Ella had no intention of going against her brother, but she felt as though her options were limited. Loki was keeping secrets from their mother and Ella was not comfortable doing such a thing. She wanted to tell her mother what she knew and if that meant going against Loki, her King's, wishes, then so be it. She inhaled a sharp breath and began her movements towards her mother's chambers. Frigga had left the Allfather to sleep for a while, needing rest herself.

Entering the chamber, Ella waited until the doors were closed behind her. Her mother looked over to her from her dressing table where she was sat on the stool. She had her hands on her wrists, tugging her jewellery from them as she arched a brow in her daughter's direction.

"Ella," Frigga spoke in a gentle voice. "What is it?"

"I don't know how to say this," Ella said as she wandered into her mother's chamber further and found herself sinking down to sit at the bottom of her bed. She crossed one leg over the other and suddenly she felt like a very small child again. It was almost as if she was the one in trouble when the opposite was true.

"What is it, dear?" Frigga asked, her tone kind as she moved from her seat and came to sit besides her daughter, her hand going to rest on her back. Ella looked up to her mother, her eyes wide and she immediately wished that things were different. Why couldn't Loki have just told the truth and done the honest thing? Why was he so unable to help himself?

"It is Loki," Ella said with a soft sight. "There is something off with him."

"Off with him?" Frigga repeated and Ella nodded her head, urging for her mother to believe her.

"He believes that the Frost Giants pose a threat," Ella immediately blurted out. "He went to speak with Heimdall about it and he said that all is not well. He told me that I should keep it quiet as you have enough to worry about, but there is something else…mother…he is acting strange."

Frigga arched a brow, not wanting to believe what she was hearing. Yet a part of her understood what her daughter was informing her. She nodded her head once before looking to Ella and pecking her on the forehead.

"I am certain that your brother is doing what he thinks is best," Frigga declared. "Loki is a fine young man, Ella. He is ruling as well as I had hoped. Although I do agree that he should have told me of the Frost Giants. I do not want him to go through things alone."

"He isn't," Ella quickly spoke and then coughed lightly before looking down to her lap. "I mean, I told him that I would help him with whatever he needs. I just don't know how much longer we can keep going like this. How many more secrets does he intend to keep?"

Frigga looked intrigued then as she examined her daughter. Ella shook her head and rolled her eyes before moving to her feet, sniffing and doing her best not to think such negative thoughts of her brother. She trusted Loki. She trusted him implicitly. Why was she doubting him?

"Ella," Frigga spoke, treading on cautious ground. "This truly troubles you, does it not?"

"I do not know," Ella shrugged her shoulders. "I always thought that I knew Loki, mother. I always thought that I was the one who was closest to him, but when he asks me to keep secrets from you and acts suspicious…I just…I do not know."

"I shall have a word with him," Frigga declared and Ella shook her head with haste.

"No," she said. "He cannot know I betrayed him like this."

"Betrayed him, how?" Frigga enquired from her daughter. "All that I see is a sister who is concerned for the welfare of her brother. Loki needs to know that I am here. I might not be…well…myself, but I am here for him if he needs help."

"I know," Ella said. "I just do not know if he does."

…

Loki was fuming. He didn't understand why she had done this to him. He didn't understand what it brought except for more worry. Then again, she did not know the truth. She did not know what he was going to do and he had no intention for him to find out. Instead he wanted to keep her away. He wanted to keep Ella locked away and it would be for her own safety.

But then she had told Frigga of what he had asked to keep secret. Could he trust her with anything or would she run off and tell people of his secrets? How did he know what to believe now? All he knew was that he sought her out that evening, not bothering to knock on the door to her chamber. He had the guard on duty open it wide and he stormed in to find his sister dressed in her nightgown and stood by the balcony, looking over Asgard.

As the door opened, she whirled around to find Loki stood there. She pulled her robe tighter around her body as she looked at him, her chin stuck out defiantly.

"You do not keep things like that from our mother," Ella declared, her voice high as she saw him stood there with his hands clenched by his sides and his face dangerously verging on a look of rage. "Mother had a right to know if the Frost Giants intend to attack. You might be our King, but mother is still our mother, Loki. She needs to know."

"And you saw to it," Loki declared. "You do not do well at keeping secrets, do you?"

"That is unfair," Ella said. "You should not ask me to keep secrets like those, Loki. It is not wise to hide things from mother."

"Despite the fact that I asked you?" Loki demanded from her. "Despite the fact that you could have come to me and told me how you felt."

