Chapter 9

Loki walked back to the palace after leaving his beloved in her brother's care. He had not wanted to leave her but he knew that she was safe with
him. As he walked into the throne room to talk to his father about the wedding he was beset upon by his brother.

"Thor, what is it you want?" he asked irritably, as it still irked him that Odin had chosen the big oaf to be the next king.

"Nothing, can I not just talk to you, Brother?"

Loki sighed. "Of course you can, I was about to talk to father about a request from Darcy when you came upon me."

"What request would that be?"

"She wants to bring a friend here to see us get married," Loki said purposely not revealing the friends name.

"Oh, well I wish you luck then Brother," with that Thor walked away.

Shaking his head with a grin on his face, he wondered if he was going soft as he suddenly had the urge to make his brother happy. He walked into
the throne room with the grin still plastered on his face.

"Loki, what brings you here?" Odin asked.

"Darcy has a request to ask of you and as she is engaged right now with her family I thought I would ask in her stead."

"And what would she have me do?"

"She would like to have Jane Foster brought to Asgard to see her get married."

Odin thought for a moment. The request was not a large one in fact it would make both his soon to be daughter-in-law and Thor very happy to
have the woman there. He knew that Thor had his heart set on the woman and no matter how much he wanted him to marry Lady Sif, he now
knew that that was never going to happen. "Alright, she may come to Asgard."

Loki was a little taken back by the approval but nodded. He turned to leave when Odin spoke once more.

"Loki, I wanted to say that I am sorry for my treatment of you. It was unfair of me to make you believe that you and Thor both had a chance at
Asgard's throne. What you said to me back then is true. I didn't want a Frost Giant sitting on the Throne of Asgard, but now I am beginning to
wonder if I made the right choice in who I made my heir. You are as much my son as Thor is even if you are not blood related. And you would make
a good king."

"Father?" Loki questioned with a hint of surprise in his voice. There was also a small part of him that wondered what Odin had meant when he said
that he would be a good king. Had the king changed his mind?

"Loki, everything that you did was because of me. I didn't tell you about your heritage when you were younger and instead you had to find out on
your own which caused a rift between you and us, the ones that raised you. Your betrothed saw fit to make me see my error and I have to agree
with her. I took you thinking that you had been abandoned but when I went to Jotunheim to bring you and Thor back after he almost caused a war. Laufey said something that made me think that maybe you had not been placed in that temple to die but to protect you. I rarely do anything without thinking about the consequences of my actions first but when I took you into my arms something stirred with in me and I could not see a child left to die. So I took you and raised you as my own."

"Father, why are you telling me this?"

"Because you need to tell her the full truth of what you are. You need to trust that she will not turn from you, son. If you truly love her as I think
you do then you need to let her see the real you. I know that you don't want to, if only to not scare her. However, I do not think there is much that
could scare that woman," he stopped and chuckled at the thought.

Loki knew Odin was right, yet he was still afraid of what her reaction to his other self would be. He knew she was curious as to what he looked like
in his other form and as much as he wanted to show her he still didn't feel comfortable doing so. It wasn't that he didn't trust Darcy for he did he
just didn't trust himself.

"Father, who did you have in mind then to go retrieve Miss Foster?" Loki said changing the subject.

"I think I will have Thor do it or maybe I will send Ronin and surprise Thor with her presence here."

Loki smiled and nodded before bowing and leaving the king to his thoughts.

Xxxx

Ronin left his sister with their father and went to seek out the king.

"Ronin, what is it?"

"Your Majesty, do you still need me to guard Loki? You and I both know that he has changed for the better and I do not see that he needs guarding
anymore."

"I agree. He doesn't need a guard anymore. Your sister has worked a miracle, Ronin. I never thought I would say this but Loki has changed for the
better. I admit that there is still a part of him that is still mischievous but that is his personality but the villain everyone viewed him as is no
longer there."

"Oh, there is one more thing I would like you to do and you can take Loki with you for this."

"Yes?"

"I would like the two of you to go to Midgard and retrieve a Miss Foster and bring her back here. Apparently your sister has requested her
presence for the wedding."

"Of course, sire. How soon did you wish or me to retrieve this woman?"

"As soon as possible, Ronin."

Ronin nodded and went to look for the prince.

Xxx

Jane Foster sat in her lab wondering how Darcy was doing. She missed her friend and assistant a lot. She wondered if she was now married to Loki
or if the wedding had yet to take place. She shook her head and tried to concentrate on her replica of the bridge between the worlds Thor had told
her about. At the thought of the man that had left her two years prior she felt a pang in her heart. She missed him terribly. Just then there was a
flash of light and when she opened her eyes after shielding them from the sudden light she saw Loki and an unknown man standing before her.

"YOU!" she shouted when she saw Loki.

"Yes, me Miss Foster. I have come to bring you to Asgard on the request of my betrothed."

Jane was taken aback by the calmness in Loki's voice. She had always thought of him as menicing but the man before hew as anything but. She wondered briefly if Darcy had changed him but shook the thought aside. "Who is that?" she asked turning towards the unknown man beside Loki.

"My apologies Miss Foster, this is Ronin Berenson, Darcy's brother. Ronin, Miss Foster."

Jane blushed at the introduction as she found the man before her to be very handsome and then she realized what she was thinking and blushed even deeper. 'Bad Jane,' she thought to herself.

"A pleasure to finally meet the woman my sister thinks of as a sister, Lady Jane." She accepted the kiss Ronin placed on her hand.

"So when do we leave?" Jane asked excited to finally be reunited with her beloved and best friend.

"Now, if that is what you wish, Lady Jane. I know my sister is looking forward to seeing you again."

Jane nodded and before she knew it she was standing on Asgard for the first time. She had little time to take in the sights as they walked very
quickly to the palace.

"Hey, slow down there. I would actually like to see this place!"

"I am sorry, Lady Jane, but Prince Loki just wants to get back to my sister. He is very protective of her especially since recent events."

"What do you mean by recent events?" Jane inquired curious and afraid for her friend.

"My sister was recently kidnapped,"

Jane gasped in horror and then asked if Darcy was alright. Ronin told her that Darcy was fine but that Loki was the one to initiate the rescue which
surprised Jane greatly.

"Ronin, does he love her?" she finally asked as she watched the man, that had tried to kill her beloved and take over her realm the year before, walk
faster towards the palace.

"Yes, he does and she in turn loves him. They will do well together, Lady Jane. So do not worry about that."

Jane took his word for it but was resolved to ask Darcy herself if she was okay with this wedding when she had not been when she left Earth the
month before.

They reached the Palace and walked to the throne room so that Jane could be introduced to the king.

"Jane!" Darcy exclaimed when she saw her friend walk into the throne room and went to embrace the woman she saw as her sister.

"Darcy, are you okay?" Jane said as soon as Darcy released her.

"Oh, Jane, I am very much okay. I have never been happier in fact."

Jane nodded and then she saw Thor standing below the Throne looking at her like she was a ghost. He looked like he couldn't quite
believe that she was actually there.

"Father, Miss Jane Foster of Midgard."

Jane wasn't sure if she should bow or not so instead just said, "I wanted to say thank you, Your Majesty, for allowing me to come to Asgard."

Odin just smiled. He could see why Thor was so enamored of the mortal woman. She was very pretty if not petite.

"Welcome to Asgard Miss Foster of Midgard."

Thor wasted no time in swooping in then and pulling Jane into a bear hug. He really just wanted to kiss her, but figured he would save that for when they didn't have everyones' eyes on them.

Darcy, who was now standing beside her betrothed leaned closer and said, "Thank you for going to bring her here."

"You're welcome, darling."