Chapter 3: Tell the People What You've Done
June 22, 2011 AD
This was not going to be a good day, he already knew. Standing in his room fussing with his clothes, he knew it was not going to be a good day for him.
Loki's mind was doing backflips trying to figure a way to get out of this. This was basically going to be a second formal trial of Baldur, and he was going to be there. This would be this first time Asgard had seen him. Odin had told him that rumors had been spreading around, mostly because of the servants in the palace, that he was alive, but as of yet they were just rumors. He knew he was stronger, healthier than he had been weeks ago, but he still couldn't stand up for very long or walk long distances, and running and sparring were out of the question, along with the majority of his magic. He felt stronger, but he was still weaker than he had ever been.
"Loki, are you ready?" Thor asked calmly. Loki sighed, leaning forward before rocking back on his feet.
"Ready, no. But I can't get out of this mess." Thor chuckled slightly at his brother's remark, putting an arm around the still frail shoulders.
"You will be fine." Thor assured.
"Oh, I know you think so, but I cannot help but worry about not being able to stand that long." Loki mumbled.
"I'll stand next to you." Thor replied, making Loki laugh quickly. "This has to be done."
"I know. Believe me, I know." Loki sighed, wringing his hands. "I suppose part of it is not wanting to face Baldur again, and not wanting to see the rest of Asgard again."
"I don't really want to see him either." Thor mused quietly. "Still don't understand, you were so close when he was young, and you seemed much the same up until the end." Thor whispered, looking to Loki for an answer.
"It was a lie, a ruse. Baldur had his plans and I was trying to stop him, and to help him see the error in his thinking. It backfired on me." Thor frowned.
"And this," he asked, motioning between his brother and himself, "nothing here is lies?" The hurt look in Loki's eyes was the only answer Thor needed.
"No, Thor. Never, I love you Thor, with all that I am. As much as I cared for Baldur, he was always annoying me." Loki paused, glancing away then back to Thor, locking eyes with him. "Thor, the way that I care for you is something that no one, not even Baldur, can come close to understanding. Do you understand that?"
"You have always been by my side, Loki. I was a fool, I took you for granted. I will never do that again." Thor replied, choosing his words carefully. Loki smiled, it was good to know that his brother no longer assumed Loki would always be there, that Loki's efforts for Thor had been noted by their recipient. "Come on, brother. You have a life to live." Thor smiled, pulling Loki along with him to the throne room. The younger prince pulled himself from Thor's grasp, walking along him without being dragged. Thor smiled, this was the way things should be, the two Odinsons, walking side by side. This was right. There was a hole where Baldur once was, but the relationship between the two older brothers and their younger sibling was odd. Thor and Loki had grown up together, they were practically attached to each other. While they had tried to make their youngest feel welcome, Baldur had never had the same relationship Thor and Loki did. Thor wondered if that had contributed to Baldur's fall from grace, but he could not let it haunt him.
When the pair came into the throne room, Loki paused. It was full of people, and Baldur was standing defiantly in front of their father's throne. Slowly, and with a little nudging from Thor, Loki walked into the room, taking up his usual spot next to Thor, who stood at Thor father's right side. The room fell dead silent when they saw him, and Loki could feel every single eye. It made him want to squirm, but he hid his discomfort, and put on a calm face. Baldur was perhaps the most disturbing, and the first to say a word.
"Well, I suppose I wasn't seeing things then. You really are alive, you disgusting little traitor." The former prince snarled venomously.
"Baldur." Odin's voice was low and almost harsh. But then the whole chamber erupted in happiness, protest, or yells of contentment. It was mass chaos, which Baldur seemed to revel in.
"Well, I suppose we should have expected this." Loki whispered to Thor, making his brothers face split into a smile. Odin, on the other hand, found no humor in the situation. The All-Father stood, and slammed Gungnir onto the ground with enough force to silence the entire room. Loki's already frayed nerves startled at the clang, and he had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself.
"Oh, you've ruined the fun." Baldur pouted. "I was enjoying all the hate sent his way."
"Baldur, you a directly responsible for Loki's condition, it would be wise for you to tread carefully when you speak of him." Odin warned.
"I am directly responsible?" Baldur questioned, putting his hand to his chest as if he were shocked, the other chained one dragged up with it. "I never meant for him to be killed, that was just a bonus. I just wanted him imprisoned. You are the one who ordered his execution, Odin All-Father." Baldur was done trying to get sympathies. Loki was alive; his plans were all done for. He'd been out maneuvered.
