Beneath

Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Four – Negotiator

"It would be easier if we carried you," Byleister said.

Loki redoubled his efforts to lengthen his strides. "I would advise you not to attempt it," he said. They'd been walking less than half an hour, stepping carefully over cracked and mangled rough ice, and Loki was finding it difficult to keep up. His mind wandered to another dark land covered with ice marked by the uneven rough ice known as sastrugi, and of Jane struggling to keep up with his long confident strides while not slipping or tripping in the process. When he saw her again – he refused to think of it as if, he had private instruction planned for her with the king of Alfheim, after all – he would have to tell her he now knew what that felt like.

The ground soon flattened out again from the low hills they'd crossed, and though Loki couldn't say he recognized it, there was something familiar about it. He considered the direction they'd been walking in, and realized he had been here before. This was the palace. It had been open to the elements on those previous occasions, but with visible damage that made Loki think it had perhaps not always been so. There had been a throne of ice, in good condition – they must have taken the time to actually keep it repaired – and spires of ice in incomplete geometric patterns, evidence of what might have once been, to a Frost Giant at least, a grand structure. Now there was nothing more than piles of rubble and the occasional puddle. He wondered if the warring Frost Giants had done that, as this swath of land passed from camp to camp, or if he'd done it himself, with the bifrost. He didn't care what Thor or his mother or anyone else thought; the idea that he had eliminated all recognizable traces of Jotunheim's palace brought a warm thrill to his heart and a cold smile to his lips.

Past the area of the palace they turned left, no signs of city or settlement around them. Where do they live? Loki wondered for the first time.

When they had walked for what Loki estimated to have been another forty or fifty minutes, based on his pace and the steps he'd kept count of, he realized they were now headed straight for a seemingly endless line of fallen ice boulders. Big ones, with smaller ones filling in the gaps. The Frost Giants showed no sign of detouring around them, and Loki didn't see how he was supposed to climb them, not without spiked boots and gloves. They drew nearer and no hidden path over them appeared; Loki began to wonder if he would have to levitate himself while the Frost Giants climbed. He was just turning to ask when he heard a shift in the rhythm of footfalls behind him, but before he could fully turn an arm had wrapped around his arms and chest and he was lifted from the ground just as a hand came over his face, easily covering all of it, leaving him blind and struggling to breathe and just as importantly not change forms.

"Don't struggle," the one to whose chest he was pinned said. "This is the neutral place. But no foreigner will ever be shown its entrance, not least an Aesir."

The words registered but meant nothing; Loki kicked back against the legs behind him with abandon, and pulled and scratched at the hand over his face.

"You're not holding one of us, you know," one of the other giants said. "You're covering his mouth and nose. He can't breathe."

The giant behind Loki hunched over him and adjusted the position of the hand on his face; Loki's nose burned with the pressure dragged up it and remaining on the bridge, but he could breathe, and with air filling his lungs again he could concentrate on quieting the sudden panic that had overcome him. He had let down his guard with these Frost Giants and their near-wordless journey. He wouldn't do so again. His eyes were still covered – along with his forehead and up over the top of his head, which had Loki nearly breathing out a giddy laugh at the association he had of hands over foreheads with his mother checking him and Thor for fever when they were boys. It came out as a small cough instead, which hurt a bit as his chest spasmed under the arm clamped down across it. He let himself be carried like that, telling himself it was not nearly as humiliating as it might look to anyone watching, and a few minutes later – it was hard to estimate the time, as he did not know the walking speed of giants, especially giants who no longer had to slow down so the Aesir-shaped man with them could keep up – something subtle changed in the quality of the sound of their footsteps.

They were indoors. Loki was certain of it. Somewhere among these seeming ice blocks was a shelter of some sort. Loki was glad he caught the change, because it prepared him for being released with no warning. He stayed on his feet when he was dropped, even when a sudden force impacted the back of his knee in a deliberate attempt to send him sprawling. Vision was another matter; lights dotted the floor and ceiling, small but highly reflective on the blue-white ice of the walls and floor. Loki got one searing blurred glimpse of it and had to close his eyes.

"Just give it a moment," a familiar voice said.

