Necessary Alliance
“But Thor I don’t understand why..” Zoe’s voice is calm but clearly irritated, and she couldn’t stop fidgeting in her formalwear.
Thor cuts her off, “Zoe I don’t think we need to understand, Father never explained his decision to me. If I had to guess I think at the very least it’s to help build an alliance with Jotunheim,” he says firmly as they walk to the throne room.
Zoe scowls, “I’m not some pawn in father’s plans for peace with the realms, he should at the very least tell us what he’s planning. How do we know he isn’t some brute?”
Thor shakes his head, “regardless of father’s plans, I wouldn’t let him hurt you. I failed to protect you once, sister, I won’t do it again”
Zoe is silent as they finally walk into the throne room, she was grateful for her brother’s protection and he had taught her how to protect herself too. She just hated being forced into this, she wasn’t even given a chance to meet her betrothed until now, just days before the wedding. As she approaches the throne, her eyes are drawn to the group of Jotuns that were already there off to the side. Which was to be her husband? Her eyes are drawn immediately to a smaller one, still taller than her but shorter than the other giants. She can’t deny that he was handsome, her breath caught in her throat for just a moment, though she hides it well.
She doesn’t stare though, looking up to Odin at the throne as she curtsies, “Father,” she greets, bowing her head.
@broken-ice-puppets
“Servants tend to just..be around, less so here since we’re the only ones here but you remember how it is back at home, always at the doors or around to serve, and of course I respect them but I don’t think about not kissing in front of them now that we’re married. But I want to be aware, for you,” Zoe explains with a weak smile, lacing their fingers together.
“Yes, I have noticed that… in the Jotun palace, our servant staff is much smaller, similar to this villa’s staff. Aside from the guards, though, everyone else is expected to be near invisible.” Not that he ever had any previous romantic ventures that needed to be kept hidden from prying eyes.
“I’m sure I’ll become more accustomed the more time I spend as a married male… I do appreciate your consideration, though,” he assured with a soft smile, and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
Walking hand-in-hand on the beach was nice. The texture of wet sand between his toes was interesting, and he loved the earthy smell that the waves kicked up, “So, what kinds of shells are we scavenging for?”
“Of course, I know you’re making so many changes to accommodate our marriage, moving to a whole new realm and a new court, it’s a massive adjustment so it only feels fair to try and make an effort to make things at least a little easier,” she reasons as they stroll through the shallows.
“I like shells that are at least mostly intact, nothing too fragmented. Sometimes there are ones that have interesting shapes or patterns in them, I try to keep an eye out for those,” she reaches down as she speaks, pulling out a shell that had been half buried, it wasn’t too big but it was a beautiful shade of pale pink and she immediately adds it to their growing collection.
“I know, my love…” he softly sighed with this bittersweet smile, “I know, you’ve praised me for my resilience many times over. I am thankful my efforts aren’t going unnoticed, but don’t forget that I wanted this kind of a change. I yearned for it, long before I even knew that I would be presented with the opportunity to leave my home. I couldn’t care less how drastic the changes are if it means I get to finally live my life the way I wish… with a woman who sees me and values my being.” He assured, lifting her hand to his lips and kissing at her fingers for a moment.
Loki listened to her description of the kinds of shells she wanted, and they easily spent more than half an hour combing the beach. With the basket more or less full now, they made their way back over to their towels and picnic. There was a soft thunk as the basket was set down on the sand, “Rrrrrrnnnggghhhh…” he lightly groaned as he stretched his arms overhead for a moment to relieve the tension that had been building up in his shoulders from hunching over to retrieve shells, “Aaaarreeee youuu-mmmm… hungry, my love?” He asked, the first part of his question a bit distorted by a yawn.
Zoe watches with a fond smile as he stretches, kneeling on one of the towels and reaching into the basket. They had packed fresh fruit and sandwiches, light things so that they wouldn’t get too full but still enough that they wouldn’t still be hungry.
“I am yes, maybe we could eat and then if you’d like we could go walking through grounds since we’re outside already? I could ask for horses to be saddled and we could even go riding if you’d like,” she offers as she sets a sandwich out for him and takes a handful of berries for herself.
