With a smile, Loki managed a soft laugh. "I'm afraid I've never been good at following my father's rules." All of Kara's requests he could meet easily, he just wished her freedom could be delivered so simply. Her eyes watched him carefully, like a fire testing the strength of his metal. Loki held her gaze for as long as he dared, then started preparing the spells he'd need to escape unnoticed.
Green fire flickered around his fingers, lighting up the prince's eyes as he looked back at Kara once more. "I'll return soon. And please, just call me 'Loki'."
The trickster winked at the warrior, then slipped back outside her cell. His heart was pounding out of control, thumping louder and louder with each step he took. Flirting wasn't something unfamiliar to the prince, but with the She-Wolf? Had he really just dared to wink at her? Loki felt like a fool - a ridiculous, cocky, and embarrassingly happy fool.
In the weeks that followed, the young prince's thoughts never wandered far from Kara. He gathered all that she had asked for, but waited a little longer to practice his mother's spells. Determination fuelled his studies, never once did his patience break. Loki used his brother as a test subject, approaching Thor in the form of Lady Sif and even once their own mother. Frigga thought it amusing, Sif did not. But regardless, it was only a month before Loki once again ventured back into the prisons.
He took his time, carefully staying out of the guard's suspicion and Heimdall's watchful gaze. In his pockets the god carried clothes, food, and a few healing compounds for the She-Wolf. And after waiting four hours for the right moment, Loki slipped into Kara's cell for the second time.
The She-Wolf spent her nights and days alone. Kara watched what sky she could through that small, barred window and tracked the days as best she could. There was one night in that cell that would stay in her memory for as long as she lived. It was no different from the others, except for the full moon amongst hundreds of stars.
Kara had always loved the night sky, had loved to sit beneath the moon's rays.
The cool air that filtered into her cell was crisp and sweet, ridding her mind of the smell of blood and filth. It was the first time since Loki had left that she felt at peace. She felt calm.
Kara looked to the moon as though she was acknowledging an old friend and for the first time in twenty years...she began to sing.
Loki froze. His limbs felt heavier than lead and his body like solid stone. A shiver ran down his spine as the song reached his ears, touching his heart. Kara sat in her cage, golden eyes uplifted and singing to the silver moon outside her cell. She looked so peaceful, so divine and otherworldly. Even now, the She-Wolf still had her wildness, the spirit of the night that couldn't be tamed by Odin's guards or anything else. She's so beautiful.
The prince felt as if he was imposing, entering a moment that was too private for his eyes and ears. So when Kara did notice him and looked his way, he found himself stumbling over his words like a boy. "I-I apologize, I didn't mean-I brought what you asked for, I can just leave them here."
It was his magick Kara sensed first, then his shadow as the prince shifted. She let her voice fade out and turned to fully face him, smiling softly as Loki stammered "It's quite alright. I'm sure the kitchens were listening too. Their windows are just above my cell." Kara smiled sadly, there were many she had befriended in the kitchens during her early days in the palace. Kara knew this was another little thing to attempt to break her. Placing her so close to her friends but not close enough to see them.
Kara stretched out her legs and her back, sighing softly at the relief. Ull had visited her only two nights before, her legs had been taken to quite harshly.
The stand-in Captain had been instructed to only use his fists, but he had taken a staff and beaten Kara around her thighs and knees. The best she could manage was to sit on her rear and lean back. Kara tried not to grimace at her slowly healing wounds, her starvation could account for that. "If you wouldn't mind, I'll need you to hand the clothes to me."
Loki's brow furrowed in confusion but did as Kara asked and the She-Wolf began to undress and re-dress herself. She couldn't wait until Loki had gone. He would need to take the old rags with him.
Kara hesitated to remove her trousers, wasn't sure how royalty would react to her treatment. But it needed to be done, she supposed. So, Kara removed the cloth and the moon made the bruises even darker than Kara had thought they'd been that morning.
A deep, sweltering anger ignited in Loki's chest. He knew the terms of Odin's sentence, how Kara was supposed to be treated - and this cruelty wasn't it. Though common manners commanded otherwise, the prince couldn't take his eyes off Kara's wounds. The bruises, the cuts, probably fractured or broken bones. How could his father allow this? Kara wasn't a criminal, she was a hero, in his mind the finest warrior Asgard had ever been graced with…and here was her thanks, a cage and treatment unfit for dogs.
