Surprise!

Chapter 19

Frigga leads Autumn all over the palace on their tour. The queen tells the young girl of the history and importance of every room they enter and, only in some of the truly important rooms, she tells Autumn stories of what the two princes were like as children. The stories differ from infant-hood to childhood to adulthood but they are all hilarious. In some, Thor and Loki get along. In others, it's tales of the pranks Loki pulled on his older brother. They all end with Autumn erupting in laughter and, on rare stories, fiddling with her promise ring. Not a day goes by that she regrets agreeing to it.

When it comes to the library, Frigga's smile disappears. Autumn notices this and looks around. She's expecting something to be out of place but she couldn't be far from wrong. In her sadden- or maybe sentimental- state, Frigga walks around the shelves, occasionally taking a dusted book off the shelf.

"Loki practically lived in this room when he was what you Midgardians call a teenager." The queen admits. Autumn smiles slightly. Frigga laughs humorlessly. "I think he might have read every book."

"He does love to read." Autumn agrees. "You know, I think he secretly reads my books when he can't sleep." Frigga turns to the girl, an eyebrow raised.

"Really?" Autumn nods.

"I wake up the next morning and the tips of my pages are bent." Frigga laughs and shakes her head.

"Loki would never do that to a book. He loves them too much." Autumn frowns.

"Then who has been bending my pages?" She mumbles to herself. Frigga smiles and swipes at some of the dust littering the shelf. Autumn's eyes widen when she figures out who it is. "John! Of course!" Frigga looks up, intrigued.

"You know John?"

Autumn nods. "He's my best friend." She explains. "But I guess that makes him your grandson." Frigga nods. "Gods this is complicated." The queen smirks but chooses not to question her word choice.

"Aye, it is. Makes it more complicated when those two don't get along."

"Actually, I got Loki to fess up and come clean about John's mother two months ago. They seem to be heading on the right path." Frigga stops and stares at the girl.

"You got Loki to come clean, something I've been trying to get him to do for years?" Autumn nods. "And you got John to forgive Loki in return?" Autumn nods again. Frigga stands there for a moment before embracing the young girl. "You will make an excellent daughter-in-law." Autumn blushes.

"Thanks-" She clears her throat. "Thank you, Queen Frigga." The older woman pulls away and shakes her head.

"None of the royal title nonsense. To you I am simply Frigga." Autumn smiles.

"Alright, simply Frigga." The two share a smile. "Loki always spoke so fondly of you and now I see why." Frigga cups Autumn's cheek. "He also spoke highly of your garden. Can that be our next stop?"

"I'm afraid this concludes our tour." Autumn pouts. "We should return to our boys and make sure they haven't killed each other." The younger brunette quickly nods.

The two head back to the throne room. Loki is now back in there glaring at Odin until he notices Autumn. His glare switches to a smile and he says something with the words 'love' and 'father' but Autumn doesn't hear him. Loki looks proud of himself until he realizes that Autumn has no clue what he said. His proud smile drops.

"Hey! Did you two make up?" She cheers as she approaches the two. Loki looks to her and smiles widely. She mirrors it before kissing him softly.

"Of course we did." He tells her. Lies, all lies, he thinks instead. Autumn studies him, her head tilted to the side.