Title: You know what lies are for
Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Sylvia Plath
Warnings: post-film
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 420
Point of view: third
Prompt: The Avengers, Loki, "All of this was a test to see if you are ready."
You are no king, my brother, the wind murmurs, as Thor walks to the Bifrost, still yet shattered.
Loki escaped, of course. And while a few might mutter that the prince let the traitorous criminal go too easily, none are so brave as to say it to Thor's face - or in the king's hearing, or in the queen's halls.
Loki escaped. For that, Thor is glad, though he knows better than to utter that truth aloud.
You are no king, my brother, the wind murmurs, and Thor knows Loki has not gone far. Will never go far, save when he falls through the void and into madness. Into someone else's cold, torturous grasp.
You are weak, and malleable, and so blind to inescapable facts, the wind hisses, and Thor tilts his head to the side, so as to listen better.
Thor smiles, ignoring Heimdallr and the abyss where a bridge should reside, and he thinks, For all that, you still call me brother.
He has thought about asking Father what the plan was, if he had known, why he let it go so far – but Loki's hands trembled in the bindings, and his eyes were shadowed by the muzzle, and Thor knows the stories the humans have told about his family. None were true, and he would not see them become so, for Father's rage was great.
Thor could not be sure what Loki's punishment might be, and he was even less sure what he should be punished for, and so he loosened the bindings and looked away.
You are no king, the wind murmurs again. No king should leave so great an enemy alive and unfettered.
Thor thinks, turning away from Heimdallr and starting towards the stable, You have never truly wanted me dead. Am I your enemy?
Sleipnir is racing around the pasture, and he trumpets a greeting at Thor, and Thor has never asked where his father found such a horse – but Loki had been gone for nearly a year when he and the horse returned within days of each other. Could one of the humans' legends be true?
You are not my enemy, the wind murmurs, and Sleipnir tosses his head up, mane dancing in the breeze, before he prances over. My brother, Loki whispers. Until you are king, you are not my enemy.
Thor can work with that, so he pats Sleipnir on the shoulder and says, "Are you my nephew, great horse?"
Sleipnir does not answer, and the wind does not speak again.