"You were carried here, too?" he asked, not actually interested in the answer – except that later he'd have to put more effort into picturing that and laughing about Thor being treated as an oversized doll – but hoping for some useful nugget of information. Or perhaps simply the sound of a reasonably friendly voice.

"No," Thor said. "But they did blindfold me. I'm glad to see you again, Loki." Relieved was the proper word, but he didn't think Loki would appreciate it, nor did he himself wish to say it in front of their enemies. Now that Loki was here, too, his anticipation turned toward meeting Helblindi and Byleister, and a thrill of apprehension for the moment grew.

"I'm glad to see again," Loki responded, opening his eyes and resisting the urge to close them again. Thor was now in front of him, a Frost Giant on either side, eyes darting about the chamber with suspicion and likely a strong urge to grow ice swords and run both of their "guests" through. His eyes narrowed at a dark smear near Thor's right eye, dried blood, he thought, but it had to be dried Frost Giant blood, from whatever they'd used as a blindfold, for he could find no injury on Thor.

From Thor, then, he moved on to the rest of the space, a chamber about fifteen feet by fifteen feet, with ceilings that were low for giants. He counted ten of them – two either side of him, two either side of Thor, one each in front of two door-shaped arched openings in the ice behind Thor, four more standing along the walls, all of them looking uneasy. Their wariness, of course, was unsurprising – these were Helblindi's and Byleister's warriors, thrown into a small enclosed space together, enemies watching each other as well as their mutual enemy, the princes of Asgard, for attack. Loki resolved then and there that this was no place for humor or sarcasm or sudden moves, and he could only hope that Thor had grown up enough to recognize the same. And that Loki would be able to stay calm enough to remember it himself.

Byleister wasn't here, Loki assessed. A few of these giants had spikes on one or both shoulders, but none exactly like Byleister's. Helblindi, he assumed, was not here either. "Will your leaders be joining us soon?" Loki asked, addressing one of the giants beside Thor essentially at random.

"Helblindi and the traitor will-"

"Be silent," the giant on Thor's other side interrupted, glaring at the other one who huffed out an angry breath.

"Loki," Thor said, hoping to diffuse a bit of the tension spiking in the room, "this is Taulist, on my right. And on my left, Reihal."

"Pleased to meet you," Loki said mechanically, after a brief hesitation. He'd never before needed to know the name of any Frost Giant other than Laufey and, in the lessons of his youth, a small handful of historical figures. He didn't need to know these. Thor was looking at him expectantly, and it took Loki a few seconds to realize why. Thor, meet Frost Giant Number One and Frost Giant Number Two. We didn't exactly bother with proper introductions.

Before anything further could be said, the giant blocking one of the doorways in the back stepped aside, and two giants lumbered up to it from the other side, exchanging a few quiet words before one of them stepped through, closely followed by the other. Byleister was the first through, and Loki thought the second must be Helblindi, given the way every giant present stiffened his posture, not just Byleister's.

"You wanted to see us both; we're both here. I am Byleister, King of Jotunheim," said the one with the spikes on both shoulders and the tarnished gold metal covering his collarbone. "This is my disinherited brother Helblindi."

"Byleister, thief of Jotunheim," Helblindi corrected. "I am the heir to the throne. But our internal disagreements have nothing to do with you. We are both busy, as I'm sure you've noticed. If you waste my time, you won't leave here alive."

"And do tell us why we shouldn't simply kill you now. There are two of you, after all. We could each get one of you. I know which one I choose," Byleister said, leering at Loki with a feral grin.

"That would hardly be fair. If we cut them both in half first, right down the middle, and we both take half of each, that would be fair."

"I never said I cared about being fair."

"I never said you did."

"Out," Byleister ordered. "All of you, except for Saltir and Dasendi."

Helblindi nodded. "And Taulist and Reihal."

Thor watched the others go and concentrated on keeping control of his tongue. Listening to his enemies speak casually about slicing him in half didn't bother him; he knew they weren't serious, not yet anyway. Listening to them do the same toward Loki, who was their own brother by blood, caused an unpleasant itch beneath his skin, an itch that made him not wish to scratch himself, but to hit the Frost Giants. But he couldn't lose his focus before they'd even begun. Helblindi and Byleister didn't know who Loki was to them. Thor decided he needed to try to forget about it himself. He'd scrutinized them carefully when they emerged, looking for some measure of resemblance between them and Loki, either Loki as he looked now, or more likely Loki as he'd looked in the glimpse Loki had showed him in his chambers last night. It was there, in Loki's blue form, but only in the sense that they all mostly looked alike to him; they looked no more like Loki to his eyes than they did any of the other Frost Giants.

