A/N: This little idea grabbed hold of me today and I just kind of threw it out there. I don't think it turned out quite as I had hoped, but some parts better and some parts worse. I blame BBC's The Hollow Crown clip for this. I haven't had a chance to watch it in full (if anyone knows how I can get my hands on it, for heaven's sake, please tell me!) but I'm madly in love with Tom Hiddleston as Prince Hal. Or just madly in love with Tom Hiddleston. I think the latter may be true as well, but so is the first. Anyway, I don't want to spoil the fic, so I'll discuss this more in full at the end. Until then, enjoy!
Expectations
Odin had grown wise to many of their escape routs, his anger growing with each time his elusive sons found a new exit from the parameters set for them. They were princes of Asgard, he said, and they should know their place. They were not yet adults, therefore should not risk the future of the kingdom - as not one, but both always made an adventure of it outside of the palace walls – by such foolish actions. He had overlooked it at first when they were very young and the furthest they managed were hills just beyond their limits. The hills were safe enough, with armed guards able to see them at all times, and it gave them the illusion of freedom, but as they had grown so had their curiosity. The great Allfather's sons should not and would not be found roaming the streets as common youths if he had any say in it.
After their last trip outside the walls their father had limited them to the inner sections of the palace. Their chambers, the dining halls, the libraries, and a couple of private training areas were all that were at the princes' disposals for an undetermined amount of time. Guards stood at their posts with Halvor – a young guard, rising in the rank and certainly making a name for himself – heading up what had become a project of keeping the youths contained. It was difficult to move even within their contained area without alerting someone of their whereabouts.
That was why Loki was somewhat surprised when he heard the outer door to his chambers open and Thor's footsteps fall lighter than usual against rugs. He didn't bother to look up from the book that was propped up in his lap, but waited until the elder prince cleared his throat. "Aren't you coming?"
"Where to? I thought we were on complete lockdown," Loki answered easily, flipping a page.
Thor sighed and plucked it from his hands. "That's where you come in."
One dark eyebrow quirked upward. "How so?"
The blond frowned. "Oh… You do that thing you do, and we get out," he mumbled, waving his hand in a manner that told his younger brother he was trying to seem disinterested in it.
"That thing I do?" Loki questioned with a knowing smile. "Pray tell, brother, but what is 'that thing'?"
Thor snorted.
"Oh, I'm sorry, do you mean my 'trickery'? Do you mean my 'useless fabrications that are a poor stand-in for actual combat'? Or perhaps-"
"I get your point," Thor snapped.
"Do you? Is that what you're asking for, then? Is that 'my thing'?"
"So I'll admit that I might have found some use for it."
"A little louder, please, I don't believe I heard that."
"Any louder and the guards will hear."
"They won't hear a word. I have a spell on the room that keeps all sounds locked inside. You could scream out and they'd never hear from out there."
Thor growled lowly and plopped down so that he could look his brother in the eye. "I need air."
"I believe Mother's gardens are still within the parameter."
"Are they?"
"They are for me." The trickster grinned as irritation flooded his elder brother's features. "Oh, do cheer up, Thor, I understand what you mean. I've been a bit restless myself lately. Did you have something in particular in mind?"
"I hear talk from the warriors of a tavern on the outskirts of town that has everything one could wish for: the finest mead, the prettiest maids, and the most daring brawls one might get into."
"Bored with those that would spar with you here?"
"You know they don't put up a fight. I want to go where no one knows who we are."
Loki sighed and stood, crossing his room to the shelves built into the wall. He searched for a moment through scrolls and tomes before finding a folded piece of paper that he had been looking for. He motioned for Thor to join him as he undid it, showing it to be a more detailed map of their home than either prince had ever seen before.
"Where did you get that?" Thor demanded, blue eyes wide and shining at several new passages they had not yet found.
"It was stuffed back in the older texts of the library."
"I thought Father had forbidden you from searching through books on the palace because he knew you were the one finding the exits."
"Father thinks he knows," Loki answered with a grin. "He's never been able to pin it strictly on me."
"So we go out here?"
"Oh, no, there are too many guards between here and there," the dark haired prince answered and pointed to an alternate rout. "We'll only have to pass two here, not four. I can get us past without any trouble."
"Do you have any ideas for how to keep them from discovering that we're gone?"
