I'd like to preface this chapter by saying that I'm not super well versed with Norse Mythology, and I am taking a hell of a lot of liberties here with the characters I'm using. I was previously afraid to dive into this storyline because I felt like I didn't 'know' enough about the characters I'm using, but then I realised since they never actually appeared in the MCU, I don't have to abide to any strict characterisation, and it's fanfiction so I can do what I want with them.

That being said, I hope you enjoy where this plot is going ;)


Hydrangeas Say Our Family Will Flourish

Chapter Forty-Seven: You've Ruined the Colour Blue For Me

Amelia was lying on cold, hard stone.

She'd awoken only moments prior with a pounding headache and a helpless feeling settling over her; it had taken her seconds to realise she wasn't with Loki and their children at the campsite in the woods on the outskirts of Asgard.

She didn't know where she was, but she knew one thing: whoever had taken her had taken her children too.

Amelia wasn't sure at which point she had passed out during her abduction, but the memories of seeing bloody red eyes and pale blue skin slowly crept back to her, and brought with it a world of confusion and terror. She had woken up to commotion at the campsite, but she hadn't had very long to react because in the moments that followed, the tent had been ripped apart, and these great hulking blue creatures had dragged her away with a grip on her sleeping bag, affording her just enough time to scream at the top of her lungs and catch a glimpse of two more of the creatures swiping up her children.

The fight in her body had been stolen from her, leaving her enervated with a throbbing in her head; a pained moan escaped her throat as her body curled a little more into itself. She subconsciously pulled her enchanted cloak more tightly around her body, the warmth of its interwoven magic the only thing bringing her comfort in that moment.

Two questions bounced around her brain. Where was Loki? Where were the children?

She hadn't seen her husband in the split seconds in which she'd awoken to the intruders, which sent fearful shivers down her spine. She prayed that he was with the children; she had been abducted before by a strange being taking her to a strange place, this entire situation wasn't new to her, but she couldn't imagine how terrified the children must have been feeling if Loki wasn't with them.

She coughed out a tearful sob at the thought of the children being hurt, or worse. But the small, logical part of her brain convinced her that they were okay; if the perpetrators had intended to do them harm, they wouldn't have gone through the bother of kidnapping them first, right?

"Oh, it's awake."

Amelia gasped, scrambling to roll onto her front and locate the voice that cut through the air, despite her head protesting the movement. Her hands pressed against the cold floor, lifting her into a more upright position and she finally got a good perusal of her surroundings, finding herself to be predictably trapped in a cell. It was a drab, empty cell with a bed of straw in one corner, and not much else. It was dark, there were no windows, the bars of her cell looked like iron, and on the other side of them stood two silhouetted figures.

A lit sconce illuminated the room beyond her cell, the flickering light making it difficult for her to comprehend who stood before her, but as her eyes adjusted and her disorientation receded, she was met with a bolt of shock through her system.

They were Jotuns, that much was clear - she hadn't been one hundred percent sure before, but now there was no doubt in her mind. The two humanoid individuals were tall, probably upwards of twelve feet in stature, one of them was taller than the other, wearing studded leather, had long white hair, neatened with braids, and a simple silver circlet sitting atop his head. He was very bulky, even more so than Thor, and his face was scarred. The hue of his skin was far paler than that of Loki's in his Jotun form.

Amelia didn't pay much attention to the white-haired Jotun. Her eyes fell instead to the shorter Jotun beside him, whom she observed silently for a few moments with her reeling mind.

She had thought, for the briefest of seconds, that this Jotun was actually her husband; their faces were strikingly similar when Amelia compared him to Loki in his Jotun form, but the longer she stared, the more differences she picked out. This Jotun had an angular face and a slimmer build mostly hidden with robes, but his nose was crooked and his brow was shaped differently to Loki's. This Jotun's skin, however, was a lot closer in colour to Loki's - that beautiful dark navy blue colour. His hair was black, unlike the other, but long and braided in much the same way, and while this Jotun wore a very neutral expression on his face, the white-haired one had an ugly smirk plastered across his lips.

