When Odin had said tried, he hadn't actually meant trial, which had confused Loki at first, but then it made sense, he had already faced a trial and Odin knew what he had done, it didn't need to be explained again. Thor had explained the new circumstances that might change Loki's case, though he wasn't sure if Thor had made the fact that he had raped him so that he would get pregnant and not be allowed to be executed, clear. He was basically just being re-sentenced; depending on what Odin now decided was an appropriate fitting to his crimes, as well as his own wrong doings.

When a servant came scuttling in, telling them that Odin had asked (or demanded) the presence of Loki, alone, the young god couldn't quite help but to be surprised. He refused to leave Kalda though, he knew Thor would be fine with her but he couldn't. He had heard too many whisperings and rumours recently about people's grievances with having a Jotun, not only on Asgard but living in the palace, not to mention the fact that it was the offspring of a 'psychotic miscreant', as claimed the whisperings. And this was just from the people within the palace themselves, only the gods knew what would happen when the rest of Asgard found out. The one thing he couldn't do, was pinpoint who was saying such things, if he found out, oh Hel would they regret their words.

So for now, he was keeping Kalda in his sight at all times. Thor huffed a little but he understood why Loki would want to keep her with him and didn't fight him on it, though he warned that Odin might not be too happy, since he specifically said alone. The expression on Loki's face when Thor told him this, said everything about his opinion on the All-fathers' feelings.

A guard arrived a few minutes later, to lead Loki to the All-fathers quarters, which also surprised Loki. Odin hadn't dealt with Loki anywhere outside the throne room since he returned to Asgard. The guard gave Loki a wary look when he saw that he was bringing Kalda but he said nothing. Loki threw one last glance at Thor before following the guard out of their chambers.

The walk was quiet apart from Kalda, who had decided that now was the time to start gurgling and trying to grab Loki's hair, which was currently running down over his shoulders. He had fed her recently so he was glad that he would not have to face that dilemma in front of Odin, he couldn't even begin to imagine the sheer embarrassment he would feel at being forced to do such in front of him.

Odin was alone, Loki noticed as he arrived at the old kings chambers. He was not in his battle armour; he was dressed quite simply in loose, hanging clothing. He still looked every bit the king he was but there was a softness to him now that Loki had not seen in a long time. He wasn't sure if it actually put him a little more on edge but he showed no sign of this. Simply standing in the doorway, looking in coldly towards his, once believed to be, father.

"Come in, Loki." Odin requested simply, gesturing him forward. Loki breathed in, keeping his face masked blank and walking in. Kalda was still playing with whatever part of him she could reach, though he pulled away from any skin contact for now. He might have stripped his Asgardian form to make a point to the All-father but that didn't mean he was comfortable generally being around the man in his true form.

Loki said nothing, he fixed his eyes on a mark on the wall, just past where Odin was standing, and he waited for the other to speak first. He could feel the old man's eyes on him, making him want to shift around uncomfortably but he didn't, he kept himself as still as he physically could whilst holding a squirming child.

"She's a feisty little thing, isn't she?" Odin said at length. That made Loki's eyes flick straight to the others, his expression remaining the same, his face angled downwards, just slightly, making him look up through his eye lashes, enough to give his face a menacing edge.

"Yes, she tends to fidget a lot when around people that I don't particularly like." He bit.

"Loki..."

"What do you want?" Loki cut in, keeping his voice low. Odin straightened up, visibly.

"I want to talk, properly, face to face, without starting the next war. Do you think that you are capable of such?"

"I suppose that will have to depend on what you wish to talk about." Loki deadpanned. Odin just watched him for a moment before moving across the room and gesturing a couple of seats by a rather grand looking fireplace, which was also currently lit.

"That's not really a good idea." Loki kept his words calm and as respectful as they were going to get for now. Odin wanted to talk, he could do that, he couldn't help the tone of sarcasm that underlined his words though.

The All-father looked down at Loki's daughter and nodded once. "Right."

Loki looked around. At the corner of each room were pillars and there was quite a wide set of steps leading up to them which connected around the edge of the room, almost like the floor they were currently standing on was in a slight dip compared to the steps. Loki sighed to himself and moved to one of the steps to sit down.

"How is she faring?" Odin asked after a few horribly silent moments. Loki looked up at Odin like he couldn't believe that the old king was serious about having a 'chat'. This could not be a good idea.

"She is doing well. I'm sure that you can probably hear her some mornings, even from here. Her wailing can be...rather loud." Loki smiled inwardly, sometimes when she screamed like that, especially if it was very early in a morning, he would allow her to continue for just a couple of minutes longer before he calmed her down. He liked to think that he had ruined the end of a good dream for any of the bastards that hated her.

