The Embassy 2
Of course, there were many things about Loki Thor couldn't possibly know... Things that he was light years away to even guess...
He had been right when thinking that Farbauti and Laufey might have died from shame at the sight of the … creature they had sired. They had had two perfect boys that fulfilled all their dreams. A female Frost Giant would have been perfect. A child whose mating with some powerful member of some royal family or, at least, Jotünn nobility could be more than valuable...
Except that it had been a boy, again. And even worse...
A runt.
Anyone in the Nine Realms would have thought that the baby was peculiar but cute. To Loki's parents, he was just an ugly monster... Different lives, different points of view...
Loki's beginning in life had been very difficult and dangerous. If the baby had "died" (with a little help...), no one would have blamed the King and Queen. Runts were rare. At the time of Loki's birth, there were only a handful. Yet, there were still a burden and a shame. A useless load. Unable to fight, mate or work the same as a normal Frost Giant.
His fate could have been to die right away. Yet, Farbauti had a sudden idea.
It was impossible for Jotünn, royals or commoners, to mate with the other people in the Nine Realms. How could they with their size ? So any possibility of any political alliance through marriage was never considered, for obvious reasons.
Yet, an alliance without a concrete seal in the flesh had less value. Hence, the tendency for Jotünheim to make war more than love. If they had had other means to ensure respect, or at least fear, from the other realms, they would have used them. As such, they were vulnerable if they didn't attack first...
Farbauti took all of this in consideration. The coming of a runt prince could be a sign. This little one could mate with an ordinary sized partner, any royal available on the wedding market.
In other words the little bundle of troubles could be sold to the highest bidder, once being of age...
As for the rest, whoever the buyer was, that little pest just had to close his eyes and think of Jotünheim.
That was how little Loki's life was spared. Better still, Laufey had an interesting idea. The runt prince's value had to be increased if they wanted him to be desired by the elite. So, paradoxically, instead of being left in a faraway wing of the palace, Loki had been provided with the best nurses, the best governesses and the best teachers.
One of them discovered his ability to produce complicated spells without any preparation. After the first moment of additional disgust to an already disgusting situation to their eyes, Laufey and Farbauti demanded the services of the best sorcerers for Prince Loki's training.
The proverbial stone and the two proverbial birds. A sorcerer as a consort was priceless even if it came with a general suspicion about his or her loyalty…
Loki lived his childhood in relative happiness, though he had rare contacts with the outside world. He was raised by people who were kind enough but avoided getting too close to him. They all had a temporary function. All were to be replaced within a certain period so Loki had no real time to create any bond with anyone. He was meant to leave his native land to serve the greater good. A link to someone else staying there would be a hindrance.
At first, as he had known nothing else, Loki thought this kind of life was normal. He was taken care of and well provided for. He was treated with the respect due to a royal.
But he never went out of his chambers. He was only allowed out at times when the gardens were empty, when the whole court was attending some event and it was highly unlikely that Loki might see or talk to someone.
Sometimes, his parents were actually visiting Loki. Yet, he dreaded those meetings for it was more an inspection than a fond family reunion. They barely looked nor talked to him. They demanded report form his progresses and either complimented or reprimanded. But mostly the teachers, rarely Loki himself. They used to refer to their child at the third person, in his presence, as if Loki wasn't even in the room…
In the end, Loki feared those visits. He was scared of his parents. They had no love left for him and they didn't even try to hide it…
As for his brothers, he knew he had siblings but he wouldn't met them before being almost an adult, that is to say a short while before the envoy to Asgard.
Despite being estranged from the ones that should have loved him no matter what, Loki was still surrounded, if not by deep feelings, by caring and attentive Jötnar servants. Loki was basically a kind and brilliant child, eager to learn and please. He was not hot-tempered and aggressive like Helblindi who regularly hit his own retinue, nor spiteful and mean, like Býleistr who loved to torment his.
Loki might be a runt but he promised to be a better prince than his brothers. It was widely known in the palace that being at Prince Loki's service, even locked in the private wing and unable to see anyone else, was better than being forced to serve the other two. It wasn't said out loud, of course, but it was thought by all.
