p style="text-align: center;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"strongChapter 43/strong/span/p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"As Loki and I danced, couples young and old came to us and introduced themselves and gave out many kind compliments on the party and, 'The prince's choice of lady.' I smiled gratefully and nodded in thanks at everyone who came by to compliment me on my dress or my hair or how well Loki and I were matched. Loki went through two dances with me until he was called away by one of the servants on account of his father. Odin had been doing much better lately and was out of bed and attending the ball tonight. Loki gave me a quick kiss and reluctantly followed the servant away. I sighed and headed for the refreshment table to get a drink. Everyone was acting very strangely, like they knew something I didn't. I shook my head and picked up a flute of champagne, savouring the sweet taste it possessed. I looked around the room and smiled at all the couples dancing gracefully. I had drunk half the glass of the sweet wine when I heard Thor's voice across the room call my name. I sighed and downed the rest of the glass and forced a smile on my face as he came nearer. At the sight of his over excited expression my fake smile soon turned into a real one and I was grinning as he embraced me tightly./span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Jenny, you look absolutely wonderful! Isn't this just an amazing ball, I just love it! How have you been? I haven't seen you in so long!" I laughed and held my hands up,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Woah, woah, woah. Thor, slow down. I'm good. The ball is absolutely incredible! How are you doing?" Thor smiled and replied,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""I am better than ever!" He paused as the woman beside him slid her arm into his and smiled up at him. Thor smiled back and turned to me, "Oh! I almost forgot, this is Sif, my girlfriend." I smiled at her and held out my hand for a handshake, /span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""It's an honour to meet you." She glared at me and forced a small smile as Thor looked down at her. Though she didn't accept my handshake. I shrugged it off and let my hand drop back to my side. I looked up at Thor and he looked around,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Have you seen Owen and Lyra around?" I raised my eyebrows, /span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Wait, you know them? How?" Thor laughed and replied,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Of course I know them, they were some of my best childhood friends!" I nodded and said,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Makes sense. In answer to your question, I saw Owen a while ago, he said he was going to look for Lyra and I haven't seen him since." Thor nodded thoughtfully,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""And Lyra?" I shook my head,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Haven't seen her." Thor looked around worriedly. I put a reassuring hand on his arm and said, "I'm sure they're around here somewhere." Thor smiled at me and nodded,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""I'm sure you're right." Sif sent me a death glare and pulled him away,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Come on Thor, we should go look for them." Thor looked at Sif and nodded,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Alright, love, good idea. Let's go." Sif turned and grabbed his hand, dragging him away. Thor turned back over his shoulder and waved, "I'll see you later Jenny!" I smiled and waved back,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Bye Thor!" Sif looped her arm back into the crook in his elbow and turned her head to glare at me. I sighed and looked down. /span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Geez, she doesn't seem very nice." I grinned and turned around. Lyra was standing behind me, offering me a drink. I sighed and sent her an appreciative smile, taking the glass of champagne. I took a sip and looked at her questioningly, /span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""You listened to that entire conversation, didn't you?" She grinned and took a sip of her drink. I laughed and rolled my eyes, "Really? You're so bad. They're going to be looking for you, now." She shrugged,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""I wanted to talk to you, and I figured it'd buy me some time. They'll find Owen in about 10 minutes." I smiled at her,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""You're such a bad person, I love it." She laughed and we clinked glasses. After taking another sip of me drink, I looked at her, "So, you wanted to talk to me?" She nodded and said,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Yeah, I wanted to tell you, just to be careful around some of these guys." I looked at her quizzically, "If they ask you to dance, I mean. Loki has the tendency to get a little jealous." I snorted and rolled my eyes, /span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""I noticed, but if he has that quality, I want him to get over it." I paused and grinned, "It's totally a turn off." We both laughed and downed the rest of our champagne. /span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Good, I think you're a good match for him." I smiled and thanked her. My smiled dropped and my eyes widened as I nodded behind her. Her brows furrowed and she turned around, Thor and Sif were walking towards us. She laughed and gave me a pat on the shoulder, "Go on, get out of here. Go have some fun." I grinned and gave her a quick hug,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Thanks Lyra, I'll see you later, okay?" She nodded,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Alrighty, I'll catch up with you later!" She waved as I turned and walked away. I blended into the crowd of people and wandered around for a bit. Pretty soon, a man walked up to me and offered me his hand for a dance, /span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""May I have the honour, my lady?" I smiled and placed my hand in his. We walked out onto the dance floor and started to dance as the band struck up a waltz. I smiled up at him as we danced gracefully around the room,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""May I ask your name?" He grinned and answered,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""My name is Tobias," he paused, "and, of course, you need no introduction. The lone Midgardian." I laughed and shook my head,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""You make it sound so important. I'm really just here because I was rescued and I grew to love it here." At that, he