Family, Duty and Honour
Flickering candles stood in rows, surrounding the chamber, illuminating the entire place in a sort of soothing dimness. An iron cauldron stood amid the blood red runes that spread across the white marble floor.
Golden curtains fluttered and shimmer as Frigga's lovely voice rose into the heavens. Her song whispered, resonating from all about her as she draws the stain of Loki's blood from her fingers and nails. Shimmering red threads floated and curl, concentrating till it was one tiny red drop hovering over Frigga's palm.
Loki's blood was the only thing she had difficulty procuring to complete her potion…well, not anymore.
She smiles and drops it into the simmering cauldron.
At once, smoke and fog began to rise, pouring over, and enveloping the entire floor in a veil of mist. The content morphed to red of blood. Shadows rose from the walls, snuffing the rows of candles in a howl of wind.
Frigga was unafraid, standing with her back straight and head held high even when she felt cold malevolent stirring about her. Brushing her skin and whispering into her mind of power unimaginable. Such is the dark art, the more you delve into them the more you will be ensnared by it, tempted by the power it offers and the deeper you will drown in its seas of darkness until it rips your soul apart and drag you down into the realm of the death.
The dark art is powerful, but it comes with the price of life… The question has always been, how much will you sacrifice for what you desire?
Frigga lifted her hand and with a snap of her fingers the hundreds of candles burst back to life. She turns to her lady in waiting that stood shivering in fear just beyond the bloody runes. Eir was her name. Like most Aesir women, her long trickling locks were the color of gold, curled slightly at the end. Her face was fair and young, oval and sharp. A maiden Thor would surely bed.
"Iduun's apple" Frigga said and Eir held it up in her slender hand. "Do not let go"
"Yes my Lady"
"Do not let go" Frigga said again and started singing in the same manner as Iduun. It was a different song, but her voice too was just as lovely and sad, and it filled the entirety of the chamber. The veils shimmered and glowed, the ground shook, scarlet tendrils rose from the blood red runes.
Eir held her breath, her fingers tightened over the golden apple that was starting to sheer her palm. She whimpered her eyes darting from side to side in fear as blood red tendrils slithered and surrounded her, curling, trickling over the golden fruit in her hand. There was something foul in its color, in its presence, but she held still.
Slowly gradually, golden threads were being coaxed, pulled from the apple in her hand.
Eir snapped her eyes shut.
Frigga continued singing loudly, her slender fingers guiding those threads towards the cauldron. More and more threads were being pulled until it enveloped the entirety of the space and it swirled all around them, whistling loudly.
Eir did not know how long it took, but when she heard a shrill cry and snapped her eyes opened, Frigga had stopped singing. The thread had all vanished, the once golden apple in her hand were the color of night.
"No!" Eir screamed in horror when she saw Frigga laying the ground.
She dropped the foul fruit, shattering it to ash and ran towards her Queen.
"My Lady! My Lady! Please no!" She begged.
When she reached the Queen, she gasped in utter horror. Frigga's looked millennial older, and her golden locks were as white as snow and her cheeks hollow.
"Oh! Oh my lady!" Eir dropped her knees.
Her shaky fingers reached out meaning to touch Frigga when suddenly Frigga's eyes snapped apart; her fingers flew to latch against Eir's throat. The force shoving Eir on her back and Frigga atop her.
Eir cried out.
Frigga tightened her grip. Her cerulean eyes were a fire, her snowy tresses, trickled down the side of her wrinkled face. She was shaking, panting even.
"My Queen!" Eir coughed, her fingers curled desperately over Frigga's wrist as she struggled and twisted; trying to pry Frigga's fingers from her.
Frigga was strong despite her appearance.
"It is an honor to die for Asgard" Frigga hissed, her nails dug into the side of Eir's neck, drawing blood.
With one last look at Eir, her loyal servant, Frigga closes her eyes and incites the incantation. Her voice changed as she chanted, her chamber shook, the veils bellowed as a great gust of wind funneled, clawing against her features.
