Chapter 9

Freiya's daily routine noticeably changed after their trip to Loki's little private clearing and a few days had passed by now.

The prince started to show up to meals again. The king on the other hand was noticeably absent. Freiya had inquired about it with moderate curiosity and had been told that there was war in one of the realms which required Odin's presence. It was obvious Frigga and Thor were likewise happy to see Loki at their table again.

The queen even went so far as to stand from her chair upon Loki's first entrance. Obviously, the prince had not proclaimed his intention to join them beforehand. Frigga's emotions were true and easy to read on her beautiful features as she strode towards her younger son and pulled him into an embrace. The words which she whispered into Loki's ear had been too low to catch from the table. Freiya had seen the light pink tint on his cheeks though as he sat down beside her finally. She could imagine a future easily in which Loki would willingly resume his place as Frigga's son, everything else seemed highly uncertain though.

As the atmosphere between Thor and Loki was still visibly tense in contrast. It was definitely weird to observe Thor almost walking on eggshells around the trickster which also only seemed to put Loki further on edge. Freiya had already begun to wonder if these two simply did not know anymore how to be truly civil and at ease with each other.

"Brother, why don't you join us on a hunt tomorrow?" Thor proposed during their latest dinner together, continuing to eat and only shortly glancing at his younger brother. His ease seemed to be too orchestrated to be real and anything more than a badly held facade.

Freiya raised a brow at the question. Thor had told her previously that the two gods who had grown up as brothers had been much closer in the past and hunting together seemed to have been something both of them at least partially enjoyed. She could not fail to notice Thor's error though of saying "us", hinting at the fact he had already asked his friends to join. Thor's friends held little love for his brother and were more than obvious about it.

She knew that Thor and Loki were spending an hour or two daily in the morning on Thor's ability to mask his own thoughts magically. There still seemed to be little progress and her brother's presence was still unbearable if she was not protected by Loki or within the wards of her room. She had also not witnessed these lessons yet and had no idea what exactly they did. She had considered asking to observe them, but disregarded it again, thinking her presence would only make it harder. She would not put it past Loki to criticize his older brother constantly while he was in a superior position and also enjoy every second of it.

Freiya still had not started to work with Loki either. The dark-haired prince had promised to attempt it the first time tonight, claiming that it may be safer for them to have their lessons at night, hoping Freiya's magic would be calmer and less erratic then. He had explained to her that he was not certain what would really happen. Apparently, Loki had refused to give Thor any practical demonstration on how to block his mind. Freiya had the slight suspicion that it may actually work better if Loki would open his mind to Thor and demonstrate the incantation more fully. The relationship between the two brothers was extremely complex. Freiya was curious how the first demonstration with Loki would go. The prince had suggested returning to the private clearing again for that purpose. It seemed even Loki was a little wary about what her magic could do if it escalated fully.

"We shall see" Loki answered vaguely to Thor's request to join a hunt with his friends. His eyes were locked on the plate in front of him resolutely.

Freiya would have translated the answer into a clear "no" and just a politely formulated decline.

Thor seemed to be of the same opinion and the clearly pleading look he was giving Loki in the hopes of swaying his mind could only be described as cute. It did look a tad bit hilarious though to see such an expression on the God of Thunder's features.

When Freiya noticed Loki's fingers tightening around the cutlery he was holding, possibly imagining how he could stab his brother with the utensils to wipe this expression from his features, she decided to diffuse the situation. "Let's see if Asgard still stands later or if you'll have some emergency to tend to" Freiya proclaimed with her voice tinted with sarcasm.

"Why would it not?" Thor retorted, obviously blind to the meaning of her words.

Loki immediately rolled his eyes "She was being sarcastic" he explained with a slight glower to his brother, easily conveying what he thought of his intellect without any need for further words.

"Oh," Thor had the decency to sound abashed for a moment. The difference between the brothers could not have been any starker once again. One of them wielded sarcasm and wit as a shield while the other was so blunt and open it bordered on being blundering with his words.

Freiya found it sweet though when she could basically watch him come to the conclusion she had wanted to hint at and worry flashed over his features "Do you truly think this is a good idea?".

The question had been directed at Loki and Freiya only raised a brow once again and slightly shook her head. The annoyance was practically oozing off of the trickster by now "How you can be insulting to this level with such a simple question will forever remain a mystery to me" Loki commented drily and his lips pressed into a thin line as he glared at Thor, his fingers still curled forcefully around the utensils he was holding.

