Unforeseen

Generous Gifts

It was odd how empty the library felt once Loki left. Last night, when I had sat here amongst my chosen books, the little circle of light that I'd sat in had felt cozy and like a small sanctuary against the dark of my troubling nightmares. Now in the middle of the day with the sun shining in to the massive labyrinth of literature and with Loki no longer sitting across from me, I felt kind of... I don't know, lost maybe?

I sighed heavily, closing my eyes for a second. I had to shake these thoughts off. Sure, I was a small fish from a small pond who now found themselves swimming in an entire ocean, but that didn't mean that I was lost. Asgard would now be my home and I was going to be put in a place of leadership and nobility at the end of the week. Once I took up my official title, I would, by right of the Aesir law, have every right to be here. I would be a lady and the fiancée of the Asgardian prince secretly posing as the king. Why should I feel small and lost within this new home of mine? True, it might not quite feel like home yet, but I would make it my home and these people would be my people and Loki would one day be my husband. I smile at these thoughts, they made me nervous, but they also made me feel excited.

Opening my eyes I focused my attention down on the closest book at hand, which happened to be a book on Asgardian law. It looked dry and dull like human law books had always looked to me, but if I was to become a lady and was to make my home here on Asgard, then I had to learn about it so that I would be equipped to be the best I could be. This was just training like the physical training I'd undergone to become an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. With this thought in mind, I opened the book and started reading.

I spent several hours going over the nobility that Loki had taught me and reading chapter after chapter of books on law, Asgardian technology, and the history of the building and design of the city over the millennia. I read until my brain felt like it would pop from too many facts and my eyes grew tired. At some point in the afternoon a palace maid trundled in with a small tray of meat, cheese, and a thin, crackery bread for me, which I gratefully accepted. Hours must have passed in this way with my mind absorbing sentence after sentence. Finally, looking up from a chapter based on the role played by the head judge, who happened to currently be a man named Lord Forseti in the land of Asgard, I gazed out the window closest to me. The sunlight was just starting to take on that golden hue that meant that evening was just starting to fall.

Stretching out my stiff limbs, I pushed myself up, closing my book. I should probably freshen up before dinner. I wasn't sure when I would be called to join Loki and the Lord and Lady Ambassadors for dinner, but I wanted to be ready for whenever I was and I had a sneaking hunch that I had a kind of bedhead look going on since I'd lain on my back on the nearby chaise lounge for a while when I was trying to wrap my head around the mechanics that allowed some of the floating monuments of Asgard's city to hover above the ground and move as they did. I tucked my current book under my arm and picked my way back towards my bedchambers.

To my delight, it took a lot shorter of a time for me to find my way back to my designated rooms than it had been for me to find my way from there to the library last night. I think I was really starting to learn my way around! As I approached my door, I considered what I would do to spruce up my appearance. I'd never dined with any of the other nobility of Asgard besides Loki, so I wanted to make a good impression, especially if the people we were dining with were ambassadors because that meant that I was also making an impression on the realm they served. From Frey and Freya's lips, Vanaheim would get their first hint of this odd Midgardian woman who was the fiancée of the late Prince Loki and who was about to become a lady. I wanted their report of me to be favorable...

Pushing open my door I found the sitting room to be just as tidy as usual, though I noticed a pair of surprises that were draped over my furniture. The maid that had set my room up this morning and whom Loki, disguised as the Allfather, had startled had apparently brought me another package from the seamstresses. I walked over to the package, smiling in astonishment. Wow. The seamstresses worked fast if they had already finished some more pieces for me! On top of the folded fabric that was keeping what I assumed to be new clothes clean was a note written by Bil. The note read: