The Brightest Star

Chapter 19 - Portals

(Kára's POV):
Loki must have told Eydis that our lesson had been postponed as no one came to wake me up in the morning and I was able to sleep in until noon, when Eydis delivered my brunch. I was extremely thankful that Loki had been in a good mood the night before as I certainly would not have been able to attend a lesson after only about three hours of sleep and I was now feeling quite refreshed.

Loki beat me to the training room, waiting patiently for me to arrive. I smiled as I realized how far we had come. I could still remember the day when he had been unwilling to even give me a chance to prove myself and here he was now, waiting for me to arrive to work with me. And sure, he certainly changed his opinion of me almost every other day, but overall I was rather satisfied with our relationship.

Our relationship. That was something I had spent a while thinking about as I tried to sleep the night before, the thoughts keeping me up. Had I allowed myself to fall for his charm and mystique? Surely the terrifying side of him would have made me fear him, yet I only wanted to get to know him better, to understand why he lashed out. There was so much I still did not know about him and yet that seemed to draw me closer to him. But I knew that we could never be more than we were at the moment, his position of Prince keeping us from ever being anything more than friends.

"Good afternoon, Lady Kára, how was your night?" Loki asked as I walked into the room, seeming to genuinely care about how everything went.

"Well, it was quite refreshing to see my family again after all this time, I was getting a bit homesick," I confessed, sitting across from him. "And your mother has been taking good care of them, I never could have imagined that they would have enough food without it having been stolen, it is like a dream come true. I thought that I would feel bad leaving them to come back here this morning, but I knew that they were almost as happy as I am here."

"Almost?" Loki questioned, raising his eyebrow. He leaned in as he continued, "and what exactly makes you so happy here?"

"Well, I-I quite enjoy the opportunity to refine my magical abilities and the library is beyond anything I could have ever imagined and I suppose it is nice to be around you, I have never had anyone outside of my family who I was close to," I admitted, a blush reaching my cheeks. "But enough about that, we should probably get to work."

"Of course, whatever you instruct, Lady Kára. Now, what did you have planned for today?"

"I thought we could perhaps work on creating portals, as it is rather advanced magic that we can both benefit from learning," I suggested, relieved that, at least at the moment, he was willing to do as I had planned. "Of course neither of us can master it, or even come close, as we are not able to create portals that open outside of the palace and cannot leave the grounds to do so, but at least having a strong sense of the magic should be enough should the need to create a portal arise in either of our futures."

I began first, calling the book of spells that held the incantation for portals within it and focusing on a spot of the other side of the room to create a portal to. It was exhausting, yet I managed to create and sustain a pathway for about two minutes before it fizzled out. However, this was far better than my previous attempt back when Loki was still testing my abilities. Knowing better than to push myself to create a longer lasting portal, I gave the floor to Loki, who I had never seen create one before.

He read through the instructions inscribed in the book and I gave him what help I could at my beginner stage of this particular magic. A green glow wrapped around his fingers as a small, black disk began to form in front of him. However it quickly fizzled out before it could be finished. I tried to give him some words of encouragement as he began again, knowing how frustrated he could get when he could not perfect a spell.

This time, he was able to successfully create the portal, but I was thankful that I had used a book to test its capability as opposed to my hand because he was unable to keep it open and the book got cut in half. He tried once more, determined to master a spell, regardless of the effects on his body. It lasted slightly longer, but died out due to the lack of energy that he had remaining. Noticing him preparing to try once again, I quickly rushed over to him and placed my hand on his arm.

"Loki, I think it best that we stop here for today," I spoke, fearing for his health should he continue to overwork his body. "This is quite advanced magic, you do not need to perfect it the very day that you begin to learn it. You and I both know that you are draining your energy right now and I do not want you getting hurt."

He shook his head, "I can do this, I am very experienced in the magical arts, in case you have forgotten. Besides, you had never created a portal before coming here and you managed to do it on your first try, so why is it that you do not believe I can achieve this?"

"Loki, after that day that you asked me to create a portal I continued practicing the spell outside of our lessons. That is the only reason that I have been able to create a portal that lasted for as long as it did, even if it only lasted for about two minutes. Besides, the first time you had me create a portal I put everything that I had into it and more, my position here and consequently my family's survival depended on it. I know first hand how exhausting this magic can be when you are first attempting to perform it. Please Loki, let us take the rest of the day off."

He sighed, "I do not suppose that I can make you change your mind about this, can I? Very well, I shall do as you requested on one condition."

I raised my eyebrow, "and what condition might that be?"

"Let me kiss you again," Loki negotiated, cupping my cheek with his hand. He made no attempt to close the distance between us and his eyes seemed to be pleading with me to accept his offer. Knowing that this was completely wrong, I submitted to his wish, wanting to feel his lips once again on mine as much as he did. It was I who decided to deepen the kiss this time, dancing my tongue around his and becoming lightheaded by the intoxication of his touch.

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(A/N): Someone seems to be falling in love! Well, two someones actually. Anyway, I hope that you singular reader still following the story enjoyed this chapter!