"Indeed, she has quite a set of lungs. Just as you did." Loki's calm mask slipped for a split second at the surprise that Odin would actually bring that up. Talking about Loki's childhood now seemed almost taboo.

At Loki's lack of response, Odin seems to take it as a sign that he could continue.

"Thor would come running into these very quarters before I or Frigga, herself could even get up to tend to you. He loved to help out with looking after you. A protective big brother from the start."

"Not my brother." Loki reminded, bored of having to say it by now.

"Not by blood." Odin corrected. "If you had seen how he was when you first came home and how he basically raised you himself, you might think differently."

"That was then, things change. He is most definitely not my brother in any form of the word, not anymore. He is the father of Kalda, nothing more to me."

"Understandable." Odin agreed and Loki frowned a little before blanking his face again. Odin wasn't arguing with him. He was almost being...nice. Loki didn't like it, he could do hateful and angry, he couldn't do pleasant conversation. Odin smiled a little and walked over to where Loki sat, and then he actually turned and sat a few feet away from him.

"We did what we could to bring you up as our own. It was not easy to hide you and the glamour was necessary but not because we were shamed, I wouldn't have brought you home if I was."

"Except that you realised I might come in handy in case the threat of a war against Jotunheim ever appeared."

"No, Loki. It did occur to me that you may be able to help bring about an alliance but I never would have forced such from you. I hoped that by the time you were old enough, you would have wanted to help us. My actual plan was to have you both ascend to the throne. You were going to rule as kings together, as equals."

"The coronation that started all of this was for Thor and Thor alone. If what you said were true, we would have both been part of that ceremony."

"I didn't say at the same time. Thor was being crowned first because he was the oldest. At the time I deemed him ready, though, this was a mistake and you were too young to join him yet." Loki shook his head, he had to be lying, it made no sense.

"So you wanted us to rule together, and what? Is this where you intended to have Thor breed me and produce a suitable heir to bring our two worlds together?" Odin leaned back, looking away.

"That would have been your choice. I knew that the Jotnar were of one gender and that, if you so chose, you could together produce a potential heir that could form a final peace with our worlds. The threat of war would end and we would have some very useful allies." Loki said nothing; he was struggling to keep his calm. He pretty much knew all of this himself, it was obvious, but to hear it actually said out loud just made it more real.

"It wasn't my sole intention to just use you for this purpose but it was something I had hoped would be possible."

"So why did you let me grow up, not knowing who I was? Why did you bring me up to hate my own race?" Loki's voice rose slightly towards the end. Kalda squirmed and started whining, he rocked her a bit to hush her but it didn't work so he lifted her up onto his knee and bounced her up and down gently.

"We didn't want you to grow up feeling different; we felt it would have been easier on you. And I never taught you to hate, merely children's horror stories, not of my control are what made you fear them. Thor had always boasted about slaughtering them all because then, that was what he believed was the right thing to do. I thought he would grow up and realise he couldn't solve everything with his fists by the time he was to become king. I was wrong, he was not yet ready but I believe he now sees things differently, if his desperation to save you is anything to go by. Clearly, he sees you as more than a mere monster."

Loki didn't respond. He didn't even know how to, of all the things he thought might happen when he came to 'speak' to Odin, this was by far the least likely thing he expected. Odin had actually wanted to just talk after all.

Kaldas' whining had turned into full, blown crying by now. He pushed his hand up against her cheek and stroking her ear with his fingers like he knew she liked, his hand returning to its original form. He tried to tilt it away from the All-father but he knew that he could see him; nothing was said about it though.

"Why did you have me brought here?" Loki asked quietly, a few silent minutes later, well, silent from all but kaldas' noises, she was calming down though, with Loki's hand still pressed to her face. He pulled her back down from his knee, into his arms and held his hand with her so she could play with it. She grabbed at his hand and tried to chew on his fingertips. Odin shifted around a bit and really? He was nervous?

"I wished to...apologise to you." Loki froze, quickly trying to mask his response, by returning his attention to his daughter but he really hadn't been prepared at all for that. His face changed expressions subtly as he tried to figure out how to respond.

"Apologise?" Surely he couldn't be serious, after everything, he wanted to apologise?

"It was the wrong decision to hide who you were for so long and have you find out as you did. My intentions were good; I meant only good things for you. But it was messy, rushed and not well planned and for that I am sorry." Loki didn't look at him, he couldn't, he could barely even think properly and dammit, he prided himself on his ability to mask his feelings.

"Is it not a bit late for that now?"

