▸ Column · Asgardian betrothal in the Nine Realms — a royal wedding feast, grudges nursed at court, a fiancé who will not speak plainly
THOR replies.
The letter
Mighty Thor — I am to be wed at the turning of autumn, and last week my betrothed's mother sent word, not as a question but as a decree: if my shield-sister Dani stands at the feast, she and her husband will absent themselves from their own son's wedding. Her grievance? Some years past, Dani let slip a small barb at a gathering — a jest, nothing more — which my betrothed's mother has carried like a hoarded coin ever since. Dani has been my dearest companion eleven years; she is to stand at my right hand; she has crossed half a realm twice to help me prepare. My betrothed murmurs that we should "find a middle path," which I take to mean: quietly cast Dani out so his parents will come — though he will not say it plainly. Do I stand firm and watch his parents shun their only son's wedding? Or yield, and teach his mother she may forever veto whom I love? Both roads make me long to slip away and wed before a courthouse magistrate with no one watching at all.
Thor replies
Friend, ask first who stands weakest here, for that is where loyalty must bend. It is Dani — your truest companion, asked to be cast out as the price of a grievance she gave no thought to years ago. You do not pay such a debt. A shield-sister who crosses a realm twice to stand at your side is the very thing a wedding is meant to honor.
Now hear a harder word, gently meant. Your betrothed's mother does not nurse a wound; she keeps a ledger, hoarding a barb like a merchant counts coin. My mother Frigga taught me that grace given with a price attached is not grace at all. Indulge her veto once and you have not bought peace — you have built her a throne over your friendships.
But I will not tell you to cast his parents out forever, for I nearly wrote off my own brother and the cost of it haunts me still. Leave that door open.
The true trouble is your betrothed, who murmurs "middle path" rather than name his own mind. A man worth wedding speaks plainly and stands beside you. Do not elope to flee this. Make him say aloud what he means — then choose whom he will stand with.
— Thor
Loki weighs in
Brother, ever the noble shepherd — counting who is weakest while the actual culprit strolls off whistling. The mother is a tedious old grudge-keeper, yes. But she is not the one you are marrying. He is.
Darling, attend: a man who says "find a compromise" when he means "betray your dearest friend" is not seeking peace. He is teaching you to read his cowardice and call it kindness, so he never has to spend the word "no" on his mother. This wedding is a rehearsal. Watch what he does, not what she demands.
I spent centuries decoding silences like his. The screenshot saved since 2019 is not your warning. His murmur is.
— Loki
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