Veritas

Warnings: Suggestive themes and discussion of violence. One instance of bad language.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter Playlist: 'Gift of a Thistle' from 'Braveheart', 'Statues' from 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II', Death Favours No Man' from 'Snow White and the Huntsman', 'Mhysa' from 'Game of Thrones: Season 3' and 'Aslan Appears' from 'Chronicles of Narnia: the Voyage of the Dawn Treader'.


'But the helm of her secrecy had fallen from her, and her bright hair, released from its bonds, gleamed with pale gold upon her shoulders. Her eyes grey as the sea were hard and fell, and yet tears were on her cheek. A sword was in her hand, and she raised her shield against the horror of her enemy's eyes.'

- J. R. R. Tolkien, the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Chapter VI


After that long-awaited announcement, they were quickly dismissed and Loki and Jane put Aoife to bed.

Jane stood there for a time, watching her sleeping daughter, so peaceful and lovely in the moonlight. Her palm against the living wood, she felt a surge of comforting heat, and smiled mirthlessly. With a sigh, she turned and left Aoife, walking through the connecting door into their bedchamber, to find Loki stood before the windows, staring out at the Forest.

Silently, she glided over to stand with him, her arms around him from behind, as she pressed a kiss to his shoulder. "What will we do?" she asked quietly.

"There will be no 'we', Jane," Loki replied firmly. "I will go to Asgard, but I am going alone."

Anger rushed through Jane, as she stepped around him to stare him down defiantly. "You can't possibly think I'm going to stay behind while you rush off to fight?" she said slowly and quietly. "Because if you are, you've got another thing coming…"

"I do not doubt your courage, Jane," Loki replied, with such a bleak, dark look in his eyes, so that her heart ached. "But I will not run the risk of Thanos's threats becoming reality. I will not lose you to him."

"You won't, anyway," she protested hotly. "I may not have magic but I'm not the same defenceless mortal I was."

"And what of Aoife? Is she to run the risk of losing both parents?" he retorted, playing the trump card he knew she would find hardest to fight.

"You bastard," she hissed, her eyes flashing with darkness and rage. "Don't you dare try to use her to manipulate me?! She's your daughter too, what makes your survival less important than mine?"

"Better me than you, my love," he replied softly, reaching out to her and pulling her into his arms. Jane's eyes grew sad at his words, and his name was a pained gasp against his lips. "Please, Jane. Do not fight me on this. You shall not come with me to Asgard. Not this time."

"Loki, I can't!" she breathed, frantically. "I won't lose you to him again. We need you."

"I know, and that alone will give me the strength to fight and to return," Loki stated firmly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Have faith in me, love. I will return."

She closed her eyes and buried her head in his chest. The argument was over, for now, but she was determined to argue more in the morning. She wasn't going to let him go alone.

Loki's lips pressed yearningly against her neck, following the graceful curve up until he reached her jaw, gently biting the fragile flesh beneath as she gasped and arched into him. Her mouth sought his, as his hands tore at her clothing, and she at his, Jane so desperate to keep him with her, she tried to absorb him into her very soul. He clung to her, both frightened and resigned to his coming fate, and the need to see Thanos destroyed. To protect his family.


The thought gave him courage as he dressed silently in the dark of the night, ensuring his departure went unmarked by putting a sleeping spell on Jane, naked and limp in their bed. Watching her sleep, so perfect, so beautiful, his jaw firmed and he tore himself away before he could weaken.

He bid a swift goodbye to his daughter, his little one, and silently promised her he would return. But as he turned away, pulling the hood of his cloak up, he acknowledged to himself that it was a promise he was not certain he would survive to keep.

As he descended into the darkness of the Forest, he allowed his armour, long left in some dark corner of the Universe during his time without magic, to enfold him once more and he put aside his love for his family with it. That belonged to warmer surrounds than the one he was about to enter, and he would need all his cunning and guile.

A cold smile lit his face, as he strode through the Forest and called to Heimdall for the first time in two years.


"Loki!" Jane sat bolt upright as the first rays of morning sunlight hit her face, her eyes snapping open. Her hand blindly sought for him next to her, but even as the cold, untouched bedcovers met her searching hand, instinct whispered he had already gone.