"It's so frail," the white-haired Jotun remarked, and it was the same gruff, gravelly voice that had spoken moments prior, "are you certain this is the Midgardian that Loki mated with?" The condescension in his antagonising tone led Amelia to believe he was trying to get some sort of rise out of her, but she refused to give him the satisfaction, staring him down with a level stare with all the hatred she could muster up.

The urge to cry was there, obviously, but she managed to refrain by imagining what Loki would do to these two Jotuns when he inevitably came to rescue her.

"Yes, brother. This is Princess Amelia," the other Jotun responded factually, in a very blunt tone.

Amelia peered between the two Jotuns. So these two were brothers, and they knew who she was, and clearly they knew Loki, but she was clueless as to their identities. She struggled inwardly trying to decide whether to speak or remain silent; but she sure as hell wasn't going to get any answers if she decided on the latter action.

She clenched her fists, forcing herself to hold the most menacing expression she could on her face, and willed her voice to be firm and intense with her opening words.

"You have me at a disadvantage," she stated, inwardly relieved when her tone didn't wobble with fear, "who are you, and what the hell do you want with me?"

The white-haired Jotun's face fell with a look of pure disdain, "Careful human," he sneered, "you know not to whom you speak."

Feeling uncharacteristically bold, Amelia hissed, "Yeah, clearly, that's the point of the fucking question." Her simmering rage fuelled her daring disposition which, at that moment, was purely a facade of false confidence.

The white-haired Jotun appeared further incensed by Amelia's brash response, but the shorter, black-haired Jotun's lip curled in a very subtle smirk. The shorter brother was the one to respond, "I am Byleistr Laufeyson. This is my brother, Helblindi Laufeyson, the King of Jotunheim."

"Never heard of you," Amelia said bluntly, trying to give off a disinterested demeanour, but probably failing. In reality, she was searching her mind for why the name Laufeyson sounded vaguely familiar.

Helblindi's lip curled in disdain, "Curb your plucky attitude before it gets you killed, human."

At that, Amelia's lips snapped shut, the threat of death sobering her up from her bold-spirited spree; she realised then just how stupid it was of her to provoke these Jotuns in her current position. What the hell was wrong with her? She was locked in a cold cell, her husband was missing and her children- her children had been taken by these fiends.

"Where are my children?" Amelia finally asked, that accursed wobble finally making it's way into her voice, betraying her alarm at her situation.

Now that Amelia's artificial bravado had been stomped on, Helblindi, the white-haired king of Jotunheim, smirked with sickening self-satisfaction and took an intimidating step forward, hunching over slightly to speak in a condescending fashion to her, "They're not your children anymore, human. They're mine."

Amelia swallowed tightly, her fretful gaze flicking between the two Jotun brothers, "What the fuck are you talking about?" What was this asshole saying? What did he want with her kids? "You can't just steal my children!"

"I can, and I have," the Jotun king's ceaseless smugness covered his face while the shorter brother just remained expressionless and composed, "and you are powerless to stop me."

Amelia was speechless as her brain tried to process. She felt her emotions fly frantically between enraged, terrified and helpless, and she was sure her discomposure was evident on her face; finally, she sputtered, "Don't… don't hurt them." She wasn't in the position to do much else, and Helblindi was unfortunately correct in saying she was powerless; her very mild magic abilities would no doubt be useless against the two Jotuns before her.

There was one person that wasn't powerless against Helblindi and Byleistr, and she damn well hoped he turned up soon.

Helblindi sneered at her, "You don't command me, human." With that, the Jotun king turned and left with heavy footfalls up the stone stairwell, and out the door at the top. Byleistr remained put for the moment, staring Amelia down with a piercing gaze, though his gaze wasn't quite as terrifying as his brother's.

