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Chapter 13

An audience with the King

King Laufey needed to talk to Loki as soon as possible now that he had left the healing rooms. His cabinet wanted to find out more about the lost Prince Loptr. He still had to tell them Prince Loptr and Prince Loki was one an the same. He did not want to intimidate Loki. On the contrary, he planned to use the opportunity to correct mistakes from the past and hopefully start taking steps to build a healthy relationship, like the one he had with his other two sons.

The Jotunheim King knew his wife had Loki for the morning, and he thought it prudent to let him rest for the rest of the day as no matter what the healer said, the boy still looked sickly. He would talk to him at dinner and invite him to join him the next day for an outing.

After Loki finished his session with the Royal tailor, his mother invited him to have lunch with her at the gardens. Loki agreed, he walked side by side with his mother, and the Queen took him to her private gardens. Loki noticed his mother was roughly a foot taller than him, Loki was six feet and four inches, his mother was seven and a half feet tall. Once they got there, they sat at a beautifully carved ice table. The chairs were made of a combination of wood, ice, and snow stuffed leather on the seats. The chairs overall were very comfortable.

On the table were a lovely tray of cheese, dried fish, crackers, and fruits, a pitcher of juice, and some pastries for dessert. After sitting, Loki took a moment to admire the beauty of the garden. They were a few pine trees that were similar to those of other realms. But he also saw plants that he had never encountered before. Some of the plants grew on columns of ice. Loki asked, "Mother, I did not know that so many different plants grew in Jotunheim; how is it possible with so little light." The Queen smiled at Loki, and said, "Many of our plants derive at least part of their energy from the water they extract from the ice. We have several books in the library that explain the process in detail if you are interested." Loki loved books; he was definitely interested. He told her, "I am certainly interested. I love to read and learn new things."

After a peaceful lunch with Farbauti, where he learned more about the plants in Jontuheim, Loki retired to his rooms to take a nap as he was not fully recovered. He had barely been asleep for forty-five minutes when he felt a weight landing on him. He opened one eye to find the smiling face of Balder. He pushed his brother off him and said, "Balder, have you no manners? It is impolite to wake someone by jumping on them." Balder laughed and said, "But it is so much fun!" Loki sighed and told his brother in a resigned tone, "What do you want? Brother." Balder looked at Loki and said, "Don't sound so put off you sleepy head. I want to take you to the library. I thought we could trade knowledge; you teach me how to read and write. I'll explain to you all that I have learned about life in Jotunheim.

Loki smiled at his baby brother. He would be happy to teach him how to read and needed nothing in exchange, but since Balder was offering, he would take the bargain. He told him, "That is a reasonable exchange. Let me freshen up, and then we can get started." After collecting some books from the library, they went to Loki's new study and stayed there exchanging knowledge until it was dinner time.

Loki felt welcomed at dinner time and thought he liked these intimate dinners with just family. He, of course, had had some private dinners with his family at Asgard, but most of the time, they ate at the hall with other nobles as it seemed there was always a celebration going on. At the end of dinner, King Laufey joined Loki on the way out. He put a hand on Loki's shoulder and said, "Son, I would like for you to come with me tomorrow as I would like to show you some points of interest, and I also would like to talk to you and get to know you better." Loki was caught off guard. He wounder if he would ever get used to the care his biological family showed him. He smiled at Laufey and said, "Of course, I'll be happy to join you, King Laufey." The sovereign looked at him with affection and said, "Good, we will leave after breakfast."

Loki borrowed some clothes from Balder and shoes from his twin brother. He had a hard time falling asleep, wondering what King Laufey wanted. He was up early, and after taking a bath, he got ready for the day. After breakfast, Laufey took Loki to the stables and walked to a stall. Looking at Loki, he said, "Come over here, son. I have something for you." Loki walked over and looked at a magnificent black horse. Loki took a cube of sugar from a bucket and offered it to the black horse, who eat it happily. King Laufey smiled when he saw the grin on his boy's face. He told Loki, "Son if you like this horse, I would like to gift it to you." The young Prince said, "I love it, King Laufey, are you sure you want to give me such a magnificent animal." King Laufey chuckled and responded, "I am sure my son. What do you want to name him?" Loki felt touched by the tenderness in Laufey's voice. He said, "I'll name him Midnight. Thank you very much, he is the nicest horse I've ever had."

