I realized that setting the whole passage in bold can be hard on your eyes, so I changed it to regular. Sorry about it. Please protect your eyes and enjoy reading it!
Poisonous Prisoner
Chapter Eleven
Gná blinked and took a deep breath to steady herself. She was in her room, sitting on her bed. Asgard's cool night breeze went in through her open windows and yet she was sweating; her blood was flushing in her veins.
Breathe. It was not real. She calmed herself.
No, it wasn't real, because she couldn't smell the scent of Loki when he leaned closer, she couldn't feel his breath on her face when he spoke, she couldn't feel his lips when he kissed her. She felt nothing because it was only her illusion in the prison every night, not her. And the woman Loki kissed, or tried to kiss, was not her.
She didn't know what to think about this as she couldn't maintain her usual unbiased, placid coolness. Her heart, oh, her heart was beating so violently that she feared it would die of exhaustion the next second. Yes, the mixture of excitement and fear… She felt alive.
As she began to slowly accept the reality that Loki did try to kiss her, she couldn't control the anger burning inside her body.
Who did he think he was? Who did he think she was?
Loki, with his irresistible charm that could win anyone's affection if he wanted, would not hesitate for a second to flirt with her, the only female tangible. He was using her, if not teasing.
She, having lived in this realm for all these years, having met all sorts of people, still hadn't found someone to occupy her mind and heart, not even the bravest warrior or the wisest scholar, so why should her feelings be so violent towards a sinner?
There were so many thoughts crowding in her head that she was afraid if she didn't talk to someone, her head might explode. But who could she talk to? Loki was right: she was distant, cold and lonely, and she preferred it this way.
When she regained calmness and rationality, it was almost dawn; the first sunbeam danced on the edge of the mountains, adding a fresh tone of pink into the dark blue sky; it was hard to believe the sky could contain two things so opposite at the same time. Within fifteen minutes, the first plume of smoke would come from the chimney and it would be time to work. If there was one thing she could be certain, it was that nothing should influence her job.
Time passed slowly and by lunchtime, she felt tired, so she refused the invitation from Fulla and dined alone in the corner of the bar, hoping some private brooding could help.
Usually, no one would interrupt or even notice her hiding in the darkest corner, deep in her own thoughts. Again, her every actions proved Loki true. For some reasons she didn't know, she actually minded this. So when Heimdall set down his wine bottle across from her, she was slightly relieved as she got a companion, even regardless of the mixture of respect and fear she felt towards the man.
"You haven't touched the food since you sat here." The old man noticed. It appeared that he had brought his insightful nature to every aspect in life and she, for some unknown reasons, disliked him for this.
"Busy morning." She explained while letting half of the truth out.
"That lively singer seemed to be enjoying herself." He tilted his head towards a crowd with Fulla giggling merrily in the center.
"That's because Fulla doesn't have to listen to every creature's thoughts in this realm." She kept her eyes on the food to make her words sound friendlier.
"You Elves always feel burdened by your gifts rather than grateful and blessed. It's not a very wise thing to do."
"It's not a very blissful talent, either."
Wisdom, no matter how attractive it was on others, didn't suit Heimdall at all. To her, it only made him aggressive and complex. And because he was as fully aware of her past as he knew the shape of his hands, she couldn't help but to decipher hidden meaning behind his every move. But like she couldn't disclaim her talent, he couldn't disown his ability to see everything, and therefore always meaning more than his words indicated was an eternal flaw imprinted on his personality.
"For centuries, I've watched you punish yourself on a thing that can't even be called a mistake, Gná. Has it ever occurred to you that you actually did the right thing?" If there was one person who concerned Heimdall besides Loki and the enemies, it was this Elf who considered herself as a sinner ever since she was a child.
"Heimdall, pray, spare both of us from this ancient argument." Unable to add another trouble, she prevented him from saying another word. "I already have matters troubling me."
"So you do regard it as trouble and not an escape from the bitter reality?" The wise man stared at her with penetrating gaze. When the two people he worried about the most in this realm met and got to know each other, Heimdall couldn't resist but to interfere anymore.
Gná froze. How could she be so blind and not detect the real purpose of the Gate Keeper?
"I saw what happened last night, Gná, and I can't remain silent."
"Nobody asked you to be silent. I'm simply requiring you to be quiet around me." Anger boiled in her heart and all she could do was throwing every mean word she could think of at the elder.
"Loki is not a regular Asgardian, he is… Complicated. You'd better stay away while you still can." He warned calmly, but the authority in his voice was evident.
"No, you're wrong. I'm the one who's abnormal." She corrected him with a cruel smile so alien to her mild features that it evoked the long-suppressed fear in Heimdall's heart.
"And don't underestimate me, Gate Keeper. I'm not that easily-led by anyone." It was the first time she ever spoke to others like this, but her anger was like a bronco, wild and primitive, impossible to control. Eyeing the old man almost triumphantly, she tasted the first trace of sweetness of revenging. It heightened her senses, made her head dizzy and her icy blue eyes sparkle with craziness and heat.
"No, you're wrong, Gná. You don't know how much you look like him right now." Staring into her eyes for a long time, Heimdall said with an incredible calmness that put out the fire in her heart. And before she could calm herself from the craze storm she experienced seconds ago, The Guardian left.
She sat there and listened to her heartbeat. She had never felt more alive and more dangerous in her entire life. Accidently, she saw her reflection on the silver plate on the table and gasped in surprise. She couldn't recognize the woman.
The woman in the reflection had the same pale skin and dark hair as she did, but that woman was more… Vivid. Her eyes no longer looked pale and lifeless with the sparkles in it, instead, it looked vigorous, passionate, even crazy.
She had seen those sparkles before, though not in the same eyes.
A quiet whimper came out of her mouth.
She had seen the frenetic light in his eyes. Loki's eyes.
You don't know how much you look like him right now…