After a few moments of silence, Byleistr spoke, "If it's any consolation, my brother has no intention of hurting the little ones." His words were meant as a comfort, but Amelia did not trust the Jotun. She feared for her children, and she wasn't going to assume they were safe unless they were there before her, in her arms, and visibly unharmed.

Amelia bit the inside of her cheek, giving the Jotun a scathing look despite herself.

Byleistr's eyebrow lifted minutely, "Are you warm enough, human?"

The inquiry knocked the glare from Amelia's face and she stared up at him in confusion, subtly pulling her enchanted cloak more securely around her body; she pondered what this Jotun's motivation was, why he was asking her a question that made it sound as though he was concerned for her comfort. Clearly he wasn't, otherwise they wouldn't have thrown her in a dark, dingy cell.

He must have been trying to gain her trust for some reason. She wasn't going to give it to him.

"I'm fine," she hissed plainly, keeping her narrowed gaze on the Jotun.

Byleistr blinked his bloody red eyes twice, and murmured, "You may want to refrain from pushing Helblindi's buttons, for the sake of your children," before turning and exiting the same way his brother had. Amelia was left alone with only the flickering firelight of the wall sconce to illuminate her glacial surroundings, a chilling feeling flooding through her that had nothing to do with the low temperature of the cell.


"We need all the soldiers we have, and any reinforcements we can get - we can call Tony, get the other Avengers in on this, and he can contact the Peter Quill and the Guardians," Thor paced back and forth frantically, waving his hands around as he barked out suggestions amongst Loki and his advisors, "-and we need to be quick about it!"

Before any of the anxious advisors could respond, Loki spoke for the first time since returning to the palace, his voice eerily calm given the circumstances, "No."

"No?" Thor parroted incredulously, head snapping in his brother's direction. Loki leant against the wall near the door in the advisory room, away from the table full of uncertain chattering as Thor and the advisors tried to come up with a rescue plan that wasn't doomed to fail.

After his severe emotional outburst that culminated in a mostly wrecked campsite due to the wave of magical energy that his body expelled along with his scream, Loki brokenly contacted Heimdall, who recalled him to Asgard with the use of the Bifrost; Thor had been informed at once, and the advisors had been summoned in the dead of night to attempt to bring a solution to the table.

The King had been inconsolable the moment he'd heard the news, promptly followed by high levels of anger, and then terror. Now, Thor was throwing out proposals that were clearly impulsive and far from thought out; if he took even a moment to sit and reconsider, he would realise the flaws in his plans.

Loki would know, he had already poured over every strategy and tragic outcome in his mind.

"We need to think this through, Thor. There is no room for error. No room. If we make one mistake, it could mean my family comes to harm, or worse," Loki spoke darkly, peering up from under his brow.

"I understand we need to be careful about this, but we can't sit here and wait for a viable idea to hit us! What if they're already coming to harm?" Thor yelled, his temper apparent. Loki hadn't seen this side of his brother in a while - Thor had long since learned to control his anger and compose himself as the King of Asgard. This, it seemed, was enough to incite alarm.

"I don't think the enemy's intent was to harm or kill them, not yet at least. They could have easily done that without taking them away," Loki explained, "remember Eruk? He wanted Amelia for his exhibit. Point is, for some reason, the Jotuns wanted Amelia and the kids for something." His exterior was composed, but there was a storm brewing inside him; a deep, hostile instinct that threatened to send him into a frenzy if he didn't keep a solid grasp on his emotions.

"Then what do you suggest, Loki?" Thor bit back on his rage long enough to calm down and question his brother's opinion.

"You and I go. Just us, nobody else. The quieter we are, the smoother this mission will be. We drop down far enough away from Utgard that the light of the Bifrost isn't spotted; we need to surprise them or this won't work. They have the field advantage, and they know we are vulnerable while they have Amelia, Kari and Aster in their possession." His reply was rigid, voice tight, but his words helped Thor to see the reasons that his initial idea wouldn't work.

Thor placed his palms flat on the table, glaring a hole into the wood, and breathed out an unsteady breath.

