The fur rug was endlessly soft. I could feel it rub my bare arms each time we shifted. Loki’s arms were tight around me, his chest pressed into my back. I could feel each beat of his heart, each rise and fall of his breath. I tried to push down the thoughts and fears that insisted on circling me like vultures.

Only five hours, a voice kept repeating in my head, only five hours.

It didn’t matter. All that mattered was Loki, his warmth surrounding me. The gentle sound of his breathing and the crack and pop of the fire in front of us. The orange flames were mesmerizing, and my eyes began to droop. Behind me, Loki shifted, his arms tightening around me. It was amazing how we seemed to fit together perfectly lying this way, he was so close to me. Why couldn’t we just melt into one another and cease to exist altogether? Then there would be no battle, no fighting.

His voice was low in my ear, “here, turn over and face me.” He tugged on the thin cotton t-shirt I wore and I rolled over. Now we were looking at one another, faces inches apart. Loki’s hand was gentle, stroking my cheek, my neck, my shoulder. When his hand slid down my side onto my hip, I tensed a little. Was he going to try? I couldn’t help the jolt of panic that stabbed at me. This was only the second person I’d ever kissed! I didn’t know how…

Loki pulled his hand away, a smile sliding across his face, “don’t worry,” he murmured, “I’m not going to be like that. It wouldn't be right, not right now.”

He didn’t have to say it. Not before the battle. That’s what he meant.

“How did you know?” My voice came out in a whisper.

Loki reached out to stroke my hair, “because you jumped like I’d poked you with something sharp.”

I dropped my eyes to the fur rug, embarrassed, but Loki slid a finger under my chin and tilted my head back, leaning forward to kiss me. His mouth was hot, there was a desperate, hungry quality about the kiss. His other arm slid under my shoulder and pressed me tightly to him. Finally he pulled back slightly, but he didn’t let me go.

His eyes searched my face, “When this is all over, I want to make one thing clear. I know Erik is a good guy, and he has some…issues. I know you remind him of the girl he used to love. But after today, he has no claim on you. I don’t want to share you, Megan.”

Tingles ran over both arms, my answer was slightly breathless, “Are you…”

“I’m telling you I want you all to myself.”

I couldn’t think of anything to say, so I ended up just babbling, “What about the king? Will he like his son being with a ‘frostie’? I wouldn’t think…”

Loki grinned, placing his thumb over my bottom lip, tracing the shape of it, effectively shushing me, “he knows about my love affair with winter.”

His love affair with winter. In that moment any thoughts of battle were gone. The only thing I could think about was how hot Loki’s fingers were on my skin, how his touch sent tingles trailing after it. His words rang in my ears. He wanted me all to himself. A worrying thought struck me, and I pulled back to look at him seriously,

“But what if….what if they make me Queen? I’ll be living in Nifleheim, and you…you live here.”

Loki chuckled, “after my father is done being king, who do you think is next in line? Do you know…we could reconcile the kingdoms. Nothing would please my father more…”

“But that would mean…”

“Getting married,” Loki leaned forward and kissed me firmly again, but this time I could barely kiss back, my brain was numb with shock.

He pulled back and looked at my face, “You don’t want to?”

I was speechless, and the look on my face made him laugh. He said, “not right away, if you don’t want to.”

“But…you want to?” I stammered, “you haven’t known me for more than a month or so…”

“Doesn’t matter,” Loki’s finger’s trailed down my cheek, “I don’t know how to express what I feel, Megan. It will probably sound stupid, but…I’ve never fallen this hard before. Never. And I’ve lived a long time. There’s just something about you…” he trailed off, shaking his head helplessly, “something about you that makes a guy fall in love.”

Love. Had he just said he loved me? I stared at him, eyes wide, and Loki laughed, pulling me closer to him. He kissed me again, for a long time, and this time I kissed back.





It was time.

Loki helped me dress for battle. In layers. First a thick cotton shirt with long sleeves. Then a leather vest type shirt, then the chain mail. After that, another leather jerkin went over top. He dressed in the same thing, though his chainmail was much heavier. We walked through the halls of castle, and more jotun fell in behind us as we went from level to level, down and down. Heading for the stables. King Surtr was waiting for us at the doors. He was dressed in bronze, every inch of him covered in heavy armor. His helmet was similar to mine, though a chunkier, heavier design, and bronze to match the rest of him. Beside him, Angela had her hair done in a single, long braid. Her helmet was tucked under her arm. To the right of the king stood Fenrir, the huge dark wolf eyed the crowd silently.

“Ready?” Angela said to me.

