HEEEEY! Exams are over, so I'll have a bit more time to write! YEEEEEEEEY!

It's been a while, I know, but this chapie is a bit longer, so...

ENJOY!

Chapter 62

Days past and every morning, Frigga would make a little bit of progress during her magic lessons. Her smile grew until Loki almost forgot how much pain he'd caused the little girl. In the afternoon, Frigga would have fighting lessons, given by Sif and Fandral. It was always a great pleasure to go and watch the two teachers bicker about while Frigga excitedly practised against Volstagg who effortlessly combined being the fighting dummy with his afternoon snack.

But Loki would soon discover that he'd chosen the worst time of year to get ill. December set in with an ice cold winter snow storm, covering the entire palace and the city in soft blanket of puffy snow. Any other year, Loki had thought it magical and would have enjoyed strolling through the gardens in the morning, making his footsteps the first to break the perfect white surface. This time, he couldn't find enough words to curse winter time. He was pretty sure Asgard would soon run out of tissues for him to use. More than once he had to cancel his morning lesson because his wrecked body could not be bothered to leave his warm bed.

After two weeks, Loki awoke with a start. He hadn't had a nightmare, no, it was something else. Slightly dazed he looked around his chambers. One look on the sun outside told him he'd missed his morning lesson with Frigga once more, but he couldn't be bothered this time.

"What was that?" he asked to himself while scanning his surrounding once more. His flu had slowly transformed itself into a common cold, but it was still annoying. He couldn't take two steps without sneezing his lungs out. But at least his fever and nausea had vanished.

Carefully Loki slipped out of his bed. There was this tickling sensation in the air, almost as if he was being watched. But wherever Loki looked, there was no one in his chambers. Just when he started suspecting he'd imagined it, a new wave washed over him.

Loki shivered, even though the feeling only felt warm. He turned to his door and smiled.

"Frigga…," he mumbled. She was practising her magic. Pretty damn hard. Loki slipped into something casual and sprinted out his room, through the hallways towards his brother's family chambers. Just when he wanted to knock, the door opened and Loki's good mood was smashed into a million tiny pieces. There, right in front of him stood Lord Atlas with his brother Argus in his wake, but the one who really ruined it all was none other than Odin Allfather who stood inside. The Allfather watched Loki's smile fade, only to make place for an angry scowl. The two men stared at one another for a couple of silent seconds.

"Loki…," Odin finally said as if he'd only just realised his adopted son was at the door. Loki didn't answer. His jaw clenched and his eyes darkened. Silently he scanned the room. Thor and Jane stood in the back. Frigga was standing close to the couch. She had a few glistening tears in her eyes which she was obviously trying to hide. She looked angry and scared. When her eyes crossed Loki's, she swallowed and lowered her gaze to the ground, almost in a defeated stare. Loki frowned, but pretty quickly got his answer when he spotted his mother's book of spells in the greedy hands of Odin. He'd obviously taken it without Frigga's permission and the girl had been trying to get it back. Now Frigga almost felt as if she'd let Loki down.

Loki swallowed and forced himself to remain calm. That seemed a rather impossible task, for Loki only got more angry. For some reason the presence of Odin infuriated him.

"Give it back!" he said without emotion. Odin looked down on the book in his hands.

"It belonged to my wife…," he said innocently. Loki's eyes flickered green.

"It belonged to me!" he answered in low, almost animal like growl. "And now it belongs to Frigga!" he added. "Give it back!"

Odin squinted his eyes a little and pierced them into Loki's. After a few seconds he slowly handed the book back to its owner. Frigga grabbed onto it and held it close to her chest, with her arms rapped around it. An angry scowl appeared on her pretty young face while she took a step back from her grandfather.

Odin smiled shortly and gestured to the door. "Come in, Loki," he said. Loki smirked. The last thing he wanted was to follow the orders of this imbecile, but to keep standing outside was quite foolish as well. So he entered and waited for Lord Atlas to close the door again.

Odin started pacing around the room with his hands folded on his back. His eyes were focused on Loki. For a few minutes it remained quiet and the tension grew almost unbearable.

"I wanted to speak to you…," Odin finally started. Loki crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows, but remained quiet.

"Starting tomorrow, I want you to be present at every meeting."

If possible, Loki's eyebrows shot even higher in the air. Even Thor and Jane, who had been ready to interfere when things got out of hand, looked at each other in surprise. But Loki already understood Odin's sudden change of heart.

