.-.

Beneath

Chapter Two Hundred Eleven – Lingering

Silence followed, but only until Geirmund was about halfway toward the exit. His wife ran after him then, some of those with her right on her heels, and minor chaos ensued. Under the circumstances, it wasn't a chaos that Loki enjoyed, so he ignored it, deliberately turning away from it to see how Jane was reacting to all this. Dazed, he thought. Worried, perhaps. His decision had nothing to do with her aversion to more physical forms of punishment – he hadn't even considered her reaction until now – but he would have thought she'd be pleased. Perhaps she thought the punishment too harsh on the wife, or the child. He had his qualms about the child, whether it would be better for her if all ties to her father were simply severed. It wasn't a decision he wanted to make. He was nearly as satisfied with his solution to this – letting the mother decide, and separating her from her husband for a month to consider it – as he was with the rest of it. It was, on the whole, rather elegant. Geirmund would be gone forever, bearing a permanent reminder of a shame he could never hide from again, yet Asgard would continue to wring use out of him.

He wanted to ask Jane the source of her concern, but Bosi was headed over, his bearing full of determination. Jane was distracted by Thor saying something to her anyway, then Thor hurried off to see to the disorder surrounding Geirmund. Others were talking among themselves now, having realized that it really was over.

"I apologize, my prince," Bosi said once he stood before Loki. He hesitated a moment before continuing. "I doubted you in this. I should not have."

Loki stared long enough for it to grow uncomfortable, for Bosi to shift his weight. For Loki to tease apart his words, and remember that some of the king's advisors had blamed Loki for the war. Had favored him being put to death, or in some kind of permanent sleep, after his attack on Midgard. "I doubted you in this. In this." Loki was under no illusions that anything had really changed. He may have been publicly absolved of Baldur's murder, but for his more recent crimes there would be no absolution. He had enemies here, those who didn't want him anywhere near Asgard's throne regardless of the fact that he was no longer in the line of succession. Whether Bosi fully qualified as an enemy Loki wasn't certain, but he was without question not an ally.

He put on his oiliest smile. "How thoughtful of you to say so. And what do you think of my pronouncement?"

Bosi's eyes lost focus for a few seconds. "I think it wise and just. And unexpectedly compassionate."

"Unexpectedly? Do you not think me a compassionate man, Bosi?"

"I didn't envision any need for compassion in these circumstances."

Before Loki could respond – it was a well-played answer, one that neatly avoided the actual question – Odin and Frigga were approaching, and Bosi excused himself. Most of the others were drifting toward the exits. Jane was speaking with Jolgeir but glancing his way; Thor had seen to Geirmund's departure and joined Sif, Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun; Finnulfur lingered unobtrusively nearby. By the time his mother was wrapping her arms around him, Jolgeir, too, was leaving, and Jane was headed his way.

"Are you well, Mother?" he asked, returning the embrace with one arm.

"Well enough. And so grateful to have my arms around you."

He looked down at her curiously, but wasn't about to inquire further, not here.

"I'm glad that's over," Frigga said.

"It was a clever decision," Odin said. "He can atone for the rest of his life while never regaining Asgard or his honor. We can wipe our hands of him. You'll make the arrangements, Thor?"

"I will," Thor said, hurrying to join them. "Ironically, I probably would have asked Geirmund to handle it before. But there's another matter I need to speak with Tony Stark about, so I'll go tomorrow and address them both. He has connections all over his realm – he'll know how to make this work."

"Good," Odin said with a sharp nod. "That man is a blight upon this realm. It's impossible to quantify the damage he's done."

"Jane, you have a concern?"

Jane's eyes snapped to Loki's. She hadn't expected to be asked her opinion of any of this, at least not in front of everyone else. And now they were all staring at her. Odin, who mostly seemed content to ignore her, arched an eyebrow and fixed her with a particularly withering look. He didn't physically resemble Loki at all, but in that moment it was easy to forget that. If he thought that look was going to cow her, though, he hadn't been paying much attention. Where she might have demurred and answered Loki later, privately, now she stared back at Odin and squared her shoulders before focusing on Loki again. "Only one. I'm a little concerned that it looks like Earth is becoming the Australia to your England."

Loki held her gaze steadily, took a deep breath, nodded.

"Australia?" Thor asked.

"One of Midgard's largest countries. And one of its continents," Loki said.

"We didn't study an 'Australia'."

"It didn't have that name when we studied it. The people who lived there then didn't have a name for the entire land mass. It's the continent in the southern ocean, distant from the rest," Loki explained as Thor nodded. He wasn't sure if Thor remembered or had just given up trying to. "Europe became aware of its existence only recently, when Dutch explorers discovered it, and not long after that England began exiling their prisoners there. Eventually, free settlers followed, and by then the native population was weakened from diseases brought there by the colonists, who took control of the land and made of it their own country in which the natives, at the time, had no rights. The country is still attempting to address those injustices."

