As usual I post the prologue and first chapter of a new fanfiction.

FANFICTION

THE RISE OF LOKI, GOD OF MISCHIEF

CHAPTER II : Betrayal

When he arrived at the palace, he ignored the running maidens and the guards screaming orders and ran straight for his mother's apartments. He trusted his father and brother to deal well enough on their own if they were under attack; and although Frigga was far from being powerless, he didn't like leaving her alone in case the guards were defeated.

But when he arrived, the fun was already over. He only found guards taking away the bodies of several women. He blinked, a little surprised to see that they were his mother's maids.

"Prince!" one of the guards exclaimed when he noticed Loki.

"What happened?" he asked, frowning at the dead women being carried away.

"Spies attacked the Queen and your brother, my Prince," he answered immediately.

Loki felt a feeling of dread in his heart, and he pushed away the guard to enter his mother's apartments. He saw his family gathered in a circle, while the last of the maids was being taken away.

"Loki!" Frigga exclaimed when she saw him, running to him.

She took him in her arms, even though he was much taller than her, and they hugged each other tightly.

"I was so scared something had happened to you, Loki!" she exclaimed before pulling away, staring at him. "When the guards said they had no idea where you were, I thought the spies had attacked you too!"

"I'm fine mother, but what of you? What happened?" he asked, looking up at his father and brother.

"You missed the fun of the battle, brother!" Thor exclaimed, Mjollnir in his hands still sparkling, showing he had had his part of 'the fun'.

"What happened?" Loki asked again, not caring if he sounded annoyed.

"Spies. They were Frigga's maids and her students in magic for years, some even centuries," Odin answered, his voice hard.

Loki suddenly couldn't breathe. He had known some of those women since he was a child: he had trained his magic with them and their daughters... To think they had been spies for so long...

"Are you sure?" he asked in disbelief.

"They attacked Frigga." Odin said, as if it explained everything when, really, it only left heavy questions in his youngest son's mind.

"But—" he started, taking a step forward.

He saw an angered vein of his father's pulsing as he glared at him for asking so many questions. He obviously hadn't appreciated as much as Loki and Thor that their Queen had been in danger because of her chosen and most trusted maids.

"I have as many questions as you, Loki; but the facts are here..." his mother said, putting a comforting hand on his arm.

"I want to know what happened!" Loki exclaimed.

"Enough! I need to discuss with my advisors!" Odin exclaimed, walking angrily out of the room.

Frigga pursued her lips together in worry before glancing at her sons.

"He was scared for me, understand him. He feels betrayed," she murmured.

Loki clicked his tongue, frowning. He wanted to understand his father, but he wanted to understand what had happened as well. If his mother was in danger...

"Those women were spies trained in magic by me; they were spying for the Mountain Giants of Jotunheim," she muttered, her voice trembling slightly at the realisation she had such close friends betraying her.

"Those Giants once again!" Thor hissed, frowning and furious.

He was almost sparking in a rage to fit his hammer, but Loki thought with a cooler head and turned towards his mother.

"Why would they betray you after all these years?" he asked in disbelief.

He remembered some of them giving him cakes in secret during feasts or terribly long ceremonies as a child. They had smiled at him so tenderly, had been so kind to his mother, he couldn't believe such a thing could happen...

"That's it, Loki, they waited for all of us to truly trust them before attacking me. If it wasn't for the guards and your brother..."

Frigga, now that all the guards were gone, let her regal mask drop and shivered in fear. Her two sons frowned immediately, furious their mother had been endangered by people so close to her.

"Who can we trust now?" Loki asked with a low hissing voice.

"Losing trust in everyone isn't going to help: it will only increase the doubts and fear in everyone's hearts. And if we were to go to war with the Mountain Giants... we'd need our people's trust more than ever," Frigga said, her blue eyes staring at him.

He swallowed, knowing she was right, but he couldn't bear the thought of his dear mother, the most important being he had, in danger, injured or… worse...

"They deserve war!" Thor exclaimed, throwing his fist against a table.

