Author's note: And on to epilogue number two… ^^

He's leaning over the railing of the balcony, his forearms resting on the top of the marble barrier, as he's looking out over the bustling city below. It is a beautiful day, and for a while, he merely stands there watching the throng of people milling about – children playing, servants gossiping, warriors marching out to the training fields, women carrying baskets filled with goods fresh from the market.

The scenes are all so familiar, just like the weight at his side from the heavy weapon tugging at his belt. However, there is one familiar thing missing, one that should also have been at his side.

His brother, who is in Midgard, still a slave. His absence has left an aching emptiness at Thor's side. His brother, whose presence was once as natural and taken for granted as that of his own shadow, hasn't been there for quite some time now. It's strange how that spot still feels empty. He should have gotten used to it by now, but he really hasn't.

Of course, he knows that he has no reason for concern. Man of Iron would not – has not – harm his brother in any way; Loki is safe with him.

Down in the square below, he can make out a conjuror performing little tricks before a group of mesmerized children, making blue wisps of smoke rise from his hands and frogs jump out of his hat. He has no idea if there's any real magic involved or if it's all just sleight of hand, but the show reminds him of Loki nevertheless, from those days when his magic was never used for anything worse than mischief and tricks. Though, he's certain that those days are now back again, and Loki will never again try to use his spells to harm or to hurt, to cause destruction and wreak havoc, once it is returned to him.

He's glad that Loki will have his magic restored eventually; he knows how much it meant to his brother, and it would be hard for him to go through life without it, even as a free man.

The thought makes a little flutter of happiness stir inside of him. Because Loki will be free once more; he will not have to bear the terrible burden of slavery on his shoulders for the rest of his days. No, only two years, the verdict had stated, and he would have his freedom again.

At that, there's another thought stirring inside of him, one that has begun to rear its head whenever he's been reflecting on how Loki will eventually be free of his bonds. Namely, all those others who will never have that chance to be free, who will have no choice but to spend their whole lives as slaves, never being allowed even a sliver of freedom.

Of course, he's never thought a lot about the slaves before. They had never been around much when he grew up, nor are they now. Given how it's not considered proper for slaves to serve directly on members of the royal family, there had instead been highly trained and skilled servants around to perform such duties. Hence, he had never really considered them much or paid attention to them, whenever he had seen them. They had just been… there. Just something taken for granted, but never truly reflected on. It was just how things were, and so, he had never stopped to think much about the slaves.

Not until his own brother was made one.

Granted, his first reaction upon finding out about Loki's sentence had been relief, since he had been certain his brother had been executed. Even something like slavery had seemed like a step up, and a much preferable option to the alternative.

And clearly, Man of Iron had not treated Loki like a slave. Not that Thor had expected his Midgardian shield brother to be cruel or brutal – it wasn't really in him to act like that towards someone who had no means of defending themselves – but he still hadn't expected all the rest. Like how he had allowed Loki to eat with him at the table and address him by his name, and all those other things that would never have happened in Asgard. How he had treated him like an equal.

Even during his last visit to Midgard, he still couldn't help but to marvel at that, how Man of Iron acted like Loki was a guest of his, even a friend, and not a slave. There was nothing in his behaviour – nor in Loki's – that suggested any difference in their social positions. Perhaps some of it could be attributed to the two of them having an intimate relationship with each other, though he's quite sure that's not the entire reason; there's more to it than that.

It had been a rather shocking thing to come to terms with, and it was not obvious to him at first, but at some point he did realize that Loki and Man of Iron were indeed engaging in such. Clearly, they were doing their best trying to act as if nothing of the sort was going on whenever he came to visit, but he's not dense enough to miss something like that. He knows his brother and has seen the way he's been acting around his previous lovers in Asgard. It was not hard to infer from the subtle glances and unspoken words passed between the two of them, the telling behaviour even more obvious this time than ever before.

Yes, it had shocked him at first, but it was still clear that Loki was participating willingly; that much could easily be concluded from the way he acted around Man of Iron. He had seen his brother infatuated before, even in love a few times, and this was just the same, only so much more pronounced. No, it was obvious that Man of Iron had not forced him into any of the sort; this was happening with Loki's full consent.

Still, he doesn't approve of it. He still considers it wrong for a man to let another man lie with him like that, to willingly make himself argr. But nevertheless, he accepts Loki's choice in the matter. He never did speak up about all those other trysts that Loki was involved in back on Asgard, since it was not his business. And so, he will say nothing about this either, as long as Loki engages in it by his own free will, as long as he is content and happy. It is Loki's choice to make, not his brother's.

But even if his unease at the sentence was assuaged as he visited Midgard and saw how well his brother was faring despite his circumstances, it began to increase all the more for him back in Asgard. Because whenever he would see a slave toiling away or scurrying by, their hair and faces and bodies would suddenly shift in appearance so that it was no longer them, but Loki that he saw in those ragged clothes. It might as well have been his own brother in that unenviable situation, and it surely would have been, if it hadn't been for Man of Iron's compassion and kindness that stopped him from treating Loki in such a way.

