Veritas
Warnings: none.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter Playlist: 'Robin Speaks' from 'Robin Hood' and 'Mhysa' from 'Game of Thrones: Season 3'.
'Loki is pleasing, even beautiful to look at, but his nature is evil and he is undependable. More than others, he has the kind of wisdom known as cunning, and is treacherous in all matters. He constantly places the gods in difficulties and often solves their problems with guile.'
- The Prose Edda
'In each of us, two natures are at war – the good and the evil. All our lives the fight goes on between them, and one of them must conquer. But in our own hands lies the power to choose – what we want most to be we are.'
- Robert Louis Stevenson
Loki felt the air pulled from his lungs as he landed, with a jolt, on Asgard. He stood inside the great walls, looking out over the land beyond it, and there was nothing. The golden observatory was gone, the land decimated, the oceans turned to dust.
Beyond the gentle rainbow effect of the great shield that protected the rest of the city, Asgard was languishing in what Jane would have called a nuclear winter, the sky choked with Chitauri ships and Leviathans, and Loki felt a cold shudder down his spine as he felt Thanos's presence, closer and more insidious than ever before.
"Welcome back, Loki," a familiar voice called his name, and he turned to find Heimdall watching him from a makeshift console, his armour dinted and dull, his eyes golden and unseeing. "Your return has been anticipated. I see you have regained your magic."
"I have," Loki replied curtly. "How long has Asgard been under siege?"
"Many days in our reckoning," Heimdall stated. "The King and Queen await you."
He recognised two guards waiting behind the gatekeeper, and he sighed. "Oh, perhaps I should tell you, I had nothing to do with this," he muttered sardonically. "I will need your testimony on this, Gatekeeper. I have no doubt I am blamed for the success of Thanos's attacks."
"Indeed there is opinion you are," the Gatekeeper sighed, turning away from his post and falling into step beside Loki, as they walked through the silent city. "Queen Sif and some of her warriors believe this is your revenge for your exile. The people know not what to think anymore."
Loki was not surprised to hear Sif was now Queen. It had taken his lumbering fool of a brother long enough to work it out. Jane's not so subtle hint probably helped too. "And my brother, my mother?" he asked cautiously.
"Still hold out hope for your redemption. The All-Father as well," the gatekeeper replied solemnly. Suddenly, an amused smile lit his tired features, and Loki eyed it suspiciously.
"What is it? What do you see?" he asked.
"Events are moving fast, and we will soon be joined by others from the Nine Realms," he replied, and Loki sighed. He suppressed the urge to ask Heimdall to look for Jane and Aoife.
"From the look of things, we shall need all the help we can get," he mused grimly.
The streets were silent where the people had been evacuated further into the city and the countryside beyond, the only Aesir left those in the military or with magic, such as the Healers. The citadel was steeped in a watchful, tense silence but Loki could hear a rising crescendo of noise as they approached the hall of Gladsheim. He suppressed a sudden nervous tension, and drew himself up still further, as the doors opened and silence fell.
Hisses and whispers broke out as the changed former Prince of Asgard entered, clad in his old armour and sweeping emerald cloak, his eyes, green tinged with blood red in the pupil, trained straight ahead of him proudly.
Thor was sat in the throne, Gungnir at his side, Mjolnir tied to his belt, clad in his full armour. Sif stood on a lower step of the dais, too clad in her armour, the Warriors Three staring at him as if he were a ghost as he stepped forward.
"You are not welcome here, traitor!" Sif's lovely face contorted into a snarl, as she unsheathed her glaive threateningly.
"As impossible as this may seem to your narrow-minded view of me, my Queen," Loki bowed mockingly. "I am not the traitor this time. I come with help and advice, if you will have it. I, after all, am the only being in this room with experience of the creature we are facing."
"As his puppet," Sif sneered, just as Thor stood, his eyes wide and hopeful on Loki's face.
"Silence," he called firmly, holding up his hand to quiet his Queen. He stepped down from the dais, looking tired beneath his golden veneer, and Loki felt an unfamiliar emotion swell within him. Compassion. "You look…changed, Loki," he murmured softly.
"I accepted some of what I am…brother," Loki replied, just as soft and quiet. "My power has returned, I am Thanos's creature no more."
"No," Thor shook his head. "You are your own man, at last. I am…glad to see you, brother."
"And I you," Loki inclined his head "Much has changed me, since last we parted. And I have much to lose if Thanos should win."
"Heimdall!" Thor suddenly turned to the gatekeeper, his voice carrying over the great hall. "Does my brother speak the truth?"
"He does, my King," the gatekeeper replied solemnly. "I have watched Loki from afar these many months, and he has not been traitorous. Far from it."
