The next morning the sun shines through your window and long curved horns are making shadows on your bedsheets.

You roll over to watch him sleep, but he opens his ruby red eyes and smiles sweetly at you.

It seems silly to be nervous and awkward at this point, and you feel you should say something but your mind is blank and distracted.

"Good morning, Sorceress" he says as he gathers you into his arms.

That's right, you remember "good morning" you smile as he reaches over to kiss you. "I'm glad you are here".

"I'm waiting for someone to come barging in again" he chuckled. "Does that happen often?"

"Only when I sleep on the couch with a man covered in fish mud" you say. "I think Jaxarna will behave herself this morning".

You got up and picked up your clothes off the floor, throwing them into a hamper in a closet. "I'm hungry" you said "I will ask for breakfast to be brought up".

With that you took a maroon gown down from a hanger and pulled it over your head. Your clothes were not terribly complicated, it would always be quick to remove them later, you smirked as you walked to the door.

You peeked out your door and asked a passing servant to bring up breakfast for two. You felt a little strange but realized that they had no idea where the second person was at the moment.

Loki walked into the sitting room, fully dressed and took you in his arms and kissed you some more. You both smiled like idiots and laughed for no reason.

"Mother heard about the fish pond incident yesterday. The messenger told everyone and she summoned him to interrogate him personally." He said. "She is trying to discourage me. She really wants a military daughter in law. My Aesir mother would love you, though."

"I have met Frigga Queen, actually. She was kind to me when she should have had me locked in the dungeons for sneaking into Asgard. I was practicing for the invasion. She made a mistake"

He looked at you for a moment and blinked slowly, considering what you just said. "She is very kind, and she is very wise, I'm sure that she knew what was going to happen"

You let that sink in a bit. You remembered your interactions with the Aesir Queen. She didn't seem foolish, maybe she did know and somehow approved of Jotunheim getting back the Casket of Ancient Winters- or maybe it was all for Loki. Yes, she was devoted to her adopted son, it was probably to benefit him and make his exile to Jotunheim less harsh. You were certainly impressed by her foresight, she was a fascinating woman.

"My Jotnar mother, on the other hand, says our children will have defects and that I should marry a full sized woman in order to produce sound children. I think Helblindi is already doing that for her," he laughed "and Byliester will soon join him."

"It will be complicated genetically for us to produce children, but we are both very powerful and can be picky about what is implanted. We can produce healthy children, perhaps even full mages." You wondered if it bothered him that you were so literal info dumping on him all the time, but he just smiled at you and squeezed your hand.

A servant walked in the door with breakfast and you let go of his hand at the sound of the door opening. They were obviously trying not to stare at you and Loki but you knew there would be another set of rumors even though you were both properly dressed, awake and not touching one another.

Later that day you passed Farbauti General in the hallway. She glared at you but you simply greeted her in the normal and polite manner that you always did. She growled. You did not acknowledge her sentiment. She will have to get over that, you thought to yourself. The combination of you and Loki was way more powerful that he would be with one of her lieutenants, though you were sure that she had planned to groom that potential daughter in law to succeed her as General of the Jotunheim forces. She would have to choose her own successor now. But for the near future meals in the royal dining room would be tense for a while.

Byleister confided in you when you were checking in on the children.

"Mother is so angry!" He whispered grinning.

Your face turned a brighter blue and you looked away with a smile. "I know-"

"This morning I officially announced that I would be taking the musician Audboda as my mate" he said joyfully. "Mother is livid! She knew this was coming though, I don't know why she is taking it so badly"

You stared at him for a moment, his red eyes sparkled with happiness and he was almost glowing. You noted how much he looked like a larger Loki and smiled. "I'm so happy for you, Byleister. How soon is the joining ceremony?"

"As soon as possible. Next week. Mother will need that time to calm down" said Byleister

You were very skeptical that Farbauti General would be getting any calmer, all things considered. You hoped that your friend's joining ceremony would go well in spite of her great disappointment in her daughters in law. You wondered how she felt about Nal Queen, she was not a warrior either.