---

"LOKI!" She screamed loudly as his hand flew behind him and pulled on her dress, pulling her forward as she was about to fall back and off of the horse "Sylph-" Loki laughed out as pulled her to him softly so she could cling to him. "Loki I'm never riding a horse again" She whispered while burying her face into his back to stop her tears from forming.

Loki only managed to sigh softly as he pulled gently back on the reigns to signal the horse to slow down, "Sorry Sylph, didn't know you were afraid of horses..." "I-I'm not, I'm just afraid of falling" She mumbled as her cheeks turned red, but she was thankful that he wasn't facing her and that he was looking forward...

But that only caused Loki to smile at himself while he looked down at the corner of his eye to see her smiling, her cheeks a light tint of cherry as he couldn't help his smile growing bigger by the second. She was the one friend he knew for a fact he'd never lose no matter what. She would always be there for him, and he would always be there for her, that's how it's going to be, that's how it's going to stay.

"You'll never fall when I'm with you" He smiled warmly at her as Sylph's smile increased by a million, giggling as she couldn't contain the giddiness as her insides felt all fuzzy and soft with his choice words.

"What?-"  Laughed Loki as he could feel her laughter vibrating against his back while his ears could barely hear her "Nothing" She giggled again while wrapping her arms around his stomach tighter for support as the mighty stallion seemed to pick up speed without warning

---

"Are we here already? That was quick" "Beats walking doesn't it?" Loki mused with confidence as he was happy to see that Sylph enjoyed their ride to school "It does" She laughed as Loki smiled while lifting his satchel off of the horse along with the black one that belonged to Sylph "Thank you" She blushed as she slowly took her bag from Loki, who only smiled warmly to pay her back and turned around to head towards the school that was only a few minutes walk from the stables that they had built for the students who could afford a horse or any sort of creature they could use for the help of traveling to and from school.

Her feet rushed as she jogged to catch up with Loki "Do Asgardians always walk fast or am I just slow?" Sylph asked "I think you might just be slow Sylph" He chuckled at her whiny pouts as he held his arm out for her to link with "Oh-" Her cheeks warmed up once again as she tucked away a loose chestnut strand with her arm linking up with his as he smiled again, the wide and warm smile she could dream about, teeth white as pearl with the warmth in his eyes that had her stomach fluttering...Oh if it were true.

"Loki?" "Yes Sylph" He turned his attention to the small girl who gingerly walked beside him "Do we have any classes together?" Her cheeks continued to rage red as she couldn't help the nervousness building up inside of her whenever she was around him "Maybe, we could always change it if you want to be with me. But then the classes would be harder for you" His brows furrowed as he tried to think of an idea to avoid having any classes without her.

"It's okay if we're not, I was just curious" "Aren't you always curious" Loki chuckled as the both of them neared the school that was now clear in their sights "I am" She giggled while gently nudging Loki's shoulder to which he returned back and pulled his arm out of their lock, repeating her shove once again as the small push-and-shove-war had now started on the day of Sylph's schooling that only happened five out of seven days a week.

"Loki-" "Prince Loki-" Both friendly heads turned towards the obvious agitated voice "May I help you?" Loki asked bluntly, avoiding her as he turned his attention towards Sylph who was staring at the overly friendly ginger-haired girl who was only glaring back daggers. 

Sylph only jumped back and hid behind Loki when the ginger-haired girls' eyes burned bright blue, almost ice-like "Loki I don't like her" She mumbled, feeling afraid with the thought of having that girl in her classes "I don't either Sylph, but what can I do?" He asked annoyed, he honestly didn't like Lucretia either, she seemed...over the top and acted as if she owned the place.

"Can you ask the preceptor to change my classes? I don't want to be with her Loki, she scares me" She admitted to Loki while clutching onto him tighter, and it was true, Lucretia looked and acted as though she would kill her without a second thought. It wasn't the first time and it surely wasn't the last as she attempted to kill her, and yes, Lucretia did try but Sylph didn't want to tell anybody out of fear. The fear of her coming at her this time with a thirst to actually kill her unlike the death threats she received previously.

"She can't do anything Sylph, I'm here and you can always tell me if she does try to do anything to you. You will tell me won't you?" He asked softly while cupping her face, his thumbs rubbing back and forth against her cheek, a gentle movement she would most certainly never forget. His questions however, were far more gentle than she anticipated, the soft questions firing away as he noticed that she looked more scared than she cared to admit "Of course, it's just that-" She couldn't even finish her sentence she dearly wanted to explain to Loki, as the bell rang to signal to all the student to gather their belongings and hurry off to class.