"Boys" Frigga had only listened to the conversation up to this point, but her tone had been tinted with a clear reprimand just now. Freiya interpreted her expression as filled with amusement and love likewise for her children.

The princess wondered internally how these two truly had been together as children. She had only seen glimpses of memories from Thor, but not even remotely enough to paint a clear picture. She would assume that Thor had been a loud and rumbustious child, while she would guess Loki to have been quiet and studious. But was that true? Had they truly so different natures or had Loki developed thus to differentiate himself from his older brother?

If Thor and Loki were good at one thing with each other, it was definitely bickering. It was painfully obvious Thor was trying his best at being friendly, but for some reason, Loki seemed uninterested in the metaphorical hand reaching out towards him. Freiya could only hope that his attitude would change with time. Thor would surely be heartbroken if his relationship with his younger brother proved to be unsalvageable.

Once dinner had officially ended and Loki led her out of the palace, Freiya had had enough of the prince's stubborn attitude. "Loki" she addressed the prince in a cautiously neutral tone "You do realize that Thor does have good intentions?"

The trickster threw her a glance that obviously questioned her sanity sharply for a moment.

Freiya rolled her eyes "You can drop your pretense with me, remember?" she threw in with a hint of annoyance flitting onto her features. She wanted to know what he truly thought and not only be faced with this cold facade of nonchalance.

She watched the internal conflict flashing over his features with some satisfaction. That she was able to see emotions on his regal face at all already showed that he was indeed letting her see beyond his carefully sculpted mask, although definitely slower than she would have liked it. She could also see how tense the prince still was walking next to her as tall as possible, head held high, while his green eyes seemed to restlessly scan their surroundings. She doubted that he was indeed looking out for a possible attack. Asgard's borders were well protected as far as she was told and there had been no unrest in the kingdom since her arrival.

"I will need to let go of the incantation over your mind" Loki proclaimed after a few more silent moments, changing the subject without even blinking. She had hoped he would offer her some thoughts on Thor, but she did not push him for it either.

Freiya went along with the switch of the topic rather reluctantly "That's why you proposed to do it in your safe clearing?" she questioned in slight interest. She had nothing against returning to this place as she had greatly enjoyed being there before.

Loki inclined his head in silent agreement to her question. They had almost reached the clearing he had shown to her a few days prior.

Freiya noted his mute agreement and regarded the prince a little more closely. Nothing of the tenseness which had already been there during dinner had dissipated yet and she suddenly concluded he may be nervous about what he had called their minds touching, if she was not mistaken his tenseness had actually increased the longer they had been walking. "Loki, if you do not wish to do this demonstration, I will learn another way" she tried to offer him a way out cautiously.

The spell he had put over her rooms had already created a little safe space for herself within the palace. A part of her hated the idea of being confined to these rooms whenever she wished for peace, but another part realized that she unwillingly may be asking too much of the prince who was so obviously private in his nature. She had the suspicion that their minds "touching" could mean for her to get glimpses into his thoughts and memories. Loki was not forthcoming with information about his past at all, so, Freiya could guess that the prospect must be unsettling to him.

Loki shook his head and waved a hand as if he was deflecting the notion of this lesson being too much for him.

Freiya sighed lightly. Loki obviously was not just private in his nature but also a very proud character. During her long life she had already met a number of royals and all of them had been proud to the point of vainness at times. She should have known that hinting at something being too much or frightening for the prince would not make him reconsider in any way. She had also met enough men in her past to know that most did not take well to their pride being hurt or worse an accusation of cowardice.

The wards tingled slightly over her skin as she stepped through them and entered the clearing Loki had created. A sense of peacefulness immediately settled over her mind as she let her gaze wander over the small clearing. It was just as magnificent at night as it had been in the bright sunlight. The sounds of birds and wildlife on the clearing had changed slightly, adapting to the time of the day.

She also felt the moment acutely when Loki severed the spell he had used to shield her mind. Thoughts of others rushed back into her mind quickly. Due to the physical space between the next other people on Asgard, they were little more than a muddle of never-ending whispers. She knew that she would need to concentrate hard on one for a moment if she wanted to enhance it in volume and indeed get it clearly. Still, the hum within her mind was a little distracting.