"How exactly do you know more about Australian history than I do?" Jane asked as soon as Loki paused in his history lesson.

A smile slid over Loki's face, chasing away the solemnity. "Did you not read the in-flight magazine?"

"In-flight…?"

Loki couldn't help a laugh at her incredulous look, but his mother's hand gripping his arm sobered him again. It was, after all, a legitimate concern Jane had raised. But it was not up to him to address it. He looked to Thor, who nodded.

"Midgard is at no risk from Asgard. Ah…past incidents notwithstanding," Thor added with a glance toward Loki, whose jaw visibly tightened. "Asgard has no interest in colonizing Midgard, and never has. We have in the past protected your realm from colonization by others." He winced, glancing again at Loki, who showed no further reaction. "This is a special circumstance, pertaining to an agreement already made. A single individual, and one we have no reason to believe will commit any further violent or otherwise criminal acts. We won't send him there without prior approval."

"Yes, have no fear, Jane. Asgard would never send anyone to Midgard without prior approval."

Thor shot Loki a look. "Not permanently."

"And your people need not fear the spread of disease from the Aesir. Eir could provide formal documentation of this if needed," Frigga said, releasing Loki's arm from another squeeze.

"There is no debate here," Odin said. "Asgard was asked to send a magic-user to work on Midgard. Even several of them. Our population is now under a severe strain. We would not be able to spare anyone else for some time. It's the perfect solution. Why waste his life under the ax when he can live in exile on Midgard and be of use there by meeting our obligation to them? He will never sully the Realm Eternal with his breath again regardless, and he'll be cognizant of that every day of the next four thousand years."

"Did Midgard—did Tony Stark ask Asgard to send someone to Earth for the next four thousand years?" Jane asked, not quite able to filter out all the sarcasm. Then her eyes found Loki's and she felt guilty. She was being as bad as him about instinctively arguing with anything Odin said, and not taking her own advice to Thor about supporting Loki. It had been Loki's decision, not Odin's. "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to make this more difficult than it already is."

"It's that or the ax, Jane," Loki said, voice quiet but firm. "He'll not call Asgard home again."

Jane nodded and tried to ignore the chill those words gave her. She understood that, and she understood that Asgard's ways were not her ways. She didn't think Asgard – Loki and Thor and Odin and all the rest – understood that you really couldn't just decide to drop someone off on Earth for four thousand years without asking first. Who would you even ask? What right did Tony have to give someone permission to call Earth home, much less a prison, for the next four thousand years?Earth wasn't set up to deal with things like this, definitely not at the drop of an Asgardian hat. She knew she had to let this one go, though; it was their problem to solve.

"I'll see that everything's taken care of," Thor said, hoping to cut the tension. "I'm certain Tony will be amenable. It's true we'll need to consider how to handle our long-term relationship with Midgard. Eventually we'll need an ambassador, and treaties," Thor said, turning thoughtful. Midgard was no longer an entirely ignorant part of Yggdrasil, and Asgard would need to determine how to respond to that. There were perhaps aspects of this arrangement with Tony that would require further thought. "Jane, do you think we'll encounter difficulties with your United Nations? Or United States, or others?"

"I'm really not qualified to answer that. But given what he's supposed to work on…you're probably right, Tony will find a way to work it out. For what it's worth, I do think it's a good idea. Sending him to work on Earth," she quickly clarified. She was less sure about the intentional scarring, but figured it wasn't nearly as bad as the things Loki had talked about last night right after Thor told him he'd get to choose Geirmund's sentence. "Let him live with what he's lost, and do some good for others at the same time. If what you all said about honor being so important to him is right," she said with a quick look toward Odin, a small overture, "then maybe he'll find some peace in his work."

Odin gave a huff; Loki's expression twisted into one of clear disdain; Frigga looked away.

"Perhaps," Thor said with a tentative, weak smile.

Jane had the feeling he was simply trying to be polite. She couldn't blame them if they didn't care about whether Geirmund found peace. She wasn't that concerned, either. It was high time Geirmund had to lie in the bed he'd made for himself. Four thousand years was just an unimaginably long time to remain alive and yet be apart from everyone and everything you'd ever known. It was hard to fathom their lifespans at all; to them, Europe's discovery of Australia was "recent." "I do feel sorry for his wife. I wonder what she'll choose. If she goes with him, you're sending three people, by the way. Not one."