"Alright."


Aster peered down at the blue skin of her hands; wherever she and her brother had been taken, the air was cold enough to trigger their body's natural Jotun defenses, as their daddy had put it before. She was terrified, and she knew Kari was just as afraid.

They'd already been introduced to the ones who had taken them. Huge, frightening people who had the same skin colour as them and their daddy whenever it snowed. They'd been placed in this room in what looked like a little barred cage, except the top was open, so it wasn't very secure, and outside the cage, Aster could see a large bed, a dresser, a mirror, a whole bunch of things that made it seem like a bedroom.

Well, it wasn't a very cosy bedroom.

The Jotun who had put them in the room had been silent and barely even looked at them as he dropped them in the cage and ignored their shouts and cries as they begged to know where their mama and daddy were.

Now, they had a whole world of questions and nobody to answer them.

"Where do you think we are?" Kari asked anxiously, scooching up to sit closer to his sister. He was also blue, eyes red instead of green, and he couldn't stop fidgeting with his hands.

Aster shook her head. She did not know the answer.

"Why are we here?" Kari continued to ask, "Where's mama? And daddy?"

Aster's lip wobbled and again she shook her head. She hoped their mama was okay, and she wished that their daddy would come and save them, because she and her brother both wanted to go home.

Suddenly, the massive door on the opposite side of the room was thrown open, causing Aster and Kari to move closer together out of fear, and into the room walked three more Jotuns, two male and one female. The white-haired one was the tallest, then the female whose head was covered by a pretty hat, and then the other male with black hair was the shortest of them all.

"Daddy?" Kari whispered in confusion as he surveyed the third Jotun with wide eyes. Aster was on the same wavelength, thinking that the black-haired one looked a lot like their father, but she shook her head at Kari wildly, because she knew at once that it was not their daddy. This Jotun looked meaner and had a misshapen nose.

"Children!" The white-haired Jotun greeted with forced cheer, arms spread wide, "I am Helblindi, king of Jotunheim, and this is my wife Hefring," he indicated the female Jotun, and then pointed to the short black-haired one, "and this is my brother, Byleistr."

The children responded with silent stares, observing each of the unfamiliar faces before them as they grew further anxious as their situation began to frighten them all the more. These were strangers. Their parents had taught them about strangers; Aster and Kari were supposed to run away and scream for help, but there was nowhere to run, and there was nobody to hear their cries, not yet.

Kari mustered the courage to speak up.

"Where's our mama and daddy?" He swallowed when the false smile fell from Helblindi's face and the so-called king stepped closer, glaring down his nose and the kids.

"Forget about them. Hefring and I are your parents now," his smirk returned, "you will be good, obedient children, you will learn our ways and the teachings of Jotun history. You will be my heirs, and will be expected to continue the Laufey bloodline by producing offspring and having families of your own. His legacy will be reignited overtime, and Jotunheim will finally prosper."

Aster and Kari looked at each other and then back at the scary Jotun. They didn't understand a lot of what Helblindi had told them, but they were sensitive to the dark and possessive inflections in his voice, and they certainly gleaned that this Jotun intended to replace their parents with himself.

"No." Kari's defiant murmur was heard by all three of the Jotuns in the room, and Helblindi's gaze darkened on the children.

"You don't have a choice."

Kari looked to his sister, spotting that her eyes were wet with unshed tears as she inwardly panicked; he himself didn't feel far off from a fluster, but he knew he had to do something, he needed to keep his sister safe.

The boy stood, his knees wobbling slightly as he rose, and then he repeated himself in all his non-compliance, "No!"

Helblindi's eyelids lowered as he squinted, as if he could hardly believe what he was hearing, and the large Jotun grasped the edges of the open-top cage, the hugeness of his hands becoming apparent and causing Aster and Kari to shrink back further.

"You ought to listen to me, you little brat," the so-called king practically spat.

Kari steeled himself, drew in a deep breath, and then screamed at the top of his lungs, "NO!"

