After the light of the bifrost had faded, the king and queen with Volstagg and Sif in tow returned to the palace leaving Thor alone to go in search of Hogun. He had been surprised that the stoic warrior had not been there to say farewell to his fellow warrior and friend Fandral and he wondered if his brother Loki had had anything to do with him missing saying goodbye to his friend. As much as he loved his brother there were times when he could quite happily slap him stupid and now was one such time.

Hogun was in the stables tending to his horse, although there were stable hands aplenty that cared for the horses of all those that stabled their horses in the royal stables, Hogun preferred like many of the warriors to care for his own horse. At that moment he was taking care to groom his horse well and his movements were light, quick and methodical as he ran a brush over his horse's shining flanks.

Thor watched him for a moment after he entered the stables appreciating the deftness with which he cared for his steed; it was well spoken amongst the Asguardians of Hogun's exceptional ability with horses and Thor thought to himself as he watched the warrior's movements that what was spoken about his ability was no myth.

"What do you want?"

Hogun spoke to him without turning his head to look at him, he knew that it was Thor behind him; he had noticed his presence the moment the prince had entered the stable but had chosen to ignore him.

Thor approached the man and beast at a leisurely pace, smiling as the horse lowered his head and nudged his chest hoping for a treat but Thor had none on him and he knew better than to give any to Hogun's horse without permission from the warrior. He patted the muscular neck as he thought of the best way to approach the matter of why Hogun had not been at the bifrost to say farewell to Fandral. Despite what people had to say about him as a rule that he had all the diplomacy of a troll he could be at times quite diplomatic.

"Why were you not at the bifrost to wish Fandral and my brother good luck on their mission? I thought Fandral was your closest friend or did my brother do something to cause you some hurt."

The brush stopped in mid stroke and for a moment Thor thought he had said something to cause offense, he noticed the way that Hogun's hand gripped the brush at the mention of Loki, as the stable became deathly quiet except for the snuffling and shifting of the horses.

xXx

Loki looked around the harsh barren landscape of Jotunhiem as he and Fandral travelled towards the crumbling remains of Laufey's palace. They had been met almost immediately the moment they had touched down on the surface of the harsh barren realm by a group of Jotun warriors that had been sent to meet them by Laufey. Huge snarling brutes who looked down with contempt at the smaller Asguardians as though to them Loki and Fandral were nothing more than bugs that they wanted to step on.

Despite the hostility surrounding the two of them Loki felt exhilarated to finally be allowed to go on a mission and it finally felt as though he was being trusted with something of importance to the Asguard realm and more importantly to his father Odin. Normally it was Thor, as first son and heir apparent that was sent to deal with those in other realms that he might one day have to deal with as king of Asguard but this time it was Loki's turn to shine for once.

It was not long before they came to Laufey's palace and Loki with Fandral was escorted to a side room to wait for their audience with the Jotun king. Loki was a little affronted that they were not being presented the moment they had arrived at the palace but he was informed by the Jotun warrior who had been in command of the warriors sent to escort the Asguardian party that the king was at present in counsel with his advisors and as soon as they were finished then he and Fandral would be presented to the king. Until such time it was pressed upon him that it would be in both his and his bodyguard's interest to remain where they were in case an accident befell them.

Loki stood to one side of the room watching the going on around him with what looked like bored attachment to the whole experience and he knew that the warriors who had been sent to meet him and Fandral were unobtrusively keeping a watch on the two of them while they waited for Laufey and his advisors to finish their business.

He allowed his mind to wander a little as he thought of the situation that had sent here to this frozen hostile realm, he knew his mother had not been happy with his coming here and he assumed it was because she still thought of him as her baby, her youngest who had to be protected. He snorted at the thought that he needed to be protected from anyone and for a moment his thoughts garnered on a certain warrior back in Asguard.

As he gazed at his surroundings, the bleakness of the stone walls that were bare of any paintings or tapestry's that would be found adorning the walls if they were back on Asguard, he could hear movement within the hall outside of the room that he and Fandral seemed to have been left forgotten in and the dank aroma of the palace was beginning to get on his nerves somewhat.

He though how it was back in Asguard where his mother's gardens were green and thick with flowers bursting into to bloom and where he could unobtrusively watch Hogun as he trained in the training grounds, he wished he had not made such a fool of himself by coming on to the grim warrior the way he had and he could not for the life of him he could not understand why he had done such a stupid and impulsive thing, such actions he left to his brother Thor who was well known for his impulsiveness.

Before Loki could procrastinate further with himself, the Jotun warrior from before made his way into the room and addressed Loki in his gruff manner.

"King Laufey will see you now."