As Freyr and Gerd's servants and belongings had arrived earlier, Thor's departure with Fjolnir left Loki alone with them and the two riderless horses. Loki very much doubted that Thor had done this deliberately, but that didn't mean he wouldn't take advantage of the situation. "You responded very quickly to my father's invitation," he observed as they rode towards the city. "I would love to know what he said to inspire such haste."

"Simply that it was high time our families met properly," said Freyr, "and that he feels we are uniquely positioned to advise him on strengthening the bonds between our realms." It was the answer Loki had expected. Odin would hardly have sent a messenger to directly ask for a Jotun sorceress to come answer his adopted Jotun son's questions about their species.

"Yes," said Loki, "I daresay at least three realms could benefit from your visit." He glanced casually at Gerd.

She met his gaze unflinchingly. "As such, it is long overdue, wouldn't you say?"

"You think it worth pursuing, then?"

"What could be more worth pursuing, Prince Loki?"

"What indeed." He glanced at the silver pendant she wore and noticed the delicate Ljosalfar script etched into it. "That is a fine necklace. I noticed Fjolnir wears a similar one."

"Yes," she said, touching her fingers to it, "They contain locks of my parents' hair. We aren't able to see them as often as we'd like, but this way we are able to keep them with us."

Ah, so that was how Gerd and Fjolnir achieved their Ljosalfr and half-Ljosalfr appearance. Many who lacked Loki's talent for shapeshifting relied on bespelled objects rather than investing the time it would take to master the difficult spells on their own. A lock of hair was an essential ingredient for imitating a person's likeness. How clever to use hair from two people. Instead of assuming the identity of an individual existing Ljosalfr, Gerd actually looked like the blood child of the couple who had adopted her, and her son shared the same visible traits, mixed with those he had gotten from Freyr. The Ljosalfar had always had a knack for such innovations. Did all the other skamrbarn wear similar trinkets, or were they only made for the ones who left Alfheim?

X

That evening, thousands of Aesir who lived in the city feasted at the palace, celebrating the end of another Odinsleep and honoring Asgard's guests. Fjolnir ran between the long tables of adults with a pack of giggling boys that included Leif Volstaggson while his parents conversed politely with several nobles and council members. At the other end of the high table, the four mortals drew quite a crowd of curious people, mostly not of the nobility—with the exception of Fandral, who was again flirting with Darcy.

Feasting inevitably gave way to dancing, which lasted for hours and grew predictably raucous as the mead continued to flow. Thor remained at the high table, watching with an ache in his chest as his people and his friends enjoyed themselves, his own lighthearted mood from earlier in the day completely gone. This night could not have been more different than the way it had played out in the original timeline, where it had been the night of Loki's premature funeral. Whispers had flown in every direction about what had led to his death and why there was no body in the boat, and most of the so-called mourners seemed more concerned about the destroyed Bifrost than by the loss of their prince. One man had been fool enough to suggest within Thor's hearing that he had slain his own brother when he refused to surrender the throne. Thor had broken his jaw. He'd wanted to do far worse. He couldn't even remember what that man looked like now, but he was likely somewhere among the dancers.

He was shaken out of these unpleasant recollections by the sight of Loki, Sif, and Volstagg approaching from the crowd.

"Come, Brother," said Loki, "even Mother and Father are dancing. The longer you sit here like this, the more people will think you are sulking over missing out on the regency."

"He's right," said Volstagg, whose second and third-youngest children were dangling off him. "You should be merry! It is a fine night, and all is well on Asgard!"

Sif cut straight to the chase by seizing Thor about the wrists and hauling him out of his seat and towards the dance floor. He let her do it, and a moment later, they were all dancing in the circle that included Volstagg's wife, one or two of Lady Eir's apprentice healers, and a tipsy, grinning Erik. Thor's spirits were soon buoyed up as he clapped and followed the steps. Why should he sorrow over things that hadn't and wouldn't come to pass? There was so much still to do, but perhaps, one day, those eight years would feel like little more than a bad dream.

X

Freyr, Gerd, and Fjolnir joined the royal family for breakfast the next morning. Fjolnir insisted on sitting between Thor and Loki, who were happy to oblige him, with Odin and Frigga on either side of them across the circular table from each other, and Freyr and Gerd opposite their son.