Loki, too, watched as the giants departed and the remaining guards stepped aside to lean against the walls, and took the opportunity to look for a distinguishing feature on Helblindi. His cheekbones, he noticed, were very high and had a sharp protrusion running along them; he couldn't tell if it was bone or vein or raised scar or some oddity specific to Frost Giant anatomy, but he was certain Laufey's cheekbones had looked the same. It might not be enough to distinguish him from among a hundred others, but he was confident he could now distinguish spike-shouldered Byleister from protruding-cheekbone Helblindi. A fresh wave of disgust hit him that he'd come from the same womb as these two, followed by a wave of grief that he hadn't come from Frigga.

"State your business, War-Bringer and Lie-Bringer," Helblindi said.

I wonder which one I'm meant to be, Loki thought with a flare of rebellious sarcasm before getting serious. "We have been speaking to the other realms about ending the alliance against Asgard. We have not capitulated as they expected, and they have lost many warriors to Asgardian swords. However, their pride leaves them reluctant to withdraw without Jotunheim first agreeing to do so as well."

The corner of Thor's mouth twitched, wanting to pull into a smile. Loki had somehow managed to essentially tell the truth, while making it seem as though Asgard was winning.

"And yet it is you who are here, and not them," Helblindi pointed out.

"Yes. Because they convinced you to join them, and they have nothing to offer you to leave. We do."

"I accept your surrender," Byleister sneered, stepping in closer to Loki.

"Unfortunately, I am still not on offer. Still, I don't think you'll be disappointed with what is."

"I am disappointed already," Byleister said. "But the entry is sealed. This is my world, Aesir. You have no escape. My father is dead because of you. What you don't offer, I will take."

"Byleister, you are the one now wasting my time. What is on offer, little Lie-Bringer?"

Ah, well, at least now that's cleared up. "In exchange for your official withdrawal from a war you haven't actively participated in anyway, Asgard is prepared to return to you your greatest treasure: the Ice Casket."

The giants along the wall perked up, two of them stepping forward from where they'd leaned against the it, Byleister glanced at Helblindi, and Helblindi stared hard at Loki, hardly reacting at all.

"And all we have to do is come to Asgard to get it, is that right? You'll get us safely into your Weapons Vault, will you? You'll take care of everything?" Helblindi asked.

Byleister's upper lip rose, baring his teeth. "How stupid do you think we are, to fall for the same ruse a second time?"

You mean a third time, but who's counting? "There's no ruse. There's no need for you to come to Asgard. I've brought the Casket with me." Loki slowly lifted his hands chest-high, out in front of him, then pressed them together and drew them quickly apart, revealing the softly glowing artifact between them. When he looked up from it, the four guards were surrounding them, each with an ice blade in his palm, and with the way they were glancing around at everyone, he wasn't sure who exactly they wanted to attack.

"It's a trick," Byleister said, leaning down to see it better, soft blue light brightening his face. "It's not real."

"I know you have no cause to trust my word. You're welcome to touch it, to feel its power." He wondered if they could actually feel it already. It was stronger here in Jotunheim, he could tell now.

Byleister started to reach out for it, but an instant later jerked away, narrowing his eyes at Loki. "You could have brought this thing here to kill us."

Loki dropped his head for a moment; his neck was tired of constantly looking up. He was tired of dealing with these idiots who could not simply accept the best deal they would ever get. "If we came here to kill you with a false Ice Casket, we would have already done so."

"Reihal," Helblindi said. "You examine it."

Cold-blooded indeed, Loki thought as one of the guards who'd been with Thor somehow drew his ice sword back into his body, brushed off the remnants of it against his bare chest, then bent over to inspect the Ice Casket, finally stealing a glance at Loki and placing a hand directly over it. He wondered if the giants were surprised when he didn't explode or incinerate upon contact.

"I think it's real," Reihal said, straightening up. "I can't be certain. It's been a great many winters."

