Chapter 4

"My friends, join me in Vanaheim!"

A light conversation between Thor, Loki, Sif, Fandral, and Volstagg was interrupted by Hogun's random act of yelling. They were enjoying their lunch in the dining hall of the Warriors Three while also wondering the whereabouts of Hogun. Volstagg was the only person at the dining table to not be surprised by Hogun's sudden entrance, as he continued eating. The other four were left wondering one thing: Why did Hogun want to go to Vanaheim?

Thor was the first to speak up. "What is the meaning of this Hogun? Why do you want us to come to Vanaheim?"

"I have received news of a possible attack," answered Hogun. "It is from outside forces, but their numbers are not large. I though the five of us could surpress the damage and prevent the outsiders from attacking further."

"The five of us?" questioned Sif. "Don't you mean six?"

"No," said Hogun. "I'm sorry to say this Loki, but we will not need you. To defeat the outsiders, we will need brute force. You're magic will not be very effective during our attack."

"Not needed?" said Loki, who was not surprisingly offended by Hogun's comments. "I have the strength of an average Asgardian."

"The rest of us have much better than average Asgardian strength," mumbled Thor under his breath. He obviously did not want Loki to hear his statement, but Loki did, which fueled his anger further. Loki walked angrily to his older brother.

"Well at least I have my magic. If I remember correctly, didn't my magic save all of your lives several times. When you depend too much on your so-called 'brute strength' and needed me to protect you. If my memory is correct, then most of our adventures had some dependence on my magical abilities."

"This is a battle where it will not be needed," said Hogun. "This fight is on my homeland and I know when our abilities will need to be used. Trust me."

"Trust you?" Loki said, walking to Hogun in a threatening manner. "After all you just spoke, why would I tru-"

Loki's threat was interrupted by Thor stopping his walk with his arm.

"Not now, brother."

Loki looked at Thor, whose face truly looked sorry, but Loki could not help but feel betrayed. Loki turned around and stomped out of the dining room, slamming the doors shut when he fully left. Loki knew that as soon as he left, the five would gather their weapons and prepare for battle. Typical.

The castle halls were filled with the echoes of Loki's loud footsteps. Guards and servants whom Loki passed by were scared by Loki's anger. Though he was known for his occasional 'unfriendly' attitude, it was still fearful to the castle's residents.

Loki soon reached his chambers. He went to his mirror. His forehead had drops of sweat and his hair had some loose strands. Loki's hands turned into fists and he slammed them on the nearest tables. He then screamed, which activated some of his magic and slightly moved nearby objects.

"Loki?"

Loki turned around to see Runa, who had a look of concern on her face as her right hand cupped the bottom of her round stomach. Runa was relieved of her servant duties while she was pregnant. She was also moved to Loki's chambers, since the baby would share a room with them for the first few years of its life. Frigga had made a string effort to make Runa's life more comfortable. She had given Runa a new wardrobe and talked with her often. Runa also had begun talking to Thor and his friends, with Thor and Sif becoming some of her closest friends.

"What is the matter?" asked Runa. She had never seen Loki so angry before. She was not scared like most, but rather worried for Loki's wellbeing.

Loki tilted his head down and walked over to their bed. Runa sat on the bed after he did. She rubbed his arm with her hand. She couldn't guess what Loki was upset.

"Loki," said Runa. "Please, tell me."

Loki turned to Runa to see her face filled with concern. He knew that the only way to fully calm down was to explain his distress.

"One of Thor's friends requested our help in Vanaheim. He didn't want me though, said I wasn't as strong as me. Apparently my magic was not needed. I've gone with them on so many missions, and every time there are comments on my lack of strength. Guess this time they wanted to avoid those comments"

"Lack of strength?" questioned Runa. "You're a warrior, a prince, surely you are strong enough for battles."

"I never had any strength," Loki said. "My strength was weaker than most Asgardians since I was a child. It caused Thor and his friends to joke about it. Magic was my main skill, but it's never been valued by Asgardians. The only person who ever was pleased with my job was my mother. She is a witch, but earned the respect of Asgard. My lack of strength and strong use of magic, it's why my father favors Thor over me."