Thor nodded. "That's true, but it still wouldn't be colonization. Loki addressed that. The child would spend only a few years on Midgard, and afterward return only for some sort of visitation, I suppose."

"His wife will follow him."

"How can you know that?" Jane asked Loki, who'd spoken with a tone of absolute certainty.

"Did you see how quickly she ran after him? Only a moment to recover from the shock. And she insisted on holding a Welcoming for her daughter this morning. It's a gathering with family and friends, a party of sorts, traditionally held on a baby's thirty-first day, ending the period of seclusion for the mother's recovery and the child's protection. This one was held a little early. She wanted him there for it."

"Three or four days early, I think," Thor said, struggling to recall exactly what Geirmund had told him when he'd offered to celebrate Nerid's Welcoming at the feast last night. He'd thought it would be a great honor. He'd wanted to honor Geirmund that way, for his dedication. It was unfortunate that Dagrun and Nerid should suffer at all for Geirmund's transgressions, but he didn't see how it could be helped. He would have to give Bosi a word of appreciation later, for his public show of support to them.

"The decision had to be hers," Loki said. "But she loves him. She'll go wherever he goes."

Jane nodded, even though she didn't share Loki's confidence. Her thoughts, though, quickly drifted away from Geirmund's wife – a woman she'd never met and likely never would, since even if Dagrun did go to Earth, it was a pretty big place – and to herself. She cast a furtive glance Thor's way, lingering when she saw he was deep in his own thoughts. Loki's words crawled through her mind, leaving an uncomfortable itch behind in places she couldn't scratch. They crawled down to her heart and circled around it. And they squeezed. Hard.

She'd never felt a love like that. She knew it as though she'd always known it, even though she was certain nothing like this had ever occurred to her before. It hurt. "She loves him. She'll go wherever he goes." Her parents had encouraged her to think for herself, to pursue her dreams. Erik's ever-present yet light hand in raising her to adulthood had only furthered her sense of independence and self-confidence. Those weren't bad things; they were unquestionably good things. Except that independence had its limits, didn't it? Didn't love mean letting yourself depend on someone else, at least sometimes? Letting someone else depend on you? She'd come closest to that with Don, but they had clashed over work all the time. Over his "career" and her "hobby." Her independence, really, since his never seemed to be in question. She'd moved in with him for a time – a decision Jane later regretted precisely because it had made her too dependent on him. Especially when he was offered a prestigious fellowship at Johns Hopkins and she'd refused to go with him, and she couldn't afford to keep paying the rent by herself.

Her heart started beating harder as she focused on Thor, oblivious to all else. Would it ever be that way with him? Could it ever be that way? "Going wherever he went" would mean Asgard. This palace, this throne room. Was that what love meant? Her willingness to give up everything she knew and go wherever he went? Because no matter how much Thor might love her, or might grow to love her, he couldn't rule Asgard from Earth. Her heart was now hammering, her throat tightening.

"Jane? Are you all right?"

Jane's eyes went wide. Thor had caught her staring. "Yeah," she said, her voice coming out oddly high-pitched and not at all sounding all right. "I'm fine. It's just been a long day." Better. She followed it up with a little smile meant to reassure, while scolding herself for her mini descent into madness. Into fear. She didn't believe in living in fear. Not of Loki, in those early days after she realized who he was and when he was still pretty unbalanced. Not of armed SHIELD agents. Not of academic peer pressure or professional ostracism. Not of love. She didn't believe in walking away from something without seeing it through just because there were obstacles in the path.

None of this was even new, not really. She'd just been thinking about it, sort of, this afternoon. Calmly. Rationally. They would talk about it. They'd figure things out, together. See where things led, together. And no wonder it was closer to the surface now, immersed in Asgardian history, culture, and power, than in all the time she'd spent separated from Thor, first focused on finding him when he didn't return from Asgard as he'd promised, then focused on not focusing on him because he was fighting a war and she couldn't reach him and worrying wouldn't have done him any more good than her. In all that time she hadn't dwelled much on the practicalities of their relationship or its future. She'd striven to live in the moment and throw her energy into her work; that came naturally to her. Here work was far removed, and she could no longer ignore the complications in her relationship with Thor. It was for the best. They'd been stuck in limbo too long. It was time to start moving forward.

Freaking out about it was silly. Loki had just happened to say something that slipped through a crack she hadn't realized was there, some little hidden point of insecurity or self-doubt. Maybe one that had been there since Don, maybe even longer, though that was a path she didn't care to pursue.

"I'll have my schedule rearranged around it."

Jane smiled and nodded at Thor as though she had any clue what he was talking about, but he hadn't been talking to her so it wasn't hard to pull off.