"This is because I teach Frigga!" he said harshly. "You want to keep me away from her!"

Odin scowled and stopped his pacing. "If you ever wish to prove yourself worthy of the throne, you will have to try harder than this," he said darkly. "I give you a chance to make yourself useful!"

Loki almost bit off his tongue in an attempt to remain quiet. Odin took a step towards his stepson. "And regarding young Frigga, I will find her a better qualified teacher. This morning I felt a strong surge of powerful magic in the castle. Frigga can obviously not control her power and you're in no position to teach her."

Loki's nostrils flared, but before he could answer, another voice cut through the heavy silence.

"I don't want another teacher!" Frigga called out.

Odin cast an angry scowl on the little girl. "You don't not see the danger you put yourself and others in, child. Loki is obviously not capable of teaching you anything useful. Your power must be contained and controlled!"

"Frigga needs to learn how to use it! Telling her she's dangerous will only scare her!" Loki interrupted. "I teach her the way mother taught me!"

"Frigga was never your mother!" Odin called out furiously, but Loki wasn't impressed. His eyes flashed dark green. If he'd still had his magic he'd probably blasted Odin through the window and off the balcony.

"Anything you teach is dark and dangerous!" Odin hissed in Loki's face. Both men stared at each other for a while, neither one willing to break the eye contact. "You can test me as many times as you want, serpent," Odin continued in a hard whisper, "but you will face the consequences sooner or later!"

With that said Odin turned around and marched towards the door with Atlas and Argus in his wake.

"I expect you tomorrow morning!" he called out before slamming the door shut.

Everyone remained quiet for a couple of seconds. Frigga, sadly staring at the book in her hands. Thor and Jane, exchanging questioning glares and Loki, who needed all his willpower to keep himself from screaming in frustration.

"You're not useless...," Frigga's voice suddenly sounded. The little girl slowly walked over to her uncle. Loki was trembling in rage, but that didn't stop the young princess from putting the book aside and hugging Loki's waist.

When Loki didn't respond she sadly let go, took her book and disappeared into her room. Jane quickly followed, knowing her daughter was going to need a shoulder to cry on. Thor on the other hand, carefully made his way to his brother.

"Loki…," he said, but his brother didn't want to listen.

"He'll just embarrass me whenever he gets the chance!" he shouted. "You know he will, Thor! First he'll take away everything I feel good about, than he'll force me into his personal little world until I'm nothing more than a puppet on strings!"

Thor sighed. "Then give him just that, Loki!" he said after a while. His brother looked at him in disbelief, but Thor continued. "Just give father what he wants, just do whatever he says! If you piss him off, you'll only get further and further away from what you want!"

Loki wanted to argue, but deep down he knew Thor was right. Much time to think about that, he didn't really get, because all of the sudden a knew fit of sneezing worked its way up to his nose.

"Damn this blasted body!" Loki shouted infuriated while trying to stop sneezing. With an angry growl he turned around and left Thor's chambers. He needed to get outside, get some air… but it was freezing outside and Loki was certain his body would not take his stroll lightly. So Loki just marched back to his chambers where he immediately crashed on his bed. Thor's words echoed in his mind.

Just give him what he wants… Easier said than done… And Loki just couldn't take one more order or insult from that senile oaf. Loki rolled over and screwed his eyes shut. What was wrong with him? Putting on a show in front of his stepfather had never really been a problem. He'd lived his whole life lying and deceiving when necessary. He knew that sometimes, a good idea could only work out with enough patience. What was "waiting" for god? A year, ten years… it didn't make a difference, it never had.

Loki sighed. Maybe that was his problem. Time was passing a lot faster now that he was mortal. And on top of that, he was also bored! He didn't have time for patience! With every second that passed, he was ageing, losing valuable time that took years to pass when he was still "immortal".

But what choice did he have? Fighting back wouldn't get him any closer to what he wanted. Would he truly have to undergo days, if not weeks or years of torture by Odin's harsh and cold heart, to regain his powers? Loki didn't want to decide, he didn't want to think, but without anything to keep himself busy, his mind kept repeating the same question over and over throughout the rest of the day.

When the sun finally set and the white beauty of Asgard dissolved into the night, Loki made his way to his as good as empty bookcase. The few books remaining were children's books, given to him by his mother. In fact, he was rather pissed that the guards, and thereby Lord Argus, Atlas and Odin, had found them. It wasn't that he was ashamed to own children's books, he only wanted to keep these particular memories between him and his mother.