"So you admit then, to plans for usurping the throne." Odin stated.
"Yes, fine. I admit I wanted to kill all of you and save Asgard from your stupidity. Is that really so bad?" Baldur asked, laughter and sarcasm dripping from his voice. He was unafraid, no one but Loki knew how to kill him, and Loki had promised never to tell. Loki never broke a promise. "Loki, well you might see him as your savior. He stopped my plans for all of you, he denied me!" Baldur roared suddenly. "But he'll never tell, he promised never to tell anyone. Always trying to protect everyone. Foolish you, Loki, foolish you." Loki kept his face as impassive as he could, but it was hard. "Some day, you will spread yourself too thin, and you will pay." Baldur's voice was low and ominous, sending warning bells going off in his mind. Odin was finished with Baldur, but Baldur was not finished with Loki. "Tell the people what you've done, you little snake! Tell them what you've done! Tell them how long you put the lives of their beloved king and queen in danger because you could not watch me burn! Tell the people what you've done!" Loki closed his eyes, feeling every single eye in Asgard turn to him. "I absolve you of your wretched promise to protect me, but can you do it, can you condemn me? Can you? Or do you still cling to that false sense of loyalty your silence grants you? You can't be loyal to both of us, idiot! You have to pick a side!" Baldur roared.
"For nearly two decades I protected you Baldur." Loki spoke, his voice low and steady. He opened his eyes slowly. "I protected you, and I placed myself in your sights, no one else."
"Ever the noble little prince you were." Baldur growled. "Every time we spoke, you hid us from Heimdal's sight so that he could never know. Come on, Loki. TELL THEM!" Baldur screamed at the top of his lungs.
"What in the nine do you want me to say?" Loki asked calmly. "I've told them how long I knew, I've humored you. What do you want Baldur?"
"I want to see the looks on their faces when the find out just how pathetic you are, just how foolish you are. You wouldn't take power if it jumped up and bit you in the face! You're a coward Loki, you always were." Baldur snarled. Loki closed his eyes and shook his head sadly. It was a familiar motion to Baldur, an infuriating one. He'd always known Loki was two or three steps ahead of him, and that was the look and the sad shake of the head Loki gave him when Baldur was being foolish in Loki's eyes. Being blind, as he was fond of saying.
"Take him back to his cell." Odin ordered. As he was being guided away, Baldur looked back.
"This isn't over. Oh no, it has only just begun."
Loki squirmed a little at the words. When would this be over, if not now? His family could not fall apart, he needed it now more than ever. Baldur was threatening to rip all Loki had ever known and loved away, and he would not let that happen. Not without a fight. Odin continued to speak, detailing how Loki was here, and how he was reinstated as the second prince of Asgard. All of Asgard was to treat him as they had before; he was their prince, that had not changed. There was going to be huge feast that night, to celebrate his return to Asgard. Loki already felt tired.
Thor followed his brother to his room, and laughed at what he saw there. Loki had collapsed, face first, on his bed, leaving his legs hanging half off the side while the rest of him was splayed out on the gold silk sheets. Thor heard muffled words coming from the bed, but he could not make them out.
"What was that Loki? I think you have something on your face." Thor smiled, standing next to his brother. Loki shifted so that he faced Thor, weary green eyes looking up at the towering thunderer.
"I'm tired." He repeated. Thor raised an eyebrow, looking at Loki's position.
"Too tired to get into your bed, it seems." Thor commented. Loki just turned his face back into the bed with a moan, making Thor laugh again.
"It's not funny!" Loki growled, though it came out muffled by the bed he was talking into, which just made Thor laugh even harder. Loki sighed, and flipped himself over so he now stared at the ceiling. Soon he was laughing too, though not so enthusiastically as Thor was. "I really am tired, Thor." Loki sighed, turning to look at his brother.
"I know you are, but still, it is funny." Thor replied, eyes still dancing with mirth. Loki shrugged.
"I suppose it is a little funny." He conceded. He let out another long sigh. "I don't think I'll be able to stay awake through a feast."
"Well that would be shameful, falling asleep at your own feast." Thor joked, making Loki laugh, image dancing through both their minds. "What would mother say?"
"She'd tell me to get more rest. I have had enough rest for a life time and not enough for today." Loki sighed.