"If I may have a moment of your time, Your Majesty."

Jane hadn't even noticed that Finnulfur had joined them, but she was glad for the distraction of it, for the change in tone his presence brought.

"Of course, what is it?"

"In your office, perhaps?"

"Thor's office is being redecorated," Loki said. "Besides, I think I'd like to hear whatever it is you have to say, too." He couldn't imagine that whatever was on Finnulfur's mind that the man felt the need to bring up at this particular moment had nothing to do with him, and if it had anything at all to do with him, he wanted to know about it.

"Is it personal, Finnulfur?" Thor asked.

Finnulfur weighed his response for a long moment before answering. "It is, but it isn't private. I believed that seeing this procedure through to its conclusion was the appropriate course of action. Now that we've reached that point, the time has come for me to step down as First Magistrate. My error in judgement in Loki's trial has undermined the people's trust in Asgardian law and justice. You will be better served by a new First Magistrate and Law Advisor. I'll stay on a while longer, as it pleases you, until a replacement is named, but I would urge you to begin the process of selecting my successor swiftly. I also offer whatever assistance you may require in that process, though I respectfully suggest that it might be best if my involvement is minimal. If my influence is minimal."

Thor stared in shocked silence. He hadn't at all expected this, and wondered with a glance toward his father – whose eye was narrowed and expression impenetrable – if he should have. If such a move was expected following the discovery of a serious error. And what was his expected response? Finnulfur had been First Magistrate his entire life. Suddenly having another, having to choose another, was unimaginable. What did he know about choosing a law advisor, anyway? And the first person whose opinion he would seek on the matter was requesting not to be asked for it.

Loki, meanwhile, noted Thor's shock and did not share it, at least not about Finnulfur wanting to relinquish his position. Instead, he was annoyed with himself that he'd failed to realize it earlier today while meeting with Finnulfur. It had been present in Finnulfur's demeanor, and he'd as much as said it when he said he would ask others to consider Loki's thoughts on use of truth compulsion, even more so when he said changes were needed. Loki had been too absorbed in himself to think too deeply about why Finnulfur said what he did.

"No." The word was out before Loki could make a conscious decision to speak it, and now all eyes were on him.

"Loki?" Thor said.

He may have spoken it before he'd thought it through, but the instinctive reaction wasn't changing now that he was thinking it through.

"My prince…surely no one recognizes more than you do that I cannot remain in my position."

"For the sake of justice in Asgard?" Loki asked, quoting a phrase common to proceedings of Asgardian law.

"Yes," Finnulfur replied with a deep bow of his head.

"No. You told me the discovery of this erroneous judgement has undermined Asgardians' sense of security. You told me that changes were needed. I agree. But perhaps a new First Magistrate isn't the change that's needed. It's shaken your confidence in yourself. A good thing, possibly. One in such a position should not be too comfortable. You're no more infallible than anyone else. Neither is Asgardian law infallible. Who understands this right now more keenly than you? Who will more motivated to identify the problems and make needed changes? I know you've already been considering it, haven't you."

"Yes, I have been considering it. I can think of little else."

"What conclusions have you reached?" Odin asked.

"'Conclusions' is too strong a word, but…I believe we moved too quickly. Our conception of timing is backward. The law moves slowly on more minor matters, while more serious ones are treated with a sense of urgency. It seems a logical distinction…but perhaps had we acted in less haste, emotions would have been cooler, heads clearer…." Finnulfur turned back to Loki. "I'm not certain that anyone was sufficiently prepared to speak on your behalf in that regard. Your advocates, your family…you yourself."

Loki's eyes closed in a heavy blink as that idea sank in. Advocates and "family" he could not speak to and didn't care to. But himself…. He'd been in a reactive mode the entire time. In a panic. Too busy trying to think of a better lie instead of dealing with the truth, even inside himself. There was no way to be certain, but perhaps with enough additional time — a great deal of it — he could have come to terms with what he'd done, and then presented it in a way that didn't make it sound like merely the latest version of a false story. Stuck with it longer than he had any of the false ones, even though it still didn't portray him in the best light. Perhaps he could have convinced someone of the truth. He would still have been judged guilty of Baldur's death, but only of his accidental death, and combined with the fact that he'd taken precautions meant to prevent that death, his punishment would have been minimal despite Baldur's status as Prince of Asgard.

"Anything else?" Loki asked, wincing internally at the strain in his voice.

