Ella walked towards Loki's rooms apprehensively. She worried that everything was not as he was portraying and that there was something afoot that she was not aware of. Nothing made her more uncomfortable than not knowing what she was dealing with, and with Loki, she had no idea what was his situation, of how he thought, and that unnerved her. When she got to the door, she hesitated. The last time she went to those rooms, she felt as though she had been struck by Mjolnir as Loki and his brothers mocked her after one of the most miserable nights of her entire life. She forced herself to shake those memories from her mind. When she chose to walk back to Loki and ask him if things would be different, when she walked towards her father and defied his command to return to Asgard, she chose to leave that moment in the past. She chose to not hold onto it, now she had to honour that choice that she herself, willfully made. Inhaling deeply, she knocked on the door and waited with bated breath.

When Loki opened it, she gave a polite smile and curtsied slightly. "Your Highness."

Loki felt a tightness in his throat at her manner. Come in, please." She passed him and entered the rooms. "Also, I think it best if you address me simply by my name. It does not seem right, since we are attempting to do this right, also, I do not wish to give the impression I am…"

"Of course, I understand." Ella nodded. She looked around apprehensively.

"Are you alright?" Loki was unsure what was causing her to be so wary.

"Yes, fine. But I have to ask, why did you invite me here?" She spoke quickly, almost too quickly.

Loki could barely understand what she said with the pace she spoke. "For dinner, to simply speak with you. If we are to try and make this work, if we are to not repeat past mistakes, we must become more in tune with one another, and that cannot occur if we rarely see one another."

"That is true."

"Why are you so suspicious?"

"Because I do not know you, and when I do not know someone and their motives, I do not feel comfortable in their presence. You may very well be my mate or husband, whichever of our realm's terms you wish to use, but I don't know your character, not the true one and that unsettles me, as I do not know how to act around you as a result."

"What do you mean, my 'true one'?"

"The man I bore witness to is not the one that tends to his realm and his people to the point that he will exhaust himself for them. The man that makes his brothers love him even though the decision to name you heir when even on Jotunheim, the eldest usually would be named such. The man that would have people tell me, at nauseam I may add, that they look forward to your reign, that they see Jotunheim not as great as it was before, but better than so. I do not know that man, and though he sounds like one worth knowing, the one they all state such of was a far different man to the one I know and that worries me somewhat, as I cannot understand how the same man they say such about is the same man I know."

Loki felt guilty at her words. "No, I suppose not. I have carried myself through this appallingly. My treatment of you has been sub-par, to say the least. You never deserved how I treated you. You have only ever cared for Jotunheim yet I dismissed you as nothing more than your father's spy."

"A fair enough judgement to make, to be fair. At the beginning." She acknowledged. "But I have only ever cared to make things better here, Prince Loki. It is my home, and on many levels, I do not wish for it to fail. I loathe seeing realms not reach their full potential. When I went to Svartalfheim, seeing it as nothing more than a desolate wasteland, it was horrid. It had so much potential, yet now, it is nothing."

"You have been to Svartalfhiem?"

"Yes, I have been to all the realms, the Allfather is often required to travel, it is somewhat commonplace for his family to join them. I only got to come here for our marriage, but before that, I saw all others."

"Really?"

"Why would I lie?" She challenged. "This may surprise you, but I am actually fairly well-travelled and well-read."

"I'm sorry. My comment is not said in question of the truthfulness of your statement, more than the startlement that you would be brought to different realms. Forgive me if this insults you, but I thought the Allfather would not consider bringing his daughter with him like he would his son."

"I am aware of the inequality of genders in my realm in some manners, but in others, I fear you are not aware of the protocol that is required. Were my father to go on realm visits to which a formal request for such was made without my mother and I, it is seen as an incredible insult."

"Understandable," Loki nodded, thinking of the logic. He took a moment to think before speaking again. "The day you came to the throne room and collapsed, my father and I were discussing something with regards to an official visit to Vanaheim."

"It is quite nice there." She smiled politely.

"I would not know. We never had an alliance with them, not after the war."

"Well, Vanaheim is Asgard's closest ally due to my parents' marriage. Your being their foe makes you Vanaheim's by extension, they fought side by side in the war."

"And your marriage to me makes them think us to be what…worthy of their time?" Loki asked, slightly insulted.

"A new trading partner. Jotunheim is one of the only realms that produces certain products. Vanir, like Aesir and indeed Light Elves love pageantry, do you know what their favourite form of showing off is?" Loki shook his head. "Ice sculptures, they love them, very grand, you see, ice is not like stone, it melts and is more fragile, it requires a more passionate and caring touch. But there is one issue, have you ever seen how big a block of ice you need for their statues? They cannot get them currently, not as they want them and they hate it. They have to join a few pieces together to get what they want. Jotunheim has blocks of ice a hundred feet high, they are going to be salivating at the mere thought. Not to mention, they will all want to be the first to have food from here so they can be seen to be above others. If you are the first to have Jotnar cuisine, you must be important in the court's eyes. Now with the Casket back where it belongs and the realm is approaching full productivity once more, it will be a very handy tool for any new trade negotiations to use this information. If you know what they want, you can ensure they do not insult you with any mere attempt to dismiss it and you can use it to ensure you get everything you wish in return. I can tell you what they are abundant in and what they deem of greatest value, if you wish?"

Loki listened with intrigue. This was all information that would assist in bettering Jotunheim's position in any upcoming discussions. "I will remember that. Why don't we sit and eat and discuss it further?" He offered, indicating to the table. "I also got you these." He walked over to a table a retrieved some flowers. "I noticed your flowers were dying, so…"

Ella smiled. "Thank you, that is very kind of you."

Seeing it was not the same false smile she tended to use in the past, Loki smiled in return. "So, you are aware of their thoughts on trade?"

"Yes, I can tell you what they have that they will trade, both easily and what they will try to make you work for, but of course, I know where they get some of their supplies, and most importantly, I know where to get their supplies for less." Loki's eyes widened. "My travels allowed me to see and hear things that will help us, help Jotunheim."

Seeing her passion at the idea, Loki looked forward to the meal more. Sitting down across from her, he was unable to hide a smile as she smirked knowingly. "Well, I am looking forward to hearing what you have to say."

Ella chuckled back. "I would wager so. But first, tell me what they stated in their invitation. Let us see how they plan to approach this so we are prepared."