Loki's First Passage is near, and Frigga reminds Odin of his oath to tell Loki the truth of his birth. Odin does not wish to be reminded of that oath.
Note: The First Passage is something I made up for this story. The idea is Asgardians mark certain age transitions with specific rites of passage. The First Passage occurs when a person is emotionally and socially developed enough to take a place in general society, beyond the bounds of family life. So Loki is eight, and Thor is now twelve, in human years.
"And then I will be grown up, just like Thor!" Loki's eyes were filled with excitement. "I am so tired of being a child."
Frigga sighed internally. While she could not deny that Loki was, indeed, growing, the knowledge that he would eventually leave his home in Asgard to take the throne of Jotunheim made it difficult for her to breathe. While the Queen knew that this was the Prince's destiny, the mother's heart ached at the thought of separating from her beloved son.
"Are you pleased with the plans, Loki?" Frigga contemplated the drawings from the court tailor. Mari had designed an outfit of green and gold for Loki, suitably formal for the occasion, with just a bit of flash as befits a very young prince making his first formal court appearance.
"They are perfect, Mother! Thank you for arranging everything!" Loki hugged his mother around her waist, glancing up at her with the brightest of smiles.
Reflexively, Frigga smoothed the one errant curl back from Loki's forehead. We will have to enchant it to hold in place for the ceremony.
"You are most welcome, Loki! I am glad you are pleased." Loki had been in good mood for quite a while now. His last spell of fever had been more than year ago, and other than occasional fits of sadness over some disappointment, he had not sunk into a low state for almost as long.
"You have had a busy day, Loki. Perhaps you would like to go play the rest of the afternoon? I already told Master Nils not to expect you after lunch."
"Oh, Mother! Yes, thank you!" Loki stood on tiptoes to give his mother a kiss, and Frigga leaned down to accept it.
"Enjoy your afternoon, Loki!"
"I shall, Mother!" Loki spun and made for the door.
Frigga watched as her youngest son moved quickly and gracefully out of her sitting room.
How can we let him go to a land he does not know, to a people who do not know him?
"Odin, the ceremony is less than a week away. We must tell Loki tonight so he has time to adjust to the news before we announce it to our people."
Her husband continued staring at his goblet, as he had most of the meal. Frigga recognized it as the aversion tactic it had always been. While her husband was clever in many ways, he relied on a few predictable—and transparent—behaviors in difficult personal situations.
Odin hedged. "We should wait, Frigga. Why spoil his happiness?"
"Odin Borson, you swore to me that we would tell him, and our people, at his First Passage. I swore to you that I would hold you to it." Frigga's voice was iron.
Odin sighed. "But Frigga, he is happy. Why spoil it with telling him that I stole him all those years ago? Why frighten him with the idea that he will have to go to Jotunheim? All he knows is that the Frost Giants eat Aesir children. He will think we do not love him."
"And if we had told Farbauti that his son lived when you brought Loki here, and made peace with Jotunheim to ensure Loki's ascension to its throne, this would not be an issue now. But we didn't, and so we must tell him now. Loki. Farbauti. Everyone."
"We need to do more for our people first. We need to assert the reality that the Frost Giants are not just demons, that despite their appearance, they have families, and friends, and that they love, and hope, and fear, just as we do. Those ideas can take root, and our people will become at peace with the idea of the Frost Giants as equal beings. Once that happens, we can tell everyone at Loki's Second Passage."
"No. We are telling Loki tonight, and our people next week."
"Frigga, please. Understand my reasons."
Frigga shook her head. "I do not understand any excuse for breaking an oath."
Odin winced as if he'd been struck. "I did not fully appreciate what I was promising when I spoke those words."
"Just last week, you held Thor to an agreement he made with Fandral, even though he had not been aware of the full impact of his promise. How is this different?"
"That was a childish misunderstanding over possession of a toy. This is the fate of realms, and the fate of our son. It is not the same at all."
"So you will hold Thor to a standard you will not hold yourself to?"
Odin bowed his head.
"I cannot bear to hurt him, Frigga. It will break his heart."
Frigga sat in silence, her anger rolling over Odin in waves.
Odin looked up. "I am sorry, Frigga. Yes, you were right. We should have told everyone when I brought Loki to Asgard."
Frigga's voice was as cold as Jotunheim. "But we did not, at your insistence. And you swore we would tell everyone now."
Odin nodded. "You are right. Call Loki to us."
Loki entered the room where his parents had been dining. He couldn't think of any reason he would be in trouble, and wondered what had caused them to send for him.
Frigga sat quietly on the divan, and Odin in a chair next to it, at a right angle to his wife.
"Loki, son. Come here." Even though he was in a regular chair and not a throne, and wasn't holding Gungnir, Odin looked very much the King to Loki, and not like Father.
The boy walked quietly forward.
"You will have your First Passage next week, Loki." Odin's voice was neutral, and Loki could not read his energy, or Frigga's.
Loki nodded. "Yes, Father."