When Freiya looked up and back at Loki, she saw his bright green eyes watching her intently now. There was something else within his expression that she was unable to interpret though.

She smiled slightly at him "Are your wards over this place also shielding me?" she questioned with a little frown. Now that she thought about it, she did not regard the physical distance to the streets and first houses long enough to truly mute the thoughts of the inhabitants to the extent they were.

Loki nodded his confirmation and he seemed pleased with himself as he answered "They are not of the same nature as the incantation I placed in your rooms, but they have similarities. I assume it is more bearable here". His expression lightened with a smile when she nodded her confirmation mutely.

Freiya watched him summon a blanket once again and she immediately sat down, cross-legged this time in the middle of the soft fabric and Loki followed her a moment later. They sat facing each other, their knees barely touching. His expression had darkened again though and there was no trace of any smile left on his elegant features. His back was straight and his fingers curled into fists on his knees, his shoulders drawn back and his green eyes looked around nervously once again.

"If you do not want to do this, then do not" she repeated her offer to back out of this before they started. Freiya kept her tone neutral and her expression kind and free of any judgment. She would understand and accept if he had changed his mind without any argument.

Loki's expression flashed with displeasure for a second and his jaw tightened visibly while his lips thinned as he pressed them together into a fine line before he shook his head again "Nonsense" he deflected her opposition through clenched teeth again and his eyes flashed angrily now.

Freiya swallowed down her comment that Loki's failing willingness was way too obvious for her comfort. She worried that he was feeling forced to do this, but apparently, he was stubborn as well.

"I already explained to you that I need to open a real connection between our minds. You need a perception of your own mind and in contrast to mine, as I am teaching you this technique, far superior to what comes naturally" Loki said in a calm tone, looking deeply into her eyes. His calmness was belied by a slight quivering of his hands on his knees.

Freiya nodded her acknowledgment mutely. The prince had indeed already run the process by her in preparation. He had actually done so twice before and she guessed he was repeating himself now in an attempt to calm his own frayed nerves. She breathed out deeply. His tenseness and obvious wariness about what they were going to do, were starting to make her nervous as well.

"Try not to fight my presence in your mind" Loki's tone was wavering audibly, bordering on a plea and she thought to see his slender fingers shaking as he reached out towards her temples.

Freiya did not shy away from the touch as Loki had explained to her that physical touch to the temples of whoevers mind you wished to enter helped greatly in the process. She tried to give him what she hoped to be an encouraging smile. She thought of the trust she had for him naturally as she felt their magic connect around his fingertips now lying softly on her temples.

For a moment she wondered how their connection would look from the perspective of an observer. His fingers lying softly on her temple, their knees touching lightly and their differently colored magic intermingling between her temples and his fingertips, while they gazed into each other's eyes deeply.

Freiya did not feel him enter her mind, but his sudden presence there was a weird sensation, to say the least. She only realized now how correct Loki had been in his description that someone who never dabbed in mind control or really any form of magic pertaining to their own mind had no real conception of what a mind truly was. She lost most of the conscious feeling of her physical body and felt as if she was suspended in an open field instead all of a sudden. Something felt off about it though.

She still heard or rather felt her own thoughts. Louder and much quicker and somehow encompassing as she wondered just where she was now.

There were absolutely no orientation points and she was beginning to fear being lost within her own mind. Was that even a possible outcome?

It took her a while to figure out what the feeling of something being off about her own mind meant. She was not alone. She faintly felt a foreign presence and instinctively knew that it was not supposed to be there. Time seemed to be a fickle thing now though and Freiya did not know how long it took her to finally locate this foreign feeling. It felt as if she had been floating for an eternity before she could faintly hear some whispered words.

It was different though from the thoughts of others she was used to having within her mind. While a part of her wondered if this foreign presence was indeed Loki and why she could not understand his words, a larger part of her won over and without any conscious thought she could hear, she pushed against this foreign feeling, and all of a sudden, her perception changed again fully.

She lost awareness of her own physical body completely and although there had not been any sensation of being transported anywhere, she suddenly found herself surrounded by complete darkness.

The darkness around her lasted for a few moments, but from somewhere afar, she could see the darkness being filled quickly by a green hue, intertwined with golden tendrils. She moved closer to it quickly and she spotted other colors among the gold and green from being closer. Two different hues of blue, one of them looked familiar somehow, while the other instinctually made her shudder. It was unnatural somehow and she felt the sudden pressing urge to have it eradicated.

