2 | 𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐃 ▹ LOKI LAUFEYSON

viii. the breach

Amora's apprentice. This somewhat lifted Loki's spirits at the prospect of toying with the protege. With Vanna gone, he was without a naive, wide-eyed target.

Endrik's and Skurge's voices faded, leaving only Amora's soft directions from a few cells down.

She's letting her apprentice practice with prisoners? Loki thought, How could she be so stupid?

A smirk quickly spread across his face, dispelling whatever somber thoughts that floated around his mind. This is perfect.

* * *

Some time later, when their footsteps finally neared, Loki was waiting. He nearly fell asleep, lying back on his bed and tossing the small medicine bottle that Amora had brought the day prior.

As he remained there, staring absently at the rising and falling object, he briefly wondered if he was too focused on pranking the healers.

Well, it's better than any other topic, he thought, remembering the day's revelation.

"Loki," as soon as the tense voice greeted him, he caught the bottle and stopped, becoming completely still.

A smirk played on his features as the heavy silence stretched on in the woman's wait for a response. Sitting up, he swung his legs over the bed and turned to his guests.

Amora stood just outside the barrier, tolerating his actions with an impassive expression. She stood to where her frame hid the small figure behind her. At least until a head poked out into view.

Wide eyes greeted Loki, but they were not of naivety or obliviousness; they were of youth and innocence. She was just a girl. This stole the fire from his initial plan.

Promptly recovering from this minor shock, he said, "I see you've brought me a visitor."

Amora hesitated before setting aside and allowing the young girl to be seen. "This is my apprentice Ana."

Loki gave a slow nod of greeting to the anxious girl as Amora turned to her and said, "You can stay out here. This won't take long."

Ana gave a relieved nod and watched Amora enter the cell before looking away, obviously avoiding Loki's now-disappointed gaze.

Amora opened her mouth to speak, but Loki asked incredulously, "Why would you bring that girl into the dungeons? It would be too easy to kill her."

Amora raised an eyebrow at his comment but relented. "I have not taken her into every cell, just those with less of a threat."

Loki scoffed. "All prisoners pose a threat. That's why we're here."

Glancing down at the bottle still in Loki's hand, Amora perched on the edge of his bed and said, "The potion I gave you yesterday should already be working. Have you noticed any difference in pain?"

"None that I can tell."

Her eyebrows quirked. "What about your side? Do you feel any irritation?"

"I always do, but with Endrik and Skurge constantly pestering me, how can I not?"

The corner of Amora's lip twitched up and her eyes held a light that Loki had not seen in a long time. It seemed to surge through his chest with an old feeling of warmth and familiarity before he quickly snuffed it out.

"Skurge isn't that bad," she offered.

"Yes, but Endrik is much worse."

This time, the smile broke through Amora's attempted to remain impassive. As she opened her mouth to speak, something drew Loki's attention across the hall.

A prisoner had collapsed on the floor and began convulsing as his cell mates stepped away in alarm. Young Ana's eyes widened and she rushed toward the cell.

Loki reached out and gripped Amora's arm, stopping her words.

"Amora," he said, a new sense of urgency and alarm coursing through him.

She turned to follow his gaze and immediately jumped to her feet. "Ana, wait!"

But even as she sprang out into the hall, her words came too late. Ana was already stepping through the barrier and the fallen prisoner jumped up and seized her. With one arm tightly around Ana's small shoulders, he stepped out of his cell; a crudely made knife pressed to the girl's neck.

Loki moved until he was a few mere inches from the barrier of his cell; his hatred for the entrapment growing as he helplessly watched Amora stand in the criminal's path to the exit.

"You will let me out of here, or this girl dies," the man spat, causing Ana to tremble even more violently.

An ever-building panic flickered in Amora's eyes. She unclenched the fists and held her hands up at her side.

"Very well, but leave the girl," she said, "Take me."

Loki shifted. "Amo--"

"Shut up, Loki," she muttered sharply.

Loki's mouth snapped shut, and he watched tensely as the prisoner considered both healers.

"Alright," he relented, "but no tricks."

Both parties slowly approached until they were within arms-length. Loki braced his hands on the white border of the wall and leaned even closer to the barrier, his pounding heart filling the silence of the moment.

The prisoner held out one unsteady hand as he loosened his hold on the girl, and Amora slowly extended her arm into his grip.

As soon as one hand released Ana and the other gripped Amora, there was a flurry of movement. Seeing her apprentice scramble away freely, Amora whirled on the prisoner. A sudden flash of green nearly blinded Loki as a sound akin to a crack of thunder filled the air.

With his vision still filled with stars, Loki looked up to see the dazed prisoner now sprawled on the ground several feet down the hall, smoke rising from his fallen form.

Amora glanced around at the many gawking prisoners lining the halls. "Anyone else?"

Averting their eyes, they quickly receded into their cells in silence. Endrik and Skurge rushed down and seized the man as Amora rushed to her apprentice. Helping the shaky Ana to her feet, Amora held her tightly and led her down the hall.

Pausing, she looked back and met Loki's gaze. A small smile warmed her features and she mouthed a soft "Thank you" before walking on.

Even after she was gone, Loki could only stare at where she had once been, before a minuscule upturn in his mouth showed any sign of acknowledgement.

* * *

One more chapter for the week!

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