"What was Baldur yelling about?" Thor asked, but Loki just shook his head.
"Your guess is as good as mine. I think perhaps being beaten has gotten to him a little. But I really don't know." Thor frowned.
"You have to know Loki. Tell us what?" Loki gave his brother a withering look, and shook his head again. "Fine, be cryptic." Thor grumbled. Loki knew Thor would not let the topic drop, so he chose to distract his brother with something he knew would do the job quite well.
"Tell me Thor, when do you get to be king?" Thor sighed, thinking for a moment.
"Soon I hope. Father is getting old, so, you know." Loki frowned.
"I'm afraid I don't know."
"All this stress with you and Baldur is taking its toll on him, I fear for his mind at times." Loki sat up then.
"You think father is going senile?" Loki questioned. Thor shrugged. "He seemed fine to me, and I think I would have noticed a change. The only difference I see is that he wants decidedly less to do with me."
"He's guilty, that is all." Thor commented. "But he's old, and getting to be frail."
"I wouldn't call him frail." Loki countered. Thor frowned, shifting his seat to get a better look at Loki's face.
"Do you not want me to be king, Loki?"
"No, I do, honestly. You will make a great king, Thor. I am certain." Loki trailed off, not finishing his words.
"But..." Thor asked at length.
"But, perhaps you should not be so eager to get it from father. There is a lot going on right now, it might be better to for father to remain on the throne until this all calms down." Thor shrugged. Loki was usually right about these sorts of things, but Thor didn't want to defer too much to his younger brother's judgment.
"Perhaps he will tell us soon. Perhaps at your feast."
"Wouldn't that make it your feast, Thor?" Loki countered. Thor just smiled, clapping a hand onto Loki shoulder, making him lurch forward.
"You said you were tired." Thor said.
"Indeed I did." Loki said, falling backwards onto his bed and laying there, half on and half off. Thor laughed, rumbling like quiet thunder as he shook his head and went out of the room. Loki eventually pulled himself all the way onto his bed and fell asleep.
"You're a mess." Loki's eyes snapped open at Sif's voice "Did you really fall asleep in all that armor? That cannot be comfortable." She wasn't much better than he was sure he looked. Her hair had found it's way out of it's ponytail, draping in wispy bits around her face, which was coated in dirt and there was a graze just above her eyes that might be swelling a little. Her armor was dented in one part, and covered in dust just like the rest of her body.
"You don't look so good yourself." He replied, sitting up and trying to smooth his hair down a little. "Suffice to say neither of us are ready for this evening."
"Well, I'm a happy mess. You look like you've been run over by a bilgesnipe." Sif said, closing the door with a sigh. "Do you have any idea how nice it is to not have to sneak to your room anytime I want to see you?"
"I'm sure it improved your stealth skills, Lady Sif." Loki replied, getting up off his bed and going to the washroom. Sif raised an eyebrow.
"Lady Sif? You haven't called me Lady Sif since we met." Loki shrugged, coming out of his washroom wearing different clothes and carrying a wet towel, which he handed to Sif. "Not even as a joke. What's gotten into you?"
"Secrets." Loki mumbled. "I suppose they're only my secrets now, but Baldur wants everyone to know." Sif took off her bracers, wiping the dirt off her arms.
"I wish he wouldn't call you a traitor. Hasn't that ruse served its purpose?" Sif asked, looking over to Loki who had taken up his seat on his bed once more. "Loki?" Loki looked up with a slight hum, making Sif glower at him. "What is wrong with you?"
"Nothing." Everything. Loki replied far to quickly. Sif had known Loki long enough to be able to catch some of his less well put together lies. "What happened to your head?"
"Don't change the subject." Sif snapped. Loki drew back a little, looking down to the marble floors under his black boots.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Even with me?" Loki shook his head. "What about your mother then?" Loki shook his head again. "Well you have to tell someone, it's eating you alive, whatever it is."
"It is the truth, Sif, that I cannot tell." Sif frowned at Loki's reply.
"Loki, if you don't tell the truth, you are going to get so wrapped up in lies, you won't know the difference, and then you will be in trouble." She countered. Loki knew she was right, even if his whole life was a rather large lie, most of the rest of it was truth. He couldn't keep lying or hiding, it was consuming him, and quickly. He had to let this go, and he couldn't tell his family, they were fractured enough as it was. If he couldn't tell Sif, then who?
