- Chapter 27 -

Anthony. Tony noticed that Loki used his full name. She rarely did that, despite him wanting her to more often. When she did, those were the times he knew to pay attention. She was still so happy about what Frey did, even hundreds of years later. He needed to thank Frey. I really need to man up and apologize to him. "But how did he figure out what happened? If the ink kills young mages often enough to be a concern, then why would he think differently?"

"I don't know what gave me away, but it was possibly that Frey taught me how to use the ink. He'd seen me using it safely. It's no great stretch to think that he discerned what truly happened. What he did tells me that he knows it wasn't an accident." Loki shrugged. It didn't matter how it happened, only that it did. "I was able to stay in Vanaheim for six months, six wonderful months, before Thor arrived to drag me back. At least Frey convinced mother to return my room to normal by the time I returned." Loki began picking at the hem of her shirt again. There was much she would give to skip this last one.

.-.-.-.

It wasn't the suspicious description of what happened that spurred Frey into action. Ultimately, it was the picture of Loki's worktable where the accident took place that moved him. Frigga sent it in her letter. She bemoaned how carelessly things were set up, pointing out each thing she thought was wrong. It was a trail leading him to an inescapable conclusion. He taught the boy how to properly set up a worktable. He oversaw Loki setting up and using the worktable and the ink safely. The worktable in the picture looked carelessly set up, Frigga was right, but he could see the calculation that went into each thing she pointed out. Everything was laid out not only to give the impression of carelessness but also to inevitably cause an injury. Slight tinges of panic and anger mixed in Frey's thoughts as he looked over the picture. Loki did it again, so he had to act again.

In the face of her gratitude Frigga could feel her anger melting away. The pain of betrayal lessened and her seidr stopped hissing out her ire. She understood what Frey meant now. She could even see how these secrets must have burdened him over the years. It was with both the deepest of shame and the deepest of gratitude that Frigga thought, My boy is alive, not because of me, but because of my brother. Thank you, brother, thank you so much!

The air was changing around his wife, Odin could feel it. The anger was dissipating. That was nice. It was good that one of them wasn't angry. Odin was still livid that Frey had threatened war. He was still shocked by the prospect of an Inquiry to Enlightenment, and how Loki might be involved in that. He was also still filled with guilt, sorrow, and shame for the suffering of his son that he didn't notice. Odin strongly suspected that Loki somehow found out the truth about Thor, and the not-mortal Stark knew. Stark's words troubled him greatly.

How could he come across that secret though? He couldn't have, but did Loki somehow? Odin had always been considered a wise ruler. He'd worked hard to gain that reputation. He spent centuries seeking out knowledge to refine it into wisdom. There were many disturbing secrets discovered along the way, many in the dungeons of Asgard, and many more secrets created trying to hide what he was using the knowledge for. He learned the art of burying the truth. It was an art that he was almost unrivaled at. If Loki stumbled into any of these secrets, Odin couldn't begin to imagine the consequences. Most of his adult life had been spent working so that Thor would have an easy time of ruling. The crown was oppressively heavy. Lightening the weight as much as he could was what he owed to his son. Loki's fall into madness very nearly undid much of his work. His Council of Lords was still agitated over it. Councilman Algrim was bold enough to demand an execution before he sent Thor to Midgard to collect Loki. It was one of the few times where he needed to remind Councilman Algrim who was King of Asgard and Lord of the Realm. Could Loki have stumbled across one of my secrets? There were several hidden in the palace. Is that what unbalanced him?

The more Odin learned the more he felt that he couldn't justly lay the full measure of punishment at Loki's feet. There were too many things that weren't Loki's fault. Truthfully, they were his own fault. He could clearly see his failure in being a father to Loki. Had he noticed this when it happened things might have been different. He wasn't sure if he would ever be able to live down the shame of this. He allowed his son to suffer without aid for centuries. How can I blame the boy for finally acting out?

.-.-.-.

"Ok, two down, one more to go," Tony didn't like putting Loki through this, but she'd only given him the barest details. He wanted to know everything now. This was going to be a long evening.

"The last one was thirty-three years ago. I'd gone to Vanaheim. Thor and his pack of dogs came along with me. I didn't think that they would interfere with my plans to the extent that they did," Loki explained. She wasn't sure where to begin. Should she tell him how her third attempt came from her second? Should she tell him about why she chose that lake? Should she tell him what happened first then work backwards from there? No matter what she said, she still couldn't speak to how mortifying the repeated failures still were.