"Yes," Finnulfur answered after a brief hesitation. "The law permitted unresolved questions. I permitted unresolved questions. I should have insisted that whether you were behind the threat letters also be addressed. The investigation into Baldur's death expended little effort on that, and your advocates did the same. You were not under trial for making threats, so it was enough for one side not to have to prove you sent them, and enough for the other not to have to prove you didn't. In fact, it may not have been possible to prove that you didn't send them, proving a negative being a difficult challenge. But if this had been tirelessly and thoroughly investigated, and it could not be proven that you did send them…it might have raised questions. Perhaps serious enough questions to cause doubt. I can't say for certain. The evidence against you seemed very clear. But it's possible."

Loki himself had barely thought about the letters after his arrest. Not while waiting for the trial, not during the trial, not after the trial, never. It hadn't occurred to him before, and afterward he did his best to put the whole ordeal from his mind. With more time before the trial, might he have thought about it? Might his advocate? The letters had been thoroughly investigated at the time they were received, of course, but no one had ever specifically investigated him for it. Had they done so after Baldur's death, might it have been possible to show he didn't create them and didn't send them? He didn't know. But he knew with full certainty that they wouldn't have found any evidence that he did, since unlike Baldur's death, he'd had absolutely nothing to do with those letters. In retrospect, it seemed obvious that the two should have treated as linked, and addressed together.

He took quick stock of those around him. Frigga looked distant, a hand over her mouth; Odin's eye was closed and he breathed deeply; Thor looked like he was thinking a bit too hard, probably in danger of injuring himself; and Jane looked…Jane was giving him a smile. She wasn't concerned about Asgard's legal system, or Asgard's First Magistrate, or a trial that took place over a thousand years ago. She was concerned about him. And he was calm enough to admit it was a nice feeling, at least to himself. Over her shoulder, he noticed that Thor's closest friends remained, when by now everyone else had left – a less nice feeling.

"You needn't fear I would keep these thoughts to myself," Finnulfur said as the silence dragged on. "I fully intend to document them, to be shared with my replacement for further consideration."

"They're good ideas. Don't you agree, Thor?"

Thor's eyes jumped to Loki's. "Yes. I do. Those things might have made a difference."

"And this is what you come to in just twenty-four hours. Finnulfur, no one else has your experience and your perspective. No one else feels the impact of this error as profoundly as you. No one else unrelated to Baldur," he added hastily before Finnulfur could interrupt. "No, I say for the sake of justice in Asgard, you must stay."

"I agree," Thor said, relieved, and no longer looking to Odin for his opinion. "I do not accept your resignation. I want you to stay, and to make examining this trial and everything surrounding it your first priority, other than matters directly related to our recovery from the war. Involve others as needed, and make changes that address the problems you identify. Is that clear?"

Finnulfur went to a knee and saluted. "As you will, my king."

Loki resisted the feeling of being impressed, but it was hard. Thor may have been swayed by Loki, but he still sounded like a king. Firm but not arrogant, and using words and phrases that didn't sound like Thor at all. In fact he sounded like he'd been paying attention to Odin for hundreds of years, when Loki knew for a fact he hadn't.

"But don't leave just yet," Thor said as Finnulfur rose and took one aborted step. "There's still that other matter I mentioned to you earlier."

"Yes, of course, Your Majesty."

"You'd better make it quick," Loki said. "Your friends are over there waiting for you to join them for a night of carousing." He watched as everyone looked except Thor, noting in particular Jane, whose gaze lingered and Volstagg put up a hand to greet her. This time he resisted the urge to fix a cruel smile on Thor, and found it even harder, not quite succeeding.

"I don't think anyone's going to be carousing tonight. Mother, Father, it's late, and it's been a long, difficult day. You should go. Get some rest."

"I'm not even going to ask. Frigga?" Odin said, extending his arm for her to take.

Frigga, looking from Loki to Jane, didn't take it. "We can't just—. There are farewells to be said."

"We'll go visit Heimdall and wait with him."

Frigga had her own ideas about that, but took a deep breath and nodded, then wrapped her arm around Odin's and left with him.

Fantastic, Loki thought. This night will never end. The response was reflexive, though, and half-hearted. Odin he would've been quite happy to leave without seeing. His mother though…it would have bothered him to leave without speaking to her. He supposed it would at least relieve him of any guilt over slipping back into and out of Asgard in the middle of the night for his departure to Alfheim. He'd been considering doing that anyway; now it was a foregone conclusion. He would bid her farewell before departing for Midgard, and with any luck avoid any overdone displays of sentiment.

"A word, Loki?"

"What is it now?" Loki asked in aggravation, reluctantly following Thor some distance away, far enough that they wouldn't be overheard. He couldn't help but be vaguely worried it had something to do with Jane, and Jane was not something he had any interest in discussing in any way with Thor. He simply couldn't come up with any reason why Thor would want Finnulfur to remain for a discussion about Jane. Unless it was yet another unrelated matter Thor wished to endlessly prolong this night with.

