Proposition

A Meal with the Family

Another two weeks passed in sessions, snide looks and Avena showing me off to prove that she was superior to me to anyone and everyone that would listen, which was grating but something I had decided that I had to put up with.

Her personality was a difficult one to decipher, she wasn't an entire bitch, but she wasn't exactly one to be sympathetic for either.

Avena had nice moments, which would make anyone second guess their original judgement of her but then she would turn around and do something that threw all that good will out of the window.

The woman was worse than a yo-yo.

It didn't help that the people around the palace were beginning to question my lengthy stay, it seemed as though their generosity was beginning to thin and I had overstayed my welcome.

In full truth, I was starting to get ready to leave myself.

The longer I stayed and the more session I had to attend, I felt as though Avena was beginning to resent me in some strange way.

Her previously disinterested looks shifted into ones that I could only assume were scolding and judgmental, her nose turned up and head held high as if I didn't already know her status above me.

It was confusing, she had contracted me to do this and now she was beginning to dislike me for doing my job?

"She better not refuse to pay me," I'd muttered to myself a few times over the days when I had finally found myself alone.

Avena's distaste towards me only made it more surprising that she continued to let me sit at the head table during meals, even if my seat was situated at the very end with a decent sized gap between us.

Not that I minded, it meant I didn't have to join in most conversations.

Occasionally, Frigga would call down to me in a friendly tone to ask me a question or two, but due to the distance it seemed that Avena purposefully set up those conversations were very brief.

I had come to adore Frigga during my time within her home.

She was the kind of woman I could only dream of becoming, so welcoming and kind yet obviously powerful and holding herself with confidence.

It appeared as though Loki also adored his mother, if the fond smiles he would give her were anything to count on and that endeared me to him a little.

Considering her compassionate nature, it only seemed fitting that Frigga was the first one to act when it was evident that something was off with me by the end of my fifth week of this obscure job.

We had just sat down in our usual spots, servants wandered up and down tables to serve food and beverages and chatter was filling the hall as the warriors talked about their training and fierce battles.

The food that was set down in front of me looked exquisite as always, the luxurious meats and sides mixing together into a smell that was as pleasant as you'd expect of food being fed to royals and yet the familiar scents and sights made my stomach roil.

It wasn't the first time that I had felt a little nauseous, but typically it faded fast so it became easy to ignore as long as I wasn't on my knees worshipping a porcelain God.

Moments like this made me thankful for my position at the furthest end of the table, this small bit of eluded isolation without being dragged into the royal families' conversations was exactly what I needed.

I didn't want to draw attention to myself, so I ate small bits and prodded others around, feeling my stomach churn a little more each time something hit my tongue.

The wooziness increased and I could feel my stomach bubbling, my mouth started to fill with saliva which was typically a tell-tale sign for me that something was desperate to come up but after plenty of practice from travel sickness in rocking carriages, I managed to keep it at bay.

Taking a quick glance to my side, I say a silent prayer that Loki was deep into telling a story, which Thor kept interrupting with his own additions, that had enraptured the others at the table.

Surprisingly even Odin, who didn't smile or even twitch to show emotion but it was evident that he was listening.

I closed my eyes and took some deep breaths, swallowing back what was in my mouth to try and control the need to be sick until it finally passed and I could feel myself settling again, just a little bit.

My hands rested on either side of the plate, the cutlery held tightly in both as I waited for this wave to pass.

Once it did and I knew for certain that I was safe, I dropped the knife and fork and grabbed my drink, downing it in hopes that it'd push back that horrible feeling of bile in the back of my throat.

In my moment of haste, I hadn't noticed that the table had fallen silent and eyes were on me.

Odin looked less than impressed at this nobody interrupting his family time, Thor and Frigga looked concerned while Loki and Avena merely stared, though Loki looked a little bit more uncertain than Avena's disinterested look.

Frigga's chair scraped against the floor as she got up and moved to stand beside me and laid a hand on my shoulder as she looked down, her eyebrows knitted together with concern.

"Are you alright? You're looking awfully pale."

"Honestly? I'm not feeling too good this evening, All-Mother," I replied, my voice weaker than I would care to admit.

"You do seem to be rather gaunt, come, we should get you to the healers."

Frigga's hand moved from my shoulder to the top of my arm in a firm but not harsh grip, gently nudging me to follow her movements without resistance.

Truth be told, I was thankful that she took action and was leading me out.

As childish of a thought as it was, I was glad that she had noticed and was seeing to me, it reminded me of my own mother and when my parents would dote on me when I wasn't well, something that I deeply missed.

That, and it drew less attention to be leaving with her than it would have if I were to get up and rush out.

We walked out under the silent stares of her family and the surrounding members within their kingdom, though the noise sparked up again as soon as the doors closed behind us.

Frigga led me, still in silence, to the healers and I didn't wish to spark up conversation.

I was too busy focusing on the knot that was tying up my stomach at the prospect of what was happening, although I had wanted to deny it and should have been elated that it had finally happened, I was nervous and scared to get the result that Loki and especially Avena wanted.

Loki, probably because he was looking forward to being a father more than he would ever admit and Avena so that I could leave her presence and she could continue ignoring her husband until their heir was born.

Either way, I was excitedly dreading the thought that I was now pregnant.