"Can you promise me never to tell another soul?" Loki asked. Sif frowned, but nodded slowly. Loki pursed his lips, looking down. "When Baldur calls me a traitor, he is not lying. It is the truth."
"Loki, even if you turned on him, he turned on you first." Sif tried to say, but Loki stopped her.
"Seventeen years before he, well you know, Baldur came to talk to me in my room. I was working on something at the time, but I stopped because he seemed very troubled about something. He started off talking about how Thor didn't seem ready to be king, and he asked me if I ever thought I would make a better king, or if he would. I made a huge mistake, Sif. I told him that, at that moment, he would have made a better king than Thor." Sif closed her eyes sadly. "He smiled, and said it was good I agreed with him. I didn't understand. He told me what he wanted to do, everything. It was never just Asgard, Baldur had eyes for all the realms. He told me had didn't want to do it alone, and if I helped him, he'd give me a realm of my choosing. Needless to say, I was appalled. I tried to talk him out of it, but he got so angry, he wouldn't listen. He told me to pick a side, his or Thor's as he put it. I told him I couldn't help him. I promised him I'd never tell anyone and that I would never give up the hope that he could see the error in his plans, but I couldn't help him." Loki paused, letting out a long sigh. "I betrayed him. If I hadn't made that stupid remark that he'd be better than Thor, or if I had chosen my words a little bit better… Oh Norns, it's all my fault." Loki sagged downwards. Sif stood stock-still, unsure of what to do. She knew why Loki wouldn't tell anyone that, he was not only ashamed of what he'd done, but in his eyes, in that small moment he'd set off the chain reaction that landed them here. And Sif knew that he would not be alone in seeing things that way, and Loki knew that too. It was truly a secret he could never tell.
"Loki…" Sif trialed off. There was nothing she could ever say, that much she knew. So instead she just sat next to him, a gentle arm around his shoulders, trying to let him know that he wasn't alone. "You're not a traitor, and this isn't all your fault. If you keep thinking that, it's going to drive you mad."
Loki couldn't believe that it was at least in some way his fault, he'd made a foolish mistake, and a massive miscalculation. And it was driving him mad.
"I promise never to tell a single soul, even to my death, your secret will never cross my lips." Sif promised quietly. Loki let out a small sigh of relief. He had at least one person he could tell his worst secret to without fearing ripping this family to shreds.
"Thank you." He whispered. He wondered if Sif knew how grateful he was to have her, and just how many times her subtle "I see you"s had saved him from falling into jealous traps. He hoped she did. Slowly, he gathered himself, running his hands over his face with a deep sigh.
"Well, I have to go get dressed for tonight and so do you." Sif announced, standing up and going to the door. "Thank you for telling me." She said with a smile, and slipped out of the room.
Loki had missed his spot next to Thor at this table, having eaten in his room for the last month or so. He didn't miss the masses of people and the incredible volume they created. He didn't miss Thor's stories of his exploits, he tales of how he would wipe out the frost giants when he was king. He didn't miss the insults accidentally and unknowingly thrown around about a race he was born into but bred to hate. He really didn't miss these feasts.
But it was the first feast thrown for him in a very long time, so he figured he should at least try to enjoy it. It was funny, he and Thor were so different. Thor had always wanted and relished the huge name day celebrations, but Loki had actually asked his parents not to do some massive thing, that he could just have the day with his family and close friends. So, most of the time, Loki's name day amounted to a small affair, with only Thor, his parents, the warriors three and Sif present. As such, feasts thrown for Loki were rare. They were always for Thor, and usually only Sif or maybe Thor (if he wasn't drunk) noticed when Loki left early.
"Loki, I have to ask a favor from you." Sif said suddenly. Loki looked up from his thoughts at the black haired warrior who sat across from him. He raised an eyebrow, telling her to go on. "I told our friends about the time you and I were traveling in the land of the Dwarves, trying to get through into one of their cities. We were supposed to be undercover, if you recall, because Odin suspected some underhanded dealings. You claimed I was your sister, and then said I was adopted and I slapped you. Our friends refuse to believe my story without your confirmation." Sif told him calmly. Loki found the other warriors three and Thor as well looking at him. He coughed slightly, sitting back.
"Well you did slap me, very hard if I recall. You said the look on my face was priceless." Loki replied.