Eir's screams echoed, resonated terrifyingly in Frigga's mind but she did not stop. Loud ringing blared in her ears, heat sheered up her arms, ripped through her body, but she held on, her nails dug the girl's flesh.
Gradually, the whiteness of Frigga's locks were golden again, the wrinkles on her face vanished. And she stopped.
She opened her eyes and Eir is dead... Her beauty and youth gone, and her hair were white.
Frigga released her, standing to her feet, as young, as beautiful and as powerful as she was before the ritual.
"To Valhalla you go…" She whispered.
Frigga refused to feel guilt; she refused to feel shame even as she looked upon her once servant. This is for Asgard…
The curse Loki wove with his black magic, the price for such power… Loki would have had to damn his soul to Hel to procure it. To undo it, an equal payment would have to be made. Equal exchange.
The ritual to create a potion that will free Thor will condemn no souls; instead, she will sacrifice lives. Seven lives will be taken to undo it. Usually it is the lives of the seven sorceresses performing it that will be taken. But Frigga will not sacrifice her life, and she will certainly not trust such secret that Asgard could possibly have a mad king on the throne to another six sorcerer. So…what years the spell would take at every stage, she will drain them back from her sacrifice.
Eir is the third maiden. Four more to go.
All of them should be honored for the privilege of dying for Asgard and her King. With that thought, she snapped her fingers and set Eir's corpse afire.
Finally the halls were all cleaned, new curtains draped on all windows and all the gold and silvers were polished. Bouquets of freshly picked flowers decorated the halls and chambers. Thor walked the silent hall, nodding and smiling to the servants that were still cleaning the last of the windows for good measure. Their guest would be here by noon the next day.
Asgard had not held such an extravagant event since his birth, or so he was told. It is only natural that everyone would be restless, and truth be told, so was he.
He wished his father was here to guide him. To tell him that all would be well, that all would work out in the end. He needed some sort of assurance even if it would be a lie.
He heaved a sigh as he entered into the grand ballroom where a dinner would be held tomorrow night.
It was dark and as silent as the grave, but he could still make out the decorations that lavish the grand chamber of gold and silver. He walked the length of the marble table, dragging his fingers over the finely carved chairs. His feet tapped the marble ground as he move towards one of the monstrous window that surround the circular space.
It was the night of a crescent moon. The stars littered over the entire heaven like diamonds, twinkling down upon Asgard in all her breath-taking beauty.
His father once told him that the stars were souls of the dead. And they are watching over them. His mother…not Frigga, but his birth mother…she is up there watching over him.
When he was a toddler, barely reaching his father's waist, his father would tell him stories of his birth mother… Fjörgyn was her name. And when he was upset, his father would tell him that Fjörgyn was watching.
You are not alone. She is watching you … he would say. She sees you, she loves you always….he would say.
That was before Frigga opened her arms to him. But once she did, he seems to think of Fjörgyn less and less and eventually he stopped thinking of the woman he had never met while loving the woman who cursed her very existence.
Do not feel guilty Thor… His father told him when he confessed. It is not wrong to not want to be lonely. It is not wrong to want to feel loved. It is not wrong to want a mother that is flesh and blood. No matter what you do, what you decide…she will love you always…Never forget that. You are so loved Thor...
A small smile tugged against Thor's lips as he placed a hand over the glassy window, his cerulean eyes upon the midnight sky. He wondered not for the first time if Fjörgyn was proud of the man he grew to become, or was she ashamed of him.
"Should you hear me now Fjörgyn, should there still be mercy in your heart…then should the sky be filled with fire and blood…keep watching over Frigga's son" Thor said quietly.
He will not call himself Fjörgyn son, for he had never known her and thus, had never loved her.
Thor was turning to leave when he noticed a familiar silhouette standing in the shadow.
"Loki" Thor smiles.
"Thor…" Loki steps out from the shadows.