While the adults ate, Fjolnir bombarded Thor with questions about what his hammer could do. The moment he had realized that it shared all but one letter with his own name, it had become his favorite topic of conversation. Thor indulged him, entertaining him with a few stories of enemies he had faced with Mjolnir. Loki only half listened, shooting glances at his father every few minutes. They had discussed what would happen at this meal, and the urge to leave a projection in his place and flee was strong.

"Ask him about the time he rescued your Aunt Freya from an unwanted suitor," said Freyr.

Thor cracked a grin. "Have you never told him that tale? You were there too."

"I thought I would save it," said Freyr. He looked at his son. "A century or so before you were born, Freya and I went on a long hunt in the wilds south of Honir. We passed a little too near the territory of a tribe of hill giants, and Thrym, their chieftain, caught sight of her. He decided she would make him a fine wife and sent his soldiers to capture her."

"Fortunately," said Thor, "Loki and I were on Vanaheim to visit our cousins at the time, and we fought Thrym's minions back easily. Unfortunately, we celebrated a little too much afterward, and Thrym succeeded in stealing my hammer."

"The hammer you had been given less than a year prior when you came of age," Frigga muttered.

"Yes, so I could hardly go back to Asgard without it," said Thor, "especially with Thrym using it to make even more trouble for Honir. He demanded Freya as his bride or he would destroy the entire city."

"What did you do?" said Fjolnir, hanging on every word.

Thor glanced at Loki, who returned his grin despite his mounting nerves. "Well, you see, after our first skirmish, Thrym became very cautious, striking the city at unexpected times, never giving us much of an opportunity to attack, and carefully concealing the locations of his camps. Loki came up with a rather devious plan to draw him out."

"You did?" said Fjolnir.

"Well, Thrym wanted Freya, so I suggested we give her to him. Or allow him to think so. What he got instead was Thor in her wedding gown."

Gerd choked on her drink while Thor and Freyr laughed. Frigga and Odin both looked simultaneously amused and exasperated. Fjolnir only frowned at Thor. "But you don't look like Aunt Freya at all."

"Does he not?" said Loki. Fjolnir turned his frown at Loki before looking back at Thor and giving a start, because in his place sat Lady Freya in a rather lovely wedding gown.

"I think that will do, Brother." Thor's normal voice issued from the illusion as "Freya" rolled her eyes, and Fjolnir dissolved into a fit of giggles, his parents both laughing heartily. Loki snickered into his goblet and lifted the spell.

"We prepared a magnificent wedding feast," said Freyr. "Thrym brought most of his men along, all heavily armed, so perhaps he suspected something."

"The wedding proceeded to the point of the exchange of weapons," said Thor, "which put Mjolnir back in my hand. Loki dropped the illusions and I challenged Thrym to battle. If he won, he could keep Mjolnir and try his luck with Freya. He was so furious that we tricked him that I don't know if he heard me, but he and his men attacked. We fought, and we won. I had my hammer back, Freya remained happily unmarried, and Honir was safe at last." Thor clunked his goblet against Loki's and drained it.

"You're so lucky you have a brother," said Fjolnir, looking back and forth from Thor to Loki with an envious pout.

"I certainly think so," said Thor. Loki rolled his eyes.

"My friend Jarl back home has two brothers," said Fjolnir, "and I met a boy yesterday with four brothers and three sisters!" That would be Leif. There were few families on Asgard as large as Volstagg and Hildegund's. "Mama, Papa, you should have another baby so I can have a brother."

"We'll work on that right away," said Freyr with a saucy smirk at his wife.

"And what if the Norns decide you should have a sister instead?" said Gerd.

Fjolnir wrinkled his nose. "Could I still play with her?"

"Of course you could," said Freyr.

"And when she grew big enough," said Gerd, "you could teach her to ride her horse and help her practice her spells."

"That wouldn't be so bad," said Fjolnir, as though this was a great concession on his part. "But I would rather have a brother." With that, he dug into his breakfast.

Odin and Frigga chuckled along with the boy's parents, before Odin gestured to the servants standing around the edges of the room to leave them. Loki's heart began to pound. The moment was nearly upon him. Freyr raised his eyebrows. "Are we discussing matters of state already?"

"Perhaps those boys from last night are nearby," said Gerd, starting to stand. "I'm sure Fjolnir would much rather play with them than listen to such dull adult conversation."

"He should stay," said Loki. His mouth was very dry. He clenched his hands beneath the table to keep them from trembling. "This concerns him too, somewhat." He looked directly at Gerd. "How old were you when you left Jotunheim?"

