Having not seen Loki in nearly two days, Maryn decided to send him a message. She didn't have the courage to meet him face to face so she wrote to him.
I would be eternally grateful if you would agree to teach me to control and strengthen my magic – yours faithfully, Maryn
The note she got back made her heart race with trepidation and excitement:
Meet me in the stables tomorrow morning to begin your training – Loki
The next morning, after breaking her fast, she dressed in a white wide necked gown with full sleeves that were tight around her wrist and billowed to her upper arms. At the neck and wrists was gold embroidery and the waist was cinched in with a wide filigree belt. She had Tora gather her heavy tresses into a side plait and then slipped gold filigree earrings with a smoky quartz drop at the end into her ears and slipped a gold ring onto her finger with diamonds and smoky quartz decorating the gold disk on top. Pulling on soft leather shoes she bid Tora a good day and made her way to the stables.
Her heart started to beat rapidly the moment she saw Loki. He was standing in a patch of sunlight rubbing his hand over the jaw of his stallion while the animal nickered happily from where he stood with his head over the door of his stall.
"Are you sure you're ready for training?" the dark prince spoke up startling Maryn who then blushed prettily when he turned his bright gaze onto her.
"If I don't start I'll never know, my lord," she answered moving closer to reach out and brush her fingers over the velvety nose of his horse.
"Loki."
She looked up into the prince's face in confusion.
He smiled, "If we are to be training together then I would ask you to call me by my name not one of my titles," he elaborated.
The blush that had since cooled on her cheeks flooded back and she turned her eyes to his stallion again, "Then you must use my name also, Loki," she replied softly. Her eyes darted up to collide with his gaze when he reached out and tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.
"As you wish, Maryn," he smiled charmingly making her heart pound in sudden anticipation and nervousness.
Stepping away from her he turned to walk out of the stable, waiting for her to pat his stallion once more before she followed him out into the sunlight. They walked in silence into the private gardens of the Allfather and his family and through the fruit-tree grove where they had met a few nights before, stopping at the fountain in the centre of the copse.
Settling himself lithely on the wide lip of the fountain, Loki motioned for her to take a seat beside him. She did so, tucking her feet under her and facing him and he turned his upper body to face her.
"First we must work on your ability to control your magic. When you let it control you it becomes dangerous," the prince spoke his velvet voice drawing Maryn's eyes from her hands clasped in her lap to his piercing gaze.
"How do I control something that is stronger than I am?" she asked softly.
Shaking his head, Loki lifted his hand, palm up, between them, his fingers glowing emerald before the light ebbed away leaving a single white moonflower edged in silver sitting in his palm. "Your magic will only be stronger than you if you allow it to be so," he reached over and tucked the small flower into her braid. Catching her hand in his he turned it palm up to sit cradled in his own. Dipping his fingers into the water of the fountain he let two droplets fall into her palm, "Focus on merging those drops into one," he told her.
Biting her lip, Maryn let her gaze fall to the twin beads of water in her hand and concentrated her power on bringing them together. Slowly, and not very fluidly, the two drops slipped across her palm and met in the middle, forming one larger drop as her fingers glowed silver. With a triumphant smile she looked up at the man before her whose handsome features were alight with a smile of his own.
"Let's try something a little more difficult," he spoke using his own magic to lift the large water drop from her palm and send it back into the fountain.
The rest of the morning was spent practicing moving objects with her magic and breathing and meditation techniques that would help her control her power.
As the sun reached its zenith, Maryn opened her eyes from taking a moment to breath and settle her power within herself only to start when Tora appeared out of nowhere with a note in her hands and a smile on her face.
"I beg your pardon, my lady, my lord," the small redhead curtsied prettily to Maryn and then Loki before holding the sealed note over to her mistress, "This came for you, Lady."
With a smile of thanks, Maryn took the note, broke the seal and unfolded the parchment. "It is an invitation to lunch with the Allmother in her chambers," she explained after reading the beautiful cursive script.
"Don't let me keep you," Loki spoke, standing and helping Maryn to her feet with a hand at her elbow. He let her go only to capture her hand in his and bow over it, brushing his lips over her knuckles in a soft kiss, "Until our next lesson, Maryn."
She could barely control the blush that heated her cheeks at the press of his lips against her skin but the small brunette still smiled and then spoke in a breathless voice, "Would you mind meeting again tomorrow to practice?"
His usual seriousness softened as he smiled and inclined his head, "I will see you in the stables again tomorrow morning."
