GUYS DID Y'ALL SEE THE FIRST EPISODE OF LOKI OMG. I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR THE FEELS! BUT OMG I LOVE IT!
My sincerest apologies for the delay with this chapter! I've recently started working full time again and I really don't have a lot of time to write. I was halfway through the chapter up until yesterday - I have the second half of this week off work - and I just bashed out the remaining half of the chapter because I knew if I didn't do it yesterday, it would be ages before I managed to actually finish it. I'm a bit tired cause I was up late last night touching it up a bit, and then this morning I've finished it. Finally able to post! It's long, I hope you like it!
Hydrangeas Say Our Family Will Flourish
Chapter Forty-One: Restoration of Order
Loki brushed his fingers lightly through Amelia's hair. She was asleep at the table of the dining hall, her head pillowed on her arms; she hadn't said a word between waking that morning and arriving for breakfast, whether it was because her throat hurt too badly or for other reasons, Loki did not know, but it was difficult to bear. Amelia was usually the talkative one who got the children up and out of bed in an excitable way to get them ready for the day, and now Loki had to try and emulate that to at least to retain a sliver of normality for Aster and Kari.
He wasn't so sure he did a good job. Aster and Kari ate quietly and tentatively at the table, their concerned gazes resting on their mother who must have seemed to them like an entirely different person since the attack. They were afraid and worried that it was going to be this way forever. Loki knew it would not be, but he also knew that it would be a long while before Amelia was back to her old self, and even then there would be bits and pieces that would stand out differently about her. That was what trauma did to a person, after all.
Loki sighed and reached for the dish of pastries, picking up two chocolate-filled treats and placing one each on the kids' plates, "Here you go. You've been well behaved," he said, forcing a faint smile. In reality, he was giving his children an extra pastry each because they'd been through some serious shit and he just wanted to see their faces light up, even if just a little.
It had the desired effect, and they were distracted from their nerves for just a while as they both dug into their treats. "Thank you daddy," said Aster, followed then by her brother. Loki regarded them with a kind nod in acknowledgement of their gratitude before turning his attention back to his wife.
He hadn't yet told her about seeing his mother, he wasn't sure how Amelia would react; she was in a very delicate mental state and he didn't want to tell her anything that could potentially unnerve her. While the knowledge that his mother had been watching over the children and had helped save them made him happy, he knew that Amelia didn't always react or interpret things the same way as him. He'd refrain from telling her, at least for the moment.
Thor entered the room, late to breakfast. He'd been incredibly busy, ever since the attack, focusing all his efforts on making sure the palace was secure so as to avoid another incident, which meant getting up early and launching himself into his duties before the thought of eating even occurred. Then again, from the somewhat dishevelled look of his brother, it was entirely possibly Thor had never actually gone to bed in the first place.
"Is she okay?" Thor asked when he reached the head of the table close to Loki.
Loki's eyes flickered between Thor and his dozing wife a few times; he wanted to scoff and tell his brother 'of course she's not okay, you fool', because that was the truth, but nobody present would benefit from hearing such words, so he opted for a kinder lie.
"She's just tired."
Thor was unconvinced. He exhaled an audible breath through his nose, "I have interrogations underway, all guards are being questioned, nobody leaves or enters the palace without it being reported directly to me first. Every last inch of the palace is being scoured for clues, and the kingdom is aware of the attempted assassination, though they do not know the details. Sten Ulfson's family is being detained in their own home at the present time. If you feel there is anything more I can do to ensure this does not happen again, do not hesitate to make a suggestion." The king was clearly emotionally exhausted.
Loki nodded his head and then hesitated for only a moment, "There is something I need to tell you."
Thor frowned, expecting some sort of bad news, "What is it, brother?"
Loki peered over at the kids, whose mouths were now painted with chocolate, and then to his wife, who was still soundly asleep. He rose from the table and took a few steps away, motioning Thor to join him, just out of the children's hearing range if he lowered his voice to a whisper.
"I saw mother last night," Loki stated plainly, watching his brother's face for a reaction.
Thor's eyebrows lifted as incredulity fell upon his face, and then he said, "So you were dreaming." It wasn't a question.
"I was not dreaming," Loki clarified, "I did not sleep last night, and I know very well that I am of sound mind and was not hallucinating. She came to me and spoke to me in an incorporeal form for just a few minutes."
Thor's lips parted and his jaw fell as Loki spoke, revealing the shock and disbelief in his expression. He didn't say anything in response, which left Loki surprised, because it wasn't often that Thor was left speechless.
Loki decided to continue, "She told me that she was visiting her grandchildren, which she has done on multiple occasions, and that she was further breaking the rules by speaking to me. She was the one who woke Amelia two nights ago and urged her to check the children's room… her quick thinking saved them."
Thor blinked rapidly, but still did not respond. His eyes darted between Loki's, and Loki was beginning to get just a little concerned for his brother's silence.
"Brother?"
Finally, Thor spoke up. "Why would she visit you and not me?"
A genuine smile appeared on Loki's face in that moment as he gleefully responded, "Because she liked me better, obviously."
Thor scoffed loudly and then fell quiet again for a short while. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised," he began, "that mother would defy death to see her grandchildren. I am glad she came when she did," he paused, "and did she… have anything else to say?"
