Burning Dahlia | A Loki Story

Chapter Seven ~ Rain and Reunions

Rain. That is all Dahlia found herself questioning as she sat on the cold floor of the rather warm chambers Loki had confined her in. So rarely did it rain on Asgard that Dahlia could remember only one other time she'd even smelled the sweet earthy scent it brought about. Of course, she'd encountered rain on her other travels, but unlike those other worlds, Asgardian rain brought a sweet aroma with it. If she remembered correctly, the rain tasted sweet too, like sugar water on the tongue. Dahlia wondered why the rain tasted so sweet yet never left a residue. Perhaps the rain's rarity kept research at bay.

Thunder shook the window to the balcony attached to the room. She'd already tried opening it, finding it securely locked; the glass wouldn't break no matter what she threw at it. Dahlia had only been here some thirty minutes and it was already in pieces. Furniture lay overturned, the pitcher of water by the bedside knocked over with it's contents soaking the floor, even the sheets ripped from the bed and tied into a makeshift rope laid across the ground.

Now she was only silent, sitting on the floor at the base of the bed, her knees drawn to her chest. She listened to the thunder shake her window again, vainly hoping it would shatter. But of course it did not, leaving behind only the sound of raindrops pattering on the window. Dahlia absentmindedly wondered if Átthagi had been found. He hated the rain.

The sound of a key in the lock of the door interrupted her worry, yet she did not move. Footsteps entered the room, stopping somewhere a few feet away. Dahlia did not turn her head to look at whoever it was. She didn't really care who stood above her; anyone who resided in the palace was her captor.

"By the gods, you've made one Hel of a mess in here," Loki scoffed, not really seeming very surprised. By the time Dahlia looked up the room had been put back together, Loki waving a towel over the spilled water. He looked down at her, meeting her eyes. "That's not very polite now is it? You are in fact a guest here."

Dahlia scoffed at the prince, returning her eyes to the floor. "I am no guest of yours. I am a prisoner. And here I thought a noble would speak with precision."

Loki only rolled his eyes, bending down to grab her arm and stand her up, grunting when she backhanded him. He let go of her rather quickly, letting her thud back down onto the floor. He wiped a hand across his cheek, palm coming away with blood where one of her nails had scathed the skin. "I'll ask that you stop hitting me every other second, else I'll start returning the favor," Loki said, scowling down at her.

"You'll have to stop being so grabby, your majesty. Blood contract or not, you've no right to invade my personal space."

Loki just rolled his eyes and grunted, turning heel and motioning for her to follow him out into the hall.

The golden halls of the palace were as beautiful as one would expect. Were Dahlia not having to follow the person she currently hated most in the realms she would be in awe. With long legs Loki walked rather briskly, leaving her to take quick long strides to even trail behind him. Though her short legs were often an advantage they were a fault when she needed to walk quickly.

After nearly running a marathon behind the prince Dahlia was relieved when he halted in front of two very large doors, both carved with illustrations of meadows and mountains. She wasn't afforded the time to truly look at the artwork before two guards swung them open for the pair to step through.

"We'll be going out," Loki chimed, stepping aside so she could get a view of what she realized were the royal stables. "Not right now, obviously. The horses don't much enjoy the rain and while I don't mind getting wet, I'd prefer to stay dry if I can." He walked further into the very large space, Dahlia trailing behind. "We found your~" Loki began to say but was cut off by the smaller Asgardian gasping and pushing past him.

"Átthagi!" she crooned, embracing the large stallion who proceeded to lift her off the ground by raising his head. The woman laughed, dropping back down onto her feet and stroking the horse's neck. Loki clasped his hands behind his back and watched in amusement.

"How old is he?" Loki interjected while he stared at the horse.

Dahlia turned to look at him, hands still stroking Átthagi's neck. "He's thirty seven. Vanir drafts' live into their hundreds, so he's still pretty young." She turned back away, all distrust in her new boss forgotten for the moment. "Did you get him before the rain started?"

Loki nodded. "The guards were sealing up that hole in the palace wall by the time you were unconscious." He paused, looking down at his feet in contemplation. When he looked up again Dahlia had already gone back into pampering her stallion's nose in kisses and he didn't want to bother trying to tear her focus away to ask her his question.

The prince walked past her into another stall. He was happy to be greeted by Rasket, his own Asgardian thoroughbred. The mare snorted when he entered, craning her neck to try and dig into his pockets. The man laughed, pushing her head out of his clothes only for her to continue sniffing around him. Dahlia soon joined the two, leaning against a wall to watch his horse search for treats obviously not there. Loki spotted her quickly, stepping back from Rasket and clearing his throat.

"As I was saying earlier," he said, trying to recover while the mare continued to try and nudge his side. "We'll be going out sometime soon, after the rain lets up. I brought you down here so you could groom your horse and set up his stall to your liking."

Dahlia raised an eyebrow. "He's been groomed recently. He's just fine to go out."

"No," Loki chuckled, shaking his head. "He's been groomed to your standards. If you're to be a royal guard, to me no less, you'll need to groom him properly. He'll also need to be fitted with royal gear." Loki stepped from the stall just in time to watch the stallion try and nip a stable hand changing his feed. "He will also need some... behavioral training."

"Ha!" Dahlia scoffed, walking over Átthagi to stroke his nose. "No. I am happy to groom him but if he is to be fitted with anything it'll need to be approved by me first." She glanced around until she found a horse in royal gear. She shook her head. "And he for damn sure won't be wearing that."

"Then what do you propose?"

The Asgardian looked the prince over, taking in his general aesthetic. "As much as I hate to say it," Dahlia sighed, "You have rather good taste in color."

Loki put up a finger to stop her mid-sentence and watched the annoyance build in her eyes. "Something like this?" He led her back into Rasket's stall and pointed to her tack hoisted onto the far side out of her reach. Dahlia nodded while she looked over the green and back gear.

"That'll work." 

A/N: Heyo! Here's chapter seven for you guys. I'm posting this before rereading so this is fresh off the doc. I will most likely be making some grammatical fixes but other than that this is the full chapter. You guys enjoy!