"First, I'm sorry, I know the timing is terrible, and I don't wish to spring this on you, but with you leaving tonight…you're still leaving tonight?"

"Still leaving tonight," Loki confirmed.

"Yes. All right. I know also that compared to everything else that's happened since yesterday, and even since you returned to Asgard, after the gross injustice that was uncovered…I know this is nothing, but…"

"Will we all die of old age before you get there?"

"This isn't easy, Loki."

"None of this is easy. None of this has been easy for a while now. There's a saying on Midgard, Thor. Put up or shut up."

"Put up what?"

Loki let his eyes fall closed in a withering look.

"I haven't had much time, but I managed to consult with Finnulfur about the Warriors Three and Sif. They're guilty of defying a direct order, regarding…" – Thor ducked his head for a moment, this truly wasn't easy – "my banishment. It was Father's command, and your ascension to the throne did not negate that. When you reaffirmed that command, they were equally bound by honor and law to obey your word as Asgard's king, whether they thought it wise or not. Their positions permitted no discretion in that." Thor paused there, waiting for and dreading the argument.

Loki knew exactly why Thor looked like he was ready to fight, exactly why Thor had tacked on that bit about "no discretion." Heimdall was guilty of the same violation. But Heimdall, so he'd been told, had "discretion." And, fine, yes, Heimdall knew he'd gone to Jotunheim and hidden himself while there. Loki had his own quiet understanding with Heimdall, though, one that he thought made it not worth arguing over here. "They're to go before a magistrate, then?" He'd never expected that to happen; such news would be a fitting end to his stay in Asgard.

"I don't know. I was not king when they broke the law. Nor was Father. You were."

It took embarrassingly long to sink in. A few seconds only; still, embarrassingly long. When it did, Loki was torn between laughing and shouting and vaulting up to stand on Asgard's throne and start ordering executions for the fun of it. He would do none of that, of course, but enjoyed imagining all of it. "Let me see if I understand this correctly. You, Thor Odinson, momentary king of Asgard—"

"Enough, Loki."

Loki took a breath and reined himself in. "Enough, Loki" was one of Thor's favorite phrases, but typically said reflecting something in a range from mild annoyance to ready to swing Mjolnir. This one, Loki thought, was said purely out of exhaustion. "I'll start again. You, Thor Odinson" – he paused, but managed to hold back from tacking on something else – "are going to stand back and let me, I'll just repeat that part for absolute clarity's sake, me, stand in judgement over your closest friends."

"It isn't exactly a question of letting you. Their crime was against the throne. Your throne. It was not against Father – the power of his rulings transferred to you when you became king – and it was not against me. I asked Finnulfur, but he said he cannot initiate proceedings without an order from you. I could take it up in your stead…but as I admit my feelings on the matter are complex, since they acted as they did on my behalf, and since they are indeed dear friends of mine despite the wrong they did to you…I didn't think it would be appropriate. It should be in your hands. And Loki…they are indeed my friends…but none of them is my brother."

Loki leaned conspicuously around Thor. "Are you entirely certain?" He lowered his voice to a hissed whisper. "Such things seem rather more in doubt than they once did. You should look into Midgardian mythology. They may be recorded as your brothers there. Well, except for Sif. She's highly unlikely to be your brother. Did I never tell you? Or Jane? In their mythology, she's your—"

"Do not make me—"

"—wife."

"—regret this. What?"

"Ah. There's the catch. How this matter is handled is my decision, as long as you approve of it."

"No. All that I ask, all that I insist on, is that you take this seriously."

"You ask a great deal. There's been enough seriousness of late. I am itching to have a little fun. Instigate a little mischief. Do you have any idea of the opportunity you're handing me?"

"Yes," Thor said, as utterly seriously as he yearned for Loki to be. The decision to place his friends into Loki's unfettered hands took place only after a gut-wrenching struggle within him, one that had hardly ceased with the decision. "Yes, I do."

A fragment of a brief conversation with Thor during the feast came back to Loki. "Is this what you were talking about last night? Something you said…was easier to avoid than to deal with? You wanted to know how long I was staying on Asgard?"

"That's right. And you told me tomorrow would be fine, and then later that night you told me you were leaving tonight."

"I chose tonight so that I would be gone before this thing you wouldn't tell me about, obviously."

"I didn't want to talk about it openly at the feast."