Loki carefully took one of the books off the shelf. It was a rather small one, with a greenish cover, now fully covered in dust from the years of waiting on the shelf to be read once more. Secretly, Loki had always dreamed of asking his mother to read him the story again, but he'd never done so. Perhaps he'd been fearful his mother would think him childish, especially compared to his perfect older brother.

With a sad snigger, Loki slowly skimmed through the pages, knowing every single word as if his mother was reading it to him. It was the story of a young elf who one day got lost in the woods and was found crying by a couple of trolls who'd recently had lost their only child. When all attempts to find the boy's village had failed, the trolls cared for the young elf as if it was their own child. Later in the story, when the boy had become a man, he would travel the realm. However, his childhood with the trolls had left him with some very troll-like habits that did not suit an elf. The young man got ridiculed by all who met him. However, his spirit remained bright as he helped those in need, combining his elvish powers with the trolls' wisdom. Over time he would become the protector of the woods of Alfheim. Some legends say he was still wondering the woods helping those in need with his magic and wisdom.

Loki sniggered, closed the book and wondered if his mother had told him this story because she wanted to prepare him for the day on which he would discover his true parentage. However, she'd missed one very important detail: he was the frost giant, the troll, and not the perfect, cute looking crying elf. People didn't laugh at him, they feared him! There had even been a time Loki had feared the Frost Giants himself.

But the story couldn't leave his mind. While tossing and turning in bed, Loki finally admitted he would have to play by Odin's terms if he ever wanted his powers back. And so, with that very unsatisfying thought, Loki sunk into an uneasy sleep.

-xxx-

The next morning Loki awoke when the first sunbeams touched his face. Feeling drowsy he set up straight in bed and rubbed his eyes. It was snowing and most of the sundial on his balcony was covered in a fresh layer of puffy snow, but the shadow indicating the hour was dancing somewhere around eight, so Loki dragged himself out of bed and put on some casual clothing. Only then he was reminded of his morning meeting. His mood dropped a few million feet below him, but Loki somehow managed to force himself into his formal royal armour. A knock on his door made him look up from his depression reflection in the mirror.

"Enter!" he called out.

The door opened and Thor entered the room.

Loki smiled shortly. "Your new habit of knocking is alarming me, Thor."

Thor smiled. "I just came to check if you remembered the meeting this morning."

Loki gestured to his outfit. Even though he'd always liked to wear it since it fitted him perfectly and reflected everything he stood for, now he only felt uncomfortable. But he smiled and sarcastically asked: "You think this will do?"

Thor nodded, but a deep frown appeared above his blue eyes.

"Just try to…," he started.

Loki smirked. "Yes, yes…," he interrupted. "I'll try…"

Both brothers fell silent and stared at one another for a while. They both knew things could go extraordinary wrong today.

"Let's get going then…," Thor finally cut through the silence. Loki nodded almost invisibly and followed his brother outside, into the hallway. On his way to the throne room where the morning meetings were held, Loki was reminded of his wonderful mortal body when his cold hit him with full force. Thor had to take a break at the side of the hallway to wait for Loki to stop sneezing.

"This is just…," Loki tried while catching his breath and attempting to stop his nose from dripping, but his words dissolved in a tired whisper. "Impossible…," he finally finished. "Unbearable… dreadful!"

"No kidding…," Thor answered while trying not to laugh at his brother's angry scowl. "Let's go! And do try to keep yourself from sneezing during the meeting."

Loki rolled his eyes and followed Thor further through the hallways. "Easy for you to say!" he answered in a hard whisper just before entering the throne room.

They were early. The four Lords were talking to one another at the bottom of the stairs leading towards the throne. The throne itself was still empty. Loki crossed the stare of Lord Argus and his brother Atlas. Two pairs of dark cold eyes, cutting into his very soul, but Loki ignored them and instead fixed his attention on the throne. Only a few years ago he'd known his place at the left side of the king. A prince of Asgard. Now he wondered where Odin would position him. Thor followed his brother's gaze. After a short silence Loki resolutely stepped forwards and climbed the stairs to take in his spot. He wasn't going to wait for Odin's sneering.

