The next day Denna couldn't wait for night time to arrive. She was incredibly excited to once again see the boy who had been the first person to ever show her real kindness, who could do magic like herself and who, on top of it all, was a prince!
She spent a long time pacing her room during the day. Perhaps she could sneak out already and go to the parts of the house that was forbidden for her? But she didn't dare to. Not even for him. It wasn't that she was frightened of what she would find there. It was just rooms like any other part of the huge mansion. What made her insecure was the fact that all her life she had been told to stay away from there- that she wasn't wanted and that people would judge her if they saw her. She was learning to do thing her own way and not listen to what others had to say, but she found that it was hard to ignore something that had been yelled at her for her entire life.
Denna didn't want to risk running in to her parents. To be honest, she was frightened of them. Even with her magic they still had the psychological power over her to make her feel very insecure. They were the ones who'd locked her up for her whole life and they were the ones who ignored her when they should have been the people who loved her the most. She could never forgive them for that and she was not ready for a confrontation. So she decided to stay put.
To make time pass Denna spent time trying to figure out what to wear. She couldn't wear the garb of a servant, like she usually did to make it easier for herself. She dived into her closet to find something appropriate, but nothing seemed to do. Eventually she simply decided to make an entirely new dress. She stood in front of her mirror and concentrated.
Slowly a blue mist began traveling upwards from her feet to the top of her head. When the mist cleared she was wearing a sleeveless, light purple dress with straps that tied around her neck and a shapeless, flowing skirt. A silver belt hung around her waist and her feet were dressed in simple sandals. She put on a few bracelets from her dresser so to not make her arms look too naked. The neckline showed off the womanly shape of her breasts that she had acquired over the years and the skirt was slightly see-though, only just hinting at the silhouette of her long legs.
She stood in front of her large mirror and spun around to see the finished result. Yes, this would most definitely please the young prince. Unlike yesterday, she looked every bit a lady. Except for her hair. No matter what she did her hair would never obey. The curls stood in every direction and she hated it with a passion. She sighted, deciding to leave it as it were since there was nothing she could do about it anyway.
The sun had finally set and she made her way out the door and towards the door she had found one night that lead straight out to the gardens. It was well hidden, so no one would see her use it. Not that it mattered anyway if somebody did. Only she and the servants lived in this part if the house and they were now too fearful of her to do anything about it.
She only had to wait for a few minutes beneath her window before she heard footsteps coming around the corner. The prince was wearing another green attire, similar to what he had been wearing the day before. He was taking long, hurried steps, but slowed down when he saw that she was already there. Soon he stood not two feet away from her and she gave a slight bow of her head.
"I must say I'm a bit disappointed to see you already on the ground. I had so much been looking forward to catching you once again."
Denna actually giggled at his words, which was something she never did. It was much too childish in her opinion, but here she was doing it anyway.
"I took your advice," she said. "I took the easier way out of the house tonight. I couldn't risk ruining my dress on the thorns."
His eyes travelled up and down the length of her body, giving the illusion that he was admiring her dress, when clearly he was looking at more than that.
"Yes, that would have been a shame," he stated. There was a pause for a few seconds. Loki's eyes were still on her body. She felt slightly exposed, but it was overlapped by smugness from the fact that he obviously liked what he saw. She had dressed up for him after all- she wanted him to see her. They had only met once before, yet the young prince had chosen to spend another night in her company, and of this she was very proud.
"I do believe there was talk of magic last night, and something about showing you more of it." Loki wanted to show her every little thing he could do with his magic abilities. He'd liked the way her pretty eyes lit up when she saw what he did the previous night. It made him feel like learning everything there was to know about magic, if only to impress her further.
She nodded and gestured for him to follow her. "I believe it is better if we seek out someplace more private, my lord. I don't think my parents are very fond of magic, and if they hear that somebody had been practising it on their grounds, even a prince…"
"I understand fully. My father is not very keen on magic either, I'm afraid. Please, lead the way, lady Denna."
Once again she gripped his arm and led him through the garden. When they reached the fence Denna pushed part of the bushes out of the way to reveal an opening. They went through and kept walking arm in arm until they reached her special hill in the middle of the forest.
"This is where I go most nights. As far as I know I am the only one who ever comes here. I have spent more time than I care to admit lying here, just gazing at the stars." Denna had been very insecure about showing him this place. It had been her special place for a very long time, and to share it with someone else had never been an option, because there had never been anyone else round to share it with. She wasn't sure what Loki would think of it. To her relief he gave her a soft smile.
"I feel very honoured that you have brought me here, my lady. It is obvious this place is very special to you." He truly was honoured and he hoped that his expression could tell her that more than his words could.
