22. You Will Hear Me
Hello readers once again. I hope you liked last chapter, isn't it a relief to know Daya did not die? Well, I think so anyway. As I said before this chapter gives another dimension to Daya, hopefully one that will make all you lovely readers like her even more. I own nothing but Daya, and the character of Theslion, but to be honest I don't mind if people use his name. I'm pretty sure you won't like his character anyway, enjoy.
Daya walked through the halls of the palace after Steve successfully travelled home via the Bifrost. She could hear the fuss made by the Asgardian councils in the court room from across the other side of the palace, they were probably just itching to give Loki the worst punishment possible.
Just outside of the courts she took a deep breath in, planning what she was going to say before opening the doors and storming in. The noise of the councilmen didn't stop, it only quieted.
"Good morning gentlemen, my dear mother in-law Frigga and the delightful lady Sif, I see you have all tried to start without me" Daya stated loudly.
Odin frowned at her and only Frigga and Loki listened. Loki had been muzzled again and his hands were once more shackled. The rest of the councilmen merely looked on at Daya unfazed and carried on their conversations.
"Gentlemen I am Daya, Princess of Asgard, your rightful superior and you will hear what I have to say" She shouted loud enough for her voice to echo through the halls, loud enough to stop the councilmen from speaking and stopping to listen to the young goddess.
She cleared her throat and paced the centre of the court calmly. "That's much better, thank you for your attention. I am here to give my statement about the events that unfolded over the past few months, in defence of Loki, and as somebody who witnessed every event to do with the accused as they happened. I believe my words would be useful in helping the council come to their final decision on Loki's punishment, if the All father would allow it?" She asked looking over at Odin for approval.
Odin hesitated before looking over at his adopted son, he had nobody else but Daya, he deserved at least one person to defend him, seeing as the muzzle on his face stopped him from doing it himself. He nodded and allowed Daya to speak, before she could do so, an older member of the council, a man with a vulture like stance about him stood up to interrupt Daya.
"You are Loki's wife, any statement from you would be biased beyond all belief" the vulture like man said harshly.
Daya rolled her eyes. "Ah ok" she thought. "If that's how you want to play it, I know exactly how to win this council over".
"Theslion, is that you? My how the meek have turned mighty, so quickly too. If I recall correctly you were only asked to join the council because you were filling in for a man considered much greater than yourself?"
Quiet laughter filled the room at Daya's words, even Loki smirked from beneath his muzzle, he knew how Daya would try to win this battle. Theslion, the old council member did not back down, he merely tried to laugh of Daya's insult quietly and then continued to glare at her.
"Jokes aside, you are his wife and I knew your words would be a certain way inclined. I took the liberty of getting a witness who will not give a biased view of things. Lady Sif, would you step forward?"
As Theslion spoke, Lady Sif stepped forward. Even Thor looked shocked at Sif's willingness to go against Loki in court, Daya however, was not shocked, she should have known Sif would do anything to ensure her precious Thor was not blamed for anything at all and instead try to shift all the blame to Loki.
Daya looked over at Loki and winked at him, trying to show him she was not about to give up this fight.
"The term witness implies that somebody saw a crime, does it not? Funny, I was not aware that the lady Sif had been alongside Loki throughout all this to witness any of his so called crimes, but do tell us what you know Sif" Daya smiled pleasantly at the warrior goddess.
Daya's comment had gotten members of the council mumbling amongst each other, she was technically right, Sif had not been present for the events that unfolded on Midgard, her statement would be very much flawed even to someone who was not there to support Loki. Nevertheless Sif spoke up.
"Loki lost his mind before falling to Midgard, ever since he seized rule he was not himself. He was prepared to destroy the whole of Yotunheim. Had it not been for Thor interrupting his plans, he would have gone through with it. Daya is right, I was not present on Midgard when Loki invaded, but going by Loki's state of mind before he fell, I can see him entirely capable of trying to take over Midgard himself."
Daya gritted her teeth as the council nodded in agreement at Sif's statement. Loki looked down, accepting defeat, but his wife shook her head, she would not accept defeat so easily.
"I will admit myself that Loki lost his way when he took the throne. The power got to him, as power does to so many. However, Loki's unstable state of mind was not all down to that, it was down to some rather earth shifting news he had received only hours prior to becoming king. The All father knows about that all too well, and I daresay the news my husband received is enough to make any of you feel sympathy for him. It involved an entire loss of identity" Daya told the council members. She looked over at Odin.
Odin didn't want everyone to know the truth about Loki's origins, for his adopted son's sake, and for his own. Asgardians may have lost faith in the All father if they knew he had kept such strong lies against his own family for so long. It would have to be Loki's choice in the end, as to whether he wanted everyone else to know the truth. This worked in Daya's favour to winning the argument, Odin was the one that would make the final decision about Loki's punishment and she knew he already felt monstrously guilty about Loki's past.
"Regardless of that, rather private information" Daya continued. "I don't think it's fair or accurate that somebody who has always held a grudge against the youngest prince and didn't see anything that happened on Midgard has any right to testify against the accused."
Sif frowned at Daya before sulking off and Daya couldn't help but smirk as she bowed her head to make sure nobody saw. Theslion resumed his seat at the head of the council and crossed his arms, finally accepting defeat.
"I understand that Loki must be held responsible for his actions, but to put it simply, we all make mistakes" Daya said.
Thor stood up. "Loki killed eighty Midgardians in two days alone Daya, he is far from innocent".
