Chapter 8

Loki was halfway through his glass of wine when the queen of Alfheim attempted to grab his cock below the table. He coughed his discomfort, using a hand to wipe away to wine at his lips before he fixed the queen with an astonished glance.

"Prince Loki, I am overjoyed at your return," purred Queen Aelsa. Her tone and voice were as even as if she were commenting on the weather and not massaging circles into his leather clad thigh. "Tis a shame your visit has to be cut so short."

Loki crossed his leg over the other—after making a show of shaking off the elf queen's hand—and gave her a perfunctory smile. "Father lends us where and when he can. We are so glad to have finally put the tensions between our realms to rest."

"Yes. So glad." Blue eyes roamed over his body with greed. They darkened with lust, taking on that black colour he heard they changed to at times. Loki suppressed a shudder.

It was not that the queen was an eye sore—not one bit. Queen Aelsa Featherwine, like others of her kind, possessed the ethereal beauty that was shared by all the light elves. She looked spectacular tonight with her white hair piled on her head to show off her pointed ears. Even her gown was light coloured, meshing with her milky skin in the most unusual way.

It was just too bad Loki was not attracted to her.

"I must be taking my leave now," he said. The queen had begun to stare at him like prey to be hunted. Whilst he was no stranger to such role play, he had to admit it struck a strange chord to have someone he had no interest in leer at him so shamelessly.

"Must you?" Her mouth turned down at the ends, and Loki stiffened. The last thing he wanted was to upset the queen. All it would take was one scorned feeling to undo all the hard work he and Thor had done in the past few months.

"Your majesty," he reached for her hand, silver tongue geared and ready, "may I?" She nodded her ascent. "You are truly a magnificent woman. I'm sure many men would kill to have just a moment of the time and attention you have so graciously bestowed on myself."

Queen Aelsa tilted her head to the side as he spoke. A pleased expression overtook her features. "Yes, they would."

"Alas, I must inform you that my heart belongs to another." Loki mustered all the melancholy in his body and directed it towards his performance. "Exclusivity is not a practice I have adhered too in the past, yet I find myself unwilling to break the faith this one has put in me. You understand, yes?"

The queen nodded, sympathy alight in her eyes. "Of course. My dear Malekeith was my one true love before his turn to the dark side."

"How terrible that must have been for you," Loki ran his thumb over her knuckles. "I thank your majesty for your kindness and hospitality. Please excuse me, as I must go locate my brother to discuss a matter of importance." Loki leaned closer to her and lowered his voice. "He also has a maiden waiting on him back at home. Don't tell him I told you, though."

"Your secret is safe with me, dear prince." Loki returned the Queen's hand to her lap.

"I am in your debt, your majesty. Now, if you will excuse me."

Loki rose to his feet and made haste away from the dining table. Queen Aelsa was a smart woman. On a regular day she probably would not be charmed with such ease. It was only her affections for him, coupled with the three glasses of wine she had consumed, that allowed him to do so. There was a chance she might snap out of it, and Loki intended to be far away from Alfheim if that came to pass.

He found Thor a few minutes later on the private look over. It was just a little way outside of the main dining hall, and comprised a bannister with a silver edged cabriole for lounging. Thor's large form was laid upon it, and upon him was the servant girl assigned to keeping Loki's rooms in order during his stay.

"Brother."

Thor jumped, pulling his lips away from the girl—Aerin, he believed— to give his brother a red-faced grin. "Loki!"

"I don't mean to interrupt your activities, but it is time for us to go home."

"Home?" Thor echoed with a frown. "Why home?" Loki's eyes darted to the servant girl and back. Seeing this, Thor gave a heavy sigh. "Lia, this has been fun. Do look me up if you are ever on Asgard."

No sooner had Thor said those words did Loki wince and take a step back.

"Lia?" The girl flew to her feet, hands already working her corset back in place with practiced agility. "My name is Aerin, your highness."

"Oh…" Thor's eyes sought Loki's, a clear 'help me' reflected in the light blue hues, and Loki would have helped him had the girl not turned away and stomped off.

"Well," Thor's lips quirked into a sheepish grin. "I guess that spells the end of my merriment for the evening. But what about you, brother? Why are you so eager to leave? Is it because of Sigrid?"

Loki tensed. "What about Sigrid?" Thor lifted a thick shoulder.

"I noticed she was not there to see you off. She is always there to see you off, so I knew something must be wrong." Loki's lack of reply served as silent confirmation. "Would you like to speak about it?" Thor inquired. The shyness of the request was very unlike him. "Perhaps I can help. I am not as close to her as you, but I know her well."

The blatant hope in Thor's eyes took Loki aback. As much as they loved and trusted each other, Loki had to admit that confiding in Thor was not a habit of his. He could count on one hand the number of times he had sought out his brother for advice on a serious matter. By the look on Thor's face, it was clear that he wished Loki had come to him more often.