Silver light caressing over his cerulean skin as he steps closer towards the window. Blood red eyes grazing over Thor warily.
"..."
"Tell me, the Mighty Thor...To know that you are fated to lose. To know that all would end in blood and fire no matter how hard you try…Your grace…To whom then does a God and a King appeal for mercy?" Loki asked. "I would say the Norns… But the Norns have no mercy…that's why they are Norns! The destiny they weave, the architect of your destruction"
"Am I suppose to be afraid?"
"You should be"
"Is that right?"
"Hmp..."
"Look...I do not know my fate…I do not know my destiny and I do not seek to know them. All fate and destiny comes to a single ending, and that is death. We all must die in the end" Thor said, putting on his enchanted glove.
"Do you not wish to know what is to come?"
"No…I do not scheme endlessly for a future that is uncertain, dwell on the past that is unchanging so much that I forget to live in the present that truly matters"
"…"
"You can only live in the present" He extended his gloved hand to Loki.
Loki stilled, eyes darting from Thor's outstretched hand to his face, as if looking for some sort of trickery.
"Dance with me my prince" Thor said.
"I…I don't dance" Loki took a step back.
"Then I will teach you" Thor shifted at once towards Loki and took his hand.
"Thor" Loki wrenched his hand away, his eyes widened; his entire body tensed even as Thor pulled him close and place a hand over his waist.
"Calm down…" Thor soothed. "You don't have to dance in the upcoming weeks if you do not wish to…but let me teach you"
"Why?" Loki frowned.
There is no reason for this nonsense if it will serve no purpose. Jotuns have never been one for musical nonsense. It has no survival value; it is one knowledge that Loki never seek to know.
"Because I want to" Thor said. Cerulean meets scarlet.
Loki tightened his jaws; he was silent for a moment before giving a light nod.
"You won't regret it" Thor beamed. "Now put your left hand on my shoulder" Loki was uncertain. But slowly he placed his icy hand over Thor's armour. He did not rest his weight on the metal least giving Thor frostbite, but just enough so that Thor could feel his weight.
It would have been easier if he had done this in his Aesir form, but for some reason he could not explain, he wanted his first dance to be in his true skin, in his true face. Not the visage of another man, another creature. And there was a flutter in his belly and twinge in his chest that he could not understand when Thor took his right hand with a gentleness that contrasted his strength and build. But Loki's entire body was still tense and his every muscle hard.
"Don't be afraid. There is no one here…it's just me..." Thor whispered.
"I'm not afraid" Loki said.
Thor smiled knowingly. "Alright…We are going to start with a simple one, and we are going to count" Thor told Loki.
Loki gave a nod. And so they began. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven and eight. And again and again.
In the darkness of the night, Farbauti lay silently in their bed staring at the small of Laufey's back for what seems like hours. Laufey had not spoken to him much since Malekith's arrival and he had stubbornly presented himself to their guest. He reached forth to touch Laufey's back.
"I know you are awake. Speak to me Laufey" Farbauti said.
Laufey heaved a sigh and rolled over to lay on his back.
"What is it?" Laufey looked at Farbauti.
"You are angry still" Farbauti said.
"Of course I am! You defy my command and still defy it! You put our child in danger every ti-"
"Enough!" Farbauti hissed, sitting up, glowering at Laufey. "I do not wish to argue with you! You need to remember that I too am a warrior! I fought with you in the war!"
"I do not forget"
"You act like you do"
"Look! I ju-"
"Yes! You just wish to protect me. To protect our child! I understand. But you need to remember that I am a soldier. I am a warrior! You cannot command me to hide while you and our children fight!"
Laufey closes his eyes, pushing himself up to sit too.
"Farbauti…" He looked upon him with a sort of desperation as if he could somehow willed Farbauti to see things his way, to agree with him, to understand his fears. "If I could…I would command you away. As far away to the North of Jotunheim as there is, away from the battlefield. In fact I would wish to command all our children away to hide, most especially Loki if I could" Laufey confessed.
