The Bifrost swayed. Or was it the wagon? It was hard to tell when everything was a blur of color and light. These long trips were always so taxing, even when they were sped on by the might of the flying horses. The trip to Asgard was one of the longest. She had been once before. She was very young at the time, so small she had slept against her mother's chest the whole ride there. The carriage was the same, still like new. Powder blue seat cushions, dark carved wood. Valkyries in gold relief waged war above her head. They always made her feel safe, even though their real life counterparts sometimes frightened her. It was so long ago, she couldn't remember why they had gone, but she remembered the city. Towering, gold and silver, surrounded by glittering waterways.
They didn't have flying horses there. They had boats. Boats for the water and boats for the sky. She preferred the horses, but she would have to go without, if her mother had her way, and she always did.
She would do without the horses, and flowers, and fruits she grew to know, but that was okay. She was used to going without. There would be new things here, new things she would learn to like. New things she would learn to eventually do without. But, she would miss the horses.
A chill crept into the carriage.
"Don't fret," her mother whispered, tenderly touching her knee, "we'll be there soon."
"How could you?" Odin bellowed, his fist pounding the armrest of his massive golden throne, "How could you do this to Asgard? To Midgard? To your mother and I?"
Loki refused to admit any shame. He met his father's rage with a hateful glare of his own. "How could you lie to me for my entire life? Tell me that, 'Father'." Venom dripped from his words. He only hoped his father would feel its sting.
Odin stood. "That is no excuse!"
"That is every excuse! You lied to me. I thought I was your son. But I was just another tool to help you to hold on to your kingdom. You used me."
"Loki," Frigga spoke, wringing her hands, "you are our son. We love you darling, you must believe that."
Loki chose to ignore the tears in her eyes.
Odin frowned. "Do you not truly feel the gravity of your crimes? Wherever you go, there is war, ruin and death. All this because Loki desires a throne. And what role did the Midgardians play in your revenge then, hmm? Did all those mortals deserve to pay the price for my mistakes?"
"It is my birthright to be a king," Loki hissed. "If not by you, then by Laufey... I was born to rule. I went down to Midgard to rule the people of Earth as a benevolent god. Just like you. It is my birthright."
"Your birthright was to die as a child. Cast out onto a frozen rock. If I had not taken you in, you would not be here now to hate me. I have told you before, our time with the mortals is over, they no longer-"
Thor stepped forward. "Forgive me, Father, but that isn't so. Midgard needs our protection more than ever. Their world is full of new dangers, dangers they don't understand. We need to-"
"We are the cause of their dangers! The destroyer, the tesseract, caused by us," Odin spat.
"Caused by Loki!" Thor argued, pointing to his brother. "Stopped by me. And there are other problems, the army Loki commanded-"
Odin waved his spear. "I have heard enough!"
"As have I," Loki snarled. "Father, if I am for the axe, then for mercy's sake, just swing it."
"If I thought it would pay any reparations to the people you have wronged, you can believe I'd give your head. But the midgardians won't know the price that you have paid. With the bridge to their world broken, and the tesseract so dangerous, I can see no good that it would do. What's more, you are a prince of Asgard, and no king should ever have to put his child to death."
Loki sneered at Odin. He would not show the old man fear now. "Then I am to be banished? My powers taken?"
"We have nowhere else to send you. Jötunheim is out of the question, and you would not live out the day on Midgard. There is always Muspelheim, but... your mother has swayed me to be lenient. You will remain here, on Asgard, jailed, for the rest of your days."
"So you're going to put me in time out for a few hundred years? Hide me away like all of your other mistakes? Ha! You know as well as I that you'll never be able to keep me here. I can be patient."
Odin sighed and shook his head. "Take him away," he ordered the guards.
Loki did not fight them. He would have some of his dignity intact.
Odin gave a great sigh as he sank down into his throne. Frigga stood by his side, patting his arm.
"What more are we to do, my love?" he asked her, taking her hand and kissing her curled fingers. "What more are we to do?"
That had been months ago, and everything had changed. Their mother was gone, Prince Loki was killed in battle, the elves were defeated, and Jane was finally safe on Earth. Thor now spoke with his father alone, perhaps to say goodbye.
"I cannot give you my blessing, nor can I wish you good fortune."
Thor nodded. "I know."
"If I were proud of the man my son had become, even that I could not say. It would speak only from my heart. Go, my son."
But there was something changed. Odin had shrunk in his throne with grief after Frigga had passed, and his age had born down on him so sharply so suddenly. He had scarcely looked like a king then.
But now, after learning of Loki's death, he appeared too tall, too strong. To content to sit there and admire his younger son. Even if Loki hadn't been his favorite, this would never have been his reaction.
"It... honors me to hear this, Father... if only it were truly you in that chair."
"What?"
"Loki, did you really think you could get away with playing pretend for the rest of your days? Would not the people begin to wonder?"
Odin grinned a wicked grin, and with a glimmering blur, revealed his true face. The fallen prince, just as Thor had declared.
"I thought you were dead! You let me mourn you a second time. Have you no shame? Truely."
Loki laughed in his face. "Yes, I'm supposed to be dead, and you're supposed to be stupid. What happened there I wonder?"
"Perhaps I have spent too much time with you."
"I see…"
Loki glanced to his side. Trickery had failed him. Escape was all he had.
Thor raised his hammer. "Loki, no. Where is Father?"
Loki bolted forward but Thor lobbed his hammer into him, knocking him back into the throne and pinning him there.