"I'm going to kill him," she muttered to herself, thinking fast. He couldn't have been gone more than a few hours, she could catch up…

As she shrugged on a robe, however, the sound of Aoife stirring in her room drew her up short. Wasn't Loki right, in a way? Could she go running off after him, and leave Aoife alone?

But if Asgard fell, there would be precious few powerful enough to protect her daughter. Jane had grown to love the Elves of Alfheim, but she didn't kid herself. Neither Rila, Alona, nor even the Mother herself held the power to protect Aoife from Thanos.

With a sigh, Jane closed her eyes and leant against the wood, resting her head against it. Unknowingly, she opened herself up to the telepathic connection that had existed between her and the Mother from the day she set foot on Alfheim. And with it, opened up a whole new vista of ideas, as she opened her eyes and raised her head with a smile more predatory than soft.

Loki had said she couldn't go to Asgard with him; he had said nothing of her coming after him and bringing an army with her.


She quickly dressed and fetched Aoife, balancing her on her hip as she strode into the palace, bypassing the sentries and straight into Frey's library.

"Loki has gone to Asgard," she announced to the room at large. Frey sat with his Ruling Council, and they all stopped to stare at her, open-mouthed. "We have to go after him."

Frey cleared his throat. "Now, no need to be hasty, Lady Jane."

"Hasty?" Jane repeated incredulously. "One man has gone to face down an entire army of Chitauri and Thanos to boot, we must help him."

"We are not warriors, Lady Jane," Alona spoke up coolly. "This is not our fight."

"Of course it's ourfight!" Jane replied heatedly. "Do you believe that if Asgard falls, Thanos will simply ignore you? Let you live on in peace for not fighting against him?"

"What would you have us do?" Frey asked, with a raised brow. "Ask the Elves to fight?"

He chuckled, not seeing the insulted looks in the eyes of Rila and the others on the Council. "Now Lady Jane, I know you are troubled and worried for Loki," he began, so patronisingly, that for the first time in her entire life on Alfheim, she truly hated him. "But Asgard is well-defended and Thor will no doubt hold them at bay. We need not throw our hat into the ring, so to speak."

"So you would cower here, hoping and praying that Asgard stands," Jane retorted scornfully, Aoife watching the exchange with wide eyes, silent in her mother's arms. "Alfheim has some of the most skilled archers in the Nine Realms. Your skills as warriors are, or were, legendary. You fought against Laufey during the Ice Wars and the Long Winter. Where has that courage gone? Or are you all just born cowards?"

The four male Elves on the Council bristled, fire kindling in their eyes. Rila smirked ruthlessly. "Not all of us," she replied grimly.

"This is madness. Our power lies with the Mother. She will protect us," Alona cut her off, with a wild gesture and a cold voice, but even Jane could see the uncertainty in the elder Elf's eyes.

"Thanos wields more power than even the Mother," Jane retorted, feeling her rage give her strength, her eyes flashing with darkness and flames, allowing the others to see for the first time the true extent of the price she'd paid when she survived the darkness. "If Asgard falls, do you really think even She can hold out against such destructive power? I have seen what he can do, the damage he can do. He cannot be reasoned with, he cannot be bargained with, he just destroys and without discrimination-"

"Enough!" Frey suddenly exploded, his eyes blazing as he stood and stared Jane down . She refused to budge, defiantly tilting her head back, clutching Aoife tightly. "I rule here, Jane Foster, I say what will be done, not a mere human woman! We will not involve ourselves in a war that has nothing to do with us-!"

"Are you blind? Or just complacent?" Jane snapped back fiercely. "It's bad enough that you want to metaphorically feed Loki to the wolves, but to pretend if you bury your head in the sand long enough, it'll all go away!? You've become mad, Frey!"

"Enough with your impudence, woman!" Frey exploded, pulling Laevateinn from its sheath and pointing it threateningly at Jane, its needle-sharp point drifting over her breastbone. "Hold your tongue, in matters of which you know nothing! Or I shall ensure it never speaks so insolently again!"

Jane tensed and faced him down, Aoife suddenly crying in her arms, when the strangest thing happened.

The blade of Laevateinn suddenly glowed brightly, the runes which covered its long, straight blade burning as if they were on fire, and Frey threw it away from him with a pained cry. It flew through the air, and Jane instinctively brought her free hand up to snatch it from the air, seemingly watching as if from afar as her hand came up and took hold of the handle.

