Thank you: Jess Marylin, JigokuShoujosRevenge, whiteanddark, Lady Syndra, and dearyourname12 for the reviews.
Loki's heart skipped a beat when his father had granted his wish. Having his powers back was something he had been attempting for what seemed like a millennium, and for a brief moment he almost forgot the only reason why his magic was returned to him was because he needed to protect Adisa.
The madness still lingered at the back of his mind, and he could easily slip back into his former self. The thought was more tempting then he thought it would be. To cure the lingering darkness in his mind, Loki continued to plan many ways he could protect Adisa.
His mind was calm around Adisa, there was something about how she sat so still, and listened to him that brought his sanity back to him. Adisa didn't say a lot about his magic being returned, he knew she was happy for him, but her mind was drifting off into far off places.
Loki fiddled with the tea pot on the table, his eyes watching to see if Adisa stirred at all. Normally she would have tilted her head slightly as her brain registered what the sound was, but today she didn't seem to notice that he had moved anything at all, which was not her normal self.
Today was the day that she was having tea with the young girl who had been blinded. Adisa had spent all week preparing for the tea. At first she couldn't decide what treats she wanted on the table, and then she couldn't decide what tea room she was to use. She had even gone to the extreme of leaving Bran in Odin's garden. She worried that the bird would distract her thoughts.
Adisa worried that the young girl would hate her. Loki had assured her that after all she had done for the girl, that she hardly hated her. She would be assured a future, and that was more than anyone could ask for.
Pressing his lips together he watched her shift as a knock on the door echoed through the room. In an instant Adisa sat up stiffly and murmured for the knocker to come in. A guard, who stood outside the door, swung the door open with one hand and with the other he carefully held onto a young woman's elbow.
Loki didn't care to sit and listen to two women gossip and cry over their lack of vision so he removed himself from the chair he was sitting in. He would head out to find his mother and leave the girls to bond over their lack of vision. He stopped beside Adisa before he left; pressing his lips to her temple silently assuring her that everything would be okay. He then left motioning to the guard to stay with both of the girls. He would not risk either of them getting hurt.
Adisa hated that there was always guards hovering around her. It made her body feel stiffer and she moved a lot more slowly than usual. She could feel their eyes on her at any given moment and it made her nervous. It wasn't hard for the guards to notice this but they tried to keep as much distance as they could. They wanted to keep her at ease and make her feel safe (they also didn't want to anger the dark prince). She was after all, only allowed in so many rooms in the palace. It was the All-father's way of trying to keep her safe.
After days of thinking Adisa had finally figured out what she was going to say to the young girl.
Adisa had gone to Frigga and requested a few things to ensure the young girls success. The most important being an education, and when the time came a match maker would be provided to her so she too could find someone who would take care for her like Loki. Match makers were rare and expensive, and if her parents could have afforded one, they would have shipped her off into marriage a very long time ago.
Strangely there where many men who would like a blind wife, and those were the men who were typically to ugly to find a woman on appearance alone.
Adisa ran her hands over her dress, taking one last moment to make sure she was well put together. She hadn't even realised she had done it until her brain reassured her that they girl could not see what she was wearing at all. Her hands shook nervously, and she ran her fingers along the small table in front of her to make sure everything was in place. Again, forgetting that the girl could not see.
"Princess." The guard almost hummed helping the young girl to sit into the chair across from her. The young girl struggled to sit down on the chair, and for a brief moment she sounded as if she were going to slip of the chair, but the guard kept a firm grip on her elbow. When he was sure that she was fine, he took the nod from Adisa as an okay to stand by the door. They were all safe here.
Adisa was shaking with nervousness; she had never before spoken to anyone cursed like herself and no matter what Loki told her, she still believed that the girl would hate her. Silence hung between both girls, as the young woman waited for Adisa to speak first. This was new to Adisa because Royalty was always to speak first in these types of situations.
"I'm sorry; I don't know your name." It had occurred to Adisa that she didn't know much about the girl, and somewhere amongst the chaos she didn't learn her name. She knew Loki didn't know her name, because every time she was brought up in conversation he simply shrugged her off. He didn't care to learn anything about her, but Adisa couldn't blame him. He had other things on his mind.
"My name is Rada, your highness." Rada's voice shook with fear, and if Adisa's heart could break anymore it would have at that moment. Adisa could remember how terrified she was the first year she was blinded, but the first few months were the worst. She jumped at every little sound, and meeting people made her heart pump so hard that she often thought that it would stop in her chest.
"Please, call me Adisa." Rada nodded her head in response, forgetting that Adisa like herself couldn't see and was too embarrassed to verbally respond.
"I'm sorry, that this happened to you. I never wanted anyone else to get hurt." Adisa's voice was almost music to Rada's ears, no one had addressed her condition and if anything her family was trying to shy away from the idea. Her mother and father didn't want to believe that she had been cursed, and had already begun looking for healers who claimed they could fix it. Even after the warning from Loki that such things would not work with a curse as powerful as this.
Petty curses were easy to break, but one so finely woven as this one would not be so easily broken. This is what made Horril so dangerous, his magic was precise and deadly. Something very few people managed to accomplish. Horril was not simply a magic user, he was a master of the craft. Loki was positive that like himself he dabbled in the darker magic and was capable of so much more.
"Your highn….Adisa. It is not your fault. How could anyone take the blame for the mind of mad men?" Rada's voice brought calm to Adisa, it was more then she wanted to hear. Adisa of course still blamed herself but Rada's confession made the burden a little easier to bare.
Adisa had to wipe a few tears from her eyes when Rada spoke again. The young girl was nervously playing with the table cloth, and she had already pulled the objects on top closer to herself. Only Adisa had noticed, because the soft clinking the cups made when they were pulled caught her attention.
