Frigga was in bed, her head on a gold satin pillow and more of the same satin covering her body. Odin was fast asleep beside her. She wondered how he was able to rest at all, herself not having slept much in the last few days. Since Thor had gone to Midgard to reason with Loki, she found herself wondering what would become of her youngest son. A tear rolled down her left cheek as she turned onto her right side. She was looking out of the big windows now and was able to make out a few golden roofs that lit up under the high moon. Sighing, she closed her eyes, trying to finally get some rest.

Her green eyes shot open at the noise that had disturbed the silent night. She had only dozed off for a few minutes when the crackling sound had registered with her. Quickly she threw the blankets off of her and put on her dark purple bathrobe before getting out of the huge bed and slipping inside a pair of golden sandals. She made her way to the windows that looked out over the Realm Eternal and looked down, to where she suspected the sound had come from. Far below, behind the golden gates of the palace, she was just able to see the tops of two heads, one blonde and one black...As quick as a whip she turned on some candles and while holding one she went to wake her still unsuspecting husband.

"My King! Darling! Wake up!" she said not all too loud to not startle the older man.

Odin opened his left eye and frowned to see his wife so startled and excited at the same time. "Wh-what's wro-o-ong?" he answered while yawning.

"Our sons have returned! Both of them!"

At that, the All-Father quickly jumped out of the bed and got dressed, full armor and everything. Then both him and his wife made their way down to the throne room.

When the Asgardian King swooped into the golden room, he saw that Lady Sif and the Warrior's Three who were housed at the palace had already taken their place on the stairs that led to his throne. Frigga took a few steps up those same stairs to stand a little closer to her husband. Then they heard some comotion outside and the golden doors opened, showing Thor and Loki flanked by two guards emerging from a group of people that had heard the sound of their arrival. Odin sighed at that. He had wanted to keep his younger son's actions a secret and punish him accordingly, but now he knew that he might have to severe the punishment to keep the Aesir happy. The guards outside were still struggling to keep the mob at bay when the doors closed behind the new arrivals. Odin watched as his sons crossed the huge room, while Frigga's eyes never left Loki, her brow furrowed worriedly. Loki did not look at her but kept his eyes on the floor as the two guards roughly pushed him on his knees in front of the All-Father's throne. Thor, now beside Loki, bowed to the King.

"Father, I have returned. I did as you asked of me and brought my brother home."

Odin looked from Thor to Loki and back again. "Tell me, what were his actions on Midgard and has the realm come to harm?"

Thor then told their father about how Loki had opened a portal and had led Chitauri warriors to Earth who had done a lot of destruction to a particular island in a big city in the western half of Midgard.

"Luckily there were five of the bravest warriors I have ever met..."he then looked at the four warriors in the room with an apologetic look,"...besides Lady Sif and the Warrior's Three, who were able to stop them all and close the portal."

The All-Father stroked his beard for a moment and stood up, making his way down to stand in front of the blond God of Thunder.

"You have done well, my son. You made our people proud," the old man said while patting Thor's shoulder.

Then he went to stand in front of Loki and sighed, pain filling his one blue eye as he looked at the younger prince. Loki had not looked up or had not shown any kind of emotion since he had been brought inside. Silver shackles bound his hands together and a muzzle had been placed over his mouth. Odin sighed and ripped of Loki's armor and green cape.

"I'm stripping you of your powers, Loki, until further notice." He saw Loki's eyes narrow , the first emotion he had showed since arriving. The King then nodded to the guards. "Take him to the cells."

As soon as the guards had disappeared with Loki in their midst, Thor turned to the King.

"Father, what do you wish to do with Loki?" Odin shook his head as he sat back down on his throne.

"I know not, son of mine. Your bother has greatly disappointed me and has caused a lot of grief on Midgard. Even on Asgard, the people will want to see him punished accordingly for his deeds."

The older prince looked pleadingly at his father. "Please, father. Do not be too hard on him. He knows not what he does. His feelings are hurt and now his pride. What will be left of him?"

The All-Father smiled sadly at his son. "You always were the gentle one, the one looking out for everyone especially your younger brother. However, this time he shall not escape with just a flick on the wrist, what he has done was too severe and he has to learn where to draw a line for his mischief. Now I wish to not speak of it any longer and get some rest."

Thor nodded silently and bowed to his father before leaving the throne room and making his way up to his quarters.

Odin had fallen asleep almost immediately but Frigga found herself struggling to find some peace in her mind and decided she wasn't going to get any rest anyway. Quietly she got dressed and put her hair up before slipping out of the room. She was glad none of the guards who were stationed in the hallways questioned her and she made it down to the cellars pretty quickly. Softly, she closed the wooden door behind her and stood in front of Loki's cell. The black haired god was asleep and his shackles and muzzle had been removed. She just looked at him for a while, wishing she could go inside and stroke his cheek as she always used to do when her sons were younger. Blinking away a tear, she thought back at how upset they had all been when they thought Loki had died. But now, her heart was overjoyed with the sight of him, his deeds on Midgard momentarily forgotten.

Frigga called him then. It was barely a whisper, but it woke him up all the same. He squinted against the light of the torches that lined the walls of his cell and looked at Frigga.

"M-mother? What do you want?"

She tried to not let him see the hurt she felt at his tone. "I couldn't sleep. I need to talk with you."

Loki sighed and tried desperately to not roll his eyes. "I'm tired and I'd like to rest."

He was about to put his head back on the pillow when his mother spoke again.

"The punishment your father might plan for you will be severe, however I can make it so it won't be."

Loki frowned and sat back up, looking intensely at the woman who had called herself his mother his whole life.

"So, tell me, what's your plan?"

Frigga bit her lip for a moment, looking down before she looked back at her son.

"You need to get married."

If the situation hadn't been so grave, she would have laughed at Loki's face. Shock and disbelief filled his eyes before he smirked and laughed out loud.

"Ah, mother. Little did I know you had a sense of humor."

She shook her head. "No, Loki. I'm serious. Your father and I had talked of it before your recent actions, so our people would take you more seriously as Prince of Asgard. We even found a candidate for you, but then all of this happened..."

He snorted. "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you again, but I think I'd rather rot in here for eternity than to marry some stuck up wench."

Frigga shook her head. "Oh, no my son. She's not a wench. Her name is Lindariel and she's a princess of Alfheim."