Thor sighed and followed his brother up the stairs until both of them had taken their respective places, each at one side of the king. The God of Thunder wasn't quite sure this would be to Odin's liking. The sudden heavy silence of the four Lords wasn't exactly what he had been hoping for. But much time to worry, he didn't have, because the next moment, Odin suddenly entered. With two guards at his side he strode towards his throne. The Lords also took their places and bowed when their king passed. Thor cast a meaningful glare on his brother when his father had reached the bottom of the stairs. Odin's narrow eyes fixed on his stepson, but he continued his climb towards his throne, never breaking the eye contact with Loki, until he turned around to face the room. Thor cast one last glare on his brother before bowing his head as was expected from the prince. Loki waited another second, but finally forced himself to do the same. Odin set down, both Thor and Loki looked up again and faced the room as well. The meeting had officially started.

The first ten minutes of the meeting slowly crept forwards. An update on the situation in the other realms, delivery problems from Vanahiem, some odd and useless warnings from the Light Elves… Loki almost forgotten just how boring these routine morning meetings could get. Only when Lord Steldor mentioned Jotenheim, Loki payed attention. He somewhat expected Jotenheim to send an ultimatum after Loki's rescue, but Steldor skipped the Jotun realm without much ado. Loki wondered if Farbauti had already come to an agreement or if she were still to act. Although Loki knew that trough his deal with Odin he was now under the protection of Asgard, but that didn't put him at ease. Farbauti didn't seem like someone who'd give up like that. On the other hand, if she truly wanted to punish Loki for his deeds and his murder of her husband, then why didn't she act sooner?

But Loki found it hard to concentrate on the matter, for his cold was taking the upper hand once more and his nose started dripping. Every two seconds, Loki would have to sniff in order to keep his dripping nose at bay. He tried to be as quiet as possible, but it was quite a challenge. After another five minutes, Odin finally turned to him.

"Could you stop making that dreadful noise!" he barked loudly, cutting off Lord Steldor mid-sentence. Loki looked at the Allfather and sniffed once more, extra loud this time, finally clearing his nose.

"I'm sad to hear my human traits aren't to your liking," he said innocently. Thor sighed softly, and Odin's jaw clenched, but he turned back to the room and gestured Steldor to continue.

Loki smirked, but Thor's accusing glare spoke volumes. Loki didn't let it get to him. He was more than ready to end the meeting and leave. It wasn't like Odin would ask his opinion on anything anyway.

When Steldor had reached the end of his list, he bowed and took his place with the other lords once more. Loki breathed out in relief and wanted to walk back to his chambers, but Odin thought otherwise.

"There is one more matter I would like to bring to the court's attention!" he declared. Loki looked at Odin and afterwards fixed his stare on Thor, wondering if his brother new more about this, but judging from the deep frown carved in Thor's forehead, the Allfather had not informed him as well.

Loki shifted uncomfortably on his spot and scowled at Odin's neck. He had the annoying feeling that this "matter" would concern him. Loki prepared himself, reminding himself that this was all a test.

Odin continued. "In my absence, many things have happened!" he started. "Many decisions have been made without my consent."

Loki's jaw clenched. There you had it: that senile foul would take the opportunity to accuse him of making the wrong decisions! In the corner of his eye he could see Thor glance at him, but Loki didn't need a reminder. He just stared straight ahead and readied himself for Odin's sneering.

But what followed took everyone in the room by surprise.

"My good friend and loyal Captain for years, Dale, son of Gotar, has been put behind bars under the command of a king without the right to rule, while he was merely fulfilling his duty as Captain and protected Asgard even from its ruler."

Loki turned paler with every word that left Odin's lips and he wasn't the only one. Everyone in the room went quiet.

"Therefore I wish to free Dale Gotarson and restore his honour as Captain of the Guard."

"You can't!"

Loki only noticed the words leaving his mouth before realising who he was talking too. Everyone turned to him, but no one seemed to disagree with him. Odin slowly focused his attention on Loki.

"You have something to say, Loki?" he asked sarcastically. Loki swallowed, knowing he was entering a danger zone. If he didn't play by Odin's rules, he'd lose the game before it even started. His remark earlier about his mortal form hadn't been a good start so he knew to choose his words carefully. But then again, this was the last thing he'd expected. Normally, Loki wouldn't have the slightest problem talking his way through this, but his thoughts lingered off to Arya, who would be terrified to find out her father was about to be set free.

Luckily Lord Steldor was quick to safe Loki from his uncomfortable situation.

