Ella sat on the step leading up the grand throne that Loki was occupying. She had been sat in a pale blue dress, the mesh sleeves flowing down her arms and the scooped neck gathering upon her chest. She had her hair bouncing around her shoulders after failing to do anything with it that morning. Silence had engulfed her and Loki as they sat in the chamber their father so often occupied.

But there was something inside of Ella that was eating away and she could not stop her thoughts. She bit down on her bottom lip before she heard him move. She didn't bother to turn around as he moved down the steps and took his seat next to her on the steps, one arm resting behind her body and the other to his other side.

"What is it that troubles you?" Loki asked from her and she shook her head.

"Everything I said yesterday," Ella admitted to him. "The way I doubted father's love…the way I questioned Thor…I should never have said those things. I was so angry at that moment in time and now I feel guilty. Father is sleeping and if…Loki…"

"Ella," Loki whispered, moving to wrap his arms around his sister as she shook her head against him. "You should not feel guilt for having feelings."

"But I do," she responded. "How can I not, Loki? I was so cruel."

"There is no cruel bone in your body, dear sister," Loki promised her, moving to run a hand down her hair, his palm cupping the back of her neck as he tilted her head back so that she looked him in the eye. "Father will wake and nothing will change."

"Everything has changed," Ella shook her head, disagreeing with her brother as she moved to take hold of his shoulders, looking at him with pleading in her gaze as she considered what she was about to say to him. "Loki, everything has changed completely…and…I…I wonder if we should try to return Thor."

Loki's brows knitted together and his face contorted with wonder at what he had just heard from his sister. Shaking his head, he could not believe what she had just said. Ella could see the annoyance building on his features and she knew that she had to explain herself to him before he cast her aside.

"I do not think that you are not capable," Ella told him. "Truly, Loki, I think you will make a wise King, but Thor is our brother and our father is sleeping and we…Loki if he does not wake then Thor will be distraught, just as we will be."

"I cannot return Thor," Loki shook his head. "The Allfather shall wake up-"

"-And how do you know?" Ella interrupted, her grip increasing on her brother's shoulders as Loki kept his hand in her hair while his other hand moved to her cheek, running up and down it softly as he searched her stare, his face no longer holding a look of madness. "Loki, how do you know he will wake up? Please, you know that Heimdall can find Thor and we can bring him back."

"I cannot," Loki shook his head and Ella snatched his hand from her cheek, holding it in her grip tightly as she glowered over to him, her eyes narrow and her cheeks tinting red with anger.

"You cannot or you will not?" Ella wondered from him and he sneered over to her.

"What are you implying, Ella?" he asked from her.

"I am implying that you are being selfish," Ella declared, her voice not once wavering as she stood up and pushed Loki away from her, looking down to him as she let her skirt pool to her feet. "I am implying that you want this…you want the Throne more than you want our brother, because you're scared that when he returns then he will take it from you."

Loki let his mouth gape slightly at her words and he stood then too, watching as Ella backed away from him and up towards the throne, skimming her hand over the arm of it and walking around it.

"This," she said, her voice low as Loki watched her stand aside the throne. "Is this the reason why you won't bring him back? You once told me that you did not care for the throne…that you cared only for Thor."

"And that was true," Loki replied to her. "How can you think so little of me, Ella? What do you think will happen should Thor return? He would ruin Asgard. You know he is not fit to be King."

"And you are the one to decide this?" Ella asked of him. "Whatever Thor's faults, and I know he has many, he is still our brother. He is our brother and he should be here with us right now."

"Well he is not," Loki snarled back to her and Ella blinked profusely at his tone as he made his way up the steps and towards her, advancing with haste as he kept an arm outstretched and held her tightly by the arm as he shook her. "He is not here, but that is not enough, is it? It is never enough for anyone. Everyone always wants Thor…even you…my little sister…because I am not enough for you or anyone else."

Ella tried to escape his grip and Loki let her, wondering where his outburst had come from as Ella backed away from him, her eyes watering as she gasped for breath at what had just happened. Her hand went to the arm where Loki had gripped her, the feeling of his fingers digging into her flesh still there as she moved down the steps.

"Ella," Loki whispered her name, trying to sound apologetic, but she was not listening. She was rushing away from the throne room, the doors opening and shutting as she went.

