Chapter Five

Finn was none too happy about us being late to our meeting, especially when Loki and I were both flushed and maybe even glowing a bit. He rolled his eyes at my bright smile and led us toward one of the War Rooms, where important meetings were usually held. I thought about what happened in my bedroom as we walked: Loki and I had been so close to stepping over a line that I wasn't completely sure I was ready to cross. We had collapsed onto my bed, kissing and entangled in one another, my bath towel coming loose and only being held onto my body by luck and gravity. I wondered if Finn was able to tell all of that just from looking at my face, and I blushed darkly.

I had allowed Loki to go as far as kissing down my neck and collar bones before I stopped him, breathless and surprised at how far we had already gotten. He stopped immediately at my request, though a hunger burned dark in his emerald eyes. I had been trembling and knew that I definitely wanted to continue, as he obviously did, but something was holding me back.

My host family had never been very strictly Christian, but I had always thought that being married before having sex was the ideal thing. Virginity wasn't necessarily sacred in my eyes, but it was important to me and I wanted to have time to think on my decision before it was taken away. Loki respected my halt of our activities and hadn't shown any displeasure in doing so, though he did keep his hands in his jean pockets for most of our walk across the palace. I wondered if Finn noticed that also.

Finn pushed open the War Room door and allowed me to step inside first. Inside, Willa was waiting with papers strewn all across the huge wooden table in the center of the room. At least twenty matching, darkly stained wooden chairs stood around the table, Willa sitting at the head and looking up when we entered. She grinned brightly and stood up, her teal cocktail-style dress so short that the majority of her smooth, tanned thighs were exposed.

She walked around the edge of the table and just about ran to me, hugging me tightly in a rare moment of affection. "Wendy, I was so worried about you when I heard you were gone, but then murmurings of the new treaty started to spread. I'm so glad I can help you plan your wedding!" Willa's excitement was starting to rub off on me because I grinned at her.

"I was just starting on the guest list. Wendy, I need you to finalize some of these decoration decisions. I know that you just got back, but there's so little time to plan everything," Willa said, immediately getting to work. I realized with an internal groan that we were going to be wedding planning all day, more than likely. Willa turned to Loki with an almost nervous smile. "Markis Staad, I don't know who you want to invite to your wedding so you just make a list and we will all go over that later."

Loki grinned, obviously enjoying her bright energy. "You can call me Loki. I hear that you're a good friend of Wendy's, so we should be friends ourselves." I glanced over at him, something like jealousy squeezing my heart. I could tell by the look on Loki's face that he was amused, though he didn't look at Willa with the lust I was worried I would find on his face. He looked down at me and took my hand, leading me closer to the table.

"It is pretty exciting that we're getting married, huh?" I looked at Loki again to see his cheeks flush very lightly, but he smiled. "So what sort of theme have you picked out so far, Willa?"

"Oh! I'm so glad you asked. I was thinking big, beautiful peonies, hydrangeas, roses, all kinds of flowers in pinks, whites, and golds all around the altar. I hope you're okay with the pastel color scheme — I think it will go beautifully if you're okay with wearing a pink sash around your waist on your wedding dress." I shrugged and smiled my agreement and leaned over the table to look at her plans, listening to her babble on about the flowers, saying that we would get the best florist in town to use her magic to turn some of them gold. She had sketched out basic decorations on several sheets of paper and we poured over them for the next three hours.

When we finally — finally — finished most of the planning with Willa, though she insisted there was much more to do, Loki cited lunch as a need to wrap up for the morning. My brain was fried and I had a dark smudge on the side of my hand from writing so much — signing pieces of paper so that Willa could have my signture copied to each invitation, writing out the guest list that I was requesting, and sketching designs of where I would like our flowers arranged around the altar. Loki had been extremely helpful all morning, giving his input freely to help me make decisions. I smiled kindly at him often, grateful that he seemed to know that I would need his help extensively. He always returned my smiles, though something burned in his green eyes that I couldn't quite pinpoint.

Then we were walking down the hallway and downstairs toward the kitchen. We walked in comfortable silence most of the way there, though when we stepped off the last landing on the staircase, Loki reached out and wrapped his fingers in mine. It felt good to hold his hand and I'd given him a bright smile, which he returned with an affectionate grin. We rounded the corner and stepped into the kitchen, three heads swiveling to look at us.

Rhys grinned happily at our entrance, though his expression faltered a bit when his eyes swept over our intertwined fingers. Finn shot us a quick glance and then turned his back, sipping at a bottle of water. Matt smiled at me with worried eyes. "Hey, guys," I greeted happily, releasing Loki's hand to walk over to the kitchen island where Rhys and Finn sat. Matt was manning the stove, in the middle of cooking something that smelled wonderful and familiar.

