Loki stood by himself on the balcony of the library later on in the night. He knew what he had to do. He had gone down and Odin had confirmed everything for him. He had needed to make sure that he wasn't what he thought he could be. He supposed it would only make sense for him to be one of them. He was nothing like Ella and Thor. He was no Golden God. He was not admired for his beauty. He was admired for nothing. He was despised.

"I did not think to find you here at this hour."

Loki turned his head over his shoulder to see his sister moving towards him on the balcony. She held her hands on her upper arms, rubbing them to gain warmth. She had changed from her elegant gown to a simple silk one. The flowers from the coronation were still in her hair, pinned from her face.

"I did not think to be here," Loki assured her. "I am merely thinking."

"Of Thor?"

Loki couldn't help the chuckle which escaped him then. Why would he be thinking of his brute of a brother? He couldn't stand Thor. The more he thought about him, the more he came to realise that. Everything had been about Thor. No. Not anymore. Loki wanted his time.

"Even in banishment no one can forget dear Thor." Loki hissed.

Ella shook her head as she stood beside Loki, looking over Asgard as he turned his gaze down to her. She was intently studying the world beyond, her eyes focused on that. Loki moved his own orbs to follow hers, his pale fingers wrapping tightly around the stone ledge.

"What is it, Loki?" she dared to whisper to him. "Something has happened; something which is not to do with Thor."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because I know you," Ella said persistently. "I know you better than you think."

Loki glanced to his younger sister and found her bright blue eyes staring straight at him. How could he deny the love he still felt for her as she looked at him with such worry? Thor had always been a constant source of annoyance to Loki. He had done nothing but tease and fight, but Loki had grown bored of his ways. Whilst Ella could be immature and stubborn, Loki often found her to be a breath of fresh air. He had never pushed her away and he had never longed for her to leave him alone.

He felt guilty for keeping the secret from her, but he didn't want to her know. Why would he want to tell her that her father had simply kept him because he thought an allegiance between the Frost Giants and the Asgardians could be made? Would she run from him as others would? Loki had heard Frigga whisper to Ella when she was a child. She had been told the stories of Frost Giants as being nothing but monsters.

"Do I have to go and demand an answer from mother and father?" Ella wondered from him. "Will they know why you are being so surly?"

Loki looked back over Asgard, his arms moving to rest on the ledge, folding beneath him as he took a moment or two to contemplate her words. Mother and father. He would have scoffed if he could be bothered.

"Loki!" Ella snapped his name in frustration. "Will you please-"

"-I'm a Frost Giant."

His voice interrupted her before she could finish her whining. Loki didn't look to her. He didn't want to see her run from him. He didn't want to hear her screams.

"What?" That was the only word to fall from her mouth. "What do you speak of? How can you be a Frost Giant? You are our brother."

"Look at me, Ella," Loki snapped, moving to grab her shoulders, shaking her softly. "Do I look anything like you or Thor? Do I look like Odin or Frigga? The only reason I am here is because your father stole me after the battle on Jotunheim. He took me and raised me as his own because he wanted to form an alliance between the Frost Giants and Asgardians. I am nothing but something for him to use, Ella. I am nothing but a monster."

Comprehension was something lacking for Ella at that moment. She felt her brows furrow and her mind whirl as Loki's grip slacked on her and he released her. She slumped forwards slightly as Loki turned to look over Asgard, his face impassive as Ella remained still. She could feel a sudden slight chill in the air as Loki's words haunted her. She gulped and moved closer to him then, her hand going to rest on top of his.

Loki looked down; the feeling of her warm skin on his cold skin made him close his eyes and bow his head. Ella was about to ask if he was going to cry for he looked to be on the verge of tears, but she thought better of it.

"How could think that?" Ella wondered from him. "You are no monster."

"Am I not?" Loki queried from her. "Do you not remember the stories your mother told you? The stories of Frost Giants kidnapping princesses for their own?"

