Fenrir and Thor were in the stables the next morning when the guards came. Two Einherjar came running in and dropped into a bow before the two princes.
"My Prince," One said. "Your father has awakened. He commands your presence in the great hall immediately." Thor moved to take Fenrir's arm when the guard continued. "He insisted that you come alone. He was most firm on that point." Thor once again looked worriedly at Fenrir.
"Oh don't worry about the boy," Fandral said, stepping into the stables behind the guards. "I can keep him company until you come back."
"What in the Nine are you doing awake at this hour?" Thor asked his friend.
"I had planned a rendezvous with a rather lovely seamstress but we had to cut our time short. Something about her husband coming home early," Fandral said with a sigh. "So I thought I'd come and see that you were taking care of my horse." Thor laughed but the guards were getting increasingly impatient.
"He was very clear that you were to come directly to him," He insisted again.
"I'll be right back," Thor called to his companions as he headed to the palace.
*/*/*/*/*/*
When Thor arrived at the great hall it was empty. He looked around for his father but soon saw that the entire area was deserted. He found a chair and decided to wait. It wasn't uncommon for his father to be besieged by news and requests from his council the moment he awoke from his sleep and that was undoubtedly the reason he had been delayed. In truth Thor was more surprised that Odin would have any need to see him so soon but then, of course, there was Fenrir!
Thor realized that Frigga must have told Odin about the return of his grandson as soon as possible. His father must have called him to hear what Thor knew of Fenrir's imprisonment, before he met the boy himself. Odin would probably want to start a war with Svartalfheim when he heard about how far their deception went. Satisfied that he had figured out what was going on, Thor allowed himself to relax into his seat.
He hadn't realized how much time had passed until he heard approaching footsteps. He realized, as he rose from his seat, that the light step he heard on the stones couldn't possibly be his father's.
"Thor?" His mother said, entering the hall. "I thought you and Fenris were going out riding."
"Father summoned me."
"Your father is in the throne room. He's been with his council all morning."
"He sent a group of Einherjar to retrieve me. I assume that he wants to talk about what happened on Svartalfheim."
"Why didn't he have you come to him in the throne room?" Frigga asked, with more concern than Thor thought the question deserved.
"I'm sure he'll come when he can be spared."
"Thor, where are the soldiers?" Thor looked at his mother with confusion. "If your father thought a message was urgent enough that he sent einherjar to deliver it than I can't believe that he wouldn't have them bring you directly to him," Frigga looked at her son in near panic. "Come with me, quickly. Something is very wrong." She said, running from the room.
His mother's feelings were contagious and soon he was overtaking her in his rush to get to the throne room. When he reached the doors he found his way blocked by several more of the einherjar.
"Let me pass," Thor commanded.
"We've been given orders that no one is to enter until the king has completed his business," one of the soldiers said.
"Move." Frigga said, coming up shortly behind her son. The men seemed conflicted for a moment. On the one hand, they had been told to guard these doors with their lives. On the other hand, only a fool would disobey a direct order from the Queen. They quickly made up their minds and moved to open the doors.
Odin sat upon his golden throne at the far end of the room. A team of Einherjar clustered in a group in front of him. Thor and Frigga quickly approached.
"I would rather have had you both wait until this unpleasantness was resolved," Odin said, spotting the two. "However I suppose that it is for the best that you're both here. This way there can be no dissent later."
"What is going on?" Frigga asked.
"Upon awaking this morning I was greatly distressed to learn of all that had been going on in my absence. Most specifically your activities on Svartalfheim," Odin said, directing the last comment toward Thor. "I've already sent a delegate to King Auolies. Hopefully it won't be too late to repair the damage that you've done."
"What! You should be declaring war yourself, not begging his mercy," Thor shouted.
"Is that how you see it? My truce with Auolies had been on fragile ground for thousands of years, yet we have managed to stay allies. In just a few days you managed to go down to the planet, insult and threaten the king, try and extort treasure and then make off with one of his prisoners."
"I don't know who has told you these stories but they have left out the most important detail. The prisoner that I took from his dungeons was Fenrir! Auolies lied when he told you of his death. He had been keeping him as a prisoner; what I did was no less than you yourself would have done."
"You truly have no idea of the danger that you put this realm in."
"If Auolies even tries to bring an attack on Asgard then I'll gladly tear him down myself."
"I do not speak of the danger that would come from Svartalfheim. I'm talking about the threat you brought when you released that abomination from its cage," Odin said, pointing at a spot behind Thor. Thor turned around and saw for the first time what Frigga had already discovered.
The squad of einherjar that Thor had passed on his way to his father was surrounding Fenrir's kneeling form. Thor rushed over to his nephew only to have his way blocked.