"With all due respect, he has fooled you before, my Lord," Fandral suddenly spoke up, with a distrustful glance at Loki, who just returned it coolly. "He might have done so again."
"And subvert the All-Father's edict, his power?" Loki laughed scornfully. "You pay me a great compliment, old friend. Even I do not have the power to do so, especially once stripped of it."
"I'm just being cautious," Fandral replied with a frown. "Thanos knew exactly where and when to attack us, our weakest points. Such knowledge could only have come from you."
"It is possible Thanos learned much when he broke my mind," Loki argued testily, his body going rigid as the memories washed over him.
"So you are a traitor, then," Sif cut in, with some relish, as the crowd rippled with whispering.
"You know not of what you speak, my Queen," Loki snarled quietly, staring her down until she looked away. "If I betrayed Asgard, it was not knowingly so. And if I have done so, unknowingly or not, I am returned to pay penance for it."
"If you fight for us," Thor interrupted their barbed exchange with a clear, firm voice. "You fight as one of us, Loki. As a Prince of Asgard."
"Then I reclaim my place as a Prince of Asgard," Loki replied, loudly and clearly, ignoring the whispers carrying through the hall. "But do not think to command me always, brother. I am neither Jotunn nor Aesir, and I answer now only to myself."
"So be it," Thor gravely nodded, ignoring the incredulous looks on his wife and friends' faces. He stepped down to meet Loki, clasping his shoulder tightly. "I am glad to have you back, brother."
"This is madness!" Sif exploded, stepping forward. "My lord and husband, please reconsider. We cannot trust him, he said it himself."
"We can trust him in this," Thor replied firmly. "He has as much to lose as we do, my Queen. Perhaps more so, since he destroyed the portal on Earth."
All of a sudden, the sound of the Bifrost roaring into life shook them from their arguments, and they realised Heimdall had discreetly disappeared. Loki, Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three rushed to the closest balcony, looking down on the great space where Loki had arrived, to see a small host of ten riders on great white and bay horses, followed by more on foot, all armed, all carrying bows and weapons even the youngest child on Asgard would recognise. The Light Elves of Alfheim had come.
"I do not understand-?" Thor trailed off, his eyes wide.
"Where is Frey? I do not see him?" Sif murmured, as a figure cantered ahead of the host, as more and more poured from the Bifrost portal, passing the dimly gleaming figure of Heimdall. Loki shuddered, as anger and disbelief contorted his features, leaving his eyes wide.
"Jane, what have you done?" he half-groaned, half-chuckled.
They waited in the hall of Gladsheim, soldiers despatched to the temporary Bifrost to direct and house the new arrivals, as the commanders were escorted on horseback to the citadel. Loki stood beside Thor and Sif, impatient and still disbelieving.
It can not be. It simply can not be her…
But he had underestimated Jane before, to his own cost. He pushed aside his thoughts and simply waited for whatever would come through those doors.
His eyes widened as a tiny little figure, clothed in emerald green, dark ringlets bouncing, rushed through them, quickly pursued by a figure in Elven armour, copper hair bright in the light of the hall. "Papa!"
"Aoife, slow down!" Jane called. Aoife launched herself at Loki's legs, looking up at him with adoration and victorious delight splayed across her elfin features.
"Found you, Papa. Why did you go?" she frowned direfully, as Loki bent to pick her up with a long-suffering sigh, conscious of Thor and the rest of their company's wide eyes and slack jaws at the sight of the infamous trickster Prince being hugged to death by his daughter.
"I am here now, little one," he breathed, pressing a kiss to her forehead. With a sigh, as Jane reached his side, he turned and gestured to them with his free hand. "Brother, Sif, everyone else, meet the Lady Aoife Lokidottir, and my mate by Alfheim custom, Jane Foster of Midgard."
"Your daughter?" Thor gaped, hurt and shock flashing in his eyes. "Why did you not send word? To me, to Mother? To Father?"
"I tried but the All-Father's edict forbade any communication," he replied, neglecting to inform Thor of Frigg's secret visit when he and Jane were estranged. He turned to Jane with a glare. "I told you not to come after me, Jane."
"Nope," Jane replied coolly. "You said I couldn't come with you. You neglected to say I couldn't come at all, let alone bring reinforcements."
Loki's eyes narrowed, as Thor chuckled. "You taught her too well, brother."
Jane smirked and hugged Thor, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Nice to see you too, Thor," she murmured. "Good to see you took my advice."
"Jane, your eyes!?" he gasped, as he drew back, releasing her. "What happened-?"
"Long story," she groaned. "I'll tell it later."
Sif narrowed her eyes at her, mistrust and suspicion written across her face. "Perhaps you would kindly tell us where the Lord Frey is, Lady Jane."
