Chapter 1-

Prologue

"Mother! I do not wish to go and you cannot make me. I will do what I please."

Asta looked up from her needlework to observe her daughter. Her arms were crossed and her chin stuck out in defiance. Her warm green eyes glimmered with indignation.

"Inkeri," Asta responded calmly, "You know it is required for a nobleman's family to pay tribute to the royal family once a year during the summer celebrations. You used to be excited to attend."

Inkeri rolled her eyes and flung her long, dark auburn braid behind her back. "Who cares about any of them? If they were humble rulers, and therefore good people, they would not require us to pay tribute. So in essence we are being forced to pay homage to an unfair and unjust ruling society. Perhaps we should petition for a democracy. Besides, I'm working on a very important experiment."

Inkeri smiled as if her argument had clenched the deal that she was not going.

Asta sighed. Inkeri was just like her father- constantly debating everything. "Darling, I doubt you really care about our government more than you care about your magic and science classes. And besides, it isn't right of you to speak of the King and Queen in such away. Queen Frigga adores you, she keeps mentioning to me that she wishes to enroll you in the Royal Academy of Sciences as soon as you enter the years of adolescence." Asta wagged her finger at Inkeri, "Perhaps I shall tell the queen what you think of her and then we will see what happens with your schooling."

Her smile dropped immediately and she knew that she had been beat. She scoffed and stomped out of the room hearing her mother call out after her, "Wear your green tunic darling! It always complements your eyes the best. We will leave at midday."

She groaned and stepped into her room, back to her experiments. She had to admit that she would be glad to get into the Royal Academy of Sciences one day, as it was lonely having to learn by herself. She was an only child, a "miracle child", her mother always called her. Her mother and father had tried for years after she was born to have more children, but to no avail.

She walked quickly to her windowsill. On it were various types of Asgardian plants in all shapes and sizes. Two of them she had been focusing on especially for the past week. One was about to bloom into a large orange flower with small, intricate petals- her favorite. She took a deep breath and touched the bloom. Perhaps she could speed it along. Concentrating deeply, she closed her eyes and imagined the surface of the flower. Next she thought about the cellular structure beneath the surface. She swallowed and carefully went even deeper imagining the molecules that held the entire thing together. Smiling, she saw them clearly, and carefully began to shift and move them around. Slowly she opened her eyes and gasped. The flower had opened, however instead of being its normal vibrant orange, it had turned a shocking purple.

"Intriguing," she whispered. She must have accidentally tampered with its pigment structure and not realized it. She ran and grabbed her pad and pencil to document it when she realized someone had been standing in her doorway the entire time.

"Father!" she yelled and ran to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Geir laughed and embraced her, lifting her off the ground.

"Father," she wiggled out of his arms and pulled him running toward the windowsill. "Look."

Geir picked up the purple dahlia-like flower and pondered it for a second with raised eyebrows.

"How did you do it?" He asked, clearly amazed.

Inkeri beamed and answered, "I was actually just trying to make it bloom, and the color pigmentation was an accident. Father, I could see the atoms, as I moved them with my mind. It was as clear as day!"

"Well," Geir said setting the plant down carefully, "It seems as if you'll be a great sorceress someday."

Inkeri wrinkled her nose at the mention of the word sorceress. It was reminder to her that no matter how advanced her people could be, a part of them would always be stuck in the past.

"No father, I will be a great scientist." She began to quote her science textbooks, one finger held seriously in the air. " 'Magical ability is nothing but a genetic mutation passed on from one family member to another that allows the individual to control themselves and the world around them in a way that is perceived by less intelligent species as supernatural.' "

She looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Father, if the gene is passed through family members, why don't you or mother have abilities like I do?"

Geir smiled and touched his daughter's nose.

"That's my girl, always the logical one. To be honest, I'm not sure. I know your great uncle Ord- you know, the one who lives in the mountains, is a very powerful 'scientist' just like you. You probably got it from him. And now, my love, I hate to change the subject, but you mother has sent me to collect you for the feast."

Inkeri sighed and cast a longing look back to her plants.

"Yes, father. I'll be along in a few minutes."

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Young Loki stood balanced precariously with one foot on a step ladder and the other firmly upon an ancient dusty shelf of the palace library. His fingers brushed across the huge tomes, looking for one in particular.

"Oy!" a voice yelled at him from across the room. Loki turned sharply at the noise, losing his balance. He grabbed onto a few books and pulled them down on top of himself as he crashed to the floor on his bottom.

"Kaapo!" He growled, pushing his palms into the hard marble floor and pulling himself up. He groaned inwardly. His ankle was sore now.

The young blonde boy came running towards him looking both amused and concerned at the same time. "Loki! You're a regular mess." He laughed.

Loki glared at Kaapo. "No thanks to you. What is it you want?"

Kaapo rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, looking very apologetic. "I'm sorry, my friend. I came to warn you that your father has been looking for you." He looked around carefully then leaned in and whispered, "From what I hear, he's in quite a mood too. What did you do?"

Loki sighed and winced, rubbing his temples in a slow circular motion.