"What have you done?" Frigga cried, turning on her husband.
"What was necessary," Odin said. "You both seem appalled by Auolies actions, but have you forgotten what Fenrir did to bring them on? Of the lives that he took?"
"He was a child," Frigga insisted.
"Exactly. A child capable of such destruction is not something to be taken lightly. If it hadn't been for my own weakness I would have killed him myself."
Thor turned as Odin's last remark had drawn a cry from Fenrir. For the first time since his arrival in the throne room Thor took a good look at his nephew. Thor thought he had seen Fenrir scared, but nothing compared to the look of pure terror that was now on his face. His arms were bound in front of him with chains and a piece of metal encircled his neck like a collar. Thor's disgust only grew when he saw that Fenrir's clothes were splashed with blood.
"Which one of you did this?" Thor demanded of the soldiers.
"It's not his blood," Odin said dryly. "When my men went to retrieve him he attempted to change into his wolf form and tear them apart. Don't let his look of helplessness fool you. The boy is a killer, just like his father."
"He was frightened," Thor explained. "He never would have fought anyone if he hadn't thought that they were there to do him harm."
"Yet no harm was caused; except by him. In the few minutes it took to contain him he managed to rip Tyr's hand off, and would have done worse if he hadn't been restrained," Odin said. "And what of your shield brother, Fandral? He attempted to defend him and nearly lost an arm for his troubles." This stopped Thor cold. What possible reason could Fenrir have had to hurt Fandral?
"This is madness," Frigga said. "He's our grandson."
"He is nothing to us," Odin said. "Loki has made very clear that we are no relation of his and as such, neither is his son."
"You can't hold him accountable for Loki's actions," Frigga insisted.
"I don't. I hold him accountable for his own," Odin declared, rising from his throne and descending the stairs in front of him. "This has gone on long enough. Guards, take him down to the dungeons."
Odin's command had an instant effect on Fenrir, who immediately began struggling against his captors.
"No!" He yelled, as they pulled him to his feet. "Don't! Thor! Thor!"
The screams followed him down the halls as he was taken from the room. His nephew's pleas woke Thor from his stupor and brought him back to the problem in front of him.
"You have to reconsider. Whatever Loki might have convinced himself, Fenrir is a part of our family," Thor said.
"You show the same misplaced loyalty to him that you showed to his father."
"My loyalty is not misplaced."
"Isn't it, that you would place his wellbeing before that of your realm?"
"He is no threat." Thor insisted.
"Enough!" Odin declared. "I've made my decision." With that he continued down the stairs and crossed out of the room. Thor moved to follow him but Frigga stopped him with a hand over his chest.
"Leave him for now," She said. "Go and check on your friend. If what Odin said is true than he'll be in the healing chambers. Have him tell you what happened and then join me in the dungeons." Without waiting for a response she left.
*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
Fandral was sitting up in bed when Thor arrived, a healer rubbing a salve on his arm. Thor almost couldn't go further for fear of what he might hear. Finally he forced himself to approach the bed. Fandral looked up at his friend with regret.
"I suppose that you heard about what happened?" Fandral asked. Thor nodded.
"I'm sorry for what Fenrir did to your arm," Thor said.
"Fenrir?" Fandral asked with surprise. "Is he the one who did it? I'd assumed that it had been one of the guards."
"You don't remember?"
"I remember Erikk hitting me from behind with the butt of his spear. Things get a bit hazy after that." Fandral remembered, rubbing the back of his head.
"I need you to tell me exactly what happened." Thor begged, hoping that his faith in his nephew hadn't been misplaced.
"As soon as you were out of sight of the stables the guards moved to restrain Fenrir. The boy began to panic so I tried to help him. The next thing I know weapons are being drawn and I'm battling against my own teammates." Fandral said, still unable to comprehend the bizarre turn the morning had taken.
"And what was Fenris doing during all of this?"
"Last I saw of him he was trying to run. I tried to pull a few of the guards off of him and that's when I was hit."
"What about your arm?"
"I couldn't tell you. I didn't even know about it until I woke up. I just assumed that I was slashed at some point in the melee." This was no surprise to Thor, as Fandral had often not taken notice of his injuries until a battle was over.
"So it wasn't Fenrir who attacked you?"
"It might have been, but I can't see when he would have had the chance. Who told you that it was him?"
*/*/*/*/*/*/*
When Thor arrived in the dungeons it was with a new hope. He was convinced that Fenrir had had no part in what had happened to Fandral. With that one piece of information all of his faith in his nephew's goodness had been returned.
The palace dungeons were large and at first Thor was at a loss for where to look for his nephew. He'd assumed that he'd be brought to the main holding area, but when those cells proved empty of any but common criminals Thor was forced to expand his search. It was with an increasing feeling of unpleasantness that Thor went into the lower levels of the dungeon. He was beginning to suspect where Fenrir had been brought and the thought wasn't encouraging.