Loki noticed the broken vase and shattered flowers on the ground. Just a few hours ago, the flowers were on that very table and his mother's maids were tidying up her room and preparing her for the day. How could everything he always thought of as comforting and peaceful turn into disaster and the threat of a war? It had happened so quickly…

"Thor, war isn't always the solution," Frigga replied, her hands moving worriedly.

"It is when we are threatened! If they infiltrated the palace as closely as you, how many of those traitors are among us?!" Thor boomed, looking terrible.

Loki couldn't agree more with his brother, but the betrayal of some didn't mean everyone was to blame.

"Perhaps the Mountain Giants' King, Fornjótr, knows nothing of this?" he proposed, almost hopefully.

"Who could be behind all this, then?" Thor asked, looking at his brother in astonishment.

"It could be a smaller group of rebels. The peace with King Fornjótr has been stable for centuries now," Frigga proposed, wanting to believe her younger son was right.

"Centuries during which they spied on us and earned our trust!" Thor replied, his stormy blue eyes almost throwing lightning.

Frigga sighed and glanced at Loki who kept his lips thin in worry.

"Let's go see father!" Thor exclaimed suddenly, already storming out of the room.

"Brother—" Loki started, sighing, and feeling a headache at how this whole situation was spiralling out of control.

He followed Thor closely, their mother alongside them. They quickly arrived at their father's quarters, finding Týr, Heimdall and a few other gods they could trust, at least, hoped they could trust…

"And this is why—"

Tyr's voice was interrupted by the arrival of the rest of the family members and he hesitated. Odin opened his lips to ask him to continue but Thor beat him to it: "Father! We need to call a war against the Mountain Giants!" he exclaimed, thumping his fist on the table.

The maps jumped and one of the goblets fell. Tyr quickly pulled it up to avoid more wine spilling on the maps, but a huge burgundy pool was already tainting the territory of the Mountain Giants.

Loki glanced worriedly at the sparks of tense electricity rising between father and son as they glared at each other, one furious to be given orders by his son and the other not understanding how he could be wrong in all this.

For a moment of intense silence, no sound could be heard, the King and his heir facing each other without failing. Thor sure had the stubbornness of their father many times over. Slowly, Odin opened his lips to speak, his voice hard.

"A true King never-"

"Seeks war, I know!" Thor interrupted, driving their father even further into anger if it was possible. "But you always said we have to be ready for it and here it is! The Mountain Giants have declared war on us!" he shrieked, fist striking the table another time, making the pool of wine spread a little more.

"SILENCE!" Odin yelled.

Even Thor was startled by the cold and furious tone of his voice. Odin glared at Thor so menacingly that he took a step backwards, as did everyone else in the room—only Frigga had the strength to stay in her position without faltering. The advisors glanced at each other worriedly, paling at the tone the All-Father had just taken, while Thor finally looked down in shame for raising his voice.

"Silence…" Odin repeated in a hiss.

He then turned towards the map, putting a clenched fist against the table, adding pressure to it.

"As the King, I will make the decisions. You may be my heir, but you have a lot to learn yet. Is that understood?" he asked in a voice that didn't leave any option other than agreement.

The King of Asgard was so furious, so powerful that even as his sons, the brothers had a hard time not falling on their knees and bowing down as low as possible.

"Is that understood?" he asked again, his one eye throwing knives at Thor, who swallowed hard.

"…Yes… Father…" he mumbled, his pride hurt.

Loki felt bad for his brother and swallowed too. Granted, the eldest had raised his voice too much to the All Father, but they were only worried about their mother's safety and a possible war. Thor didn't mean any harm; he was trying to help, but he had been yelled at so furiously that it was hard not to shiver at the thought of what the All-Father would have done if Thor wasn't his son.

"Frigga will have new maids with their whole history and past checked. Guards will stay with her every hour of the day and night to assure her protection," he started.

The two sons glanced up at their majestic, yet terrifying, father.

"And as for the Mountain Giants…"

He frowned before continuing, no one daring to reply, or even breathe.

"Messages will be sent to King Fornjótr, as well as to our own spies, to make sure he tells the truth. We need to find out whether or not the King is responsible for this treachery or if these are the actions of a few."

He turned back towards the map, giving a sharp shake of his hand.

"You may be dismissed," he said with a tone that didn't leave a choice.