If Farbauti and Laufey knew about this rumor, they never showed it.
All those things said apart, Loki had been fairly happy in his chambers. He would have liked getting out more but he preferred studying to the mundane life of the palace, so, it wasn't really an issue.
Besides, his parents had warned him that, as soon as he was of age, he was expected to make his debut at the court. He had to maintain his dignity and act like a real prince or else...
When that day came, Loki was overwhelmed for a bit. Too much people, too much pomp, too much talking, feasting, dancing, partying... Too much noise, too loud. It was difficult for him to process everything at once and keep his poise as was demanded of him.
He was disappointed though. Not by his parents, or his brothers. He already had lost any kind of hope he might have harbored there. But he had kept faith that, if he had been born this way, smaller with smooth skin and hair, then there must be other runts like him, even a few. Unfortunately, there were none. He was the only runt at court. That was why people were giving him the respect due to the third prince but clearly despised him. He was on his own.
When he realized that, he felt well and truly alone.
Maybe, Laufey and Farbauti had realized Loki was doing his best. Maybe they felt a pang of remorse for treating him so coldly all this time when all he ever wanted was to please them. Or maybe, they wanted to make sure he would be compliant and obedient for a while and humored him. They presented him two playmates, two young female runts, Angrboda and Sigyn. The only ones they found.
Angrboda, who was a little older than Loki, was a former peasant girl sold as a slave by her own parents to Sigyn's family. Sigyn was born to one of the most prominent families in the iced country. She had lived more or less the same childhood as Loki, provided for but isolated. Angrboda had been her only company.
It had been a relief to Loki, having people to talk to without holding back, without watching his steps or his words. It was a relief having people with whom having fun without constraint. Angrboda was more down to earth than Sigyn who was a bit of a light head, and, being the youngest one, a bit childish.
They got along, the three of them, rather quickly. Being the Prince's special companions was much better than being confined in their apartment at Sigyn's parents' mansion. They played, they laughed, they studied... They did everything together. They were bounded together. They dreamed of the future together. All three wanted to leave the palace, all three wanted their lives to be their own.
All three knew it would be never so.
Years passed like this. But as they were all growing up, Loki dreaded what would happen after his coming-of-age ceremony…
What of them three ? Would they be at least still together ? Sometimes he hoped he would be able to marry Sigyn and keep Angrboda by their side and go on just like before. It was an insane hope he knew. Sigyn's parents were filthy rich but still commoners in the eye of Jotünn society. As for Angrboda, her status was non-existent...
He was not in love with either of them. He loved them as sisters but no more. Yet, if their freedom implied he had to marry one of them so be it. He would gladly have any of them, even in a platonic relationship. He only had very blurry ideas of love and what it entailed, anyway.
But all of this was nothing but a groundless dream.
Laufey and Farbauti might have felt they had made a mistake accepting the two other snotty runts near their offspring. Loki was becoming less manageable. Sigyn was a sweet, inoffensive girl, worshiping Loki's feet but fearing her parents' wrath if she ever toed the line.
Angrboda, on the other side, had nothing more to loose and spent her time pushing Loki into taking initiatives, into speaking his mind.
They understood they were loosing control of their son when Loki openly voiced his disapproval about the amount of taxes his parents wanted to charge the lower classes with... He even proposed to make peace with their foes, Asgard. That ending the war would be the solution to the hemorrhage of resources in their country.
Of course, such an absurd idea created a ruckus in the assembly. How shocking that the crippled prince dared to come forward as if he was a normal grown Jötunn ! And to say such idiocy ! Of course none said that aloud in presence of the sovereigns. After all, this despicable thing was still their son...
Ironically, the first to ever lay the question of peace on the political Jotünn table was indeed Loki and some times later, they would be forced to consider it anyway...
But the scandal was quite a blow to the King and Queen, even if they muffled the incident rather quickly. They knew then that the fact that Loki wasn't on his own anymore gave him courage to be an individual. Not a pawn to be used as his parents wanted to.
They couldn't let it happen.
Some time after, Sigyn and Angrboda were sent back to their original "home"...
Loki didn't even have time to say good bye.