Loki faltered and considered making a quip or a jest at his brother's expense, but he took pity on the king, knowing that Thor would probably give anything to be able to converse with their mother one more time, and told him what Frigga had said, "She told me to tell you that she loves you."
There was a visible glint of gratitude and contentment in Thor's eyes when Loki repeated their mother's words, and Thor appeared placated for the first time since the attack; the king nodded his head, the smallest of smiles pulling his lips upwards in the corners.
The silence pulled on too long and became a little awkward for Loki's liking, they were never ones for delving too deeply into sentimental familial matters, so he decided to break it, "Anyway. I'm going to examine Ulfson's body and then question his family to see if I can discover anything your guards have failed to pick up on."
The sound of a sharp gasp had Loki and Thor turning back to the dining table behind them, and their eyes quickly fell to Amelia, who was now very much awake, and looking up at them in abject horror.
"You're… not l-leaving?" She rasped, tears pricking her eyes very quickly.
Loki came back to her side, trying to pacify her with physical contact; he squeezed her shoulders affectionately, "Only for a little while. I need to look into why this happened, Amelia. Thor will stay with you the whole time."
Despite his efforts to assuage her fears, her eyes glimmered with moisture and she coughed out, "Y-you… can't leave."
Loki pulled her head down to his shoulder, tucking her beneath his chin as he held her, "No harm will come to you, Amelia. I absolutely must find out for myself why this has happened. You know I would never leave you alone if I thought Thor couldn't protect you."
Amelia wept silently into his shoulder, and Loki noticed despondently in his peripheral vision that Aster and Kari were sporting empathetic pouts, about a stone's throw away from crying themselves at the sight of their mother breaking down. He shushed Amelia gently and stroked her hair. When one of the palace servants brought a bowl of hot soup for Amelia, Loki carefully pushed her back and motioned the dish, "Eat, regain your strength."
Amelia gazed down at the soup with a look that told him she didn't really want to eat it, but she knew he was correct in that she needed to recover, and the best way to do that was to eat what she could. Unfortunately, all she could eat without inflicting severe pain on herself was soup.
Loki squeezed her shoulders again encouragingly when she reached for the spoon and took a small mouthful, swallowing it down with a slight wince. When he cast his brother another glance, he saw the fresh look of guilt on his brother's face; the king looked ashamed now hearing that Amelia didn't feel safe in his care alone.
Inga entered the room after that, greeting Thor with a kiss on the cheek and some affectionate touches. All the while, Loki endured the pain of hearing Amelia sniffle and whimper between spoonfuls of soup; ideally he wouldn't have to leave Amelia and the kids alone with Thor, but it was becoming abundantly clear that he couldn't trust the guards with their jobs of protecting his family, so he doubted they could piece together this little mystery that had transpired.
Loki looked at the kids. They were so quiet and uncomfortable at the current circumstances; he wished he knew the exact right words to quell their fears. Amelia would've known, if she was in a better mental state at that moment. He attempted to soothe them regardless, "It's going to be alright. I'm just going to head down to the village for a little while and then I'll be back. You won't even notice I'm gone."
Aster looked at him with a helpless look that tugged at his heart strings, "I'll notice," she murmured quietly. Loki frowned.
Amelia's rigid and inconsistent breaths didn't subside, instead they seemed to speed up and sound almost strained. The steady rasp in each exhale reminded him that her throat must've been leaving her in agony at a near constant rate; he wished he had the power to take that pain away from her.
The spoon clattered in the bowl of soup and Loki's gaze rose worriedly as Amelia's condition seemed to deteriorate suddenly before his eyes, "Amelia?"
Amelia's breaths were sharp, shallow and quick; her hands shook and her body trembled, she pressed her palm to her chest, her fist clenched in the material of her gown and a frightful look of alarm came over her face. Something was wrong.
"Amelia, what's wrong?" Loki's hands tightened on his wife's upper arms as he tried to get an answer out of her, but she continued to wheeze and shook her head, pulling away from his grasp. Sweat dripped down her forehead.
"I… don't… don't feel… good," Amelia choked out, and Loki's sharp eyes fell to the bowl of half-eaten soup on the table.
"Poison?" He almost stammered, full of fear and disbelief as he swung around in search of Inga. He didn't want to believe it, but what else could it be? Had somebody found a way to poison Amelia's food even after the many preventative measures had been taken to be extremely careful with who prepared the food and what was put in it?
Inga was at Amelia's side in moments, checking her pulse at the wrist in a very calm and composed manner while tilting Amelia's head up to look into her eyes, checking the dilation of her pupils; Amelia looked to be caught in a death grip of terror from the moment she'd heard Loki's previous utterance.
"Ah… m' I gonna… die?" Amelia stuttered.
"No," Inga responded succinctly, with impressive persuasion.
Loki swallowed tightly, looking between his wife and the healer with an unblinking gaze. Distantly, he heard his son trying to get his attention.
"Daddy? Daddy?" The boy repeated tearfully, "Is mama okay?"
"Shh, quiet," Loki said tersely without even glancing at the boy, something he knew immediately he would come to regret, but it wasn't even on his mind in that moment as he feared for his wife's immediate safety.