Loki nodded slowly, reviewing what he could remember of what Thor had said. The problem was, he'd been entirely uninterested in what Thor said, uninterested in speaking with Thor period. And then he'd been distracted by Maeva whispering who-knew-what into Jane's ear. "I'll think on it." That he remembered clearly. The night Loki had finally ripped the blinders from Thor's eyes and rid him of some portion of his ignorance. Loki hadn't considered for half a second that "I'll think on it" was anything more than empty words. Thor, after all, wasn't the type to sit around thinking, much less about things he found difficult or unpleasant.

Loki drew in a deep breath, and when he met Thor's eyes again, his demeanor had shifted, his attitude along with it. "I swear to you, I will take it seriously." A tight smile spread over his face, one that did not in the slightest undermine his previous words. "After all, it will be my final act as King of Asgard."

/

/

"How's Loki holding up?"

Thor mustered an uncomfortable smile, perhaps more of a grimace. "I think he's all right," he said to Fandral, who'd asked as soon as Thor returned to them. "I'm sure he's tired. We all are."

"An unbelievable tale, all of it," Volstagg said. "After all this time, the boy's real killer was right under our noses. Sitting down to dinner with us. And to leave a man with the belief he's killed his own brother. Unconscionable."

"To leave everyone else with the belief he's killed his own brother," Hogun said.

"Also unconscionable," Volstagg agreed. "Top to bottom, all of it unconscionable."

"I wish I'd known Loki before all of that happened."

Thor turned to Sif; the words struck something in him. Tension between Loki and Sif had risen and fallen over the centuries, but it never fully went away. Tension he'd never understood and often tried to pretend didn't exist, but unlike the difficulties between Loki and the Warriors Three that he'd been ignorant of, he'd always known there was something between Loki and Sif. He'd once asked them, separately, if the tension was of a sexual nature. Loki had feigned nausea and strolled away as aloof as ever; Sif had punched him hard, right in the jaw. He hadn't considered either reaction decisive, but eventually he'd given up on the notion.

Maybe, though, it was just because the Loki she'd first met was a Loki recently freed from the serpent.

Maybe not. None of them had known Loki well before all that, and Fandral and Hogun hadn't seen him at all in several decades by the time he was released. There were no easy answers, not to any of this.

"I wish you had, too, Sif," Thor finally said.

"Living out the rest of his life on Midgard hardly seems a punishment for what Geirmund did," Volstagg said. "A thousand years ago and it's another story, of course, but the place looks rather inviting now."

Fandral clamped a hand onto Thor's shoulder and gave it a squeeze, somber expression turning jocular. "It agreed with Thor well enough. Midgard has much to offer as it turns out. The Lady Jane sparkled with the allure of a rare jewel last night. It was a pleasure to reacquaint ourselves, brief though it was. We'd hoped to be able to spend some time with the both of you. Understandable of course if you wish to keep her all to yourself."

"I'm afraid even I will have little time with her. She returns to Midgard tonight."

"Soon, then," Volstagg said. "She will simply have to return, and we'll show her a fine night out in Asgard."

Thor's smile faded before it could fully form. He needed to put a stop to this. It wasn't fair to them to let them continue in ignorance.

"I think the punishment is appropriate. Harsh and cold. Fitting, coming from Loki," Sif said.

Thor instantly tensed. Had she always said such things? Had he not heard them? Ignored them? Laughed them off?

"He's letting the man's wife go with him if she chooses," Fandral pointed out.

"So she must choose to remain on Asgard knowing her husband lives and she'll never see him again, or go to Midgard, and give up her home, her family and friends?"

"She wouldn't have to give them up entirely, the way he must," Volstagg said. "She'd be able to return for their child's education, at least."

"The choice is a cruel one," Sif said.

"At least he gave her a choice," Fandral said. "I find it remarkably…kind."

"Loki is capable of compassion," Thor said testily. Fandral, he thought, looked surprised as he proclaimed Loki to have done something kind. Perhaps he was merely imagining it. He was drained, and now in a poor mood.

"Of course he is, of course he is," Volstagg said with a laugh. "We simply haven't seen much evidence of that for a while. I expected him to squeeze in as many floggings as he possibly could, then ask the executioner to bring out his dullest ax," he said, drawing laughs from Fandral and Sif, and a smile even from Hogun.

Loki brought the war to an end almost single-handedly. He knew what they would say to that. Loki had done that to earn his freedom. They wouldn't be wrong. But Loki's freedom didn't require him to pull incindiaries from a tower with his bare hands and nearly get himself killed. It certainly didn't require him to provide the oranges the cooks had put to such good use at the feast, or to ask that the rest of them be distributed to Asgard's children, who needed the nutrition of fresh fruits and vegetables more than their elders did. Did they really think Loki lacked kindness and compassion? Was that part of why they didn't trust him? Part of why they'd been so quick to defy him once he was placed on the throne? Did everyone think that about Loki?