"Good riddance." was Helblindi's only comment.
"That'll teach you to be cheeky." Býleistr said, with all seriousness. "In your position, you need to remain discreet if you want to obtain something. Open your eyes and ears but not your mouth. That is the only way for you to succeed without getting too much hurt..."
Curiously that would be the only brotherly and caring words he would ever say to Loki...
About the time Sigyn and Angrboda had left without Loki ever knowing where, the Asgardian-Jötunn war was raging at its fullest.
Yet, all of this time it had taken place in neutral ground, outside Asgard and Jotünheim. So none in the palace had been bothered much.
Of course, lower classes Frost Giants took the heavy price. But it was what was expected of them and no one found it unfair.
Until Odin Borson, the Scourge, decided to make a surprise attack...
Unfortunately for them, Laufey and Farbauti were still stuck in the old fashioned way of warring. They couldn't have possibly believed their capital could be put in danger. Frost Giants had been the strongest warriors ever. They had never been vanquished. So they didn't bother moving on to new war strategies. So, the fact that the much more improved Asgardian Einherjar had formed an efficient army didn't worry them.
Only Býleistr knew that trouble was brewing. But as he was the youngest of all the generals, he was not taken seriously. In his powerless rage of being discarded, Býleistr found a strange solace in confiding to his younger runt brother. Someone he didn't even consider equal to the most common Jotünn. He found it pretty ironical, deep inside...
"They are stuck in their own asses and cannot see they are coming closer !" He used to yell in Loki's chambers out of maddening frustration. "We are doomed if those old cronies don't move fast !"
As Býleistr was pacing to and fro in front of his bed, Loki, sitting cross-legged, half pleased with this new attention, half terrified by this situation, listened. He could do little else...
Days passed and one night, they were there.
The palace had woke up to hell. The Scourge's army was at the city's gates, trying to force an entry. In a panic, Farbauti had summoned his outside troops. Laufey was in charge of the palace and the backups. Loki saw little of the outside battle for he had been confined in his apartments as were all those who could not fight. All he heard was the terrible sound of explosion and war cries. He barely saw the fire that had reached some of the boroughs.
The noise was deafening as the Asgardian forces were breaking their way through the palace and as brave Jotünn warriors defended the place. Loki wasn't worried for the civilians though. On one-on-one fight, even with Jötnar commoners, Einherjar didn't stand a chance.
But once the court was under the Scourge's thumb, they were all trapped...
As the battle went on right under the palace's walls, Loki wondered what would happen to him if they were to lose... He would be probably killed. He had not much value to his parents' eyes. His brothers were much more interesting to keep as hostages. The only good thing in all this horror that he was glad for Sigyn and Angrboda to be back into their home in the Icy Moors. They would be safe...
A horrible cry pierced the chaos and made Loki jump.
"They broke in ! They broke into the palace !"
Hearing the cries, Loki thought they were all lost. He managed to control his beating heart by magic. If he was to die, he would but as a prince. Not like some scared child, shivering under his bed.
They were down the hall. Loki could hear the clinking of weapons. Then a giant booming occurred (a bomb ? Since when Asgardian used bombs ?!) and a dreadful silence.
Loki slowly stood up from his bed. Something was wrong. That silence was unnatural. He came forward to the door. He could hear heavy footsteps. One person, rather big. Probably a warrior.
Could only one Einherjar create a void in a hall full of Jotünn soldiers ?
Impossible.
Or... ?
Loki mentally created a tiny invisible window in the door, allowing him to see without being seen. It was indeed impossible... But definitely real.
The halls were dark and torn apart as if a huge force had burned all the way. Grilled corpses of Frost Giants were laying here and there. Even their own mothers could not recognize them. Black. Burned. Fried. Gone to smithereens.
The footsteps came louder and closer. A shadow was moving, tiny for a giant rather big for an Asgardian.
And then Loki saw him. His cape was stained with blue Jotünn blood, so were his blond braids and his hammer that he was nonchalantly swinging like a kid playing with his toy. Which he probably was, in a way...
His blue eyes were lost in a daze. He was stupidly smiling as if drunk or high. Again, he was both in a certain way.
