Aislinn woke early the next morning, excited and nervous. She was dressed and pacing her balcony before her handmaidens arrived. She chose to wear breaches and a tunic again – she had no need for dresses in her old life, and preferred the freedom of less restricting garments. She chose a tunic that fit her in a very pleasing way, close fit with a low bust line. It was a bright crimson red, which she hated. It clashed garishly with her deep red hair. She ran her fingers over it playfully, and watched it turn emerald green. She smiled, but knew it wasn't appropriate. She ran her hand over it again and it turned an attractive steely grey.

She ate very little breakfast, and continued to twitch and fidget until she drove Tofa to distraction. "I do not blame you dear, for being nervous about this. I know I would be terrified about spending the day with the trickster prince. Although why you agreed to go in the first place I will never understand! Come here and sit still, or better yet come and choose your dress for the feast tonight."

Aislinn could not imagine trying to sit through another one of Tofa's little fashion shows. She sat down beside her and apologized for her distraction. And, against her better judgment, she gave Tofa full license to choose anything at all for her to wear rather than even think about it further.

She tried to read, but her eyes simply ghosted across the page without absorbing anything. At long last, the gentle tap came at the door, and Aislinn leapt up to answer it herself.

The day began awkwardly. Loki might be silver tongued, but he was reticent to speak to her at first. After everything that he had been through, he was no longer quick to smile or to speak without cause. He wrestled with his desire to be near her, and the certain knowledge that it would cause him nothing but pain. Trust did not come easy to the dark prince.

Aislinn managed to coax him out of his shell after the first few rooms, which he showed her rather mechanically and disinterestedly. He had walked her through the throne room and the great hall with little conversation, the pair stealing idle glances at each other before staring unseeingly at the floor or the ceiling.

Aislinn found herself comparing her companion to his elder brother constantly. Where Thor seemed determined to force friendship on her by being aggressively jovial and physical, Loki remained more distant and cool. When they walked, he more often than not rested his hands behind his back. When they spoke, it was not all heavy handed flirtatiousness, but the conversation of equals. She wondered at the differences between them, and idly wondered if Loki simply did not like her as much as Thor seemed to.

When they entered one of the palace's libraries, everything changed. Aislinn's excitement and enthusiasm were palpable, and infectious. She asked many insightful questions, and cajoled him into real conversation about both magic and the history of the realms. She knew more than he had given her credit for, and he was delighted to find that they shared much in common.

He spoke intelligently and fluently, and as the day wore on and they passed through more and more of the palace, he began to turn witty. She laughed freely and joyfully, both at his humor and in happiness at the light it brought to his eyes to be clever and facetious. As the hours wore on and they talked, Loki began to realize that his attraction to her was only increasing. Her body and her face were beautiful enough to draw him near, but her pure heart and bright mind were weaving a trap he feared he would never escape.

After she had seen all she could stand of galleries, state rooms and feasting halls, Aislinn asked if they might go into the garden: She had spent her young life in nature, and missed the smell of green things and the light of the sun on her skin.

As soon as they were out in the garden, the joy that radiated from Aislinn was an almost tangible thing. She was almost gleeful, and if it could be believed, she seemed more beautiful in the full sunlight than she had by window or torch. The bright golden light put a cast over her hair that seemed to set it aflame, bright and intense.

She asked him the name of every flower they encountered, and told him many tales about being in nature with her mother. He led her to a corner of the garden for a certain flower he had always admired, especially now. It was a lily, large as a handbreadth across, and it was a gorgeous midnight blue, speckled over with tiny points of silver. He pulled a small throwing dagger from his hip, and lopped off the stem of the loveliest one and presented it to Aislinn. "For your hair tonight," he said. "I thought it would suit you well."

"I had almost forgotten about tonight!" Aislinn gasped. "I promised to be back and making ready hours ago, Tofa will kill me." She said, her hand covering her mouth.

"Do you know your way back on your own now?" Asked Loki.

"I think so, yes." Said Aislinn.

"Good. Then I have done my job." Loki said in a teasing voice, and gave her a slight bow. Aislinn smiled and left, although it perturbed her somewhat that Loki had not kissed her hand, as other men in Asgard seemed to do. It was as if he was meticulously keeping his hands to himself.

Loki sat down on the edge of a fountain and stared off in the direction Aislinn had gone, chiding himself. This was rapidly turning from a fascination into something disturbingly like love and devotion. He was the prince in shame, and had no room in his life for love.

…

Aislinn arrived to a steaming bath and a scolding Tofa. Her bath was short and sweet because of her delay, although she did not really mind. Tofa and Sigrid both threw themselves into drying and dressing her hair into an elaborate and fashionable style typical of the women of Asgard. As they buzzed around her, Aislinn worried fitfully about Tofa's choice of dress. She imagined something huge and flamboyant with many layers of fabric, bedecked with ribbons and jewels and groaned inwardly.