"You've never seen it before," Loki said, looking back up to Byleister and Helblindi. The Ice Casket had been taken from Jotunheim before they were born. Reihal, he guessed, had to be older. That was why Helblindi wanted Reihal to look at it – using him as a test subject was probably just a side benefit. "Would you like a demonstration?"

The Frost Giant brothers exchanged a glance. "You know how to use it?" Helblindi asked.

Loki hesitated before nodding his response. Was he not supposed to know how to use it? Could only Frost Giants use it? He'd used it instinctively before, but he'd attributed that to the stories he'd heard of it, tapestries he'd seen of it in action, and his own strong feel for magic…not latent Frost Giant biology. "I am adept at magic," he added to quell any thoughts he wouldn't want them to have.

"A demonstration, then, yes. But not in here," Byleister said.

"It has to be here," Helblindi argued. "Something small. You can make it produce ice from nothing?"

"Nothing is produced from nothing." It's a basic principle of nature; do they know nothing of it? "But yes, I can make it produce ice." Loki turned, surveying the chamber. "That corner?" he asked, indicating the corner furthest from them all.

"The wall," Helblindi said, pointing to a stretch a little further away from the corner. "Easier to clear away after."

Loki took a moment to shore up his resistance to the pull of the Casket – with its strength increased here, it was a constant tension, a constant itch under his skin – then lifted it higher, concentrated, and pushed back. Ice spewed forth, malleable rushing ice that existed somewhere between solid and liquid, turning fully solid when it struck a surface, where it grew, building into a useless pointed cone jutting out from the wall before Loki stopped pushing and lowered it again. "Satisfied?"

"No," Byleister immediately answered. "You said you're adept at magic. It could still be a trick."

"Why only us? Why did you not seek out Dirnolek, too?" Helblindi asked, while Reihal went over to the cone of ice on the wall.

"Dirnolek sent warriors to attack Asgard. We do not wish to deal with him. You and Byleister have not actively joined in the war."

"This is good ice," Reihal said. "Pure. Solid. The right temperature, the right amount of moisture. No salt."

Helblindi nodded. "You would rather we join forces against him?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Why are you listening to him? This is a trick. Why does the yellow one not say anything? He's the elder. This one was cast out from Asgard for his lies! It has been a thousand years, Helblindi. Why give it back now? And for virtually nothing in return?" Byleister turned back to glare down at Loki. "I demand to know the trick."

Thor watched as Loki put the Ice Casket away, unsettled at seeing with his own eyes how effortlessly Loki wielded their enemy's weapon. But it was true, if anyone could use another's magical weapon so easily, it was Loki, so he cast his unease aside and decided that now was the time to say something. "I do not speak, because my brother is the negotiator. He always has been. I accompany him to make it be known that Asgard stands behind him and will honor the agreements made here."

"Although in this case, there is no need for negotiations. There is simply an offer, and one which we in fact do both gain from, though yes, you are gaining far more. What we gain is only a symbol, but it's an important one for the other realms. If Jotunheim gets what it most wants, they will be satisfied and stop sending their warriors to die on Asgard."

"And stop killing Asgardians, too?" Helblindi asked.

"We want two things," Byleister reminded. "You are the other one. This does require negotiation. Thor can go. You will stay. Then we can test the Ice Casket ourselves, and when we find the trick…," he said, pausing for a low rumble of a laugh, "we'll pull your limbs apart, an arm and a leg for me, an arm and a leg for my brother. When I defeat him, perhaps we'll make amends and stitch you back up, and find new ways to enjoy our tribute."

"Perhaps another day. Not this one," Loki said, projecting complete self-assurance despite his awareness that they were trapped here, and should the giants attack, there was no guarantee of them finding an escape, and no way of knowing how many more giants were outside the hidden exit, or how many were deeper inside this structure, beyond the two visible doors. "But you do raise important questions. There are no tricks. There is, however, one limitation on the use of the Ice Casket. It cannot leave Jotunheim."

Byleister started to say something, then apparently changed his mind and closed his mouth.

"Explain," Helblindi said, red eyes narrowing.

"You can do with it whatever you like on your own realm. If however you try to use it to travel to another, it will revert to a patch of ice around…six miles northwest of here, and you will remain exactly where you were."