"I really am just here to think of everything, aren't I?" Loki asked with a grin. Truth be told he was happy that Thor came to him. He had never been keen on forming any sort of meaningful relationships with the other boys their age – if he tried, it always seemed to work against him in some manner or another, so he found it best to simply not try – and his brother was never in want of company. The fact that Thor came to him to be the brains behind his half-baked schemes was, in the young thunder god's own way, a compliment unlike any other. Granted, if something went wrong Loki was more likely to get the brunt of the blame for it, but that was a risk he was willing to take. "I can use another spell I found recently. Anyone who passes will hear our voices, muffled so that the spell can just repeat on itself again and again, but it will lead them to think we're here all night if that's what we need."
"How do we know it works?" Thor asked skeptically.
"It works. I tried it out on Volstagg the other day and he stood listening at the door for ages."
"What did you have him hearing?"
Loki merely smiled, letting Thor's imagination have the lead on it. "Are you ready?"
"Well you're not going like that are you?" Thor asked, motioning to his brother's attire.
The trickster looked down at his princely garments and frowned. "Where, exactly, are we going?" he asked slowly, finally noting the simpleness of Thor's own clothing.
"Someplace that no one will recognize us," his brother grinned and moved to tug off the smaller god's outer clothing so that he was left with only his tunic, trousers and belt. "Don't you have some old boots around here somewhere? The kind you take out in the rain?"
"I put a hole in them yesterday. I was going to throw them out."
"Even better!"
"I'm not traipsing around Asgard with a hole in my boot!"
Thor stopped his search and looked his brother square in the eyes. "Loki, do you want to blend in or not? Even if they just think we're a couple of noblemen we won't get the same treatment as everyone else, and that's what we're aiming for, right?"
"Right."
Thor flashed a grin that was brighter than the sun. "Good! Then let's get going."
Spells cast, the brothers made it around the guards with little to worry about. It was the end of most of their shifts and a certain unsuspecting servant had been encouraged to deliver a round of refreshments to them not long before they had slipped out. Quietly, as to not gain the attention of anyone, they slipped through the darkening halls and towards a new, hidden exit many floors below.
They stole down long, dark tunnels, Loki leading the way. Finally, as the sun was setting low in the sky the made their exit just beyond the hills they had often played on as small children. Fresh air hit them and they breathed it in so deeply that, for a moment, they thought they might just take their seat there and enjoy the night breeze.
"We've started on something, let's finish it," Thor encouraged and grabbed his brother by the sleeve.
The towns surrounding the palace of Asgard's capital were lively even at the darkening hour. The boys' eyes lit with excitement at the many joys that surrounded them. Goods were sold on the street, animals nearby, and people filled the passageways in such volume as neither was accustomed to seeing. They each found themselves drawn to their own interests.
Blue eyes widened at the sight of not only fine-crafted weapons, but a man doing the crafting right there in front of him. He watched in fascination as sparks flew from the blade he was currently working with.
While Thor was enthralled with various articles of war, Loki found an entire cart stacked with scrolls and magical artifacts.
"See something you like, boy?"
Loki perked, looking over at the man leaning against the cart. "Just looking, but thank you."
"An interest in magic, then?" he pressed.
"I… dabble."
An enigmatic smile perked the man's lips. "How much more," he murmured.
"Brother, come on!" Thor called.
"Excuse me," Loki managed as he ducked away, hurrying to meet his brother.
"I found it," Thor said as he pointed to the wild-looking tavern just beyond where they stood.
"Yes, and I found you!" boomed a voice just behind them.
The brothers whirled around, coming nearly face-to-face with Halvor, several of his guards standing behind him. They jumped back and scattered immediately, the lead guard reaching out for them and only just missing.
"If he can't bring us back himself then he can't prove a damned thing!" Loki called to his brother as they raced down the street.
"I'd wager we're quicker," Thor grinned.
"And smarter!" the younger agreed as they rounded back into an alleyway.
"Just not enough of either," Halvor growled as they all but slammed into him. He grabbed either prince by the collar of their shirts and nearly looked as if he might lift them off the ground in his rage. He certainly had the height to do so.
"Everything all right?" a shopkeeper asked, peering out from his backdoor into the alley.
"Just fine. Just caught a couple of strays."
"How dare you?" Thor roared, thrashing about.
"What? Isn't that what you've wanted, sire, to be treated like all the rest. Your father knew you were up to something since this morning, but wanted to give you boys the benefit of the doubt before he came down on you for it. I would suggest you return with at least a little dignity and not force us to carry you."
"You insolent-"
"Of course, Halvor," Loki cut his brother off. "We won't make a scene here."