His impressive volume caused Helblindi to recoil and growl in disdain, and the Jotun king reeled back with his hand lifted, poised to harm, before the sound of his wife's gasp stilled his strike at the child.

"Helblindi! You cannot hurt them! They're our children now!" Hefring begged in protest.

"She's right, brother. If you wish to gain the trust of these children, harming them would have the opposite effect," Byleistr interjected calmly.

Helblindi sneered over his shoulder, and then brought his hand down hard, his firm strike causing a resounding twanging noise as it hit the metal bar of the cage, denting it in the process. Kari and Aster were startled by the action, practically jumping out of their skin as they whimpered and huddled against each other.

"Tch," Helblindi tutted, "what meek little things you are. Don't fret, we'll have you trained to be tougher as you grow." He straightened to his full intimidating height, peering down at the kids from over his nose. "Now, you will behave for your new mother; she's been eager to have children of her own and now you will fill that void."

Kari shivered, his lip quivering as he fought to muster up any courage left within him, and then he glared, adopting a look that his father usually reserved for those that got on his nerves, and repeated yet again, "No."

Instead of losing his temper this time, Helblindi slowly smiled, his lip curling in a way that was entirely menacing, "Hmm. Perhaps you do have a backbone after all. What is your name, boy?"

Kari continued to glare, choosing to follow what his father had taught him in the event he was taken by a stranger, and refused to answer the question.

Helblindi expelled a trying sigh, glancing back over his shoulder at his wife and brother; he was silent for a moment as he seemed to wordlessly communicate with them with nothing more than a look, and Kari took the time to look over his sister and give her hand a reassuring squeeze.

When the Jotun king's gaze returned to the kids, Helblindi spoke low and threatening, "I'll let you in on a secret, children. I have your human mother."

Both Aster and Kari looked up, eyes wide at the mention of their mother.

"Mama?" Kari uttered, a hopeful look in his red eyes. Aster looked between Kari and the large Jotun, her brow pinched in consternation.

Helblindi smirked and nodded his head, allowing his voice to adopt a false amicable tone, "Brother, why don't you retrieve the human and bring her to this room?"

Byleistr nodded his head and turned, leaving the room.


Amelia let out a grunt as she tried for the tenth time to unlock the door to her cell with the help of that sliver of magic that resided in her body. Loki had taught her how to do it a while ago, but she'd had little to no practise since the first time she'd successfully cracked a pin tumbler lock. As the princess of Asgard, almost no doors in the palace prohibited her entry, so it wasn't like she had many options for practise.

Still, Amelia theorised that if she just kept trying, she would eventually be victorious. She had to be; her plan was to find her children and hide somewhere safe until Loki showed up, because she knew he would soon, and if they managed to stay out of danger, her husband would clear the winding halls of the frosty building they were in, find them, and bring them home.

She'd come close to escaping three times now, but each time she was about to use her magic tendrils to press the final pin into place, she would apply too much pressure or too little pressure and lose her grasp, forced to start again. Her nerves weren't helping. Even though she wasn't using her hands for this task, she still felt somehow that her magic was shaking, and that's what was making it more difficult.

It was like trying to clasp a necklace with a chain that was too tiny, behind her neck, with sweaty hands - her magic was uncertain and slippery, and every second wasted was a second more that her children were in danger.

Thinking about what Helblindi said further enraged her. How dare that maniac attempt to steal her children from her. He and the other Jotuns wouldn't get away with this.

Working away at this lock repeatedly was exhausting, but thinking about what her children were currently going through, alone in a strange land, was a worse feeling; she had hoped her children would never have to go through anything traumatic ever again after what happened a year prior. It pained her to think that her family might never be truly safe, that there would always be somebody after them, looking to hurt them.

Amelia let out a shuddering breath, "Come on Loki… hurry."

On her eleventh attempt, the door clicked open.

