AN – Here is the Prologue of the promised prequel to 'The Enlightenment of Thor Odinson. The sequel will get it first chapter in the next few days, so keep your eyes peeled. It was great writing this, I hope you enjoy it!

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The Queens Suite, The Palace of the Áesir, Asgard

The 2663 Year of Odin's Rule

(965 A.D)

Frigga Allmother, the Queen of Asgard, wept openly on the golden bed. The gentle, familiar hands of her brother rubbed at her shoulders as he held her. Her tears were quiet, for she dared not wake the small boy sleeping peacefully in the next room. She would have to explain to Thor that the younger brother he'd desperately hoped for would not be, but she could not bear to yet. Tomorrow, or perhaps the next day.

It was a relief at least that the head healer, the Lady Eir, had sent a message to Heimdall to pass on the news to the King some hours before. Frigga was grateful, for once, that the war with Jotunheim had continued on so long. The shame of telling to the Allfather herself that she had failed to birth a living son for him would have destroyed her. She hoped that the Norns would keep Odin away a little longer, so that she would not have to face his disappointment so soon.

"Sister?" Freyr asked gently, pulling back slightly so as to see her face. She looked up at her brother, her only family left in Asgard but for her young son, Thor. The youthful face was marred with worry for her, in his eyes she could see that he too mourned the child that seemed to have withered in her womb. "How can I help you?" he asked, sounding desperate.

Frigga gave him a watery smile, "You already are," she replied. "I'd be lost without you here, Freyr. Thank you for staying, when all others went to war." She saw his face darken a fraction, for she was not the only reason he had stayed in Asgard. The sun god could not bear to go to war with the people of his beloved, Gerdr. "They will mock me at court now. The Vanir who could not birth a live child."

"They would not dare," Freyr growled, "Some babes are too weak to make it through to birth, it is no fault of the mother." He was wrong, of course. Frigga knew how the ladies of court could be. The Vanir were renowned for their fertility, and in over 2000 years she had born only one child, and now a stillbirth.

"I do not know what to do now." She stated. Grief wracked through her, but she pushed it aside. Thor would have to wait a little longer for a sibling, and Odin would have to make do with only one son for now. In time, Frigga would be ready to try again.

"We could leave." Freyr said simply, as though he were not speaking so casually of treason. "Freyja could hide us, now that she is queen. We would be safe in Vanaheim. We could go home."

Frigga frowned in confusion. "Why would we leave?" she asked, genuinely surprised at his words.

Freyr stared at her in incredulity. "Why? Because this is not our home, we have no place here! To save you from the scorn of petty Lords and Ladies who are not our people. To escape the realm of our parents' murderer, who to this day holds tyranny over our realm?" He exclaimed.

The queen stared at her golden–haired brother in shock. "Where is this coming from? Odin is your dearest friend! He gave you a place on his council and made Freyja a queen, he loves me more dearly than anything. All he did to Vanaheim was liberate it, to bring peace to the Nine Realms."

Freyr looked as though he were talking to a child as he said, "Sweet Sister, you cannot be so naïve. That man and his father murdered our parents to take over our home. He made Freyja a queen so that you would agree to marry him, and he sold her off to an Asgardian lord thousands of years her senior. I am only his friend so that I can do my upmost to protect Vanaheim and all the Nine Realms from his bloodlust."

Frigga looked at her brother, wordless. She shifted away from him on the bed, confused and hurt. "How can you say such things? There is a purpose to everything Odin does, it is all for the good of the people of Yggdrasil. Even now he is protecting the mortals from the Jotnar who invaded their world for no cause. He must love me, he must." She said the last word as though trying to convince herself.

Freyr stared at her. There was sadness marring the beauty of his face. "Oh Sister." He said. The sun god sighed, before relaxing. His voice turned soft, reassuring. "You are, of course, correct. Put your words from your mind."

Frigga nodded. His odd, almost treasonous attitude was unlike him. Freyr was one of Odin's closest confidantes. They were similar ages, with Frigga about 5 centuries their junior. His strange behaviour would have concerned her on any other day, but with the loss of her child it was inconsequential. The sound of a door opening a few rooms away startled her. Very few were allowed to enter the Queens suite, perhaps Lady Eir had returned to check on her?

The heavy, familiar footfalls spoke of the Allfather himself, returned at last from his lengthy campaign against the Jotun. Freyr stood immediately, putting space between himself and the bed – it was not strictly speaking, proper for him to be in her bedchamber at all, but the circumstances could forgive it if he was standing.

Odin came in through the open door, and Frigga's breath was taken away the moment she saw what he carried. A golden cloak, probably borrowed from one of the Einherjar was wrapped around the tiny, squirming babe. The queen asked no questions, did not even wonder what the circumstances were. From the moment she laid eyes upon the boy, she knew he was her son. She reached out for him, and the King crossed the remaining distance to place the child into her waiting arms.

"He is a child of Laufey." Odin told them. "None shall know of this, he will be seen only as a Prince of Asgard. The war with Jotunheim is over. We will raise him to be a King and when Jotunheim next attempts to seize power, I will install him upon their throne." The King of Asgard looked satisfied with his plan. He turned to Freyr, asking, "Do I have your silence?"

Freyr stepped closer, looking at the boy. "Aye, Allfather. I am ever yours." He said, with a nod and a quick smile. "Shall we leave them? There is much for me to fill you in on in regards to the court." he continued. Frigga took little notice of their words as they left, staring down at the bundle in her arms. The boy was small, barely of a size of an Áesir child. Thor had been larger - but then Thor was the largest child any had ever seen. Even the Lady Eir, who had delivered more children than any other in Asgard.

The eyes were a bright blue, but Frigga could see an almost green tint to them. The barely there fuzz upon his head looked to be dark. There would be rumours about the child perhaps, if he seemed to look so unlike either of them. She would do her best to squash them, to love this child with all of herself so that he never felt different.

Thor was already in his mid-sixties, boisterous and playful, and about to start his formal weapons training with the General Tyr. Her dear son was beloved of all the realm, he idolised his father and all spoke of what a fine King he would make. Frigga loved Thor, but he cared little for the books and sorcery that she herself was passionate about. Thor had the love of all the realm, whereas this boy had been abandoned to die.

The queen swore then that she would love him fiercely, that she would teach him all she could. With that thought, she decided not to call a wet nurse for the boy. No, she would feed him herself. He had not grown in her womb but she would give him her own Eidr. For all that he was Jotnar the boy seemed to radiate heat in this form. Not as though he were with fever, but as though something crackling and warm lived under his skin. She would nurture such strong Eidr in the way only a mother could.

My son. She thought. My little flame.

It would be a week until his nameday, but Frigga knew with the certainty that spoke of her gift for foresight, what his name would be.

Loki.

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End of Prologue.

AN- Hope you enjoyed, leave a comment to let me know what you thought!

If you haven't already, go and check out the story that this is prequel to, 'The enlightening of Thor Odinson.' The next chapter for this will come after the first chapter of the sequel, which should be up in the next few days.

Also, have a look at my other works if you enjoyed this

Thanks for reading, ChrysosArgentum