"Father's breath gave out while he was in the Odinsleep. I am now King." Thor says to Loki as he stands outside the man's prison cell. Loki had technically died during the fight with Maliketh on Svartleheim, but Odin's men found his body and brought him back to Asgard where Lady Eir was able to revive him. Loki has spent the last ten years sitting in this cell wondering why he'd bothered reviving him only to stick him in here to rot.
"And you've come to rub it in my face have you?"
"No Loki. I've come to free you at long last." Thor waves his hand and just like that the barrier is gone. Loki is so surprised that he doesn't move for moment, thinking he must be dreaming. Without Frigga to come down and keep him company the last ten years have been incredibly lonely. For a while Loki went mad from the solitary confinement. That was when Thor started paying him visits and little by little Loki started coming back around.
Loki steps tentatively towards the edge of the cell and after reaching out and testing the air, jumps down from the ledge. Relief washes over Loki. Odin is finally gone and Thor, the one person left in all the universe for which he feels love has forgiven him and granted him leniency. It is for Thor that Loki feels remorse for his past actions, and it is for Thor that Loki will make an effort to start over. The men embrace one another and smile.
"When did he die?" Loki asks. For all his anger towards Odin, for all the lies and favoritism, in spite of all the bitterness and dysfunction Loki still loved the man. He was his father, and now he is gone.
"A week ago. My coronation was yesterday."
"Afraid to invite me to the festivities?"
"Yes." Thor says honestly. Loki smiles at that.
"Come brother, there is much I have not told you." Thor says.
"Ah yes, I have noticed that you never share any personal news with me, only the goings on of Asgard. Are you wed as well as crowned now?"
"Widowed, actually." Thor says quietly. Loki stops in his tracks.
"The mortal. How did she die?" Loki asks.
"In child birth nine years ago."
"But that is only a year after the Alignment. You only had her for a year." Loki says.
"You warned me. You warned that I would not be ready and how right you were. I would have succumbed completely to my melancholy were it not for my daughter."
"The child survived? What did you name her?"
"Erica. She looks so much like Jane Loki. It breaks my heart to look at her."
"So, this half mortal child is your heir? I imagine the people of Asgard do not take too kindly to that." Loki muses having experienced Asgard's bigotry and racism first hand.
"There are some that look down upon her, tis true, but I believe that issue will resolve once I give her an apple at her coming of age ceremony." Thor says. Loki has his doubts but he lets go of the issue for now. Right now what he really wants is to go outside and feel the sun and wind upon his face.
"Do the people know you are freeing me?" Loki asks.
"Not exactly. The servants know. I've had them in your old rooms, cleaning and dusting to prepare for your return. Your appearance at the feast tonight will make quite the splash." Loki's mouth waters at the prospect of eating something other than meager prison rations and stale water. It has been too long since he has enjoyed the simplest pleasures in life. It is but one more reason why he is eager not to return to his prison cell.
The palace guards watch nervously as their King escorts Loki out of the dungeons back towards the royal wing. Loki's clothes are rags now after ten years of constant wear. His hair is long, down to his ass and curly like the ringlets on a porcelain doll. Loki has always had curly hair, which he hates. In his youth he straightened it daily and kept it short. He thinks it looks bushy, but it is the kind of hair most women covet.
When they reach his old rooms and enter Loki has to stifle a tear. His chambers look so foreign to him now, like they belonged to another person that died a long time ago. All traces of his scent and personal colognes and perfumes are gone. The scent of cleaning solution sits heavy in the air. It feels like a guest room at first, until Loki lays his eyes on several personal items of great meaning.
"I remember this. Mother made this for me for my name day a few months before your coronation." Loki sniffs the beautiful green and silver quilt hoping it still smells of Frigga. It smells of dust mites. There is an outfit laid out on Loki's bed, freshly cleaned.
"The feast is in about an hour. Go and bathe, have one of the servants cut your hair. Enjoy a good soak in a tub full of hot sweet scented water."
"Do I smell that bad?" Loki asks his brother with embarrassment. Thor clears his throat.
"You've smelled worse, on the battlefield at the end of a long campaign. We've all been there."
"Not prison." Loki cringes. Thor smiles warmly at that.
"I'll see you in an hour."
XxXxXxXxXx
Loki stands outside his chamber door nervously, waiting for Thor to escort him to the feasting hall. He doesn't dare try to walk there himself. He's afraid some uninformed palace guard may try to tackle him and shove him back in the cell…or kill him outright. He fiddles with his sleeve, unaccustomed to wearing something different. A door a few feet from his opens and a palace servant and a young girl exit the chambers opposite his. Loki recognizes the servant. She was one of Frigga's handmaids, Kelda…something or other. Loki's heart stops cold when he lays eyes upon the child. She is the spitting image of her mother save for the eyes, which are Thor's brilliant cerulean blue. Against the backdrop of light brown skin and mousy brown hair, her eyes are piercing and Loki feels like the child can see his soul. The tiny little mole above her lip makes her look exotic. Her bright blue dress was obviously dyed to match her amazing eyes. No wonder it hurts Thor to look at her.
"You're my uncle aren't you?" The little girl says to him.
"You must be my niece. Erica yes?"
"Yes. Are you going to kill my Papa?" Kelda swoops in and chides the girl for asking such a rude question, but Loki just chuckles. "Everybody says that Papa shouldn't let you out and that you want to be King. They say you can't be trusted and that you're a liar. Is that true?" Loki kneels down to speak to the girl then.
"Asking me if it's true if I am a liar is a bit of a paradox. If I am a liar I'll lie about being a liar, but if I'm not a liar I'll say I'm not a liar. Either way you'll get the same answer from me."
"Then how do I know if you're telling the truth?"
"You'd have to trust me." Loki says with a wide cat grin. The girl eyes her uncle skeptically then.
"I don't think I should." She says.
"Then you are already smarter than your father."
"Ah! I see you have already been introduced!" Thor yells as he approaches his family.
"Papa!" Erica cries as she runs and leaps into Thor's arms. The last several days have been so busy with the funeral of her grandfather and Thor's coronation. With all the ceremonies, trade negotiations, meetings, and other political duties Thor has had very little time to spend with his daughter. Unfortunately, this is nothing new. Thor is always gone, be it fighting off a rebellion or invasion, or to perform other duties his title requires. Erica has found her care largely entrusted to Kelda, whom she considers to be her mother.
"Come let us hurry to the feasting hall. I wish to celebrate the reunion of my family."
The group walks together down the hall, and as they get close Loki can hear the sounds of celebration. The scent of roasted meat hangs in the air. Loki can almost taste the mead and the ale. Upon entering the doorway all talking ends abruptly as the eyes of hundreds of people follow Loki up to the high table, where he sits next to his brother Thor.
"My friends, my people…I have decided after much consideration to commute Loki's sentence and free him from his prison cell. For his act of redemption during the Alignment ten years ago, and assisting me in saving the nine realms from blackness and death, Loki is forgiven. Tonight, we honor his return to Asgardian society and to his place within my family. Let us celebrate his return, for it has long been missed by the royal family." Thor lifts his drink in toast before downing his goblets contents. The people cheer for their King and his happiness, if not for Loki.
People resume eating, though the topic of conversation has shifted. Loki looks out to dozens of eyes that peer back at him in fear and suspicion. The long road back will not be an easy one. To his left he can hear Erica chattering away at Thor about her dress, and her history lessons, and her favorite dolly. A large busted servant comes to the high table to fill his cup with ale. Her low cut bodice barely conceals her hard nipples. Loki locks eyes with her. He has an itch he has not scratched in a decade.