Daya faced Thor, venom in her eyes. "You have killed far more than just eighty people. What's more you boasted of your violence. I know it is long behind you now Thor but you killed hundreds, frost giants, dwarves, dark elves, light elves, anyone that stood in your way on the battlefield. They were just soldiers following orders Thor and you struck them down anyway, I do not want to make this the focus of my argument because I feel we are beyond petty issues, but you cannot boast of someone who is not innocent".
Thor hesitated, knowing that everything Daya had just said was the absolute truth. Instead of fighting more, he, like so many of the other council members Daya had verbally beaten, sat down, deciding to keep quiet.
Daya sighed. "You are Asgardians, you see the noble side of fighting and war and death, I don't think that's always a bad thing but we should be past being hypocrites when it comes to judging those who have murdered".
As the council members began to raise their voices again, Daya spoke up once again. "My friends we have more serious business to attend to. There is a greater threat to Asgard, far greater than my now imprisoned husband. As most if you now know, mine and Loki's return to Asgard was not, very traditional. I had been mortally wounded and very close to death, the being that had stabbed me with poison and tried to kill me was known as Thanos."
There was a collected gasp that sounded throughout the room and Theslion stood up again. "Your husband is known as Silver tongue and he has taught you his talents well, you are almost as good at lying as he is now".
"It doesn't take lies to draw out the venom in your words Theslion. Believe me, I wish I was lying" Daya frowned.
Another council member stood up. "Thanos is no more than a mere myth now, he hasn't been sighted in thousands of years. It seems quite a coincidence that he would show up just in time for you to use as a distraction from Loki's crimes".
Loki growled loudly and Daya nodded once at him, assuring him it would be ok.
"Thanos is Loki's crime. When Loki fell from Asgard, he fell into Thanos' grip. The titan warped his mind, made violence something that would come easily to my husband, and ordered Loki to send the army of Chitauri down to Midgard. Thanos told Loki if he didn't do as he said, he would kill me. Loki did what he felt he had to in order to save his wife, to save me. Something I believe any married man in this room who is worth his salt would do for his own wife" Daya protested.
"Thanos' hold on Loki was strong, because of the love he had for me" Daya continued. "The avengers, a group of mortals with extraordinary powers, that I, became friends with on Midgard helped stop the Chitauri, and stopped Loki. When Thanos realised Loki had failed in his plans to take over the realm, he found me. He told me he planned to kill Loki, so I asked him to kill me instead, I lied and said it would hurt Loki more, but it was only because I couldn't allow him to kill my husband. Thanos' hold over Loki was only as strong as it was because of me, and therefore I took Loki's place in the way of Thanos' vengeance".
Daya looked over at Loki, who had let a tear escape his eye as he listened to his wife's reasons behind her near death experience. She had been willing to die for him, with no pause or doubt at all.
"That's all very touching but do you really expect us to believe that?" Theslion questioned.
"Believe what you want but we face a bigger threat here, so much bigger than anything my husband could conjure. The longer we waste on this trial, the more time we are giving to Thanos to invade Asgard and come after either Loki, or myself again. He is a titan, and he hasn't gotten his way, so do you really think, that even if he gets to Loki and I, he will stop there? Once he has breached Asgard he will realise he has power over us, he will either come here to destroy Asgard himself or he will send different forces to threaten us. My top priority is keeping my husband safe, but I love Asgard, and its people, I don't want to see any of it fall".
"You are Vanir" Theslion frowned. "Asgard has nothing to do with you".
At that the entire council gasped. It was considered a great insult to call someone's race out when they had lived in another realm for so long. Especially royalty. Loki shot Theslion an icy glare, another loud growl escaping his mouth somehow.
Daya moved closer to the council's table, getting closer to Theslion. "You watch your tongue or I will have it cut out, better yet I will do the job myself. I am a princess, royalty, and your superior whether you like it or not. Do not think because I am a woman who seems delicate and feeble I would stand to listen to such dishonour. I am an Asgardian as much as you are now, and apparently I care more about this realm than you do, seeing as I am the only one who wants to address the real threat here."
"Enough!" Odin sounded, growing angry. "Daya we have heard what you have to say, I for one believe it's entirely plausible Thanos has returned. After all, Loki would never hurt you and you certainly are not stupid enough to inflict that wound on yourself just to have an argument for Loki's defence. Believe me when I say that I will address the issue of Thanos as soon as I can. Now I would allow Thor, the only other witness here to Loki's crimes to give his statement. Daya, perhaps it is best if you leave the courtroom for the rest of the trial, I think it best, in-case whatever Thor has to say angers you. Loki will be placed back in the dungeons again as we make the final decision. You have every right to visit him while we make that choice, I promise you that."
Daya nodded at the All father before taking one final glance at Loki. Her husband nodded at her, and even from behind the mask she could tell he was smiling at her, she returned his smile before bowing to the council and then leaving the courtroom.
Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed that chapter, and thought I did a good job in making Daya use a couple of wise cracks on the council as well as making them listen to her. Do you guys think Thor will work to help Loki or go against him? You will just have to wait and see. You guys have been sooooo patient, that I promise you some long awaited Loki loving in the next chapter. Until next time guys, as always, review, favourite and follow and remember that I'm always open for suggestions etc, if you guys feel like you want to say anything at all about the story. On a side note, I ordered the Thor game to see if it would give me any ideas on where to go next in the story, as I don't want to guess the outline of Thor 2 in-case I get it miles off what it turns out to be really and I need some action to go alongside more Loki/Daya loving.