"I'll tell you as we make our way to the clearing," Loki offered. "The queen would not take kindly to us burning the Bifrost symbol into her floors."

"Let us!" Thor hopped to his feet.

"Sigrid told me about a piece of her past that she had kept hidden thus far, and I did not react well." Loki folded his arms behind his back as they walked, eyes downtrodden. Memories of their fight came back to him. It pained him to leave things on such a sour note, and his heart felt like a shard of ice had been pushed through it when he heard her quiet sniffles moments after he closed the doors. Leaving her behind to go to Alfheim knowing she would be upset until they arrived at a resolution had been one of the most difficult things he ever had to do.

"Is this about Sir Leif?" Loki's eyes flickered to his brother's. Thor must have read the unasked inquiry on Loki's face, as he followed up with clarification at once. "Loki, I know you do not like him. You have been so on edge ever since his arrival. I just wish I had noticed your discomfort before I invited him to stay. I never would have had I known."

"This is not your fault. It was all me." The marble floors had now given way to fresh grass. It was a stark difference to the cobblestone and concrete he was used to on Asgard. "Apparently she and Leif had a… relationship of sorts as children. Her arrival on Asgard brought that to a prompt end."

"Oh," Thor's voice held no surprise. "Well, it all makes sense now."

"What?" Loki's head whipped in his brother's direction. "Why does that make sense?"

"You've never liked it when men took an interest in Sigrid," Thor explained.

"That is not true," Loki protested. "Sigrid has had two partners and I never made a fuss." Thor looked at him in disbelief.

"Yes, you did! You turned Arild into a worm when you caught them kissing the night of her hundredth!"

Loki waved his hand. "That was a joke."

"You tried to step on him!" Thor exclaimed. "Multiple times!"

"But I did not," Loki replied, offended. "And I eventually turned him back, so I don't see what there is to be mad about."

Thor shook his head. They were both facing each other in the clearing the queen had allowed them to use for their travels. The grass there was far enough away from the palace that it did not matter if it was scorched. "She did not appreciate that, you know?"

Loki gave a nod. "Yes, I do. She smacked me right upside the head and demanded I apologize. Then she ceased speaking to me for a long time. I wooed her with purple hyacinths for a week straight until she would even look me in the eye."

"Did you know she came to me that night?" Thor asked. Loki shook his head slowly. "Yes. She cried in my arms for quite some time that night, for she could not understand why you always saw fit to terrorize her partners."

Loki blanched. "That's not fair. I always ended things with any lover of mine she did not like."

"All your past lovers were purely for physical purposes. You never had true feelings for any of them save for Fjor, and the only reason he is still a part of your life is because he was the only one who was not disrespectful to Sigrid." Thor paused then to tilt his face to the heavens. "Heimdall, we're ready when you are!" he called out before looking at his brother once again.

"As I was saying. Your lovers only hated her because they saw her closeness to you as a threat. Despite this, Sigrid was never anything but cordial with them. You ended things with them because you do not stand for anyone being hostile to her, and that is not on her. It is on you."

The speech from his brother stunned Loki into a silence. He had never, ever, considered it from that perspective, and he had sure as hell not known his behavior had affected Sigrid so.

"You must understand," he began, voice devoid of its usual confidence, "that I only want to protect her. I care too much about her to let her end up with the wrong person."

"Well, she's not going to end up with anyone the way you're carrying on." Had the conversation not been so serious, Loki would have rolled his eyes at Thor's 'older brother' voice. "When we get back to Asgard, I think it's finally time for the both of you to have a talk about—"

Loki never got to hear the end of Thor's sentence. At that moment, a blinding light encased the two of them and he felt his body being yanked into the air. He closed his eyes, listening to the well-known hum of the Bifrost as it brought him home. By his count there were only about five seconds or so left in the journey. He had made it enough times to know the timing.

"Brother!" Loki looked to Thor, who was beside him. There was a most peculiar expression on his face. It was a mix of horror and disturbance. His hand reached for his hammer, secured at his side as usual.

Loki did not even get to ask him what was wrong before a massive pain exploded in his side, and he was knocked out of the Bifrost.

ooOOoo

Dinner with the king and queen of Asgard was what one would call a salient affair. For Sigrid, it was just another day of the week. She had been attending dinner with the Asgardian rulers since she had deemed herself ready to leave her chambers of this new, strange place and mix in the company of others.

The frequency had declined as they grew. She, Loki, and Thor found themselves with more responsibility and that meant less time for family in lieu of whatever pressing matter was at hand.

"My dear, is everything alright? You've not touched your berlinerkranser. I had the chef make it special."