"And that is all they were, Loki," Ella quickly sniped back to him. "They were stories and nothing more. Why do you speak like this? You have always been my brother and nothing can change that. Mother and father love you-"

"-No," Loki hissed. "They saw me as nothing but a pawn. How can you defend them?"

"Because they have raised you," Ella quickly spoke back. "Mother has done nothing but love you and father has trained you to rule."

"He trained me to rule, but what did that matter?" Loki wondered from Ella. "He could never have a Frost Giant rule over Asgard."

"And he could never have a princess rule either," Ella snapped and Loki looked down to her. "Do you not think that I should have had a say? I knew that I would never rule, regardless of whether I wanted to or not. I was to be married and that was all there was to it. We both could never compete against Thor for the throne. There is more to life than ruling over Asgard."

Loki kept quiet as his sister's words echoed in his mind and he watched her as she moved a hand to his cheek, her fingers lacing into his black hair. Loki took hold of her by the waist and held her close to him as her arms dropped around his neck. He inhaled her familiar scent and Ella did her best to bring Loki some comfort. It was all she wanted for him.

"You are still my brother," Ella promised Loki. "You always will be."

Loki took a moment to pull back from her before he heard footsteps enter the library. He turned his head to the side as Ella stepped back and followed his gaze to the side. It took a few moments before Frigga and Odin approached. Ella felt anger well up inside of her as her father stood tall and Loki remained distant.

"Loki," Frigga whispered his name before rushing towards her son.

He allowed her to hold him to her whilst Ella looked between her parents, doing her best to decide if she could comprehend everything she was hearing.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Loki wondered from his mother.

"I wanted to be honest," Frigga promised her son. "There should be no secrets in a family."

"Then why did he lie?" Ella was the one to ask, glancing over to her father as she did so.

Odin looked back to her, that usual strong glare on his face. He only wished that his daughter didn't have to find out. He wished that no one had to know.

"I kept the secret for Loki. I never wanted him to feel different," Odin promised him. "I saw him grow alongside you and Thor. I saw you accept him as your brother at such a young age. I could never destroy that. Plans had changed."

"Plans?" Ella decided to ask of her father. "What did you plan to do with him? Send him back to Jotunheim?"

Frigga glowered to her husband and she shook her head as Loki pieced the puzzle together. He could see clearly what his father meant, especially when Frigga looked so distressed at the information. Odin had wanted an alliance. He had needed an Asgardian and a Frost Giant to come together to form such an alliance. He already had an heir to the throne; a daughter could be used differently.

"I planned to form an allegiance between Jotunheim and Asgard," Odin admitted. "A marriage between a Prince of Jotunheim and a Princess of Asgard would have been strong. But then I saw you two grow close. You became siblings and I did not have it in me to change that or ruin it."

Ella felt her stomach churn at that sudden piece of information. They had meant to marry her off to Loki. They would have sent her to Jotunheim without a second thought. Shaking her head, Ella glanced to Loki and he seemed paler than usual.

"I told your father that he should leave you," Frigga quickly added. "You were both children and I loved you both very much. Marriage should have been the last thing on his mind."

"But it wasn't!" Ella snapped. "How old was I when you planned this? And what would you have done had we not grown close? Do I have a say in my life? Does Loki?"

"Enough, Ella," Odin demanded from his daughter. "I knew that my plan would not work when you were born. Loki was Thor's brother by then and I did not have it in me to tell him the truth."

"How noble of you," Ella scoffed and turned on her heel before moving through the library.

She almost tripped over her long silk dress as she went, but she regained her composure whilst walking. She could hear her mother yell her name and her father shouted after her. Ella kept on going before she felt a hand on her wrist when she was halfway down the corridor to her chamber.

"What is it?" she snapped, turning back to look at Loki.

He said nothing as he kept his hand around her wrist and she stared at him before shrugging her shoulders.

"They lied to all of us," she assured her brother. "They lied to you the most, but they lied to both of us."

"Ella," Loki whispered her name and she embraced him again at the sound of her name on his lips. "We can trust no one but ourselves. That is all there is to this matter, Ella. We can only trust each other."