"You will take your place in the court as a Prince of Asgard, and as my son."
Frigga raised an eyebrow ever-so-slightly.
"Our son. The son of the King and Queen of Asgard."
"Yes, Father." They had discussed this many times, causing Loki to wonder why his father felt the need to make such obvious statements.
"There is something we need to tell you, Loki." Odin smiled kindly at his son, and glanced over at Frigga, who had remained still and silent.
"Yes, Father?" Loki still could get no energy reading on either of his parents, and began to worry that something had happened that would delay his First Passage.
"When you were born, we knew you were . . . special."
Loki's eyes widened. "Special?"
"You started sending out threads of seidhr from the very first moments your mother and I saw you."
Frigga stared at Odin.
Odin avoided his wife's gaze. "And you know that your magic has blossomed quite early."
"Yes, Father. I know I have much to learn about how to manage it." Loki hadn't had a seidhr accident in months. Surely they wouldn't delay his first passage over something that had happened so long ago?
"I have consulted the Seers."
Frigga glared at Odin.
Odin continued to look at the boy in front of him, trying to avoid Frigga's energies. "They have told me that, while your brother is meant to be a warrior, you are meant to be a wise scholar and magician."
Frigga's icy look would have dropped a lesser man to the ground.
"You have great magic, my son, and this gives you great power. With great power—"
Loki finished the sentence, "—comes great responsibility. Yes, Father."
"Your mother and I will be more attentive to your magical training, Loki, so that when you are older, you can study at the Temple as well."
"Thank you, Father. I will do my best to make you and Mother proud." Loki's heart was racing. While he had never exactly envied Thor's destiny as a great warrior, every time he had heard it being discussed, he wondered what would become of him. Now he knew, and he was filled with excitement.
Odin leaned forward, and wrapped Loki in a hug, surrounding him with golden seidhr-light. He held the boy longer than he meant to, and released him reluctantly.
"You have had a busy day, Loki, and the next few days will be even busier. Run along to bed now."
"Yes, Father. Thank you, and goodnight."
Loki turned to hug his mother. Frigga held her son close, wrapping him in lavender seidhr-light. "Goodnight, Loki."
"Goodnight, Mother. I love you!"
Loki turned, and left the room with his usual grace, elation adding to the lightness of his steps.
The guard closed the door behind him, leaving Frigga and Odin alone again.
"Odin Borson. How. Could. You?"
"Frigga, how could I not? He is too young to know."
"He is old enough to take his place in court. He is not too young."
"He is a child, Frigga. He will have plenty of time in the years to come to learn politics, and to adjust to his role as the future King of Jotunhiem. We need to let him become the person he is first, before we make him become a prince."
Frigga stood. "An oath is an oath, Odin Borson."
She strode out of the room in Loki's footsteps.
Odin sat by himself as the sun faded and the room grew dark, and stayed there through the moonless night.
Thor wanted to be happy for his brother, but felt more than a bit of envy. Thor wanted more than anything to be a brave warrior, but had not been able to start his fight training as early as Loki would start his magic training. At Loki's age, he had done drills with his wooden sword to learn how to handle the weight and shape, but Master Theodric had been quite firm that Thor was not yet been ready to actually practice hitting other people at that stage. It was only in recent years that he had moved from sparring with wooden weapons to working with steel weapons. Even then, Master Theodric still insisted on everything being done at half-speed while the young soldiers developed their skills. Every day, he reminded his students that, "Being fast is not as important as being accurate. Battle fever will give you speed, but you must bring accuracy to the field with you."
"That's very exciting, Loki!" Thor hoped he sounded as pleased for Loki as he felt he ought to be.
"You will be a great warrior, and I will be a powerful magician! We will be unstoppable!" Loki stood on his tiptoes, waving his hands wildly.
"And when I am King, everyone will bow before me!" Thor raised his arm triumphantly, imagining all the Aesir bowing at once.
Loki's smile faded instantly. "When you are King, Thor?"
Thor realized what he had said, and his heart hurt. "When we are Kings, together, Loki! Everyone will bow before us!" Thor raised his arm again, hoping his brother would follow suit.
"But if you are the only King, Thor, then I would have to bow to you."
"But it won't just be me, Loki! Father said we are both born to be Kings, so we will be Kings together!" Thor lowered his arm, intending to put it around his brother. To his surprise, Loki pulled away.
"You're right, Thor. Only a warrior can be King. Magic users are not brave enough to deserve to be called 'King'." Loki turned away, remembering how the Einherjar always spoke of the superiority of physical might over magical skills.
"We will be Kings together, Loki!" Thor was desperate to see his brother's good spirits return. "The best Kings the Nine Realms have ever seen! The Brothers Odinson, Kings together, Kings forever!"
Thor raised his arm high again, smiling with all his warmth at his brother.
Loki shrugged, a sad smile fading to a blank expression. Turning away, he pulled a book from his desk, and moved across the room to sit in the chair furthest from where Thor was standing.