"..."
"Our children…Loki, Helblindi, Byleistr…they know not the true meaning and devastation of war. Singers make much of kings and warriors that die in battles…they glorify them. No doubt I bet our children thought it grand. But you are not them…I thought perhaps you would understand that all of your lives are worth more than songs and poems…!" He bowed his head. "To me at least…"
Truth, in the beginning, he was ready to risk everything to take Loki back. He was ready to burn worlds for his child. He was ready to pay that blood debt long due...He was ready to risk Jotunheim, everything. The thought of vengence was sweet; but as time passed, as the planning goes and more and more facts were laid on the table to be considered... he was no longer sure what he was willing to risk. All he wanted was to protect his family... Vengeance be damn. It is not worth to wage a war over bruised pride.
"Laufey…listen to me" Farbauti said. "Should we lose; the Aesir will sack our cities. Our people killed and raped, children enslaved…and Loki, Helblindi, Byleistr, You…me…they will not rest until they find us all. And when they do, they will rip this child from my belly and have our heads on spikes at our front door should we be lucky"
"The Aesir only need my head" Laufey looked upon Farbauti.
Farbauti snorted. "You fool yourself if you think time have made them kinder. On the contrary…And that child king is not Odin. Like the rest of his kind, we are not even people in his eyes. He will kill us all! And if I am to die, I would rather die on the field than cowering in a cave!"
"I've heard that he is much like Odin. He is honorable"
At that Farbauti laughs.
"Honor?" He sneered. "Laufey… Odin have honor. But that did not stop his soldiers from raping our people, slaughtering our children and torturing our soldiers as they plunder and burn our cities back then! And now…I can assure you, this boy King's honor is going to be worth less than Odin's"
"..."
"Honor's not worth a dime in war Laufey!"
"There need not be a war...I could simply return the casket for Loki. It is still not too late"
"And have our realm die a slow death?!"
"..."
"Our realm have not been more alive than in these pass few months Laufey! Do you wish to tell our people that it will all end?! That we would return to that crumbling, dying state for the sake of one?!" He demanded.
"..."
Farbauti curled his lips when Laufey remained silent.
"If you truly do not want war..." Faubauti said. "Then as long as Loki stays...that boy King hadn't the balls to attack us. I say let him keep Loki"
"Are you mad?!" Laufey cried at once. "This is our child! I will not sacrifice our child!"
"Ah...so that's the truth..." He cocks his head and caresses Laufey's cheek with the back of his dark nails.
"Farb-"
"You use to be ruthless. You use to understand sacrifice…and now…you are old and weak" Farbauti said quietly. "Your love for us blinds you from what must be done…it cripples you"
"Even monsters love, Farbauti" His hand reached up to cup his mate's features tenderly.
Farbauti did not relent. He cannot! He cannot relent to Laufey's sentiment. Sentiments do not win wars. War is won by clear minds and strong leaders who are willing to sacrifice if need be. He loves his children no less than Laufey. But sometimes, hard decisions need to be made.
"Then we go to war..." Farbauti said. "And make them pay in blood"
Loki stood still with his arms spread as the servants dressed him in the finest fur and gold Asgard has to offer. Made with the design of his choice of course. He may be on Asgard but he is still a Jotun Prince and he will dress like one. The servants were careful not to touch his skin when they dressed him under his instructions, least he burns them. Where touch is inevitable, they used seid to move the fur.
Sif leans against the bed post as the maids weave threads of gold and gems of all colors into Loki's long silken locks. Blood red eyes watched her.
"Lower your head a little" One of the maids said, tugging a tuff of Loki's hair.
Loki did, but his eyes never left Sif. He watched the hard line of her body, the tightness in her jaws, the way of her hands cross her chest and the way she held herself. She wasn't even watching him. In fact, Loki would say that she couldn't even stand the sight of him.
"Why are you here Lady Sif?" Loki asked.
