The prisoner was brought, bound, muzzled, as he had been when the brothers first arrived from their sojourn in Midgard, and led to the dais. His hands were manacled to the podium and the three masters of magic - who had been sought from far parts of Asgard to assure they had no contact with him before his crimes - were positioned surrounding him to watch for his trickster ways. Even with their presence, and the presence of the assembled warriors, and Odin on his throne, the fingers of the guard assigned to remove the muzzle trembled as they worked it free, and the assembled throng drew in a collected breath of expectation. Some no doubt expected heated words, vitriol — the more lurid imaginations probably expected fire to spew from the accused's mouth, so famous was his treachery.
Whatever they may have expected — or wished, Loki simply licked his lips and worked his jaw a few times to remove stiffness, before letting out a gentle sigh and lifting his head to the panel of citizens who had been chosen to question him. Tension eased. Whatever the trickster planned, it would not be so unsubtle as a direct attack.
On his throne, Odin waved a finger.
The clerk stepped forward. "Loki Odinson," there was the slightest lift of an eyebrow at that from the accused, and his eyes flickered towards the Allfather's throne, "you stand accused of High Treason against Asgard. Your crimes: that you did willfully and knowingly admit known enemies into her most secret places on two occasions, that you did knowingly and willingly attempt to wrest the throne from its rightful occupant, that you willingly and knowingly precipitated the Chitauri attack on Midgard and that you misused the Tesseract for your own ends."
The accused glanced down at his manacled hands. "I don't think you missed anything." His voice was soft, almost too soft for those seated near the back of the hall to hear.
"How do you plead?"
"Not guilty." This was delivered with a proud uplift of his head and a sweep of his gaze over the parts of the crowd he could see.
Most had expected the plea, but some were still surprised. "Let the plea be entered into the records."
The accused was seated, and his gag replaced without incident. The advocate for the prosecution stood, her hands steady as she scanned her documents, and started to call forth witnesses.
Sif.
Fandral.
Hogun.
Volstagg.
Heimdall.
Thor.
Odin was not called. Nor were any of the humans — the Allfather would not be so careless with the powers of the Tesseract and he had judged it not wise to expose them to the wonders of Asgard. Despite the litany of crimes Loki had supposedly committed against them, despite Thor's affection, they were not to be trusted.
This was about crimes to Asgard after all. Should the humans object to the devastation he had visited upon their city… well…
… they could come and claim him.
When the story had been laid out plain for all to see the assembled Asgardians stood agape. No one present, save the accused and perhaps Thor, had known the full details of what transpired as the Allfather lay in Odinsleep. No one had known the destruction of the Bifrost had been a means to save Jotunheim.
Some were angered.
"Thor cut us off to save the frost giants…?"
"Would you condone the destruction of an entire race?"
"That race would murder us all in our beds…"
"We had peace for centuries before Loki intervened…"
"It was Thor who angered them.."
"SILENCE!"
Odin's voice rang out across the hall, and the assembled looked to find him seated further forward on his throne, his face an unreadable mask. What he thought about his son's — his adopted son's (that revelation had caused more uproar than any of the others) actions no one could tell, but it was clear he retained his sense of duty.
"I will not have this court reduced to the state of a common brawl," Odin continued, but his voice was calm again, and the tension eased. Such was his power — to soothe and mitigate. A voice of wisdom in a world of chaos.
The clerk rose once more. "We have heard the arguments for the prosecution. Does the advocate have anything further to add?"
"All the evidence for the prosecution has been submitted," the advocate said, inclining her head.
The clerk waited until she was seated before addressing the court. "The accused has declined the right for an advocate. He intends to speak in his own defense."
There was a murmur around the chamber. Allowing the gag to be removed for any length of time put all at risk, this was something that had been made very clear. Yet to deny the accused the right to defend himself would go against the basic tenants of Asgard.
The clerk was looking at Odin.
The Allfather inclined his head.
The clerk swallowed, but nodded and the gag was once again removed. Loki ran a tongue around the inside of his mouth, then stood.
"My thanks," he said, but his eyes did not meet that of the king and nor did the king seek them to.
"You have entered a plea of not guilty, and heard the charges and evidence against you," the clerk said. "How do you propose to answer them?"
Loki looked contemplative for a moment, eyes lowered. "I do not deny any of the events that have been related to you here today," he said. They waited. "But what I did…" he lifted his head, "I did in defense of Asgard."
It was a moment before the noise erupted, and this time it took more than the word of the Allfather to quiet it. As the noise reached a crescendo, there was a crack of lightning and the assembled turned to see Thor, Mjollnir aloft in one hand with lightning crackling over its surface.