Shocked silence reigned, as the Ruling Council, Jane, Aoife and Frey all stared.

"Ok," Jane murmured. "What the hell just happened?"

"If wise be he who wields it, as the very runes which cover the blade proclaim," Rila recited, drawing all eyes to her, her own wide and awed. "It appears that Laevateinn has chosen a new owner."

"But that's not possible. It is mine, the All-Father gave it to me," Frey spluttered, his face turning an ugly shade of puce. "The rule of Alfheim is mine!"

"And yet Laevateinn has abandoned you," Rila replied coolly. "It would appear that the prophecies speak true, after all."

"Wait, what!? What prophecies, what are you going on about?" Jane asked, almost panicked as Aoife squirmed in her arms.

"Nothing. Old wives tales," Frey snorted dismissively, but even Alona now looked thoughtful.

"It was said that after the line of Queen Mothers died during the Long Winter, Alfheim would be ruled by one not of Alfheim blood, until one came who was, a mortal with Elven blood who could hear the Mother's call to battle in the coming of the storm, who would wield the Sword of Destiny and so avert the Twilight of the Gods. Ragnarok."

"But you can't think that I'm…no, that's completely insane!" Jane exploded. "I'm human born and bred-!?"

"And yet you can hear the Mother," Rila interrupted patiently. "There is historical evidence that Elves cross-bred with mortals before the Ice Wars, and you now bear Laevateinn. The blade has chosen you, Jane Foster of Midgard, you who have survived the darkness and fought and defeated Thanos once already."

"But I didn't-?" Jane murmured confusedly. "I'm not….you've got the wrong girl!"

"I do not think so," Alona murmured quietly. Jane was stunned by the elder Elf's cool approval of her, especially as Jane had always thought Alona merely tolerated her before. But respect now lurked in her grey eyes.

Frey seemingly decided events were slipping away from him, as he stood and rounded his desk to march towards Jane. "These fairy tales are all very well for children," he sneered at Jane, who decided she really didn't like him. "But I'll be having the sword back if you've quite finished playing at legends and prophecies."

Something dark and proud reared its head within Jane, and she stepped back with a haughty shake of her head. "Laevateinn is mine now, Frey. Clearly you've lost your way," she replied coolly. The Aesir made a grab for it, and that dark, proud creature currently wearing Jane's body burst into flame. She flipped the sword in her hand and struck Frey across the face with the hilt, drawing blood as he slumped to the floor.

"Mamma?" a small, quiet voice brought her swiftly back out from the darkness, and Jane blinked, and then stared in horror as Frey regained his composure with difficulty, and she realised what she had done. Aoife touched her mamma's face carefully, as Jane's eyes stared at her, before they softened and she clutched her daughter close, like a lifeline, as the little girl decided her mamma was alright again.

"Well, it seems I am deposed," Frey snarled, drawing himself up with what pride remained to him. "I curse the day you ever came to Alfheim, Lady Jane, and soon, so will all of Alfheim and your precious 'Mother'!"

And with that, he spun on his heel and stormed from the hall. A stunned silence fell, as Jane continued to stare at the sword in her hand, and Aoife played with her hair.

"What did I just do?" she asked, tremulously.

"You have reclaimed Alfheim from the Aesir," Rila replied, standing from her seat and coming to Jane, a comforting hand on her shoulder. "The old order is dying, and the new shall rise. What would you have us do, Queen Mother?"

Jane stared at them, as one by one, the Ruling Council all stood and bowed to her, and she mentally gulped. This was not what she had planned; but as she glanced first at Aoife, quite contentedly playing with her mother's necklace and utterly ignorant of Jane's sudden change in status, then at Laevateinn, shining coldly in her hand, and her jaw firmed. It wasn't what she had planned, but it would have to do.

"Gather the people," she replied, her voice carrying through the hall, proud and firm. "I would speak to them."


Rila took Aoife, as a bell rang throughout the city, calling the Elves to the square in front of Frey's palace, all wondering, some afraid, others resigned, all of them confused. The Lord Frey had just been seen storming from the palace and out of the city. Jane later found out he had returned to his native Vanaheim in proud defeat.

