Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters. (However, if I have created someone, please do not use them.)
A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Please read the author's note after the chapter, and be sure to review! The fate of this fanfiction could depend on it! The next couple of chapters should get very interesting. So please buckle yourselves in- this could get a little bit bumpy! ^^
What Might Have Been
Fine Dining and Pompous Company
On returning home, you inform your parents of the news. Just as you had thought, they receive it extremely well, and begin to fuss the servants merrily over what to wear. They had never met the Torps, but had heard a great many stories about their family and were more than eager to meet them. You retreat to your own room to change out of your armour and transform into the lady you are supposed to be. Casually perusing through you collection of silk, satin and cotton gowns, your mind begins to wander.
'It is rather strange.' you think, picking out a close-fitting champagne coloured, satin dress that flows onto the floor. The waist is a tight-fittingsash wrapped around several times, and the front is cut-away with a loose fabric connecting the waist to the shoulders. The shoulder piece is joined onto a highneck collar which conjoins with the cut-away, leaving your bare chest divided in the middle. The front and skirt are pleasantly ornate with embroidery. 'This invitation seems to be out of nowhere.' you continue, undoing the straps and buckles on your armour, taking them off and carefully placing them on your bed to be put away by the servants. You call for the servants to put them away, and in scurry three women. One begins to pack away the armour while the other two help you with the dress. 'Of course, I've heard of them, but who hasn't?' You step into the dress and pull your head through the collar. 'But what do they want with my family?' you puzzle, looking in the mirror. You frown at yourself. It didn't add up.
Approaching the open door to the hall, a guard announces the arrival of you and your parents. Frigga, Odin, Thor and Loki make their way over to you with cheerful smiles, and each dressed in their best. Loki wanders over to you and grins.
"My. You do clean up well, don't you, Sabella?" he says, just quiet enough that he could not be heard over everyone else's greetings. You had had your hair fixed up on your head in a smooth wave with a large silver leaf headpiece undercutting it, and you had had your makeup done. It was a bit of a thing because you usually went bare-faced. You look at your feet to hide your blush.
"Th-thank you." you stammer. You take a deep breath and raise your head. "You look quite handsome too." you say with a curl of your lips, trying to sound as dipolmatic and casual about it as possible. Loki raises his eyebrows at you with a smile.
"I'm flattered." he says, in an almost surprised voice.
"Now, please. Do come in." says Frigga. "The Torps haven't arrived yet, but I'm sure they won't keep us waiting much longer." she smiles. As everyone turns to head to the table, the doors clang loudly as they open, and the same guard hits his sceptre to the ground.
"The Lords and Lady Torp, Allfather." announces the guard before stepping back in line at the side of the doors. In step three very extravagantly dressed people. Although all three were very handsome and looking much younger than you had heard they were, your eyes are instantly drawn to the son. There is something strangely exotic about his looks. As they draw closer, your stare is caught by his electric blue eyes and you quickly dart your own away. You could have sworn you saw him smirk.
"Gabe, Ladonna! It's so good to see you." exclaims Frigga, embracing Ladonna warmly.
"Indeed!" says Ladonna. "Please. Let me introduce our son, Salvador." says Ladonna, gesturing toward her son. Salvador dips his head briefly before looking up and locking eyes with you.
"I am honoured to be here." he says, smiling, though not breaking eye contact.
"It is a pleasure to have you, and to finally meet you." says Frigga, turning sideways and gesturing towards your family. "These are the Westergaards. Elasaid has been my good friend all these years." Your mother smiles and curtsies.
"I have heard a great many things about your family. This is indeed an honour." she says. "This is my husband, Daewon," Elasaid gestures to you father who bows deeply. "And our daughter, Sabella." You curtsy, and hope that when you arise, Lord Salvador is no longer looking at you. But when you raise your head, he is still looking. Everyone else engages in polite conversation except you, Loki and Lord Salvador. Loki is standing behind you, and you can sense him shifting slightly awkwardly. You can feel that he has moved somewhat closer to you, and is giving off a warding aura. Suddenly you ease up a bit, and notice that Lord Salvador is no longer looking at you. Your first instinct is relief, but as you glance shallowly behind you, and see that Loki and Lord Salvador are engaged in what appears to be a stare-down.
"Well. We aren't getting any younger." says Frigga, enthusiastically. "Let's sit down, shall we?"