Finally, after what seemed like far too long, Inga placed a steadying hand on Amelia's collarbone and spoke conclusively, "Amelia, you haven't been poisoned. You're having a panic-attack. I need you to close your eyes and control your breathing."
Loki slumped with incredible relief, glad that his initial assessment had been incorrect; he finally turned back to his children only to find them gone, and glanced frantically around for a moment before finding them clutching onto Thor at the head of the table. He too seemed relieved at Inga's diagnosis, but was staring firmly at Loki with disapproval, and it was at that moment that he realised what he had said to Kari when the boy was simply afraid for his mother.
A wave of shame flooded through him and Loki wondered if Frigga would still tell him she was proud if she'd witnessed that wretched display of terrible parenting.
After learning that she wasn't in the process of dying, Amelia seemed to calm down considerably. Simply knowing that she was experiencing a panic-attack aided her in calming down at Inga's coaching; Loki stayed firmly at her side until she was breathing normally again and then he went to apologise to his children for acting so cruel.
"Hey. Hey," Loki murmured as he picked them both up and took a few steps away from the table before kneeling down and talking to them at eye level, "I'm sorry for being dismissive. I know you were just worried about mama. I was worried too." He paused to cup their faces affectionately, brushing their cheeks with his thumb and smiling slightly when they both leaned into the touch, "Mama is okay, she's strong, she's just scared. But it's okay, Uncle Thor is going to protect you while I'm away - I won't be gone long, just a few hours at most, okay?"
They both nodded in acceptance. Aster moved forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, to which Kari quickly joined, the two of them sinking into their father's embrace.
"When you get back, are you gonna look after mama again?" Kari mumbled into Loki's shoulder.
"Of course," he told them confidently, "Everything's going to be alright."
Once he was sure the children were placated, he returned them to Thor's care and then approached his wife once again. Amelia had calmed down significantly, but was still looking at him with eyes that begged him to stay, her lungs still involuntarily drawing in sharp breaths every so often. He cupped her face in both hands, leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead before pulling back, giving her an apologetic look. He repeated the words he'd told his children, "Everything will be alright. I'll see you soon."
He kissed her lips, and her sharp, involuntary inhales ceased.
Loki stood alone in the room where Sten Ulfson's corpse was being kept deep below the palace in a room chilled to slow the body's decomposition process. It lay utterly still below a white sheet on a table in the centre of the room; an autopsy had already been performed but nothing abnormal had been discovered.
He approached the cadaver, took a handful of the sheet and peeled it back to reveal the deceased face of the man who tried to kill his wife and children. Ulfson's skin was greying, his lips were blue, his short brown hair was frayed and strewn, looking like it had the texture of hay, and even though he was already dead, the sight of this man sent Loki into a silent rage.
He pulled the sheet down further and his eyes found the stab wound through the heart; Ulfson had killed himself the moment the guards rushed into the room. Why? Perhaps he thought death would be better than the long lifetime of torture he would've had to endure had he been captured.
Loki cast a glance to the adjacent table where Ulfson's personal effects had been placed. The man had had very little on his person when he committed suicide but Loki was mostly interested in the dagger that had been used to slit his wife's throat. It was sitting there before him within its sheath, a simple, fine steel blade with a black hilt that wasn't overly intricate, but still had a well thought out design. Loki picked it up and carefully removed it from the sheath, turning his nose up at the stained red blade.
The sharpness and shininess of the weapon led Loki to believe it had been made in recent years, or even sooner. At the very least, it had to have been forged after the Asgardians came to Earth - he'd have a word with the village blacksmith about that.
Ulfson had plunged this blade into his heart without hesitation. Loki thanked the gods that this man was clearly a rubbish assassin; if he had been any more skilled… he didn't want to think about that.
The door to the dank room opened and in walked the captain of the royal guard, Sigeric. The man bowed his head respectfully, "Prince Loki, have you discovered anything amiss?"
Loki's gaze dropped to the blade, his pupils searching for anything that would yield a welcomed answer to that question, but there wasn't anything abnormal about it - it was just a regular blade.
"Nothing yet." Loki answered dryly. He had hoped he'd have been able to walk in and piece the clues together immediately, but he had no such luck.
"I see. The guard's bodies are in the next room if you wish to take a look at them," said Sigeric.
Loki hummed in idle thought, recalling what his mother had told him that night. She'd seen Sten slaughter them all with ease, one after the other, silencing them with magic so as to remain undetected.
Loki paused his train of thought. Something didn't add up.
"How did he kill your trained guards, and yet my wife was able to hold him off long enough for help to arrive?"
Loki didn't know exactly how it had gone down, but it struck him as strange that the assassin had easily disposed of the guards, but struggled to take down Amelia. It was true Amelia was imbued with a fraction of his magic, but that alone couldn't have held the man off, surely.
"I don't know, sir. Perhaps he had an accomplice who killed the guards?" Sigeric inquired with a sigh.
"No. He killed the guards." Loki stated.
"How do you know that?" Sigeric frowned, and Loki blinked, looking over to him.
"Because my mother informed me last night. She was here when Ulfson fought his way in, though according to her it wasn't much of a fight. She said he used a spell to muffle any noise the victims could have made."
Sigeric's gaze narrowed and his lips pulled up in what seemed to be irritated incredulity , "Your mother. Right."
