“I'm fine with marrying Tove.""You're 'fine' with marrying him?" Willa laughed and looped her arm through Matt's. "How romantic.""You should've seen the proposal," I said."Where is the ring,by the way?" Willa asked, looking at my hands. "Is it getting sized?""I don't know." I held my hands out to look at them,as if I expected a ring to magically appear. "He didn't give me one.""That's horrible!”

“I hope I'm not disturbing anything," Finn said, looking past Duncan at me.As soon as his dark eyes landed on mine, my breath caught in my throat. He stood at the door, his black hair mussed a bit.His vest was still neatly pressed but it was marred with a dark stain from Elora's blood."No,not at all," I said, sitting up further."Actually,we were-" Matt began,his voice hard."Actually,we were leaving," Willa cut him off. She scooted off the bed,and Matt shot her a look, which she only smiled at. "We were just saying that we had something to do in your room. Weren't we,Matt?""Fine," Matt grumbled and stood up. Finn moved aside to Matt and Willa could walk out of the room, and Matt gave him a warning glare. "But we'll just be right across the hall."Willa grabbed Matt's hand to keep him moving. Finn, as usual, seemed oblivious to Matt's threats, which only made Matt angrier.”

“Well,I hope you like the ring." He held it out to me, he velvet lid still closed. "My mom hates it.""I'm sure I'll love it,then," I said, and he laughed.”

“You expect me to marry him.""Yes,of course," Finn said, almost wearily."You're not even gonna try to..." I swallowed back tears and looked away from him. "When Elora told me, I fought with her. I fought for you.""I am sorry,Wendy." His voice had gotten low and thick. He stepped closer and raised his hand as if he meant to touch me,but dropped it instead. "But you will be happy with Tove. He can protect you.""I wish everyone would stop talking about him that way!" I sat back on the bed, exasperated. "Tove is a person! This is his life! Doesn't he deserve better than being somebody's watchdog?""I can imagine worse things in life than being married to you," Finn said quietly."Don't." I shook my head. "Don't joke. Don't be nice." I glared up at him. "You kept this from me. But worse still, you didn't fight for me.""You know why I can't,Wendy." His dark eyes smoldered, and his fists clenched at his side. "Now you know who you are and what you mean to the kingdom. I can't fight for something that isn't mine. Especially not when you mean so much to our people.""You're right,Finn,I'm not yours." I nodded, looking down at the floor. "I'm not anybody's. I have a choice in all of this, and so do you.But you have no right to take my choice away from me,to tell me who I should marry.""I didn't arrange this marriage," Finn said incredulously."But you think I should marry him, and you've done nothing to stop it." I shrugged. "You might as well have arranged it yourself."I wiped at my eyes, and he didn't say anything. I lay down on my bed and rolled over so my back was to him. After a few mintues, I heard him walk away and the door shut behind him.”

“You just couldn’t wait to get me naked, could you, Princess?” Loki asked tiredly. I started to pull my hand back, but he put his own hand over it, keeping it in place.“No, I—I was checking for wounds,” I stumbled. I wouldn’t meet his gaze.“I’m sure.” He moved his thumb, almost caressing my hand, until it hit my ring. “What’s that?” He tried to sit up to see it, so I lifted my hand, showing him the emerald-encrusted oval on my finger. “Is that a wedding ring?”“No, engagement.” I lowered my hand, resting it on the bed next to him. “I’m not married yet.”“I’m not too late, then.” He smiled and settled back in the bed.“Too late for what?” I asked.“To stop you, of course.” Still smiling, he closed his eyes.”

“You need to be Queen. Everyone who knows anything knows htat, but most people don't know anything, and that is a problem." He scratched at the back of his head and shifted his weight. "I would never take that away from you. No matter what happens, I'd never take the crown from you, and I'd defend you against anybody who tried."I didn't say anything to that. I'd never heard Tove talk so much before, and I didn't know what he was getting at. "I know that you're in love with...well, not me," he said carefully. "And I'm not in love with you either. But I do respect you and I like you.""I respect and like you too," I said, and he gave me a small smile."But it's a number of things, and it's none of them." He let out a deep breath. "That didn't make sense. I mean,it's because you need somebody to help you keep the throne, and somebody on your side, and I can do that. But...it's just because I think...I want to.""What?" I asked, and he actually looked at me, letting his mossy eyes stare into mine."Will you...I mean,do you want to get married?" Tove asked. "To me?""I,um..." I didn't know what to say."If you don't want to,nothing has to change between us," Tove said hurriedly. "I asked because it sounds like a good idea to me.""Yeah," I said,and I didn't know what I would say until it was comign out of my mouth. "I mean,yes,I do.I will. I would...I'll marry you.""Yeah?" Tove smiled."Yes." I swallowed hard and tried to smile back."Good." He exhaled and looked back down the hall. "This is good,right?""Yeah,I think so," I said, and I meant it."Yeah." He nodded. "I sorta feel like throwing up now,though.""I think that's normal.""Good." He nodded again and looked at me. "Well,I'll let you go...do whatever you need to do.And I'll go do what I do.""okay," I nodded."All right." He randomly patted me on the shoulder, then nodded again, and walked away.”

“Will you… I mean, do you want to get married?” Tove asked. “To me?”“I, um…” I didn’t know what to say.“If you don’t want to, nothing has to change between us,” Tove said hurriedly. “I asked because it sounds like a good idea to me.”“Yeah,” I said, and I didn’t know what I would say until it was coming out of mouth. “I mean, yes. I do. I will. I would… I’ll marry you.”“Yeah?” Tove smiled hopefully, and I nodded.“Yes.” I swallowed hard and tried to smile back.“Good.” He exhaled and looked back down the hall. “This is good, right?”“Yeah, I think so,” I said, and I did mean that.“Yeah,” he nodded. “I sorta feel like throwing up now, though.”