Loki woke first. He startled slightly at the other person in his bed, but smiled through a yawn as he remembered that he now had a wife, smiling further as he remembered the night they shared. A few of the flowers from her hair had been set on the nightstand. Their blush-colored petals occasionally brightened and opened. He wondered if Maeve was dreaming and subconsciously affecting them.

The prince never thought he would fall in love. To an extent, he didn't believe such a concept existed. But lying next to Maeve, his arms wrapped around her small form, he had never felt more content. The knowledge that the woman in his arms loved him for him, not for titles or power, meant a great deal. All his life, he had been second best. Now, it felt as though things had finally changed.

Gently, he began to fiddle with her soft curls, finding the action oddly soothing. She shifted and he instantly stopped, but she only moved closer to him in slumber. He smiled, pressing a gentle kiss to the side of her head.

Loki pulled the first book he could reach off of his nightstand and began to reread one of his favorites until his eyes strayed to an unfamiliar marking on his wrist. A small swirl, almost like a tattoo, colored light blue and emerald green. Reaching over, he turned Maeve's wrist and found an identical symbol. He frowned as he tried to figure out what exactly the swirls were.

"You're up early," Maeve mumbled, rolling over in her tangle of blankets. She smiled up at her husband. "Hi."

"Morning, love." He bent down to give her a kiss, but his attention was diverted. She sensed this.

"What's on your mind?"

"Look at your wrist."

She sat up and obeyed, her bleary eyes widening slightly when she saw the marking. "I forgot about these."

"What are they? They look familiar." He knew that somewhere in his reading he'd come across this type of magic, but the answer was alluding him.

"They're called soul marks," she explained. At the term, he nodded in understanding. "They form when those with magic marry. We must have missed them last night in all the excitement, but they would have showed up after we kissed at the ceremony."

"So that's why Mother and Father don't have them," said Loki. With almost anyone else, he wouldn't have liked showing that he didn't know everything, but he regarded his princess as an intellectual as well as his love. He wasn't the only bookworm in the palace anymore. "Because only Mother is a sorceress."

Maeve nodded. "My parents didn't have them, either. They're supposed to connect us, in a way."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, they're enchanted. I read about them a long time ago, but it might be interesting to brush up on the subject. I never thought I'd have one. You know, a soulmate. We could go to the library, come on- oh!"

Loki's arms tightened around her waist and pulled her back into the bed. She landed with a soft thud, giggling.

"Relax, little one," he purred in her ear. His voice sent goosebumps all over her body, the good kind of goosebumps. She snuggled closer to him and laid her head on his bare chest. "The library can wait. It's the morning after our wedding, and frankly, I don't want to share you with everyone just yet."

"Okay," she whispered, smiling. He took her hand and gave her a light kiss on the soul mark. Both felt a flare of warmth on their wrists. Maeve's breath caught in her throat and looked down, excitement bursting in the pit of her stomach. "Wow."

"Wow is right." He brushed a finger against his soul mark, grinning when she shivered as she felt it on her own arm. "I think we will have some reading to do, after all."

"Are you sure we can't go now?"

Loki laid back down against the pillows, a rueful expression on his face. "I wish we could, but I have a feeling Father won't like it if we miss breakfast. We at least have to make a bried appearance."

"Then he can deal with it," Maeve replied sleepily. "He's not in charge of us."

That's my girl. Never afraid to speak her mind.

"I hate to contradict you, but he rules the nine realms that we happen to live in. His realm, his palace, his rules. It's always going to be that way for us."

Maeve heard the hint of sadness in his voice and frowned, grateful that she was at an angle that he couldn't see it. As the youngest of seven, she understood all too well the feeling of neglect and the need to prove oneself. Especially as the only daughter, she developed an inferiority complex she still fought with on occasion, and she knew that Loki grew up with that similar emotional struggle, perhaps even more than she did.

One day, Odin would name an heir to the throne of Asgard. More likely than not, it would be Thor, leaving Loki behind to serve as his advisor for the rest of his days. And while Maeve knew he would be a voice of reason for her incredibly-impulsive brother-in-law, she couldn't help thinking that her husband was destined for, well, more.

Her silence said more than she ever could. Loki sat up, moving her carefully off of him, and winked, but his eyes lacked their usual sparkle. "We might as well be getting dressed, flower, or we'll be late for breakfast. The maids moved some of your dresses into my wardrobe yesterday. I think they'll finish moving your things over here today. Is that okay?"

He looked adorably worried. Maeve nodded, smiling. "That's fine with me."

She liked Loki's room more than hers, anyway. Despite being bigger, it had a cozier atmosphere, filled with earthy tones and lined with bookshelves, and the French doors led out to a balcony overlooking the gardens.

"What are we going to do with my room?"

"Oh, I don't know. They'll probably leave it as is until someone says something otherwise."

Maeve skimmed her options before her fingers brushed against a simple blue dress with golden accents, perfect for summer. She relished in an outfit that didn't require a restraining corset and quickly slipped it on. Brushing out her long hair, she left it down and applied minimal makeup, preferring natural beauty over anything artificial. On a whim, the princess walked out onto the balcony and scanned the gardens before causing a stem of forget-me-nots to grow up to a height where she could easily pluck a few blossoms and stick them in her loose curls.

