Chapter one, The trickster

"Let me come with you hunting", his voice was insistent, slowly growing angry.

"And do what? Talk till the prey falls down dead? Or perhaps you are thinking of persuading it to die on its own?" the blond warrior laughed mockingly. His close-cropped hair and twinkling blue eyes filled with mirth.

"That's not funny, Fandral, I can hunt", Loki crossed his arms and glared. Another warrior gave him a shove, sending him down on the floor. Hogun smiled wickedly, knowing he had taken the younger man by surprise. Three more people stood in the chamber alongside Fandral and Hogun. Volstagg and the lady Sif joined the other two in their laughter and filed out. The remaining warrior looked at him, not unkindly but still with mirth.

"Next time, brother", Thor said and instead of offering a hand to help his younger brother back on his feet the oldest prince of Asgard followed his friends. Leaving Loki behind. Again. Muttering to himself he got to his feet and dusted of his clothes. Anger boiled in him as he stalked through the corridors, only stopping for a few moments to talk with his mother.

"I thought you were going hunting with your brother", she said in surprise.

"I would say being shoved to the floor is answer enough to that request", he snapped trying to keep from shouting. It wasn't his mother's fault. Unable to say anything else he continued to his chambers.

XOX

Frigga watched as her youngest son disappeared down the corridors. She could see how much the rejection hurt him. The boy was mischievous and liked playing pranks on others, earning a fair bit disdain from the other Aesir. Few could see beyond his lean frame and lack of visible strength. Frigga knew better. In an attempt to give Loki something of his own she had taught him everything she knew about magic. He had turned out to be a very adept student, she was certain that in just a few years he would be better than her. Yet, she was worried. As she often did she sought her husband.

Odin, king of Asgard and ruler of the nine realms, held council with Tyr. The god of law and justice was a tall man, strong with broad shoulders. It was said that Tyr was a god of war more than anything else. One thing was certain, he never backed down from a challenge. Resting his arms in his lower back made it easy for Frigga to see the missing hand. Bitten off when they had tied up the Fenris wolf.

The wolf had been one of Loki's creations, intended as a companion. In a way Fenris was a child of the trickster god. Unfortunately, the wolf had turned out to be vicious and dangerous. It didn't help that it had an intelligence far beyond that of a beast. The Norns had warned that the Fenris wolf would cause Ragnarok. While most had accepted the creation as a child's mistake it had caused Tyr to completely loath Loki and his magic.

Frigga sighed in resignation. She couldn't be angry at the general for his dislike of the boy, but Loki had only been ten years old. Trying to impress his father and brother. Odin had recognised the monstrous beast as a result of that, the attempt to make the wolf the warrior he wasn't. More than a millennium later and the resentments toward Loki was still strong.

When Tyr saw Frigga he bowed to the All Father and hurriedly left. Odin rose slowly to his feet and met his queen. She gave him a warm kiss on his cheek, he put his arm around her shoulders. They walked away leisurely, speaking in low tones so none would overhear them.

"What worries you my wife", Odin said quietly. "I know that look in your eyes."

"Our youngest", Frigga answered.

"What about him?"

"I fear for him, Odin."

"Loki is capable, he can care for himself."

"What I fear goes deeper than his life. He is lonely. I know he has made some serious mistakes and ended up in trouble more times than not. But had he been any other they wouldn't scorn him."

"Serious mistakes?" Odin laughed. "Our son has done some quite remarkable things even if many of them turned out to be less than desirable."

"This is no laughing matter", Frigga scolded her husband. "When was the last time you spoke to him? Looked at him? Properly as a father and not as a king?"

"Are we really having this discussion again?" Odin said with a pained voice. "What good would it do him? To learn he was scorned by his own due to his size and left to die. That Thor is not his brother by blood and that we are not his real parents. What good would that do?"

"He has a right to know!"

"Frigga..."

"He would finally be able to understand his own nature!"

They both knew what Frigga was referring to. The Jotun, the giants were well known for their trickery and mischievousness. And Loki was of Jotun blood. Odin had found the small baby boy abandoned, left to starve. The child was no bigger than an Aesir babe, possibly mixed blood. Unable to leave the boy to his fate Odin had brought him to Asgard. Frigga had immediately taken to the baby and Odin had announced the birth of a second prince to the people. The two loved their dark haired and green-eyed son very much but only Frigga found it easy to show it.

"What do you truly fear?" Odin asked tiredly. "What is it that you are trying to tell me?"

"I fear of where Loki's resentment might lead him", she answered. "His grievances are growing and so are his anger. If pushed to far, what would he do?"

They kept walking in silence, there were no answer and no easy solution.

XOX

It took a week before Thor and his friends returned from their hunt. Bringing back so much game that Odin declared they would have a feast to celebrate the great catch. By eating said catch. Loki wasn't really interested in the feast, but Thor had insisted. The great hall was packed with warriors and Einherjar. Women walked among the men, pouring them mead and laughing carousingly. At the head table sat Odin and his most loyal and honoured men. Including Tyr. Frigga sat at her husband's side.

Thor had seated himself with the warriors three and the lady Sif. The golden locks made Loki smirk. Sif's golden hair was a gift from the All Father. Or perhaps an apology. Loki had cut off all her hair. Leaving her bald. In his opinion she had looked rather fetching with no hair. He hadn't been punished. No one had seen him do it after all. One might have thought that Sif would resent him, but she quite liked her new hair, spun from real red gold yet light and soft.

Despite the scorn he had received before the hunt Loki made his way toward his brother. He truly wanted to spend time with his brother. That had been the whole reason he had wanted to join the hunt in the first place. Thor saw him and waved cheerfully while gesturing to Fandral to move. Giving room on the bench beside him. Loki was only a few more steps from the group when he felt a hand.

The hand was big, and its fingers dug into his behind. There was nothing lecherous about the touch. It was meant to humiliate and disgrace him. He had stopped, feeling his cheek burn with anger and embarrassed shock. The hand squeezed hard. He hissed and turned his head to glare at the man. A large man with a bushy red heard and equally bushy hair had a wide, cruel smile on his face. The man clearly waited for Loki to say something. To prove how weak he was. Little did the man realise Loki had other means. The burly man yelped as his whiskers turned into thousands of small spiders, crawling all over him.

Still fuming despite the laughter around the hall, Loki seated himself beside Thor and drank deeply from the nearest cup.

"Hey, that's mine!" Volstagg protested.

"Really?" Loki said in mock regret. "How strange it ended up in my hands then and not yours." Volstagg muttered and took another mug of mead from a passing girl. Thor laughed and patted his shoulder.

"What got you so upset, brother?" he asked.

"Don't pretend you don't know", Loki hissed angrily. "You saw what happened or otherwise you are blind."

"It was just a bit of harmless fun! Besides, you turned his beard into spiders."

"Are you saying I got what I deserved because I brought revenge on him?" Loki's voice was low and had a dangerous note to it. He was coming very close to snapping. Thor didn't notice. He only laughed louder and drank deeply from his cup.

Raged bubbled and boiled in Loki. He had never been so furious. Taking the pitcher he threw the mead at his brother before storming out. A hush filled the great hall as the big doors slammed after the youngest prince. Then Thor began laughing raucously, believing it to be yet another of his brother's pranks.