"Prince L…," he started, not quite sure how to address Loki. "Loki is right, sire."

Odin waited a few seconds before shifting his gaze from Loki to the Lord. Lord Steldor continued.

"Dale, son of Gotar, committed a serious crime against Asgard. He ruled as a dictator, imprisoned Heimdall, sacrificed the entire army and closed the Bifröst to keep the k… Loki and Thor from returning to Asgard."

"The Captain has served me for many years." Odin answered. "He took his job very seriously. He saw Loki's deception before anyone else. He only sought to reveal the truth."

"Father," Thor calmly interrupted. "The Captain had it wrong. He blamed Loki for things he'd never done. A Captain's first duty is to the kingdom. Loki ruled as a fair king, the Captain did not!"

"That may be, my son," Odin answered. "But at least he was clever enough to see that Loki carried many lies. A king should not lie to his subjects."

"He was prepared to kill his own daughter!" Loki interrupted, not capable of withholding the rage in his voice. Had Odin fully lost his mind!

"Did I not grant both of you another chance after you committed the worst of crimes against Asgard?" Odin asked rather harshly. "Dale had already proven his capabilities as Captain many times before he made a mistake! Neither of you has ever shown me the capabilities I so desperately searched for, for many years!"

Both Loki and Thor had to force themselves to keep quiet at that remark. So much for all the "You were both born to be kings" – crap!

Odin looked around the room to make it clear he wasn't going to change his mind.

"Dale's punishment was given without a trial, he was sentenced by the king and the king only. Therefore I, Odin Allfather, can grant him a pardon for his crimes."

"However!" Loki interrupted quite sternly. "The decision whether or not he becomes the Captain falls to the Lords!"

Odin's jaw clenched and his eyes flashed dark for a second, but it happened so quickly that only the trained eye would spot the flash of hatred on The Allfather's face. Both Loki and Thor had seen it more than once in the past and wisely decided not to mention it or show they'd noticed anything. Loki however didn't let it disconcert him and fixed his light grey gaze on Odin. The Allfather could not ignore the laws of Asgard.

"Fair enough!" Odin exclaimed after a short and heavy silence. His eyes fixed on the Lords beneath him. "Lord Atlas, please ready everything for Dale Gotarson's release tomorrow. I will set up a contract with him as well. He will remain under my and the Lord's personal supervision until he seems fit to take up his duties as Captain. Until then Lord Steldor remains the Captain of the Guard."

The Lords exchanged a nervous glare and silently asked one another if either of them knew of a law that could stop this act of foolishness. If there were such a rule, they now had one day to figure it out. Lord Atlas turned to his king and bowed shortly.

"I will, sire!"

"Then this meeting is over! You're all dismissed."

Everyone bowed and slowly made their way through the doors. Thor and Loki shared a glare of disbelief and fear before forcing a bow and leaving the room as well.

The two brother's walked in silence for a while, neither of them really knowing what say or do.

"This is madness…," Thor finally said with a long and deep sigh.

"I'm glad we agree on that!" Loki answered. He didn't really know why he was this annoyed and angry about this. The Captain hadn't been a good man, at least not in the end. But it also wasn't really his problem. Odin was bringing this on himself, but would hopefully see the danger if it would occur. If the Captain decided to lose his mind once more, than even Odin wouldn't be able to keep hiding from the truth. The Allfather had been quite unreasonable and harsh lately, but he wouldn't leave Asgard in danger if it was happening right in front of him. Perhaps he was just trying to get Loki to break by undoing his every decision and reminding everyone of how unfit his stepson had been. Or perhaps, Odin was just in search of something he understood, something he recognized from his own rule. Frigga was gone, is sons had both turned against him in some way and his Captain and close friend had seemingly gone crazy.

But that still didn't explain why Loki was so upset by any of this. Was it because he still felt responsible for Asgard? Of course he did have a responsibility whether he was king or not, but the Captain held his fate in his own hands. No, Loki was worried. Worried to leave a dangerous man like this roam free. In fact he was mostly worried about Arya. What would she say? What would he do to her?

His answer came a lot faster than Loki had hoped, because a few seconds later both brothers heard the excited laughter of Frigga and Arya around the corner. Loki and Thor shared a glance, wondering what to do, but much time to think they didn't have.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Frigga shouted when she spotted her father. "Look what I taught Prince!"

