"It's an important piece of shiny, they're the nicest I have," she answered hotly, but she dropped her hands when he gave her that smile. Sif turned away, her shoulders curling in defensively for a moment. Maybe he was right and she had put them elsewhere and forgotten. She had been distracted this morning.

"Nevermind. I'll find something else. Mother had them picked out for the dinner tonight." She wrinkled her nose. "They're very insistent about making a good impression. Father's in one of his moods again."

Even if this one seemed of a more inevitable fate than previous ones...