To Love A God

The Feast

She rung her hands and bit her lip, looking down at the floor. She could hear the murmur of the voices out in the great hall. Today was the first day of leading to her and Loki’s wedding. The first day of four; the first three were feast days, the joining of the families in preparation for the wedding on the fourth, where they would be joined as husband and wife.

The setting sunlight shown red, pink, and purple off the gold and silver buildings of Asgard, catching the diamonds, emeralds, rubies, garnets, amethysts, and other precious gems in crested on them. Her dress, made of special changing green-gold material, flowed around her as the light breeze coming off the water, the bust coming up to tie around her neck, and a dragon scaled corset wrapped around her waist, making her busty chest more defined. Her shoes wrapped up her calf in black cotton ribbon. Her hair, oh, they had fretted over how to do her hair for hours! Eventually, Azure pushed them all out of the room, demanding she do it herself, knowing exactly what was best. In the end, she had been right. Azure had taken and split Rika’s hair, braiding each one, then pinning it up in clock wise and counter clock wise  circles around the base of Rika’s head, using diamond in crested pins, leaving her bangs to hang around her face. Her make-up, gods, she had hated that part. Azure had forced to sit and endure the torture of the make-up. She had used greens and black and gold to outline and highlight Rika’s eyes, making the green fade into black and used the gold to line the tops of her eyelashes.

“Don’t fret, lille,” Loki smiled caressed her cheek, “Everything will be fine.”

“I’m not a big crowd-person, Loki,” she confessed as she bit her lip, “Or a social-person. Or even a people-person! I can’t do this.”

Loki grasped her bare shoulder, “I will help you, Rika,” he assured her.

Rika let her hands drop beside her and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, “Okay,” she breathed, “I’m ready.”

Loki took her hand, leaned in, and gently kissed her forehead.

She heard them being introduced just inside the doorway, “Please welcome our intended new couple, due to wed in three days, Loki Odinson and Rika Hawthorne.”

There was a cheer that last for over a minute, continuing, even growing, as the doors opened and they walked in, Loki and Rika arm in arm. A blush bloomed over her cheeks at the attention, she wasn’t used to this at all. Loki, however, held his head high, this, Rika knew, he was used to, he was the Alford’s son, after all.

‘Head up, kattunge,’ she heard Loki smile in her head, ‘You are soon to be a princess of Asgard, they will love you as I do.’

Hearing his voice gave her the strength she needed to raise her head. Before her, she saw  the grand hall was filled with the gods and goddesses on four long tables piled with foods from all over, covering the tables. At the head of the room was a long table where Odin, Frigga, Thor, Azure, and her grandmother, all waiting for Loki and herself to sit with them.

Loki walked her over, pulled out her chair next to Azure, then sat next to her.

“May the feast and wedding ceremonies begin!” Odin cried cheerfully and everyone began to eat.

Glasses clinked as people talked and feasted. Rika, though, could barely stand to stomach any of it. Her nerves were raging and she shock from it. 

Three more days. 

In three more days she would be wed.

Her stomach did a lovely flip at the thought of being Loki’s forever. But, her chest tightened, however long she would live.

She was mortal after all . . . 

Oh, no, she thought as grief grabbed hold of her heart, she would die someday and Loki would live on without her . . .