Frigga ran up to the two men with her excited white wolf in her wake. She came to a halt, bent over a little while Prince set up straight.

"High five, Prince!" Frigga said loud and clear. Prince clumsily pressed his right front paw against Frigga's outstretched hand. He barked and jumped up against his keeper, knowing that he'd get a treat. Frigga laughed and gave Prince a piece of dried meat.

Loki and Thor forced a smile on their lips, but both Arya and Frigga could feel the tension. Frigga sadly looked at Arya as if to ask what was wrong.

Yet Arya tried to keep a smile on her face. "Meeting didn't go too well, I take it?" she asked. "Jane told me The Allfather had asked you to join this morning."

Loki shivered when the raven-haired girl's green orbs fixed on him. He forced a smirk on his face. "Yeah…," he awkwardly said. "I errr… He…"

Loki blinked confusedly when he found himself speechless the second time that morning.

It's that damn cold! he said to himself while clearing his nose one more time.

"Was Odin rude again?" Frigga asked with an angry frown on her young face. Even Prince seemed to copy her anger and barked loudly.

"Eeer…," Loki tried. He wanted to say something in the terms of "Odin is always rude!", but no words found their way over his lips.

"You could say that…," Thor answered his daughter. He hadn't really noticed Loki's weird and unusual silence. Arya focused on Thor and frowned. She felt as if something had seriously gone wrong and she didn't like it in the slightest. Thor tried to smile encouragingly, but that didn't really work out.

"Perhaps we should talk in my chambers," Thor proposed after a short silence. Arya nodded and gestured to Frigga they would return to her families chambers. The little girl wanted to protest since she actually had been planning to spend her morning outside with Prince and Lynn, but she knew something important had to be discussed, whatever it could be. So she sadly nodded and silently followed the three adults back to her family chambers. She'd kind of hoped on a compliment from her father or uncle on her training skills, but Thor seemed lost in thoughts and Loki had his eyes fixed on Arya for some reason, so she just agreed to keep silent and wait.

-xxx-

Jane didn't need much words to understand that the meeting hadn't been a very good start of the day. While Frigga silently disappeared to her room, trying to figure out what trick would impress her family even more, the four adults set down in the living room. Arya had the very uncomfortable feeling that this would be about her. Loki hadn't taken his eyes of her since they met in the hallway. Not that that particular thing bugged her that much, she just didn't like the concerned and equally confused look in his eyes.

But Arya's thoughts would soon be disturbed when Thor told her what had happened that morning. Just like both brothers had expected, the young warrior turned pale as death.

"It cannot be…," she whispered, not able to hide the fear in her words. Although somewhere she also felt relieved, although she didn't want to admit it. Her father had shown his true intentions. She simply couldn't look at him the same way as before, but the old stab of love for her father remained and lingered in her heart like a soft light in the darkness.

"Odin cannot do this!" she shouted while getting up from the couch. The distressed warrior started pacing around the room. "He… he wanted to kill me! He was no king! I can't even remember him being a good Captain! The whole of Asgard will agree with me! He bestowed a famine on us! He left us unprotected! He could have brought chaos to the realms on his own if it hadn't been for…"

Arya's eyes focused on Loki. For a second he looked straight at her and Arya felt her heart skip a few beats. But Loki looked worried and even a bit scared, so the warm feeling left as fast as it had come. She continued pacing while she nervously played with her fingers. Scared… she was scared! Scared of her own father! What would he do? Would he be angry that she hadn't tried to stop Loki from imprisoning him?

"But Odin… will he proclaim him Captain?" Arya asked after a short silence.

Loki shook his head. "He says he will make a deal much like my own. Until he hasn't proven his qualities as a Captain, Steldor will remain in charge."

"But why!" Arya called out. "Why is he doing this? It's madness! This is not just some way of getting back to you…"

Loki wanted to answer something, but he simply couldn't find the words.

"You know… father might be unreasonable, but he does have a point," Thor suddenly said. Everyone turned to him with utter surprise colouring their eyes. "He needs to treat his subjects the same way!" Thor explained. "It's not because we are the princes, that we deserve any kind of special treatment. He taught us that many times in the past! He gave us a chance, both of us, to prove we were worthy of our titles. The Captain deserves that chance as well."