"She really smacked you?" Fandral asked.
"She did. I couldn't get upset about it then because of the circumstance, and there was little point to doing so later. I had a bruise though, had to cover it up for quite a few days." Sif smiled, looking very pleased with herself.
"There, see. I was telling the truth." She said proudly.
"Yes, the great warrior Sif, the only person to slap a prince and survive." Fandral joked. Sif scowled as the rest of the company laughed.
Loki watched carefully as one of the servants replaced his hardly emptied drink with a brand new one of the exact same substance. He watched her carefully as she walked off. He didn't know her, she hadn't even been in the chamber that he saw before. He discretely flagged down one off the servants, calling them over.
"Can you take this, it has a foul taste to it." He asked. The servant bowed quickly, taking the mug away.
"What was that about, you didn't drink any of it." Volstagg complained. "Waste of good mead."
"Call it paranoia, but there was no reason to replace the mug I had, and I hadn't seen the servant before." Loki replied. "I'd really rather not be poisoned." Loki saw the people around him squirm a little, and sighed. "I'm sure it's nothing, I'm being foolish, but I'd rather be foolish and live and be reckless and die. Now, stop staring and keep talking." He snapped, turning back to his food. The only one to take Loki's meaning was Sif, who quickly diverted the topic from Loki's slight paranoia to some more glorious war stories. Loki looked up when another mug found itself in front of his face.
"That was the same girl as before." Hogun said, drawing Loki's attention to the gruff warrior beside him.
"I suppose I won't be getting any more mead tonight." Loki mumbled, taking some more food from the platters in front of him.
"She is watching you." Hogun whispered.
"Not an experienced killer then." Loki replied, frowning at his own answer. "Norns, I sound like I'm scared of my own shadow."
"I have not seen her before, she could simply be worried." Hogun replied. Loki replied by pushing the mug over to the warrior. Hogun raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"I'm not going to drink it." Loki mumbled. Hogun looked at the mug and then pushed it back to Loki's place. "My point exactly." Loki smiled.
"You'll have to drink it for toasts." Loki made a face. He hated toasts, usually avoiding engagement in the mid feast entertainments by leaving before they came.
"I'll think of something." He replied shortly. Hogun seemed satisfied with the answer and left Loki alone. Loki, on the other had, was busing himself trying to fugue out of his concern was justified, and if it was, how he was going to pull off the toasts. He knew they were coming, and had managed to squirm his way out of saying anything by telling his father that he was exhausted (he was) and therefore didn't want to have to yell at everyone. Odin seemed understanding enough. Just as he was mulling all this over, a voice pulled him from his thoughts.
"Is there something wrong with the mead, you highness?" A small voice asked. "Because if there is, you really should tell someone." Loki looked up to see the nervous face of the servant girl looking at him, biting her lip and light blue eyes pleading that he understood her meaning. Loki frowned; looking her over, then stood slowly, calmly, and lead her out into a small antechamber near the top of the room.
"What is wrong?" The girl looked frozen in fright, terrified to speak. Loki could figure why, she was talking to the long dead prince of Asgard, a prince she had might be trying to poison. "What is you name?" He asked quietly.
"Anise." She whispered. "Everyone calls me Anni."
"Anni, I promise that if you tell me what is wrong, no harm will come to you." He said, keeping his voice very gentle, trying to calm the poor girl down. He was also watching her carefully in case this was a ruse.
"There was a woman, an old woman. She knew I was new at the castle, she made me I swear!" Anni cried, trying to back away. Loki just grabbed her shoulders, gently, and shushed her.
"Slowly, tell me what you know."
"She said that it wasn't fair. Not fair that you got to come back and her son didn't. She said the dead should stay dead. She gave me poison; it wouldn't kill you until you slept. Made me do it, she has my mother. She's going to... Going to..." The girl broke down, weeping. At first, Loki wasn't sure what to do, but then he wrapped his still weak arms around her shaking frame, hushing her cries. Once she got a hold of herself, Loki let her go. "You didn't drink it did you?"
"No, I didn't." The girl let out a sigh of relief. "Now, who is your mother, and who told you to kill me?"
"Some old woman, I don't know. I have until tomorrow morning to..." She paused, uncomfortable with the words and the task. Loki hoped he wasn't being fooled, but he was certain he was not. "She's here, she said she would be watching, so that I did it. I can't find her though."