"Freiya, no!" she heard a shout resonate through her complete being just a second before she reached out to the alien blue hue. She did not let it stop her though as she had already been in the process of reaching for it. In the back of her current being, she connected that it had been Loki's voice calling out to her and she had a way easier time identifying the emotion being carried with the single two words now. It had been fear, wild and raw.

What followed next was far beyond what Freiya had expected. She was used to seeing and hearing thoughts of others and since she had come to Asgard she had gotten acquainted with also being able to dive into memories of others if she gave a little push. But the memories she had seen of Thor and Odin even had been vastly different. She had been more in the perspective of a third person watching the memories unfold around her, seeing only the emotions on the surface as an observer would.

Now, she suddenly felt as if she was living through the memories rushing into her being in little snippets.

She felt the sensation of anger and disappointment, hotly burning through her veins and destroying the very foundation of her being. She had no chance of understanding what exactly had happened though, as she saw Odin crumble on a flight of stairs. The intense feelings were followed by the horrifying experience of falling. The picture burned into her mind was of Thor hanging over the Bifrost, being held by Odin and both of them looking down. There was no end to the fall and she felt the wish for it to end, all of it to end in fact acutely. Life had lost its meaning and she was only waiting for her own inevitable death.

Freiya felt something pulling at her suddenly, reminding her acutely that the snippets she was living through and experiencing were not her own, but she fought back against the pulling sensation. She knew there was more and an almost irrational will to uncover what Loki was trying to hide had taken over her mind.

The snippets continued to come unbroken. The fall changed to being suspended in the air in heavy chains biting into her skin mercilessly, fighting back in an attempt to get free. Harsh words whispered into her ears, degrading her and her worthlessness. A few impressions of the snippets were encompassing. Pain. Heat. Exhaustion. Her very existence seemed to have narrowed down to these feelings and the snippets seemed to continue endlessly with no change in their content. Only the view of her own skin changed. What once had been flawless skin was first marred with angry marks and slowly turned into more open wounds than intact skin.

And little by little whatever resistance had been left was burned away. A scepter was placed in her hands. She recognized The Other and Thanos from her own interactions with them. She heard their instructions.

The pull on her mind continued to grow and the last thing she saw and felt before she was somehow pulled away was being transported to earth with the scepter in hand, sweating and shaking from the endless pain she had been put through.

Freiya blinked a few times coming back to herself as if waking from a daze. It took her a few moments to realize that she must have caused another storm to break out. Her hair was clinging to her neck wetly. The blanket was wet beneath her and Loki had obviously gotten up in a rush, bunching the blanket in his haste.

She saw him with his back turned on her and one of his hands resting on the tree he was leaning against, balled into a tight fist. His breathing was audibly elated and she thought his whole frame was shaking slightly.

Cautiously, Freiya approached him on silent feet. She extended one hand to place it on one of his shoulders, hesitating for a second. She had definitely seen or experienced something which Loki would not have wished her to see at all, no matter if he began trusting her or not. His sickly appearance in Thor's memories made a lot of sense now as he obviously had been tortured quite severely beforehand and for a rather prolonged time as well. The snippets she had felt herself going through made it impossible to judge the time span they had occurred through. It had seemed endless in the pain and hopelessness.

When he made no indication of reacting to her presence, Freiya decided to indeed close the last distance and gently placed her hand on his shoulder. She felt him trembling beneath her soft touch. She was uncertain if she should be apologizing to him. She had not entered his mind with a conscious decision to do so, but she still felt as if she had violated him.

"Loki…" she started in a soft tone. She wanted to reassure him that everything would be alright now.

He whirled around under her touch quickly and the only word which came to her mind describing his expression would have been "haunted". The desperation within his green eyes tore at her very soul.

"Does anyone know?" she formulated her question in nothing more than a faint whisper, watching him intently for every little flicker of any reaction. She already guessed to know the answer though.

Loki huffed under his breath and his expression morphed into a mask of disdain "You obviously do now" he snarled and his green eyes told her without any words how much he wished to undo that.

