Beneath

Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Eight – Nadrith

Thor watched as Loki threw open the door and strode in. Not five minutes after Loki criticized him for trying to humiliate Nadrith. On his prior visits, Thor had at least knocked before throwing open the door and striding in.

Thor strode in after Loki and closed the door behind him. It was nothing new, Loki saying one thing and doing another, whether because he'd changed his mind, or because you were too simple-minded to grasp that there was actually no contradiction – as Loki put it – or because he was deliberately trying to irk you because he was an irksome little knave – as Thor put it. Whichever it was, Thor could handle it. His own role was to stand there and keep quiet, and it wasn't like Loki could make things any worse.

Nadrith was right there in the sitting room, teacup in his hand being slowly lowered, small kettle and a plate of biscuits of some sort on a tray on the settee in front of the sofa he sat on. Loki wasted no time planting himself in front of the Light Elf king. "What an impressive prison cell!" Loki exclaimed before Nadrith managed to swallow his food to speak. "Far nicer than the one I was given while I was imprisoned here. Which is interesting, don't you think? I suppose it must reflect the mistaken belief that you're important."

"Let me guess. You've been humiliating him," Thor heard Loki sneering. Deliberately irksome, he decided.

Nadrith, meanwhile, set his cup down and stood. "Loki," he said with a nod. "If you think I'm going to gloat, you're wrong. This wasn't my idea. It wasn't something I sought."

"Perfectly understandable," Loki said. "I would question your sanity or at the very least your loyalty to your realm if you had sought to be captured in battle. Ruling a realm is quite a challenge; I know, I've been there. How much harder it must be from a well-appointed prison cell on Asgard."

"That wasn't what I was referring to, as I suspect you know. I was referring to you being surrendered to Jotunheim."

A grin slithered across Loki's face. Whether Nadrith was being sincere or not in his expression of regret, Loki wasn't certain. Nadrith had his talents, including one he shared with Loki, the ability to wrap just enough truth around the lie to make them difficult to tease apart. Nadrith's sincerity, in this matter at least, was irrelevant, though. Loki would toy with him either way. He turned to Thor, so clearly struggling not to insist that his wayward little brother was not being surrendered to Jotunheim. "I don't think he's jesting, Brother. He actually thinks Asgard has chosen to surrender. He thinks I'm here as your prisoner. An amusing thought, isn't it?"

"Yes," Thor said over a somewhat awkward laugh and a pang in his heart. Loki was playacting for Nadrith's benefit; Thor had no doubt whatsoever about that. And yet Loki smiling at him, calling him Brother, speaking with him conspiratorially…it would be easy to pretend that this was the Loki of old.

"Asgard doesn't surrender, Nadrith. It's as though you ask them to twist their heads completely backwards. An impossibility. An incomprehensible concept. Really, you should know this. How many of our Trials did you observe? How many stubborn, prideful, swollen-hearted young Aesir did you hear swear to fight 'with any weapon I can find, be it the last stone from the rubble of the last building in Asgard'?"

"I know your culture well indeed. But I had hoped for sanity to prevail. I still hope. As I have told your brother many times, I have no desire to see Asgard brought down to orphans and rubble. I seek a rebalancing of the realms, not a reduction in their number. Loki," he added pointedly after a pause.

Loki chuckled as though they were having the friendliest of chats. "Ah, Nadrith. It's been too long. I've missed you. Haven't you missed him, Thor?"

Thor, busy examining Nadrith and his words for any further insight, quickly turned to Loki, hesitated, nodded. At this point he was grateful Loki had told him not to speak. This was Loki's show, and Thor knew he was merely the audience. Loki hadn't even accomplished anything with Nadrith that Thor himself had not, but Loki's complete confidence, his ownership of the conversation, if it could even be called that, was mesmerizing. Loki would gain something from this, Thor was sure of it.