She responded with a shy smile. Denna was glad that he approved of it.
"I chose to lead you here because of the solitude it provides us," she said to him. "Here we can practise our magic without being disturbed or worry that someone might catch us."
He took in the environment around them. "Yes, it does seem like the ultimate- wait, "our magic"? What do you mean?" He looked confused. His perfectly shaped eyebrows met when he gazed at her. She found the wrinkle it made above his nose adorable.
"Perhaps I should have told you last night." She took a few steps backward and closed her eyes. She lifted her hand up in the air and from them came the same mist that had appeared when she made her dress. The blue mist travelled upwards and clustered until it looked more like a rounded cloud above them. At the command she made in her head, the cloud burst into what looked like hundreds of tiny stars. It rained over them like a shower of silvery dust. Loki held out his hand to try and catch some of it, but it dissolved as soon as it touched his skin. He looked astonished at what had just transpired.
"This spell is quite useless to be honest, but it is still fun to do it every now and then, if only for the prettiness of it."
Loki didn't know how to answer her. He was in awe over the fact that she could do magic at all. He had only met very few other people who could and they were all very much older men- no one was even close to his own age, except for this young girl.
"My lord, is everything alright?" He had been gawking at her for a while now, and Denna was getting worried.
He shook his head to come back to the present. "I am sorry, my lady. I became lost in my own thoughts. I am simply fascinated over the fact that I have met many people in my life, but none of them have managed to surprise me the way you just did."
"Is it so strange a thought that I would practise magic, my prince?"
"Most of the people I've met who have that ability have been smelly old men with one foot in the grave and a beard long enough to touch the floor. I find it astonishing that a beautiful young woman such as yourself would be interested in a subject that is almost considered extinct."
Once again she blushed when he called her beautiful. "Growing up books were my only friends. I was lucky enough to come across books on magic. I've found that learning it has been very helpful over the years."
Once more he had to raise his eyebrow slightly. "I do believe we have more in common than I first thought, lady Denna."
His voice sounded smooth like silk when he said her name. Denna found herself weak in the knees and had to take deep breaths to keep her thoughts on track. What was wrong with her? She felt dizzy and she was warm all over, her cheeks were reddening and though she never wanted to look away from his green eyes, she still had to struggle to keep them there. These were feeling that she had only read about in her books, but never hoped to experience them herself. It felt like… weakness.
All her life she had built a wall around her heart, making sure nothing and no one could penetrate it. But now, here was this boy, barely a man, and he had made her come closer to opening up than she ever had been, and that was only after meeting him twice! The notion scared her more than anything had before, but at the same time Denna was excited. This was new and terrifying, but in a good way.
They continued to show each other what they could do with their magic skills for a long while. They found that they were very much equal, but there was much that one could teach the other. It was well in to the night when they realized how late it was and how quickly the time had passed, much to the disappointment of them both. They made their way back to the mansion, and soon they stood outside of the door that Denna had used to sneak out through instead of the window.
They stood in a few seconds of silence, merely gazing at each other with looks of curiosity and admiration. The silence wasn't uncomfortable, but they both knew that they had to part ways, though both were slightly reluctant to admit to themselves that they wanted to stay. Both had a hard time putting their true feelings into words, but it seemed that between them they could speak with looks alone.
"Once again I've had a wonderful night thanks to you, my lady," he said, unconsciously moving closer to her.
"As did I, sire, but I fear I've kept you up for too long. The sun is about to come up soon, and you will no doubt be extremely tired in the morning." She wasn't sure why she was concerned about that. Normally Denna never cared for the wellbeing of other people.
"It will be worth it. Just the memory of our lovely time together will be enough to get me through the day." Loki saw that she was blushing at his words. He found himself loving to make her blush, which he had done all night. All it took was a well-directed compliment or for him to stand a bit too close to her and her cheeks would immediately warm up.
He took her hand in his and placed his lips upon it like he had the previous night, but this time the kiss lasted longer. Her skin as cold even though it was a warm night out, but he didn't mind it. When he let go of her he saw that her eyes were widened and she seemed to be in a daze, like he had taken her by great surprise.
"If you allow it, I would very much like to see you again tomorrow night. If that is alright with you?" he inquired.
"But of course," she answered with a slight smile. "It would not seem right to deny the prince of Asgard anything, Lord Loki."
"You are always allowed to say no, my lady. But I'm glad that you are not, for I am very much looking forward to more nights like this one."
On the way back to their rooms neither of them could stop smiling, nor could they stop thinking about each other. For the first time ever, perhaps they had both found a true friend.