Sigrid met the eyes of the altruistic queen. Frigga's face was mask of motherly concern. "I was just thinking of Loki."

"Has something happened?" Odin inquired. Frigga said nothing. Her blue orbs, however, were wary. "You did not come to see him off to Alfheim."

"I was busy." Sigrid cast her eyes down to her plate lest the king decipher her untruth. "I suppose you both know by now that my father has begun proceedings for my return home." She decided to omit the part about her possible marriage and near-courtship.

"I do," Odin confirmed. "He discussed it with me a while ago and I backed the idea. I think it is high time you began re-immersing yourself with your people."

"Right." Sigrid gave a nod.

"What do this have to do with Loki?" The question came from Frigga. She had been observing the exchange between her husband and Sigrid in silence. Now, she regarded her with an amused tilt of her mouth.

"This is what I wanted to talk to you about the day Leif arrived. I was rather hoping he would come with me," she said, then threw a quick look at Odin, "if it would not take away from his duties, of course. He's so pleased with his new position, and I'd hate to impose on that."

Frigga and Odin shared a look. It was not one she could decipher, which called to mind the ever-present tension between Odin and his younger son. Loki swore up and down that Thor was favoured by their father, and in some ways, it could not be denied. Odin most definitely did guide his elder son with a looser hand than he did Loki. Overtime, this slighted feeling of his had festered into a steadfast belief that caused a rift between father and son.

"Loki can go," Odin decreed. Sigrid tensed, waiting for him to state the terms of his agreement. Nothing was ever black and white when it came to royals. "But if he is needed, he must return at once. Even if that means you are left alone."

Sigrid bobbed her head in accordance. For the first time since her fight with Loki, she felt hopeful. As soon as he returned, she would go to him with the news. There was just no way Loki would pass up the opportunity to be by her side the first time she left the safety of the sanctuary that had been made for her here on Asgard.

"Yes of course," she said. "I won't keep him. Thank you so much!" Odin reached out to give her head a gentle pat. His parenting style was such a stark contrast from Frigga's. She bestowed hugs, comforting touches and encouraging words like the infinite resource they were whilst Odin took on a more authoritative style. He did, however, always manage to make small deviations from that where Sigrid was involved.

"They should be returning soon," Frigga said. "It's already been an entire week. Maybe—" The door burst open, and Heimdall rushed in.

He was followed close behind by one of the page boys—shorter, tinier and no match for the ebony-skinned gatekeeper. The golden helmet that completed his look was not on his head, and his sword was drawn as though ready for battle.

"Heimdall." Odin approached the breathless gatekeeper. "What is the matter?" Heimdall was so worked up that he did not even bow to his king, nor did he apologize for the unannounced intrusion.

"The princes," he boomed, and Sigrid felt her heart skip a beat. "The princes were attacked and thrown from the Bifrost."

The sound of a chair hitting the ground echoed in Sigrid's ear. It took her a few moments to register that it was her chair, and that she was on her feet. Frigga was right next to her gripping her hand with impressive strength.

"Well, where are they?" cried the queen. "Who attacked them? Heimdall, where are my sons!"

Golden eyes blinked rapidly. Heimdall paused, going quiet for just a moment, before his gaze rested on the king. "I see frost giants. They're on Jotunheim."

A sharp pain erupted in Sigrid's hand. She look down, startled, to see Frigga's nails digging into her skin. There was a look of terror on her face that Sigrid had never seen before. "Odin…"

"Loki," he whispered, face mirroring her horror. "I know." No more words passed between them. The king just stalked out of the room, Heimdall on his heels. This left Sigrid alone with the queen.

"Frigga? What's going on?" The hairs on the back of Sigrid's neck had risen like a cat's hackles. She could not shake the nagging feeling that the king and queen were holding back. "Should you also not be worried for Thor?"

Frigga did not answer. Instead, she tightened her hold on Sigrid's hand and began pulling her along the hallway with urgency. "I don't under—"

"Listen to me," Frigga hissed, and Sigrid's mouth snapped shut. "There are things we have kept from you children for reasons I cannot explain. We have done many things, Odin and I, some for good reasons and bad." She pulled Sigrid square in front of her and fixed her with a teary-eyed expression. "One of those is about to come to light. I need you to promise me that you'll be there for Loki. He's going to need you."

"I promise." Her loyalty to the trickster did not need to be tested. They would always be there for each other, and that was a given. "Will you please tell me what is going on?"

In response, Frigga waved both her hands. The floor disappeared from beneath Sigrid's feet. Her stomach gave a horrible lurch, head spinning with the seidr so much that she had to shut her eyes to keep her dinner down. She only opened them when her feet touched solid ground again.

"How many?" she heard Odin ask. They were at Heimdall's post near the controls of the Bifrost. It was not somewhere she was used to going seeing as she had not been permitted to leave Asgard in centuries.