Nadrith was stewing, so Loki let him stew a little longer. Loki had decided today that he liked stew a great deal. "But why limit yourself to merely a rebalancing? You are an ambitious man, Nadrith, just like my brother, knowing all your life that you would one day be king. Yet Alfheim's power decreased with your father on the throne, while Svartalfheim's increased. And then there was him."

"Who?" Nadrith asked, managing to work an impressive amount of scorn into his confusion.

"Him," Loki said, turning to Thor and enjoying the look of confusion he was receiving now from two directions. "How old was Thor when you first met him, hm? You were at his Welcoming, were you not?" Loki wouldn't have been certain of that had he not recently heard Nadrith himself say it, on Harvest Day.

Nadrith sighed. "I fail to see the point, but yes, I was."

"Let me lead you more plainly to the point, then. How difficult was it, watching a one-month-old infant soiling his diaper, and knowing that that infant's power and fame and importance would one day far eclipse your own?"

Thor grit his teeth, a little less grateful now for being forbidden to speak. Soiling my diaper, Loki? Was that truly necessary?

"And how much more difficult," Loki continued, interrupting Nadrith, "when you watched him gain that power and fame and importance even before he became king, bumbling about, a vain, arrogant man with the maturity of a youth? I think it must have been very difficult. I think you resented it. I think you hated it."

Thor's aggravation shifted toward understanding. Nadrith had been envious of him? This was something that hadn't occurred to him. And not only envy, if what Loki was suggesting was true, but hatred, too. It still stung, even after months of war, months of that sense of betrayal by Nadrith. All that time, Thor had trusted Nadrith, and considered him a friend, one with whom he had in common an incredibly uncommon destiny. But if Nadrith did hate and resent Thor, and Asgard in general, then that surely also played a role in this war and in Nadrith's desire to claim Yggdrasil's crown for himself.

"Interesting," Loki said. "I had expected you to at least try to deny it."

"Deny it? Actually I was too busy trying to determine which one of us you're speaking of, Loki."

Eyes now fixed on Loki, his words tumbled through Thor's thoughts in a different light. Envy. Resentment. Hatred. He swallowed, and suddenly wondered if he was ever going to have the chance to actually talk with Loki about any of this. If Loki would ever let him.

Loki laughed again, this time rather more darkly than before. "I have wondered if my paler complexion is a result of all those years spent in his shadow. But some of us work better in the shadows. And after all, I had my turn at the throne, and in a mere couple of days I made more of a mark on the Nine Realms than Thor ever will. I'm fairly satisfied with what I accomplished, and I'm ready to try something new now."

Thor stiffened at that. What was done to Jotunheim was no jest, and it was difficult to sit here and listen to Loki speak of it as such, and worse yet, to know that playacting aside, Loki may have very well meant what he said.

"Still not denying it, then? Good. We both know it would be a waste of time, and even Thor has probably figured it out by now. When an opportunity came your way, one in which you would be a supporting player amidst other supporting players in a war against Asgard, seemingly instigated by Svartalfheim and led by Vanaheim, you had other ideas, didn't you? You're cunning, Nadrith, I'll hand you that. Not as cunning as you think you are, and certainly not as clever, but cunning nonetheless. You thought it through and decided to play along, to be the supporting player you were asked to be, while playing not the short game of an unnecessary war and wasted blood, but rather the long game, looking beyond the war to the new order of the realms that would follow it. You thought you'd found a way to maintain for yourself the benevolent, compassionate reputation your father always had with those who supported him, while also winning to your side those who opposed him for being too weak, by gaining a new kind of power over Svartalfheim and the rest. Soft power, they call it on Midgard. An appropriate name, isn't it? A means of gaining concessions and influence without lifting a weapon. But it's a little harder to present yourself as benevolent and compassionate if Asgard is down to a few orphaned children hurling rocks at your archers, isn't it? Hence your desperation for an Asgardian surrender. Such desperation that you're willing to accept other realms doing things that are decidedly not benevolent and compassionate, because when the dust settles, as long as the accusing fingers are pointed at others and you carefully disown their actions and deny your foreknowledge of them, you look better merely by comparison. Identifying hidden opportunities, taking advantage of them, manipulating your own realm and each of the others…cunning, don't you agree, Brother?"

