Loki and I took breakfast in the smaller dining room. During it I found that I flushed every time I caught Loki's eyes on me, which was quite often. Loki seemed to think it was funny, chuckling to himself, which didn't help my blush at all considering just how handsome he was when he laughed. I loved the way his jewel-like eyes crinkled and how his white teeth would flash or how his thin lips would twist into a smug, yet pleasant look. I liked the lightness of his expression. I'd seen that genuine, light, almost joyful look in his eyes more over the last few days than I have over the last year... it made him all the more strikingly attractive. Who am I kidding? He's always almost unbearably handsome.
As we ate Loki explained to me what his plans for him and I were for the day. As king he had set time aside for him to personally instruct me in the ways of Asgard, especially the ins and outs of the court. Considering that he was king and that I was his daughter-in-law and would be taking up the role of companion to the king and a ladyship, it made sense that the Allfather would train me in my new duties and in the culture of Asgard. No one would bat an eye at that.
After my instruction, though, he had several meetings for the afternoon with generals and the like. Apparently these meetings would surround preparations for the returning soldiers and some of the meetings were for the set up of my upcoming ceremony. Loki going off to these kingly meetings would mean that I would be left alone. I planned on continuing in the library, reading up on anything and everything I could. I'd always been a good student and considering the utter massiveness of the library, I had a lot to learn.
After these meetings, Loki mentioned a dinner. Apparently some ambassadors from Vanaheim had some business with the Allfather they wanted to discuss over dinner. Loki had agreed to the dinner arrangement in a letter sent yesterday. To my surprise, one of the ambassadors had invited me to join in as well.
"They invited me?" I asked, putting my spoon back down into its bowl of porridge. Why in the heck would they want me to come? I'd only been in Asgard a few days and so far Loki and maybe the seamstress, Bil, seemed to like me! Why would they want a nobody Midgardian girl like me to join them for their business dinner with the Allfather?
"'The Midgardian lady-to-be and future companion to the Allfather is invited as well if she does not have any other engagements for the evening meal. We wish to properly greet the newest member of the Aesir court and to offer proper felicitations from Vanaheim.' Is what the letter said." Loki recalled from memory, "I accepted the invitation for you in my reply. I hope you don't mind."
"It's very kind of them to think to invite me, but..." my voice trailed off.
Loki leaned forward in his seat at the head of the breakfast table. "But what, darling?"
"Do you think it's okay if I'm there? I mean, I know nothing of what they want to discuss with you. Won't I just be in the way? I'd feel kind of awkward just sitting there silently eating and not being able to contribute anything."
"If it was not alright for you to be there, they would not have invited you and I certainly wouldn't have accepted in your stead if I felt like you would be disrespected or unwanted. It may be a bit dull for you, but considering who these ambassadors are, I think you will find them amusing." Loki assured me before smirking to himself, taking a bite of ham, "Valhalla knows that I find them to be greatly amusing."
I nodded, "Alright then."
"Excellent, I'll be sure to send a messenger for you when our dinner engagement is ready."
When we finished eating, Loki led me back to the library so we could really begin my lessons. If I was to become a lady of the court at the end of this week, I needed to learn the ins and outs of the Aesir's palace. As we entered the labyrinth of books once more I felt my cheeks heating up and it was difficult for me to look over at Loki as he strolled through the library, plucking out books from its shelves as if he naturally knew where all the ones he wanted were, as if he'd memorized each and every book in these vast shelves. How much time had he spent here if he knew the contents of these shelves so well?
Once he'd chosen the books he wanted to use for my ladyship curriculum he led me to a pair of chairs. Sitting down he started his lesson right away, teaching on how things worked in the courts, starting with appropriate greetings. It seemed that everywhere Loki and I went, people were constantly bowing to him since he appeared to them to be the Allfather. Loki explained to me why the Asgardians bowed with their fist over their hearts and the different levels of bowing depending on situation and rank.