"The Queen will not have you hurt her servants and none would serve you unprotected. You do have a temper. That is known"
"Ah….and it angers you to be given a fool's job?"
His question startled Sif and she straightened up, turning to look at him finally. "No. I am glad to serve my Queen"
"But you are angry"
"Of course not" She smiled, but Loki could see that it was a false smile.
Loki lowered his hands, turning to regard the servants. "Leave us for a moment" He commanded.
They bowed and hurriedly left the room. Sif tightened her jaw, her obsidian eyes afire as she looked upon Loki.
The Jotun was simply looking at her, not speaking, not moving. Though she would never admit it, but she has always found the way he looked upon anything, intimidating. It was as if those blood red eyes could see through anything and everything. It was as if those blood red eyes could see through her. She looked away, lowering her gaze.
"You cannot even bear to look upon me can you? Why?"
She did not answer him. Truth, she could not even bare to be in the same room as him now. Jotuns…with flesh that burns, eyes like blood and skin the color of frostbitten corpse. Jotuns are as different from beings of all the other realms as can be. So much so…that it was always easier to look upon them as animals, beasts and monsters.
Why do you think no one helped them after the war? Why is it that they are isolated? Why do you think that no one spoke of them? And when they are spoken of, Jotuns were always depicted as mindless beast to be tamed, to be taken as trophies. No one negotiate with them. The very notion itself is a joke.
After all, Gods do not negotiate or trade with beast. What a God wants from them, it will be taken. And yet… Loki. A full blooded Jotun runt stood in a better position than her to be Thor's consort.
She who had spent half her life loving Thor could only at most be his conquest. Not his woman, and never his Queen.
"I see you…" Loki whispered those familiar words again. "I will make you Queen. I will see that you stand above those who look down upon you"
Sif snorted at that. "Do not promise what you cannot deliver"
"I will deliver my Lady" Loki said.
"…"
"My Queen"
Sif tensed. She opened her lips to say something, but no words left her tongue. Loki had silence her with those traitorous words again… Those sweet lies again. But the way Loki spoke them, the way he says her name, the way he looked at her whenever he says those words… it sounded so real. And to a degree it terrifies her. How will he deliver if he spoke the truth? And why her? Why? She is no lady, but Loki makes her feel like one.
He makes her feel beautiful and perfect and wanted. Ever since that kiss at that feast where Thor had then stomped over and dragged Loki away, there has been a stirring in her. Loki had awakened something in her, something that had been sleeping for so long she could not even remember when.
Loki should not have kissed her…And she should not have let it happen. But she did not regret it. And now, she could not deny that lying on her bed at night, she found herself wondering how it would be to have a man lie beside her; a man to wake up to, a man to come home to… a man who would hold her and kiss her, and whisper sweet nothing into her ears. And sometimes she would close her eyes and dream of that man. But it was never Loki she dreamed of. Her lovers were always bigger, more muscular, golden in hair and tender, though his face remained a shifting shadow. Once so tormented she woke up, and when she slips her fingers between her legs, she gasped at how wet she was. She wrenched her fingers away in shame.
She did not want to admit that she missed being held by another man. She did not want to admit that she is lonely.
She wanted to believe that she did not desire the touch of another man. She refused to change her ways, she refused to abandon her sword, and she refused to abandon herself...
Of course she need not abandon anything if Thor would return to her bed. Thor accepts her, as she is.
She was a damn fool. She should not have been so quick to kick Thor out of her bed when she heard the rumors. The things others spoke behind her back…They will always speak, there will always be rumors. She should have let them wag their tongues to their desires. Let them speak what they wish... Let them say that she is only allowed on the ring because she pleasures Thor between the sheets. That she is nothing more than a pretty face…
She should have ignored them and shame them on the ring when she dump those chauvinistic pigs on their asses. But she had been rash and hot-tempered. If there was one thing she regretted, it was that.
"My dearest Sif…" Loki whispered.
