Words, Words, Words

Loki gave himself another two days before he returned to see the prisoner. He couldn't allow her to think she'd had an effect on him. In the meantime, he researched feverishly, gathering anything that mentioned rune magic, enchanted tattoos, and even horrifically boring theses on the magical capacities of living beings. Unfortunately, his library was rather lacking in this area. Texts on dark and dangerous seidr he had aplenty, but information about non-Asgardian magic was few and far between. Still, there were just enough texts on hedge-magics and Midgardian practices that Loki felt confident that her magic was simply a novel application of basic cantrips.

This fresh knowledge gave him an extra boost of pride the next time he visited her, late at night. 

Certainly she would be asleep, and he had already thought of several different ways to give her a rude awakening. By the time he had reached the containment wing, he had narrowed it down to three. He followed the guard coming to relieve the current one, cloaked in an even more precise illusion than before. 

Unfortunately, she was awake, laying on her stomach while examining one of the pillows with boredom. Still, when she looked up at the guard change, her eyes floated right over Loki. He smiled and observed her for a moment, deciding what exactly he wanted to do, when…

"How kind of you to visit, your Highness." Arianna's tone was light, but her eyes sparked as she half-smiled through the barrier.

The guard started, looking wildly around, until Loki finally sighed and let the illusion fall. "At ease." He zeroed in on the woman in the cell, his patience deserting him.  "What was it this time?"  

"Mostly a guess," she admitted with a guileless smile. "I had nothing to lose if I was wrong."

Loki's irritation flared. "Mostly?"

Arianna just shrugged. "Something just felt off. It was...too quiet, or something."

Now that he thought about it...he had added a little bit of sound dampening to his footsteps. It must have muffled the guard's, as well.

"You learn to pick up on those things from war, you know." Her voice seemed dimmer, underlaid with something like melancholy. "Have you never seen a battle, prince?"

"I have," he replied, conjuring up a seat. "Though I mostly leave that sort of thing to my brother."

"You dislike fighting?" she asked.

Loki broke into a cold smile. "I can handle a blade. I simply prefer to win before the fight begins."

Arianna laughed. "You're right, that's the best way to do it. Although I have a feeling I would not like some of your methods."

"You think so?" he replied, smiling ambiguously. "You might see those methods firsthand, if you don't cooperate."

Arianna raised her eyebrow. "On the contrary, I think I'm already seeing several of those methods at work. And-" she added, before he could say anything, "I am cooperating."

"That's not for you to decide," he pointed out.

"Then give me something to cooperate with," she shot back. "I cannot convince a wall it should become a door."

"A door, hmm? Don't you think that's a bit much to ask for?"

"A locked door is better than a wall," she replied, finally sitting up to look at him better. "You know, you're doing a terrible job at making me think I'll be released."

"Would you prefer I dangled it in front of you like a carrot?" he teased. "You have yet to satisfy me."

"Then ask me what you want to know." Now that her face was closer, he could see how tired she looked - eyes underlined with shadows and a wan complexion despite doing nothing all day. Or precisely because she did nothing all day. But her eyes were clear, and her gaze completely unguarded - as much as she bantered, she was desperate, and he loved it.

"Let's start with why you and your compatriots can speak our language in a matter of weeks."

Arianna's eyes widened in surprise for a half-second before she replied. "Well, Simon can explain it much more technically than I can, but essentially, we can learn languages as fast as children."

It was interesting enough, what she told him, but it was not what he really wanted to know. It wasn't connected to the magic living in her skin at all; in fact, it seemed not to be magic at all, at least not by his standards. But for now, he needed to exhaust all other possibilities first, so that he could shroud his true desires behind a veneer of last-ditch efforts.

Still, it was exceedingly odd for all three of these invaders to have this ability, whatever it was. Perhaps it was a trait of their race, and they were not simply human as they claimed.

"Where exactly are you three from?" he asked. "You claim to be human, but that's not an ability Midgardian mortals have."

"Then I guess I'm not from Midgard," she replied with a slight wince. "I would tell you more clearly if I could, but I only have the words you've given me. Names are just meaningless sounds if you don't know what they refer to."

"Give me names anyway."

"Hmmm…" Her eyes floated off to gaze into the distance. "I was born in Havercross, in Southern Galtane at the time. We all had different names for the continent. Galtanians called it Galtane, of course, but we called it Eahad. Well, not many would use that name. The nomadic Wamil called it Khell, so a lot of other peoples would recognize that name."

"That...is completely unhelpful," Loki sighed. "I need the name of the planet, not your continent."

She shrugged. "There isn't one."

He felt heat rise in his chest at her stubbornness. "Do not misuse my kindness, woman. This is a charity-"

"No, no, you misunderstand!" Arianna waves her hands frantically. "My home doesn't have the kind of technology you do. Our world was only as big as the land we lived on. Naming our planet would be like naming your galaxy."

"So in essence, your origins are irrelevant?" he sighed, rubbing his temples. "What was the point of all this?"

"You asked, your Highness," she replied sourly. "But doesn't that prove even more that I would have no reason to plot against you?" The desperation rang high in her voice, and Loki felt some of his boredom dissipate as he reveled in the feeling of power he had over her.

"On the contrary, your mystery origins leave even more to be desired," he said, a small grin cracking on his lips.

"I can only do so much with just my words," she replied, her voice breaking as she pled. "Please, give me a better chance to prove myself!"

Loki's smile widened at her words. "You're right." He stood up, vanishing the chair as he did. "Words are indeed lacking. I will let you prove it to me physically."

Arianna looked up at him with a mixture of confusion and hope, and he felt his satisfaction swell at the sight. "But not tonight. Just wait for me. After all, you have nothing else to do."

And with that, he turned on his heel and left, practically thrumming with delight.