Loki scowled. "He was bringing Asgard to ruin! And he almost killed his own daughter!" he exclaimed furiously while gesturing towards Arya. But Thor only raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, and I almost brought war on Asgard because of my own stupid pride and you tried to conquer Earth and captured the Allfather's soul so you could take the crown! If we are truly honest with ourselves, we all know the Captain's rule wouldn't have endured. He didn't have an army, he didn't have supplies, he would have lost his people… Asgard would have fallen in the hands of the Lords after all. We would have suffered many losses and Arya would most likely have been killed that day, but a rule like that never endures the hand of time. Compared to what we have done…"

Thor went silent while guilt took hold of his heart once more. Loki wanted to argue with his brother, but somewhere knew he was right.

"So… we'll just let things happen then?" Loki asked harshly. Thor slightly nodded.

The four people in the room went silent for a few minutes, every single one lost in thoughts.

"Right then…," Jane finally said while getting up from the couch. "First things first!"

She turned to Arya, who had remained standing helplessly next to the couch. "Where would your father go when he's free? I suppose they would tell him to move in with you again. As long as he's not the Captain, he won't get a room inside the palace, will he?"

Arya swallowed. She hadn't even though of that yet.

"I suppose they would…," Thor answered. "Although they could give him a room in the palace if only to keep the people from seeing him too much. And they want to keep an eye on him…"

That thought seemed to calm Arya's fears a little bit, but Jane wasn't satisfied yet. "If they send him to live with Arya then Arya will move in with us!" she said determinedly. "There is no way I am leaving you with that piece of…"

But Arya had already understood. She smiled widely and hugged Jane in relief. "Thank you!" she exclaimed.

After another ten minutes of talking, Loki decided he needed some time to settle with his own thoughts. So he said goodbye to everyone and left, going back to his chambers. But he very quickly found his feet guiding him towards the gardens. However, his mood got worse when two, quite nervous looking guards stopped him at the exit of the palace.

"I'm sorry, my lord, but you're not allowed to leave the palace without supervision," one of them said.

Loki sighed in annoyance. "I don't need a babysitter!" he said harshly. "I just want to take a walk outside!"

The two guards hesitated, but they didn't move.

Loki's eyes flashed dark green. There was a limit even to his patience. He'd had quiet enough foolishness for a day and it wasn't even past noon yet.

"I demand you let me pass!" he shouted angrily.

"We will have to accompany you, my lord…," one of the guards bravely tried. Loki took a step closer to the man until he was looking down on him. "I don't want your company!" he hissed in a sharp tone. "Let me pass!"

The guards were clearly scared, but they probably feared the Allfather more for the time being. But Loki wasn't going to give up that fast. Without warning he stepped forward and attempted to push the guards aside, but they quickly reacted and pushed him back. Loki's mortal body wasn't capable of taking a push that strong and he lost his balance. The two guards immediately stepped forward in order to help him back on his feet, but Loki furiously pushed their hands away. He crawled back on his feet, ready to start yelling at the two guards, when a familiar voice shouted a halt.

"What's the matter here?" Sif asked when she reached the three men. Fandral came right behind her.

"These two idiots won't let me pass!" Loki shouted infuriated. The two guards swallowed and fixed their attention on Lady Sif and Fandral.

"The king commanded us to not let him leave the palace without supervision of at least…"

Sif sighed. "Yes, yes… we know…," she interrupted. She cast a look on Loki who looked like he was going to explode out of anger if he didn't leave the palace right now.

"We'll accompany Loki on his walk…," she said. The two guards seemed to hesitate at first, but one look from Sif made it clear she wouldn't tolerate any argument. After all, the agreement stated two Asgardian guards had to accompany Loki outside the palace. Both she and Fandral qualified for that. So the two guards nodded and allowed the three friends to pass. From the moment the door was out of side, Loki fastened his pace until he was walking ahead of his friends, without being bothered by their presence. He wanted to be alone!

The cold winter air cut into his face and his lungs started burning, but Loki didn't care. Perhaps the white beauty of the gardens would somehow calm his temper.

Sif and Fandral allowed Loki to walk ahead on his own. They'd been informed on this morning's meeting by Lord Steldor who'd they met wondering the hallways, lost in thought. They could barely belief Odin would be so careless, but there wasn't much they could do about it.