Loki increased his volume with the last few words. The way he spoke made Runa wonder something.

"Do you hate your father?" asked Runa.

"I love him, but I feel like there are times where he does not fully love me. I try and try but my father always favors Thor. Not matter what good I do and no matter what bad Thor does, I'm always the lesser of us."

Loki's anger rose again. He stood up from the bed and walked to the middle of the room.

"Odin will approve of which one of us will be king. I want to be king so badly, but I know Thor will get it. I love Thor, but I cannot ignore his occasional idiotic and arrogant behavior. I live in his shadow. I have resided there for a thousand years. I tried so hard to escape, to show others that I am my own person. But I can't. I want to, I yearn to, but the others won't acknowledge it. All I want is respect and honor by my own actions, not to be defined as Thor's lesser."

Loki was yelling now and Runa sensed his anger. She ran up to him and hugged him from behind as she whispered: "You are your own person. You are your brother's equal. Don't believe you any lesser than him or anyone else."

Loki turned to face Runa. She could see light tear stains in on his face, with drips of water at the bottom of his eyes. She used one of her hands to rub the tears away and the other was wrapped around Loki's waist.

"Why are you the only one who understands?" asked Loki.

Runa paused for a few moments before answering. "Maybe because I lived a similar life and I don't want anyone to feel the same way. I will make sure our daughter never feels the same way."

Loki's stance stiffens. "Daughter?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Runa. "I went to the healers this morning. Since I'm almost finished with my forth month, the healers were able to tell the gender. I wanted to know so they told me. I was thinking on how to tell you that it was a girl."

Loki immediately kissed Runa. When the kiss was finished, Runa could clearly the happiest smile on his face.

"I couldn't be happier."

…

Loki and Runa spent the next several hours in the palace gardens. Runa, who was unfamiliar with the rare flowers that only existed in the palace, was being told their names by Loki. She seem fascinated by the flowers with darker hues.

"I've always noticed that people seem fond over pink flowers," said Runa. "Must be why there so many of them in most gardens."

Loki tilted his head in interest. "You really think so? Though I'm not quite fond over the color pink, I think many pink flowers are beautiful. Azaleas, mandevillas, and amaryllises are quite beautiful. Do you not agree?"

"I do agree that they are beautiful, but their popularity makes others forget the beauty of other flowers. I love the deep blue of scillas and dianellas. My favorite hue of a flower has to be purple. Irises, saponarias, dicondras. Their beauty is underappreciated."

Loki nodded. He loved the way Runa described nature. It reminded him of his mother taking him and Thor to the gardens when they were children. She explained nature to them in a respectful manner. Loki liked to hear people describe beauty since it was different from the battles and warrior most Asgardians like to describe. He noticed Runa squint her eyes on a set of flowers. She moved to them in interest, feeling their stems when she was at a close enough distance.

"What type are these?" asked Runa/

Loki moved over to where Runa was so he could get at a close distance to the flowers and be able to tell what they were.

"Those are Erikas," Loki answered after a minute of thinking.

"Erikas," repeated Runa. She slowly rubbed the petals of the flowers with her thumb. They were a light purple and the Erikas contained dozens of petals. The stems were long and thin, but their size was unnoticeable due to the way the Erikas huddled together. Runa seemed completely fascinated by them.

"I guess you have found your new favorite flower," said Loki as he put his arm around Runa's waist. Runa simply hummed in agreement. Loki placed his hand on her stomach, but soon retracted his hand when he felt a swift kick. Runa noticed his rapid change in movement.

"She usually kicks at this hour. Probably because it is close to dinner. She must be hungry."

Loki's confusion changed into joy. "How long have you been feeling her movements?"

Runa thought for a minute before thinking. "I've been feeling her for about a week or two. I was just as surprised as you were when I felt her for the first time."

Loki replaced his hand on Runa's stomach. They stayed in that position for several minutes as they simply talked. They looked like a peaceful family.

A guard later entered the garden. "Prince Loki, dinner is ready."

The guard then existed the room. Loki looked to Runa. "She has a good sense of timing, too."