Father and son took off at a gallop. After about an hour, Loki could see a building. His father stopped and tied his horse to a tree. Loki followed his example. His father put one hand on his right shoulder and said, "Son, this is the temple that used to house the casket of the ancient winters. I had it converted into a memorial for all the people that lost their lives in the war." Loki nodded at his father and let him guide him to the memorial. He was surprised to see the statue of a tiny baby on a pedestal that had obviously housed the casket. When they walked closer, he read the plaque on it. It read, In honor of Prince Loptr, who gave his life for Jotunheim when he was only a baby. Loptr, you will never be forgotten by your family and the people of Jotunheim. We will always love you, your parents King Laufey and Queen Farbauti of Jotunheim.

Loki read the dedication and suddenly felt dizzy. His parents had always loved him. They had built a memorial in his honor. Odin had taken him from a loving family for his own twisted reasons and then had lied to him. He did not even notice when he fell to his knees and started sobbing. King Laufey did not expect such a strong reaction. He kneeled by Loki and took him in his arms. To his surprise, Loki actually latched on to him and cried into his chest. King Laufey rubbed his boys back gently and held him close with his other arm, rocking him back and forth as he used to do with his other sons when they were upset as children. Eventually, he said, "Shh, Loki, all is well, son, you are loved. You are home now, my son." If anything, that only made Loki cry harder.

Eventually, Loki stopped crying and said while still holding on to Laufey, "You really did love me like a father. Odin lied to me. I felt so unwanted when he told me I had been abandoned to die for being a runt. I was so angry. I am sorry, father, I should have never used the power of the Bifrost against Jotunheim. I wish I had grown up here, and then I would have never fallen into the void."

King Laufey took Loki's face between his hands, and after kissing his forehead, he told him while looking at his eyes, "Listen well, Loki, you are my son, and I have always loved you, and I will always love you. There is nothing you could possibly do to stop me from loving you. Let go of the lies that Odin fed you. You are loved, son, by all your family, and when they get to know you, you will be loved by your people. The people of Jotunheim."

The young Prince felt a bit embarrassed. He had just cried like a baby in Kings Laufey's arms. He wiped his eyes on his tunic and was about to apologize, when Laufey told him, "Do not be embarrassed, my son. I am your father, and you are my son; there should be no reason for shame between us." Loki looked at Laufey with confused, wide, innocent eyes that were rare for him. Eventually, he said, "Thank you, father. Is it acceptable for me to call you, father?"

King Laufey enveloped his son in a bear hug and told him, "It is an honor for you to call me father, my son." They continued visiting the memorial. On the walls, the names of all of those fallen in the Jotunheim-Asgard war were inscribed. After a while, Laufey started talking. He said, "Son when I became King, I was too young to understand the responsibility and the power that the position gave me. I wanted to establish new trading routes, and I went about it the wrong way. I was too aggressive about it, but it was never my intention to go to war with Asgard. My sister was the wife of Bor King of Asgard. They were family, why would I want to go to war with them?"

Loki looked at his father and asked, "Tell me, father, what was the war really about?" Laufey sighed and said, "I was a new King. I was not meant to ascend to the Throne being the third born child. I was the child of my parent's winter. First was Bestla, who could only be Queen in the absence of a male heir, then was my brother who was meant to be King. He was on Midgard opening trading routes together with my father, who was King at the time. I do not know what happened, but they were killed by our trading partners. I should have seen then that Midgard was not ready to trade with more advanced realms at that time. Instead, after ascending to the Throne, I kept the trading route open as I wanted to find the murderers of my family. It took me a quarter of a century to find the tribe that killed my father and brother. By that time, my mother had died of heartbreak. I had just married your mother, who was a fierce warrior. In any case, I decided to avenge my family. King Odin, who is older than me, took advantage of the situation and claimed I was trying to conquer Midgard, a realm under his protection. That was not true. At the time, he was wielding war and conquering all the realms. I tried to get an audience with him to explain the situation, but despite us being family, he refused to talk to me. The rest is history. We were at war for a long time. We were at a disadvantage because, despite our superior size, we are not a warrior race, our nature is calmer, and we only fight when there is no other choice. I finally surrender after losing you and the casket of the ancient winters. If I had had any idea that I would lose you, I would have surrendered earlier, but I never consider that despite everything, my nephew would kill my son. I see he did not kill you, and for that, I am thankful, but he had no right to take you from us. I am sorry, my son, that because of my stupidity, you had to suffer."