"Around them? Too much. Coming back? One or two," Heimdall answered.

"Bring them," Odin said. "We can handle two frost giants if it comes to that."

Worry gnawed at the back of Sigrid's mind. Her entire life she had been taught to fear the Jotuns. They were savages, monsters—everything the Aesir went against—and she knew they had wanted revenge on the Allfather for stealing their casket. In fact, Sigrid wondered why Frigga thought it would be a good idea to have her present at the scene at all.

Heimdall picked up his sword and inserted it into the gold sheath protruding from the floor. He shoved it down, eyes steady as his faith, and a blue light filled the dome they stood in.

"I've never seen this up close," she murmured to Frigga, in awe of what she was witnessing. "All these years and …" she let her sentence die out when she caught the look Frigga was giving her. This was not the time for her to be impressed. "They'll be okay. Heimdall is bringing them back. They will be okay." The watery smile Frigga gave her made it clear she had not assuaged the queen's worry.

"Steady!" she heard Odin say, and returned her attention to the center of the room. The blue light swelled and stretched until it filled the entire room like a merciless ray from the sun. She had to shield her eyes against it with her hand, and as quickly as it flared, the light died down.

Sigrid blinked a few times to clear her vision. Two figures were in the centre of the room.

Her eyes went to Loki first. He was kneeling on the floor, chest heaving with the exertion of battle. His eyes were cast down towards his brother. Thor was lying flat on the ground—silent, still—with an alarming amount of blood gushing from his head. .

"He's hurt," came Loki's quiet voice. "He needs help."

A group of Einherjar, whose arrival Sigrid had not even noticed, marched past her. They hoisted Thor up onto their shoulders with the efficiency of practiced soldiers.

"Take him to the healers," Odin ordered. "Quickly, now."

Even after the Einherjar left Loki did not move. He remained in his kneeling position looking at the spot where his brother had been. Thick, red blood—Thor's blood—puddled near his knee, soaking the black trousers he wore in its stickiness.

"Loki, have you been injured?" Sigrid could not see his full form from where she stood, and his bowed head did nothing to aid her. She took a step forward. Frigga yanked her back with a ferocity. "What the…" Sigrid bit her lip hard. It was all she could do to keep from launching an expletive at the queen's stopping her from going to Loki. "I just want to know if he's okay."

"Loki," it was Odin, approaching Loki as though he were a wild animal. "My son—". Loki's head snapped up towards his father.

"Your son?" He gave a bitter laugh. "Is that what I am?"

"What?" Sigrid longed to go to Loki. Now that she could see his face, she noticed that he did have some wounds of his own. A cut lip and bruised cheek were amongst the injuries. She could only imagine the damage the rest of his body had endured.

"Loki, please let us explain. It's not what you think." The plea came from Frigga, who was still holding Sigrid in place. Part of her wanted to shake off the queen's hand. The other part, the part that grasped that the situation at hand was more serious than she was privy too, prevented her from doing that.

"Not what I think?" echoed Loki. His mouth twisted as though he had tasted something sour. He got to his feet—shaky at first, then he seemed to stabilize himself. "Alright then." Loki waved his hands in the air. A green ball of shadow appeared, then it grew until it formed a portal. He stepped through without bothering to invite anyone in.

Odin was the first the follow, then Frigga pulled Sigrid through without a word. The portal closed behind her, and she noticed that they were in Odin's vault. It was reserved for the spoils of wars past. A lot of the items in there could wreak some serious havoc. For that purpose, it was off limits to anyone that Odin did not appoint himself.

"I thought it was a trick when it happened," she heard Loki say. He had his back to them and was standing in front of the pillar that held the casket. "Because there was no way what I was seeing could be true. No," he placed both his hands beside the casket, "it cannot be true."

Odin took a step forward. "Move away from the casket, Loki."

A sweat broke out on Sigrid's forehead. She finally pulled her hand away from Frigga's, wringing them together at her chest. Something is wrong, her mind went. Something is wrong, something is wrong—

"This casket?" Loki whirled around with the casket in hand. Sigrid's mouth fell open.

It was like the swirls of light within the device were paint and Loki's skin was its canvas. The change started at his hands, white skin melting away to reveal deep blue that disappeared beneath his sleeves and reappeared over the edge of his collar.

Sharp marks appeared on his face, protruding up and out of the newly azure skin. Patterns of them webbed up his neck and creased his forehead, forming an almost tribal look that was distinctly not of the Aesir.

Sigrid's intake of breath was sharp through her still open mouth. She clapped a hand over it as though it would grab the sound out of the air and shove it back down her throat. But of course, it did not. And Loki heard it too.

He lifted his head just a fraction of an inch, and when his eyes met hers, they were the pale red orbs of a Jotun.