"I'll tell my father." The girls eyes widened in fear. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. You just saved my life after all." Loki smiled comfortingly. "Where does your mother live?"
"In the city, near the palace." Anni mumbled, before giving Loki exact directions. Loki called some of the guards over, told them to go there and make sure all was well, and then slipped back into the room with the girl, making a beeline for his father.
"Loki, where did you go?"
"The hallway. There was some old woman enlisting servants to kill me." Odin frowned, but stared ahead like Loki's whispered words didn't affect him. "I believe I've handled the problem, but I'll stop by Eir before the night if out." Odin nodded curtly and Loki went back to his seat.
"What was that about?" Thor asked his brother as Loki pushed the now surely poisoned mead even further away from him.
"Poisoned mead, death threats. Ah, life in the public eye." Loki joked, trying to lighten the mood a little. Thor just looked at his own mead rather suspiciously. "I think it was just me, dear brother." Thor grunted and put his mug down. "All is well, I promise."
"You aren't hurt?" Thor asked, looking his brother up and down for any sign of undue weakness.
"I'm fine, never better." Loki replied, smiling broadly. Thor seemed satisfied, and went back to his food. Things went smoothly right up until toasts. Luckily for his health, Loki had managed to get some wine that he was certain wasn't poisoned, and used that for toasts. It was more the content of the things that caused the mayhem.
Thor's coronation date was announced.
Mass. Chaos.
"I think it's now officially your feast, Thor." Loki smirked, looking at his brother who was clearly over the moon. Thor didn't seem to care that the celebrations had changed subject, and Loki was all to glad to fade into the background again. Pretty much everyone in the hall came to the crown prince at some point, giving him their congratulations. More than a few of them engaged in some pandering. It made Loki sick, but Thor reveled in it all, which only made Loki worry for Asgard more. He wondered why their father chose to have it now, or rather a week away, of all times. But, despite Loki's arguments against Thor's want for the throne earlier, he knew that Odin was growing old and perhaps he wanted to pass on the mantle of leadership while he could still help to guide Thor. Whatever Odin's logic was, it was not Loki's place to question him. He just hoped Thor had a good enough head on his shoulders not to put these drunken idiots all around them in charge of anything. Of course, at the moment Thor was a drunken idiot along with them, so nothing could be judged right now. By this point, almost everyone around Loki was dead drunk on mead, besides Sif for some odd reason. Loki found himself getting tired, and left the table quietly. Sif slipped away, following him to the healing rooms.
"What are you going here for?" She asked, quickening her stride to come side by side with her friend.
"Someone tried to poison me, I am only making sure they did not succeed." Loki replied dryly. Sif nodded, still walking beside him. Eir smiled when the pair came into her rooms.
"Loki, it is good to see you." She smiled warmly. Even she had not known of Loki's presence until that morning, and she was glad to have one of her favorite patients back under her care. "Is there something you need?"
"Someone was trying to poison me at dinner, I just wanted to make sure they didn't get what they wanted." Eir faltered slightly at his words, but motioned for him to sit down.
"Not just coming for a social visit, I see." She whispered, smiling again. Loki gave her a small smile for her trouble, but he felt strangely dizzy. "I wonder that the king and queen did not trust me with knowledge of your return, I could have helped speed up your recovery."
"You still can." Loki replied. "My recovery is far from over." Loki said, looking up at the soul cast above him. It wasn't so bright as he recalled it being.
"Indeed. Your spirit is still quite weak, as well as your body." Eir commented. "You should be careful, you are not so strong as you might feel." She looked over the cast, and smiled. "But I am glad to say you are poison free." The soul cast shut down, and Loki swung his legs over the side, standing up.
"Thank you Eir." Loki bowed swiftly, and then left the room, Sif still trailing behind. He turned around, walking backwards with a broad smile on his face.
"What are you smiling about?" She asked, laughter dancing in her tone.
"And that, is how you survive a feast." Loki smiled, and Sif couldn't help the laugh that ran through her. Things had finally returned to some normalcy in Asgard, and it was beautiful.
Sif and Loki are friends. Best friends perhaps, but just friends for this story. Just making that clear in case there were any questions or sneaking suspicions. Thanks again to all the people who have so kindly reviewed, Followed and Favorited, and everyone who has stuck with me this far. We're about halfway through the story at this point, I hope you have enjoyed it.