As the silver haired woman shifted to change her clothes, Loki moved to kneel by the side of the cage. He reached into his cape, searching for just the right vile. He pulled out a flask of glowing, violet liquid, opening the seal and releasing a wisp of iridescent smoke. "It'll ease the pain, if you want it. It'll also help you heal faster without drawing too much attention."
He placed another vile next to it, this one flickering like green embers. "I didn't want to risk bringing your normal food, just in case. So I brought this, it has all the nourishment your body needs…" He trailed off, trying to find the right words to say. He found it ironic that his silver tongue would turn to lead just when he needed it most. But a meagre apology was all he could push past his mouth. "I'm so sorry for all this, truly."
Carefully eyeing the vials, Kara took them gently from the prince. She inhaled gently and immediately identified the scent from Frigga's store rooms. There was no hesitation to consume the liquid and the relief her body felt was welcomed.
The green vial was welcomed even more so. Her stomach stopped cramping and her head stopped pounding once the contents of the vial had reached her stomach.
The She-Wolf looked at the prince. Carefully. He kept her gaze and she couldn't deny his bravery and his efforts to help her. When he apologized, she couldn't help the small smile that made its way onto her face
"Thank you. But you needn't be sorry. This was not your doing." Kara kept her eyes on Loki's form as he stood, "You don't need to do any of this for me. But you are. You're risking a lot, just coming here. Let alone aiding me. Why?"
Kara knew that once she was freed, a debt would be owed to this man.
Gods those eyes looked right through him. Like staring into a fire, Loki found himself both fascinated and afraid of the flames in Kara's eyes...but he had to look away. She burned too brightly, illuminating the guilt in his heart for his father's misdeeds. He tried twice to speak, both times reconsidering his words and tripping over his own tongue. The third time, he only managed to say what he felt.
"I am here because my father was wrong, and I can't ignore his injustice...but, I am also here because I admire you greatly." He couldn't quite bring himself to meet her eyes. "I have for years, and it pains me to see you treated like this."
Always his line of defense, Loki's words betrayed him and left him feeling vulnerable. But just enough resolve remained for him to look Kara in the eyes again. "The She Wolf I knew as a boy wouldn't commit the crimes that the king described that day."
She paused at his words. Kara hadn't expected words so sincere. Not from the God of Mischief. Kara knew that there were many that admired the She-Wolf and many in different ways. Some less...innocent than others. But what Kara saw then, was genuine. It was respect. Something she had not been given for some time.
It was difficult for her to come up with an appropriate response and twice she opened her mouth, just to close it again. Kara wasn't sure of just how she should approach such an admission, by none other than royalty. It was a moment longer before the words felt natural, "I'm honored, Loki. Humbled even." A wry laugh eased some of the tension in the room, "It has been a long time, since anyone has...admired me. I doubt many remember my name."
The silence that followed between them ate away at Loki's resolve. Perhaps he'd been too forward, maybe he was just nervous. By the time Kara spoke again the prince's heart was hammering again, twice as hard when the She-Wolf's words sunk in.
Loki frowned, swallowing the last of his pride to make room for sincerity. "Of course you're remembered. In fact, the guards won't shut up about you. They do more than admire you, they idolize you for your courage. How could they not? You said no to Odin, your king, and stood by your conscience." Loki could've gone on, it sadden him to see Kara thinking she was forgotten, but his time was running out.
"Heimdall will see me if I stay much longer, but know that I'm not the only Asgardian hoping to see you freed." A mischievous grin pulled at the prince's mouth. "And if the Queen has her way at the next council meeting, that'll be soon than later."
A soft by wry smile made its way onto her face "I'm glad that they look upon my actions so favourably." She knew that there were those of the Royal Court that didn't.
The Queen. Queen Frigga, fought for her? Kara chuckled to herself, she pitied any that opposed the Valkyrie Queen.
As Loki grinned, something pulled deep in her chest. It was something she needed to ignore, especially when it was because of a prince. Especially when she had spent over three decades, alone and in a cage...with regular beatings. Any sliver of something else, something more, was going to pull at her.
The She-Wolf nodded to the prince curtly "I thank you, Prince Loki. You've been more than kind to me." She continued with a smirk, "Which has been said, is quite out of character for the Trickster."
….This was the last time Kara saw the prince...at least for two more decades….