"Where is Odin?" Thor demanded, grabbing Loki by the collar of his coat.
"Alright," he hissed back, "alright. I'll show you."
"You'll tell me. Then you'll return to your cell."
Loki smiled sheepishly. It seemed he would have to be patient a little longer.
"And they agreed to this, Mother? No tricks?"
"The trickster is their god my dear," her mother purred. "Odin and Frigga agreed to the trade a long time ago. After the wars. And now this letter. It seems cousin Frigga was deeply worried about the state of her family before she died. She's kept things from me, she always has. How could she have two sons and no heirs?"
"One of them died. That's what Asta said."
"I've told you not to listen to everything your sister says... you know how she loves to gossip, whether it's true or not. She's little more than a twit that Asta. And if one of Frigga's sons did die, what of the second? For her to write me after so long... she must have been truly distressed. I suppose we won't know the truth of it 'til that old bearded oaf comes clean with it. That castle of theirs is built on nothing but secrets. We simply won't know until we arrive. Try to rest till then, my child."
"And you promise you'll keep up your end of the bargain?" asked the daughter.
"Well, you're here aren't you?"
"I meant to me."
"Yes... I'll keep my word. Now just rest. Close your eyes and rest."
Spring came to Asgard, or as close as Asgard ever came to spring. Flowering trees opened their tiny winking eyes one by one, and shed their petal tears into the breeze. Odin sat on his throne once more, and Loki in his cell. Thor agreed to remain in Asgard until the mourning period for his mother and the others had ended and the reconstruction of the palace was complete. Thor saw very little of his father in these weeks. He was busy planning his journey ahead. Odin had his own hands full. The repairs, the speeches. Dealing with Heimdall. Neither was expecting the watchtower's horn to sound.
The low and guttural blast of the horn blared out across the city like a ripple on the surface of a pond.
Thor looked up from polishing a piece of armor. Odin turned his attention from the hammering of stone masons and the questioning architects. Guards lept into action, tightening ranks near the palace, jumping into boats and ships, to reach the tower and see the cause of the commotion.
It sounded again, and then a third time. All of Asgard held its breath. Another blast meant a fire. A disaster. An attack. But then the horn fell silent. It was not an attack. Thor set aside the armor, a momento from lady Sif and their first battle together, and convened with his father in the throne room.
Thor gave the old king a questioning look, trying to mask his concern. "Father?"
Odin was stone faced and stoic. His own way of masking concern. If Frigga had been there to see them she would have struck them both. Or at the least given them a look that implied it was her wish to do so.
An Einherjar would bring the king news and so Odin and Thor walked out the great doors together to meet him.
After what felt like an eternity, even for an Asgardian, the Einherjar rode up to meet them.
"My king," he puffed, more out of breath than the horse he was astride.
"What is it? Why was the call made?" Odin pressed him. The grip on his spear uneasy.
"My king, we have...guests."
"Guests?"
"From Vanaheim. It is the Queen, Allfather."
Odin rubbed his knuckle with his thumb. His brow creased and his mouth drew up tight, though still turned down at the corners.
Thor looked to his father. "The Queen? Lady Freyja? What purpose would she have to journey here?"
"You cleared the warmongers from Vanaheim did you not?"
"They were all put down, I give my word. And even had they not been thoroughly rooted out, she would send a call, an emissary...Lady Freyja hasn't set foot in Asgard herself since...since grandfather was king. Why would she come now?"
Odin stared out at the gleaming city and hefted a great sigh. "Let us go and see for ourselves my son. And hope it is not more war. I have had my fill of bloodshed in these last few years..."
The soldier cleared his throat."The horses have set them down in the eastern gardens, Allfather," he spoke as he turned over his horse to Thor. A second horse was saddled and brought to Odin, and together they rode over the smooth bridges towards the scent of fresh flowers.
Sure enough, in the eastern gardens there stood the gleaming gold carriage of Freyja. Not the single chariot pulled by her fairy cats, but a carriage, big enough for four. The four unnaturally large horses that had carried it through the bifrost milled about the garden, snacking on bits of leaves and grass. As white as snow they were, with silver wings and golden hooves. Fed only Idun's golden apples, grown in the eternal spring of Vanaheim, these horses obeyed only the valkyries and their queen, Freyja.
Odin and Thor dismounted their own horses and strode into the garden. Thor smiled and cautiously approached one of the winged horses. The creature eyed him warily but gradually submitted to the stroke of his palm.
"I've heard legends of these fjöðurhestur, but I've never seen one in person...such a majestic beast."
Thor stroked the horse's neck, beaming.
"Magnificent aren't they?"
Thor jumped slightly. He hadn't seen the woman standing to his side. Tall and strong, she had hair of flowing gold and eyes as blue as a frost giant's skin. Though Thor knew her to be twice the age of his father, her face was fresh and could almost be considered young. Only the slight beginnings of wrinkles marked her face, and if she had gray hairs, they were too few to see. This too was the work of the golden apples.
She was wrapped in a loose gown of folded white and soft blossom pink. She wore a golden breastplate and ornate bracers. Delicate and intricate, they were clearly for show, but the sword that hung at her hip was very much real. Jewels and precious metals decorated her fingers, neck, and hair, and she wore sandals on her feet rather than boots.
"Lady Freyja," he addressed her, kneeling to her as he would his own father.
Odin gave a curt bow. "Cousin Freyja, it has been such a long time. It is good to see you in such fine health."
Freyja returned with a petit curtsey. "And you, Allfather, still up and about. Asgard is well?"