When approaching the king in the throne room, for example, especially for a petition, it was proper for most people to kneel down on one knee, bow their heads and place their fist over their chest. Higher ranks could get away with a bow from the waist instead of kneeling. People of different ranks and positions offered each other different kinds of bows. Courtiers didn't place their hands over their chests when they bowed to each other and how much they bent depended on their rank in accordance with each other and how formal the situation was.
Women, in most cases, didn't bow, but instead curtsied. Lady Sif seemed to be an exception. Since she saw herself as a warrior before being a lady she was more inclined to bow and kneel than to curtsy. When curtsying to the king it was supposed to be a low curtsy with a bowed head and the hand over the heart. In more informal settings to others of the same rank a mere nod may do.
Loki had me practice these curtsies, standing up every so often to gently help reposition me so that my stance and gesture were smooth and correct. Though as his fingers grazed the bare skin of my arms or brushed along my sides as he adjusted my posture, it was all I could do not to shiver and blush. I would catch the faintest glimpse of a self-satisfied smirk or an amused chuckle from him before he wiped his face back to an instructive expression like that of a strict tutor, directing me to try again.
I paused halfway through a curtsy that would be meant for a lady of my standing to offer to a general, a thought dropping into my head.
"What is it?" Loki asked noticing my awkward halt and thoughtful face.
"Yesterday when we ran into General Tyr on the training grounds... I only nodded my head to him since I didn't know what else to do... I should've curtsied like this, shouldn't I have?"
"After the disrespect he showed you? No." Loki almost snorted, standing up even as I rose from my practice curtsy. "He should've been the first to bow his head to you if he had any propriety."
I nodded, sensing the bitterness in his tone. Truly, part of me wanted to smile at Loki's indignation on my behalf. I liked this little evidence of him being on my side, of his support of me. Another part of me felt just a bit embarrassed about it. Tyr wasn't the first person who wasn't fond of me and he probably wouldn't be the last. Another question popped into my head, "You had him kiss my hand?"
"It is proper for a man to kiss the hand of a lady upon introduction or if he wishes to ingratiate himself to the lady he greets or to show amiability and respect to her." Loki said, taking my hand and bringing it to his lips, mumbling against my knuckles as he held my gaze, "Though I admit that I loathe the idea of anyone besides myself being allowed to place their lips on any inch of your skin. However, I desire for those of the realms to offer you nothing but the highest respect, which, I'm afraid, includes kisses to these lovely fingers. It is quite a predicament, is it not?"
"I suppose so." Was all I could seem to say in response as his eyes started catching me in their trance again, his chill lips tickling the skin on the back of my hand sending another shiver up my arm. How was it that his touch could be so cool and yet it only seemed to make me warmer?
"Ah, is that another blush, my love?" Loki teased gently with a quirked, suggestive brow. His lips turned into a well pleased little grin, his eyes filled with that mischief I remembered from earlier, this pupils dilating a bit as he ran his lips up to my wrist, pulling me closer and speaking against my skin so I could feel the soft feathers of his breath, "Shall I allow my lips to wander so that I can see just how red you would become?"
"Loki!" I yipped as he started kissing a line up my arm, never taking his eyes off of me, "You're- uh, I'm suppose-... you're supposed to be teaching me about being a lady!"
"Indeed." Loki sighed finally releasing my hand as I tried to pull away from him. He seemed to snicker to himself though, rather happy with how flustered his little joke had made me, "You are right, darling. Let us get back to it then."
Loki was a good teacher besides his inclination to flirt and make witty comments at me. In fact he was wonderfully patient and knowledgeable, keeping me on my toes as he quizzed and corrected me. By the time he was satisfied with the grace of my curtsies and my memorization of the proper depth of curtsies, my thighs ached just a bit from the odd squat that curtsies imposed. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was reminded of training with Nat back at the Triskelion and how she would push me to my physical limits as she forced me to do squats. If only she knew that she'd been strengthening my thighs to handle training of Asgardian curtsies.