"What happened?" Kaapo prodded calmly.

"I borrowed Gungnir and accidentally shot an energy beam off and hit one of the pillars in the throne room. I only cracked it a little. I was hoping he wouldn't notice."

Kaapo chuckled. "Borrowed? You mean stole?" He poked Loki's shoulder with his finger.

The only response that could be heard from him was a faint irritated grumbling under his breath as he began to limp out of the library. Kaapo skipped after him, jolly and upbeat as ever.

"Did you hurt yourself my friend?" Kaapo questioned.

Loki grunted. "I'm fine, I'm fine."

"C'mon," Kaapo motioned for him to follow. "I know what will cheer you up. We still have some time before the feast starts. Let's go get Thor and see if we can scare the cook again by you teleporting a spider into her mixing bowl."

Loki brightened at that and slowly smiled. "Yes, but this time, it will be an illusion of a snake! I have been practicing it as of late."

The boys giggled and Loki's limp felt slightly better. They began to run quickly to Thor's quarters and turned a corner sharply… both of them running straight into Odin.

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Inkeri entered the throne room solemnly and looked around. It seemed as though all of Asgard was there, paying tribute to the royal family. Her eyes scanned over the king and queen. Odin was seated in his throne holding his staff Gungnir. He had a benevolent smile on his face, but she could tell he would rather be elsewhere. Frigga was smiling and reaching down to touch the shoulder of another nobleman's wife and look at her newborn child. She saw Thor, next to his father, dressed for the very first time in public in his shining silver armor. He had grown immensely tall since she saw him only a few months ago when they had come for the celebrations of his three hundredth year. He was an adolescent now, which meant that while he would continue his studies in the maths, sciences, diplomacy, and many other required courses of a future king, he would also fully commence his warrior's training. Inkeri's eyes finally rested on Loki, standing next to his mother, wearing his green and gold colors, looking sullen and bored. She remembered when he saw him last, he wasn't nearly this serious. He must be starting to do that bothersome thing all the boys seemed to be doing right now at their age, she thought, when they think they're too good to be around anyone else.

Inkeri and her family proceeded through the long procession and finally approached the throne. Her father got down on one knee and bowed low to Odin reciting one of the many appropriate formalities. "Allfather, we thank you for another summer, free of the bloodshed of war and for the abundant luxuries which we are privileged to have."

Odin smiled as Geir rose from his position. "Geir my old friend, it has been a long time since we have had need of your services as a public defender."

Geir smiled back, "Although I love my work in the law, I suppose it is a good thing that we have had no serious trials."

Odin nodded and responded, "Indeed."

Frigga stepped forward and hugged her mother. "Asta, you are looking lovely, and Inkeri," She focused her attention on the girl, "You have grown so much."

Inkeri smiled back at her.

"How go your studies in the sciences?" Frigga questioned.

Inkeri beamed. "Wonderfully my queen! In fact, today, I learned that I could change the color of something simply by moving its molecules around…except for I'm not exactly sure how I did it," she confessed.

Frigga smiled. "Usually for one so young it is hard to understand such things. You will make a wonderful addition to the academy in…four years isn't it? Why yes I do believe you are the same age as my Loki."

Frigga gestured to him, and Inkeri looked over at him again, noticing that he was favoring one of his feet ever so slightly.

"Boys," the Queen motioned them over. "The feast is about to begin, and you've been standing here long enough. Why don't you take Inkeri and go play with your friends."

Thor wrinkled his nose. "With all due respect, mother, I am beyond the age of childish play."

Inkeri became indignant at that, yet held her tongue in front of the crown prince and the queen.

"Nonsense, Thor." Frigga admonished. "And besides, you play with the young lady Sif all the time."

Loki snickered and chimed in. "I wouldn't consider Sif to be much of a young lady, mother."

Frigga sighed, partly exasperated, and partly to hide a small smile. "That's enough, go on, off with you. Go get some food before the warriors get to it."

