Giftless

Chapter 39

Loki woke you early the next morning. You would have grumbled at him for waking you, but you saw how anxious he was, so you got up to get ready for the day. You really didn't have much to do, since Loki was doing all of the work. You just had to stay awake and go with him to Asgard. Nothing major. "Are you ready for this?" you asked him. He seemed really nervous.

"No, but we must do it anyway," he replied, sounding as nervous as he looked. He used magic to change your clothes into outfits better suited to Asgard. A swishy elegant awesome blue dress for you with a golden braided cord belt, and a green tunic and black leggings for him. "Will you assist me?" he asked, holding out his hand to you as he summoned the spell book to the other hand.

You smiled up at him and placed your hand in his. "Of course. What do you need me to do?" You'd do anything you could to help him.

He held the spellbook where you could see it. "Recite the words with me and imagine the portal opening," he instructed easily. "We will do the spell together." That sounded difficult and beyond your skills, but you took a deep breath and nodded. He had been teaching you to use the magic from Asgard, though it really felt more like remembering something you'd forgotten than learning something new. With the soulbond, you had gained a lot more than just his powers, you'd also gotten all of the learning he'd acquired in 500 years of studying. It was just a matter of digging through everything you'd been given to find what you needed. You recited the words together and you pulled your magic into it, focusing on the portal you needed to make. It flared to life in front of you once you finished the last word. "Very well done, darling." His voice was full of pride. "You opened it on your own," he added with a smirk.

"You lied to me?" you demanded. Loki never lied to you. He'd sworn you the truth.

He shook his head. "I did no such thing," he replied innocently.

You glared at him. "You said we would do it together," you reminded him sourly.

"And so we did. I simply did no use any of my power," he explained.

You rolled your eyes at him. "That is really close to a lie, Trickster," you grumbled at him, but laughed anyway. He vanished the spellbook and placed your arm on his so you could walk through the portal together. You appeared on the other side in Loki's suite in the palace on Asgard. The portal snapped shut behind you. Loki steadied you as you stumbled, shocked at the drain of power the portal took.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"I just haven't done any spells that big before," you reminded him, but nodded to reassure him. He nodded and gave you a minute to collect yourself.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked.

You shook your head. You weren't at all ready for this, though you'd been preparing for days. "No, but it needs doing," you replied.

Loki sighed, he was nervous about this, though he tried to hide it. "That it does. Time to face the music."

With that, you left the safety of Loki's suite and headed straight for the throne room. It was still strange to have the servants bowing to you as you passed. It was stranger that they weren't only saying 'prince' to him in greeting, but were also addressing you as 'princess'. Loki had to stop you from stopping to greet and chat with all of them. Or to stop and tell them you weren't a princess. It was hard to tell which. Two of the guards opened the doors to the throne room for you and announced your presence.

You were beyond grateful in that moment that Loki had spent so much time prepping you for what was coming and what was expected of you. You took the prescribed steps into the room, until you were standing just below the thrones. Loki dropped to one knee in front of his parents. You dipped into an extremely low curtsy that it took a week of work with Loki to master. Apparently, when he was bored or felt like it, he would shift to female form for the fun of it and go to balls, so he knew exactly how to move and act in the dresses of Asgard. It was a great help to have someone who knew how to do what you needed when you had to learn it all.