"What do you see in me Loki?" Sif asked. "You are manipulating me. It is not me that you want. It is Thor… I can see it in the way you look at him. The way you watch him when he does not see you"
"I see a mirror" Loki said.
Before Sif could answer, Loki called the servants in again and turned away from Sif, stepping before a full length mirror. He spread his arms when the servants came to him. It was almost time for the dinner when Loki was finally done. And he looked every bit the prince of Jotunheim as he did back home.
Snowy white furs adorned with gold and emeralds were strapped across his hips. Gold and gems weaved into his long jet black locks that cascade down his shoulders and back. Gold circlets slithered beautifully over his horns and he wore black leather gloves that cover the entire length of his forearm, enchanted with seid least be burns himself. His broken vambrance had been replaced and on it was the sigil of Laufey's house. Let none forget his House, let none forget his name.
"I will escort you tonight" Sif said.
"Why? Am I expected to be attack?" He took a thin black veil lined with emeralds from the servant beside him and puts them across his face, covering the lower half of his features.
"No. It is just for security" Sif told him.
"I may have a temper. But I am no fool, you need not worry"
"Come" Sif opened the door.
Loki gave one last look at the mirror and strode out of Thor's chamber. Sif followed him, her hands close by the hilt of her sword.
The other realms had not seen a Jotun in millenniums. To the other realms, a dog would sooner belong on the feasting table before a Jotun. Ridicule and scorn were already being whispered among the royal guests at the very notion that Thor would allow a Jotun to join them tonight. Loki may be no fool, but neither the Queen nor Thor was willing to take the risk.
Dinner was a private affair. Only the King of each realm was invited. Their wives and children would dine in another hall. And only tomorrow would Thor have a glance at his potential consort. Loki is no King but he was given an exception to attend. And of course Frigga would be there too.
Loki took a deep breath when the ornate door leading to the feasting hall swung open. He was told that he would enter and he would be standing at the top of the stairs where he would be announced. Only then would be descend from the steps.
"Go" Sif said.
Loki step forth pass the door and his eyes widened at the magnificent sight that meets his eyes. Before him were windows that stretched from the ground all the way to the very height of the chambers. Curtains of red and gold were drawn back to reveal the beauty of the heavens above and at the base of the step where there ought to be marble floors, it was enchanted to show shifting visage of beauty of the other realms seen from high above. For a moment he saw the ice city of Jotunheim in its glory days, the golden trees…the magnificent ice citadel as he had only seen in books, temples that were burn in the war…
There was a tap on his shoulder. He blinked; the scenery had shifted to show Vaneheim in all her luxury.
"Go on" She hissed, nodding towards the stairs. Only then did Loki realize that they have already announced him.
He looked back down and saw the four foreign Kings looking at him in silent amusement.
"The poor thing is frightened" Someone laughed but Loki did not notice who. He clenched his jaws.
"Come my prince" Thor was waiting for him at the base of the step. "Come" Thor extended his hand. And that is that.
The dinner started without incident but as meads and wine continue to flow through the night, tongues began to loosen and courtesies forgotten. And Thor had never been more grateful of Frigga's sharp wits and silver tongue.
The King of Vanaheim, Bjorn was his name. He was a rather plump man, bald and red-faced. With a belly full of wine he does have a rather uncouth tongue that would not stop wagging.
"Why haven't ya crush that stinking piece of shit of a realm boy?!" He demanded. "Those beasts broke into your vault from what I hear!"
"We will not go to war unless they give us no choice. We have decided to wait and see what would come of it." Frigga said.
The King shook his head, gulping down his goblet of wine. "The gentle hearts of woman" He sneered. "That's why ruling is the domain of men!" He looked at Thor with his blood shot eyes, scrutinizing him. "What do ya think boy?!"
"I will not have my men die when there is no need" Thor said as politely as he could.
Bjorn shook his head. "Mama's boy are ya! Have I engaged my daughter to a soft mama's boy huh?!"