raised an eyebrow questioningly. I sighed and said, "It's a long story. Let's just say that if Loki didn't save me when he did, I wouldn't be here." Tobias nodded slowly,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Well, that would have been a terrible loss." I smiled and blushed. Then the music stopped playing and Odin appeared on the balcony,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Ladies and Gentlemen of Asgard, I am pleased to see how many of you have attended this celebration tonight…" I turned to Tobias and whispered,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Celebration? What celebration?" His eyes widened and he whispered back, astonished, /span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Wait, you don't know?" I shook my head in slight bewilderment,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""No, know what?" He grinned and laughed quietly. Still, grinning, he whispered back,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""I don't think I'm at liberty to tell you." I rolled my eyes and sighed,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Fine then." He chuckled quietly and turned back to Odin, saying quietly,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""It looks like you're about to find out, though." I was about to reply when I heard Odin say,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Lady Jenny Oscars, could you come up here, please?" I looked at Tobias confused and he shrugged. I sighed and made my way up to the balcony. When I got up there, Odin smiled warmly at me and gave me a tight hug, "You look wonderful tonight, Jenny." I smiled at him and replied,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Thank you. It's great to see you walking around again." He smiled and took my hand in his, /span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""I'm so happy for you." I looked at him quizzically,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""I still don't understand what's happening, no one's told me anything!" He just looked at me and laughed. I sighed and was about to question why I was up here when Loki and Frigga appeared from behind the velvet curtain, I smiled at Frigga and gave her a tight hug, "It's so good to see you! It feels like an age!" She smiled and replied,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""It's excellent to see you too! I've missed you!" I smiled and turned and whispered to Loki as Odin made a speech about his absence./span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Loki, why am I up here? What are you planning?" He just gave me a half smile and slid his hand into mine,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Shh, my father's making a speech." Even as he said that, there was definitely a glint of mischievousness in his eyes. I sighed and rolled my eyes. I tuned out Odins talking and stared out over the crowd of people. I met Lyras eyes and mouthed, 'What am I doing here?' She shrugged and mouthed back, 'I don't know.' I sighed again, I knew she knew something. Suddenly, I had realised that Odin had stopped talking and was stepping back from the platform to let Thor make a speech, Sif standing beside him. I blinked, em'When did Thor get here?'/em I thought. Shrugging, I leaned over to Loki and whispered, /span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Sif doesn't seem to like me very much, is there a reason behind that?" Loki sighed and nodded slightly,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""I'd say she's jealous." I looked at him, /span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Of who, me?" He nodded, /span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Afraid so. She's always liked Thor and she's convinced that you are some kind of competition." I snorted and shook my head,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Well, I guess I'll just have to clear that up with her, then." Loki chuckled and nodded,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""I guess you will." We both giggled and waved at Sif as she turned around and glared at us. She just scoffed and turned her nose up at us as she turned back around. Loki and I both stifled laughs as Thor finished up his speech. Then it was time for Loki to make his speech. Thor clapped Loki on the back as he walked up to the short railing preventing us from falling off the high balcony. As Loki made speech, he introduced me and took up about 10 minutes talking about me. I nudged him and he shook his head, "Right, sorry, I'm just so infatuated…" A few people chuckled, I remembered that Loki wasn't very well liked. I smiled and he continued his speech by thanking everyone for coming and about how he was so happy that everyone was able to attend. Then he paused for a moment and turned to me, "Jenny," I turned to look him,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Yes, Loki?" He took a deep breath,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Ever since the first moment I laid eyes on you, I fell in love with you. I know that sometimes I've been selfish or mean or annoying or um… you know, dead." I giggled,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Loki, where is this going?" He took my hands in his and continued,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""But, I just want you to know, that every time I've done those things, I've regretted them. Every time, I've done anything to hurt you, I would do everything and anything to take it back. Every time I've disappeared or left you, I'm sorry. Every time I wasn't there right by your side, to protect you, to support you, to love you, I wish to the gods that I was. I wish that I could turn back time and be with you every minute that was possible and every one that wasn't…" By this time I had tears running down my cheeks and was eternally thankful that Lyra made me wear waterproof makeup. Loki looked me right in the eyes and wiped the tears off my cheeks. Getting down on one knee, he pulled a small box out of his pocket and in it was a beautiful gold band with an emerald in the middle and two diamonds on either side. I gasped as he took my hands in his, "Jenny, I want you to know that I will always love you and I will be there for you as much as it is in my power to do so. I will be there for you even when you think I've gone. I love more than words or actions can define, so, if you'll have me, I'll be yours. Jenny Oscars, will you marry me?" I let out a choked laugh and said,/span/p
p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Baskerville; color: #222222;"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;""Yes. Yes, of course, Loki!" He gave me a genuine smile and slid the ring on my finger. Standing up he put a hand on my cheek and placed a deep, passionate kiss on my lips./span/p