"Adisa…I have…a um… question." Rada mumbled her head casted down, Adisa straightened her spine intently listening to the girl in front of her. Rada was trying to find the courage to speak, even if the Princess was intently waiting for her to continue.
"The burning, does it ever go away?" Rada asked, the question stunned Adisa and for a moment she couldn't think of what to say. No one had ever asked her if she felt pain, not even Loki knew. He did of course know that she often had major headaches, usually around night time when everything started to settle down, but he had assumed it was because she spent the entire day straining her head to hear everything.
"No, you eventually learn to ignore it, it becomes more annoying than a burden but there is always some kind of burning." Adisa said softly, she tried to ignore the soft whimper that came from the girl.
"Here have some tea." Adisa nervously laughed grabbing a tea cup in front of her and filling it up with the sweet smelling liquid. Rada laughed awkwardly when the glass cup was handed to her, and after Adisa made sure that the girl had the fragile glass in her hand, started to pour one for herself.
Tension was high in the air and Adisa tried to think of anything to say, as long as it didn't sounds stupid coming out of her mouth.
"It gets better. Even if it doesn't seem like it right now, everything will get better I promise." Adisa wouldn't have believed her own words if she were speaking to herself years ago, so she didn't expect Rada to believe her.
A soft sputtering sound came from Rada which quickly escalated to a sound Adisa had never heard before.
"She's choking!" Adisa screamed jumping up from the table, she reached forward for the young girl knocking over the tea pot which hit the ground and shattered. Adisa could feel the scolding hot liquid splash up onto her dress. The dress would be ruined and Loki wouldn't be impressed that it would have to be replaced.
The guard who was in the room, ran to Adisa's aid but quickly skitted to a halt when he realised that something was wrong. Rada was indeed choking, but not on anything from the table in front of her. Instead a thick black smoke slowly poured from her mouth and eyes and started to take a shape in front of her. The guard no longer cared about Rada and instead ran to remove Adisa from what was going to take place in the matter of seconds.
"Adisa move!" He commanded. He was too late.
The thick fog like substance had finished pouring from the girl's body and she collapsed to the ground. The fog stilled for a second, before a bright flash rippled through the room. The guard was the only one effected by the light and quickly covered his eyes. This would prove to be fatal because the instant his guard was down, a spell was casted into his direction and he was turned into stone.
"I can't believe how easy it is, to sneak in and out of this castle!" a man laughed, Adisa couldn't breathe. She knew the voice too well, and jumped back from the table. A large hand grabbed her wrist and jerked it to the side; she cried out in pain. Her body was not meant to be twisted that way.
"Now look at you Lady Adisa." He cooed painfully forcing her body to walk. Adisa couldn't scream, she was beyond terrified. She hung off every word he spoke, her mind memorizing everything. The way he curled his 's' and how easily the words rolled from his mouth.
"I'm a little astonished by your beauty, who would of thought that a blind hag could clean up so nicely and even with a curse you still managed to do very well for yourself. I would have never of guessed that a blind woman would manage to ensnare the heart of a prince. A Frost Giant Prince." He corrected himself, he had stopped moving around the room. Dizzy from all the commotion Adisa had no idea where she was, she didn't have time to count her steps or feel around. She certainly didn't have Bran to guide her, and without Bran there was little hope for help.
"He may be a Frost Giant, but he shows more kindness then you." She squeaked, trying to pull her hand away from him. Horril laughed loving what little fight she had in her, and pulled on her arm to show her his strength.
"I know. It's astonishing isn't it?" he chuckled giving her arm one last tug sending her onto her knees. He released his grip on her for only a second, but it was long enough for Adisa to feel her bones rattle and the smell of magic.
Horril needed two hands to cast a spell. One hand would not be careful enough, not for what he had planned. The magic hit her, and sprayed over her skin like electricity. She hadn't known right away that he had casted anything on her. That was until the burning started.
She knew the burning from her eyes all too well, it was after all the very same burning she experienced when she lost her sight. A scream ripped through her throat and she couldn't even register that it was indeed her own scream. The guards outside the door were finally alerted that something inside wasn't right. Quickly they ran into the room to see something truly horrifying, one guard inside the room had been turned to stone and the small woman they brought into the room earlier was passed out on the ground. A man who no one had seen enter the room grabbed Adisa with strength they had only seen from Thor and lifted her above his head.
It was clear to the guards that this was Horril, and they charged across the room swords drawn.
Adisa on the other hand, removed her hands away from her eyes to steady herself. She knew she was in the air, but something new overcame her. A wave of shock filled her lungs as she peered around the room, and she didn't understand what was happening.
For a brief moment Adisa had something she always wanted, and that was her vision. The moment would have been one of joy if it wasn't Horril holding her in the air.
The guards watched in horror as Adisa's captor turned his body quickly and did the unthinkable. With the same great force that lifted Adisa in the air, he threw her over the edge of the balcony to the floor below. The guards stopped stunned by the bone chilling scream that echoed through the castle, which was followed by a sickening crack.
Horril turned to the guards with a large smile on his face, he was tall, heavy, and carried a grey beard. His nose a little crooked; which fit the mad personality that exploded from him. He started to laugh madly, and as the guard lifted up their sword to swing at him, he lifted his arms up blocking what would have been a deadly swing with a magic force field.
The small struggle between the guards and Horril didn't go unnoticed. Nine more guards ran into the room, and with a little struggle they had the mad man pinned to the ground. Knowing that they had finally caught Horril one man ran to the balcony with little hope in his heart to peer over the side. This man didn't expect to see so much blood and in the middle of the mess sat Loki cradling what was once his wife, behind him sat the Queen who couldn't quite understand what she had seen.
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