Jane stood in front of them all, lost and a little speechless, as Alona and Lord Knaven stepped forward. "Behold!" Alona called in a clear, strong voice. "We summon you to witness a miraculous event has come to pass. Laevateinn, the Sword of Destiny, has chosen a new bearer: Jane Foster, of Midgard and Alfheim, distant blood of our blood and the chosen daughter of the Mother. The ancient prophecies which spoke of her coming have come to pass, and the storm approaches. Hear her speak!"

"Wow, that wasn't a tad over-dramatic," Jane muttered to herself, feeling stupid and out of place. Gathering her courage, recalling how Loki spoke and held himself, she drew herself up and stepped up to the railing, grasping it tightly. She glanced at Rila, who smiled encouragingly. She wished Loki was there with her.

"Look, I won't lie to you," she started cautiously, her voice gaining strength and confidence as the crowd listened attentively, most surprised and buoyed by the departure of Frey, who was respected but not well-liked by those he had ruled. Jane had become something of a legend for her encounter with the darkness and the way she had pulled Loki back from the abyss that had awaited him with selflessness and love. She was well-liked and respected, both for her beauty and her intellect, which while educated differently from the Elves, was new and fresh to them. She was a beacon of hope and new life to them, and so they accorded her the honour of speaking unmolested. "We face a grave danger. Thanos of Titan has attacked Asgard," a ripple ran through the crowd at that. "Lord Loki has returned to Asgard to help as he can, but it will take more than one man, or even one army to defeat the hordes of Thanos. We possess the greatest archers in the Nine Realms and our magic is powerful. I will force no one to come against their will, but please…" she trailed off, gathering herself as her lungs constricted. "Please join with me. For the sake of your families, of your own lives, of all we hold dear and have worked so hard to build and preserve. For the sake of the Universe, will you fight for me?"

Silence fell, as the stunned crowd stared at her, like a Goddess of legend stepped down from the heavens above, or the Mother had taken physical form and now walked among them. It started first with a trickle, a tiny ripple of sounds, growing and growing until it reached a cacophony, a tidal wave, derived from a single word. "AYE!"

"All those who would fight, get ready," she called, instinct driving her now as she unsheathed Laevateinn and raised it high, the blade flashing in the morning sunlight. "For Alfheim!"

As the cry was taken up and echoed through the Forest, Jane uneasily wondered what on Earth, Asgard or Alfheim, she had done.


An hour later, she stood in her bedchamber, staring down at the ancient armour Rila had uncovered from somewhere, saying it was the ancestral armour worn by the Queens in battle, recovered from the body of the last Queen Mother. The metal was silvery grey, like the living wood that surrounded her, the plates complicated and intricate. Jane didn't have the first idea how to put any of it on.

Rila came in, already armoured and ready, a long, curving knife at her belt and a quiver of arrows at her back. She wore strange-looking bracers, long and silver, engraved with strange Alfheim runes Jane didn't recognise.

"Our people are ready, Queen Mother," she murmured softly, with a knowing smile. "Here, let me help you. The armour is complicated, I know."

"Thank you," Jane breathed gratefully. "Rila, am I doing the right thing?"

"You are the Queen Mother of Alfheim now, Jane," she replied kindly. "By accident or fate, your path has led you here and you have accepted it. Do not doubt yourself now."

The corselet of mail made Jane shiver as Rila slipped it over her head. Next came a restrictive leather corselet over her torso, followed by pauldrons and bracers that looked as if they were fashioned from leaves, but the latter gleaming golden in the light. If she squinted, Jane could see runes and ancient lettering engraved into the metal.

"Ancient spells, from before the Long Winter," Rila explained, as she bent down and strapped leg bracers to her calves, over her long boots. "For protection and courage in dark times."

"I'm going to need all the help I can get," Jane muttered, strapping Laevateinn to her waist herself. Rila handed her two knives, which she slipped into her bracers, and then a quiver of arrows and an Alfheim bow against her back. She helped Jan rearrange her hair so it was coiled against the nape of her neck in an intricate braided bun. "Where is Aoife?"

"Ready and waiting with the others, Queen Mother," Rila replied. "Baelen will keep her safe."

"Please, Rila don't call me that. Not while we're private like this," Jane begged quietly, and Rila nodded with a small smile. It faded, and a look of sadness and uncertainty haunted her lovely features.

