Darkness Within(A Loki Love Story) Book 1 in Darkness Series

Unwanted Visitor

(His point of view)

I awaken to a pounding headache. Damn it.....that blasted wine.

I roll over to my side away from the light that shines through my windows. I cover my head with a sheet, shrouding myself in darkness. That's better.

I fall in and out of sleep until I hear a light knock on my door. Ugh....can I just have a moment?

Another light knock.

I stand groggily, realizing that I had fallen asleep naked. I quickly reach for a sheet before wrapping it around my waist and head for the door. As I open it, I am taken aback.

"Christine!"

She is smiling cheerfully at me, but it wavers slightly as she takes in the sight of me.

"Loki....you look..."

"Dreadful, I know," I finish for her. My voice is raspy, still thick with sleep. She giggles, covering her mouth with one of her hands.

"Well, I certainly wouldn't go for dreadful," she replies. "You just look.... tired."

"I'll be alright. I just need a moment to wake up," I say, leaning against the door frame. I yawn, covering my mouth. She chortles again.

"Why don't you go back to sleep? I'll leave you to rest, and we can catch up later this afternoon." With that, she turns to head back down the hallway. Wait....where is she going?

"Where are you going?" I ask, my voice still cracking a bit. She immediately halts and turns to face me. That is when I notice that she has a selection of a few books cradled against her left side. She shrugs as she gives me her answer.

"I was heading to the library to return these and collect more, then out to the gardens. There is plentiful sunshine right now, but as the scent of rain is in the air, I didn't want to stay in whilst I could enjoy the fine weather. I came to ask you if you wanted to come along with me, but you really need to rest." I am so damn tired, but I want to go with her.

"Hold on one moment," I say. I turn and run for my bathing chambers, letting the sheet fall to the floor. I quickly run a warm, wet cloth over my body and rinse my mouth with some minty kind of liquid that sits alongside my basin. This seems to wake me up a little. I run my fingers through my hair, trying to summon it to lie back. It is entirely too messy. I finally give up and chance trying one of Link's tricks. I pull it back in a ponytail, using one of the bands that Borin had left behind. I have never worn my hair like this. I am not sure that I am pleased with it, but it will have to do for now.

I turn and head for my closet, grabbing the first few items that my hands find. I throw on some pants, a pale green tunic, and a thinner black cloak. Then, I select a pair of black boots, stumbling as I fasten them on my way towards the door. As I emerge, I find her leaning against the wall, waiting. She laughs as I shut the door behind me and walk over to her.

"You certainly clean up nicely," she teases.

"I am glad I amuse you, Princess," I reply sarcastically, though I am laughing with her. She hates it when I call her that.

She nudges my shoulder with a playful elbow before we link arms and head to our destination. The library.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are sitting underneath our tree again. As soon as we arrived outside and nestled into our spot, she had breakfast brought out to us. I was sore glad for it. I was famished and desperately needed sustenance to alleviate my lingering affects from last night's wine consumption.