Loki began visibly trying to work through what to tell him, and how to do it. "Babe, just begin at the beginning. Wherever that is." Tony stepped forward to touch the side of her face and let his seidr pulse forward into her again. When her eyes were sparkling with his seidr then he settled back against the counter.

.-.-.-.

It was farther away from Thor than Fandral would normally sit, than when they first sat down, but he considered the distance to be safer now. The dull ache in his lips was a sour reminder of why. He looked around the room quickly. Thor looked absolutely brokenhearted, as did Lady Frigga. His Lord sat nearly motionless. The All Father was ever the vision of royal stoicism. He wondered briefly when his Lord would declare this nonsense over, and order Prince Loki's return to Asgard in chains. It was within his Lord's authority to do so. He didn't believe that was truly a Norn. It was well known that the Norns never left their temple. They could only be communicated with through special rites preformed at their Mirror Pools throughout the Nine Realms. What would the Norns want with them anyway? What were they supposed to be guilty of? Should they be concerned that they hurt Prince Loki's feelings? Who hasn't had their feelings hurt? Why should Prince Loki be any different?

Like Thor, Fandral was surprised to know that Prince Loki made an attempt on his own life. Unlike Thor, he didn't see how it could possibly be Thor's fault. Prince Loki had always been weak. From the day of his birth onward, the Prince was weak. Fandral always tried to tell Thor that. Prince Loki was too weak to go camping and hiking. Thor insisted on bring the milksop along anyway. Prince Loki was too weak to make it to the deep woods to go hunting with them. Thor brought him along anyway. Prince Loki was too weak to be any use in the sparring ring. Thor always had him there anyway. Fandral did try to tell Thor. "He's weak. He'll just slow us down. He'll be of no use to us," he told Thor on many, many occasions. Thor would never listen. There were too many times to count where their hunting trips were cut short, delayed, or canceled entirely because Prince Loki needed to go to the healing rooms, or was already in the healing rooms and Thor wouldn't go without him.

When he told him that it wasn't his fault Fandral was only trying to soothe his dear friend. He meant no disrespect. It wasn't Thor's fault. Prince Loki's weakness was his own responsibility. He ran his fingers over his almost healed lips. Thor had never struck him in anger before. Fandral had never seen such rage on his companion's face and wasn't eager to see it again. Hopefully when the shock faded Thor would come to realize that none of this was his fault. The fault of it only laid with Prince Loki. He could understand, in a way, why the younger Prince did it. He didn't lack an understanding of pain. Fandral didn't want to imagine what being an invalid might be like. He could see how the shame of it might have driven Prince Loki to try to put an end to such a worthless life. Fandral even thought that he might have done the same if he'd been so sickly for so long. The younger Prince was a burden to his family. Everyone in Asgard knew it, it was so plainly obvious. Everyone one knew it, but no one liked to say it openly; Lord Odin must have been so ashamed to have his name be borne by such a waste of life. Most of the kingdom felt a terrible sense of pity for their Lord.

Lord Odin was a great King, wise and just. It was always obvious that Thor inherited all the best of Lord Odin's many qualities. Prince Loki had only ever been thought to have inherited Lord Odin's unrestrained intelligence. Intelligence without wisdom and strength was never to be trusted though. Recent times had shown the truth. Everyone knew why Prince Loki was so different. Everyone knew why Prince Loki was both unnaturally dark and unnaturally pale. Prince Loki was no true Odinson. Everyone knew it.

Returning his gaze to where it belonged, Fandral looked at the screen. His shock at Prince Loki's revelation had swiftly grown into boredom. How long were they going to be forced to listen to the Prince whine about his weakness? That weakness had grown into perversion, as the Prince had traded away his manhood for what? For a fire wielding mortal who was in desperate need of being taught some manners? Prince Loki was always far too bizarre for Fandral's tastes. He wasn't possessed of the normal rugged handsomeness of an Asgardian man. The Prince was delicately beautiful. Grotesquely thin as well. He was always nose first into some dusty book, or off finding some new way to practice the woman's art of magic. Now he was pretending to be a woman. Had he somehow created offspring with Stark? The mortal deserved better than that. What kind of beasts could those be, Fandral wondered. He genuinely felt a little bad for Stark. Abrasive and impudent as he always was, Stark still didn't deserve to have Prince Loki inflicted on him. No one did. This whole thing was uncomfortable, awkward, and dragging on far too long. He needed a tankard of mead and a pretty wench or serving boy. When is this going to end?