After a few minutes of walking another lonely figure came in sight. Loki's first impulse was to walk around whoever it was and continue his walk, but he quickly recognized the raven locks of Arya. Loki lowered his pace and fought a silent war inside his mind whether or not to go over to her of just plainly ignore her. But his body decided otherwise and before he fully realised it, he found himself standing at Arya's side. She was sitting on a bench and stared ahead, soft clouds of warm breath leaving her chapped lips, without noticing Loki's presence.

Since most of Loki's brain was still busy arguing whether to talk to Arya or ignore her, he had to do with the tiny bit that had been guiding him through the day so far. As a result, his attempt of subtly coughing to not cause Arya a heart attack resulted in an raw couch followed by a loud sneeze as if his cold had decided now was the right moment to show its existence once more.

Arya screamed in terror and almost fell of the bench in surprise. She clumsily got to her feet, trying hard not to slip on the icy path. Loki tried to smile, but another wave of sneezing thought otherwise.

"I'm… I'm sorry…," he finally managed to say with teary eyes. "I didn't want to frighten you…," Loki continued. Arya didn't want to, but the sight of Loki struggling to find the most neutral expression after a excessive sneezing attack couldn't keep her from letting out a silent giggle.

Arya's smile somehow made Loki instantly feel better. He sniffed loudly. "I'm glad someone can appreciate my pathetic mortal weaknesses…," he said, surprised about how genuine he sounded. Arya smiled once more.

"I eerrr…," Loki said after a awkward silence, in which his brains clearly had decided to just shut down for the day. "I saw you sitting here… I thought you might be lonely…. I mean, I would understand if you wanted to be lonely… I mean… not lonely, more like … on your own."

Arya nodded, then shook her head and then nodded again, until she decided she was not making any sense.

"I just needed to think a bit…," she finally answered.

Loki nodded. "Yeah, me too…," he answered. "But I suppose you prefer to be on your own then…," he quickly added.

Arya shook her head, nodded, but then shook her head again. Loki raised his eyebrows and smiled shortly. "I'll take that as a maybe…," he said.

Arya smiled, thankful that Loki hadn't run away yet. She probably looked like a crazy person…

"No, I… I'd like the company… but if you wanted to be lonely… I mean on your own…," she said until her eyes found Sif and Fandral standing a bit behind Loki, probably wondering if they had to come closer or not. Both warriors had raised their eyebrows as high as their foreheads allowed it and looked at the scene in front of them in amusement. Arya felt her cheeks burn and focused her attention back on Loki, although she wasn't sure that really helped.

"I'd love to be on my own…," he said when he noticed Arya looking at his two babysitters. "Unfortunately, thanks to Odin, I can't…"

Arya slowly nodded. "I'm sorry…," she heard herself say, although she wasn't quite sure what she was apologizing for in the first place. She cleared her throat and shivered in the cold air.

"Then I'll leave you be…," she said.

Loki blinked confusedly. "Oh, but you don't have to…," he said without realising it. "I mean, I like to be alone, but if you… you're okay... I guess…"

Arya raised her eyebrows. I guess…? she thought. What does he mean by that?

"No…," Arya said. In her mind she was freaking out, but somehow she managed to actually complete the rest of her sentence. "It's all right, thank you. I think I better go home… I've got… things…"

Without saying anything else Arya awkwardly turned around and made her way through the white gardens, trying hard to not walk too fast, nor too slow and most importantly, not to slip. Loki found himself following her every move until her raven locks disappeared behind a bend. Loki sighed and wondered if he'd said something wrong. She'd seemed to be rather keen to leave, or was it his imagination?

He turned on his heels and followed the path back to the palace. When he passed Sif and Fandral, both warriors felt as if they had to say something.

"Well that seemed like an interesting talk!" Fandral exclaimed with a meaningful glare. Sif hit him with her elbow, wondering if Fandral knew anything about Arya's strange and complicated feelings for Loki.

Loki locked his eyes on the golden warrior and raised his eyebrows.

"Very healthy as well, it seems!" Fandral added with a wink. "Never seen that much colour on your cheeks, my friend!"

Loki unintentionally reached for his face as if he wanted to wipe off the burning blush.

"Get lost, Fandral!" he said harshly, before turning his back to his friends and continuing his walk back to the palace. He suddenly didn't really feel like walking anymore.

Voila! Still not that much action, I know... but at least something happened... (*wink wink)

So what do you think will happen next?

Let me know what you think!

I hope to get back to you guys as soon as possible!

See you later, lots of love, keep on swimming and eat chocolate with or without reason! ;)

Rumple x