His feet pounding on the stones, his breath coming in short pants, Loki skidded to a halt at the palace doors, startling the guards who defended it. He looked a sight, with wild hair, disarrayed tunics and tears stains on his cheeks.
" Please, open the doors!" Loki begged, glancing over his shoulder wildly to see the crowd surging towards him.
The guards, while hesitant to help him, knew it would not be good for them if they did not do as Loki had asked.
They opened the door and Loki slipped in hurriedly, emerald cloak billowing behind him as he dashed inside.
Loki did not stop, even though he knew he was safe within the palace he ran onwards until he came to the wooden doors of his chambers. Throwing them open he collapsed down on to his beloved bed, tears streaming down his face as he panted exhaustedly, drawing air in to his starved lungs.
Having not eaten anything for the past few days, he found his energy waning, and yet he could not bring himself to eat even a bite. Even the smells from the kitchens repulsed him.
Apparently he was as repulsed towards food as the Asgardians were towards him. The people he loved, the same men and women who bowed and called out to him happily as he rushed to the library, the same ones he greeted every morning were now banging at the gates and baying for his blood.
Had they so little faith in him?
Loki knew that his silver tongue had gotten him in trouble many a time, but when he told the truth they did not believe him! Liar. That was what they called him now. Liar. That hated word spoken with such vehemence that it could very well be a curse.
He was innocent, he knew that, but they did not. They were willing to hurt him when he did nothing. His own family scorned him, his father's silence weighing heavily on his heart.
Well, if it was silence they wanted, then it was silence they would get.
If they were so quick to believe that every word he spoke was a lie, then he would never speak to them again. They would never be able to call him a liar if he never spoke a word.
With a new resolution in his mind, Loki succumbed to his exhaustion and tears, not even bothering to get more comfortable.
Frigga was not stupid.
She was a good mother who loved her family more than anything in all of Asgard. Her husband, while harsh, was a fair and honest king who loved her and loved her sons. Thor, her eldest, was strong, handsome and outgoing, already having several friends and quite a reputation at the training grounds. She knew her husband was waiting for the perfect time to bestow the hammer he had had made. Frigga was proud of Thor, and yet she knew that he was not the best older brother to his young sibling, Loki.
From the day she had first cradled Loki after Odin's conquering of jotunnheim she had known that this child was special. She found herself able to better relate to the more quiet, wise and scholarly teenager. Loki could hold his own in a fight, but he was more gentle, smarter, less likely to get in to a brawl unlike his older brother. She also knew that Loki had no friends save for his brother, and was sometimes picked on by Thor's louder friends.
She made a point to spend as much time with Loki as possible to compensate for this. While she understood Loki perfectly, she knew her husband did not and so opposite in manner were they that he could not connect with his second son.
It was breaking her heart to stay silent, but she had been taught all her life that a husband's will must always be obeyed.
So she stayed aloof from Loki and kept her silence, while also keeping an eye on his from a distance.
She was the first to notice his silence. At first when they had not replied he had still talked anyway, yet now he spoke not a word, ate not a bite and probably slept little.
She'd pleaded her son's case to her husband, knowing that Loki, while prone to pranks, was always quick to own up to them and apologise afterwards. He never acted this way, and she knew the only conclusion could be that her son was innocent.
Explaining this to her husband did little to assuage his anger but he did agree to confront his son one more time about the matter and he had assured her to listen this time.
With a satisfied smile she had left the room and traipsed to the dining room for breakfast, knowing her husband would speak to Loki later on in the day.
Thor was already there, head in his hands and an absolutely torn look on his youthful face. Instantly she was concerned.
" Thor, my dear, whatever are you thinking so hard about?" Frigga asked gently as she took a seat beside him.
He did not reply for some minutes and she waited patiently, knowing he eventually would. A deep sigh heralded her success.
" Mother…what happens if you know something and you really want to tell someone about it and yet you fear to do so?" Thor asked, his recently deepening tone filled with guilt.
With a soft smile she pulled him closer.
" My son, a lie of omission is still a lie, you must always speak up if you know it is right to do so, no matter the consequences," she replied steadily.