At that, Thor bolted off in the direction of the royal banquet hall, stopping briefly to chat with another blonde, blue eyed boy who seemed to be closer to Loki's age. He was not quite as tall as Thor, but still had a similar warrior's build. He was speaking animatedly, using grand gestures and clapping the prince on the arm occasionally as if they had known each other all their lives. Inkeri thought it odd that she had never really noticed his presence until now, but maybe that was just because most of the summer festivals of her short life so far had been spent either pushing her food around with her utensils at one of the children's tables, or, more recently, involved in some act of chaos with Loki. It had all started a few summers ago when she had been seated directly across from him. He had seemed like such a nice boy at first, making pleasant and well-mannered conversation with the other children. He was the very picture of a true prince. That is, until she noticed that every time her fork went to stab a piece of fruit that was on her plate, the fruit conveniently moved out of the way, making her miss the target and scrape the plate with quite an ear piercing, shrill noise. It wasn't until she looked up in those emerald green eyes of his, dancing with laughter, that she knew. She had smiled politely at him in response, and before she could think about the implications of what she was doing, his cup "accidentally" slid to the edge of the table, and began to teeter dangerously towards toppling over onto his fine white tunic. The look in his eyes had immediately turned from mirth, to horror, and then clouded over with an evil mischief. He had picked up the cup and placed it back on the middle of the table, his childish lips now drawn into a thin smirk. They had stared at each other, then, each with a look of challenge cast toward the other. The staring contest had been cut short, however, when Thor, who had been at the head of the table, had called out to his brother warning him that if he kept looking at girls, he would turn into a rock troll. T'was a proven fact, said he. Inkeri remembered poor Loki's face then, turning dejected and sour as he looked away from her with great embarrassment. She had turned her attention to Thor, then, and again acted without thinking. That's when Thor's cup happened to fall in his lap. That was also when the entire table had burst into laughter at the sake of the first prince of Asgard. She would never forget his face, his mouth agape, purple boysenberry juice spilled all over his beautiful silver colored princely tunic. Loki had been blamed, of course, and she had apologized to him later that night for it, but to him, seeing the golden Thor in such a way had been worth it. They had been friends ever since then, and the juice prank had blossomed into a yearly tradition between the two of them, conspiring together to commit some sort of gag against at least one or two of the unsuspecting feast goers- usually Thor. It was all in harmless good fun, though. At least in her mind it was, she was never really sure about what Loki's motivations were.

Inkeri looked up at her mother for permission to go. She then approached Loki who was slowly moving toward the hall, trying to hide his limp.

She cocked her head and eyed him curiously. Ever since they had both come to be two hundred and ninety six during the last year, he had always intrigued her just a little more for some reason. Not that she would ever tell him that. He would definitely think it strange of her.

"My most wonderful prince." She bowed her head slightly and curtsied dramatically.

He actually smirked at that. "Oh please."

"What happened to your foot?" She questioned as they finally made their way into the banquet hall. Thor and the other boy were already there loading up their plates with delicacies.

Loki sighed. "My friend Kaapo there," he pointed to the boy with Thor, "Made me fall off of a ladder. I'm fine, and it's really just my ankle that's sore."

"Your friend forced you to fall off of a ladder?" Inkeri questioned incredulously. He tended to exaggerate the truth quite a lot.

"Yes!" Loki replied, "Well, he startled me and made me fall."

Inkeri had an idea. "Loki, sit down, I want to try something."

Loki looked skeptical. And why could the girl never call him by his proper title anyway? "What is it?"

"Just sit down." She commanded.

He huffed and made his way over to a chair. He eyed her curiously as she got down on her knees and lifted up the leg of his pant. His ankle was slowly turning purple.

Ever so gently, Inkeri touched his ankle to assess the damage.

What does she think she's doing?

Inkeri looked up at him confused. "What did you say?"

Loki's eyes widened. "I said nothing."

Inkeri cocked her head and looked at him curiously. He quickly grew flustered and looked away. Ever since he had first taken notice of the girl, they had become fast friends, but at the same time, he felt like she could see straight into his very soul. It unnerved him to no end. Plus, he hated being touched. Although he had to admit, it wasn't that bad. But people would stare, for heaven's sake.

She let it go and held her hard to his leg again closing her eyes.

"You broke it." She said finally, opening her olive eyes. "I can see it. A hairline fracture, nothing more."

Loki grunted and moved his leg away from her hand. She was making him uncomfortable, but he couldn't explain why.

"Let me try to heal you?" She pleaded, looking up at him again. "Please. I healed our cat once when it was mauled by a wolf. I can heal you."

He considered her words carefully. If he went to the healers at this point, his father would find out, and he'd be in even more trouble for climbing the library bookshelf. He already had to fix the pillar in the throne room and go without his books for a week, and he figured he would be flogged if he got into any more trouble.

"Fine," He replied.

She touched him again, so gently that it caused goosebumps to form on the skin of his arms. She closed her eyes and stayed like that for what felt like forever. The throbbing in his leg began to subside greatly, and he noticed the purple mark was slowly turning back to milky white flesh.

"Inkeri! What are you doing?"

Loki looked up and saw the girl's mother rushing over to them, Frigga quickly following.

Inkeri finished her work and slowly opened her eyes, taking her hand off of his ankle. Realizing what was going on, she quickly bowed to the queen.

"I'm sorry my queen. The prince had hurt his ankle, so I healed it."

Loki could tell through her feigned repentance that she was deeply proud of herself. Show off.

Frigga smiled and put her hand on her son's leg. "And what a fine job you've done of it." She turned to Inkeri. "You'll make a wonderful healer someday. Just remember to be careful with what you practice on until you've received at least a little schooling, my dear."

Inkeri blushed and looked down and nodded.

"Run along now you two," Frigga urged them.

They both got up and ran to the food tables.

Asta shook her head. "She can be so impulsive sometimes. She always thinks she knows better."

Frigga smiled and wrapped her arm around her friend's.

"She will grow to be a fine young lady someday. I have seen it."

Asta nodded, relieved in hearing this from the queen herself. If she had seen it, then so it would be.

The two women smiled and chatted, watching their children play together.

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