Loki and Ingrid 27

People Never Change…

“Ingrid? Ingrid wake up!”

          “Go away,” I mutter, stuffing my head under the pillow.

          “Ingrid!” The pillow flies off my head, and I jolt upright, staring straight at my disgruntled youngest brother.

          “Colby? What are you doing here? Calder send you?”

          “Nope. Just me!”

          “What on earth do you need?”

          “Nuthin’.”

          “Then why are you here?”

          “I just wanted to chat.”

          “Well, I don’t so I don’t want to be rudely awakened…”

          “I don’t know. I was bored.”

          “Well, can you please leave? It’s like four in the morning!”

          “Okay. Well, first you need to tell me where you’ve been!”

          “I told you, I’m busy!”

          “No, you’re not.”

          “Yes I—”

          “Do you have any friends?”

          “Yes. Go away.”

          “Do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend?”      

          I sigh. “We are not about to talk about my love life.”

          “Calder said you were in love with the frost giant.”

          “Go away.”

          “Is it true?”

          “I’m not in love with anybody but myself, Colby. And I suggest you do the same.”

          “I have a boyfriend!”

          “That’s nice.” I don’t care, just let me sleep.

          “Yeah. So, we go hunting together.”

          “Since when did you hunt?”

          “Since always. I want to hunt frost giants but Canute won’t let me.”

          “There aren’t any—look, can I just sleep, okay?”

          “You’re a traitor, you know? And so is Loki. He has no right to be king! Where is Thor these days?”

          “No idea. It’s not really my business.”

          Colby crosses his arms. “Oh, yes, it is!”

          I throw my pillow across the room at my brother and go back to sleep.

---

“Ingrid? Hey, Ingrid?”

          “Mmmmpphhh.” I roll over and stare at my eldest brother, Canute.

          “Colby didn’t mean that. Loki may be a traitor to the kingdom, but—”

          “Mmmmmmmm?”

          “Well, I won’t judge you.”

          “Mmmmmmmppphhh go away.”

          “Fine!”

---

“INGIRD!”

          “Who’s there!” I throw my pillow off my bed, as Calder thrusts open the door.

          “So, what are you up to?”

          “Nothing. Go away.”

          “Why do you hate me now? Is it about your little friend?”

          “I said, GO AWAY!”

          “Oh, you do know how I feel, don’t you?”

          “Why are you coming to me now?”

          “Because. Oh, you know why. Sif is sooooo excited. She told me…oh yes. And I said I’m going to kill him….”

          “What? No!”

          “HE IS A FROST GIANT AND A TRAITOR TO THE KINGSDOM!”

          “And since when were you—”

          “I AM A ROYAL GUARD--!”

          “And Loki is royalty!”

          “No. Not of the House of Odin. A traitor.”

          “Stop. You can’t kill him! He’s my friend!”

          “And I’m your brother!”

          “I DON’T CARE! YOU CAN’T KILL HIM!”

          “IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO! I’D RATHER TORTURE HIM UNTIL THE END OF HIS DAYS, BUT THAT GOES AGAINST PROTOCOL. DON’T YOU THINK I’M BEING RATHER HUMANE TO A MONSTER, INGIRD?”

          “No! Please stop! Stop!” I plead, shaking.

          Slowly, he begins to approach, a look of true malice in his eyes. “Crybaby.”  He slaps my cheek so hard, that I can feel a searing pain. I remember when Loki did the same, but it was halfhearted, he was ready to give up. Calder is full of nothing but pure, unchained, evil. “You should learn a lesson!” The next blow comes so hard that I’m knocked off my feet. “I don’t want to do this—but if I have to punish you to protect the throne—you have committed TREASON, INGRID! TREASON!”

          I can’t help it. I let out an ear-splitting, pained scream. Of torture. Like Nova. At least her pain was constant, there was no time to think, no room in my brain to scream, no will to live…. I can’t help it. “LOKI!”

          Calder laughs, mockingly. “Do you really think--?”

          “LOKI! SIF! ANYONE!”

          The blow hits me so hard that my head hits the floor, hard, as I struggle to hold onto consciousness. “LOKI!” I struggle to my feet as Calder’s lips curl into a cruel smile.

          “Well then. If you won’t cooperate—I’m sending the guards to go fetch him now. Maybe I’ll make you watch--!”

          “NO!” I throw my entire body at Calder, aiming for the face, punch after punch he deflects, as I keep fighting, keep pushing, keep straining…every ounce of my energy.

          “NO!”

          “Who’s there?”

          “GO DIE! Rightnow!”

          “SIF?” I scream, straining against Calder’s grip.

          “Yeah, bitches! To the face!” Sif’s roundhouse kick goes so high over my head as she aims straight for the face. Calder doubles back but is on his feet again, ready.

          “Not so fast…”

          “Loki!”

          “Perfect.” Calder steps back easily, equipping a spear.

          “Your weapon of choice—”

          “Has a long reach. That knives and daggers will never have.” Calder smiles cruelly as he raises the spear.

          “My knife….”

          “Oh, God. Oh, God, oh God…” I breathe, remembering Loki’s destruction of his only weapon after Lyd’s oath.

          “He’s unarmed? Even better?”

