // [AO3 Link] // Seasons 1-3 of War Creatures - Chapter 31 - Chapter 32 - Chapter 33 - Chapter 34 - Chapter 35
:Lia’s POV:
“Ser Petra? Tell me a story,” I smiled at my favorite knight. Ser Petra shifted in his seat. He had been my guest all week at my afternoon tea. He took a bite of an apple in front of him.
“Ah, I have a good one. I remember when your mother was pregnant with you. She had this habit that you now have adopted.”
“What? What is it?” I sat up excitedly. “Is it something I eat?”
“No, no,” Ser Petra shook his head. “It’s a bit of a complicated story. You see, your mother was in a similar spot where you are now. Her mother surrounded her with comfort, food, and a midwife near her at all times. Apparently, it was tradition to be suspicious and overly-cautious in your family.” I laughed and gesturing to the air. Of course, my mother would put me through the same suffering as herself.
“Please, continue,” I told him, enjoying this story.
“Your mother ended up being so bored because her mother never let her do anything, so your mother held tea parties, hosting different people every week. She often told me I was a pleasurable guest.”
“Tea parties? With everyone?”
“Everyone. Including the kitchen girls who do nothing but gossip about others. Those were her favorite.” Ser Petra smiled at me fondly. “It’s good to see you home and safe. A pregnant woman should never be on the road to war.”
“Yes, I suppose,” I looked away from the table and towards the sky. It wasn’t entirely blue, but it wasn’t going to rain. I knew.
“What’s wrong?”
“Here I am, about to be seven months pregnant, and I have heard nothing of my husband and the war for most of my pregnancy. No one tells me anything. No matter who I have tea with. No one gives me a hint of anything. It’s—
“Maddening,” Ser Petra finished my sentence. He took a look around him and sat closer to me. “May I ask you something? Something very personal?”
“Of course,” I nodded. “You’re like a second father to me.” Ser Petra cracked a smile and sighed.
“I wasn’t thrilled to hear your father say he was planning to marry you off to him. I always wanted you to marry some boring lord somewhere, but I am not your father. When I met him, I was greeted with an arrogant, mean, and highly intelligent teenage boy. I feared he would hurt you or worse hate you slowly from a distance.”
“But, you know that’s different now,” I touched his hand. “He loves me very much.”
“I believe that and I’m relieved,” Ser Petra nodded. “Do you think he’ll make a good king?”
“Oh,” I reacted. “I wasn’t expecting that question.” I started to laugh a little until I saw Petra’s face. His frown and waiting eyes told me he was more serious than I thought. “I believe my answer will be biased.”
“If I believed that, I wouldn’t have asked you. You came into this war with an allegiance to one king, and now you support his son, why? Do you seek power yourself? Do you want to be queen? Would that make you happy?”
“No,” you answered honestly. “I didn’t want to be queen. I had little desire in ruling over people, but then I saw the need. Loki is not the arrogant boy you think he is. He has mercy. He has taught me so much. Therefore, I am not the little naïve girl from Highgarden. I have seen parts of the world that are ugly and beautiful. The Nine Kingdoms deserves better than a man using children for war and using his own people to shield him.”
“And what does the Nine Kingdoms deserve?”
“Someone with love in her heart and another who is aggressive but smarter than his advisors. Ruling would not make me happy, but I will do what the Nine Kingdoms deserves. A good queen and a good king.” I looked at Ser Petra and noted the grays in his beard starting to show.
“You’ve grown up and I blinked,” Ser Petra smiled. He took my hand and placed a chaste kiss on top. “Your husband is alive.”
“What?!” I reacted. Ser Petra shushed me immediately, noting the other royal guards patrolling.
“He won the battle and many other battles after that. I wouldn’t be so cross with him. Your husband has been busy sacking the North entirely. His army has gotten larger with every battle. Dwarves, goblins, frost giants—
“He did it? He has the Frost giants?” I asked. Ser Petra nodded. “Your father is rethinking his original alliance with Odin, but he wanted to wait until after you had your first child. He wanted to see Loki as a father first before he made his final decision.”
“Has Loki sent me anything? Letters? Anything?”
“No,” Ser Petra confirmed. “Again, I wouldn’t be cross with him. Your young king has been busy.”
:Xerxes’ POV:
Every time Xerxes heard Loki’s name come out of anyone’s mouth, he wished he could hurt them. Even as Ser Petra stood in front of him now, giving him directions.
“So, it’s true, he’s marching down here. Why?” Xerxes asked.
“To be with Cecelia,” Ser Petra reported. “She’s going to have his baby after all.” The fire inside Xerxes pit grew louder each time it was fed with the reminder that he could never have Cecelia. It burned him, making him feel incomplete.
“And what are we going to do about that?”
“You said you wanted a chance to hurt Loki for what he did to Cecelia. I’m giving you that chance.” Xerxes laughed and his ears perked up.
“You want me to assassinate him? And what do I get in return?” Xerxes strolled around the room.
“You’ll have what you desire the most. A heartbroken girl who is more than happy to stay loyal to the crown. Once she marries you, she will no longer be a threat to the crown. You could have Highgarden.”