"You have…changed it?" Helblindi growled as Byleister came closer to tower over Loki and glare down at him menacingly. "Stripped it of its power?"

"No," Loki said, standing his ground. "I have restricted one of its abilities. That is all. It's a necessary constraint. The last time your people had the Casket, you were using it to invade another realm and kill its unfortunate inhabitants. Asgard cannot allow such transgressions to occur again. In time, the restriction could be removed." Loki blinked heavily, suddenly disoriented with something akin to what the Midgardians had called déjà vu. "You will be free, but with restrictions necessary to ensure the safety of others around you. If you learn your lesson, I will remove them," he heard Odin saying, not that Odin had ever said those precise words. All he needed was Gungnir to burn a reminder of the restriction into the Frost Giants' wrists. They, he suspected, would not handle it as well as he had.

"The Casket of Ancient Winters is ours," Byleister insisted angrily. "You have no right to tell us how we can or can't use it! As though we are children and the Aesir our parents!"

The comparison did not sit well with Loki; he ignored it. "I repeat, I have restricted only one of its abilities. With the exception of using it for travel to another realm, you can do with it whatever you choose. You merely have to come to an agreement with each other how to accept its transfer to Jotunheim, given the state of war between you. You could unite and defeat Dirnolek. You could rebuild this land. You could…do whatever you choose," Loki repeated, realizing he really didn't know what they used the Ice Casket for, precisely, other than traveling to other realms to freeze their lands and people.

The Frost Giant brothers exchanged a lingering glance, then Helblindi spoke. "No. That is not our Casket."

"Not your Casket?" Loki repeated. "There is no other."

"You have made it not our Casket," Helblindi said. "That Casket is the lifeblood of Jotunheim, and you have taken it and bound it in Aesir rags."

"Do you understand what we're offering you? Yes, a thousand years have passed. More. And in that time, Asgard has never offered to return the Casket to you. This is your only chance. If we do not come to an agreement here, then another thousand will pass, and another after that, and another after that, tens of thousands of years, and this Casket will never be seen on Jotunheim again."

"I have a better idea," Byleister said. "We wait until Asgard is defeated, and we receive our full tribute, the Casket of Ancient Winters, and you bound and gagged."

"Asgard isn't going to be defeated. Even if that somehow came to pass, Asgard does not possess the Ice Casket at the moment. I do, personally. And I will personally ensure that your eyes never look upon it again if we do not settle this between us today."

Byleister grew a dagger from his palm. "Then I will have you personally bound and gagged right now, and we have our full tribute today."

"What would that gain you? First, you still wouldn't have the Ice Casket; I would. And there is nothing you could ever do to me that would make me relinquish it against my will. Second, if we imagine the impossible scenario of you in fact obtaining the Ice Casket, it would still have the restriction in place on its use," Loki said, rather pleased with his argumentation. The fools would have to see reason. There was one way and one way only that they were getting the Casket back.

Byleister drew back his hand to strike; Loki held his ground while his right hand inched toward the leather bands over his left sleeve that housed disguised daggers; Thor took a step closer to Loki; Helblindi gave Byleister a harsh shove; Byleister's ice blade struck at Helblindi instead of Loki; Helblindi blocked the blow. The Odinson princes and the Laufeyson princes stood locked in a standoff, encircled by the four other giants who were again unsure whether to be more concerned about the enemy Jotuns or the enemy Aesir.

"If you would agree to this," Byleister rumbled in a voice even lower than his normal one, "then that is another shame upon you."

Thor took his eyes off of the giants just long enough to look Loki's way, but Loki was also watching the giants carefully, ready to catch the first movement that would indicate an attack, and did not notice the look. Byleister seemed to be the more emotional of the brothers, Helblindi the calmer, more rational brother. Helblindi, he thought, would make the right decision, and somehow convince Byleister to join him…or else use the Casket to defeat Byleister. That could turn ugly. And Thor wondered whether only one of the three factions agreeing to withdraw would satisfy Nadrith. He had no further time to contemplate it, for Helblindi had just said no.

"Pardon?" Loki asked, certain he could not have heard correctly, although the word was plain enough. Surely, though Helblindi's no was aimed at his even stupider brother.