Her eyes went wide, and Freyr leapt to his feet so quickly that he sent his chair flying, moving to stand in front of her, eyes darting to each of them before settling fearfully on Fjolnir, who still sat between Thor and Loki.

Loki continued as if there had been no disturbance. "I learned recently that I left when I was but two days old." Their guests froze. He could feel Fjolnir's confused eyes on him.

"Freyr, your family is in no danger here," said Frigga. "Please sit."

Gerd laid a hand on her husband's arm, and he reluctantly righted his seat and reclaimed it. "What do you mean?" she asked, looking at Loki.

Loki glanced at Odin, who nodded and raised the fingers of his right hand an inch or so, causing curtains to drop over the windows and the fires to dim, leaving the room in semi-darkness.

He reached for that knot of seidr again and tugged. The room was suddenly warm and appeared brightly lit. "Some of us don't require the use of an enchanted pendant to hide it."

Gerd gaped at him in utter shock, and he could feel the stares of everyone else on him too. He couldn't help seeking Frigga's gaze. She was beaming at him, and she reached for his hand. He didn't have time to whip it away, but though there was a pronounced temperature difference, her skin did not burn when she touched him. Fighting back tears of relief and grateful that he was already sitting down, Loki turned to look at Thor, whose eyes traced the lines in his flesh with fascination but not the slightest hint of hostility. Had he never seen him like this in the other timeline?

"You're like me?" said Fjolnir. The boy wore the same look of pure wonder he'd given Thor a few times. Loki nodded, unable to speak around the lump in his throat.

Fjolnir shot an imploring look at his mother. Loki looked at her too.

"You can take it off, darling," said Gerd. She reached for the fastener to the silver chain around her neck and released it, then set the pendant on the table before her. The moment it parted company with her skin, deep, icy blue blossomed across her. Her long, pointed ears shrank until they were hidden by her hair, which turned from white-blonde to fully white, and her leaf-green eyes became scarlet. Freyr took her hand and twined his fingers through hers. His skin didn't burn either. The flowing dress she wore left her arms bare, so Loki could see the coiling patterns in her skin—very different from the sharp angles of his own. The marks on her face were more similar, but not quite the same.

Beside Loki, Fjolnir had also removed his pendant and set it on the table. Being half-Vanr, his transformation wasn't quite so dramatic. His curly hair also became white and his ears lost their pointed tips, but his skin was a much paler blue and only his irises turned red. The markings on his face were identical to Gerd's, but what little was visible of his arms and hands past the ends of his bunched-up sleeves was smooth.

"To answer your question," said Gerd, "I was born in a remote part of Jotunheim, and my birth parents were able to hide me for several years. I have a few vague memories of them. Happy ones."

"But it didn't last," said Loki.

"It couldn't," she said. "Eventually, the danger of keeping me with them became greater than the risk of smuggling me to Alfheim. I do not know if they still live, or if I have siblings. If I do and they were skamrbarn too, they never reached Alfheim."

"Perhaps you will soon be in a position to find out," said Thor.

"This is the true reason we invited you to Asgard," said Odin. "It is not Vanaheim or Alfheim we wish to discuss, but Jotunheim."

What the heck, this chapter was hard to write too! It didn't really help that things got busier at work. And then I watched Crimson Peak for the first time and have become mildly obsessed (entirely aside from the appeal of another tragic Tom Hiddleston character, it's like if every single gothic novel on the reading list of my graduate class on gothic fiction were condensed into an absolute visual feast of a film). Also I've gotten over my Artist's Block a bit, so you guys might be getting a 7-page comic about toddler Thor and baby Loki being adorable soon. :D

I wish we'd gotten more Asgard between the three Thor movies, so I try to give it as much character as I can when I write big public scenes like the banquet. It seems like family is a big deal on Asgard and there aren't as many formalities dividing the different classes from each other, which is why the royal family can throw a big, boisterous feast and dance inside the palace, and there are kids running around all over the place.

As much fun as it would be to see Chris Hemsworth's Thor in a wedding dress and trying his hardest to act like a blushing Vanr bride, realistically, unless Thrym was super blind, he wasn't going to fall for anything less than one of Loki's illusions.

Okay, I have some fun ideas about Loki's Jotun lessons with Gerd and Fjolnir, so that's probably what's coming up next.