Him
I appreciate the revies of ThePhoenixandtheDragon; I am glad you enjoyed the coronation ceremony and
Lourdes08 I am glad you like the story.
vonny25
Brothers: Loki and Byleistr
Growing the Kingdom
Many months had passed, and the inhabitants of Begavelse were adapting to their new lives. The realm had two seasons, winter and summer, overall the planet was colder than Asgard but warmer than Jontuheim, and the weather suited the Begavet well. They had repaired the houses in the military complex and established their capital there.
The children were well-taken care of and were receiving an education. Most adults had useful skills and had the opportunity to learn new things such as reading and writing, and All-Speak. The Begavet formed a new language as it seemed each adult had a different language they were fluent in. Loki promoted the unique language formation and hoped to write grammatical rules within a year and create a dictionary.
Loki thought that it was time to mount a small rescue operation, he decided to talk with his brother first. He waited until after dinner to bring up the subject. He and his brother were sitting on a couch in their living room. Loki said, "Byleistr, I have been thinking, and I believe we have achieved to form a small but stable kingdom." Byleistr responded, "I agree with you Loki, it seems all of our people have adapted well and are making themselves useful. Our greenhouses produce more than enough food for us, without even taking into account our rodent farm, fishing ad harvesting activities." "You are right, Byleistr and our textile industry will be taking off; before long, we will be able to produce the clothes and shoes we need. Thanks to the repairs we made to the energy plant, we have enough to run our city. But we still need to get a healer to help us develop our healthcare system, and it would be nice to have more citizens." Said Loki.
Byleistr thought about it and gave Loki a knowing smile, who wondered how his little brother could know him so well after a short time. It seemed even after centuries, and Thor had not figured him out. Byleistr said, "So, what is it that you are planning Loki?" "I think I would like for us to attempt to rescue some of our people from Jotunheim. You are the one that knows the most about Jotunheim and where our people are located. Tell me, brother, what is your opinion on the issue?"
After taking a few minutes to consider it, Byleistr said, "I think it is a good idea, but it will be difficult. The best place to start would be the caves where most of the vegetables of Jotunheim are grown. The Jotnar are too big to enter the caves, so only a few keep order outside. I believe we could overpower them and rescue the people. Still, it might be a good idea for us to talk to the Skuffelse first, to see if they agree to come with us and so they may be ready."
Loki said, "That sounds like a solid plan. I believe you and I could skywalk to the caves to talk to the people. Once they agree, we can take one of our spaceships to carry out the rescue. Let's talk it over with Angrboda and see what she thinks." Byleistr clapped Loki's shoulder and smiled at his brother.
Angrboda listened patiently while the brothers explained their plan. Once they finished, she said, "I'm coming with you, and don't you even try to argue about it. As your defense minister, my first priority is to keep the royal family safe." In truth, she thought that those two idiots needed to be babysat. She could easily imagine them being captured. She refused to listen to a little voice in her head, telling her that she was worried about Loki.
Once the decision to move forward was made, Loki informed the citizens of the plan and welcomed any input they had. He did not want to be an autocrat as Odin was. Loki was hoping to eventually develop the kingdom into a democratic Monarchy with the citizens' active participation. It would take time, but he was patient.
After a month of careful planning Loki, Byleistr and Angrboda were ready for their initial excursion. Hopefully, they would not run into problems, but just in case, they had a backup plan. If they were not back in 48 hours, Atla and a few warriors would mount a rescue operation. They would take a spaceship and land in the area. Loki hoped all went as planned; they should be back within six hours maximum.
A week after the details were finalized, early in the morning, the Royals o Begavelse left the realm to go to the caves of Jotunheim. Given that Byleistr was the one that knew the location best, he guided Loki and Angrboda there. Once they were in the caves, they had to walk for a while before they came to the section where the Skuffelse were working.
Byleistr approached one of the older Skuffelse and told him he urgently needed to talk to him regarding a plan to better their people's lives. The man went and looked for a female that was the most respected member of the group. Byleistr, Loki, and Angrboda followed them to a side-cave.
Once there, the mand introduced himself as Baugi and his companion as Fenja. Fenja said, "What is it that you want?" Byleistr responded in the language of the slaves, "I am Prince Byleistr of Begavelse, and my companions are my brother King Loki of Begavelse and Duchess Angrboda. We come to offer you the opportunity of being part of our kingdom." Fenja looked at the group of royals with a critical eye. They sure looked like Skufessel to her, but she had to admit that they were dressed in finery and looked well-fed and rested. She said, "I've never heard of Begavelse." Loki said, "That is because we recently founded our kingdom in what used to be Svartalfheim. Our Kingdome is welcoming all Skufessel that want to join us as citizens of the realm."
Baugi said, "All of this sounds too good to be the truth. How would we get there? And how do we know you are not just going to trap us and then sell us to a slave trafficker." Angrboda said, "You can think what you want, but we are only offering this opportunity once. If you and your people are interested, we can bring a spaceship and warriors to rescue you. All I can say is that you have my word that we are telling you the truth."
Baugi and Fenja went to a corner to talk among themselves. Fenja looked at the visitors and said, "I believe most people will want to go with you. Even if this is a trap, we will end up no worse than we are now. But if what you say is true, then it is an opportunity that we cannot pass." Loki smiled at the woman and said, "Lady Fenja, I give you my word as King of Begavelse that we are speaking the truth. I will do all in my power to rescue as many Skuffelse as possible. Tell me, how long do you need for you and your people to be ready for us to come to for you."
Fenja responded, "We will be ready when you get here. We cannot let everyone know because the Jotnar might find out. But we will inform enough, and they will tell the rest when the time is right. How will we know when you are here ?" Loki responded, "When you see a space ship landing, you will know the time has come. Tell me how many people are here so that we may bring enough spaceships." "We are about one thousand," Baugi responded.
Loki, Byleistr, and Angrboda made it back safely to their realm. Loki said, well, that went better than I expected. Angrboda said, "If you say so, Loki, they did not seem very enthusiastic to me." Loki said, "That is true, but at least we did not run into any Jotnar, and it seems like they have agreed to come with us. They do not know us, so how can we blame them for having doubts." Byleistr said, "I don't know, I thought that hearing me speak in their own language rather than All-speak would give them confidence, but it did not seem to work." Loki threw an arm around his brother's shoulder and said, "On the contrary, Byleistr, I think it helped. While they still have their doubts, I believe seeing that you are indeed one of them made them decide to take a chance." Byleistr smiled at Loki but did not look convinced.
Angrboda said, "I don't know about you guys, but I am starving. I am going to see If Atla has some food to spare in the children's kitchen. Loki and Byleistr followed Angrboda and found that the children were just finishing their evening meal. There was enough for Atla and Beli to share with them.
Beli asked, "how did your mission go? Your highnesses." Angrboda responded, "As well as can be expected." Loki said, "We will start preparing the spaceships for the rescue mission. I thought that taking one ship would be enough, but it appears there are over 1000 Skuffesel to rescue. I believe it would be best to take 4 small vessels than one large one." Angrboda said, "I agree with you, Loki. The smaller vessels are faster and harder to detect. Besides, even if we happen to lose one vessel, we will still be able to rescue everyone."
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