"No. We will not make this deal. We do not make deals for a lesser version of our Casket. A crippled version of it. We will not accept a Casket interwoven with foreign magic limiting its use, especially not Aesir magic."

"Dirty, filthy Aesir magic sullying the heart of Jotunheim?"Byleister scorned, breaking his dagger against his thigh. "Such arrogance in such a tiny body, to think we could ever accept that. Arrogance and ignorance. How like the Aesir."

Loki looked from giant to giant; Helblindi now appeared no more likely than Byleister to accept this bargain, his calm demeanor now suggesting he'd come to his decision and had no intention of changing his mind. Because Byleister suggested that Helblindi had already been shamed somehow once, and by accepting a Casket with an Asgardian restriction he would be again, and worse? Loki wondered. Is it purely pride, then? "No one else need know. You can have your Casket, and simply tell your people you choose not to use it to travel the branches of Yggdrasil." An answer for everything, he told himself. For every objection they name, I'll have an answer to overcome it.

Helblindi's expression didn't change, but a few heavy pulsing breaths came from his nose, almost but not quite like laughter. "Your name is forbidden to be spoken on Jotunheim. Taboo. Did you know that? It is a shame, because Loki Lie-Bringer" – he paused to clear his throat, turn his head, and spit over his shoulder – "has a nice sound. You suggest we carry out a mass deception against this entire realm? You know nothing about us. Keep your Casket with its foreign magic. When you are ready to return it to us in the same condition in which you took it…we will be ready to talk. Reihal, bring the cloth."

"You would just let them leave?" Byleister said, putting an arm out to stop Reihal's advance. His muscles rippled as Reihal tested his resolve. "If I can't have one I will have the other. Saltir, bind the Lie-Bringer."

"He isn't yours to have. And we aren't going to fight over him, not here. They will be released, so that they can return here again with an unsullied Casket."

"We will not be returning with an 'unsullied' Casket," Loki said, ignoring the warning look he could see Thor giving him in his peripheral vision. "The Casket will remain with this one restriction in place. I don't claim to understand all that ails your realm, but would you truly turn your back on the means of healing it? Your people would surely be grateful to you for returning the Casket to its home."

"My people would howl at the thought of Aesir magic shackling our greatest treasure," Byleister said, pushing Reihal back.

"We cannot accept such a humiliation. The Casket will be returned to us free of foreign magic, or not at all. Reihal, the cloth."

Reihal started forward again, and this time Byleister turned and swung at him. Taulist rushed at Byleister but was quickly felled with a hard punch to his side, a punch that must have included a quickly-formed dagger, for when Taulist drew his hand away from the area, a small but gaping wound was revealed under his bloody palm.

"Brother, we need to get out of here," Thor whispered, taking a couple of slow steps back as the Frost Giants fell upon each other with little regard for him and Loki.

"We aren't leaving without getting what we came here for," Loki whispered back.

"We can't force them to take the Casket, either. We have to find another way."

"How can they be such idiots? They would throw away their realm, their people's lives, out of this stubbornness? Over something so trivial?"

Thor reached for Loki's arm, but Loki angled away from him. He turned his attention to the fight again, just in time to see one of the giants – he'd lost track of who was who – about to be slammed to the floor, the same patch of floor he and Loki stood on. They both backpedalled several steps to avoid being struck by the bodies.

A high-pitched screeching sound, like something an animal in danger might make but many times louder, exploded into the room, reverberating off the walls and making Thor squint. The Jotuns, though, threw palms or fists over their ears and appeared to find the noise more than merely annoying. Two who'd been scrabbling at each other instead shoved each other away before covering their ears. The sound then stopped, and a voice came from behind them – the two who'd earlier stepped behind the arched doorways had now stepped back in front of them, and one of them was speaking.

"Your welcomes have been rescinded. You must all leave now. The Aesir must be sent away."

A giant with prominent protrusions over his cheekbones – Helblindi, Loki recognized – pulled away from the other giant he'd been fighting, not Byleister, but Loki hadn't put as much effort into distinguishing all the rest. Helblindi made a deep rumbling sound, something like an animal's growl. "I call again for blindfolds," he said after a moment.

Loki found Byleister, nearer the wall, having been fighting with a giant Loki thought was perhaps Reihal. Byleister looked furious, eyes narrowed, fists clenched, chest heaving, but he said nothing. Reihal was pulling out a dirty cloth that had been tucked into his loincovering, thankfully at the hip.