Before he could make any further movement, Freiya reached out and took hold again of one of his hands. Their magic intertwined within a second, faster somehow than it had done before. "There is nothing you have to fear from me, Loki" she assured him earnestly and held his angry gaze unwaveringly "Trust, remember?" she pulled their joined hands upwards so that he had to look at them as well. His eyes indeed flickered to them for a moment. She knew he could have ripped his hand away if he had truly desired to sever their connection, she felt him tensing slightly and it meant a lot to her that he chose not to.

The disdain vanished from his features in a flash and he appeared utterly drained all of a sudden. His proud posture was gone in a second and he seemed to deflate.

"Why have you not told Frigga at least?" she prodded in a kind tone, trying to understand his motivation to keep this secret somehow. His whole attack on earth had obviously not been his choice. He may have given in and played along, but loyalty forged from torture could only be a crime to a certain extent. Loki had obviously been a tool to Thanos, nothing more.

"For what purpose should I have done so?" the prince retorted and his voice sounded weirdly hollow. The hopelessness was suddenly clear to read within his eyes.

Freiya frowned at the change in his appearance. The jokes, tricks, and disdain must have become a defense mechanism for him, masking what was truly going on within his head. She knew that what she would do with the information she had seen would largely be defining her future interactions with Loki. If she truly wished him to trust her fully, she could not tell this to anyone else bluntly. The utter hopelessness he was giving off felt almost physically painful though.

She let everything she knew so far about the royal family and especially Loki run through her mind quickly. The picture it painted was sad to say the least. It left Loki in Thor's shadow, lonely and having been lied to about his origins for his whole life, bittered by it to a point where a true reconciliation seemed unthinkable.

Letting go of his hand, she stepped even closer to him. She ignored the way Loki tried to evade her close proximity, backing him up against the closest tree fully, she wound her arms around him, giving him a hug. "You are not alone anymore" Freiya reassured the prince in a gentle tone. She did not know yet if he actually would allow her, but she would stand with him from now on.

For long moments Loki had tensed up fully within her arms. She felt the muscles beneath the shirt he was wearing straining in anticipation, probably preparing to push her away and flee from her proximity. She tightened her hold on him though, rubbing over his back in what she hoped to be soothing motions.

It took her a moment to realize that what her fingertips were feeling was not smooth skin beneath his wet shirt, but rather the raggedly healed scars the torture must have caused on his body. She let go of him with a loud and startled inhale, taking a little step away.

Freiya only noticed now that there were scars visible on his neck as well. They had definitely not been there when they arrived at the clearing. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably with the realization that Loki could not have received any medical attention here either, hiding his injuries away instead.

She concentrated on her own magic, concealing her scars from the world to see.

His green eyes traveled over her exposed skin and Freiya could watch the little resistance which had lingered within his gaze melt away once her own scars were visible as well, emphasizing the way they resembled each other in this aspect.

She gave him a shaky smile, stepping closer and hugging him again.

This time, Loki did not freeze up, but actually wound his arms around her as well, answering the hug. She felt him shaking slightly when he let his chin sink onto her hair. She did not know if he was crying, but she held him silently, just like Thor had done for her days ago now.

Loki's eyes looked suspiciously wet and red-rimmed once he finally eased out of Freiya's embrace. She could still feel the rough texture of scars beneath her fingertips resting on his back loosely, so he had not renewed the incantation to hide them from her yet.

Green magic danced over his body and his hair fluffed a little as it dried all of a sudden. His clothes were dry now once again as well and a second later Freiya felt his magic washing over herself and replicating the process for her.

His voice was surprisingly firm once he had cleared his throat "The demonstration showed the concept of your mind to you".

Freiya felt his skin becoming smooth once again beneath her fingertips as he fully stepped away from her. Internally she was a little disappointed that Loki was already hiding a part of himself from her once again. "I take it you do not wish to talk about …" she started to say.

"There is nothing to say" he interrupted her decisively and his green eyes narrowed with a hint of anger.

Freiya sighed but nodded. She would have to respect his decision on the matter, at least for now. She definitely was of another opinion though. Loki had been tortured and if she had interpreted his fall from the Bifrost correctly, he had actually let go with the intention of ending his own existence. There was obviously so much the prince needed to talk about that Freiya felt a little overwhelmed. She could not force him to do so. But she would try to offer him an ear at another point for sure. "How was this demonstration supposed to help me shield my own mind again?" she asked, going along with his intended switch of the subject instead, biting back her actual retort.