"Lovely as always."

She turned, her finger twirling a curl on her shoulder. "You know, everyone was right about your silver tongue."

"I should hope so. Rumors fly around the palace faster than Fandral flirts," he said mischievously before extending an arm. "Shall we?"

The couple walked down to the dining room, where most of their relatives and friends were already milling around. Loki quickly sidestepped a grinning Thor while Maeve accepted the greetings of her many brothers with joy. Knowing his parents were expecting him, he crossed the room to the head of the table.

Frigga immediately swept her younger son into a tight embrace that he returned. Not many people received hugs from the god of mischief. Most regarded him as the colder Odinson, and rightfully so, but around the few he cared about, his beloved mother being one of them, his affection was obvious.

"Mother, it's been what, a few hours since you saw me last? Surely you can't have missed me so terribly," he commented drily.

She patted him on the cheek. "Is it so wrong for a mother to hug her son?"

"Maybe not."

Odin had not risen from his seat at the head of the table to greet his son. It didn't really bother Loki. At this point, he was used to being ignored. Instead, he asked, "do you have any plans with your new wife today?"

"We're going to spend the day in the library researching," the raven-haired prince answered, holding up his wrist so that the soul mark was in plain sight. Frigga smiled and ran her fingers over it, letting her magic sweep across the mark.

"Soul marks are rare, Loki, and infinitely fascinating. It's too bad your father had to be a boring warrior, or I could have had one." She said the last sentence jokingly to Odin, who smiled fondly at his wife. Although the right sentiment was sometimes missing in his relationship with Loki, no one could deny how much he loved Frigga. No one else could get away with a comment like that.

"My queen, you chose to fall for a boring warrior," Odin replied warmly.

Frigga rolled her blue eyes at Loki and lowered his hand to his side. "I suspect your bond is incredibly strong, my son. It certainly feels that way. That's a testament to your love."

"And just think," Odin said, "of the fuss you made when I suggested this union! And now look! You and the girl are properly in love! I believe I made a good call that day."

Involuntarily, Loki felt his blood boil. How could he sit there and claim that everything that happened somehow was because of his holier-than-thou wisdom? Odin had no real love for Maeve. Loki guessed that he barely knew anything about his new daughter, and now he practically wanted to be thanked for forcing them together?

"The girl's name is Maeve," Loki said shortly, "and I believe I'll go find her now."

"Loki!" Odin called. For a moment, he was tempted to not turn around, to keep walking, but he thought better of it and assumed an air of polite disinterest. Frigga chuckled behind her hand. "Remember that you and your wife will be leaving tomorrow. Prepare accordingly."

Loki gave a small, sarcastic bow. "Of course, Father."

In Asgard after a royal wedding, it was customary for the newlyweds to be invited to the palaces of other realms and become acquainted with their dignitaries. When she read about it, Maeve thought the whole affair was rather silly. Loki assured her that it was more for politics than anything else, but as neither of them was a warrior, they needed to remain on speaking terms with as many realms as possible. One day, they would be expected to take over as the main diplomats of Asgard.

"I expect you to take it seriously. This will be the first time the pair of you will travel the realms as a married couple. Do not soil the House of Odin's good name."

It took all of Loki's willpower plus some not to roll his eyes. "Of course, Father."

"Very well. Have a good time in the library today."

After a few more minutes of socialization they both wanted to escape from, Loki and Maeve snuck off to the prince's personal library with hidden food. Comfortably settled on the small green couch, they began the tedious yet interesting task of sifting through books for information while eating breakfast, then lunch, then dinner. Both agreed it was a perfect way to spend their first day married.

"Here, I think I found something," Loki said after a few hours. Maeve straightened up, bookmarked a page, and tried to hide the cover, but he still caught the title. With a smirk, he asked, "What happened to research?"

"Harry Potter happened," she retorted, the playful fire in her eyes daring him to contradict her. "I told you, Papa never let us read anything from other realms! I have a lot of catching up to do. Anyway, what did you find?"

"This section here talks about soul marks." He pointed to an image on the page. "The colors represent our magic, but I think that much was obvious."

She laughed. "Just a bit."

"According to this, soul marks offer a vast variety of magic to those who have them," he said, still reading on. "They're very rare, only appearing on the skin of sorcerers and sorceresses who truly love one another. One should be able to feel if the other is in severe pain. They have the ability to combine power sources to conserve energy, and if the bond is strong enough, they can communicate telepathically through their minds."

"We might be able to speak telepathically?" Maeve asked in awe. "How do we do that?"

"Mother told me our bond is strong, which lends itself to stronger magic." Loki took her hand in his and flashed her a sly smile. "I think we have some experimenting to do."

hello! new chapter! leave your thoughts! do you have any predictions/things you want to happen in the future of this story?

i watched the original avengers movie tonight and it reminded me of how much i love all of these characters aaaaaaaaaaaaaa send help

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