          “STOP IT!” I try to hit his face, but he dodges. “SIF?”

          “Yeah?”

          “COME ON!”

          “Okay….” Sif falters, staring at us, “DO IT YOURSELF THEN! KICK HIS BUTT! I KNOW YOU CAN—”

          Loki screams in pain as the spear grazes his right cheek, as he dodged the intended stab to his heart.

          “ARE YOU CRAZY?” Sif is screaming now, jumping up to fly at Calder again. But not before I punch him. Straight in the nose.

---

“Thanks,” I breathe, looking at my oldest brother. “I’m sorry…I’m—”

          “You’re right. Thor wouldn’t want this.”

          “Thank you…get him to the healing ward.”

          “The Kingdom isn’t worth it to him.”

          I nod, barely hearing the words as my brother is taken away.

---

“Well, hurry up then!”

          “What Sif?” I mutter, turning back around.

          “Hurry up and get married!”

          In my manic state, I look around at my bedroom, my sheets still all over the place. “Here?”

          “No, of course not, dummy!”

---

“What the hell are we doing?”

          “No idea, Sif.” I have no brain. My head is exploding with unanswered questions.

          “Ingrid…”

          “Loki…”

          “Okay, okay? So, what’s the plan, guys?”

          “I don’t know.” I answer honestly, “We aren’t having an Asgardian wedding…obviously. I don’t know how to do these things.”

          “This is wrong,” says Loki, “It isn’t worth destroying your family over.”

          “It’s been destroyed for a long time,” I sigh, “It’s nothing new.”

          “It’s nothing new.”

          “They should be here though, my brothers.”

          “And Thor. And Lyd.”

          “Lyd?”

          “All of this nonsense is going to my head isn’t it?”

          Sif waves her hand, halfheartedly, “Okay, you’re married, haha, now make sure no one got murdered.”

          My stomach is churning, strangely, as I speak, “I don’t think it works that way.”

          “What’s the Asgardian ceremony?”

          “I don’t know,” I mumble, “Just no Shakespeare.”

          “Shall I compare thee to a summers’ day?”

          “Thor? How did you get here?” Quiet for once?”    

          “Long story. Loki, what happened to your face?”

          I sigh, “Long story.”

          Thor eyes us strangely, as I burst out laughing, “Sif just did a funny hand thing, and she uh…said we were married—I’m sorry I can’t!”

          “And what reason not to take her seriously?”

          I try to collect myself, “But that’s not how it works!”

          “I suppose not. But what do you want?”

          “No Shakespeare.”

          “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” says Loki.

          “Oh please,” starts Sif, “Don’t even think—”

          “About turning into a donkey? Why not?”

          “No, seriously. Do you want to be together?”

          “Of course!”

          “I’m—”

          “Dude, it’s true love!”

          “Shut up, Sif,” says Loki.

          “What matters is how you feel.”

          “About what? You showing up again?”

          “I promise I won’t,” says Thor staring deep into Loki’s eyes, “If you promise to love her until the day you die.”

          “Uh, that’s a little intense,” says Sif, trying to get Thor to break his gaze, “No one’s dying, okay?”        

          “Everybody dies.”

          “Can we not talk about this?”

          “Sure. Yeah.” Thor looks slightly distracted.

          “Loki I—”

          “You don’t have to do anything.” Sif looks slightly annoyed, as she watches Thor now, staring into space.

          He looks at us once again, then back at the sky, “I need to go.”

---

“Thor? What’s wrong?” asks Sif.

          “Nothing, Sif. Just a personal matter.”

          “Is it Jane?”

          “I said not to talk about it.”

          “What happened?”

          There is a long pause on the other side of the door. “Well, Jane and I—we decided that—with me as a cosmic being—and her as a human…and she staying in one place…I need to be free to travel. We decided we can’t be together.”    

          “I’m sorry.” Says Sif, then her voice perks up, “I like travelling?”

          “I’m sorry Sif,” says Thor, “I don’t love you like that.”

          Sif sounds hurt, “Are you sure?”

          “We’ll talk in the other room,” I hear Thor and Sif departing from their table as I lie down on the bed. It feels strange to do so after this morning. Canute said that Calder would be fine, but I feel guilty anyway. I close my eyes, restlessly.

          “Ingrid?”

          “Yes, Loki?” I keep my eyes closed, as my head hurts.

          “I’m worried. About what Sif said…are we supposed to do anything?”

          “I don’t know.” I keep my eyes closed.

          “Well I have something for you.”

          “You can put it on the table,” I sigh, “I’m sorry, I don’t feel well.”

          “Me neither.”

          “How’s your face?”

          “Don’t worry about me. I’ve felt worse.”

          “Was there a lot of blood?”

          “That’s a funny question to ask, Ingrid. But yes, there was.”

          “I’m sorry about my brother. Some people just never change. And some people change for the worse.”

          “Like me.”

          “Not like you. Like him.”

          “I can’t imagine he used to be better.”

          “He’s still my brother,” I mumble, “But I should go to sleep now.”

          I open my eyes to see Loki by the door, with a small lantern. “I’ll be back.”

          As he closes the door, I see what Loki put on the table: a very familiar book.