Once I am inside, I am greeted by a round of applause. Embarrassed, I frantically look for an open seat and head towards that, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. I get to my seat and sit down, looking around at everyone. The other guests stop clapping and begin talking amongst themselves. Loki sits next to me. We're seated at an impossibly long table, with tons of food piled high onto it. The only open seat is on the end, which I assume is for Odin. Aside from Loki, Thor is the only person I recognize.

"Thor!" I call out across the table. He's only seated a few seats away from me, but I'm worried with all the chatter he can't hear me.

He turns towards me, smiling excitedly. "Lady Cameron! I'm glad you were finally able to make it!"

I smile timidly back, still sort of in shock with the entire thing. "I am glad as well." I reply. "I'm sorry to have kept anyone waiting."

Thor laughs loudly. "You're perfectly fine, Lady Cameron. There was a lot to do in the meantime."

Before I can reply, trumpets sound from the end of the hall, and everyone immediately stops talking and stands up. I hurriedly follow suit. Odin must be coming in. I watch as he appears from around the crowd of people and makes his way to the head of the table. He smiles, his gaze landing on me. "Cameron." He says. "It is nice to see you are well."

I bow. "It is always a pleasure to see you, my king." I respond.

Odin looks around at all of the dinner guests. "As many of you know, this banquet today is being held in honor of Cameron." Everyone swivels to look at me. I smile timidly, unsure of where to look. Odin continues, picking up his goblet. "A toast. To Cameron, and that her stay here will be all in a good time." He takes a drink.

Everyone around the table cheers and drinks. Odin then sits down, ushering for the rest of us to sit, and we do. "Let the feast begin." He says. Then everyone begins eating, talking and joking with one another. I look around at all the food, not sure where to start. It looks so good.

A raven haired woman in a pretty silk green dress leans over to me from her seat, which is right next to mine. "You should try the wine, I noticed you didn't drink when everyone was toasting." She smiles at me.

I smile back. "I wasn't sure if I should drink to my own toast." I reply, but then grab my goblet and take a sip. I gasp silently. I've never had anything alcoholic before, and this tasted like fruity fireworks exploding inside my mouth. I quickly set the goblet down and look at the woman, my eyes wide. "That was amazing."

She laughs lightly. "Wait until you try the food. The king didn't know what you liked, so he had the cooking staff make everything."

I look around at all the food. It certainly looks like he had them make everything. I smile, suddenly grateful for knowing about the magic that helped make all this food. I look back at the woman, about to tell her about how this food was made, but then I stop when I see her expression. She's not even paying attention to me, instead she is gazing dreamily at Loki, who is engaged in conversation with someone. One of his friends, I assume. But why would she be looking at him like that?

Feeling a strange rush of jealousy, I turn away and instead look at the Asian looking man who is sitting next to Thor. "That is Hogun." I hear a familiar voice whisper in my ear. Loki. I turn to look at him. He smiles, his gaze meeting mine. "You will meet all my friends soon enough."

"Who is the woman next to me?" I ask, lowering my voice so she doesn't hear.

He glances up, then makes a face as if he had just swallowed a lemon. He quickly recovers, and looks down at me again, now with slight anger in his gaze. "I had not realized they would seat her there. I will have her moved." He goes to get up, but I catch his arm, stopping him.

How could he dislike this woman so much? "There is no need for that." I say hastily. "She has done nothing wrong."

He looks down at me, then looks around, realizing that half standing up in the middle of a banquet is starting to draw attention. "Very well then." He says. "But do not say I didn't warn you." He gently takes my hand off his arm, then finishes standing up and walks out of the room.

I quickly look around, noticing that everyone has gone back to their previous conversations. Not knowing what else to do, I eat some food. Since I never actually got to taste any of it when making it, now is my chance. I grab what looks to be a chicken leg and take a huge bite. I stop mid-chew, shocked at the flavor now filling my mouth. It tastes like chocolate! I look at the meat in fascination, swallowing my bite.

I hear laughter beside me and I turn, facing the woman again. She covers her mouth with her hand. "I'm sorry." She says. She lowers her hand, still smiling. "But your reaction was priceless."

I smile back at her and place the meat down. "I was expecting it to taste like something else." I inform her. "Something more meaty."

"Like Bildshnipe?" She replies. She points at something resembling lizard skin.

I lean away from it. I don't remember cooking that. She laughs again. "It's just something to add flavor to the other food. We don't actively eat it."

"That's understandable." I reply, making a grossed out face. "It doesn't look very good."

She shakes her head. "No it doesn't." She glances around at the other guests, then leans closer to me. "Go for a stroll with me?" She asks quietly.

I raise an eyebrow. "Won't they notice?" I gesture to everyone else.

She grins. "Nah. They'll all be too drunk to recognize themselves soon." She gets up. "C'mon let's go."

I look back at Loki's empty chair, mulling over his words. What reason does he have to dislike her? Maybe this is my way of finding out. I smile and get up, then follow her out the door.