"Goodness gracious! Calm yourself man! You are speaking to a King, not some stable boy" The King of Muspelheim came to the rescue. He wasn't so drunk yet that he forget his manners.
He flashed Thor a grin. He was a man with black beard and a head full of long wavy hair, all pulled back in a low ponytail. A tan skin, red eyes and a sharp face.
"It is quite alright sweet Hakon" Frigga smiled.
Thor rather liked Hakon a lot more than Bjorn.
As for the Elven King, Leif, Thor was rather uncomfortable about him. He was stoic, silent and rather cold with an air of superiority about him. Long golden hair and piercing blue eyes with a beautiful oval face. His voice seemed like music and his movements were fluid like liquid. He watches and watches, never saying much. But Thor had a feeling that the King of Alfheim disapprove of him as a son-in-law.
"How do you find the meal?" Thor had asked.
"I suppose they will have to do" The Elven King had said. And the way he looked at Thor, it was as if Thor were some dirt beneath his feet. And at Loki, that was even worst. It was a look of pure disgust.
"Do not worry…You've done nothing inappropriate. The light elves always think themselves superior to all other race" Frigga assured Thor when Thor wondered if he had somehow offended Leif.
The Dwarf King, Valgard…a little man with a head full of braided hair and a long grey bushy beard… Norns be good, but Valgard is a thief!
Thor swore he'd seen the King of Nidavellir slip his golden goblet into his massive sleeves while demanding that his cup kept disappearing. Frigga shot Thor a warning look when he meant to point out that those 'magical' disappearing goblets were in his sleeves after the third cup had vanished.
"Dwarves love gold Thor. We've prepared plenty, let him take what he wish" Frigga whispered to him.
And Loki, Loki has been eerily silent, though his eyes were murderous as they glare daggers at the obnoxious Vanir king. The King had so far called Loki a bitch, a slut, a beast, a monster, a swine and names Thor couldn't even remember.
Suddenly the Vanir king slams his goblet on the table so loud that it startled Thor and spilled what little were in his goblet all over his stubby fingers.
"Does the drink not satisfy you your Grace?" Thor asked.
"Are you mad?!" Bjorn cried. "This is the best wine I've tasted in centuries!"
"I'm glad that it pleases you your Grace"
Bjorn groaned, turning his gaze back again at Loki.
Thor tensed. Not again. He'd glad to keep the Vanir occupied with him. Bjorn has nothing good to say to a Jotun. Well, no one had a thing good to say to a Jotun but at least they keep it to themselves mostly even when drunk.
"Your Gra-"
"Later boy!" Bjorn waved at Thor as if Thor were some pesky fly. "I'm speaking to this dog now"
"What is it now, your Grace?" Loki asked sweetly.
Behind him Sif tense, her fingers curled over the hilt of her sword.
"You!" Bjorn growled. "An animal at the dinner table. In my days animals sit by their master's feet begging for scraps!"
"Perhaps your days are over and you are old and senile" Loki said.
At once the Vanir king roared in anger, standing to his feet.
"Your Grace, compose yourself! This is not a tavern!" Frigga cried.
Thor was already on his feet, putting a steady hand on the King. All eyes were on them. Bjorn was red faced, puffing and fuming.
Loki hissed, baring his teeth beneath the thin veil. His scarlet eyes narrowed and he too slowly rose to his feet. He let his blood red eyes grazed over the King's face, his eyes, his narrow aristocratic nose, and round face.
"What are you looking at huh?" Bjorn spat.
"Your face" Loki said. "A big man with hollow words. I will remember your face. If ever we are on opposite side of the battlefield, I will look for you and wrench that filthy tongue from your stinking mouth. I give you my word"
The Vanir King sputters in pure fury, his lips curled and he pointed his stubby fingers at Loki.
Hakon was laughing, clapping his hands loudly. "The Jotun has guts! The Jotun has guts!" He clapped. "I think I can get use to this creature!"
"Your Grace…please calm down. Please" Thor's words were falling on deaf ears.