"Well enough."
"Yes, we heard about the dark elves. Nasty business. We've come to pay our respects to our dearly departed Frigga."
"Your kindness is greatly appreciated," Thor assured her, his head still stooped.
Freyja approached him and lightly pet his head. "You must be the elder child, Thor was it? Stand up and let your old cousin take a look at you."
Thor chuckled, half of amusement, half of nervousness. He kissed her hand before standing to face her.
"Mm, my my, the spitting image of old Bor," she purred, feeling up the muscles of his arm. "So handsome and strong."
Thor blushed slightly and gave another laugh.
"You and Frigga did well with this one. You should be proud of your heir."
Odin almost smiled. "Too proud to say."
"What of the other one? Loki, isn't it? Is he away?" Freyja asked, adjusting a bangle on her wrist.
Thor and Odin exchanged uneasy glances.
"Forgive him his absence Lady Freyja, he is...otherwise indisposed for the time being," Thor answered her.
She frowned. Perhaps it was meant to be concern, but is came across as rather annoyed instead. "Nothing serious I hope? One of my daughters said she had heard a nasty rumor one of your sons had died..."
Odin gave a dismissive wave and a shake of his weary head. "No, nothing quite as serious as all that."
"Ah, well, I am relieved to hear it."
"Do you wish to see Frigga's memorial stone now? I understand you two were very close before she came to Asgard. Or perhaps you'd like to rest. You've had a long journey no doubt." Odin asked the Vanir queen, gesturing towards the palace.
"Yes, we are quite tired, could you bear to share some refreshments with us first?" Freyja asked.
"Us?" Odin asked, eyeing the carriage, with its curtains drawn shut.
"Yes, I've brought some company. Where may we rest?"
Odin turned to an Einherjar standing nearby. "Have the servants prepare rooms for our guests. Wherever is best after the...well, wherever is best. And have food and drink brought to the great room, you know the one. Sweet mead I think. Go," he ordered him.
The Einherjar nodded and jogged off to inform the palace of the kings demands.
"How fares your own family Frayja? Freyr?" Odin asked.
Thor had never met his eccentric second cousin Freyr. Like all the Vanir gods, he was an icon of fertility, youth, and abundance. If Freyja was the mother of witchcraft, it was clear what her brother was the father of. Or rather, what wasn't he the father of...
The Vanir might have lacked the strength of the Asir, but they made up for it in virility, magic, and of course, their great parties.
In his mother's stories, Freyr was the most beloved of the Vanir. A sailor and wanderer, Freyr brought wealth and plenty wherever he visited. His father said he was a womanizer and a drunk who was loose with his coin. Thor hoped they were both a little true.
"He spends most of his time in Alfheim these days, fancies himself king of the elves. I doubt the elves would agree but they don't turn him away," Freyja answered.
Odin nodded. "The children? There are...twelve of them now, if I'm not mistaken."
Freyja smiled and padded off a few steps to admire some flowers. "Sixteen now. Three more sons and a daughter. My sixth grandchild comes soon. Aelga might marry this year as well. All are doing well."
Freyr was not the only fertile one. Freyja was well known for keeping many lovers, and she adopted children often as well. Counting them all, Thor had guessed there might be as many as twenty-seven who held the title of Freyjason or Freyjasdottir. Far more were in the royal family if you counted Freyr's children, who lived in the palace also. Such a branched family tree might have been scandalous in Asgard, or most any other kingdom, but things were different in Vanaheim. Each child, legitimate or not, was cared for, loved, just as a prince. Each one was special to Freyja. The Vanir valued their offspring more than the purity of their bloodline. Thor didn't think that was necessarily such a bad thing, but his father clearly didn't approve. Still, he remained cordial.
Freyja plucked a tiny blossom from a tree and tucked it into her hair, almost absentmindedly.
"Prince Thor, I hear you are to thank for putting a stop to the dark elves. That surely was no small task. I'm impressed, and grateful."
Thor nodded sheepishly. "It was a hard battle, won only thanks to the help of some Midgardians. Loki helped too, I suppose."
Freyja's brow raised. "Midgardians?"
"A brilliant scientist, Jane Foster, and her brave companions." Thor beamed with pride and adoration.
Freyja cast an intrigued eye over him, the nuances of his mood far from lost on her.
"Tell me Freyja, whom is it that you've brought with you? I should like to know."
Her eyes gleamed with new light at his words. "Oh, one of my kin. And handmaids of course. To tell any more would ruin the surprise. Shall we move on?"
Odin stared at her with distrust. The Vanir were sneaky, tricky little things. This was how the wars between the gods had lasted so long. To trust their queen so fully would be ill advised at best.
Then he merely nodded and climbed onto his horse once again. Thor stood watching the fjöðurhestur returning to their harnesses, without so much as a single command from their queen. No driver held their reins, they simply knew the way.
One bobbed its head and stamped the ground impatiently, another whinnied and flapped it's great muscular wings. He would very much so like to see them fly. But they were tired, and Asgard had fine roads. They walked by him instead.
On his own horse, Thor rode behind the carriage. There was a window here as well, thin and high, not so easily seen into but it had no curtain covering it. Thor could just make out the curve of a head, but little else. Once, he almost thought he saw an face peering back at him, but it moved away so quickly he could not be sure.
The great room was round, a grand fire pit roared in the center. Tables, chairs, couches and fur piles were prepared for relaxing. A spread of cheese, roasted meats, fresh fruits, and bread was at disposal, and chilled wine and mead stood by the pitcher.