Thor glared at Nadrith. It wasn't as though Loki actually needed him to answer. He may as well have been an illusion, or an animated statue, even one without the animation. Loki had put it more eloquently, and had filled out the story a bit, but most of this Thor had already surmised. Still, to hear it spelled out like this, Nadrith treating the cosmos as his personal game of chance, secretly plotting to come out on top by climbing over dead bodies and supposed allies…it was sickening. And if he couldn't say so in words right now, he could say it with the way he looked at the man he'd once called not just ally but friend.

"So you see, I understand what you want, Nadrith. And from what I've heard, it looks as though you've made good progress in your goals. They love you on Alfheim. How you managed to find and tap into such a well of anti-Asgardian sentiment that I never even noticed was there, I don't know. I'll admit to being impressed. Your little performance at the furloughing of the prisoners…also impressive. I heard that you even had some of the Dark Elves cheering you on. Very impressive. And yet, as much as you seek to manipulate everyone else, you seem to be entirely clueless about the fact that you yourself are also being manipulated. You have been deceived."

Nadrith gave a short laugh. "Ironic, coming from you, Loki. Do explain it to me, deceiver, exactly how I have been deceived. And please, try to make your tale entertaining. I have never been imprisoned before, and I don't know what your impressions were, but the worst part about it for me has been the boredom. I could use a little entertainment."

"Mmmm, yes, I do agree. And I must say, I think I'm going to find this entertaining, but I fear you may not. On the other hand, I don't think you'll find it boring, either. Shall we sit?"

"Be my guest," Nadrith said with a magnanimous smile.

Loki sat on the sofa, Nadrith following to sit on his right; Loki motioned for a hesitating Thor to take the matching leather chair at the end of the settee, to Nadrith's right. He took a moment to refill Nadrith's teacup and hand it to him. "I'm sorry to inform you Nadrith – well, let's be honest, not that sorry – but you've been made a lackey. Specifically, of this man."

Thor shot to his feet and Mjolnir to his hand, knocking his chair over in the process, while Nadrith spilled tea on himself from the cup Loki had deliberately filled right to the brim.

Loki, too, tensed, but he at least had not been taken by surprise. "Relax, Your Majesties. A mere illusion."

Thor spared Loki only the barest glances. "Who is this?" he asked. The dark purple-skinned broad-chested man in gold armor towered over him, grinning madly from above a long, ridged jaw, blue eyes shining so brightly they seemed to be a light source of their own.

"Meet Thanos. He is at least slightly insane. From what I gather, he thinks of death not as the end of life, but as a lover whom he must continually woo with offerings of the dead. The Nine Realms, for him, are not full of people, but of potential offerings."

This is Thanos? Thor thought, examining the solid-looking illusion even more carefully. This is the one Loki pledged his allegiance to? The one who sent warriors through weak spots in Yggdrasil all those years ago, and a Chitauri army to Midgard? He was enormous, but size did not concern Thor. There was something in his presence though, even in this representation of it, that spoke of immense strength and full confidence in his power. Thor knew instinctively that he did not like this Thanos and his twisted love of death. He also knew instinctively that this was Thanos. Loki had said he wouldn't lie. He already had lied, in his claim that Asgard had not been considering surrender. But that was trivial; this was important. And Loki's posture, arrogantly relaxed before, had stiffened. Loki did not like this Thanos, either.

Nadrith gave a nervous laugh that Loki suspected was not meant to betray nervousness. "Well, I did ask for entertainment, and this is certainly not boring." He set his half-emptied teacup back on the tray. "I think you could make him look even scarier though if you gave him still greater height, but I suppose the ceiling, high as it is, is a limiting factor. Oh! Or perhaps if you gave him daggers for fingernails. Really, you could show a little more creativity."