The military advisors didn't wait a single second and executed the order. Loki and Frigga hesitated, glancing at Thor who kept staring at his father, his expression hurt.

He finally turned around and escaped the room, head down, jaw and fists clenched tightly.

"I will speak to your father, go with your brother. He needs you," Frigga said in a low voice after getting out of the room.

Loki gave a short nod before going to his brother's apartments. He ignored the guards; he simply walked by them and pushed the door open. He heard his brother before seeing him.

He saw something being thrown across the room and the green-eyed young man froze, hearing the heavy sound of an axe hitting the opposite wall. He stared at the weapon, still vibrating, before hearing the crash of a vase. He sighed lightly before closing the door behind him and entering the room.

"You should not be here, brother!" Thor yelled, turning his muscular back to him.

Loki didn't say a thing and slowly walked in the midst of the broken furniture and weapons.

"I don't want to hurt you..." the blond-haired god added with a shaking voice.

Loki froze in mid-step, blinking at his brother before grinning, a warmth spreading in his body. He put a hand on the muscular shoulder, squeezing as tightly and as comfortingly as he could.

"You won't; you're my brother," he said with a smile.

Thor glanced quickly at him before staring at the ground once again, his anger and hurt still obvious, but he had calmed down enough to talk.

"Will—" he started, his voice breaking before he forced himself to talk again. "Will I ever be worthy of our father?" he asked with a rocky voice.

Loki froze, a cold feeling invading his heart, but he quickly shook it away, focusing on his brother.

"What do you mean?" he asked, but he barely heard his own voice.

"Our father…" Thor started.

He sighed and turned around, staring down at his opened hands, looking almost fragile and insecure despite his massive height.

"Our father is so bright, such a good father and a wise King. Will I ever be able to be as great and wise as him?" he asked, his voice hesitant.

Loki was shocked. It wasn't the first time he had seen his brother scared and insecure about the weight upon his shoulders over succeeding their father—but he was always hiding it deep in his heart: he never showed it to anyone and if Loki knew, it was merely because he knew his brother better than anyone and observed him, hidden in the darkness when the Thunderer thought he was alone...

But most of all, he was shocked to feel anger blocking his throat. He was his brother, he knew how scared Thor was about staying in the shadow of their father, but he couldn't help but feel like yelling at his older brother. Yelling for all the torment and the same feeling of unworthiness hefted on him since their childhood…

Loki shook his head, frowning at himself. This was his family, he couldn't feel like that. It wasn't right to be jealous.

He searched for the right words when he saw in the blue eyes how tormented Thor really was.

"No need for you to be a King as great as him, as long as you remain a good man," Loki said, putting a reassuring hand on his brother's arm once again.

The blue eyes glanced up hesitantly to stare at the green ones. Loki smiled and Thor couldn't help but feel his heart lighten at seeing the sparkling, reassuring eyes of his brother. Even if no more words escaped their lips, their gazes said it all, sealing the silent promise to always be for each other no matter what.

Thor lifted up his chin, smiling and taking a deep breath. He felt much more confident with his brother by his side, even if his gaze was still slightly shaky with fears and insecurities.

"Thank you, brother," he murmured.

Loki tapped his bicep, grinning before Thor threw a heavy arm around his shoulder, drawing him closer.

"Come, Loki! I say we need a drink!" he exclaimed.

"Are you sure?"

"If father believes mother to be safe, then I trust him! He knows the kingdom and the principles of ruling it better than us!"

He started to drag his little brother, who still hesitated, but another warm tap from Thor reassured him one last time.

"One day it will be us, which is why we need to have fun now!"

He laughed and Loki smiled, his heart warming.

"Us…" he repeated in a breath, so low that Thor didn't hear him.

I hope you enjoyed the prologue and first chapter and don't hesitate to tell me what you think in reviews - I take everything, good or bad! :D

I think I'll post a chapter on every two Saturday (or Sunday or Monday if I'm too busy) but considering I'm in holiday, and according to how much I work on my other fanfictions, I might post every Saturday. For now, I'll probably post the next chapter on Saturday 16th, so next one! :D

NEXT CHAPTER : CHANCE

Yours Truly,

May