His disgustingly colorless skin was spattered with droplets of Jotünn blood.
He stopped to consider his handiwork and then started a maniacal laugh. It reverberated through the devastated hall.
Then, exhausted from having so much fun, he continued his way through the hall, totally unaware that he was spied upon by the Third Prince of Jotünheim.
That was Thor and Loki's first meeting.
But Thor could not have known. And he fact he never knew.
In the end, the Asgardian retreated. Their losses had been quite huge. Only Thor's garrisons had made it through the castle and Thor was the only one to survive it, actually. Odin Borson gave up but he had made his point clear.
Jotünheim was not a safe haven anymore.
In the end, it could be considered as a Jotünn victory except that it wasn't really a victory. They had simply been lucky. They wouldn't be so lucky next time.
And Loki had a brand new nightmarish figure to pepper his agitated dreams with.
Býleistr came with the idea of the Embassy first. Though everyone knew the one of making peace was Loki's at first. But of course, none would admit it out loud.
Since the break into the palace, the people in Jotünheim had been distraught. Revolts were threatening to come out. Maybe a revolution. The hierarchical system of Frost Giants society was about to collapse for its leaders could not even protect those below.
Farbauti and Laufey's throne was getting seriously too hot for their behind. At very long last, they had to consider what their sons had in mind. Well, mostly Býleistr. Loki had no valuable opinions, according to his parents. They had no idea that Býleistr was parroting his own baby brother.
So, at the great dismay of the older generations and to the great relief of younger ones, the parlays for a peace treaty occurred. Some considered it a shame, others a salvation. Both ways, it came with a heavy price.
And looking at their youngest son and brother, they hoped they could find a way to lift this price a little bit.
The embassy was soon decided. The mood was tense in Jotünheim and the King and Queen hoped that finalizing the treaty on Asgard, rather than in the homeland, would ease it. Asgardian would feel all mighty and superior and lower their guard. Some very tiny scriptures made at the low bottom of the treaty might pass unnoticed...
In fact, Laufey and Farbauti didn't want to go to war again. They also felt old, probably as old as the Scourge felt. Their fiery youth was far away for all of them.
But not for their sons.
They had plans. They had trusted Býleistr with it. It involved their younger, dressed as a doll and prepped as such. And the lustful Scourge Junior.
Loki had no idea.
The days before the trip to Asgard, Laufey did her best to coach Loki. She helped him with his looks, his wardrobe, his jewelery, his manners and knowledge of Asgardian protocol. She also made sure he knew everything that was to know about that wretched country and its wretched royals.
Especially the Thunderer. She insisted on him, ignoring the literal terror his memory provoked in Loki, making him as attractive as possible. Which would have been a difficult task in normal times and was completely absurd in the current situation. It just increased Loki's anguish.
And he didn't understand why was everyone talking about that Jötnar-killing monster to him all the time...
Before the battle, Loki would have been thrilled to go out of the palace on a beautiful trip to other realms. After the battle, the simple idea made him want to vomit.
But he had no choice. His father had made it crystal-clear to him. Each and everyone of the three princes had a special task to perform. His was to be the last and more important. But only Býleistr knew what it was. It had to remain as secret as possible.
Loki didn't ask. He knew it was useless.
The day of the travel, the day he saw the Bifröst and its scary guardian for the first time, Loki had too much to process. Everything was both mesmerizing and repulsive. He couldn't get used to the Asgardian pale skin. He was shocked to see people barely taller than him.
He disliked the rude, scared, or angry stares they got all the way through town to the ridiculously huge palace.
He loved the scents, the air, the sounds and the laughs... He loved and loathed both. Clash of cultures applied to this situation.
But seeing the monster that haunted him, even clean, trimmed and without his hammer this time, did not simplify things.
The Scourge and his red-haired wife were already impressive. But they were not young anymore. Scourge Junior was the actual threat. As they came closer to the throne, Loki kept his eyes down, avoiding anyone's eyes. He knew that people were amazed by his appearance. Laufey and Farbauti had warned him that he would be the real attraction of the Embassy. Not really his brothers who had nothing new to show.