The tone with which Sigeric spoke suggested not only did he not believe Loki, but he was actively pissed off with what Loki had said. Loki turned a hostile stare on the man, "Fool. You think I would actually lie about this. Do you know what almost happened to my family?" He spat the words venomously, and Sigeric's face paled slightly.
"N-no, sir. Sorry. I'm just… I lost four good guards and I don't understand how any of this happened." Sigeric's gaze fell squarely to the ground where he mulled in his shame. He amended his beliefs at once, not questioning what Loki had claimed and simply accepting it, "Your mother told you he used a spell? That doesn't make sense… Sten Ulfson was not a magic-user, at no point in his life has he ever learnt how to use it."
Loki lowered the dagger back to the table, turning his full attention to Sigeric, his eyes squinting in confusion, "Are you certain of this?"
"Positive, my prince. He worked for his mother's shop his whole life, making models and statuettes to be sold. It was only when Asgard relocated to Earth that he began working in the palace library. Unless you think it's possible that he's mastered the use of magic since he went missing last year?"
Loki thought for a moment, staring at the body over his shoulder, as if the answer to this confusion was right there in front of him waiting to be deciphered, "I highly doubt it. It takes a long time to master magic," he paused, turning back to Sigeric, "he's never had any combat or warrior training?"
Sigeric shook his head, "No, my prince."
With an exasperated sigh, Loki shook his head. Ulfson was neither a warrior nor a magic-user. So how did this man do the things he had done?
"I think I need to see Ulfson's family. I need to know more about this man," Loki decided, "but first, I need to talk to Aster and confirm something."
Amelia and the kids had relocated with Thor to a smaller, cosy room in the palace where there was a warm fireplace, a quiet sitting area and a soft fur rug for the children to sit and play on. A maid had been sent to retrieve some toys from the children's room and Aster and Kari were now sitting in front of where Amelia was resting on the couch.
She was regulating her breathing in a way that kept her calm as she watched her kids play quietly with their toys; the kids were nowhere near as energetic as usual, no doubt lacking energy from the distress and nightmares they'd experienced so far.
Thor sat across from them, placed strategically between her and the only entrance to the room, for the purposes of helping her to feel secure, and he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, observing Aster and Kari with a muted smile, paying close attention to the way they acted out a little scene with their animal plush toys and dolls.
They were adorable, and the fact that they could continue to play even when filled with nerves and worries gave Amelia strength. They were so strong.
Amelia startled when the door to the room opened, Thor's head swung round to gage who was entering, but the two of them relaxed when they saw it was Loki; a hopeful flutter went through Amelia as she assumed that perhaps he'd greatly over exaggerated the time it was going to take him to do what needed to be done - after all, he'd only been gone for about forty five minutes - but she deflated when he spoke.
"I haven't headed to the village yet, I just need to ask Aster something first," he explained with a frown; Amelia's gaze fell to the kids huddled at her feet and Aster looked curious, wondering what she was needed for. The girl stood up and lifted her arms, to which Loki lifted her up and began carrying her out of the room.
"Where are you going?" Thor inquired in Amelia's stead when her gaze flickered between him and Loki rapidly; her throat was so painful and Inga had instructed her to try not to talk so much.
"Just outside, I'll be right back, I need to talk to her privately," Loki answered before stepping out of the room with his daughter; he passed the guards on the outside of the room, walking a short way down the hall before rounding a corner and sitting on the closest bench that overlooked the open courtyard.
"How's mama holding up?" Loki asked as he sat his daughter comfortably in his lap. Aster curled against him, head resting against his chest and he circled his arms around her to keep her warm; it was pretty chilly in the courtyard, and while Aster was unbothered by a chill in the air, he wanted to soothe her in any way he could.
"Mama's not talking…" Aster murmured quietly, picking at the material of Loki's clothing.
"No," Loki nodded solemnly, "her throat hurts too much for her to talk, it'll be a while before she can talk without pain again."
Aster seemed to hum thoughtfully, her eyes wandering slightly as she thought about it. Loki sighed, wondering how he was going to broach the question on his mind; he dragged his hand affectionately over Aster's back and then pinched her cheek slightly, making her smile.
"I need to ask you something important."
Aster looked up, a flicker of nervousness marring her face immediately.
"Do you remember that one time we were at the marketplace and you got lost for a bit? And that man scared you?" Loki already had reason to believe the mysterious man from the market and the assassin were the same person, but Aster hadn't brought up whether or not she recognised him a couple nights ago, so he wasn't sure. It's possible Aster didn't remember his face, or maybe she didn't see him clearly enough in the darkness of the room that night.
Aster's lips drew into a pout and she nodded her head tentatively. Loki nodded and then thought about how to confirm his theory; obviously he wasn't going to take Aster down to the morgue and show her the bloodied body of the man who tried to kill them, which left only one possible way Loki could think of.
"I'm going to create an illusion of a man standing just over there," he pointed to the space several feet ahead of them, "I just want you to tell me if it's the man from the market or not, do you think you can do that?"
Aster looked unsure, her eyes already scanning the space Loki indicated with more than enough perturbation, she looked back at him with furrowed eyebrows but did not answer him.
"Remember, it's just an illusion. It can't hurt you, and it'll only be for a moment," he encouraged her, "I'm right here, okay?" He didn't want to do anything to upset her, but Aster was the only one who could confirm his suspicions.
