Midnight in the garden of mischief & mayhem

Chapter 6

***Loki's POV***

I watched her candle-lit face as she sat next to me, her eyes flickering between the faces of my family. She looked unbearably nervous. I wanted to assuage her fears. I wanted to tell her that it was going to be fine, but I said nothing. My only acknowledgement to her flustered state was a small squeeze on her hand. We took our places, and Allyra's hand never left mine.

***Allyra's POV***

As I took my seat next to Loki, I was trying desperately to control the shaking of my hands. The King and Queen sat across from us, and Thor was on my right. "My King and Queen, I am honored to be dining with you tonight," I bowed my head slightly.

"Come now, there will be none of that formal nonsense! You will call me Frigga and this is Odin and Thor." While she spoke, Frigga smiled at me understandingly. Something about her kind expression eased my tension a little bit more. Her hair was pinned into an elegantly swirled braid that flowed past her shoulders, and she wore a simple slate blue dress and a wrap.

Odin was dressed in a gold tunic that matched the color of the palace. He gave a polite nod, but did not seem to share the same enthusiasm as his wife.

Thor smiled widely at me and tried to shake my hand. His hand enveloped mine and I feared his strong grip may break my wrist. "And I am Thor," he boomed. His tunic was a dark blue, and his long blonde hair fell to his shoulders. "So you are Allyra. Loki has not stopped talking about you."

I glanced at Loki as a blush rushed across my cheeks. He looked down, embarrassed. I smiled nervously at Thor, trying to hide the grin threatening to break my composed face.

"Yes," agreed Frigga, "he has sulked in his room for months, always looking into those gardens waiting for you."

"Mother!" Loki groaned.

This made that grin break through as I laughed. The others at the table joined me, even Loki looked at me and chuckled.

Then, the servants came in bearing platters full of food that looked almost too beautiful to eat. Thor immediately dug in with a ferocity that I had never before seen at a dinner table. Frigga and Odin were more civilized, as was Loki. "So," asked the Queen, breaking the brief silence that had ensued since the meal had begun, "tell us about yourself Allyra. Where in Asgard do you live?"

This was one question I was hoping to avoid. I lived in a very poor part of the city, on the very outskirts, and feared the reactions of those I was dining with when they found out. Still, I couldn't ignore her question. "The twelfth district," I answered.

Odin reacted, though he tried to hide it. His jaw clenched and his face seemed to harden. It unsettled me, but Frigga didn't seem to take any notice. Her face showed no judgement, and for that I was relieved. "That's fairly far from here. How did you happen to meet Loki?"

I hadn't expected this question. It amazed me that Loki hadn't told them the story of how we had met, if he had talked of me so often. I glanced at him, and his smile prompted me to tell the story. "Well, I had never been to the royal gardens before, and I had some time off from school. I made the trip in hopes of getting the chance to wander through the gorgeous grounds, and eventually I found myself standing in a small alcove garden. Loki startled me, but he showed me his favorite flowers and we soon became friends."

Frigga smiled at the story, glancing between the two of us. Her eyes shone with apparent happiness at our closeness. Loki's face lifted with a small smile of nostalgia. It felt like so long ago that I had met him, so long ago that my life had changed completely. "Go on my dear," prompted Frigga. She seemed to know there was more to the story than I was letting on. 

Blush crept into my cheeks as I tried to determine how to tell the King and Queen of Asgard that I was in love with their son over a casual dinner in the palace. I sat for a moment, struggling to find the right words; I had never been particularly tactful with things like this, and I couldn't come up with a combination that would make them understand the depth of my feelings while at the same time not sounding overly dramatic and cliche. 

The silence at the table had just begun to get awkward, when, to my great relief, Loki completed our story for me. "I have always thought there was something special about her and unfortunately, it occured to me quite late that what I felt for her was more than mere friendship. It was a miracle to find out she felt the same way." The entire time he spoke, his eyes never left mine, and for a moment I forgot the others in the room. For a moment, it was just the two of us. 

"Well then," said Frigga, raising her wineglass with a broad smile, "to Loki and Allyra." Thor and Odin raised their glasses, and repeated the toast. Thor gave a hearty laugh after as he downed what was left of his mead. Odin's toast was less than enthusiastic, and I could not understand why he didn't seem to like me. My thoughts were soon taken back to a happier place though, when Thor clapped a large hand on my shoulder and grinned at me. The evening from then on was very enjoyable, with much merriment and laughter.