With a muted sigh of intense relief, Amelia quickly flung the large cell door open and scurried out, rushing immediately for the stone stairwell that ascended to an even larger door. She paused briefly at the top of the steps and placed her ear to the wooden door, hoping to deduce whether or not there was somebody just outside keeping watch to ensure she did not escape.

There was a steady silence, which was good. But Amelia couldn't be certain that there was nobody on the other side of the door, which made her imminent decision a huge risk. It was a necessary risk.

She pushed on the door, which opened up with great resistance - the hinges appeared to have frozen over, and Amelia was quick to understand why. She felt the pulsing magic of her enchanted cloak begin to work overtime to warm her up, because she exited the dungeon into the open air of what must have been a castle or sorts, but the castle appeared damaged and not entirely put together.

Down one direction of the hallway was a balcony, but the edges of the walls around it had chipped away, and from there she could see only pure white. It was a snowstorm, the sound and feeling of whipping winds made that obvious; she clutched her cloak nervously around her body, hoping it wouldn't somehow run out of magic juice, because it was the only thing keeping her from freezing into an icicle.

She turned and headed the only other direction, a dimly-lit stone hallway with another door at the very end; peering down at the floor, she thanked her past self's decision to wear slippers to bed the night before, because surely even the cloak wouldn't have kept the soles of her feet warm from the thin layer of ice crystals blanketing the ground.

As she tentatively approached the next door, she completely froze up - in the metaphorical sense - when it suddenly budged and swung open, revealing the shorter of the two Jotun brothers. Byleistr Laufeyson, he'd said his name was. The colour drained from Amelia's face as the Jotun's stern gaze pierced her with a calculating stare.

Amelia swallowed, realising her escape attempt had now been foiled.

"You escaped your cell," the Jotun observed, and then lifted his head in consideration, "impressive, but a rather impulsive move, don't you think? You're in a strange land with no idea what's behind the next door, perhaps it would've been smarter to stay put?"

Amelia's pulsing heart hammered away in her chest, but she stood her ground, keeping her cloak held tight and close to her despite the wind swirling from behind her, threatening to pull the enchanted clothing straight from her body.

"Well, it's not the first time something like this has happened to me," she stated plainly, forcing any hint of nervousness out of her voice. "And in my experience, sitting around feeling sorry for myself never got me anywhere."

Byleistr's eyebrow rose, "I'm starting to understand why exactly my brother was drawn to you."

Amelia blinked, a feeling of disgust coming over her, "Helblindi was drawn to me? What?" The thought grossed her out, what did that frost giant want with her exactly?

"You misunderstand," Byleistr continued, "Helblindi is only my half-brother. I was referring to your husband, Loki of Asgard. My twin brother."

Everything around Amelia seemed to slam to a halt as the revelation hit her like a freight train, and she stared with her jaw hanging open. The whipping winds behind her seemed to quieten as she processed what she was hearing.

Byleistr Laufeyson was Loki's biological twin brother?

A few logical thoughts suddenly jumped out at her as several things began to make sense; the fact that Byleistr shared a lot of physical features with Loki in his Jotun form, the fact that this Jotun was a royal of Jotunheim, as Loki biologically was, and the comprehension that the Jotun standing before her was legally her brother-in-law.

"He… uh, he never mentioned… you," Amelia stammered, overwhelmed.

"No, he wouldn't have," Byleistr stated, "he does not know I exist."

Amelia peered up at the Jotun, trying hard to understand all the intricate pieces of the puzzle that was slowly unravelling before her, but it was clear she didn't have access to all those puzzle pieces, some clues and hints were missing.

Realising at once that the Jotun didn't seem to be intending to harm or punish her for being out of her cell, she grew bold enough to press for information while she had the chance.

"O-okay… time-out. I'm gonna need a full length explanation of whatever the hell is going on."

Byleistr frowned and snorted, "There is no time. I was sent to bring you to see your children, any longer delay will make my brother suspicious."

