Consequences

3

Amundr was a year old when Loki began to once again think of marriage. They had been so focussed on only raising Amundr his first year that they had rarely stopped to talk about themselves, or each other. The little time they had spent only with one another had been spent cuddling to sleep tangled together, Amundr with his grandparents, both Loki and Brynja hoping the visit was long enough to finally feel rested when they woke.

Loki had read about some of the Midgardian customs pertaining to the wedding ceremony. Many he thought were silly, but he knew that rings were important and he knew from the little gold ring that Brynja still wore so many years after her Midgardian lover's death that they were important to her, too, at least sometimes. He also admitted to himself that he felt a twinge of jealousy that someone before him had left such an impression on her that she wanted a continual reminder of that person to grace her finger. He approached his mother about the subject, not mentioning marriage specifically, but asking if there was a ring in her collection that she would permit him to give Brynja as a token of his love for her. Frigga brought out a jewellry box full of glittering gems, gold, and silver, and handed him a few she said she would be honoured if he shared with her. He selected one and she offered him other jewellry as well, putting it in a small box of its own and insisting that he give the pieces to Brynja when the time was right.

A few evenings later, as the family gathered in the library just spend time together, Loki fiddled with the ring tucked in the pocket of his vest. He was nervous, hoping that he would do things right, a blend of Midgardian and Asgardian customs.

When it came his turn to talk about his week and to tell some sort of story, he took a deep breath and approached Brynja, lowering himself to one knee, "My love, I have come to you on my knees to beg for you to reshape me, to ask forgiveness, and to pray to you to accept my weaknesses. This time I ask for none of these things," he paused, nervous, as he pulled the ring from his pocket, "We have talked of marriage before, but this time I ask you formally, will you marry me?"

Brynja held out her hand, a broad smile on her face, "Yes, darling, I will." He slipped the ring on her finger and she bent down to kiss him.

Katja was the first to break the silence, "So, Loki, how has your week been?" she asked, grinning.

Loki laughed, his lips still pressed to Brynja's, before breaking away briefly, "Later, child, I'm kissing your mother."

Thor chuckled, his laughter escalating, "There will be much time for that later, Little Brother!" He began to clap, "A round of applause for Loki and Brynja!" As the others joined him, Loki blushed and Brynja moved over so he could sit beside her, Amundr toddling over to climb on their laps.

Katja called out over the applause, "It's about damn time!" with a wide grin on her face.

Of course, the rest of the family gathering was spent peppering them with questions about wedding plans and ideas. Frigga wanted to celebrate grandly, but Odin reminded her that Brynja had already had one huge wedding and might want something different. All eyes turned to the couple.

"We've talked before about a ceremony with just the family, something simple and quiet. I know it's important to you and to the realm to celebrate publicly, though, so I think we can come to an agreement on having a large reception and feast after the ceremony. I don't want this to look like my first wedding, though."

Loki squeezed her hand, "While Brynja has planned a wedding before, I have not. I do not want the entire realm as witness to my marriage- I hardly think they would want to be there anyway, so I would prefer it just be the family- those I know will love and embrace us. The feast...so long as there is time when I may have eyes only for my bride, I believe I can endure it."