Loki looked at his father and considered all that he had learned. He respected the fact that King Laufey was not beyond apologizing and recognizing his mistakes. He told Laufey, "Father, even though I know little of the ways of Jotunheim, I was brought up as a Prince of Asgard, and as such, I learned the burden of governing. I do not blame you, father. Let the blame lay where it belongs. Odin had no business kidnaping me. I could have understood if he killed me; after all, it would be eliminating a potential enemy preventively. I told that to Odin when he confessed my true origins. He claimed he took me out of love, but Odin has a reason for everything he does, and love rarely plays a role."

Laufey looked at Loki with fondness and respect. He told him, "Thank you, son. You will be a good King when your time to govern with Helblindi comes." Loki said nothing simply smiled at his father in acknowledgment. Laufey told Loki that he wanted to take him to see some sacred waterfalls. They would rest and eat their mid-day meal at that place. Loki and his father galloped for an hour before coming to a mountain with a Forest. They tied their horses near a river and walked for another thirty minutes before reaching a magnificent waterfall that fell from a cliff of white ice. The view was breathtaking. After admiring the waterfalls for a few minutes, Laufey directed Loki to a picnic table made of ice, where he proceeded to unpack a generous lunch basket. They both sat to eat. Loki took advantage of the opportunity to share some of his concerns.

Looking at his father, Loki asked, "Father, what is going to happen to me? When will I be brought before the Jotunheim justice system?" Laufey smiled at his son and said, "I've been thinking about how to handle the situation. When I talk to my cabinet, I am going to concentrate on celebrating your return to us. I am sure, however, that at least one of the Lords will bring up the Bifrost incident and possibly the conflict that happened when Thor decided to attack Jotunheim. The Bifrost incident I will handle as a family matter given that the only property harmed was that of your aunt Bestla. I have spoken to her about it, and she is more than willing to handle it in that way. Since you are legally a minor, the responsibility for restitution falls to me. I was planning to help Bestla rebuild her manor regardless, so there is no big change there. If they bring up the incident with Thor, we will simply have to figure out which soldiers you might have harmed and then pay restitution to them or their families. That should be acceptable as while some soldiers were gravely injured in that incident fortunately enough, no one died."

Loki thought about it and said, "Father, I can contribute towards making restitution. I have my own fortune, which I earned with my abilities as a mage and teacher. I keep most of it in my dimensional pocket. I hope you will find that acceptable." Laufey said, "If that is what you want, son, we will work the details out later. Son, I have one more confession to make, and I hope you will be able to forgive me with time when you visited Jotunheim before Thor's coronation. I knew you were trying to use Jotunheim to disrupt the coronation, and you had no intention of letting us take the casket of the ancient winters. I wanted to get revenge on Odin and his house, so I helped you continue with your plan. I send golems for both attacks as I knew they would be unsuccessful, and my only intention was to cause harm to the house of Odin in any way possible. I am sorry, son. I think the person I harmed the most was you. I am sorry I let my hate blind me to the point where I could not recognize my own son."

Loki looked at Laufey and gathered his thoughts. He said, "I do not blame you for that. It seems like each of us had their own schemes, and we used each other. I can very well see myself doing the same in your place. In fact, I am glad you send Golems. The last thing I need is to have more blood on my hands. I suspected you used golems the first time, and I still led you to a second attack. I was sure you would use golems, which was fine by me, as at the time, I thought it would make me look like a hero. As long as no one knew it was a Golem I supposedly killed, I did not care. Even as angry an I was at you back then, I did not want to kill you. So you see, I have nothing to forgive you. I think we are even." Laufey laughed and said, "I see your point, son. We are so much alike."

They continued eating, and Loki took advantage of the silence to gather his thoughts. When he was ready, he looked at his father and told him, " Father, as part as my restitution towards Jotunheim, I must warn you of a grave danger coming to the nine realms."

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