The servants come in and escort everyone to their appropraite seats, with Odin at the head of the table, Lord Torp at the other end, and the others arranged between them. You are sat down with Frigga to your left, Loki to your right and Lord Salvador in front of you. You clench your teeth slightly at the seating arrangement. You had hoped to escape Lord Salvador while eating, simply in order to be able to digest your food without feeling his gaze. But you feel reassured with Loki next to you.
Everyone once again engages in polite chatter as, course by course, you clear your way to the bottom of the plate, to you refection in the gold. But for some reason you don't seem to have much of a appetite.
"Would you pass the salt, darling?" asks Lady Torp.
"Of course." replies Loki, passing it to his right.
You can feel Lord Salvador's gaze, and it makes you increasingly uneasy. You stare at the food in front of you, gluing your gaze down so that it might not reach his icy eyes.
"My dear, you have been very quiet all this time." whispers Frigga in your ear.
"I'm quite alright, really." you say, faking a smile. "Just a bit of indigestion, I'm sure." You couldn't very well tell her to make her guest leave. Turning back to the table, you feel something against your foot and jerk your head up slightly. You frown and look sideways at Loki as he pops a juicy red grape in his mouth. You're sure that his foot is pressed against yours, but seeing as he doesn't look at you, you presume that it is an accident. He does sit with his legs quite wide sometimes, anyway. As you turn your head back, you catch a glimpse of Lord Salvador. He is persistently staring at you. It makes you very uneasy, and you shift slightly in your seat before going back to your fruit. A second later, you feel it again: that pressure. But this time the pressure is against the full length of your leg. You are sure that Loki has to feel it this time, and you frown at him. Loki notices you and turns towards you, looking completely unaware. But as you search his eyes for a little longer, you can see something in his eyes that tells you he is maskng his emotions. It's not quite his usual mischievous look. It's something more deadly than that. As his curiously seductive eyes look into yours, with his leg pressed up against you, you suddenly beome very aware of Loki being a man. It makes your heart race, and a flush comes over your face. But your eyes, instead of becoming skittish like usual, become marginally heavy. Your breathing becomes heavier too and you shift your gaze from Loki's eyes, down to his lips where you linger, before lowering your eyes down to his wide open crotch. You feel a light throbbing in your own, and you lift your eyes back up to Loki's. The deadly glint in his eyes has vanished, and they are deep and seductive, with a slight curling smirk to match in the corners of his mouth. For a minute, everything else was forgotten, as desires filled your mind, but suddenly you both hear a suggestive cough from the direction of Lord Salvador, who had been watching everything unfold. Thankfully, everyone else was seeming oblivious to anything that may have happened. Lord Salvador narrows his eyes. You flash your glance back to Loki, and that deadly glint has returned to his eyes. You suddenly become very concerned. Lord Salvador has the very same look. You look anxiousy between the two of them. No-one seems to have noticed how the tension between the two of them has begun to spark. You become more and more restless. The atmosphere between the two of them is so heavy that you feel it begin to seep into your ears, and the conversation is no longer audible.
"Sabella?"
You snap out of it.
"Pardon?" you say, quite dazed.
"My dear," laughs Ladonna. "I asked how your studies are coming along." Although Ladonna laughs, she sounds very patronising. Mentally, you raise your eyebrow at her tone of voice.
"Oh, very well, thank you, Lady Torp." you laugh nervously.
"I'm glad to hear it." replies Lady Torp, sounding skeptical. The conversation continues without you, and you divert your attentions back to Loki and Lord Salvador. They are still engaged. Loki lowers his head slightly, his glare intensifying. Subtley yet reluctantly, Lord Salvador lowers his gaze as a way of surrender. You look at Lord Salvador, but he does not look back at you. You feel a wave of relief wash over you, and you relax your shoulders. Satisfied that he has won, Loki sits back and his eyes soften again. He turns his head to you and subtley smiles. You read his face, and smile back.
'He did that for me...right?' you think to yourself.
The rest of the banquet passed without much interruption, and, having Lord Salvador off your back, you could finally relax for the rest of the evening. But no matter how hard you tried, you could not shake it from your head that Loki had not moved his leg away from yours for the entirety of the evening. Not once.
On returning home, your parents remarked on your strange behaviour.
"You were acting strangely all evening, Sabella." says your mother.
"Yes, was something the matter?" inquires your father. You think fast.
"Um, bad salad." you say, smiling awkwardly.
"Oh, you should have said." your mother says in a soppy voice and completely unsuspecting. "We would have had Alfhild make you another." she said, referring to the chef.