At that moment, Loki sensed that he was ardently stared upon but as he refused to raise his head, he had no idea yet that it was actually Thor. Only when Helblindi was making his speech did Loki raised his eyes and meet Thor's blue ones.
Then he had the horrible sensation to have be transformed into food for Thor's look was the one of hunger. Desire to eat, devour, destroy...
And then Loki understood what his family demanded of him.
The reception had been a torture. An agony when Loki tried to talk to his brothers and couldn't because he was always surrounded by this one or the other. People acting with him like he was a freak on display...
Which he probably was. It was killing him.
He managed to join his brothers. Býleistr looked at him as if he was acting like a fool.
"What are you doing ? Go to the oaf !"
Loki felt the cold gliding on his spine. What his brother said confirmed his worst prediction.
"You want me to sleep with..." He murmured.
Býleistr grabbed Loki's arm brutally before he could say anything that could compromise the whole thing.
"Yes." Growled Býleistr as low as possible. "You are going to fuck his brains out, if he has any. Or he will to you. Whatever. It's up to him. You are going to be a good little slut, little brother, and make him cozy and happy. You are going to turn him so dumb with fucking that he will not think about interfering with the rest of our plans. If he says 'open your mouth', you open your mouth, if he says 'suck', you suck. As simple as that."
At each and every word, Loki felt himself dying.
"For Norns' sakes ! Stop making that face !" Býleistr waved his hand in annoyance. "It is high time for you to repay us for not killing you at birth ! Now, go sit at the table with the dimwit."
He pushed Loki away like a dead doll.
"And smile ! Damnit ! No one likes a pouting whore !"
And so Loki pretended to eat and like what he ate. He drank and pretended he liked what he drank. He pretended to listen to the monster and to answer him. But his voice was faltering, his hands were shaking so much he had to hold them tight.
The monster had a pleasant voice though. He actually tried to make conversation. He actually tried to sound funny and entertaining to Loki.
If only Loki could forgot that those hands were covered in Jotünn blood, the first time Loki ever saw them.
In the end, Loki managed to laugh sincerely at the mention of his wet underpants. When Thor asked for his secret, he decided to lay his cards on the table and say that he was a sorcerer.
Thor seemed a bit unsettled but he seemed his newfound lust didn't mind.
"It makes me wonder what kind of things you could do... What kind of marvels you could create." Thor said, unconsciously licking his lips.
Loki was desperate.
They drank, nothing left to do. They did idle chitchat, nothing else to say. Loki indulged himself a bit. What else could he do ? He hoped Thor would be more interested in his conversation than his body. He didn't mind the Asgardian as long as he kept his hands to himself.
Which he didn't.
"You don't like being touched, Little One ?"
Loki wanted to punch him. He felt soiled. He only blabbered a weak response.
"You are not used to touching, aren't you, Little One ?"
"N-no, my Lord."
Things were getting dangerous. Thor's desires were no longer an option. Loki's head was swimming from the drink and the shock. And maybe Thor's scent.
"Be my lover tonight."
With this phrase, Thor killed Loki as surely as he would have with Mjölnir in hand...
"Smile ! I said, smile ! Always smile even if he tears you apart. And moan a bit. You're a virgin so act like it hurts at first and then pretend it's good."
Býleistr was leading Loki through the halls to Thor's apartments. Loki was only wearing his undergarments. Býleistr was incredibly nervous. He had wanted to train Loki himself for this night, but no, his mother had to take care of it. She did everything except the delicate part. At least, Loki was unspoiled goods. He hoped it would suffice to make the boar crazy with him. Not sure virgins were common around that blond oaf.
He was dragging Loki like a rag doll.
Loki didn't listen. In fact he didn't even care any more. His eyes had been opened at last. There was no hope, nowhere.
He still didn't care when he was dropped at Thor's door.
He still didn't care when the brute held him and kissed him.
He thought he just had to close his eyes and wait for it to pass.
But he saw the bed.
It wasn't a bed. It was a bottomless scarlet pit. Ready to eat him alive.
And that woke Loki up, making him fight for his life and scream in Thor's arms.