Unexpected

Wavering on the Edge

"Queen!" My eyes flew wide as I practically leapt from his arms in my surprise! "Loki, I can't be queen! I don't know how to be a... a queen! I have no qualifications!"

"You have every qualification!" Loki seemed almost as surprised by my reaction as I was about what he said!

I shook my head, my mind boiling as I tried to absorb what he said. Queen? Me? There was no way! I'd thought when he said 'a position in the palace' that he meant I would hold some small position, something more suited to my skills, but a surrogate queen... impossible! What would that entail? What duties and responsibilities would I have? Nothing that I was actually qualified for! "Loki, I can't-"

Looking a bit hurt that I had pulled away from him so violently he lowered his voice, trying to sooth me as he justified his statement, "I have never known someone with such a caring heart as you. When you were the cook of my operation, you were basically feeding your enemies, but you still put full effort into it to care for those men and women. I saw how you cared for Doctor Selvig's health, your gentle persuasion for him to take care of himself. You then fought an impossible war in New York because you believed it to be right going against me and the might of the Chitauri army. Then you became an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. to help protect the people of your world and you've faithfully done so. You're self-sacrificing, nurturing, steady minded, just, fair, honest, intelligent, and kind. You're everything a queen should be!"

"I don't know anything about American politics let alone Asgardian ones! I don't know anything of Asgardian life; barely know anything of your customs or your courts! Everything I know has come from you, Thor, and the old myths which have proven to be less than accurate! Me being in the palace at all would be like having a pig at the dining table, let alone putting me in any close quarters to the ruler of the realm! I don't know anything about how to run... anything!"

"Don't belittle yourself!" Loki's voice sharpened a bit. His expression was serious, his jaw set as he stared at me pointedly, "You're worth so much more than that."

I was struck by his insistence. It was clear that he meant it and that it bothered him how I was talking myself down in my shock. I hadn't expected such a response, for his soulful eyes to try to convince me of the worth that he saw in me. It made my heart bloom, but the inordinate amount of weight that all of this was placing on me seemed to tamp it down, "But Loki, I can't..."

"I can teach you." He said softly, trying to convince me, gently reaching for my hand again. I did not pull away. "Rules and procedures and ceremonies can be taught... but you can't teach people how to have a good heart and nature. That is something I lack... I need you, Penelope, to rule at my side, to be what I lack. There is no one more suited in the nine realms and no one I would want as my helper and companion than you. Cunning and mischief are my instincts. I see the most efficient paths to suit my purposes, not the most moral paths I'm afraid to say. I need you to help me on the straight and narrow."

"That's quite a task..." I chuckled trying to hide my mental stress and the fact of just how overwhelmed I was through a hint of humor. Only the smallest smile could reach my lips though as my mind whirred, trying to overthink everything and yet shutting down over all the new developments that had suddenly swept over my life! Had I really been on a morning walk just a short time ago, thinking of nothing but my friends fighting French pirates on the Indian Ocean and of the participles and verbals I'd have to unwind in my translating work today that were now all but abandoned as I stood there before the Reflecting Pool.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see the park between the Lincoln Memorial and the street that separated it and the reflecting Pond from the national Monument was growing busier with joggers and mothers with strollers and park visitors starting to amble around as the morning sun crawled higher and higher into the sky. They were all completely oblivious to the fact that Loki and I were there. They had no idea of any of these life-changing decisions and revelations that were being thrown on me. How simple all their lives seemed to me suddenly as my heart hammered, trying to keep up with the pace of my overloading brain.