"If you walk away from this," Loki said, forcing himself to speak slowly and clearly instead of rushing ahead and revealing his growing desperation, "it won't be long before your realm crumbles entirely out of existence. You cannot want that."

Thor found himself nodding, as though his agreement could somehow encourage theirs. Loki's calm persistence was remarkable. With every turn he continued to sound reasonable and make the offer compelling. Still the Frost Giants were unmoved; Reihal was holding up the makeshift blindfold.

"We have faith," Helblindi said as Reihal placed the cloth over Thor's eyes and began to tie it. "And patience. Jotunheim has survived disaster; it will continue to survive. We will continue to survive. The Casket will return to us someday, pure and unblemished. Byleister, have your men no cloth?"

Byleister glared at his brother, then looked to his guards, one of whom nodded; Byleister gestured him toward Loki.

This is it, Loki thought, studying the enemy princes for any sign of wavering, and watching out of the corner of his eye as Saltir or Dasindi unwrapped something hooked onto his loincloth, tucked it inside, then started toward him with the cloth it had been wrapped in. I have made every argument. Every counter-argument to their arguments. They aren't bluffing. They truly won't accept this, even if it costs them their entire realm. Stupid, stupid pride… The giant was positioning himself behind him, reaching both arms down and in front of him, dangling a bit of black cloth from one big blue hand. Removing the magic is the only way. Can I remove the magic? It wasn't mine; I only made a small change in it. His mind raced through it, what he'd seen of the slender threads of magic around the Casket. It was Maeva's, he'd thought when he examined it. He might be able to do it; he'd once known Maeva's magic intimately, but that was a long time ago, and the look and feel of her magic would have evolved since then, along with her abilities. The room shrank to the space between his eyes and the cloth, then went dark. It doesn't matter if I have the ability to remove the magic or not. I can't do it. I can't open Yggdrasil to them. I can't let them pick up where they left off on Midgard, or set foot on Asgard. There was a shove to his shoulder, then hands trying to turn him around, and a gruff order to move. His mind still raced; he hadn't given up. He would never give up. The restriction on travel. They don't like the restriction. No one likes restrictions. Attempts to control. We aren't trying to control. Well, perhaps a little, he conceded, Odin's denial of his attempts to control flaring in his memory. Restrictions can be necessary. It's all in who sets them. He grit his teeth; getting distracted by his other problems wasn't helping. He came to a halt then, and was bumped into from behind. It's all in who sets them. They won't accept restrictions set by Asgard. They can't accept foreign magic on their precious Casket. It was a radical idea. An insane idea. More accurately put, he was insane for having it. Everything would change. But, he asked himself as he forced every instinctive objection that fought to come forth to instead seep out and puddle at his feet, hasn't everything already changed? "Water off a duck's back," Jane had said of the drawing pinned to her desk.

"Move now," came the repeated order at his back, along with yet another shove to the shoulder; Loki had really had enough of those today.

"Wait," he said, turning and removing the makeshift blindfold before anyone could stop him, and doing his best to pretend that Thor, still blindfolded and facing the opposite direction, did not exist. "There's something you should understand about the magic on the Ice Casket."

"You can explain it all in great detail, after you've removed it," Helblindi said, signaling to Byleister's men to replace the blindfold; they merely snarled at him in return.

"I think you'd rather know this now, because it may help you see things differently. The foreign magic on the Ice Casket isn't nearly as foreign as you think."

/

Additional note on "Greek fire" as it sparked several comments - those of you who thought it was oil-based, yes, it sounds like it's probably right, Wikipedia says that "Most modern scholars agree that Greek fire was based on petroleum, either crude or refined; comparable to modern napalm." But the exact "recipe" is not known. The same Wikipedia article talks about the possible use of quicklime, saltpeter, resins, pinetar, animal fat, and "other ingredients" that may have been part of it. And however exactly Byleister's side is producing it, I think it would be an especially fearsome weapon to Frost Giants.

'Til next time!

Previews for Ch. 165 "Brothers": Some people are better at deductions than others, and this day keeps going in directions Loki never planned for.

Excerpt: No. :-)