The One That Wasn't || Loki

Chapter 3: The Apologist's Pardon

"This is a new dimension
This is a level where we're
losing track of time
I'm holding nothing against it,
except you and I"
-

The next morning arrived far too quickly to Cordelia's liking. She had been hoping that she would have a few more hours of sleep, but when her mother entered the room all ready to leave for the palace, she woke up immediately, the events of the previous day flashing before her eyes.

She had lost a bet and had promised Leif....Loki that she would be coming to the palace....that she would be his....friend. She shuddered at that thought. He had lied to her by introducing himself as Leif. He was known to be the trickster, always pulling pranks on people. Is that what he had done with her? Had he seen her and immediately saw her as a potential for his next prank?

Cordelia shook her head. All said and done, she had made a promise, and she wasn't the type of person to break a promise. And she would certainly not do it after losing a bet.

But her mind kept telling her that the entire interaction had been a trick. But she had been with him at that moment in the garden. It didn't feel like a trick. She wanted to trust her heart but her mind made some pretty good points.

In the end, she got dressed and left with Asfrid, who had already talked to the palace guards and the Queen about the new presence at the grounds. She felt safer in leaving Cordelia to go about with her work now that she had received the permit. But she wondered what had happened between Cordelia and the crown Prince Loki for her to be so quiet the entire day after returning from the palace. She would usually be chatty now that she had gotten to see the castle up close. But she was awfully silent and distant.

"It's nothing." Cordelia told her. "I'm thinking about how I lost a bet with him, that's all." She was trying to convince herself really. Cordelia did not know how she would face Loki again. How was she supposed to behave around him? She hadn't even curtsied when they first met. She must have been extremely rude and impolite in doing so.

But as soon as she entered the palace grounds, she immediately saw the Queen and a bunch of children that surrounded her. It seemed that she was giving them some special information about Asgard's history.

As soon as Asfrid joined the group, the raven-haired Loki caught sight of the brunette Cordelia and ran towards her, leaving his friends behind as if they didn't matter. "I didn't think you would come!"

Cordelia was twiddling her thumbs in circles one over the other to keep her calm. As soon as she heard him speak, she was sure that she had forgotten how to speak. "Well, I had to keep a promise," she answered, scratching her right eyebrow.

He nodded, taking a deep breath in. He was facing the same problem. He wasn't sure how to keep the conversation going. "I sincerely apologise for lying to you yesterday. I didn't mean to, but I didn't see any other way to get you to talk to me."

Trick, or no trick?

"Apology accepted, but I do have a question that I simply must ask you." She inhaled once, unsure of how she would react to the answer that he would or would not give. "Why did you lie?"

Loki had been accepting that. What he had done was quite impolite of him, and when he told his mother happened, she told him to be honest to Cordelia if he truly wanted to be friends with her. And that was what he planned to do. "Well, I didn't want someone to be my friend because I am a prince." He held the nape of his neck in shame. "I wanted you to be my friend for who I am and not who I was born to be."

Trick, or no trick?

"Don't worry. I like you as Leif."

He smiled genuinely, glad that she wasn't angry at him or that she would accuse him. "Thank you. I would love to make it up to you somehow. Is there anything that I could do?"

Cordelia looked at her mother busy helping the Queen with the daily tour. She looked at Loki and thought about the one thing that could make up for his lies. It didn't have to be anything big but it had to be something important to him. "How about you show me the one place that you've never shown anyone, and we can forget that this ever happened? I've heard many stories about your pranks that come out of nowhere."

"Ah! That is certainly a good one." He bowed down to her. "Well Miss Cordelia, would you like to accompany me?"

He held his arm out for her to take, and then, the two of them started walking towards the tree that they had met each other for the first time the day before. Loki let her arm go and knelt on the ground and crouched to the base on the root. He knocked on the trunk of the tree and whispered one word. "Greha."

A door appreciated on the tree and a handle formed immediately with the small twigs that started moving towards it. Loki glanced around to make sure that no one saw them and seeing that his spell had worked, he opened the door and walked inside. Cordelia saw the void that was the corridor beyond the open door but when his hand came out of the shadows, she took it.

Trick, or no trick?

She saw that the entire region was covered in shadows. They were completely in the dark, but as she walked side by side with Loki, her eyes caught on to the faint light that appeared in front of them. "Miss Cordelia, welcome to my secret place."

Loki opened the door in front of them wider for Cordelia to walk outside. She was absolutely speechless. She looked up at the sky when her feet carried her forward. The place was completely out of the maps of Asgard. She had never heard or seen this place before. "How did you find it?" There had to be an explanation for the existence of such a place, and it had to be other than magic.

"I was sitting under the same tree we walked through. one day I was a little.....upset, and was wishing to escape somewhere. The door magically appeared. I walked through and here I was." He pursed his lips together. "I have only explored till the waterfall over there." He pointed to the beautiful water body several feet away from the two of them. "I haven't trusted anyone to bring them here and explore it further."

She smiled softly at him. "I know that I demanded that you bring me here but I'm glad that you feel that you can trust me. Just promise me one thing."

"Anything."

"No more lies between us henceforth. And no more tricks, unless you would like a partner in crime."

Loki laughed a musical laugh. "I think I would love that. I promise."

Cordelia let out a breath of relief. "I promise as well." She smiled once again. She seemed to be doing that a lot when she saw his big blue eyes. "Well, would you care to show me around?"

He offered his arm once again. "I certainly would! Shall we?" He beckoned to the waterfall.

She nodded. "We shall."

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