I just nodded, not trusting my ability to speak right now. My fingers curled around the katana at my hip. The grip felt warm and familiar and my anxiety eased a little. Amora’s reflexes and my training would help me. I would be fine.

I was surprised to see Kiera there. She was dressed in a long, dark blue cloak that flowed around her when she moved. I caught a glint of silver when she shifted. She had armor on as well. I wouldn’t have guessed she’d be fighting with us. The older woman caught me staring and gave me a quick wink, and I smiled, in spite of my surprise.

There wasn’t much talking going on as we marched in a long line to the stables. I glanced back over my shoulder. Most of the frost giants were in a group behind me, a long line of silvery white hair and pale complexions. The fire jotun brought up the rear, an impossibly long line of soldiers, many of which were still trickling out of the castle as we marched onwards.

As we went past, the dark shapes of the wolves unfolded from the snow, trailing us silently. I whispered to Loki, “They won’t spook the horses?”

He shook his head, “our horses are trained for battle. Nothing scares them.”

We walked forward in silence. The stable boys and grooms were standing in the snow outside, fidgeting impatiently; each of them had a horse waiting for us. I navigated the long line up until I found him. When I saw Sigurd a hard knot in my chest that had been building up slowly unraveled. I took the reins from the stable boy, nodding my thanks, and leaned in close, placing my hand on Sigurd’s nose. His warm breath tickled my face as he nickered quietly and nosed my shoulder. I couldn’t keep from smiling.

“Hey boy,” I whispered.

The others around me were mounting their horses, so I came around and hooked my foot in the stirrup, swinging myself up into the saddle. It was astonishing, the difference between my first lesson and now. Now it felt natural.

Angela shouted instructions in a loud clear voice, her breath rising in a silvery mist into the cold night air. I tilted my head back as Sigurd shifted underneath me impatiently. The stars were tiny pin pricks in the velvet canvas of the sky. The dim torch light we held flickered over the snow, just enough to illuminate a path in front of us. The king was to take the lead, along with all the fire jotun. Then I would follow with my people.

When I turned my head I could feel the weight of the helmet a little. It was strange, not even noticing it until then. Mentally I thanked the two blacksmiths. If I’d had a big heavy helmet I’d be dead for sure, it would distract me the entire time.

Surtr held his sword up and bellowed, “Forward!”

His soldiers fell into line behind him, the horses hooves packing the snow down. I stayed where I was, knowing it would be a long time until I could go. There were a lot of fire jotun.

Loki rode out of the crowd of soldiers and stopped his horse in front of mine. My heart swelled at the sight of him. His back was straight and his shoulders firm and strong. I could see the dark curls peeking out from under his helmet and it made me smile slightly. He looked good on a horse.

Loki gave me a grin before wheeling his horse around and joining his people, falling into line behind his father. As soon as he was out of sight I felt hot and cold chills run over me. What if that was the last time I ever saw him? What if one of us was killed today?

The last fire soldier fell into line, and I pressed my heels into Sigurd’s sides and he started forward. I vowed to put thoughts like that out of my mind. It didn’t bear thinking about.



We rode in a never ending column, down the steep mountain pathway, the wolves loping through the snow besdie us. It was slow going. We had to proceed very carefully, since we couldn’t afford any injuries to the horses, not just before battle. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Sigurd reached level ground.

When I looked ahead I could see the line of soldiers and horses in front of me weaving through the snow laden trees, entering thick forest. I couldn’t remember how we had come to the castle, but I could only guess this was a short cut to get to the pass as fast as possible. It was mesmerizing to watch the clouds of steam that the fire soldiers created, snowflakes melting as soon as they hit exposed skin, vapor puffs rising with each exhaled breath. It was impossible to spot Loki from the back, since his helmet obscured his curly hair. He was riding a big black horse, but so were half the fire jotun. For over half the journey I amused and distracted myself with trying to guess which one he was. Trying to tell myself I knew the slope of his shoulders, the well-muscled shape of his back. The thought sent blood rushing to my cheeks, but it was a welcome distraction, so I let myself dwell on it.

The touch of his hand on my face, his lips on mine, his body pressed into me. We fit perfectly together, like each curve and angle of my body was designed to match and fit with his. My fingers curled around the reigns more tightly, and again that nagging fear rose to the surface. Neither of us could fall in battle, we both had to survive this so we could be together.

King Surtr turned slightly on his horse, yelling something behind him. I couldn’t hear what it was, he was too far up ahead, but the fire soldier in front of me turned and passed the message along after a few minutes. We had nearly reached the pass.