"Your builders certainly like these circular rooms don't they?" Freyja asked Odin before taking a sip of mead.
"Not as much as they love the columns," Thor joked.
"Is there any advantage to circles? Structurally, I mean? I'm curious now."
Thor shrugged before tipping back a mug of ale himself. "I'm not sure, but maybe I'll get around to finding out sometime."
A potentially tipsy Freyja cackled with laughter on the plush sofa. "Oh Odin, you've always been such a stiff, but I've stayed away too long! I've actually missed Asgard. It's a pity I hadn't come sooner to see sweet Frigga. But, when you live as we do, you always feel you have so much more time…"
"And then, you do not," Odin finished, lifting his glass. "To Frigga."
"To Asgard," Freyja countered with a gentle smile.
"To the gods," Thor said with a smirk.
They drank.
"Will your companion be joining us?" Odin asked Freyja. "Are they not hungry? Thirsty?"
Freyja twirlled a curl around her finger. "About that. Seems I've bided my time long enough…"
Odin glared at her. "What are you up to Freyja?"
"Saying goodbye to Frigga was not my only reason for visiting. We have something we must discuss, you and I. We will need to speak somewhere more private. And you will want both of your sons present."
Thor slowly lowered his glass onto the squat stone table in front of him. "As I explained Lady Freyja, Loki is-"
"Indisposed, yes, I heard you. But if he is not dead, you will want him there. This is a matter of dire consequence for your kingdom, and mine."
"Very well," Odin growled. "We can speak in the war room."
Freyja stood first and waved her handmaid away, presumably to fetch her mystery companion, then lazily swayed out of the room. Odin stood to follow but Thor held his arm.
"Father, what is it that Freyja has to say? You know something, I can see it in your eyes."
"I'm not certain," he mumbled. "Freyja is a tricky one. She can be a real snake in the grass, like your brother...and the Asir and Vanir have never truly gotten over the war. Tends to make things difficult between us. I can't say what she might try. Go and keep her company. I'll have the guards secure Loki."
"You're really going to let him parade about infront of our guests? We can't possibly hope to trust him to behave…let alone not to kill one of them."
Odin grunted. "No, we can not. But what choice do we have? I know Freyja. I have done battle with her...I know her games. If she has set her mind on this sure enough to travel this far, she won't be giving it up so easily. And I am too old for another war. "
Thor nodded knowingly and gave his father an affectionate pat on the shoulder before following Freyja to the war room.
The war room was not round. There was no cheery fire at its center. There were no platters of delicious treats. Stark and dim, and grave, this room had been built by and for war. There was a table in the room, a stone oval, on which would normally sit battle plans or war reports. Currently, however, it was strewn with architectural drawings for the repairs to the throne room. Nine gray marble columns, as thick and as tall as trees, encircled the table. One for each of the realms. On the ceiling, suspended in stars, Yggdrasil's painted roots and branches reached out and encircled each one. Odin could have had it painted with Asgard's many victories, but there was no need for a reminder of blood and death in a war room. Thor imagined the war councils might look up at the ceiling and, instead, be reminded of what they were fighting for. He hoped they did anyways.
Freyja sat under the Vanaheim pillar, fidgeting with a kris dagger taken from a nearby display. No one had sat in that seat since Hogun's great uncle had negotiated the last bill of reparations between Vanaheim and Asgard. She was alone. No secret traveling companion or handmaiden in tow.
Thor searched the room, perplexed, before taking his usual seat, the right hand of the Allfather. "Lady Freyja?"
Freyja smiled and tapped a finger to her lips. "Patience dear boy, all good things come to those who wait. And all things in their time. Besides, I love a good surprise, don't you?"
"I might, but my father-"
"Oh forget the old man, this is too exciting!" she tittered like a woman half her age.
Thor shook his head but dropped the matter. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence the heavy metal doors clattered open and Odin appeared. Six soldiers followed him, in two neat little rows. In the center of all of them was Loki, chained and shackled, and looking as pleased as could be. His shirt was rumpled, one sleeve pushed up to the bend of his arm and the other sagging down. His trousers were torn at one knee and his hair had been haphazardly tied back to hide it's true state of filth. At the very least his face had been washed clean. And though he was playing up his delight in being out of his cell, if only for a short while, Thor saw in him a haggeredness he had not expected. He looked so tired. Something behind his eyes had aged a hundred years in a few short weeks. But of course, what did he expect. Loki was wild, and what happens to a wild animal in a cage?
Loki's face fell for a moment. "Oh...no one told me we had guests. Well now I'm embarrassed."
Freyja oogled the spectacle before her with her mouth nearly agape. She was so surprised by the sight she stood from her chair with the kris in her lap. It clanged to the floor and the sound carried all the way to the domed ceiling over the silence.
"I see," she said at last. "This is what you meant by...indisposed. We hadn't heard that one of your sons had been...jailed."
Odin's expression was bitter, one of shame. "Loki has...been up to no good of late. More so than usual. He has gravely misstepped his bounds, and so he is now a prisoner of Asgard."
Loki gave a hoarse laugh. "A misstep? Is that what we call treason these days? Forgive me if I'm out of touch, living in a dungeon will do that to you, you know."
"Loki, mind your tongue in front of our guest," Odin snapped, the grip on his spear tightening.
He wanted to spit in the old man's face.