"I wished to ask…that is Baelen and I, we wished to ask if you would care for Aeslin, in the event that we do not return," she breathed heavily. Jane spun, alarmed and grieved, as Rila grabbed her arm. "No, I do not say this lightly, Jane. I have all faith and hope in you, Queen Mother, but still…if the worst should happen, and we do not return, will you care for Aeslin as you would your own?"

She looked so desperate and urgent; Jane couldn't do anything else but assure her she would take care of Aeslin if Rila and Baelen did not return. Rila left her alone after that, and Jane closed her eyes, leaning her head against the wood.

She was not a religious person, never had been and probably never would be, but she prayed then, for strength from the Mother to see her through this.

Give me the strength to lead them. I'm not a Queen, but please help me see them safely home again…

A new voice echoed in her mind, with a surge of heat and comfort, so sure and certain, Jane felt it strengthen her, steeling her limbs and straightening her spine proudly.

Oh but my daughter, you are. You have been ever since you faced and embraced the darkness within yourself, and so gained mastery over it. You have the strength; now go forth, as you have always done…

Jane nodded to herself, and left the room with a new confidence in her step, the power of the Mother glowing in her mismatched eyes and her body, so she almost seemed to radiate light to those among the Elves who possessed the power to see her as such.


Waiting for her was the mighty grey stallion Loki had introduced her to, just after they heard of Thor's coronation. He was saddled and armoured like the other horses who now bore Elven riders, only a small number, among them the former Ruling Council, and she could see Aoife seated before Baelen, looking proud and gleeful that she was going and the other children were not, in her little green riding hood and cloak.

Jane was only bringing her because she suspected the only power able to protect her and help her escape Thanos should the worst happen lay with her grandparents. She did not doubt Frigg would help, but would the All-Father? She hoped so.

Carefully, she approached the might stallion and inclined her head. He did the same back, and touched his nose to her hand.

My friend has gone to battle without me, he said, I would follow and I will bear you gladly, Queen Mother.

Thank you, Jane thought back gravely. I think we will both have a thing or two to say to him when we find him.

The stallion snorted with equine laughter. Indeed we shall, my Queen.

What is your name, mighty one? Jane thought.

Glær, the stallion replied gravely.

Thank you, for letting me ride you, Glær, Jane replied with a grim smile, before mounting him with considerably more grace than she would have done nearly two years ago. He snorted and struck the ground with his great hoof, drawing sparks. Jane once more turned to her new people, looking out over them with sad, determined eyes. A small number of Mages and warriors were remaining behind to safeguard the elderly and the young, and once the main force was gone, they had orders to seal off the planet from the Bifrost and conjure a magical force-shield over them. It would not hold off Thanos indefinitely should the worst happen, but it would give them time to escape.

All these people relying on me, Jane thought to herself. Rila, Baelen, Alona, Knaven, Hafnell, Glær, and so many others. If I fail, Aeslin will lose her parents, and Caleb and so many others too. If I fail them, I fail Loki and Aoife too, and the Nine Realms, including Earth. Darcy, Erik, Tony, Steve, Natasha, Clint and so many others…I cannot fail.

Jane's eyes met those of her excited, brightly curious daughter, and her resolve firmed. I will not fail. I must not.

She led them down the stairs, the harsh wood transmuting to a soft slope beneath them, so the horses could walk with ease, until they reached the Forest floor. She felt the darkness within her mind, roiling and rippling, but it shied from her, with fear and respect. She was the Queen Mother of Alfheim, and she had tamed it. It bowed to her now.

As she stopped in the freshly remade imprint, tangled and twisted in the undergrowth, she took a deep breath before raising her eyes to the skies above. Summoning all her strength, so when she spoke, her voice was strong and clear, the voice of a Queen.

"Heimdall, it is I, Jane Foster of Midgard, Queen Mother of the Light Elves of Alfheim, bearer of Laevateinn and mate of Loki of Asgard. We bring aid and heed the call of Asgard against our common enemy. Open the Bifrost!"

For a moment, silence fell and Jane wondered if the gatekeeper would deny them entrance. Then the sky darkened, and the clouds swirled as if caught in a whirlpool, and Jane felt herself sucked away into the familiar chaos of the Bifrost, her host following behind.


To be continued...