When Tofa led her into the dressing room, however, a huge flouncing dress was exactly not what she saw. On a display in the center of the room was a set of armor. It was beautiful and elaborate without being flashy, and lacked the large metal plates of the armor of Lady Sif. It was crafted ornately from leather, close fitting and sleek to suit her graceful movements. The leather was black as night, and it was reinforced across the chest, arms and shins with small metal plates of a midnight blue with silver edging. The cloth details on the armor, including a short cape, were the robin's egg blue of her mother's amulet, which hung around the neck of the armor suit.

She touched it and stared at it wonderingly, at a loss for words.

"Today, you become a warrior of Asgard as well as a member of Odin's house." Tofa said, serious for once. "It is fitting that you present yourself as a fighter, and accept your weapon from your king's hand."

"Does every warrior go through this ceremony?"

"No, only those warriors of high birth, and even so, very few are initiated into service by the king himself. New warriors of noble houses are presented to the king a few times a year. Odin means to do you honor through this ceremony, and to make you a full member of his household: royalty."

"Am I to be called a Princess, then?" Aislinn said uncertainly.

"No, I do not think so." Said Tofa. "You will be a Lady, as though you were Odin's niece."

Aislinn was mildly surprised when the two women showed themselves to be as adept with strapping on armor as lacing a gown and setting hair. Sigrid, for once, actually seemed enthusiastic about this step, chattering on about how she had missed the smell of leather armor, and how she had once helped her father and brothers don their armor for battle or competition. Aislinn glanced at her beautiful servant and wondered off hand if her joviality might also stem from Aislinn wearing less feminine attire.

Aislinn twisted about wearing the armor to get a feel for its movement, and was amazed at the craftsmanship of the piece. "This was not what I was expecting to wear today," she mused, "but I love it. I may never let you dress me in anything else. I see now why Thor and his friends so often wear their armor in the palace."

Tofa laughed and clapped her on the arm, saying "You still have to change before the feast tonight," she said, "We can't have you dancing with Prince Thor in your armor! Even he won't be wearing his." Aislinn thought she saw Sigrid flinch at that comment, but she did her best to ignore it as she strapped her empty sword belt to her waist.

…

The ceremony was intimidating, but at least this time Aislinn was supposed to appear before the court. She took several deep breaths before walking up to the long isle that would lead her into the throne room. The crowd was simply massive, and they cheered as she walked. She felt a bit like an animal on display, and wondered how many of the people had attended this event simply to satisfy or feed their curiosity. She tried not to let it get to her, and held her chin high.

As she came closer to the throne, she could see Odin upon it, and his family arranged below. Queen Frigga, with her kind smile, stood to the left of the throne highest upon the steps. Below her stood Loki, who, in spite of himself, seemed unable to swallow a small smile at the corner of his lips, and shifted his feet again and again. On the right had side stood Thor, slightly above Loki. Aislinn noted that the warriors three and Lady Sif stood on his side of the throne also. His most trusted friends and battle companions. Aislinn wondered why Loki had no inner circle standing with him. She wondered if her duties as an adopted daughter of Odin would call her to stand on those steps, and if she would be able to stand behind the prince of her choice.

At length, she arrived at the bottom of the throne and knelt before her king, remaining completely still until Odin waved his hand for silence.

"Aislinn, daughter of Maeve, do you come here to become a servant to your king and a warrior for your people?"

"I do."

"Do you swear to obey the order of the King of Asgard, and accept the penalties for disobedience should you falter?"

"I swear."

"Do you swear to cast aside your own needs and safety for the glory and protection of Asgard and its citizens?"

"I swear."

"Do you swear to lead justly and honorably as befits a member of the royal house of Asgard?"

"I so swear."

"Then rise, and receive your weapons from your King." Aislinn rose with seamless grace, and mounted the stairs one at a time until she stood just below the Allfather. "These blades are Herja and Hlin, ancient blades of Asgard." Odin said, raising the blades aloft. The pale blue stones seemed to blaze with their own inner fire as the sunlight glanced off of them. "Bear them in service to all the realms, but know that they belong to Asgard. Their history began before the birth of anyone present, and will continue on long after the days of our passing." He handed both blades to Aislinn, who held them aloft for all to see before sheathing them, one on each hip. "I, Odin Allfather, proclaim this day that the Lady Aislinn is a member of my house, my family, and a warrior in my service."

The assembled crowed erupted into a din of cheers, and the Royal family turned to leave the hall through a door behind the throne. Once in private, everyone offered Aislinn their congratulations. Odin smiled and patted her shoulder, Frigga and Sif gave her hugs. Hogun clapped her enthusiastically on the shoulder. Fandral made an elegant bow and kissed her hand and wrist with a suggestive wink, and Volstagg picked her up and declared that she looked 'good enough to eat.' When her feet found the floor again, she felt Thor throw his arm around her shoulders and say, "You did good!"

None of it meant as much to Aislinn as the small smile and the slight raise of Loki's eyebrow as she slipped from under Thor's touch, excusing herself to find Tofa and make ready for the feast, which would begin soon.