"We will need to repeat it a few times until you fully grasp the concept. I can show you how to erupt barriers within your mind once you are prepared to repeat it for yourself" Loki explained once again calmly.

The whispers of foreign thoughts clouded her mind again, showing the prince had not started to shield her thoughts.

She regarded Loki in silence for long moments. If she had not held him in an embrace mere minutes ago, she would have never guessed that anything could be amiss at all. The prince indeed had perfected his acts of aloofness and superiority to the dot. Her own thoughts returned to The Other and Thanos. She remembered how Loki had questioned her if she had any idea about Thanos's motives after he had realized her involvement with the titan.

"What do you think will happen with Thanos?" she addressed her switched trail of thoughts with him another few moments later, watching him intently.

His green eyes flashed, and if she was not mistaken, he was alarmed "He will gather the infinity stones" his tone was scaringly neutral while he answered though.

Freiya inclined her head slightly in acknowledgment. She had guessed as much already, otherwise, it would not have made much sense for Thanos to send her into other realities to locate them. "But what do they actually do?" she prodded "I mean if you manage to acquire all of them?" She had never wasted too much thought on what these stones were able to do.

"You really do not know?" the prince retorted and the disbelief was clear in his whole poise now.

She shook her head in denial. If she considered it now, she probably had been blinded by her own selfish motives of wishing to be united with the family she had missed her whole existence.

"As far as I know Thanos wants to destroy half of every living existence" Loki continued after a few seconds of silence and his tone was so matter-of-fact it baffled her completely.

Freiya needed a few moments to wrap her mind around that concept and she looked at him with wide eyes "And you do not think this should be something we should discuss with Odin?"

The prince raised a brow at her "What do you assume his reaction would be like?" and there seemed to be a hint of defiance within his tone now.

She frowned at him just deflecting her question with one of his own. She thought about her answer for a while. Unfortunately, Freiya had to admit that she had no clue how Odin might react to something like this. She guessed that Loki might actually be a better judge, but she also knew that his opinion was likely severely influenced by their deeply rooted conflict.

"Trust me" Loki answered his own question finally "He would not even listen" the bitterness in his tone was easy to read.

Freiya sighed lightly under her breath. She could not test that hypothesis without breaking Loki's trust and revealing what she knew now of what had happened to him. "I do trust you" she assured him immediately with the hint of a smile playing around her lips.

"Everyone who knows me would tell you how foolish an endeavor that is" Loki ignored her smile and his expression turned serious again.

She rolled her eyes "Then I will be your fool" Freiya retorted with a wider smile and a challenging glint in her eyes.

Loki snorted loudly at that and his green eyes narrowed slightly as he scrutinized her.

His sound may have passed as a shortly barked laugh as well or at least Freiya chose to strictly interpret it that way.

"We ought to return to the palace soon" Loki proclaimed with a glance toward the sky, suddenly changing the subject once again.

Freiya honestly could not see any indication on Asgard's sky about the time which may have passed but she put that down to still being unused to these new surroundings. She had been good at this in the realities without magic.

"I'd like to stay a while longer" Freiya retorted with another smile, hoping to sway his mind. She liked the peace of this place and she knew that Loki would only escape to his own rooms once they returned to the palace.

Loki frowned but surprisingly indeed nodded his acceptance and turned back towards the blanket.

Freiya watched him move away. The prince let a hand glide over the rough tree barks he passed on his way. She wondered what he was thinking about at this moment. His movements were graceful in a way that seemed to come naturally to Loki without any conscious effort. She followed him back to the blanket and sat down next to him.

Without too much thought, she leaned against his legs as he pulled them toward his chest. He lowered them immediately without any comment so that Freiya could place her head on his thigh again. She felt the muscles flex beneath the fabric of the trousers he was wearing at the touch just as well as his magic reacting to the physical contact through the thin barrier separating them.

She looked up at him in silence for a moment, taking in the chiseled line of his chin while he also looked down at her.

"What happens now?" she wondered out loud after long silent moments. The peacefulness of the place had returned to her mind, but it was not enough to drown out all the troubles which lay ahead of them. Thanos was a horrible threat. And somehow, she found it even more important that she did not remain the only one to know of Loki's truth and pains.

She felt the prince exhaling a deep breath and he looked away from her face. His gaze appeared empty as he looked ahead through the trees around them and his voice sounded eerie as he finally answered "I wish I knew".