Amelia snapped to attention, "What? Well, what are we standing around for!? Take me to my children! You can explain everything on the way there." She practically pushed past the Jotun, eager to see her kids and get out of the billowing cold air of the hallway. Byleistr followed her with his red eyes, seemingly taken aback by her sudden brazen change.

"You should learn to recognise when you're outclassed, human. And behave accordingly. I see where your children get their disobedience and rowdiness," Byleistr mumbled, but began leading the way back to the room he had come from.

Amelia frowned, "You better not have hurt them." If she arrived to find her kids harmed in any way, she wouldn't have to wait for Loki to arrive because she would take down Jotunheim herself.

"I told you, Helblindi has no intention of harming them."

"That's not exactly reassuring. He seems like he has a short temper," Amelia murmured, breaking into a slight jog to keep up with the long-legged frost giant.

Byleistr didn't dispute her claim, which served only to make her worry more. Amelia knew this presumably short walk to wherever her children were being kept was likely the only time she might be able to glean any context for her current situation, so she decided to spend the time asking questions.

"Why does Helblindi want my children? Why can't he just make his own?" She forced a little light-heartedness into her question in the hopes that it would improve her odds of receiving a viable answer.

Instead, Byleistr glanced down, gaze boring into Amelia for a solid few seconds, before he riposted with a question of his own, "How did you escape your cell?"

Grinding her teeth in irritation at his blatant dismissal of her inquiry, Amelia simply murmured, "Wouldn't you like to know." She couldn't have been sure, but she thought Byleistr's lip might've curled in amusement at her rigid response.

A few moments passed in silence, and then Byleistr finally humoured her inquiry, "My brother cannot have biological children. He is infertile. He needs heirs, his wife wants children, the opportunity to appropriate Loki's children arose, and since Loki has purer royal blood than him, Helblindi supposed it was just a bonus."

Amelia came to a stop in confusion, "Hold on, I'm out of the loop here. So Helblindi is only your half brother, he had a different mother? Is he younger than you? Why aren't you king instead?"

Byleistr sighed, coming to a halt as well, seemingly agitated she was intent on delaying him to some level, "My mother, the Queen of Jotunheim, died giving birth to Loki and I. Loki was born before me, making him first in line for the throne. My father Laufey took another wife after Loki was abducted by Odin of Asgard, and Helblindi was born shortly after. The line of succession would have fallen to me in Loki's absence, but my father declared me unfit to rule, and proclaimed that Helblindi would take the throne after Laufey's death, which is what ultimately happened after Loki killed him."

Amelia realised suddenly that she and this Jotun who had helped imprison her were having a very normal and oddly respectful conversation, despite the circumstances. She didn't know how to feel about it, but began moving again, letting her thoughts swirl around her mind.

It was difficult to understand everything when she only seemed to have half the story; Loki had never spoken about killing his biological father, or much else to do with the politics of Jotunheim, though she couldn't fault Loki for not telling her about his Jotun brothers, whom he did not know existed.

That was going to be a bit of a shock for him when he finally arrived.

"So… why did your father declare you unfit to rule?" Amelia found herself asking.

Byleistr snorted, "I was less interested in becoming the strongest and killing for sport. I preferred to gain knowledge over brawn, so I read whatever books I could find in preparation to rule over a land that was never going to be passed down to me. I wanted to-" He stopped himself abruptly and shook his head, "My brother is more than happy to fight to the death with those who oppose him, so my father felt he would do better as King of Jotunheim."

Amelia gazed at Byleistr with curiosity over anything else. He and Loki were surprisingly alike, it was interesting that despite growing up in wildly different realms, both of them had suffered similar hardships.

Another thought popped into her head, "Why was Loki abandoned and left to die if he was supposed to end up being King?"

Byleistr gave her an odd look, "He was born a runt. When the Asgardians invaded, Loki was taken to a temple and placed there for protection, but then Asgard's forces stormed the 'safe zone', and they killed everyone. There was nobody left in the temples to retrieve Loki before Odin stole him away. He was not abandoned, Laufey was trying to protect him."