"No, no. There's really no need to make a fuss." You pretend to be embarrassed.
"Well, alright then." your father says, before you quickly walk of to your room to get some sleep.
'There's no point thinking over what happened. With any luck, you'll never see Lord Salvador again.' you think to yourself in disgust.
The next morning, in the drawing room, you're practicing your sewing. Your mother and father have gone out for the morning, and you are home alone, apart from the servants of course. Although you try your best at embroidery, it is not your best subject. You are doing a picture of some flowers. The lines are all higgledy-piggledy, and it looks somewhat like a child's drawing. Nonetheless, you try to finish each piece to please your mother. You are finishing off the petal on the design when there is a knock on the door. You pause.
"Come in?" you call out. In walks a servant. She curtsies and proceeds to talk.
"Sorry to disturb you Miss, but there's a gentleman at the door. He says he wants to speak with you." she says. Her voice is quite high-pitched, though not unpleasant.
You frown. Who could possibly want to see you at this hour? Loki flashes through your mind and your heart races in expectation.
"Did he say his name?" you ask, trying not to sound so eager.
"No, Miss. I'm afraid not. Should I show him in?" she inquires.
"Um, yes. Thank you." you say, mentally preparing yourself for what might follow. The servant curtsies quickly before leaving. A moment later, the door opens and in walks Lord Salvador. Your throat dries up and you feel a wave of disappointment, as well as fear. You stand up and place your embroidery hoop on the table next to you.
"Lord Salvador?!" you ask in surprise. "What are you doing- ? *cough* I mean, what a pleasant surprise." you correct yourself, without smiling. Lord Salavdor lets out a small snort of disbelief.
"It is good to see you as well, Sabella." he says, walking further into the room.
"Miss Westergaard, if you would't mind being so familiar." you say harshly.
"Of course. My apologies." he says, seemingly offended by your coldness. But it was only fair. You hardly knew the man. "I suppose you want to know why I'm here." he continues.
"An explanation would be favourable." you retort.
"Of course. I came here to ask you if you would like to take a stroll with me in the gardens this afternoon." For some reason, Lord Salavdor doesn't seem as malicious as yesterday.
"You came all this way just to ask me that?" you ask, surprised at his idiocy.
"Well, yes. A request is more sincere when asked in person, don't you think?" And for a moment, Lord Salvador was quite charming.
"Well...yes. I suppose." you say, looking at him a little less coldly.
"And, I also wanted to apoloise for my behaviour last night." he said, guiltily. You tilt your head in interest. "I understand that I made you feel...uncomfortable for the duration of the evening?" He looks into your eyes, and you nodd. "I am sorry about that. I just...couldn't help myslef." he says. As you stare into his eyes, you feel a weird sensation creeping over your body. And suddenly, you don't feel so against Lord Salvador.
"How so?" you ask, genuinely curious.
"I enjoy beautiful things." he says, casually. You feel a blush coming on and you look away, but something draws your eyes back to him.
"Lord Salvador..." you breathe, as though it was forbidden.
"Please..." he says, taking your hands in his. "...just Salvador."
"Okay then. Salvador." you say, taking your hands back.
"So will you come this afternoon?" he asks in a hopeful tone.
"Yes, alright." you say. Lord Salvador gently picks up one of your hands and lowers his lips to it and they brush ever so gently. He then looks you in the eyes.
"Until this afternoon, then." he says with a smile before leaving.
As soon as he has left, you feel very strange. You no longer feel as positive toward tim as you had a moment ago. You frown and sit back down, distracted and continue to embroider the cloth.
A/N: Now we have a new idea put into play. Here's how it works. Below, you have several options. To vote which one you think you (as Sabella) should do, write the letter in the review. The deadline for voting will be set for one week after the chapter has been posted, so if you review after then, please don't vote, but feel free to tell me which one you thought should have happened. Let's have fun with this! ^^
A- Keep your word and take a stroll with Lord Salvador in the gardens. Keep it to yourself.
B- Find Sif and tell her what has happened. Ask for her advice,
C- Find Loki and ask him what you should do. Ask him about last night.
D- Find Loki and Sif and ask them together.
E- Other (specify).
Thanks a ton for reading, guys! Sorry it took so long to write. I've been quite busy recently, and this chapter needed some technical stuff sorted out. Please review and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, as well as voting! I hope you're having fun! Until next time! 3