Chapter 4

Brothers

The fight had ended almost as soon as it had begun.

The sound of low sobbing came from behind the door. It was ajar an inch or so, and Frigga, having found what she was looking for, paused to peer through the crack.

Loki sat at the base of a chair, knees drawn up to his chest, crying. When Frigga opened the door he started and jumped to his feet, scrubbing at his face in an effort to hide his tears. The taller of Odin's twin sons, he still barely came up past Frigga's elbow. He was slender and dark haired, and his pale complexion and delicate features caused some to think him sickly. His face was blotchy now from crying; his normally smooth hair stood up in several places and his clothes were crumpled, and he stared sullenly at the floor.

"Loki," Frigga said gently. "Tell me what happened."

The boy hesitated, then burst out: "Twasn't my fault! Thor started it!"

"I don't care who started it. Tell me what happened."

"Thor wanted to bring Sif with us fishing. But we can't, because she's a girl! And Thor said she doesn't count 'cause she doesn't hit like a girl. He said she hits better than me. And I said she doesn't, and he called me a liar!"

"And then?"

Loki flushed and continued in a low voice. "And then I called him stupid. And then he hit me."

Frigga sighed and knelt in front of her son, placing a hand on each shoulder. "Can you tell me what you did wrong?"

Loki looked taken aback. "I didn't hit anybody! Thor hit me!" he protested.

"I didn't ask what Thor did. I asked what you did. You can't control your brother's actions, only your own."

Loki hung his head.

"Can you tell me what you did wrong?"

He nodded.

"Tell me."

"I shouldn't have called him stupid," he muttered.

"There. Now, will you apologize to him?"

Loki looked up, his face plaintive at the mention of this new indignity. Before he could protest, though, Frigga stood and called out: "Thor!"

There were footsteps in the hall, and Loki's brother came into sight, running at full tilt, yellow hair flying. At the door he slowed to a walk and bowed his head, trying his best to look repentant but ruining the effect by trying to catch his mother's eye. Loki glared at him for a moment, then dropped his gaze to scowl at the floor.

"Loki," Frigga said. "What do you say to your brother?"

"I'm sorry I called you stupid," Loki said to the floor.

"Thor, what do you say to your brother?"

"I'm sorry I hit you, Loki. And called you a liar. And said you couldn't hit as good as Sif."

Loki noticed Thor's toes fidgeting as he spoke and looked up uncertainly. Thor took this as a good sign, and threw his arms around his brother. "I'm sorry, Loki!" he bawled dramatically.

"No you're not!" Loki cried, but he was laughing as he said it. Boyish pride appeased by Thor's antics, he tried to tackle his brother around the waist until their mother separated them.

"Will you boys be friends now?"

"Yes, Mother," they said in unison.

Frigga turned and went to a couch at the edge of the room. Sitting down, she beckoned to her sons and they ran to join her, hopping to either side of her and laying their heads in her lap.

"Mother, will you tell us a story?" Thor asked.

"Tell about Father and his brothers and how they killed all the giants," put in Loki.

Frigga rested a hand on each of her sons' heads and closed her eyes, thinking back through the years.

"Once upon a time there were three brothers who had a wonderful adventure..."

"Are they asleep?" Odin asked.

"Yes," said Frigga, easing the door shut behind her. They had dropped off before she had finished the story, and she had called servants to carry them to bed.

"I had hoped to talk to them," Odin said. "Oh well. It can wait until morning." He opened the door a crack and peered inside. "I wish they'd stop quarreling and learn to get along."

Frigga smiled and laid a hand on her husband's arm.

"It will come," she said.

"I hope so. One day those two will have to rely a great deal on each other."

"Like you relied on your brothers."

"That was different. Besides, I'm all the poorer without Villi and Vi. I don't want my successor to be handicapped the same way."

"Have you decided which one will succeed you?"

"No," Odin sighed. "I haven't. It's not simple at all. I still rather like the idea of Loki inheriting both Asgard and Jotunheim. If we could just get the populace to accept him, he could unite us into one people for the first time in millennia. It would ease a great many regrets I've had over the years. And yet..."

"And yet you prefer Thor," Frigga finished.

"Well, yes," he admitted. "He reminds me of myself when I was that age. Besides," he added. "Thor's my own flesh and blood. Legally, the inheritance is his." He sighed again. "Oh, what a rubbish dilemma! No father should have to choose between his children!"

Frigga looked in at the boys, fast asleep in their beds. They were as different as night and day: fair-haired exuberant Thor, his father's son in every way; and dark, pensive Loki, her quiet child. They were both her children, and always would be, wherever they had come from. She could never choose between them.

Behind her, Odin was still speaking. "... The Frost Giants might not accept Loki as king, anyway, what with his Asgardian upbringing. And apparently Laufey has other children now, two at least with the same woman, according to Heimdall."

Frigga closed the door softly. "When will you tell him, husband?" Odin turned.

"Who, Heimdall?"

"Loki. When will you tell him where he comes from?" Frigga asked. Odin shuffled uncomfortably. It wasn't the first time the subject had come up. "He still thinks he's Thor's twin. He asked me yesterday why he looks so different from the rest of us."

"I'll tell him," Odin insisted, "eventually. It would just be a lot to take in. I mean, what with being abandoned as a child, and all the things people say about Frost Giants these days... I don't want to upset him. I don't want him to think we don't love him."

Frigga put a hand on his arm. Together they turned and moved quietly down the hall, away from the door and their sleeping sons.