Unexpected

Fit for a Princess

Loki finally released my lips from his spine-tingling ministrations with a satisfied sigh as he smiled down at me. I stared back up at him in a daze for a few good seconds before I finally remembered to breathe again. Loki chuckled, cupping my face gently in his hand, rubbing his thumb over my cheek, "You're so beautiful when you're all flushed, Darling."

I ducked my head down and away in embarrassment, making Loki chuckle again before I glanced around the room once more. It seemed impossibly spacious for just two people to be standing in it and the throne in the center of it was nothing if not imposing. It seemed crazy to me that Loki was taking up his place in that very throne as a stand-in king, hiding his identity behind the illusion of Odin the Allfather's elderly face, yet somehow it seemed right. Loki was born and bred to be a king, and I knew that now that his hunger for the throne and for dominance at any cost had faded, he would be a good king. Now the only question was, could I be a good Lady of the court? Could I really help fill the void that the late Queen Frigga had left in her death?

Loki had every faith in his thought-out, schemed plan and in me, but I still doubted myself. Everything was still so new, so big, so much, and I had not been in on any of it until this morning when I accepted Loki as my fiancée and everything that came along with him. I wanted to know Loki's full plan so that I was not walking blindly into whatever lay before us.

"So, what now?" I finally asked, my voice barely loud enough for even me to hear.

"Now?" Loki let his voice trail off for a second, "Now we have dinner."

"What?" The question burst from my lips at Loki's response, my mind shorting in my surprise.

"Dinner. Neither you nor I have eaten since very early this morning. I guess you could say that we were rather distracted with other things to think about such things as food. It's been a big day and I would hate for it to be ruined by low blood sugar."

I shook my head, "That... that's not what I was talking about Loki. I was trying to ask about the future. What does that look like? How does one become a lady? What duties will I have? We need to talk about our engagement and how we're going to deal with the fact that you're supposed to be dead and I'm a human with no training in politics or Asgardian etiquette and culture!"

Loki snickered a bit, "Yes, I know, Penny. We have much to discuss, however, I would prefer to deal with all of that in a more private room where our words do not echo and no one will be striding in calling for an audience with the king."

I nodded slowly, looking around the room again, "That does make sense."

"Anyways, what I said was valid. We have not eaten, and I am eager to introduce you to Asgardian food. You were so kind as to introduce me to pot pies, hamburgers, French fries, and ice cream, I wish to return the favor."

I could not deny that I was hungry when, as soon as Loki mentioned French fries, my stomach gurgled loudly. It was true, we'd been rather distracted with getting engaged, packing up, arriving in Asgard, and the whole introductory audience that until he mentioned it, I hadn't thought of food once. Everything seemed more important, more overwhelming than the thought of a meal.

Loki didn't even try to hide his smirk as his gaze flicked down to my stomach. I quickly covered my stomach with my hands, "Okay, point taken."

"Excellent." Loki grinned a bit before stepping up to the throne and grabbing the golden, spear-like scepter. Glimmering gold and green flashed over his figure again, transforming my dark prince into the elderly Allfather as he raised the scepter, then clanked it against the floor with a resounding boom. Only a second or two later the guards on the other side of the throne room's massive doors stepped in, bowing with their fists over their hearts. Loki's voice was once again transformed into the Allfather's as he ordered, "Call for the kitchen maids to bring our suppers to my daughter-in-law's chambers. We wish to take our evening meal there."