A/N: Been a while hasn't it? Sorry about the long wait, and thank you for the reviews/follows/favorites! I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)
Susan felt the world begin to spin and clutched her head tiredly. Had Eilif just asked to date her or was that her imagination? Why would he want to court her? Didn't all of the Asgardians think she was disgusting? And this was just her first day in Asgard! Couldn't he have waited for her to get settled in a bit?
"That is an interesting request," Odin commented, "What has provoked it?"
"In the short time that I have known her I have found Lady Sigrid to be of great integrity and filled with beauty - both in her appearance and her actions. I realize that because Midgardians age differently than we do it seems there is a considerable age difference between us, but by my reasoning I am of the same maturity as an eighteen year old Midgardian." Eilif answered.
"You speak highly of her, yet even I do not know what her true temperament is, for she has been in our realm less than a day. Are you certain you would like to court her so early into her time here?" Odin glanced at Susan and she gave him a grateful look, trying her hardest to convey that she would not like to have anything to do with this guard.
Eilif gripped his sword hilt nervously and Susan could tell he was debating whether to attempt to move the plan forward more quickly or to act proper and wait a fair amount of time before courting her. She hoped he went with the proper path and gave her some time to change his mind.
Before he could get a chance to answer there was a loud commotion by the door and guards yelled to one another and at someone else. The doors flew open and the dinner guests gasped in horror. Susan wanted to flee from the room as her father entered with a look of pure hatred on his face.
o*o*o*o
Loki had vanquished many guards on his way to the dining hall and as he got to the door he thwarted the pair of sentries posted there. With one swipe of his hand they fell to the ground and Loki blasted open the door.
Inside the hall there were many guests, who rose from their seats to better see the commotion he'd caused. His gaze scanned over them and quickly landed on Sigrid. She cowered when he looked her way and he noticed that Eilif was standing in front of her protectively.
Thor bellowed a command at Loki, but he ignored it and strode over to his daughter. Eilif jumped in front of him, sword drawn.
"Move aside you maggot." Loki growled.
"What is the meaning of this?" Odin bellowed from the head of the table and Loki briefly looked to the man he once called father. Beside the king of Asgard the queen stood, arms crossed, a furious expression on her face.
"I do apologize for interrupting your joyous feasting," Loki gave a mocking bow to the monarchs, "But I have a matter I should like to discuss with my daughter and her would be lover."
"I don't love him!" Sigrid spoke up, fire in her eyes. The fire quickly vanished when Eilif shot her a look of anger and she once again became demure, "I mean, I just met him and I do have a boyfriend back home so I'm kinda already taken…"
Loki had seen how she reacted at first and knew something was not right. This guard was doing something to get her to behave and as her father, Loki was not pleased. Had Eilif threatened her? Was that why she had lied about how she'd been trapped in the dungeon? Or was he manipulating her in some other way?
"You are on asgard now, any romantic relations on Midgard are considered null and void." Eilif snapped at Sigrid.
"Loki, how did you learn of Eilif's request?" Odin asked as Thor eyed his brother warily.
"I learned of it through a dungeon guard and thought that I might come and give my best wishes to the couple," Loki sneered and snatched Eilif's throat, the guard dropped his sword in surprise and clawed at Loki's hand, "Here are my best wishes!"
"Put me down, Laufeyson!" Eilif choked.
"Renounce your proposal to my daughter and I will gladly let you go, cur."
"Loki release him!" Someone shouted, and the sentiment was quickly echoed across the room. Thor and the Warriors Three had surrounded him with weapons drawn and even with his lack of air Eiliff smiled. However, after taking so many lives on Midgard Loki was fairly certain that one more wouldn't make much of a difference on his blackened soul so he continued to choke the guard, fulling planning to kill him.
"No, Loki stop," The voice of his daughter was trembling, but loud enough for everyone to hear, "You have to stop."
"He is worthless," The enraged father replied, "His intentions are not what they seem."
Sigrid placed her hand on his arm. "I know, but you need to stop."
He met her gaze and saw the fear in the eyes that matched his own. With one last frustrated growl, he flung the captain on the table and put his hands up. Thor was quick to restrain him.
"I'm sorry for causing a sight at your party, All-Father," Loki called as he passed, "But I suppose you know well how a father protects his child." As he was lead out of the room he heard Eiliff make one last remark to Sigrid.
"Well I certainly hope the insanity doesn't run in your family."
And the girl, wonder that she was replied: "I'm afraid it absolutely does."
o*o*o*o
The feast was cut short after Loki's appearance and Susan was certainly glad it did. As quickly as she could she made her way back to her bedroom - though she got lost once or twice - and flopped onto the massive bed. A maid came in a few minutes later and extinguished the lights in the room and Queen Frigga came in and said "goodnight". The the teen drifted into a fitful sleep filled with alien warriors, angry fathers, and Eiliff with a sickening grin.
Around what she guessed was three in the morning, Susan shot up in bed after a particularly disturbing dream. The room was dark except for a small red light in the corner, but something told her that the little glowing orb was not a source of comfort. The spot of light moved toward her and she could make out the outline of a man holding it. Eiliff.
"Not sleeping well, my dear?" He sneered.
"What are you doing here?!" She pushed aside her sheets and jumped out of bed, standing at level height with him. He seemed rather short for an Asgardian, but she supposed she was probably tall for a girl her age. Sometimes being part giant -frost or no- had its advantages.
"Thanks to your overprotective father I nearly died tonight, but you saved me. Why?" His eyes glowed red in the dark.
"You know perfectly well why." She crossed her arms.
He inched closer. "Say why. I want you to say it."
"Because if I hadn't Thor or someone would have saved you. And if I had sided with Loki - like I wanted to - then you would have hurt my mom."
"Correct!" He chuckled and squeezed her shoulder harshly, "And I want you to remember that. My connection on Midgard has orders to kill your mother if he doesn't hear from me once a week. If I die your mother perishes with me."
"I won't forget," Susan pulled away from him in disgust, "So if all you wanted to do was remind me then you can go."
Eiliff acted like he was leaving, but paused and his vile leer grew. "Oh, and one more thing! I almost forgot, silly me. You must be fully supportive of our courtship in the eyes of the All-Father."
She couldn't help snorting at this. "I don't even get why you'd wanna date me in the first place."
"Perhaps that announcement was a bit sudden. We'll let the idea sink in before bringing it up again. I want you to cozy up to Odin in the meantime. Then, when I do take over people will have less of a fit about it."
"How does that make any sense and what do I have to do with it?"
"If you and Odin get to be chums people may even think of you as his relation. They'd have less objection to a relative of the king ruling than her completely un-royal husband. All the while, you'll be my dear little puppet." The guard extinguished the glowing orb in his hand, but she could still see the moonlight from the window glint off his teeth when he smiled.
"Who said anything about marriage?!" She wheezed, feeling like someone had knocked the breath from her.
"Courtship generally leads to marriage. Isn't that how things are done on your miserable planet?"
"Sometimes I guess, but not when you're fifteen!"
"I'm sure it will take a few years for everyone to warm up to the idea," He shrugged and then turned to go once more, "Pleasant dreams, my dear, I'll see you in the morning."
When he was gone Susan sat on the edge of her bed numbly. There was no doubt that this was the worst and most exciting week of her life.