"Perhaps." Odin said. "I will be calling you to the throne room later for the final sentence. You must understand that I do so as your king and not as a father. Right here and now, I need you to know, that I understand how my mistakes have lead to a lot of your actions. But your crimes were many and your crimes were unforgiving, especially in relation to Midgard. These cannot go unpunished and that is upon what I have made my decision for your sentence." Loki had heard enough.

"What do you really think it matters to me?" He stood up. "I do not need you to justify your decisions to me, as though my approval would make a difference. You did what you did, as did I. The only difference is I'm being punished for my actions. There was no need to summon me here to...explain yourself." Loki spat the words at Odin. "Nor do I need your apologies, so don't waste your breath, Hel knows how much you have left of it." Odin stood up, considerable faster than a man of his age should be able to.

"I merely wished to set a few things straight..."

"Well don't!" Loki cut in. "You will make your decision known to the courts and we will be done with it. You underestimate me if you think you can make amends with me so easily...your apologies." He scoffed at the end.

"Loki!" The usual sternness had returned to his voice, clearly this had not gone how he had intended.

"What were you hoping for? That I would break down and beg for your forgiveness, tell you how all I ever wanted was to feel accepted and loved just like Thor, is that what you want? Because that's not going to happen, you foolish old man!" Loki stormed to the door, ignoring Odin's calls, the guard quickly running after him. Of course, Odin was very much within his power to order Loki to come back but he didn't, just like he hadn't the day he first met Kalda.

Loki stormed all the way back to Thor's quarters. Kalda had started crying when he yelled at Odin, she didn't like when Loki was upset, he wasn't quite sure how she could tell, her level of perceptiveness was ridiculous. He bounced his body as he walked in, trying to calm her. Thor jumped up as soon as he saw Loki.

"What happened?"

"I'm going to die, that's what happened!" He was still angry. Thor's eyes went wide, and then he frowned.

"What did he say? Why are you going to die, the new trial was supposed to change your sentence."

Loki wasn't sure whether to answer or not. "He apologised." He said after a few seconds. Thor's mouth dropped, sheer utter shock written all over his face.

"He apologised? You can't be serious, he doesn't apologise, I don't think he has ever apologised to me for anything. Why would that mean you are going to die?"

"Because he is clearly trying to kill off any guilt he may feel about pretty much ensuring that I would become the way I am...I am not saying he is entirely to blame..." He added seeing that Thor was about to cut in. "I know I did some things I shouldn't have but that doesn't change what he said and I have a feeling that his reason for this is because he doesn't think I'm going to like what he has to say later in the throne room, I'm which case, it should be you that he's apologising to, not me." He gave up trying to calm Kalda down with bouncing.

He handed her to Thor before removing his upper body clothing and taking Kalda back into his arms, allowing his natural skin to take over his entire upper half. A deep blue, much deeper than kaldas' spread along his chest and arms, starting from where Kalda was touching him and moving upwards, up to his neck and continuing across his face, his eyes becoming their vivid red. Thor stared at him, having never seen him fully in his original form this close before. His eyes followed along the younger gods' markings, starting from his chest, going up to his face, seeing the small indents they made in his dark skin. He had the urge to trace them with his fingers but knew it would burn him nastily if he tried.

Loki looked up at him, almost as if daring him to say something. Thor wouldn't be intimidated by this.

"She has your markings." He pointed out as Loki undressed Kalda, leaving her in only her under cloth. As soon as he huddled her against his bare shoulder, her crying ceased. Thor knew that he would never be able to bond as close with her as Loki could. Maybe it was the Jotun thing but Thor wasn't sure. Loki had struggled so much to be able to deal with her and he claimed that he still wasn't overly fond of her, and was only doing what was required of him but Kalda needed him so desperately. He had an effect on her that no one else would ever be able to match and that didn't bother Thor like he thought it might have. He would do anything for his daughter, no doubt but Loki, Loki was her mother; it was as simple as that.

"Does she?" Loki asked, looking down before stopping and humming to himself, seemingly disinterested but Thor smiled at his display. Loki just glared at him and continued cuddling his, now happily cooing, daughter.

...

And here they were, moment of truth, Loki thought bitterly as he entered the throne room. Thor had taken Kalda and moved to stand at the side, where she was trying to pull on his hair and Loki could see Thor hissing a little at her cold hands. She was like cuddling an ice cube for him but Thor seemed to deal fine as he winced then chuckled as she gurgled loudly, succeeding to tug on a tiny fistful of his long hair.

Odin stood up and addressed Loki, any feeling from their earlier 'chat' now shoved away and replaced with a stoic demeanour, all about being professional and neutral.

