"Can you still breathe?" he asked her softly, a teasing edge in his voice. She nodded her head silently, turning around to look at him.
                          
"Yes," she replied. 
                          
Her eyes could not stop looking into his. And his didn't seem to stop looking at hers either. His eyes were so blue. Like the Atlantic Ocean... both dark and clear. Mesmerizing... Slowly but surely, Joanna noticed his eyes began to glance at her lips every now and then.
                          
It wasn't until the gap between them started to close when Joanna awoke from the trance-like form she'd been in. She cleared her throat softly, her hands on his chest in order to push him away. "I should get dressed."
                          
"Um, yes," Raymond agreed, coughing a little, "you, um, you should. I will see you around sunset." Joanna sent him a confused look. "For dinner?" he teased, giving her a smile. An actual smile. Looking at the ground, she nodded. He walked toward the door and she turned toward her dress. 
                          
"Oh, and, Joanna," Raymond called just before closing the door. Joanna looked at him from over her shoulder. "I don't want you dead..." With those words, the oakwood door closed, leaving a comfortable silence.
                          
~
                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
                          
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This dinner could not be more of a disaster. Nathan was staring at her as if she was a piece of meat, with his wife right next to him. The woman herself glared at Joanna with death and murder. From time to time, Raymond would ask Nathan a question, to divert his attention from her. Like the gentleman he was. But always, always, Nathan found a way to create a new conversation with her, about her father, her childhood, her upbringing. Oh, the number of lies she told that night.
                          
"So, Joanna," Nathan continued his interrogation, "how do you expect your wedding will be? I suppose, you do not follow the same traditions as Asgard, there in Vanaheim?" Joanna swallowed her bite carefully, tapping off any leftovers from her lips with a napkin.
                          
"You are quite right, my Lord." She put the napkin on her lap, so that she could squeeze it. "Vanaheim does have a reputation on Asgard for being less... discrete in the rules of marriage." Joanna felt three pairs of eyes on her.
                          
Nathan chuckled. "I heard. Many say you don't require a woman's virtue for a successful wedding?" Her jaw locked at those words.
                          
"No, we don't. Also, in my culture, wives are not living dolls who are silenced to speak. There is, of course, a reason the former Queen had such an influence on Asgard's rule." She smiled sweetly, bringing her wine to her lips, pretending to take as sip as she glanced at Olivia. Something in Nathan's eyes was on fire, and his nostrils flared a little in anger. Good for him. There was nothing he could do to her, not here. Here, in Wolveshire, Joanna had a higher ranking than him.
                          
"So," he said, again, sipping his wine in-between sentence, "on the topic of women's virtue... is yours still intact?" Joanna's eyes widened. He did not just. She was baffled by his bold move, no, by his utterly rude move. Wherever one might come from, whoever someone might be, it was not appropriate to ask if someone was still a virgin. Even on Earth. Though, sometimes it was the most humiliating question to ever ask during Truth or Dare.
                          
"Am I going to get an answer, my Lady? Or can I already assume, by your silence?" Nathan taunted.
                          
"Enough!" Raymond put his fists on the table and rose from his seat. "I will not allow you to ask these humiliating questions. Certainly not to my betrothed."
                          
Nathan smirked slyly. "My apologies, Raymond, I merely intended—"
                          
"You intended to play before talking business. Well, I am done playing! Tell me what you are doing in Wolveshire Fort, Fredrickson, or I will have you removed at once." His voice held so much authority that even Joanna was stunned by it. He almost sounded like... no, she couldn't think that way.
                          
Nathan put his hands up in the air, still smirking. "Why, if you insist. Our King sent me here," he handed Raymond a sealed letter, "He requests your presence at Court. Apparently, he decided to provide you with a suitable job. Captain of the Royal Guard."
                          
Captain? But that would mean— "No," Joanna breathed out before she noticed it. If Raymond left Wolveshire by order of the King, Silas would become acting Lord of the grounds... Even Joanna – with so little knowledge of the two brothers – knew Silas wasn't born for such a job. 
                          
"Ah, I'm afraid it's true, beautiful. Heimdall will have you back home before you know it," Nathan nagged. "The Captain of the Guard is to forfeit family in any form. Your wedding is, by order of our King, cancelled." He thought he was so smug now. It would kick him in the gut soon enough. Joanna would make sure of that.
                          
Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer... the saying flew through her head. That was what the King was doing. Keeping Raymond where he could not create any trouble.
                          
"Lighten up, Captain," Nathan said, rising up and taking his wife by his arm, "we leave at dawn."
                          


                          


                          


                          
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well, we're almost there... I swear to God and Odin, you are going to love what I have planned for the next chapter! I can't wait to write it. I'm so excited!
                          
Actually, did you know that I have been working forward to this very point in the story ever since the last part of STORM OF RAGE? I mean, this point.  I AM SO EXCITED I CAN'T BREATHE Y'ALL! 
                          
anyway....... I hope you liked it. I promise I will find time to write the next chapter soon. my break is at it's end, so it might take me some time... but I'll try, alright? I really hope you liked it.
                          
don't forget to vote, or comment... I'd be really happy if you comment your thoughts on this chapter. 
                          
when do you think our honeybee should get back to earth and bust all this shit up with some badass lightening and lots of blood?
                          
love you all, thanks for reading -x