"Thor? Something troubling you?" Volstagg asked.

Thor nodded. Many things were troubling him. He swallowed hard. He was about to turn his friends over to Loki. The crime they had committed, were it to come before a magistrate, could be debated. They had defied the order of his banishment, defied the order to remain on Asgard. Though they could attempt to argue otherwise – Thor suspected their honor would not permit it – they'd done so for the express purpose of overthrowing Loki.

Treason.

There was no other word for it.

What they surely would argue before a magistrate, however, was that they had not believed Loki was lawfully, or at least legitimately, on the throne. That he had plotted and maneuvered and lied and tricked his way onto the throne, leaving Odin lying in an unplanned Sleep, Frigga out of the picture as she kept vigil at Odin's side, and Thor abandoned on Midgard, unaware of Loki's machinations.

Was it still treason if they believed they were overthrowing an illegitimate king who'd stolen the throne, instead of one who had been placed on it in accordance with the law, without any direct intervention from Loki, by the authority delegated to the queen?

Finnulfur had refused to answer, had said no one could answer that without presentations and a thorough study of the law. If a magistrate did find their actions to be treason, it was one of the few crimes on Asgard, in addition to murder against the throne, for which the law permitted execution. If Loki chose not to refer the matter to a magistrate, but to handle it himself in his capacity as king, he would not be bound by law as he had been under the provisions of the Law on Recompense and Retribution. Nor would he be bound, as any other King of Asgard would be, by concern for the reaction of his people, or for precedent set, for he was in fact no longer king, and no one need fear that he could exercise such power over anyone else. The only limit on the severity of his decision would be his own conscience.

The surging fear that he was making a terrible, terrible mistake left him momentarily dizzy.

These were his friends. More his than Loki's, as Jane had said; it was true. They had come to Midgard out of their love for him, to return him to his home, to set things right amid turmoil in Asgard as only he could.

But he'd been over all this, he reminded himself as Fandral said something he didn't process. He was not throwing them as innocent human sacrifices at Loki's feet. They had, depending on one's interpretation, committed treason. Among the most serious crimes on Asgard. Loki was right; it could not be ignored. To do so was a slap in Loki's face and a grave injustice both to Loki personally and to Asgard's throne. And as soon as anyone stopped to consider the incident – it seemed no one had, and given how many must have felt the same as his friends, perhaps no one ever would without prodding – letting it stand sent a message that acts of treason were acceptable as long as you personally believed, without any evidence whatsoever, that the king was illegitimate.

Loki, too, he reassured himself not for the first time, was not the raving half-mad creature he'd been before. He'd taken Geirmund's pronouncement seriously. He'd held up remarkably well under the cruel challenges of Jotunheim and of Farbauti's last-minute attendance at the treaty signing. He'd made a friend of Jane, of all people, and not by manipulating her into it, as Thor had first believed.

"My friends," he finally said – they all looked concerned now, except Hogun, who nonetheless had fixed him with a piercing gaze – "you must come before the throne with me. A matter still lingers which must be addressed."

Loki, Thor hoped with all that he was, had not exhausted his well of compassion.

/

Re my chapter titling conventions: All I can say is, thank God for gerunds. Also, well, it was either "Lingering" or "Penultimatehood." LOL

Re Thor being clueless about Australia: All I can say is, somewhere inside me a twelve-year-old still lives. I apologize. (In case there's a rare soul here who doesn't know, Chris Hemsworth is Australian.) Shall I say it again? I apologize.

"PerkyBird" is racking up the gold stars, folks.

As I just posted on my Profile page, I just found out tonight that this site no longer sends (to me, at least?) e-mail notifications of PMs. So if you've sent me a PM in the last several months...I had no idea! Just crazy. Really, seriously, I had no idea. I just thought no one was PMing me anymore because I'd become so much less reliable for a quick response the last several months due to life circumstance. Now I'm looking forward to reading all those PMs I had no clue were there!

Previews for Ch. 212, which I might title "Throne": You don't need previews, you know what's in the next chapter.

Excerpt:

"He's already called it treason! You were there, Thor, you heard him!" Loki heard behind him. Volstagg. Then silence. Thor probably had forgotten about that. Loki had, though he remembered now. Before they'd been summoned to discuss the plan for capturing Gullveig. Loki had wanted all the cards on the table, so to speak.

"He sent the Destroyer to kill us on Midgard." Quieter. Calmer. Hogun. Loki angled his head as he considered it. True. Hogun was perhaps exaggerating a touch. Loki hadn't precisely commanded it to destroy Thor and his friends, though they were indeed part of "everything."