"You're the one disrespecting her by trying to lie to her. Lady Freyja is far more clever than any of you. Who do you think mother learnt it from? Do you honestly think she would believe a 'misstep' would end a prince in the dungeons?" he fired back.
"You will mind your tongue or we will mind it for you," Odin demanded, moving towards his seat at the head of the table. "The choice is yours."
"As you command Allfather." Loki performed a deep mock bow and snickered to himself before being pushed forward by one of his guards.
He was made to stand to Odin's left. The guards remained. He made no attempt to look at Thor, and Thor made every attempt to pretend he was not looking at him.
I don't need your pity, fool.
Freyja slowly sunk back into her seat, as if the last 2,000 years of her life had hit her all at once. This had certainly seemed to take the wind from her sails.
"Well then," she murmured, touching her fingers to her lips. "That certainly does make things more...interesting to say the least…"
"Lovely to see you again cousin Freyja," Loki cajoled, giving her his most impish of smiles.
Freyja, always a picture of dignity, smiled and waved to him. "Hello dear."
"I have brought him, what is left of my family is here. Now will you tell us why you have come?" Odin implored, slouching back into his chair.
Delight flickered over Freyja's face, but only momentarily. Loki doubted anyone else had seen it before it was coated over with a mask of pensive reflection.
"I told you that we came to pay our respects to Frigga, and that was no lie, but my dear friend's death has brought me here for another reason aw well."
Odin coughed. "None of your speeches Freyja, we are not your public."
Freyja cast an icy glare in his direction. "Frigga wrote to me, some few days before her death. She sent a courier with the party that rounded up the last band of marauders in my lands. Let me read it to you Allfather, so that you may be stunned as I was."
The letter read:
Dearest Freyja,
I hope my letter finds you well. I hear that the riots in our homeland were not as flamed as they were in other realms, and for that I am thankful.
Trying times visit Asgard of late. My husband is recovered, but for how long, I can not say. I fear this last sleep has taken more of him than we know. My sons have both returned to me, but in what state? My eldest loves one whom he can not keep, and the younger loves not but for power. It is my deepest fear that disaster is upon our kingdom.
I fear for my family, but these are matters which I must deal with as a wife and a mother. My strength must be my own. But greater is my fear for my people, for Asgard. I fear, that at current status, we have no heir to fill the role of king. And I fear we shall soon need one. You know my feelings well dear friend. It is rare a Vanir is wrong about such feelings.
Come to Asgard, let us review the contract. I need to know that it is in place should my fears become reality.
All my love,
Your Frigga
Odin stared at the back of the parchment clutched in Freyja's hand with such intensity, one might have thought his heart had stopped. He spoke not a word.
"Father," Thor beseeched him, "what is this contract she speaks of?"
But still he did not speak. He held out his hand and a guard collected the letter from Freyja and delivered it into his palm. He read over it slowly, then again, before gently tossing it onto the table. Thor had not seen his father in such shock since he first learned of Loki's betrayal.
"A long time ago, when Odin was young and the wars between us were growing old, I gave him his bride Frigga. She was my most trusted and beloved friend, and had she asked I gladly would have gone to war again to keep her home in Vanaheim. But she wished for peace, and I suppose even then some part of her loved him. So I let her go. A union of Asir and Vanir blood, the promise of an Allfather who bore both bloodlines, this would at last solidify the peace between us."
Freyja paced the room as she spoke, around the table one way, then back around the other.
"However, some years passed and they had not produced an heir. Frigga wrote to me, troubled, asking for advice. Of course, I passed on my knowledge but her anxieties would not pass. Eventually, we came up with a plan. A concordat of sorts."
"That was a long time ago Freyja, we had our child," Odin spoke, his voice muffled by his doubts.
"Frigga made me swear, that if she was unable to birth an heir, I would grant her a child of my own to take the role. If it meant preserving the peace of the nine realms, she did not mind lying to the people. But Odin was uneasy with these terms and so the deal was worked and reworked, until the contract suited all parties as best as it was able."
Thor stood from his seat, more out of confusion than outrage. "My father is right, Frigga had children, why bring this contract up now?"
Freyja smiled, almost sadly. "Because I fully believe that according to this letter, It was Frigga's last wish to enact the contract."
Loki bit the inside of his lip to keep from grinning too wide.
Now this is interesting...
"But Asgard has an heir, how can you hope to install a child of your own upon the throne?" Thor asked, his frustration growing.
"She does not," Odin answered, his eyes still glued to the letter. "Not directly."
"More importantly," Loki spoke up, "why am I here? You've made it abundantly clear that matters of the throne no longer concern me."
Nothing of Asgard concerns me any longer at all.
"Pay attention and you just might figure it out," Freyja scolded him.
She pulled the wilting flower from her hair and tossed in onto the table. "The contract covered several angles to the predicament, including this one."
She withdrew a thick rolled scroll from the folds of her gown, unrolled it, and read aloud.
"And finally, if the ruling parties of either family have produced an heir that has been deemed unfit to rule, or in the event of abdication, the aiding party shall intercede, by granting a suitable child of their own to serve as consort."
She laid the scroll down on the table and turned to face Odin and his sons head on once again.
"Of course the contract goes into far more detail, but all you really need to know is that your mother, father, and I all agreed that if there ever came a day that a suitable heir could not be found for Asgard or Vanaheim, the other would provide one through legal clauses. A consort. In other words, this is a marriage contract."
Thor laughed. "You can't be serious."
"Oh, congratulations brother!" Loki teased. "When is the ceremony?"