Amelia's jaw fell. It was a revelation to her, but it would be even more of a revelation to Loki, who believed his birth parents had rejected him once he'd learned of his true heritage. It probably wouldn't make a difference for Loki to become aware of the truth, it was far too late for that, plus Laufey was already dead by Loki's own hand.

"This is just a lot… to take in," Amelia murmured, "and… does Helblindi realise that my husband will come for us? He won't come peacefully."

Byleistr hummed, "Helblindi is counting on it, so that he can kill Loki. It was part of the deal, after all."

Amelia's head whipped around in a double-take, "Deal? What deal? Who made a deal?" She pushed back on the dread that threatened to pervade her body, reminding herself that Loki was a powerful sorcerer, and above all things, a trickster. He wouldn't allow himself to be killed so easily.

Byleistr gave her a stern look, "That information is confidential, I'm afraid."

"Yeah, but confidential between you and who?" Amelia retorted immediately.

The mild smile that encroached on Byleistr's face looked unnatural, like the Jotun was not used to smiling at all, "It matters not. Now be silent."

As they rounded a corner, Amelia spied another Jotun, a very muscular and tall Jotun at that, standing guard outside a door, and her anxiety returned all too fast as her thoughts returned to her children. She did as she was told, zipping her mouth shut, but let out a startled exhale when Byleistr gripped her arm and led her down the corridor toward the other Jotun. The direct contact of his hand on her skin was icy cold, and his whole hand encompassed almost her entire forearm, so she was very quickly shivering at the contact.

"Stand aside Dumbr," Byleistr commanded, and the larger Jotun, who seemed to wear a permanent look of disgruntlement on his face, moved out of the way and allowed them to pass.

Byleistr opened up the door and dragged Amelia into the room none too gently, forcing a pained huff from her as he did so, but it was immediately forgotten when she finally laid eyes on her children again.

They were blue, which was expected due to the very cold air around them, and their faces grew alert at the sight of her.

"Mama!" Kari cried, clearly more than a little relieved to see that his mother was okay and well; he and Aster jumped up against the bars of their little cage-like pen, the latter being silent as a mouse in the presence of terrifying strangers, but still just as glad to see her.

Amelia glared up at Helblindi, who stood just to the side, and the female Jotun beside him who she had not been introduced to, and then moved forward abruptly to dash towards her kids, but was prevented when Byleistr's grip on her arm tightened drastically.

Amelia let out a cry of pain, looking back at Byleistr apprehensively. His face was purely neutral, and he gave her a slow shake of his head, warning her not to move.

"Nice of you to finally return, brother," Helblindi drawled sarcastically, before turning to address the children with a deceptive demeanour, "now children, I have your old mother here, completely unharmed. So let's try this again."

The children eyed his every movement warily, fear in their gazes, and Amelia's heart ached; she wished so badly that she could just gather them both in a warm embrace and whisper that everything would be okay.

"My wife, Hefring, is your new mother, and you will treat her as well as your old mother," he motioned Amelia with a dismissive hand movement, "so how about you allow Hefring to pick you up without causing a fuss…"

Byleistr unhanded her and Helblindi took his place, clutching her arm even more tightly, and this time her skin began to burn cold from the direct contact, alluding to a warning that she too should behave.

"If you refuse to obey, I will hurt your human mother till she screams," Helblindi stated, tugging Amelia's arm unexpectedly and forcing a whimper from her throat.

Kari and Aster's eyes grew wide, both of them on the verge of tears as they were given their choice: reject Amelia as their mother, or watch her suffer in agony.


I hope you liked the chapter and I really hope people are on board with the pretty ambitious step I've taken involving Helblindi and Byleistr and some other parts of Jotunheim. If you despise the direction this fic has taken, please contact my agent at 1-800-I-DON'T-CARE.

All joking aside, I do hope everyone is enjoying this and is excited for what's to come.

Oh man, where's Loki when you need him?