"You! How dare you!" Bjorn bellowed. "Guards! Guards! Seize this creature and have it flogged!"
"Guards! The Prince is exhausted. Please escort him out!" Thor commanded.
"Seize him! Flog him!" The Vanir King roared even louder.
Guards marched towards Loki but Loki was unafraid. They were use to his temper by now and Loki was use to their presence. Loki said nothing, simply followed Sif and the guards out.
The moment Loki was gone, the Bjorn spat.
"That beast!" He turns to Thor. "You do not wish for your men to die you say" He sneered, he was so close to Thor, Thor could smell his sour breath. "I say just point that bloody bifrost on them and be done with it! Kill them all! No man of yours would die. But instead you took a pet for yourself hoping to keep those dogs on a leash. You are nothing like the Allfather"
Frigga pursed her lips at that comment. Hakon was still laughing. Leif said nothing and Valgard slip yet another empty goblet into his sleeve.
Thor would have gone after Loki sooner if he could. But that was no ordinary dinner and he is the King of Asgard. He cannot just leave in the middle of a dinner... Thor walked towards the charred training ground. Guards stood at the edge of the ring and Thor could see numerous targets still afire.
"Your Grace" They bowed when Thor approached.
"Thor" Sif greeted.
"How is he?"
"He will be alright" Sif said and they took a step back, making a small clearing for their King.
Loki was sitting with his knees drawn up on the ground amid the fiery mess, his back towards Thor. His long ebony locks stirred with the breeze that blows, and the gold and gems in his hair glittered.
"Take the night off" Thor said quietly.
The guards bowed and did as commanded.
Sif did not leave. She did not want to. She did not want ever leave Thor; but has always known that Thor would never be hers. Thor would be wed to a princess of another realm and through it, form a political alliance. Thor is a prince. His marriage will not be based on something as pathetic as love. Thor has a duty to Asgard... She has always known that. But it is one thing to know, to accept it in your mind, and completely another when it is actually happening.
"Thor…"
"…"
"Even though it is I who stop our rel-"
"Nothing happen Sif"
A stabbed of pain clenched at Sif's heart. She lashed out, slapping Thor hard across his face. It was either that or she was going to curse him or cry, she could not tell which.
"I am sorry" Thor said.
Upon his engagement in a month, should anyone claim to be his woman or man, they will be put to the sword. Should any child claim him as the father; they too will be put to the sword. Such is the law of Asgard. They do not tolerate challenges to the Queen's position or battles over the throne.
Just as if Frigga has not keep silent of the fact that he is a bastard, he would not be here. By law…he should have been put to the sword. Baldur is the true heir. Or rather Vali, if he had lived.
"It is best to stop any lingering…inappropriate relations" Thor lowered his head.
"Look at me. Do not look away from me! Don't you dare!" Sif said.
Thor hesitated. It shames him to look upon her. Sif…Sif who was always there for him even through his wild rage at her, his jealousy of her relationship with Loki….these uncontrollable thoughts shame him. But he lifted his gaze nonetheless. He owed her that much. His friend, his once lover…
Her eyes though wet with tears, are burning.
"Do not pity me Thor. Pity those who need it, but not me" Sif said and left.
Thor did not go after her. There is nothing he could do for her. He heaved a sigh and move towards Loki.
Loki did not stir. He did not look at Thor even when Thor lowered himself to sit beside him. And so they sat silently for a long time until Thor spoke.
"Why fire?" Thor asked.
"Fire comes easy enough for me" Loki said.
"What of ice?"
"And what am I to do with that? Freeze the wooden targets to death?" Loki turns to regard Thor in a sort of amusement. "I want to destroy something"
"Fair enough" Thor smiled.
They do not talk about the beast in Thor or the tournament Thor would be presiding over starting tomorrow or the way the guests of the other realms looked upon a Jotun in their midst or Thor's conversation with Sif or the matters of a consort. Beneath the starry sky they sat, talking of nothing of importance and for that moment, everything was perfect.