"I did!" Ella snapped back to him, bending slightly at the waist as she yelled at him, her voice higher than usual and her eyes wide. She moved towards him as she spoke, still yelling; "I told you that mother had a right to know and you did not want to listen to me. You…you never seem to listen to me…you claim that you need my help, but whenever I dare to challenge you, I am always wrong. You never do anything that I suggest."

"Because I know what to do, Ella," Loki snarled back to her, moving towards her until the two were inches from each other. "I am doing the right thing. I am protecting mother."

"Mother does not need protecting!" Ella retorted. "Mother might be struggling, but she is still our mother. She is still the woman who raised us…the woman who protected us-"

"-The woman who would have been happy to marry you off to a Frost Giant," Loki interrupted her, but Ella looked away from him and began to move around her room. "Or have you conveniently forgotten what both of them were going to do?"

"No," Ella responded. "But I do not intend to dwell on it, Loki. Father is sleeping and mother needs us. We have bigger things to worry about other than their naïve plans from years ago."

Loki arched a brow as Ella turned back to face him. She folded her arms over her chest as she observed her brother. It took a moment before Loki nodded. He understood now. Ella was one of them. He was not. She could look past what her parents had done, but Loki could not. They were not his parents.

"I know that you might be upset with father," Ella said to Loki, her tone a little softer. "I understand, but mother has done nothing but love you, Loki. She taught you magic. She took you under her wing. She is still your mother…our mother…"

Loki gulped and then he took his turn to look away, knowing full well that what she was saying was the truth. That still didn't stop him from hurting.

"I told mother, not to betray you, but to help our family," Ella said, doing her best to keep control of her emotions. "Has our family not been ripped apart enough, Loki? Thor is banished, father sleeps…the last thing we need is an attack from Frost Giants."

Ella tried to gage his reaction, but Loki remained passive. He remained stood in the middle of her room, his hands by his side as his eyes looked out and over her balcony. It was another moment before Ella moved her hand to his upper arm, her palm resting their gently as she spoke to him.

"I never meant to betray you," she promised him. "But you cannot keep secrets. It was secrets that put us in this situation. I do not want to see anymore of my family hurt."

"Perhaps," Loki agreed, "but the fact that you went behind my back is the things that hurts the most. You could have come to me first and told me you wanted to tell her. You…I always thought that I could trust you, Ella."

"You can," Ella promised him. "But, tell me, Loki, would you not have tried to stop me? Would you have let me do it?"

Loki swallowed harshly again and looked over to the side as Ella nodded. She had her confirmation.

"Don't do this," she whispered, her voice now a plea. "Don't let us argue over this. I need you, Loki. If the Frost Giants do attack, then Asgard needs you to protect it."

"So Asgard needs me and not you?"

"I need you more than they do," Ella said. "You are my brother."

"But I am not, Ella," Loki whispered.

"Loki-"

"-No," Loki interrupted her. "We need to be honest, Ella."

He shrugged her hand from his arm and began to move towards her balcony.

"You said that this changed nothing," Ella said. "We were raised together. We are siblings-"

"-We would have been spouses, Ella, not siblings, if our parents had seen their plan come to light." Loki continued. "Yet we sit here and we pretend. We pretend that everything will be well. We act as though Odin will wake and Thor will return. And when all of that happens, then what? We go back to normal? How? How exactly do we return to normal now that we know all that we know?"

"We have to try," Ella urged from him. "What is the alternative, Loki? We spend the rest of our lives feeling bitter towards those who love us? Is that what you want?"

Loki shook his head. "What I want is unknown," Loki said to her. "But I cannot pretend."

"So this is it?" Ella demanded, flapping her hands by her sides as Loki glanced back to her. "You would have me mean nothing to you?"

"Ella-"

"-I do not understand," she interrupted him as Loki watched her cheeks tinge red. "I do not understand how you could feel that way about me. I might not be your sister by blood, but I am in all other senses of the word. I love you, Loki. I adore you. Is that not enough now? Is none of it enough?"

Understanding exactly the impact his words were having, Loki moved forwards and drew Ella into his arms. She didn't protest. Instead she moved her arms to cling around his waist, holding him tightly as he let a hand move to cup the back of her neck, feeling her face press against the crook of his neck.

"I'm sorry," Loki whispered to her. "Ella, I never meant it…not about you…"

Ella said nothing back to him. She remained mute, her grip still tight around him as she closed her eyes and let him cradle her. Loki remained silent then, his mind wandering onto how he could get himself out of the mess he had created. He doubted he could.

...

A/N: Do let me know what you think!