An Intimate Concession (Male Reader)

The Bond

It wasn't every day that you'd get to be alone and you were starting to feel a little too overwhelmed. Tomorrow was the engagement ceremony and you'd had to ask Thor to help you be alone. He'd arranged for a palace garden to be emptied out entirely for an evening. You sat down at a bench as you looked up at the sky where the clouds were shadowing the setting sun. It was fairly windy and even though it was a bit chilly, you didn't really mind it. 

Thor had told you a little about the engagement ceremony and how much it mattered on Asgard. In your case, it was even more important than the actual wedding. The rings were apparently being forged under the astrologers' watchful eye and the stones and metals that were to be used would forever bind your souls to each other. To say it was scary would've been an understatement and your anxiety had been worsening as the days passed. Once Thor put that ring on your finger, you'd be called Y/N, Prince of Asgard, helpmate of Thor. Thor had told you that it was a punishable sin on Asgard for a person in a wedlock to even remove the symbol of their matrimony. 

You could see the dynamics of the castle change as well. You were starting to get a hang of the royal politics and how the council fashioned their work. Though Asardians thought themselves to be higher beings and whatnot, they weren't too far apart from humans. If you wanted to be listened to here or be respected, you had to have power and your little demonstration on the Trial Grounds had allowed you just that. The council not only respected you, they actively sought the best of people to help you hone your knowledge of Asgard and the operation of the kingdom. 

The people of the kingdom were completely smytten by you. A few servants had even told you of the songs they sung about your trial in pubs and pleasure gardens. They were already calling you names like "Shadow Howler" from the sound of thunder-bearing swords as they had cut through the air with darkened skies as the backdrop. "Hellbreaker" for the sheer havoc you had set loose. "Bone heart" for the courage you displayed throughout the trial. "Death whisperer" for the rumours of you raising the bodies of the dead soldiers had gotten out even though Odin had tried to clear out the audience by then. And "Tempest" for the storm you had called out and commanded. It had painted you as Thor's true lover, his soulmate.

You took a deep breath and closed your eyes, letting the winds brush against your face as the light fragrances from the flower garden tickled your olfactory. You felt stupid to even think about the city you'd once lived in. It was a hellhole and you couldn't even dream to get a quiet and serene timeout like this there. Yet your heart yearned for the swearing pedestrians, loud car horns, and the salivating aroma from a streetfood vendor. Your chest ached to even think about the place you had let go, you had been made to let go. You missed not having an identity and being a nobody. You didn't have titles or names or songs about you. You were just Y/N that people barely cared about except the couple of headlines your powers had made. Even then, you were an anonymous miscreant at most. Never a hero.

"Prince," You opened your eyes at the voice and looked at a servant who had walked towards the bench you were sitting on. You frowned, having thought your 'alone time' would at least be longer than this. "Your majesty has requested for your presence in his chambers." 

You raised a brow at that. You hadn't been to Odin's section of the castle's residential quarter, let alone his personal chambers. You nodded and followed the servant as they led you through gates and hallways. When you entered the room, you saw that Thor was sitting in a chair while two people in red robes were seeing his hand carefully.

"Y/N," Odin said as he greeted you and guided you to a chair next to Thor. "They're Asgard's most skillful astrologers. They're just going to see that the rings fit and they're suiting you well." He said.