---

"Look at you, little prince pet are we now?" Lucretia smiled at the frightened girl "What do you want from me" Sylph cried as the fiery haired girl cornered her in the girls bathroom "I want nothing from you, you little brat!" She scoffed the young brunette for even thinking of wanting something from her "It's not something I want from you, it's something I want from your dear prince" She smirked as Sylph only looked at her confused "What do you want from Loki?" "Everything" Lucretia laughed as she froze Sylph's wrists to the wall, causing a cry to fall from her lips as the ice burned her skin to point where it would leave scars "Please stop!" Sylph sobbed as the pain was stinging really bad "It h-hurts" She cried as she tried to control her emotions, hoping to not lash out and end up killing the mental girl in front of by accident no matter how hard she hoped she would 'accidentally' lash out and kill her.

"I want to be you, do you understand that, I want to be up close and personal with the princes. You see, I want to wed one of them when I'm older so I need to get to know them now in order to do that" Lucretia thought with one hand under her chin as the other held onto her elbow for support "But...You're currently in my way and I don't like obstacles in my path!" Her voice echoed throughout the place, the dark room throwing her voice back at her over and over again until Sylph felt her ears beginning to explode. But Sylph who only closed her eyes, held in all the frustration and tried to take deep breaths despite the pain pulsing in her wrists-

-

"Sylph?-Sylph" Her eyes snapped open as one of the student were now standing in front of her "You fell asleep, but the teacher let you sleep because according to them you did exceptional work and you deserved a break" Cheered the young girl as Sylph only stared groggily at the teen no more or less than a few months younger "W-what?" "You got the lesson off" The hands of the stranger clapped loudly as everyone else in the room already left "O-oh, thanks for telling me" She smiled as the girl ran off.

"What was that" She groaned to herself, this Lucretia was giving her nightmares now? Just great. "Just leave me alone" She mumbled to herself as glimpses of the ginger girl flashed in her eyes "I just want to go home" She whispered to herself while crossing her arms across her desk, hiding her face into them as tears brimmed in her eyes, why was this 'Lucretia' tormenting her, what did Sylph ever do to her?

---

Loki wandered around the yard, hoping to find Sylph as she was nowhere to be found "Where are you Sylph" He mumbled to himself as his emerald eyes scanned around the play areas and small tables friends would sit and eat together.

"Loki" His attention snapped towards Thor and his group of friends as the rest of them stared at him weirdly, silently judging Loki "Yes?" He asked after a minute of silence "Why are you alone, again?" Thor asked oddly as he stared down his younger brother "I was looking for Sylph-" "Oooh, you're girlfriend" Snicked one of the boys, causing the group to crack up with laughter, but for Thor to smile awkwardly as he didn't join them. But they only succeeded in making Loki's cheeks turn a light shade of pink as he had no words to counter their accusation.

"N-no, she's just a friend" "That's how they start, then look what you have next, a bunch of mini you and mini Sylph's running around" The friend group were all dying from laughter as poor Loki only looked away from them...and his brother who wasn't doing a single thing to help him. He did the one he knew to do best, he ignored them. But he couldn't help but wonder 'was this really what everyone thought? Is that why he and Sylph would occasionally receive strange glances? Was it because they thought that they-No, they couldn't, it's not right and it's definitely not appropriate for Loki to marry someone like her...did he just insult her?

"I can't marry someone like her" He declared as the friend group grew silent as they looked at Loki, then behind him, glancing over at the brunette who only stood a meter away from him...Having heard the entire conversation Loki was having with his brother with his hooligan-like friends.

But her heart almost seemed to jump out of her chest when she heard those words, it's not that they meant anything to her, they did in an odd way...But she never expected them to hurt her oddly enough. And she definitely wasn't expecting an answer like that to say the least, and she was surprised for him to even think of her that way, but it was unheard of for a prince to marry someone outside the royal families...So why was she affected this much in this way, it's not like she'd ever marry a prince, it's not like she was going to marry Loki anyway...So why was she this upset over a silly sentence like his?

"S-Sylph-" "It's okay" She smiled at him, trying to feign innocence and lie that she even felt the way Thor's friends had stated the both of them did for each other "It's not like a prince would marry me anyway" She laughed as the group laughed along with her "Y-yeah" Loki mumbled with slightly pink cheeks, avoiding her attention at all costs as he didn't want her to see his heated face...Why was he all of sudden feeling this way, was it because of Thor's friends saying something like that? Or was it because he actually felt that way, but he couldn't...He shouldn't...

---

"What was that about" Sylph asked nervously as she pretended to laugh it off as nothing while Loki continued to look away as they both rode Aljana, his black stallion, back home to the castle "I-...Don't know" He mumbled with furrowed brows, having no clue as to what to say to her question, he himself was confused with whatever that just had happened at school to even think properly...

"Let's not tell mother about this okay?" Sylph almost automatically nodded her head, and that caused Loki to frown as he tried to conceal it with a fake smile "Thank you" She only smiled at him through a strain, not liking how he easily could forget something like this. But she decided after a long minute or two that it would be the best if no one outside of school knew of something like this, Heimdal and Frigga as well as the King would highly be ashamed of her...She knew they would. 

(A/N:) Ha ha...Haven't updated this book in a while have I? Oh well, we're getting there...I'm getting there '-'