Loki then allowed me to sit again and started teaching me about the different members of Asgard's palace and the government of the realm. Flipping through books and documents he started explaining to me who each of the men and women of the court were, what they did, and a bit about their history and personality. In his view, the best way to prepare myself for dealing with these people would be to have some good background information on them so that I wasn't coming at them viewing them as complete strangers. He showed me portraits of the courtiers and the main ambassadors to and from the other realms. I learned more about General Tyr and the other generals, the Warriors Three and Sif, Odin and the late Queen Frigga, and about the other nobles. Loki quizzed me on them, testing my memory after his long information dump that had sent my mind spinning with an overload of facts.
"Who is Lord Njord?" He asked.
I rolled my eyes up into my head, trying to sort out his name from the rest. It was funny. I remembered chunks and portions about some of the names Loki listed from the old Norse stories, which you would think would help me now since I had a bit of background on them, but seeing how they actually fit into reality had me all sorts of confused.
"Uh... he's a noble who is basically..." Oh gosh, I think he was a god of the seas in the stories... "He's lord over the ships and marinas right? Ship building, fishing industry, all that's under his particular attention, right?"
"Correct." Loki smiled, nodding before asking, "And what about the Lady Hariasa?"
"She's a general." I answered quicker, feeling sure about it. I remembered seeing her at my initial audience here on Asgard. She'd been wearing a dress that had included shoulder armor. I remembered seeing a scar marring her otherwise perfect features and noticing how strong her arms were, "She is the second in command general right below Tyr and General Ullr runs the section of the army that does archery, I think."
"Excellent, and the Lady Skadi?"
"She's in charge of... hunting?"
Loki eyed me, his lips quirking, "That's rather vague darling, care to elaborate?"
"She was the goddess of hunting and mountains and... skiing I think in the old tales, but I don't remember the specifics you told me..." My voice trailed off as I murmured my admittance.
"She is a game warden of sorts for Asgard, making sure no species is over hunted or left to run amuck." Loki explained again. He never seemed to grow impatient with me even when I continued to forget the same information he'd told me several times by now. I appreciated that, though I couldn't help but be a bit frustrated with myself. As soon as Loki repeated himself, I recalled him saying all of that before.
"Right, yeah, I remember now." I sighed, starting to rub my temples. How long had we been at this? For some reason I kept remembering my time in college, studying endlessly for exams. History and Biology classes in high school and as General Education requirements for college had been based strongly in memorization, and I'd been good at it then, so why was I struggling now to remember everything?
"You're doing very well, Penelope." Loki encouraged me, probably noticing my internal frustration, "I know this is a lot to take in and remember."
"Thank you." I smiled up at him gratefully before sitting up straight again, "Okay, I'm ready for my next one."
Loki nodded, "This will be my last question for now since I believe I shall be called away soon for my meetings."
Really? Had that much time already passed? Part of me kind of dreaded him leaving. I knew it was necessary since he was standing in as the king and had to go and perform the kingly duties, but at the same time this would be one of the first times since my arrival in Asgard where I'd be left to my own devices and as I thought about it, Asgard and this palace would seem much larger and rather more overwhelming without Loki's comforting presence nearby. I tried to hide these emotions inside myself, merely nodding to show that I was ready for my final quizzing question.
"What position do the Lord and Lady Frey and Freya possess?"
I considered this for a moment before answering, "They're ambassadors."
"From..." Loki led, trying to pull a fuller answer from me.
"They're... not Asgardian." I floundered for the correct information, "They're from Vanaheim. Frey is technically the Vanir ambassador to Alfheim, but he rarely leaves the side of his twin sister who is the Vanir ambassador to Asgard, so he is often here as well. You said that they were currently visiting the capital to talk about something to do with agriculture..."
"Yes. Excellent recollection." Loki praised, standing up and nodding over my shoulder. I turned my head just in time to see a messenger bowing and scuttling away behind the bookshelves and back out of the library, "And they will be our host and hostess for dinner tonight."
My brows raised in surprise, "They're the one's we're dining with?"
"Indeed." Loki took a step towards me, bending down to place a gentle kiss on my forehead before he started striding off in the same direction as the messenger page, "Now that you know so much about them, it will make dinner all that more pleasant, do you not agree? I shall see you later at dinner, then."