"I assure you I am serious. I gave Frigga my word to protect the future of her kingdom. This is the method we agreed upon. By marrying into your blood, my daughter would be recognized as queen here, and under Odin's guidance, for as long as he is able to grant it, she can exercise as ruler until such a time that one of the rightful heirs can step up and take the job, or their own future child comes of age."
Thor turned to his father. "Surely she can't do this, Asgard has a king!"
"Yes, a king who foolishly agreed to this contract. A king who is old and dying. The deal is ironclad, the word of one ruler to another is not so easily broken. Yes, she can do this, because I gave her my permission."
Loki shook himself in his chains. "So, you intend to turn the throne over to outsiders? Just like that? After all the guff you gave me?"
Loki shook his head and laughed. "I don't believe this. I do not believe this."
"I have no choice!" Odin yelled. "I gave my word...to break this agreement would mean war."
"Then we go to war!" Loki hissed.
Odin merely shook his head. "With the nine realms in chaos as they are, I fear this would most certainly be a war we would not win. And what's more, I agree with her."
"What?" Both Thor and Loki shouted to their father.
"This contract was how we agreed to handle this sort of situation should it ever arise. And I too believe it was Frigga's wish. The peace of the nine realms is more important. It's what she died for…"
Odin stood from his seat and Freyja ceased her wandering.
"Unless Thor chooses not to abdicate the throne to protect midgard as he had planned, we must enact the concordat."
Thor leant closer to his father, as if being able to see his face better would help the Allfather's straining eyes to see reason. "Father, I can't do that...if there truly are other weapons out there like the Aether, then you know just how dangerous they are. Asgard is supposed to protect the nine realms, all of them, and I can't do that if I'm here watching over Asgard in times of peace. I must go, father."
Odin nodded. "I know you feel this to be true my son…I know"
Freyja laughed. "So you wait a few more weeks, get married, smile for all the simple little people, and then you announce your little mission or what have you and you're off. What's the fuss with that?"
"If only it could be so simple Lady Freyja, but my brother loves another," Loki announced with a smirk.
The crown would be wasted on his empty head anyways.
"The mortal, this Jane Foster. Obviously." Freyja mused, sitting on the stone table and meticulously adjusting the hem of her gown. "What has love to do with it anyways? This is politics my dear boy."
Thor choked on his breath. "I-That is-"
"Would someone please explain to me what in the name of Surtur I am doing here?" Loki demanded, straining against his chains.
Calling me here for this, as if my thoughts on the matter counted for anything. As if I have a say.
"Because explaining the agreement twice would be tiresome," answered Freyja
Loki cocked his head to the side. "I'm afraid I don't follow."
"A daughter of my choosing has been brought here to marry a prince of Asgard. Never did I say it had to be the eldest son."
Loki erupted into laughter. "In case you haven't noticed Lady Freyja, I'm not exactly in a position that lends itself to courting."
"Would you like to be?" she asked him.
Loki's body stiffened. The guards stiffened. Thor and Odin exchanged uneasy glances.
"You have my attention…"
Freyja unrolled the contract, batting it down the table. "There are so many clauses here, so many stipulations, we have leverage. I'm a queen Loki, a queen with a realm all my own. Marry my daughter and I can promise you a reprieve. You may not get the throne of Asgard, but you can have a free life on Vanaheim, as easy as you please."
"What?" Loki tried to keep the tremble from his voice, but he was confident he hadn't succeeded.
"You heard me."
"Can she do that?" Thor asked his father.
Odin hung his head. "If he were to marry the princess, she could have him extradited to Vanaheim under the guise of having a familial obligation to perform. An heir to provide. After that, it would no longer be in our hands…"
Loki wound the thick links of chain around his palm. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. A couple of hollow vows and he was a free man. Could it really be that simple?
No, there's something more here. What are you playing at Freyja?
"So we would be...trading places. I go back to Vanaheim, I go free, and she remains here, a prisoner of Asgard?" he asked her.
I'll root this out one way or another, old woman.
"Queen of Asgard," Thor corrected him. "She would be queen."
"What difference would that make?" Loki spit back. "She would still be trapped here, no doubt against her will. A queen thrown to the dogs is still only a queen of dogs. But that's her problem isn't it? Afterall, she volunteered didn't she?"
Thor leant over the table towards him. "Loki, think about this. Please."
Hot anger burned in Thor's eyes but Loki ignored it.
As if you'd do any different in my shoes, brother.
Freyja stood and walked back to her seat under the pillar of Vanaheim. "Oh, you should both think about it. Thor, security for your people, and a throne always waiting for you should you like to take it. Loki, a new chance at a new life, freedom to go where you want, live as you please."
Loki scowled at Freyja."Then you intend to make us compete for her? Sorry, but I've been competing with Thor my entire life, and it hasn't gotten me anywhere so far. Congratulations brother, hope you don't expect much in the way of a wedding gift."
Loki turned to leave. "Take me back to my cell," he muttered to the guard. "This was a waste of my time."
Freyja cackled with laughter. "Who in the heavens told you it was yours to decide, boy?"
Loki paused, but wasn't interested enough to turn around to face the old queen.
"I asked my daughters for a volunteer to marry one of the princes from Asgard. Sylvi, my eldest, the strongest of my valkyries declared that her kingdom needed her at their defense. Alfhild, free spirited and talented at nearly all she attempts, turned down the offer, saying being queen would tie her down. Ragna, my most wise also turned you away. She claimed that Asgard was more trouble than it was worth and that the valkyries needed her to orchestrate their defenses. I thought with certainty that Nanna, a born diplomat, would like to personally see the matter resolved...but she claimed that she could never love another kingdom as much as she loved her own, and this would cloud her judgment. I'm running out of daughters. I'm running out of patience."