But most slaves were not as lucky as Loki, to have a master like that. And it was strange, how those slaves had never been more than passing shadows to him, someone working in the background, but now, for the first time, he truly saw them. He took in the sight of their ragged clothes, their gaunt bodies, and, at times, even the bruises on their arms and faces, and it made something squirm uncomfortably inside of him. How come he had never noticed these things before?

Of course, he's not King yet, and perhaps won't be for centuries to come. And he knows that when it comes to something monumental like that, the Council will first need to approve. It is not a decision even the King is allowed to take without their support. But he thinks that maybe, some day, things can change. The humans have changed, so perhaps they can, too.

Many on the Council are old men. They have old ideas. They would not want to think in new terms, but prefer for things to stay unchanged, to remain the way they have always been. Maybe there will be no way to persuade them, but they will not remain on the Council forever. One day, they will be replaced by younger men who might be more amendable to change, who could be made to think differently. Men who are not as stuck in the old ways and customs.

Perhaps stagnating is dangerous. The humans have done anything but that. Midgard has changed so much since the millennium that has passed since he would visit it with any regularity. Many Aesir did, during those days, before it was decided that Midgard should be left to its own devices. They had once, before Thor's time, fought off the frost giants threatening their realm, and been worshipped as gods in return. But the Allfather had not been sure that the Aesir's presence was entirely beneficial to the humans, and so, in the end, he had decided that they should sever their ties to Midgard and let the humans find their own way. Visits to their realm were no longer allowed.

And when Thor had made his unwilling return, during his banishment, he didn't recognize the realm at all. For a while, he had been almost certain that there had been a mistake somewhere and he had ended up somewhere differently. Because this was not the Midgard of old that he remembered, with ways and behaviour and a society that he could relate to. No, what had now taken its place was something completely different.

The humans had developed so much; they had learnt so many things and invented so many marvellous new devices. Because they were able to let go of their old notions of how things should be done and were willing to think in new directions and see things from other perspectives. Perhaps that's what they, the Aesir, need to do as well.

The humans might be weak and ephemeral, but they're still an admirable species. With so many new people born every day to replace the old generations, novel ideas can easily grow and flourish. That is surely one of humanity's greatest qualities – their inherent ability to change and reinvent themselves.

The Aesir don't have the same ability with their long lives and slow generational turnover. But change can be slow too; it doesn't have to be as quick as for the humans.

And there is another thing that has become clear to him – not everyone in Asgard was feeling entirely comfortable about Loki's punishment upon his brother's return. Perhaps they thought it fair and just when the sentence was meted out and was to be served in a realm far away, but once Loki came back again wearing the clothing of a slave, acting the part, it had been jarring to some people.

Primarily, it was Hallgrim's party that had been the cause of it. Many nobles had been in attendance, and even though no one had of course pretended to – because it was considered beneath someone of a noble standing to be shown paying attention to a mere slave – they had all noticed Loki, even been acutely aware of him kneeling at the table and acting like a slave was supposed to. And then Njal had tried to molest him – once Thor found out, he had made sure to fully accidentally break his arm the next time he faced off with him on the training field – which had unsettled several people. Some were indifferent, or even slightly amused, but not all. No, others had seemed pensive, even thoughtful, as the subject was brought up. As if it somehow put things into another perspective now when it was Loki being in that position and it all happened before their very eyes, not on some faraway realm most of them had never visited and never would.

As if it had suddenly become real. As if they hadn't quite realized until now that this happened to actual people. Because as much as they might dislike – even hate – Loki, they hadn't grown up seeing him as a mere shadow in the background, like the other slaves. No, he was a real, actual person they had all known in some way or the other; they had talked to him and interacted with him before he was given his slavery sentence. They had not seen him as a slave before, and now, all of a sudden, he was one. And that made it all the more real, it seemed, as well as disturbing. As if it was something that had previously been happening on the sidelines and out of sight, but had now been brought out into the open and put right in front of them.

Yes, it had seemed like some people were actually reflecting on the state of things.

Perhaps enough so that some of them might be able to see things differently when it's time for him to ascend the throne and shoulder the responsibilities and duties that comes with being Asgard's King.

One day, not that long ago, he had run into Frey in the Halls. The man had let slip some comment about Loki that he can't recall exactly now, but there had been something in there that, the more he thought about it, had made him believe that Frey did not approve of slavery. Frey would want it changed.

And Frey will be a full member of the Council some day.

And surely, there will be others like Frey, eventually. Enough so that he can one day get the support needed in the Council to have slavery outlawed in Asgard.

Yes, one day, he will make that happen, once he is King.

Because if Loki is to be granted his freedom, then so should all the other slaves.

And for the final instalment of this story, we will of course return back to Midgard and see how our favourite happy couple is doing. ^^

Please review. :)