Aster bit her lip and nodded hesitantly, giving in to what he was asking of her, and Loki's face softened, "You're a brave girl," he praised her gently, rubbing a hand over her head.
"Ready?" He asked the girl and she nodded, so he lifted his hand and channelled his magic into forming the figure of Sten Ulfson - his angular face, short and straight brown hair, his dark eyes which were aimed at the ground rather than at them - and Loki watched as Aster looked him over.
She paused, her pout becoming more pronounced, and then she turned suddenly and buried her face against her father's chest, whining with fright; Loki dropped the illusion immediately, pulling his daughter flush against him and wrapping her up tightly so that she knew she was safe.
"It's alright, he's gone," Loki whispered, "Was it him, Aster? The man from the market?"
The little girl nodded against him, and Loki was glad to have one mystery solved - knowing there was a link to the incident last year and the incident two nights ago was a good development, but it also raised an unsettling feeling within him. Just how long had Ulfson been trying to go after his children for?
When Loki returned with Aster to the room, Amelia was appalled to see her looking so upset and ended up pinning her husband with an accusatory glare.
"She's fine," Loki assured his wife as Amelia took her daughter from him and inspected her face gently, tilting Aster's chin up so she could see the tearful girl's eyes.
'What happened?' Amelia signed, opting to speak through the use of her hands rather than verbally.
Loki didn't have time to explain everything, and he knew Amelia would probably be angry that he had put Aster in the situation of having to see that man's face again, so he simply explained what he had learnt instead, glancing over to Thor as he did so, "Ulfson was the man from the marketplace last year, the one who tried to… take her."
Amelia's eyes widened slightly, and she cuddled her daughter tightly, shushing her whimpers softly as she returned to sit on the couch. Kari climbed onto the couch and offered his own comfort to his sister in the form of a hug, which she welcomed and returned.
"So Sigeric had been correct in his assumption that day," Thor hummed, scratching his beard idly, "Are you heading to see Ulfson's family now?"
"Yes. I'll probably be a couple of hours."
"Very well. Be careful," Thor said as Loki turned to leave the room again.
Loki answered his brother with a scoff. If Ulfson's family were in league with Sten, he would get to the bottom of it.
Loki stepped into Ulfson's family home in the upper part of the village right behind Sigeric, who greeted a handful of guards who were present and in the process of keeping the three members of Sten's family in one corner of the main room. The first thing Loki noticed was that they looked incredibly upset; Sten's mother, Ylva, and his sister, Runa, were both huddled closely together, eyeing Loki with consternation while Sten's father, Ulf, was glaring at the guards in the immediate vicinity.
Loki's gaze flickered to Sigeric before falling back on the family. On the horse ride over, Sigeric had briefed Loki on the fact that Sten's family did not know exactly what had occurred in the palace two nights prior, all they knew was that Sten had injured somebody - they didn't know he was dead, they didn't know that the person he hurt was Loki's wife, the princess of Asgard. They more than likely assumed Sten was being held in confinement for the time being, and none of their questions had been answered for the past day and a half.
It was necessary to keep them in the dark, because Loki wanted to be present when they first learned the extent of what their son had done in order to gage their reactions. If they were involved, Loki would see through any attempts at false shock; being the God of Lies didn't just mean that he was good at crafting them, he was also an expert at detecting them.
"Prince Loki! Respectfully, what is the meaning of this?" Ulf, a beardy aging man, growled, "Why are we being held hostage in our own home? Why has our son been accused of harming somebody?"
The guard closest to Ulf looked to Loki, wordlessly inquiring on whether the prince wanted him to set Ulf straight, but Loki dismissed the notion with a subtle turn of his head.
"Ulf Rorikson. Respectfully," Loki countered sarcastically, "because your son was caught harming somebody."
"That is nonsense!" Ulf roared, and at that point, Loki nodded his head to the guard, and the guard delivered a crippling blow to the man's abdomen, causing him to buckle over and wheeze. Ylva and Runa gasped at the display, making aborted movements to help the man back up, but the other guards stopped them from taking a step.
Huddling closer to her adult daughter, Ylva, with long pale hair and a kind face, tried to appeal to Loki, "M-my prince, please, our son has been missing for so long. There… there has to be some mistake, he's harmless! He wouldn't hurt a fly!"
"I'm afraid that simply isn't true," Loki stated darkly, picturing his wife's face from that morning when she overheard that he was leaving to investigate. Her overwhelming fear was all thanks to Sten and the abominable actions he had taken, and while Loki may have appeared outwardly calm, the mere knowledge that he was standing in the presence of the family of what could have been his wife's killer had Loki's blood boiling with rage.
"Yes it is!" Runa, whose face was fair and pretty, snapped tearfully, before being reeled back in by her mother who ushered the girl behind her. Ylva turned apologetic, murmuring apologies for her daughter's outburst.
"And what makes you so sure of that?" Loki questioned, leaning forward ever so slightly.
"My son is-" Ulf began haughtily, having recovered from the blow dealt to him, but Loki swiftly cut him off.
"I was asking your daughter."
Ulf's mouth snapped shut, his glare not abating, and he turned his head minimally to look nervously at his wife and daughter; a microexpression that Loki did not miss.