The idea played inside his mind for days. If he killed Loki, he could have everything he wanted. Power, money, and the most beautiful girl in the Nine Kingdoms. No one could stop him. All he had to do was defeat the arrogant son of a bitch before he saw Cecelia. Xerxes would often let his mind wander to his queen.
How soft her skin must feel, how the sun hit her hair, and how her laugh sounded like a song. He couldn’t find the words to tell her, but she must know. She must have an idea of how he felt for her. Cecelia was very smart and very kind. She knows. Xerxes didn’t need to say it aloud.
“Xerxes,” a friend called out to him. “Did you hear me?”
“No, I apologize Han. My mind was…never mind. What is it?”
“He’s here. Loki and his entire army. They’re all here. I suspect someone is on their way to tell Cecelia herself, but you are her personal guard.” Xerxes felt his stomach drop. He had no time to think of a plan or even an idea on how to kill the young, dark king. His daydreams had the better of him entirely. He started running towards his queen. His heart beat loud in his chest with an anxiety he never knew before.
Was it because he was so close to failure that he could taste the blood in his mouth? Or was it because he was so close to success that he could taste Cecelia’s mouth on his own?
:Loki’s POV:
Highgarden was just over the hill and a short road to the palace. He could see the size of it from on top of Caina. Joy was not the word he was looking for. Relief? No. Peace. It was the peace knowing you were there waiting for him just inside the castle. It was peace knowing you were safe this entire time. It was peace that he would greet his newborn with.
Loki lost track of time he had been away. His snake skin gloves kept a tight grip on Caina. He beckoned her to go faster. Loki felt his heart leap into his chest. He never felt compelled to race his horse towards a woman before, but here he was reliving the romantic tales that girls passed around. He was living the happy ending.
Caina galloped in front of everyone and everything. Her hooves hustled through like rain drops raced to kiss the earth. Loki started laughing to himself. He was so incredibly in love that he wanted to shout for you.
“Lady Cecelia!” he sang into the air whipping around. “Sweet lady Cecelia!”
As he approached the gates of Highgarden, he found them to wide and open. His horse came to a halting stop and Loki jumped off his horse. He heard a loud, booming laughter beside him.
“Loki!” Lord Garth greeted him. He took a look a young, future king. Loki still donned his golden horned helmet, black and silver furs served well as an outer layer. Loki’s hair had gotten longer along with sign of facial hair. Iced Steel stayed attached to his side. “You’ve been busy, my lord.”
“And here I thought you would be still fighting for my father,” Loki laughed with his father-in-law. They embraced tightly.
“My daughter changed my mind. She speaks so highly of you,” Lord Garth said.
“Where is she? It’s been so long. I was beginning to forget her sweet face,” Loki smiled. Lord Garth and Loki left the common areas, leaving everyone else to greet Loki’s army. Loki ascended stairs and followed hallways directly to your room. He remembered it only slightly now. He could see you now, happily waiting for him with a swollen belly.
A pang of guilt hit him hard. He hadn’t been with you or his growing child for a long while. Would you be resentful? Understanding? You were all at war, in an open rebellion. Hopefully you wouldn’t be terribly mad. Then he remembered Lorelei.
Loki’s hand touched your doorknob of your bedroom and stopped. How was he going to tell you? He needed a way to tell you somehow. Loki knew you wouldn’t like the idea of an ex-lover of his to stay inside the walls of Highgarden. Maybe he could explain it to you. You were reasonable.
He opened the door to your room, finding it completely empty. Loki’s eyebrows knitted together. He heard a voice behind him laced with concern.
“Loki,” Lord Garth held an older woman in his hands. Eir had a rope tied around her wrists and neck. Lord Garth loosened them and the older woman could finally breathe.
‘Eir, what’s happened to Cecelia?”
Eir coughed and wheezed. She turned to lord Garth and Loki. “It was Xerxes and Ser Petra. They have her. Up in one of the towers.”
Loki’s blood started to boil over. The same anger he felt towards Ser Petra returned to him in an instant. Loki’s nostrils flared evenly. He shot a look at Garth. Garth silently coiled the rope in his hands.
“They have my eldest in a tower? As a hostage in her own home? In my home?” Garth said gently. He tied the newly coiled ropes to his side. His war hammer was in his grasp. Loki embraced Iced Steel in his own hands. They both could smell the shit of the men who they trusted in the air as if it left a trail of where they exactly were.
Highgarden had several towers, but this particular one stood in the center of it all. Loki and Lord Garth started climbing the steps up the tower. Loki went ahead first. His fingers itched to hit someone. He trusted Xerxes to take care of his wife. So why exactly was he holding her hostage now? He suspected the honored knight, Ser Petra.
When Loki and Lord Garth reached the top, they were met with the two idiots who made a terribly bold and ill-calculated move.
“My lord,” Ser Petra said, facing Garth.
“My lord,” Xerxes spat out like poison. Loki’s held Iced Steel in one hand. A poisoned dagger in the other.
“Is my wife locked in there?” Loki narrowed his eyes.
“Swear fealty to King Malekith and we will release your wife and child safely to you,” Ser Petra rose his sword. Loki scoffed.
“So, we’re really doing this?”
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