"What are you cooking?" Loki asked curiously, politely, and went over the stove to peak at what Matt was cooking. "Looks like wilted spinach, garlic, onions, potatoes, and…" Loki sniffed the air quietly, a look of concentration on his face, "Oregano."

"Exactly right," Matt said with a surprised inflection to his voice, already becoming a tiny bit more comfortable around Loki. He loved to cook and if Loki did too, they would be fast friends, I just hoped that they whole marrying his sister thing wouldn't put a wedge between them. "This was Wendy's favorite side dish back home." He shot a smile at me, though it was a little sad. I knew I had remembered that smell.

I frowned back at him. "Have you talked to Aunt Maggie?" I slid onto a stool beside Rhys and on the opposite side of Finn. He had yet to speak. "Is she still in Oregon?"

Matt nodded, stirring the concoction of vegetables and spices with a wooden spoon. "Yeah, I talked to her yesterday. She misses you, you should call her."

Finn chose then to speak out, scoffing meanly. We all looked at him, varying levels of surprise on each of our faces. "As if Wendy needs to get herself into more trouble." He looked at me then, almost glaring. "I would recommend the Princess not have any more contact with those from her changeling childhood." He swung his hard gaze to Matt. "Your place here is by sheer accident and I'm shocked that Elora hasn't sent you packing yet." He stood and tossed his empty water bottle in the trash, walking toward the door with his hands in his jeans. We all sat in stunned silence for a moment.

"Excuse me?" My eyes swung back to Loki, who looked pretty irritated at Finn's outburst. "What gives you the right to speak to her in that manner?" Loki looked very powerful then, his t-shirt stretching taunt over his muscled chest and ropy arms. His held his chin high and glared at Finn, a sneer lifting the corner of his upper lip. I could definitely see the Ondarike hardness in that glare and it almost made me shiver. There was still so much I didn't know about my fiancee.

Finn turned and glared back at him. "I was the one who brought the Princess back to Förening, I was the tracker that Elora put in charge of her. It is my duty to give her the best advice so that she can make the right decision. The right decision is to leave behind her human life and focus on her duties as a Princess."

I slid off my stool and stood beside Loki, my arms crossed against my chest. "Well, Finn, I believe that between my fiancee, my brother, and Rhys that I will be just fine. I'd like to release you of your duties as my tracker, and if Elora has any discrepancy then she can speak with me." My smile was tight as I watched his expression for any emotion. "You can go now."

He turned on his heel and walked out the room, his expression not even changing. Loki looked down at me and frowned, but I smiled at him to show him that I was okay. I had stood up to Finn twice now and I felt very powerful and proud of myself. Finally, I was exercising my right as a Princess and pushing away his weird control over me.

Lunch was mostly quiet after that, none of us really saying much as Matt finished up the food and began to load up four plates. When we were all seated at the island, digging into the extremely aromatic spinach mixture, Rhys finally broke the silence.

"Finn really does want the best for you." We all looked over at him. "He just doesn't know how to express it without sounding like … well, a jerk." Rhys laughed a bit and rubbed the back of his neck, his face flushing as we watched him. "I just, wanted you to know that he does care."

I nodded, stabbing a piece of potato with my fork. "I appreciate that, Rhys. I don't think I'll agree for him to be my tracker again though." I chewed the potato slowly and we all slipped into an uncomfortable silence after a slightly defeated nod from Rhys.

When we finished our meals, I gathered everyone's plates and took them to the sink. Rhys and Matt both wandered away, Rhys citing homework and Matt saying that he needed to talk to Willa. I started to rinse all of our plates off one by one, scraping any food left behind into the garbage disposal in the sink. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I turned to see Loki coming up beside me. He took the now clean dish out of my hand and grabbed a dish towel, wiping off the excess water.

"Thanks," I said, smiling at him and continuing to the next plate. I started to think about what else we could do for the day, since it was just past lunch time. "How about I give you that tour of the palace today?"

"I'm up for anything with you," Loki said, his voice soft and intent. He had a new smile on his face, one that was soft and affectionate. I decided at that moment that it was my favorite expression of his. The way his eyes softened and became so open, they really were the windows to his soul; the way his mouth quirked up at one corner to show that he was still amused by me.

I abandoned the plate I was cleaning the sink, left the water running, and wrapped my arms around Loki's neck. I had to stand on the balls of my feet on the cold floor to reach him, but I didn't mind. I pressed my lips against his softly, a thrill running down my spine when his hands rested on my lower back and pressed me against him more firmly. He was so much stronger than me and I felt safe in his grasp, knowing that he and I were the key to neither of us being in danger from Oren or the Vittra again. Standing in this kitchen, kissing me so softly but so passionately, was my soon-to-be husband and my partner in peace. The future held so many bright possibilities if we played our cards right, and I was suddenly so grateful that I would have Loki by my side through it all. There was no way I could do this alone.