Runa swallowed, stepping back out from behind her mother, gently pushing Ylva's protective arms away from her, and held her head high as she spoke, "My brother is a kind and gentle soul, he's never harmed a living thing in his whole life. He'd cry if I ever crushed a bug in front of him, and he's-" she sighed, "he's different from most people. He's not… smart. He doesn't think the same way as everybody else, but he's not dangerous. Please, Prince Loki, there has to be some sort of mistake or misunderstanding." Her tone was pleading, and sincere, which only further befuddled what Loki already knew of Sten.
The silence drew out for a few beats, but it was soon filled by Ylva.
"My prince, Sten is… he's a naive man," she lifted her finger to her temple, "and rather simple in the head," at this, Loki's eyes squinted at the further lack of clarity to this whole case, "please, if you could just let us speak with him, I'm sure we'd be able to find out what really happened."
The knit in Loki's eyebrows softened. His family really had no idea what had gone down, they were entirely clueless to the fact that their son had attempted murder and then killed himself; he took in a breath and then let out a heavy sigh.
"I'm sorry, but that's not possible," Loki told them. He was not going to take any pleasure in telling a family that their son was dead, even if that son had done something truly terrible to his own family - Ylva, Runa and Ulf appeared to unfortunately be the innocent party in all this mess. At the sight of their imploring stares, Loki prepared to explain the truth, "The night before last, I was away on a mission with the Avengers. During this time, my wife awoke in the early hours of the morning and went to check on our children, at which point she discovered your son in the children's bedroom. He had a knife raised and poised to strike, he was going to kill Kari and Aster in their sleep."
He paused, his face steely and void of emotion as he watched the complete disbelief sink in to the family's faces, before continuing, "My wife threw herself between him and our children… and Sten cut her throat," his fists clenched at his sides, his voice dropping to a low whisper, "she survived, but just barely. The room was swarmed with guards within a matter of seconds, and-"
"This is ludicrous," Ulf breathed in the form of a quiet murmur.
"And then," Loki continued tightly, "Sten stabbed himself in the heart. He did not survive. I am sorry."
Loki let the weight of what he had just revealed sink in. There were a few seconds of deafening silence as his words hung in the air before the family seemed to process and acknowledge what he had actually said. Ylva's hands shook as she brought them to her mouth, her eyes wide as saucers and full of tears. Runa's jaw fell and her gaze looked empty. Ulf's hands tangled in his greying hair, distraught at this development. They were the reactions of people who truly could not believe what they were hearing.
"I understand you are all deeply troubled by this news but I must find out what Sten's motive was and whether he had any accomplices. Whether or not you believe your son capable of the crime that has been committed, of harming my wife with the intent to kill, he is unequivocally guilty. I will step out and allow you some time to grieve, but I will be back soon," Loki wasn't sure if any of the house's residents even heard his closing words, because they were all either sobbing or staring into the foreground with out-of-focus stares, but he gave a nod to Sigeric and the two of them left the house.
"Where to now, sir?" Sigeric inquired.
"The blacksmith," Loki answered, his hand patting down the pocket of his Asgardian leathers where Sten's weapon was wrapped up in cloth.
The blacksmith, Alfarin, was a handsome man with angular features and braided auburn hair, and Loki came across him some time later where he was outside his shop, in the process of hammering some sort of metal into shape at his furnace. Loki rethought his position after mere seconds as the heat of the furnace rolled over him like a blanket and made him sweat, and he moved several steps away from it.
The movement caught Alfarin's attention in the corner of his vision and he looked up suddenly from where he'd been intently focused on his work; he was covered in sweat but seemed overall unbothered by the heat - he was probably used to it in this profession - and he looked surprised to see both Loki and the head of the royal guard standing on his property. The man took the metal he was working on away from the forge, leaving it to cool on a nearby surface and then pulled his gloves off, turning his attention entirely to the prince.
"Prince Loki. Is there something I can do for you?" He inquired, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the use of a cloth tucked into the waistband of his trousers. He seemed jovial, as if pleasantly surprised that Loki would pay him a visit.
"As a matter of fact, yes. I need to know-" Loki pulled the sheathed weapon wrapped in cloth from his pocket and unfolded it, revealing the dagger, "if this is one of yours."
Alfarin's eyebrows furrowed at the request and he stepped closer, throwing the sweat-covered rag over his shoulder. He plucked the sheathed dagger up in delicate hands, examining the black sheath and hilt with a searching glance, and he smiled, "Yes, this does look familiar," he spoke proudly.
And then he pulled the dagger out of its safety confines, and the smile on his face fell instantaneously as he observed the dried blood staining the blade. He lifted his gaze, looking between Loki and Sigeric, and shook his head slightly.
"Has… something happened?"
The less people that knew about the details of the attack, the better. Loki didn't know who to trust, and he didn't want any valuable information falling into the wrong hands.
"Just answer my question," Loki said bluntly.
Alfarin frowned, but looked over the blade, closely inspecting it, and after a few moments he confirmed with a nod, "It's definitely one of mine. Fine steel blade, onyx hilt. I believe I only made this a few months back."
"Good. Tell me who commissioned it," Loki demanded.
The blacksmith looked a little lost, "Well, about that… I'm not entirely sure."
