Book of Norse Gods
POV: Lucien
I slept on the information that Darren had given me so I could think things through before acting on the information. I woke up the next morning, a little exhausted but ready to start the day considering my course of action. I would finally get to do something to help Alexandra with her curse. I thought to myself that I would need to send a gift to Darren once this was all through. He did have a favorite liqueur that is produced in my brother’s region that I would ask Blake to send to me so I could send it to Darren. My first course of action would be to write to Mordred, I strode into Malinus’s office. He rose from his seat, “Your Majesty, Mr. Mordred, and Grand Pretre are waiting for you in your office.” I was astonished that the two people that I had wanted to speak to were in my office. My brain hadn’t fully woken up yet to equate to the fact that Grand Pretre sees almost all and she likely knew that I would like to speak with her and Mordred. I nodded to Malinus, “Perfect, I will go in then.” I inhaled deeply and turned the knob on the door.
The two visitors rose to their feet as I entered the room, both bowed to show respect for my position. I waved for them to be seated and I sat down before I spoke, “I assume you came because you knew I wanted to speak to you?” Grand Pretre nodded, “Yes, the revelation came to me last night as I was visiting Mordred so I mentioned it to him.” Mordred smiled, “It was rather sudden so I assume you found something you wanted to share with us about Loki last night.” I nodded, “Very astute, Mordred. Yes, I was dropping off an invitation for Alexandra and Jess last night when I spoke with Darren.” Mordred sat up straight, “And what did my father have to say.” Grand Pretre rolled her eyes, “You’re the same age as him practically. He’d be more like your brother wouldn’t he?” Mordred shrugged, “I suppose you are right but he’s the one who adopted us into the Batiste family so I call him father. Besides, I’m younger than him.” She shook her head, “And I suppose that you will eventually reveal to the Batiste family your other secret eventually?” I had wondered what she meant by other little secret. This coupled with my father banishing him made me think that perhaps I should be far more guarded around him. I wondered if I should advise Alexandra as such as well. Grand Pretre looked at me, smiled, and shook, “Nothing to worry about, Your Majesty. He just has family that no one but Mordred knows about. That’s all. I TRUST that he will reveal this soon.” He shrugged, “I don’t see why I have to reveal that soon.” She gave him a pointed look, “Everyone deserves to know who their family is. You need to reveal that soon anyhow or it will be revealed for you. Trust me when I say, you don’t want that. The relationships you have built with that family will crumble if you don’t.”
I cleared my throat, “Moving on, Darren gave me this book.” I pulled out the book that Darren gave me the night before, I had stored it in my desk drawer so that I could look at it further this morning. Mordred leaned forward, “Ah, sounds like something he would read. He’s always into history and theology. What about it?” I tapped the book, “This particular book reveals any God’s supposed weakness. It occurs to me that his weakness may just be Alexandra given she is his current desire.” Grand Pretre took the book and opened it up to the spot where Loki’s information was on. She shook her head, “His object of desire isn’t Alexandra. She’s seen by him as an object to play with because he wants to mess with you… and Mordred.” I looked down at her with widened eyes, “I thought she was what he wanted.” She sighed, “Don’t get me wrong. She is what he desires but she is not the ultimate goal. I am not quite sure what it is though. This book has been messed with magically though so it made you think this was the solution but it isn’t. You might need to talk to Darren about this book to see where he got it from.” I nodded, “You’re likely right…” Mordred sighed, “I can go talk to him since you are setting up the reception and likely too busy to take care of it.” I looked at Grand Pretre and she nodded, “Very well. I will leave this task in your hands. Did you two come up with anything?” Mordred nodded, “For the most part, we figured we’d need our dear girl to be a honeypot of sorts.” I raised an eyebrow, “Honeypot?” Mordred chuckled, “Forgive me, Your Majesty. I forget that you here in Vellum don’t have the technology that Terre has. A honeypot is something like bait. You dangle it in front of the bear and it gets attracted to the honey enough to trap the bear.” I rubbed my chin thinking about the analogy, “I suppose that makes sense. How would it work in this instance?”
Mordred shifted in his chair, “Well, I’m going to ask Alexandra to step out to the terrace at some point during the reception. He will likely follow her since she will be alone. That’s where we trap him.” I tapped my desk then rose from my desk to look out of my window to look out to Blackwood, “And how do you keep her from warning him?” Grand Pretre sighed behind me, “We have to knock her out of course. Ashton will be the only one who can do it though. Her connection to him will render Loki’s power moot for only a short time. He will help her drink a knockout potion courtesy of Dorothea.” I touched the glass of the window, “It won’t hurt her like last time right?” Mordred grunted, “Nope, I will see to it that that incredibly short jerk won’t throw anything at her this time. Matter of fact, if you could just NOT invite her to the reception that would be even better.” Grand Pretre giggled, “For someone who used to date Dorothea, you sure are hostile to her.” I gasped and turned to look at Mordred, “Don’t remind me. There’s a reason our relationship was short.” Grand Pretre bit her lip and looked away from him, “I’m sure that’s all it is…” Mordred sighed, “I hate that you know so much about me.” I chuckled, “To be fair, she knows about everyone. It’s kind of her business.” She laughed, “And business is good as they say in Terre.” Mordred laughed along with her, “Indeed.”
Grand Pretre took the book on the table into her arms again and placed it on her lap and stared at it. She looked up at me, “There’s just something about this book that really bothers me. Did Darren say where he got it from though?” I shook my head, “He said he bought that copy yesterday before I came over at a bookstore here in town.” She chewed on her thumb, “Does he have his own copy?” Mordred nodded, “If Darren gave that one to His Majesty, it is likely that he has his own copy. Darren never loans out books, he’s very stingy like that. He always says his prized possessions are his family and his books.” Grand Pretre stared at the book some more and ran her hand across the cover, “Hmm.” Her eyes turned fully green at that moment and she sat like that for a while. Mordred made his way to shake her but I spoke, “It’s best you don’t disturb her. She’s having a vision and you can’t shake her from her trance.” Modred nodded and sat back in his seat, “What do you suppose she’s seeing?” I shrugged, “No idea but we’re likely to find out soon. She doesn’t keep a vision to herself unless it isn’t time to reveal it.” Mordred looked down at the book in her lap, “What happens if she doesn’t share then?” I also looked at the book, “It’s likely that she either needs to analyze something back in her tower or she doesn’t believe it to be time to say anything yet.” She started to rock back and forth, gently at first and then violently. She had almost tipped her chair back but Mordred was able to catch the chair before it was able to fully fall backward. He looked up at me while he was kneeling, “Does this happen often then?” I shook my head, “This is a first for me definitely but I don’t know if it is something that happens often.” He nodded, “Well, I think I’m going to keep a hold of her chair seeing as how she hasn’t stopped rocking.” I sighed, “Wise decision. Hopefully, she snaps out of it soon. This is one of the longer space outs she’s had in my presence.” She giggled, “You should know that I could hear that last bit.” Her eyes went back to her white pupils and she stopped rocking. Mordred let go of the chair and sighed, “Welcome back to the land of the conscious.” She smiled down at him, “I’m not unconscious when I do this per se, I’m just in a meditative state.” She looked up at me, “Do you mind if I take this book with me, Your Majesty?” I furrowed my brow, “Sure but can you tell me just what the hell went down here?” She smiled, “I think I know his real desire but I need to consult something first.” I looked at her like I was confused, “What is it you need to consult?” She winked, “Alexandra’s star chart.”