In the shadows cast by its light, it was difficult to see whether or not Loki smiled. Certainly, there were teeth exposed.
"Loki," there was warning in the Allfather's voice, but no affection. "Explain yourself," Odin said.
A muscle worked in Loki's jaw and he nodded once. "Allfather." Loki looked like he might have wanted to pace, and his brow furrowed as he looked down at his manacled hands, then up at Odin. Odin's lips pursed and he shook his head and Loki gave a rueful shrug.
"Where to begin?" he said softly. "You have heard that I allowed three frost giants into Asgard with my magic on the night of my brother's coronation. I will… not deny that this was a foolish act." He looked around at the assembled Asgardians and his face arranged itself in to an expression of fond exasperation. "Have none of you ever wished wisdom for someone close to you? Thor is my brother and I love him dearly, yet when our father, blinded by the love he bore him, decided to bestow the throne upon him, many of us knew full well he was not ready. My actions before the coronation were simply meant as a… reminder to us all that there are some people who need guidance before they are ready to take up the burden of leadership." Thor lifted an eyebrow and Loki's lip twitched. "Despite that I knew full well the destroyer would never allow the removal of the Casket I could not have foreseen the action that Thor would take…"
"You're lying! You knew full well it would prod Thor into doing something rash!" Fandral fell silent as soon as Odin looked at him, but the question had been asked and Loki did not dodge it.
"I believed he would expose his… nature to our father. Which he did." His eyes swept over the Warriors Three, lingering on Fandral. "I did not believe he would convince four of his most respected friends to follow him on a fools' errand to Jotunheim."
"You went with us!" Volstagg shouted.
Loki's eyes narrowed. "Yes. And we all know how that turned out."
"Have some respect, Loki," Odin said mildly. "If not for your brother, then for the gravity of the proceedings."
Loki's eyes lowered. "Your pardon, Allfather."
"If it pleases the Allfather," the advocate for the prosecution stood. "I have questions to pose to the accused."
"An excellent idea, advocate," Odin said. "Carry on."
The advocate smiled and turned back to Loki. "You deceived your brother," she said. "You betrayed his plan to the Allfather."
"That I will admit," he lowered his head in what looked for all the world like humility. "I am not proud that it was necessary to betray him. Yet had I not done so, it is possible Thor would not be with us today. When the Allfather came to Jotunheim that day we were faced with the full might of Lafeuy's army. I doubt all of us would have survived."
The advocate's finger tapped at her notes. "You cannot deny that your first action — that of letting the frost giants into Asgard, was the starting point that led us to the brink of war."
"Indeed I cannot. And…" he heaved a sigh. "I am sorry. But I did my utmost to prevent that war once our father had been incapacitated. And when my efforts failed, I took steps to ensure war with Jotunheim would never again be a problem."
"By using the Bifrost to destroy Jotunheim."
"The treaty was in tatters. Thor was banished. Odin was incapacitated and Asgard was under the rule of a new king. I must remind you that I had no idea my father… would trust me with the throne should he be incapacitated. That the throne fell to me after Thor's banishment was a surprise, and a burden. I did my best to live up to what was expected of me. If my actions were… unconventional… the end results cannot be…"
The advocate waved an impatient hand. "We will come to the end results. But first we must address your actions towards Heimdall…"
The trickster's lips curled in a snarl, and for the first time they had a glimpse of how close Loki was to losing control. "Heimdall openly defied me. I should not have to remind you that it was he who allowed us passage to Jotunheim in the first place. He skirted Odin's authority as surely as Thor and I did."
Heimdall stood next to Odin's throne, where he could be found when he was not at the end of the broken bridge. No longer the gatekeeper, but simply a watcher. If Loki's words affected him in any way he did not show it.
"Heimdall is not on trial here," Odin said mildly. Loki glared at him.
"I was the rightful king of Asgard, father. The sceptre was passed to me. Incapacitating Heimdall was necessary. And it would have been within my abilities to do more than that." Loki's eyes flickered towards Heimdall. "While we speak of treachery, I notice that he paid no price for openly defying the ruling king."
"It takes more than a sceptre to make a king," Heimdall's voice rumbled out. All heads turned to the keeper of the Bifrost, but his comment made, he settled back into impassivity. Loki watched him for a long moment, but was brought back to his place when the advocate spoke again.
"You concealed yourself from him when you were in Jotunheim," she said.