Loki's gaze narrowed, "What do you mean?"
Alfarin sighed, "Nobody requested the blade in person, I just received a letter that explicitly stated the desired materials, length and style of the blade, along with a sum of gold. There wasn't a name associated with the commission."
"But somebody must have collected it?" Loki pressed impatiently, the volume of his voice raising ever so slightly, "Who collected it?"
"Ah, well it was a man in a cloak. I didn't really get a good look at his face, I'm sorry."
Loki paused, lifting his head in consideration, "Was it… a purple cloak?"
Alfarin looked thoughtful, his eyes flitting up as he searched his memory, "Hm… yeah. Yeah, like a dark purple colour. You know who it is?"
Loki looked to Sigeric, who confirmed what he thought with a nod. Sten had been wearing a cloak of dark purple that day in the marketplace when he'd tried to take Aster.
Ignoring Alfarin's question, Loki spoke again, "You wouldn't still happen to have the commission letter, would you?"
Alfarin's eyebrows rose and he took a few assured steps towards his shop, "Well of course, my prince. I always keep them as receipts. Give me a moment to find it."
The man reemerged several minutes later with an envelope in hand, which Loki eagerly took from him when it was offered. Opening up the letter, Loki eyed its contents.
'Alfarin,
I would like to request the construction of a dagger as a decorative piece for my son as a birthday present. It is to be approximately twelve inches in length from the bottom of the hilt to the tip of the blade. The style is to be simple and straight with a black onyx hilt. Despite this being used as a decorative piece, it is to be durable and sturdy. I have included a precise list of the desired materials and the required expenses, which I am paying you in full alongside this request, along with a little extra as an incentive to fulfill this commission with the bare minimum of necessary details required of me.
I will be by to pick up my blade at exactly 0900 hours on December 18th.
Thank you for your understanding and swift work.'
Loki chewed the inside of his cheek. Clearly Sten's request had been a lie from the beginning, he did not have a son, nor did he intend to use the blade as a decorative piece. He scowled at the bribe of extra pay in return for clandestineness and his glare pinned Alfarin for allowing himself to accept the bribe, "Do your job properly next time. Your customers are to give all their details in future."
Alfarin swallowed and lowered his eyes in shame, "Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."
Loki had what he had come for, so he left the blacksmith and headed with Sigeric back to the home of Sten's relatives, hoping that he'd be able to explore the man's bedroom a little and search for clues. He knew that he hadn't really given them all that long to grieve, but this was a pressing matter that simply couldn't wait.
When he re-entered the home, he found the daughter, Runa, and her father sitting in their front room; she was crying and he was comforting her. The mother was not present, which was strange.
"I apologise that I haven't given you nearly enough time to process what I've told you, but I need to look around Sten's bedroom. Forgive me for this breach of privacy, but I'm sure you understand I cannot forego checking anything that may be important," Loki spoke. Runa's tears only worsened and Loki could tell Ulf wanted to pin him with a glare, but the guards must have set him straight because the man's stare was squarely on the ground at their feet instead.
At that moment, the mother came rushing back in. Her face was red and eyes puffy from crying, but she was carrying several small, rolled up pieces of parchment in her hands and appeared to be moving with purpose.
"Look, prince Loki! These are Sten's letters! These are proof of his gentle and kind nature! He was not a monster, he would never harm those children! Something happened to him while he went missing, I am sure of it! Please, you have to believe me!" Ylva was frantic, and Loki raised a dismissive hand to the guards who made a move to pull the woman back. He eyed the scrolls in her hands and took one, unravelling it to absorb the contents.
'Dear mother, father and Runa,
I saw the royal children today while working in the library! The prince and princess brought them by to read to them. They're so small and adorable but they're already so smart. I wish you could come to see them.
Sincerely, Sten.'
Loki sighed, made eye contact with Ylva for a few moments and then picked another scroll from the woman's hands.
'Dear mother, father and Runa,
Princess Aster and Prince Kari are such sweet children! I walked past Prince Loki and the children as I was on my way to the food hall at lunch and I waved at them, and little Kari waved back at me! Aster is a bit shy but I hope she will wave to me someday soon.
Sincerely, Sten.'
Loki shook his head. He wasn't quick to accept this as evidence that Sten was not some sort of obsessive murderer, he felt it would be naive to take this woman's words as gospel. Perhaps there was a chance that she simply did not know her son as well as she thought she did.
"I'm not entirely convinced," Loki told her honestly, and his statement brought heartbreak to her face. Her eyes scrunched up as her gaze turned almost desperate.
"Please, my prince. From one parent to another, please believe that I know my child," she begged, "Sten is… was… the kindest boy I've ever known. He never believed in harming anything, no animal nor person, no insect of any kind, for any reason. Please, at least entertain the idea that somebody was manipulating him, I- I cannot fathom him ever doing anything like this or his own accord." Fresh tears fell down her face as her shaky hands covered her mouth.
Loki sighed again. "Allow me to look through his belongings, please," he requested solemnly.
Ylva stepped grimly aside, pointing to the door at the very end of the hall. Loki stepped past her and entered the room, noting the thin layer of dust covering everything. The room was neatly tidied, and he wondered if Sten had left it this way when he disappeared or if his mother had entered and cleaned up, perhaps hopeful of his return. There was a box down by the writing desk and upon lifting the lid, Loki found dozens more letters all addressed from Sten to his family.