Freyja was on her feet again, pacing the table again, like a cat ready to strike.
"Asta, young and empty headed, but beautiful beyond compare, I thought, what objection could she possibly have for turning down the role of queen. She says she is too young and beautiful to marry yet, she would be wasted on a single man. She also feared you might be ugly. I told her I knew not. Last I asked Oydis. A middle child, perfectly plain, but level headed and not dull. She would be a good wife, and in time, even a good queen. But even my most practical daughter refused the offer. She said, of all things if you can believe it, that she wished to marry for love. And though I find it silly, a mother is weak in such ways to her children. And so it fell at last to this child. She made no bargains, no inquiries, she swore to fill the role of bride but for one thing. She wanted to meet you, and choose for herself who she would marry."
Freyja moved for the far doors, decidedly, pointedly. As if she had been rehearsing it in her head.
"So now, won't you at least meet your future queen?"
Loki sighed and turned back to face the room. "What say you, brother? Shall we see what barrel Freyja has scraped the bottom of for your bride to be?"
Thor didn't answer.
Oh come now, would it kill you to indulge me at least a grin? It's not as if I have many chances for jokes these days.
Odin stood and straightened to his full height. "We shall receive her, to turn her away would be unkind and rude."
Thor looked between his Father and the foreign queen in disbelief.
"Send her in," Freyja called towards the curtained doorway.
"Wait." Odin barked. "Wait. Unchain him."
Thor visibly flinched at the words. "Father, are you mad?"
Loki's eyes widened in surprise.
Yes, are you mad?
Odin waved him aside. "Unchain him just so he may greet the princess properly. It would not do to embarass her this way. You can bind him again afterwards."
"Yes Allfather," replied the guard as he fumbled with the key.
The chains clattered to the floor and the guard scooped them up and deposited them out of sight. A wicked, look crossed Loki's face. Rage burned high in his chest.
"Don't even try it," Thor warned him.
Loki was about to respond when the curtain moved and the a young woman entered the room.
The sight of her was breathtaking. Not because she was beautiful, though she may have been, but because the scene was so entirely grim.
She wore a gown of pale blue, white, and silver. What little light the room had to offer was caught and reflected from the countless crystals that adorned her, and though it was bright, it was joyless. Her face was hidden behind a veil of white, held aloft by a large crown like cap. Her hair, long and filled with intricate and ornate braids, also appeared to be white. She walked slowly, gracefully, but not tall. She bowed her head and cast her eyes low, like some sort of cloistered sister or mourning widow. Only her well manicured fingertips peeked out from her long sleeves. She lifted her gown only enough to reveal the tips of her silver slippers. Aside from that, nothing of her was visible.
Thor glanced at Loki, but Loki pretended to be too busy trying to make himself more presentable.
Veils weren't common in Vanaheim or Asgard, even at weddings. This was strange, and slightly disconcerting at the least.
Well this should be fun. Did Freyja have an ugly daughter? I'd never heard she had.
The princess was flanked by the two handmaidens. Both wore dresses of navy, but both were far whiter than the veiled figure trailing behind them. All the color had run from their faces, and they were undeniably trembling. That wasn't entirely unheard of for those meeting the Allfather for the first time, but their nervous glances behind indicated a different source for their fear.
Loki watched them with intrigue.
What has them so nervous then? The queen? Or her bairn?
He hardly thought either intimidating.
A chilly blast of air followed them inside through the open door.
"Your Highness," Freyja announced, "allow me to present my daughter Frostine, fifth princess of Vanaheim."
The demure figure gave them a deep curtsy, bowing so low Loki was certain her crown would come tumbling off like a head rolling from the chopping block. When she raised up again her eyes caught his through the lace of her veil. As pale as icicles and just as sharp, but he could see little else.
Odin bowed his head ever so slightly. "A pleasure Lady Frostine. I bid you welcome to Asgard."
"Thank you, Allfather," the girl breathed out. Her voice was thin and brittle, like glass, but not innately unpleasant. She was nervous. Strained.
She's weak. You can smell it on her. She won't last as any kind of queen.
"These are my sons, Thor, the eldest, and Loki, the younger."
Thor smiled at the obscured girl and gave her a deep bow. "Frostine, that's an...unusual name. Welcome to Asgard. If you'd like a tour I would be more than happy to show you around."
Loki sneered at him.
There he goes, turning on his oafish charms already.
She curtseyed in return. "Thank you, your highness, I am very eager to see Asgard. I've read a great deal on your history. And, if you please, you may simply call me Frost, your highness."
Her voice was more pleasant now. Clearer, bell like, crystalline even. So much like a delicate finger on the rim of a glass creating a sweet unexpected resonance.
"Frost then. And you may call me Thor." Thor smiled brighter and stooped to take her hand for a kiss.
Upon touching her however, Thor flinched away.
"Princess," he gasped, "your hands are like ice. Should we move somewhere warmer?"
She shook her head, sending the ornaments of her crown, hair, and earrings tinkling against one another. "No, I'm quite alright. Thank you," she whispered, withdrawing her hand.
Thor nodded and seemingly unsure of what to say, he stepped back.
My turn is it? Very well then.
"Forgive my appearance Princess, I was not informed we had guests," Loki muttered, giving his most princely bow.