"Heimdall may have the power to see but he does not necessarily have the ability to understand all he sees." Loki studied his chained hands, frowning. "Had he watched me make my deal with Laufey he would have assumed I intended treachery. Heimdall had no way of knowing that deceiving Laufey was the linchpin of my plan." Loki looked down for a moment, before glancing up towards the throne. "My mo… the Queen can confirm this."
If it were possible, Odin's face became even more stony. Frigga, seated next to him, shifted then lifted her chin and nodded to Loki, once.
"You did not attempt to explain this to Heimdall," the advocate continued. "Instead you…" the advocate's eyes slid from the accused to Thor and her mouth worked, "…froze him."
"I did not have time to do otherwise," Loki said. One of the chained fists clenched briefly. "Heimdall had already demonstrated that he believed me false. He allowed Sif and the Warriors Three passage to earth when I had expressly forbidden it…" Loki made a visible effort to control himself, shaking his head. "Still, I cannot fault him. He did what he believed was right." Loki shrugged. "In this case he was wrong."
The advocate eyed him then her papers, before turning them. "Enough then, of your crimes against Heimdall. Shall we proceed to those you committed against your brother?"
Loki made a face and muttered something under his breath.
Whatever had happened to his sight, there was nothing wrong with the Allfather's ears. Odin thumped his fist on the arm of his throne and Loki jumped, chastened.
The advocate ignored them both. "You lied to your brother while he was a prisoner on earth."
Loki visibly gathered himself. "Had I told the truth to Thor when I visited him in Midgard he would have found some way to return to us." Loki glanced towards Frigga, "my mother said as much and I came to believe she was right. Much as I might wish for my brother's return, having him here would have put him in danger. I could not risk Lafeuy and his Giants having both Odin and Thor in reach."
"Yet Thor did find a way to return, despite you sending the Destroyer to stop him."
"The destroyer would have killed him."
Thor's eyes did not leave Loki's face. "The destroyer did kill me," he said.
"You look very alive to me brother."
"Is that why you ordered the destroyer to hit me while I knelt helpless in front of it?"
Loki glanced to where Sif and the Warriors Three stood. His jaw worked. "If it had not, perhaps you would not have reclaimed Mjollnir. Brother."
"You can't have known that."
Loki's eyebrow twitched again. "I paid close attention in my lessons."
Odin sucked in an impatient breath and motioned Thor back to his seat. Thor obeyed stiffly, and Loki visibly relaxed.
"You think nothing of the humans you endangered," the advocate said. "Many would have died had the Destroyer been left unchecked."
Loki shrugged. "I regret the destruction of the town. Yet there were no deaths in that instance. Thanks to my brother."
"You could not have known he would protect them."
There was a slight twitch to those lips. "I had faith in his desire to do good."
"A plan full of holes and risk," Thor said.
"As all plans are," Loki replied. "We do not win against our enemies by being predictable brother."
"I'm not sure they're your enemies at all," Sif muttered.
Loki's head whipped around to her and his nostrils flared. "You think because I share their blood I would betray everything I have ever known?"
Sif did not answer, simply glared at him. "Enough, Sif," Thor said. "This gets us nowhere."
Loki took a deep breath. "We should not have needed to destroy the Bifrost," he said. "Lafeuy's death and the attack on Jotunheim would have ended the war — forever."
"The cost was too high, brother," Thor said. "You do not have the right to destroy an entire race, no matter that they were our enemies."
Loki's lips worked for a moment. "I never intended to destroy all of them."
"Have a care, Loki. Or do you forget that I was there."
"We were a little busy at the time, Thor, if you recall. I hardly had time to explain the intricacies of my plan when I had a hammer on my chest."
"You were going to destroy them, you said so. Do not try to deny it."
"Bah!" Loki shook himself and strained briefly against his chains. The guards surrounding him stepped forward, lowering their spears and he stilled. "You had pushed me to the edge, Thor. On the bridge I was… I knew not what I said. I had planned to give them…" Loki made a motion of his shoulders, pulling against the chains, "a scare — to show them our full power, make them rethink an attack on Asgard, but by the time we were on the rainbrow bridge I… " Loki shook his head. Some would have sworn his lip trembled. "I regret that. I was in pain, and angry. I can only be thankful that Thor managed to stop me." He glanced towards his brother. "Although I wish… I wish the price had not been so high."
The advocate looked down at her papers and took a breath. "Very well. Putting aside the events leading up to the destruction of the Bifrost… we will move to what happened after."
Loki swallowed and a shadow of pain crossed his face. "As you wish.