"I liked to keep them all," Ylva explained, "and since he disappeared, I moved this box into his room. I… I found that looking at them only made me feel heartsick. I was so worried that something terrible had happened to him."
All the letters were of a similar calibre to the two he had read. They told of Sten's admiration for the children, his joy upon seeing wildlife in the palace gardens, his proud bragging moment when Thor acknowledged his existence once by thanking him for his work in the library. Loki could tell from the way these letters read that Sten was naive and full of childlike innocence, Ylva hadn't been lying.
All the letters were dated before he had gone missing.
"He never sent you anything after his disappearance?" Loki questioned.
"No," Ylva shook her head.
Loki stood, looking around the room some more. The only things that stood out were the various models and statuettes placed on shelves around the room.
"He made all of those," Ylva clarified, "he was very gifted, had a certain way with crafting. He even wanted to make toys for the royal children," she quietened considerably, "he never got the chance to do that, though."
Loki thought long and hard about what Ylva had said before. Sten was a naive man, he saw the truth in that, and his mother believed that he could be manipulated; if this was true then certain thoughts were beginning to expand and connect in his mind, forming a possible theory over what had happened.
Stepping back out of the room, Loki clutched one of the letters addressed from Sten in his hand, "I think I'll take one of these, just as evidence to support your claims about him. It is for the best that you do not spread any information about this whole incident, can we trust you to keep quiet about this?"
Loki didn't really think any of Sten's family members would be happy spreading stories about how their son attacked the princess of Asgard, but he questioned them just in case. They all promised to keep their mouths zipped.
"We will contact you in the upcoming days about funeral arrangements for your son. I apologise if they have to be delayed, I hope you can understand," he told them gently. The mother nodded miserably and Loki and Sigeric left the house feeling dissatisfied at what little they had discovered.
"Now what do we do, sir?" Sigeric asked, hoping for some solid instructions, otherwise they were like fish out of water with the most important criminal case of the century.
Loki didn't answer. He stopped on the walk back to the horses and skimmed his eyes across the letter Ylva had allowed him to take.
There was such bright happiness in Sten's words, so much character in his enthusiastic writing. The dots of the I's were way too big and the curls of each curvy letter were greatly exaggerated as if to form an attempt at cursive.
Loki blinked a few times fast, and then dug into his pocket to pull out the blacksmith's commission letter, comparing the two side by side.
The writing was similar, yes, but not identical. The way the blacksmith's letter was written looked almost forced, the looseness of Sten's writing in the other letters were missing. Curious.
"Sigeric," Loki murmured, "These letters were written by two different people."
By the time Loki returned to the palace, it was early afternoon. Amelia was lying across the couch in the warm sitting room, covered with a thick blanket as she rested, half awake and half dozing. Her energy was still very much lacking and she surely must have been tired if she didn't hear or notice Loki walking in.
He greeted the children who rushed to him with their arms up and he picked them both up, holding them tightly while he smiled. Instead of waking Amelia, he let her sleep, which she would probably be upset about later because even though she desperately needed her rest, she would have wanted to greet him too.
Loki kissed both of his children on the head and promised to give them all his attention soon, but that he needed to quickly talk to Thor first about where he had been. The kids had waited hours for him to return, and even though they both pouted, they had the capacity to wait an extra few minutes, so he placed them down on the rug in front of the couch and took a moment to observe his sleeping wife.
She still looked so delicate. So small below the large blanket tucked around her.
He reminded himself that things would get better; with his help, she'd be back to her bubbly self - he would never let anything like this happen again.
He rose back to full height and stepped to the side of the room to speak furtively with Thor.
"What did you discover, brother?" Thor inquired, hopeful.
Loki pulled out the mis-matched letters and handed them over, "I spoke with Sten Ulfson's family. They were all adamant that he was not the kind of person to bring harm to anyone, but they also said he was naive and simple-minded. Easily manipulated, perhaps." He motioned the letters with a subtle nod, "The differences in penmanship between these two letters is subtle but there. I've deduced that Sten was not working alone. There's at least one other person, maybe a group even, associated with the assassination attempt. The motive remains unclear… this is far from over."
Thor's grim gaze lifted from skimming the letters as he caught his brother's eye, the two of them sharing a silent conversation with just a glance. For as long as the hidden figures behind this assassin operation remained unidentified, Amelia and the children were in danger.
Thor's eyes flickered suddenly down and to Loki's left, Loki turned to see what he was looking at.
Amelia was awake, staring up at them from her reclined position, her face pale and rigid, and Loki cursed himself for not speaking more quietly.
"How much of that did you hear?" Loki sighed.
Amelia's eyes watered as she forced a few syllables out despite the poor condition of her throat, "Loki… we can't… stay here."
Thor's face appeared ashamed in Loki's peripheral vision, and he too felt a sense of misery roll through him, because she was right. They couldn't stay there.
Asgard was no longer safe for Amelia, Aster and Kari.
Sooooooo, who wants to talk about the Loki series? I do xD
I finally got my first Covid vaccination too so I'm feeling good, despite my achy arm.
Please do me a favour and leave a comment! Comments make me so happy!
