Thor heard the news from a servant. Eirlys had agreed. The engagement would be announced soon. For several seconds, Thor simply stared at the man as though he had spoken in a language Thor did not understand. Then he was moving, barely remembering to dismiss him before rushing through the palace.
Why? That was the only thought pounding through his head. She had told him she would choose him. She had looked into his eyes and said it willingly.
So why had she agreed to marry Loki? Had she changed her mind Had Loki said something to her? Had she decided that Thor's heart belonged elsewhere? The questions only made his anger and panic worse.
Then he reached the family chambers. The doors were open as Thor stopped seeing Eirlys, sitting beside Loki. Their families surrounded them, smiling and speaking quietly as though everything had been settled perfectly. Loki looked composed, almost smug, while Eirlys sat beside him with that same graceful politeness she used whenever she refused to reveal what she was truly thinking.
Thor felt something inside him collapse. He had run there expecting an explanation. Instead, he was staring at the woman he had finally realized he wanted, sitting beside his brother as his future bride. Thor wondered whether he had already lost her.
Only a few moments had passed since Thor had entered the chamber when Sif appeared in the doorway. She had clearly heard the news already, because the disbelief on her face was almost comical. Her eyes immediately went towards Eirlys, then to Loki sitting beside her, and finally back to Thor. For a woman who had faced armies without blinking, Sif looked genuinely stunned.
She knew Eirlys, her gentle nature, her tendency to think of everyone else's feelings before her own, and the way she could endure uncomfortable situations simply to avoid hurting someone. Sif had seen her forgive people who did not deserve it and offer kindness even when she had every reason not to. An arranged marriage to Loki seemed so unlike something Eirlys would willingly accept that Sif's first assumption was obvious. She had been forced. Sif's gaze settled on Thor. He was still standing near the entrance, completely silent.
She moved towards him, lowering her voice so the others would not hear. "What happened? Why would she agree?"
Thor did not answer, his jaw tightened. Sif studied him more carefully. He wanted to know the same thing. He had come here demanding answers, only to find Eirlys sitting calmly beside Loki as though nothing had happened. He had expected anger, confusion, perhaps even some sign that she was unhappy.
But, she looked composed, almost peaceful, and it made no sense. Before Thor could gather his thoughts, footsteps sounded outside. Fandral entered first, followed by Volstagg and Hogun. They had apparently been together when they heard the news and had come as quickly as possible. His usual amusement disappeared the instant he saw the arrangement, Volstagg stopped beside him and Hogun said nothing at all.
For several seconds, all three simply stared. Then Fandral glanced towards Thor. "What in the Nine Realms happened?"
Thor remained silent as Sif looked at him again, her expression becoming more concerned. "You knew about this?"
He shook his head.
"Then why did she agree?"
Again, Thor had no answer. His eyes drifted towards Eirlys. She was speaking quietly with Frigga, her posture perfectly composed. Loki sat beside her, looking far too comfortable for a man who had been nearly thrown through a door earlier that day.
Fandral followed Thor's gaze. He lowered his voice. "She cannot possibly have chosen this herself."
Volstagg frowned. "Perhaps she was pressured by her father."
Hogun considered that. "She would still have protested."
That was what troubled Sif most. Eirlys was not protesting. She was not crying or seemed to be angry. She had simply accepted it.
Sif looked back at Thor. "You spoke to her." It was not a question.
Thor finally nodded. "And?" His throat tightened.
He remembered Eirlys standing before him earlier, telling him that if he wanted her, she would have chosen him. He remembered believing, for one impossible moment, that perhaps the feeling between them had always been mutual. Then he remembered her sitting beside Loki.
"I don't know," he finally said. It was the first thing he had managed to say since entering the room.
Sif's expression softened because Thor looked like a man who had been struck and had not yet realized how badly he was bleeding. Fandral exchanged a glance with Volstagg and Hogun. None of them understood it. Neither did Thor. But all five of them knew Eirlys well enough to recognize one thing. Something was being hidden, and judging by the calm expression on Eirlys's face, she was the one doing the hiding.
On the other hand, Loki too had expected resistance. He had expected Eirlys to sit beside him stiffly, perhaps refusing to look at him, perhaps still shaken by everything she had learned. He had certainly not expected her to appear so calm. But, she sat beside him with perfect composure, her hands resting neatly in her lap, answering Frigga when spoken to and acknowledging the others with the same graceful politeness she had always carried.
It was almost unsettling. Loki watched her from the corner of his eye. There was no obvious resentment, or trembling hands, or any attempt to move farther away from him. Nothing. His mind kept returning to the same question. What in the Norns was it about him that made her not recoil? He knew what people saw when they looked at him, the stories attached to his name, exactly what he had done, and he knew that Eirlys was intelligent enough to understand that marrying him was hardly the safe or sensible choice. Yet she was sitting beside him.
His intended bride, and that thought nearly pulled a grin across his face. He kept it under control. Barely. At least, he tried. There was something intoxicating about watching Thor across the room, completely speechless, while Eirlys remained beside Loki as though she had chosen this place herself. He could not deny the satisfaction it gave him. For once, Thor was the one standing outside and Loki was the one beside her. And yet, beneath the satisfaction was something more complicated. He wanted to understand her.
If she had truly accepted him, why? Was it because she pitied him? Was it because she believed he needed someone? Or had his manipulation worked more effectively than even he had anticipated?
Loki studied her profile. She looked serene, almost too serene to be true. He knew people. He knew when fear hid beneath silence. He knew when anger hid behind courtesy. He knew when someone was pretending. And Eirlys was pretending something which he simply could not tell. That realization should have irritated him but it fascinated him, instead. A small smile threatened to appear again. Perhaps he had finally found someone he could not read and found himself looking forward to the challenge.
The discussion was finally drawing to a close when Loki's gaze drifted towards the open doors, Thor was there and o was Sif, with Fandral, Volstagg, and Hogun gathered behind her. Loki did not need to hear what they were thinking, he already knew. They would question Eirlys the moment they had the chance. They would tell her she did not have to accept this. Thor, especially, would want to speak to her alone. Loki's attention returned to the woman beside him. He had no intention of giving them that opportunity.
If Eirlys had agreed, then he would make certain that agreement was no longer something anyone could dismiss as a passing decision made in confusion. His hand slipped into the inner fold of his robes, finding the small velvet box he had carried with him just in case. He had expected to open it that evening itself, guessing he would be needing help. And now, with both their families watching and Thor standing just beyond the doorway, Loki brought it out and placed it carefully in his palm.
Eirlys looked at him, her brows lifting in quiet surprise. Loki opened the box. Inside lay a ring of dark, polished gold, set with a deep green stone that caught the light like a fragment of Vanaheim's forests, fine Asgardian markings circled the band, so delicately carved they could only be seen when the ring was held close. It was valuable, certainly. But its worth had never been measured in gold. The ring had once belonged to Frigga. She had given it to Loki years ago, telling him to keep it until he found someone to whom he could give something he could never replace. He had kept it ever since, until now.
Loki reached for Eirlys's hand. There was the slightest hesitation in her fingers, but she allowed him to take them. He looked at her for a moment, then slid the ring onto her finger. It fit as though it had been made for her. The room fell completely silent and Loki felt Thor's stare from across the chamber, but he did not look away from Eirlys. He only lowered her hand gently, his thumb brushing once over the ring. There it was.
No more assumptions or uncertainty. Whatever Eirlys was truly thinking, she was now wearing something that had once belonged to Loki himself. And Loki allowed himself a faint, unmistakably satisfied smile.