Thor seemed to only be further saddened by her reply and he turned a tear stained young face towards her, blue eyes glistening in the morning light.
" Mother, I have done something terrible…"
Frigga could barely contain her anger when Odin stepped in to the dining room for their morning meal, her eyes zeroing in on him immediately. Thor, sensing the tension in the air wisely scampered off, his tears having stopped after his explanation. Clearly Odin had also sensed his wife's mood and he took a seat across from her warily.
" My dear, what is wrong?" He inquired hesitantly.
Frigga could barely contain the anger bubbling within her.
" You have made a grave mistake, husband," She managed tersely.
He blinked slowly before replying.
" What mistake do you refer?" He replied, caution clear in his tone.
Frigga stood and paced over to him in a few strides.
" Did you even ask Loki if he had committed the crime?" Frigga inquired icily.
Odin gazed back at her indignantly, anger returning to his gaze as he replied.
" Of course I gave him chances to confess! It is his own fault for not taking them," Odin groused,, his tone brooking for no arguments.
Frigga did not care, her fury was climbing with every moment.
" Why are you so certain that Loki did it?!" She growled.
" My dear, we both know of his tendency to lie, cheat and play pranks. Of course it was him, who else could have done this?" Odin stated.
It was matter of fact, as if she was stupid to think otherwise, because according to her husband, of course it would be the fault of the liesmith.
" What if I told you that your favoured son Thor told me differently, that he knew who was really to blame! What if I told you that I knew your son was innocent?" Frigga replied, a deadly calm in her stance.
" Oh, and who might be to blame?" Odin inquired disinterestedly, not even bothering to look at her anymore.
" Thor's friends, the warriors three and lady Sif were the ones who made the jotuns sick. Not Loki. They bragged to Thor about it and reveled in your younger son's pain and punishment! You have hurt and ignored Loki to the point where he has refused to eat, to sleep, even to speak! I went along with you at first, my beloved, but no more will I ostracize my son now that I know the true ones to blame. You will speak to Loki, apologise for your actions and make sure just punishment is given to those responsible! Do I make myself clear?!" Frigga ranted.
When she finished she had to catch a breath for a moment, the weight of her emotions spelled out. One glance at her husband conveyed his shock and dismay at her words. He went to speak and thought better of it, instead choosing to glance away in embarrassment.
" I will go to Loki immediately," Odin murmured, getting to his feet with the scrape of a chair and striding down the hallway to his son's rooms.
With her duty complete and the knowledge that justice would be served, Frigga sat elegantly alone at the table and began her breakfast, intent to wait on Odin's outcome of his talk.
Loki sat on his bed, still wide awake and unable to sleep despite trying all night. His eyelids felt inexplicably heavy and yet he could not close them for longer than a few moments, images of his angry father, silent mother and brooding brother filling his sharp mind with stunning clarity. The memory of the slap his father had dealt him in the throne room was still crystal clear in his thoughts. It was in his musings that a young guard swung his door open, poking his head inside. Loki could see the clear disdain in the guard's features yet did not have the energy to care anymore.
" Odin has summoned you to his chambers," The guard explained emotionlessly.
Loki stood, feeling as though his body was entirely numb despite the aches and pains all over. Changing quickly he made his way out of his chambers, his thoughts fleeting and intangible, energy waning with each step.
He was done, done with the anger the taunts, the heartache. He wished for relief, for the pain to stop, he wished to be spoken to with an emotion other than hate.
It had been so long since he had felt or heard love directed at him he didn't dare hope that his meeting with his father would be anything other than another punishment session where his father would demand and apology yet again.
Loki would do it today.
He would apologise, even if he didn't do it he would apologise anyway, maybe then he would be able to move forward.
Maybe then there would be relief from the crushing pain in his heart and the constant tears behind his dull eyes.
Opening the doors to Odin's rooms seemed to be a monumental effort and they seemed much heavier and harder to move than normal. His spinning thoughts were hardly helping.
Upon his slow entry his dull and lifeless, disheveled form caught the gaze of his father and he managed to see a small note of concern in his father's expression before the darkness in the room covered his vision and he vaguely felt a sensation of falling and loud, distant voices.
Loki embraced the exhaustion and darkness.
What was there to live for now?