Pray I don't smell as bad as I look.
A third curtsy, eyes still to the ground. "Such things are beyond us at times your highness. It is a pleasure all the same."
Well, she's certainly a polite little paper doll Freyja. But I'm not so easily taken in.
Loki also took up her hand, but unlike his brother, he followed through with the kiss to her frozen white skin. He found her eyes again, and then strangely, he saw his breath caught in the air.
Suddenly there was a wave of immense pressure in the room, and then a crack like thunder. A swirling blast of bitter cold air shook Loki and searing cold shot up his fingertips. He jerked away instinctually but it was too late. His illusion had been dispelled and the true color of his skin crept through, up his arm and briefly ghosted over his face.
"What-what was that?" he hissed.
Did she just attack me?
"I could ask you the same," called Freyja, storming closer to her daughter. "Explain this at once!"
"I'm sorry," the princess whimpered. "I didn't mean to...it just slipped out."
Loki rubbed his wrist, the usual pale flesh color slowly returning. "Slipped out?"
Freyja's lips pursed tight. "It seems we both have some explaining to do."
"You first," Loki growled.
Freyja turned sharply on her heel, tapping her fingers together while she chose her words.
"Frostine is not strictly of Vanaheim," she finally announced.
One of your adopted children then? No surprise there.
"She is my daughter, true, but her father was of Alfheim. One with a fair amount of the old blood. She was my attempt at increasing my children's capacity for magic. She was a resounding success in that regard, however…"
She looked to her daughter expectantly.
"Except," spoke the princess, her voice scarcely above a whisper, "that I have almost no control over my magic. I've become quite skilled at suppressing it but...sometimes, my hold over it slips."
Freyja sighed. "My greatest shame. The elf had a wife, a jealous one, and she plotted vengeance against me. Only, it was Frostine who paid the price. They cursed her. They were unable to strip her of her magic, so instead they corrupted it. They froze her heart and twisted her magic into something cold and dark. They made her useless to me."
Cold and dark. We have more in common than I thought…
"Vanaheim is delicate, it is always spring there and because of this, she is dangerous to her people. I want her removed. This is the true reason I have offered her to you. She poses no threat to your cold mountains. This is best for everyone."
Loki laughed "Cursed? And you expect us to take her off your hands? Are you mad?"
"I'm doing you a favor, giving you one of my precious daughters, ensuring the future of your kingdom. She is intelligent, possibly the most clever of my children. She is loyal, there is no doubt she will protect Asgard always. She is compliant, she'll make for an obedient wife. I've even heard her called beautiful for an elf. The curse on her is practically null in your realm. It's more than a fair trade. And Asgard is no stranger to secrets. I'm curious to hear yours, Prince.
Loki gave her a rueful smile. "It's precisely as you fear my queen."
Freyja glared at him.
"What? You'd marry your daughter off to a traitor and a prisoner, but a frost giant is a step too far?" he mocked her.
"Then you are not Frigga's son." The queen's voice was cold and hard.
Loki shrugged. "Nor Odin's, but a prince of Asgard all the same by their count. Isn't life strange?"
The princess quivered and stepped closer to her mother. "A traitor? Mother what does he mean?"
"Don't worry about it now Frostine. You don't have to marry him. Even I'm not that cruel."
"I don't understand, he is a prince isn't he?"
"He is my son, and by law, a prince of Asgard," Odin told the princess. "But like so many of your own children Freyja, he has been adopted into this family. He was the son of Laufey, but it no longer matters. He is my son."
Frost stepped forwards, out of her mother's shadow. "So marrying him would still fulfill the concordat?"
Odin nodded slightly. Slowly. "As far as Asgard is concerned, yes…"
"If it is for the peace of the nine realms, I have no objections."
Freyja gazed quizzically at her daughter. "Are you certain Frostine? We could write him out, you don't have to-"
"You promised me the choice was mine, mother. Now let me make it myself." A burst of cold air swirled through the room as Frost's voice rose.
"Very well child. Make your marriage bed, so long as you lie in it."
She can't be serious. She'd still marry a frost giant? Liar. Saving face, trying to look oh so pure hearted for the "good" brother. And the fool will fall for it, no doubt. Pathetic. They deserve each other.
Loki's anger boiled in him, rolling in his stomach like a sea of fire.
"Well then Allfather, will you keep the accord? Your son for my daughter?"
"It would mean war otherwise?" the weary king asked.
"I would have no choice. The concordat is clear. Breaking it would mean reparations, reparations that you can not pay as you are recovering from hardship. We are both bound by it. But I know Frigga would not wish us to fight. I would like to honor her memory, if possible."
"Then we have no choice. I will uphold our end of the agreement. One of my sons will marry your daughter."
"And my daughter may choose?" Freyja asked.
"An impossible choice, a husband who loves another or a husband who loves only power, but she is free to make it all the same."
I wouldn't marry her if she begged me on bended knee. And war with Vanaheim might be my ticket out of here, so I had best see to it Thor denies her also. Difficult from the dungeons but not necessarily impossible.
Loki smiled, a smile no one saw.
"Father, we can't!" Thor pleaded.
"We must! Do you think I do not know this is not good for Asgard? I know! But who is to blame? What would you have me do? This is the best we can do. This is all we can do, for Asgard."
Odin strode towards Freyja and offered his hand. "Asgard will honor the concordat."
Freyja shook his hand, making no efforts to hide her delight. The deal was struck. Asgard's fate, sealed.