"Yeah, I could," Jane shrugged, "Once you get off your high horse and start asking nicely." Sif's face contorted.
"I am the Queen of Asgard-" she began proudly, as Jane stepped away from Loki and their daughter to stand toe to toe with the taller woman.
"Queen Consort of Asgard," she pointed out. "I am the Queen Mother of Alfheim, so I outrank you, Sif. And that idiot over there is my Prince Consort so try showing some manners."
Sif spluttered, eyes wide as fresh whispers broke out through the hall. "That is impossible-?"
"Nope," Jane unsheathed Laevateinn, showing it to the crowd, and then to Thor and the others. "We had an argument and Laevateinn obviously agreed with me. Frey is no longer the ruler of Alfheim, I am, apparently. Something to do with some prophecies," she shrugged again.
"What kind of 'argument'?" Loki asked pointedly. She turned grim eyes to his, and shrugged.
"He didn't like a woman questioning him," she shrugged. "He tried to hit me, I refused to let him and that was when Laevateinn switched sides."
Thor turned to Rila and the others, amassed behind Jane like an honour guard. "This is true?" he asked.
"Yes, it is," she answered respectfully. "The coming of Jane was long foretold but forgotten until now. She bears Laevateinn, who only permits the wisest to wield its power. She is our Queen Mother, chosen by the Mother. We follow her gladly."
"Honestly, I leave you alone for five minutes, and you lead a veritable revolution," Loki shook his head at Jane, as Aoife played with his cloak disinterestedly, looking bored. "No, little one. Be still."
"Don't want to," Aoife pouted. "Bored," she pronounced, as proud as an empress. Thor chuckled, his eyes soft as he regarded his niece.
"She has your look, Loki," he murmured softly, before addressing the hall. "We welcome the Queen Mother of Alfheim and her retinue. She and hers are welcome in Asgard," he said, before turning to Aoife with a questioning look at Jane and Loki. "Now, bored one," he joked. "I think there are two people who would very much like to meet you."
"We will discuss what to do, later," he told the others, Loki and Jane included. He levelled them a piercing stare. "I will want a full account of your life on Alfheim. I'm sure it'll be most entertaining." He darted a sad look at Jane's eyes one last time, as Jane just grimaced. It was a story she wasn't looking forward to telling.
Loki cautiously handed Aoife over to Thor, who laughed as the little girl promptly started tugging on his hair and clothes with interest. She gazed at Sif a good few minutes, unnerving the warrior. "You pretty, like mamma," she pronounced at last, and even Sif softened.
"Told you, bad influence," Jane muttered out the side of her mouth to Loki. "Not even Sif can resist her charms."
"Well she is the daughter of the Silvertongue," Loki replied archly, prompting a slap on the arm from Jane. "What was that for, pray tell?"
"For putting me under a sleeping spell, again, and taking off on your own. I told you, my choices are mine to make," she replied coolly, sheathing Laevateinn.
"How did you-?" he trailed off, with an amazed shake of his head. "You astound me, sometimes, Jane."
"Long story," she muttered wryly. "And I hate you by the way."
"Of course you do," Loki chuckled, drawing her to him for a deep, passionate kiss that knocked the breath from her lungs, his teeth nibbling at her lips as she moaned and ran her fingers through his hair. "And I hate you too, you obstinate, defiant little troublemaker."
"Sounds like your perfect woman," Jane quipped, drawing a chuckle from her mate. "Prince Consort of Alfheim."
"Queen Mother of Alfheim," he retorted teasingly, as she rolled her eyes. A throat was cleared, pointedly, and they paused to stare at their audience, the Warriors Three eying them like they were dangerous predators that might attack at any moment, Sif looking nonplussed and oddly triumphant as she met Jane's eyes, while Thor just laughed uproariously while Aoife played with his armour.
"Loki has met his match at last, I think," the Thunder God laughed, looking to Aoife who he was clearly falling in love with. "What do you think, Aoife?"
"Mamma and Papa good. They argue a lot, but then they go away somewhere for a long time and-" Aoife began with a quizzical frown, but Jane started forward at that.
"Ok, baby girl, enough of that!" she cut her off abruptly, plucking her from Thor's arms and settling her on her hip, while the others chortled quietly when she stopped glaring at them. "Eighteen months old and she's already as bad as her father."
"I heard that, Jane," Loki replied silkily, with a heated glance at his mate, who just returned it with a raised, challenging brow.
"You have your hands full with your women, I see, Loki," Fandral commented, seemingly forgetting his suspicion for the chance to tease and needle. Loki just smirked darkly.
"Oh, I'm never bored," he grinned, his eyes on Jane's hips as she marched ahead, following Thor to the royal quarters, all their worries and fears temporarily suspended by Aoife and her still babyish charms
To be continued...