"Loki Laufeyson." He boomed to him and the rest of the witnesses of the courts. "The time has come to set your final sentence. From here the decision will not be changed." Loki didn't look around him but he could feel the any eyes boring into his back. They already knew his fate; it was they who had to approve the decision beforehand. Loki shifted, just subtly, keeping his reserve strong and unfazed.

"After everything, there are no more chances that I can give to you Loki but maybe you can consider this somewhat close to one. Your execution date will be set after Kalda turns six, as it was intended. However, come this time, you will be sent to a final trial, in front of the courts and placed under Ørgrandr Fróðleikr (honest magic). You will be asked one, rather simple question. Do you feel remorse for your crimes?" Odin was looking directly at him but Loki kept himself in check.

"Your response will then either condemn your sentence or redeem it. You will only be given one chance to answer and said answer will be the final word to your sentence. Should you answer in the positive, to be able to say that you do, in fact, feel remorse for your actions, the execution aspect of your sentence will be removed. Should you answer in the negative, or are proven to be lying, then your sentence will be carried out shortly after said trial takes place." Loki looked over to see Thor, doing his best to keep Kalda quiet but she was set on making as much noise as physically possible right now, which Loki was actually thankful for. Without her noises the hall would be eerily quiet.

"In the mean time, you will remain bound to the palace grounds, as will your daughter. It's only a matter of time until Jotunheim catch wind of her existence and there is no telling what they will do. Know that should this become a reality, she will be protected as any daughter of the prince would be." Loki frowned slightly for a moment before he understood. Of course, she was Thor's daughter too, it's not like he was referring to Loki himself. Odin stepped forward a bit more, looking Loki directly in the eyes.

"You have a rather long time to be able to think over your life, your crimes, your chance to turn around and redeem yourself and it is quite a big chance indeed. I would suggest that you do not waste it."

...

"What did I say?" Loki said, turning round as he strolled, almost cockily, back into Thor's chambers, turning to face the older god, who still had a Jotun baby half hanging off his hair. Thor looked up at his questioningly. "I'm going to die."

"No Loki, were you not listening? That's not what father was saying. Obviously he cannot just let you off without punishment, regardless of circumstances, so this is the closest thing he could do. All you have to do is tell them that you're sorry for what you did and your execution will be cancelled."

"I don't believe it is quite that simple Thor. I will be placed under Ørgrandr Fróðleikr, very old magic, not something that you can trick or lie to."

Thor frowned. "So don't lie, surely you can't still believe what you did was right!"

"I did what I was driven to do, I will not apologise for that!"

"Your stubbornness will cost you your life Loki! Think about this, think about your daughter, she needs a mother..."

"Don't you dare bring her into this!" Loki spat. "I will not be made to feel guilty for this. She wouldn't even exist if you had just let me die in the first place, then there would be no daughter to leave motherless when I am inevitably executed anyway!"

"Are you saying that you wish she didn't exist?" Loki seemed to sag a little upon hearing the context of his question. He looked down, sighing, frustrated.

"You have to agree, it would be easier if she didn't, if only on her. She never needed to be brought up in all of this, family issues and hatred. She's doomed for corruption as it is." Loki walked up to Thor to take Kalda from him. Thor let him and watched as he walked off towards the washroom with her. He could only hope that Loki saw sense over the time he had, to understand what he did was wrong and to feel bad, to regret his actions.

Loki closed the door behind him and Thor knew that he would take his time in there so he decided to just call it a night and go to bed.

Loki stripped both himself and Kalda down once the water was full. It was freezing cold but he knew that she would like it. He shredded down his glamour, stepping into the cold water, feeling the calm wash over him as he sat down. He lay back in the bath, lying Kalda across his chest so that her head rested on his shoulder, her face angled towards his neck.

The water came up to cover her body like a blanket and once he had her in a comfortable position, he relaxed himself, tilting his head so he could look down at her, stroking her ear with the tips of his fingers, smiling at her little sigh as she lay still. Everything was quiet except for the occasional sounds of movement in water when Loki shifted a little. Kalda was soon asleep and Loki stayed, allowing the water to wash away his thoughts and worries for today.

He had about five and a half years before his execution. He didn't know if he would feel remorse by then, though he doubted it. He agrees that he could have done it better, since his original attempt had been messy, not well planned and doomed to fail. He still believed that his actions were right though, or his reasoning at least. Everyone talks about his wrongdoings and how he has to pay but no one points out the fact that he was wronged himself, but he deserved no compensation for that, no one cared about that.

Loki wasn't going to fret about it, though he figured, he might be driven to kill Thor if the man didn't let it drop. He would live; he would raise Kalda, teach her what he could before his time was up and then it would be up to Thor and hopefully his mother to make her into a respectful young woman, protect her, and destroy anything that would attempt to cause her harm, just as Loki would.