Turning to go, Maryn hesitated and then turned back and pushed up onto the tips of her toes to press a small kiss to Loki's jaw as he bent down to her, "Thank you," she murmured gratefully when she pulled away. And then she turned and followed Tora back toward the palace.
Tora couldn't hide the smile on her face at the sight of her mistress kissing the prince's cheek. And as they walked from the warmth of the outside world into the cool halls of the palace, she spoke up, "I see that you and your prince are finally getting along."
Biting her lip as her cheeks turned pink, Maryn smiled a little confused at the thrill that went through her at her handmaiden's words, "He is helping me learn to control my magic," she glanced at the woman beside her as they made their way through the halls and covered walkways that led to Frigga's private reception rooms, "His power and control is like nothing I have ever seen before." Seeing the saucy look Tora was sending her way she rolled her eyes, "You are going to get into trouble if you continue with that ridiculous look."
The small redhead grinned and looped her arm through Maryn's, "And what look would that be, my lady?"
Raising an eyebrow, Maryn kept her mouth shut knowing Tora would continue with her teasing if she rose to the bait.
Turning the corner they stopped outside the gilt double doors that led to Frigga's receiving room. It opened just as Tora moved to knock and revealed Frigga with a happy smile on her face.
"Come inside, please," the older woman stepped back so Maryn could enter before Tora curtsied and left the two women to their own devices.
"Thank you for your invitation, Allmother," Maryn murmured following Frigga deeper into the sumptuous chamber and then out onto its balcony where a small round table and two chairs were set up, platters of delicacies covering every available space on the table-top.
"Come and sit with me," Frigga smiled motioning to one chair as she took the other.
Once they had settled and chosen a few things to eat, Maryn spoke up, "I know you didn't call me here only to enjoy this meal, good-mother. What do you wish to speak to me about?"
Frigga sat back in her chair in a very un-royal way and folded her hands in her lap, a small smirk turning up the corners of her lips, "You remind me so much of Loki, dear one. Even with his silver tongue he still has the ability to cut to the core of any matter; at trait which you too possess."
Maryn dropped her eyes to the sumptuous meal laid out before her, "My mother taught me not to bandy words in important matters, Allmother."
Nodding Frigga smiled compassionately, "Your mother was wise in her teachings. However, it is a teaching of the society of your home world that I wish to discuss, Maryn."
Looking away and out at the beauty of the Asgardian cityscape, Maryn swallowed hard, "The idea that a hand-fasting is not just an excuse for a man to sample his betrothed before committing to her."
"Yes," Frigga said studying the young woman sat before her, "Do you not trust that my son only wants what is best for you?"
Maryn's grey eyes snapped up to Frigga's own blue gaze, "I…yes I trust him to protect me," she said realising even as she said it that it was true. Confusion swept through her at the thought of knowing Loki wished to protect her even when she barely knew anything else about the man. Turning back to her soon to be good-mother she reached up unconsciously and played with the tiny silver-edged moonflower still tucked into the end of her braid, "If I was to agree to a hand-fasting, what would it mean and when would the ceremony be completed?"
Something in the way that Maryn asked about the ceremony piqued Frigga's interest, "On Mithros, what was the rite of a hand-fasting?"
Blushing in mortification, Maryn dropped her gaze to the food once more, clearly uncomfortable with the question, "The couple would recite the sacred words in front of witnesses and then the man would take his betrothed to his bed to fulfil the rite," she explained quickly and Frigga suddenly understood why she had reacted so negatively to the suggestion of a hand-fasting before.
"That is not how it is done here," the Allmother assured her, "The couple recite the blessed vows in front of a depiction of the Yggdrasil and in the presence of four witnesses; two for the man and two for the woman. The man and woman's joined hands are bound with a white silk scarf blessed by the Allfather and then they are left alone to exchange gifts. It is a very simple ceremony."
Maryn looked surprised, "There is nothing else?"
With a small smile Frigga shook her head, "Usually a feast is held afterward which frequently is also a celebration of the betrothal but nothing else is expected and the pact can only be broken by decree of the Allfather. Nothing more is expected of the woman, or man for that matter."
It felt as if a large weight had been lifted from Maryn's heart at those words. If she agreed to a hand-fasting she would be protected by Loki's name and rank and she would also not be forced into anything she did not wish to happen.
"Is this idea agreeable to you, dear one?"
Tears filling her eyes and a small smile lighting up her face, Maryn nodded, "Yes, mother," she said before marvelling over the idea of being free of her fear as Frigga sat motionless, tears building in her own eyes at the young woman's slip of the tongue that made her heart soar.