*Later that day, at the council meeting*

*Loki's POV*

"What the hell do you mean?!" I yelled at the head of the council.

"You cannot be with her. She is not of nobility or a royal family. It is your duty as king to keep the bloodline pure."

"Since when? And know that if you lie, I will skin you and turn you into shoes."

"Always."

"You do realize Frigga was a commoner as well? Odin didn't follow this rule. I'm sure that if Thor was king, you would be fine with him being with Jane."

Just then Thor entered the room.

"Brother! Melanie tells me the council does not approve of her." Thor said as he came to sit beside me.

"That is correct. Did she find you to tell you that?" I asked.

"No, I ran into her in the arena. She told me about this meeting, about the council's disapproval."

"She is still in the arena? We were in there all day. What is she doing?" I said aloud to myself.

"I don't know Loki, but I am here to help." Thor said.

"Thank you Thor. Now where were we?" I asked turning my attention back to the council.

"You were trying to convince me that the council is treating you unfairly. And that if Thor was king he would get away with dating a commoner." The head of the council said.

"I hate to say this, but I agree with Loki. You guys were never a fan of him, and you've never treated him fairly, either. You've always favored me over him and it angers you that he has the throne and not I. Melanie is a good person and you should let them be together. She could make a great queen someday. That is if that that's what Loki wants." Thor explained.

"Thank you, Thor."

Suddenly, one of the council members stood and cleared his throat to gain our attention. "You know what? I think they should be together. I can see that the king is happy. Think for one second men. When was the last time we saw our king happy? I mean truly happy? I think I can honestly say that since he got the throne, we haven't seen him happy. No one wants an unhappy king. Melanie makes him happy, so let them be together, I think not letting them be together would be a bad decision." The unnamed council member sat back down. The rest of the council members began talking amongst themselves, clearly seeing the young mans point. At the same time you could see the head council members face turn red with anger. This meeting clearly wasn't going the way he wanted it to.

"ENOUGH!" the head council member yelled. "He can't be with her, that's final!"

Thor angrily stood, "No! My brother can be with Melanie, that is my say as a prince of Asgard. And you sir no longer have a say for I am removing you from your position. Loki and I will pick someone else to be head of our council. You are no longer fit for the job."

"You're getting rid of me simply for following the rules? That's absurd! You boys are nothing but fools, your father would be so disappointed in you two. So would you mother."

I stood, "How dare you speak to me, your king, like that. Guards, please remove him from my sight." Two guards came and started to escort him out of the room.

"You'll regret this! I've helped run this kingdom for years. I was Odin's favourite advisor! I was only trying to protect the kingdom from the likes of you, Loki, a disgusting frost giant. That's why we always treated you different, it's because we knew your secret. King Laufey didn't want his only son because you were a small insignificant weakling of a frost giant, so he cast you aside, hoping you would freeze to death. But no, Odin found you and brought you back here and raised you as his own, not telling anyone of your true heritage. But I knew. I knew. I always-" The guards dragged him away before he had the chance to finish.

Shock was written on everyone's face except for Thor and me. I sat back down and sighed. There obviously wasn't going to be a decision made about this today. It was all so frustrating and it shouldn't be. All I wanted was to be with Melanie. I had finally found someone that made me happy and I apparently could be with her because of some ancient rule set by my great great grandfather. Correction Thor's great great grandfather. But this rule has never been followed, Odin and his father both married commoners. It has never been followed until now. And it's all because a frost giant from Jotenheim secretly sits on the throne and not a got from Asgard. The truth had been said, they were treating me different, unfairly all because I was not truly Odin's child.

The council members had gone back to talking amongst themselves, and I was deep in angry thought when Thor spoke up.

"Who was second in command? Stand now."

The same young boy that had spoke up earlier timidly stood, "That would be me, sir." The talking stopped, everyone either looked at the young man or Thor.

"What is your name young man?" I asked.

"Er…its Declan, sir."

'Declan, how long have you been on the council? You look fairly young." Thor asked.

"Five years, I'm twenty-two by the way."

"And how long have you been second in command?" I asked.

"Two years now, sir."

"Do you feel as though you have enough experience to take over?" Thor asked.

"Er…honestly?" Declan asked.

"Preferably, yes." Thor said.

"No, I don't. But I want the position. I would do a good job. I am confident enough that I could make important decisions when the time comes. Like today, I know the rules about who you can and can't date but I honestly don't see the problem with dating Melanie. I also believe that the rest of the council would support me on this. Yes this rule was probably made for a reason but since no one has ever actually followed it, why start now. I think your father, may he rest in peace, would want to see you happy and if she makes you happy, then be with her. I also think that you mother, rest in peace as well, would have happily approved of Melanie. She seems like a lovely person from what I have seen."

We were speechless; this kid knew how to impress a guy. Then Thor and I looked at each other, we nodded in silent agreement. This kid definitely got the position.

I stood and walked over to Declan. I put my hand on his shoulder and said, "You've impressed me and my brother, Declan. We want you to have the head position. Not just because you said I can date Melanie, but because you show promise."

"Thank you, sir." He picked up a stack of papers and then went to sit in the head councils chair. I went back to my seat at the head of the table.

"Now, I need a final ruling on this matter. Are we following this stupid rule or not?" I asked.

The council talked amongst themselves for a while, and then they all wrote their votes on some parchment then passed it to Declan. Declan stood to read the votes.

"Good news sir, the council has agreed to let you be with Melanie. They votes came to nine for and three against."

I breathed a sigh of relief. I had won. I got to be with Melanie.