Loki collapsed to a heap in the floor, his head buried in his hands. He had never intended to hurt his sister. He was only frustrated. He wanted her to see that he was right; that had been all. He said nothing as he felt his stomach churn. He had never seen Ella look scared of him before. He had never seen her look worried that he might hurt her.

He would never hurt her; she was his sister. He loved her more than he cared to admit. He loved her deeply, but he had never handled her in such a manner. He had never done such a thing. Perhaps it was true. Perhaps he was simply the monster she read about in books as a child. Perhaps that was all he was destined to be.

…

"You argued with your brother, I trust?"

Frigga looked over her daughter as she sat in the library, locked away from anyone else. She had perched herself on the balcony of the library, peering over the skyline of Asgard and looking to the Rainbow Bridge. She said nothing as her mother walked to her, moving to take hold of her by the cheek, her thumb roaming over her cheekbone.

"He is not himself," Ella responded in a small voice. "Mother, you need to see that, he is not Loki…the Loki I know would never speak to me or…or…" Ella trailed off, not wanting to tell her mother too much of what had happened. She had said enough.

"You are correct," Frigga informed her. "Loki is not himself. Dining tonight was a terse affair without you. Whatever you argued about has made him much worse."

"I doubt it," Ella scoffed. "Mother, I asked him to bring Thor home."

"Thor must find his way home to us, Ella, it was your father's demand," Frigga told her.

"But father is sleeping," Ella responded, her voice low as she wondered if there was any way Loki could be listening in on their conversation. "Father is sleeping and we both know that he has not slept like this before. If…"

"We cannot think that way, Ella," Frigga replied, taking her daughter's hands in her own. "We must have faith that Thor will come home. Believe me, I was just as saddened as you were when I heard the news that your father had banished Thor. I detested him for it, but there is a reason behind everything that man does."

Shaking her head, Ella didn't entirely know what to believe as Frigga tucked her hair behind her ear and studied her, knowing that Ella was the sibling that Loki listened to the most. He had always had a close bond with Ella, perhaps closer than his bond with Thor. While he loved Thor, he did not converse with him as he did Ella.

"Your brother will come home," Frigga said. "I understand why you think he should be brought back now, but your father made the decision to banish him. If the Odinsleep deepens then…then we shall discuss this further, but for now Thor is still learning his lesson."

"And Loki?" Ella wondered from her mother. "You did not see the way he was, mother."

"Your brother has constantly lived in the shadows, Ella," Frigga said. "He has lived behind Thor and Odin. He has always had to contend with them and now he has his chance to show himself worthy. I feel as though he does not want that taken from him, Ella."

Slipping down from sitting on the edge of the balcony, Ella bit down on her lip as she contemplated what her mother had just said. She did not see it like that. She should have known. She should have seen.

"Your brother is not a bad person, my dear," Frigga whispered. "He is just an insecure one."

"Perhaps so," Ella agreed in a small voice and dared to move past her mother as Frigga watched her go, a small smile on her face. She knew that they would be able to sort this disagreement out between them.

…

Loki could no longer stand the tension between himself and Ella. It seemed as though she also felt the same. They both crossed paths in the corridor between their chambers and Ella stood still, looking to Loki as he stood still.

"I should apologise," Loki informed his sister, speaking first as he watched her with intrigue. "What happened earlier in the throne room was wrong. I should never have touched you…hurt you…"

"You did not," Ella said. "Not really."

"But I scared you," Loki replied, stepping closer to her. "I have never scared you before. You are my sister and I…I did not mean to snap at you."

"You did not," Ella said again. "You took me off guard. I can never be scared of you, Loki. You just shocked me with the way you acted and I did not know how to respond and so I ran."

"I cannot blame you," Loki informed her, his hands behind his back as he nodded his head and looked down to the ground. "And as far our argument, I will consider what you said-"

"-Mother spoke to me," Ella interrupted him, moving to take hold of his arm. "She told me what I did not think of and I see it now. You want to rule and prove yourself to father and bringing Thor back threatens that."

"Is that what you think?"

"Is it not true?" Ella replied and Loki shrugged.

"I do not know, Ella," Loki informed her. "I do not know what I think. All I can think of right now is making things right between us. The thought of arguing with you does not bode well with me, sister."

"I hate it," Ella responded and moved to embrace him. "Promise me that you will talk to me, Loki. Tell me what you are thinking…I cannot bear the thought of you thinking you are second best to Thor or Odin."

"I promise," Loki managed to say. "I promise, sweet sister."