A few years ago the crystal containment cells had been the most secure on Asgard. They were believed to be impenetrable and so when Loki had been returned to Asgard that was where he'd been taken. For five months it seemed that all was well until one morning a guard had gone to bring Loki a meal and found the cell empty. No one, not even Heimdall, had been able to figure out how Loki had escaped. The next day Odin had begun construction on a cell that could contain Loki, no matter what magic he used.
Thor supposed that he shouldn't have been surprised when he found his mother waiting for him in Loki's cell.
"Fandral was hurt by one of the Einherjar. Fenris had nothing to do with it," Thor proclaimed, as he entered the room.
"I was sure that he hadn't. I'm glad that he removed your doubt," Frigga said sadly. She was crouched on the floor in front of Fenrir, who was curled up, clutching his knees to the front of his chest. "He's in shock. He hasn't said a word since I came in."
Thor moved to sit next to his mother. He could clearly hear Fenrir's harsh breathing. Thor wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around his nephew, but he had the feeling that that would only make matters worse.
"What do we do?" Thor asked.
"I don't know." Frigga said, caressing Fenrir's cheek. "You father seems set in his hate. I never thought he could be capable of something so cruel."
"We have to get him out of here," Thor said, rising to his feet. "I didn't free him from one prison only to see him locked into another,"
"I see no easy solution."
"It need not be easy," Thor said.
"Do you really mean that?" Frigga asked, looking away from her grandson for the first time since Thor had entered the room. "How much are you truly willing to do for him?"
Thor saw immediately that this was no idle question. He looked at his nephew cowering in front of his mother. He was reminded of when Loki had been locked in his own cell after his attempt to conquer Midgard with the Chitauri had failed. Frigga had brought him to try and help her reason with Loki. To get him to see reason and accept the terrible weight of what he'd done. It was then, as Loki made clear the contempt he had for all humans, that Thor realized how lost his brother was. Loki was so filled with hate that only a miracle would make any difference. Thor saw that by not seeing how dark the path his brother was on, and Loki would always be his brother, that he had failed him.
As he thought of all this Thor knew that he had the answer to his mother's question. He wasn't going to fail Fenris.
"I'll do whatever it takes if it means Fenris will have his freedom," This brought a fleeting smile to Frigga's face that was soon replaced with concern.
"There may be a way. In truth it is the only way that I can see but, even if we can get Odin to agree, then Fenris's entire future would be uncertain."
"Tell me what I must do," Thor said without hesitation.
"Stay with Fenris for now. I'll need time to sway Odin to my plan and in the meantime I won't be able to come here as much as I'd like. Also, I'll need you to stay as far away from your father as you can," She finished without explanation.
"Since I'll be spending my time here, that shouldn't be a problem."
"Then I suppose there's no reason for me to delay." She said, moving to stand.
While Fenrir hadn't seemed to register Frigga's presence, the prospect of her removal seemed to wake him up. He looked up at her, eyes pleading with her not to leave. She knelt back down and kissed him on the forehead.
"Don't be afraid. I'll return as soon as I can," She whispered, and then left the room.
Immediately Fenrir's eyes turned to Thor, no longer holding their look of loving hope.
"Leave," He hissed.
"Fenris," Thor began.
"I want you gone."
"Frigga told me to stay with you." Thor crouched down in front of his nephew only to have him push himself away.
"I don't want you here. Go back to Earth," Fenrir said, with a glare.
"I will not leave you."
"You already left me. You left me alone in the stables and let those men take me." Fenrir said.
"I never thought you would be in any danger."
"Liar," Fenrir muttered. "You told me my life here would be good. You said that when Odin woke up everything would be alright. You said that you would keep me safe; you lied about everything!"
This was the first time Thor had heard Fenrir raise his voice. Up until this moment it had seemed like the sound of his own voice had been too much for the boy. Several times Thor had found himself wishing that he would discover his confidence and speak without hesitation. The realization of his wish was a somewhat hollow victory.
"I'm sorry," Thor said.
Fenrir's anger seemed to evaporate. Slowly he rose to his feet and walked to the other end of his cell; going as far from Thor as he could. He sat down in a corner and curled back into himself.
"Please, just leave me alone," He said, more to himself than to his uncle.
Thor tried to think of something he could say to his nephew, something that would show him that he was on his side. That he wasn't going to abandon him. He tried, but he couldn't think of anything. So, without another word, he got up and he walked out of the dungeons.
Author's Note: So I have become addicted to seeing a response to this story, be it in reviews or just checking to see how many people have read. To help feed my habit, click review.