Thor shot him a look that spoke of all the betrayal he felt at those words and finally straightened his shoulders. They returned to the palace without speaking a word either between them or to the guards – all of whom seemed very pleased with themselves that they had been the ones to bring the two princes back – and were left alone to enter the throne room.
"We could have slipped him," Thor growled lowly.
"We would have caused more trouble for ourselves than we have waiting for us."
Thor opened his mouth to protest, but then snapped it shut once again. Loki was right, he realized, and now they were both looking up at the large, ornate doors that led to their judgment.
"Even so," Loki murmured, giving his elder brother a gentle nudge, "we're in this together, right?"
"Of course," Thor answered without missing a beat.
As they entered the servants that were currently there to wait on their father scattered on some previously given order and exited the room. They were left alone, with Odin seeming larger than life suddenly, even though both of his boys were near his height. He stood from his throne, single blue eye trained entirely on the two and the doors slammed closed behind them. His voice was booming, filling every crevice of the room and most likely out into the hallway. "Have I not made my commands clear to you?" he growled out, anger just barely contained as he slowly, methodically, descended the steps of his throne. "Have I not spelled them out the last detail of what is expected of you as princes of Asgard? And yet here we stand, once more, with the same issue at hand. You are both past the age of such foolishness."
Loki took the smallest of steps forward. "Father," he said easily, his voice smooth and charming, "you always tell us that we should be conscious of the will of our people. If either of us are meant to be king someday, shouldn't we begin to see something outside of-"
The blow caught him completely unawares, as Odin had lashed out without any warning. Loki's cheek stung and his head snapped to one side, but he managed to stay on his feet and upright. He felt Thor tense at his side.
"You will hold your silver tongue with me, boy!" Odin hissed. He waited until his youngest nodded his understanding, stood straight, and readied himself for whatever came next. He let out a low breath in the form of a sigh. "You are both confined to chambers until I find a fitting punishment for your blatant disregard for authority."
"Father!" Thor began.
"Enough!"
Loki grabbed hold of Thor's sleeve before the other could move forward in argument. Without a word, he urged his brother out and they disappeared behind large doors.
Odin sank back down onto his throne, hand going to his face in a sign of exhaustion he dared not show his sons. He heard movement behind him and felt tender hands against his shoulders. "Am I too harsh on them?" he asked quietly.
"Yes," Frigga answered in an equal tone.
"They do no listen. It will be their end one day."
"But that day was not today. Nor will it be tomorrow. Our sons are growing up, Odin, and we must give them the space that they need or we will drive them away."
"I do not make it a habit to strike my children."
Frigga wrapped her arms around him. "Loki is stronger than he looks. Give them time, and then speak with them. Perhaps you may all come to an agreement on what is best."
Odin sighed again, leaning into his wife's embrace.
Thor was already curled up in his bed sheets when a secret door in the wall shift and open. It had not been used in years and they had grown mostly too tall to use it comfortably. Loki, bent down, crawled through the opening and stared up at him with large green eyes, as if he weren't expecting Thor be looking back. The redness in his cheek had faded, but the look in his eyes caused his brother to sit up and beckon his younger sibling to him, no judgment attached. The blond wrapped his arms around the dark haired prince, pulling him closer.
"He didn't mean it," Thor murmured quietly into his hair.
Loki leaned into him, feeling all the strength and protection that went into those arms around him. "I know."
"He was just angry at us."
"I know."
They sat there into the night, holding onto each other as if their lives depended on. They couldn't have told when they fell asleep, curled up in each other's security against anything that might come at them, nor could they have told when the door opened to Thor's room and their father peered in. Odin did not wake his boys, but couldn't help but smile at the protective stance that they took over one another. Perhaps Frigga was correct. They were growing up, faster than he would like to admit, and even if he were not always there to protect them, they would at least have each other. He shut the door quietly behind him, knowing that apologies could wait until morning.
END
A/N: I can't link to the youtube video b/c ff dot net eats my links. Just look up "prince hal is summoned to court" and you should find it. It's part of the Henry IV TV movie BBC is doing right now, with Jeremy Irons and Tom Hiddleston (There are so many jokes about Scar VS Loki floating around on the comments to this particular clip, it's fantastic!). Anyway, I'm watching along, watching along, and then Irons reaches out and, for lack of a better term, bitch-slapps Tom. My eyes bugged, as I told my usual co-writer Gabrielle Day, I had three reactions: 1. Holy crap Jeremy Irons and Tom Hiddleston are in a movie together! 2. Jeremy Irons just slapped Tom Hiddleston and 3. Odin so has to slap Loki in a scene like this... It had to be done. Apologies.