"Some details may be a bit off, it's true. I didn't see him often. And I can't say that I paid attention to such fine points as the sharpness of his fingernails. But it doesn't matter, because actually, this isn't right at all." Loki swiped his hand in front of him, coming deliberately close to Nadrith who he knew wouldn't appreciate it, and Thanos flickered and disappeared. "You see, Thanos doesn't dirty his hands. You've actually been made a lackey to Thanos's lackey."

Loki slowly raised a finger, The Other taking form from the feet upward at the same pace as Loki's finger. Heavy hooded robe, six-fingered hands, oddly gapped golden armor over a bare chest almost like an external rib cage, face similarly caged in gold, eyes hooded, skin corpse-gray, sharp bloodied teeth. "In this case," Loki said, dissatisfied with his creation, "visual alone is really quite lacking." With that, he drew his finger inward as though in summons, and The Other leaned forward, toward Nadrith who pressed his back into the sofa, and exhaled onto him, heavily and long.

Nadrith coughed – more of a combination of gag and cough.

Loki shifted his gaze beyond Nadrith and The Other to Thor, then made The Other stand up again and turn toward him. Thor started shaking his head. "I wouldn't want you to miss out on the full experience, Brother."

"That's all right, I can smell it from here."

"Delicate nose?" Loki asked, pretending to care. This creature and his master had withheld food and drink, invaded his thoughts, plundered his memories, set his nerves ablaze, and quite possibly broken his back – Loki had never been entirely sure of that one. But fine, he thought, halting The Other's motion, Thor would not be forced to endure his bad breath. "You know, if I had to give a name to that smell, I'd call it 'death.' Probably part of why Thanos made him his lackey, actually – he probably enjoys that odor."

"I do not," Nadrith said. "So if you don't mind…"

"Of course," Loki said, painting on The Other a snarling grin and sending him back a few steps. "I would introduce you, but this one comes with an additional challenge."

"In addition to personal hygiene?" Nadrith asked with an arched brow.

Loki chuckled. "Yes, in addition to that. You see, he is considered so unimportant that he doesn't even have a name. If you press him, he'll tell you to call him 'The Other.' As in, not the one that matters." Loki waved him away. Good riddance. "Of course, in truth, you aren't even the lackey of Thanos's lackey. You're the lackey of his lackey's lackey. That would be Brokk, the Dark Elf, who, as my Midgardian friend puts it, goes around getting his consciousness sucked out of his body. You already know what he looks like, don't you? But just to be thorough…" Loki flicked his little finger against his thumb – a rather rude gesture but one which Brokk entirely deserved – and Brokk appeared before them, short white hair, pale blue eyes, sinister smile.

Nadrith shifted in his seat, looking uncomfortable as Brokk stood over him. Loki decided that yes, Nadrith's outward generosity of spirit toward the Dark Elves did not match his true feelings.

"You're in good company, though," Loki said. "Well, you're in company, at least. Whether it's good is a matter of opinion, I suppose. I was also a lackey, of sorts." He disliked saying it, and he would not have chosen to say this in front of Thor if it could have been avoided. He'd acted in his own interests, but he was not fool enough to believe Thanos had ever seen him as anything more than another pawn. Another lackey. He rushed to continue, to avoid dwelling on it. "Well, not to Brokk. I at least know better than that. But then, I also know him much better than you."

"Brokk wasn't involved. Not that I knew of. He merely provided the security for the early meetings. Prevented Heimdall from listening."

Thor was impressed. These details – perhaps important, perhaps not – Nadrith had not previously revealed. Loki, he thought, had rattled him with his illusions and tales of lackeys. He wondered, though, what exactly Loki meant by the term. He'd told his parents with great certainty that Loki had not been coerced into attacking Midgard. He still believed that – he'd personally given Loki more than one opportunity to change course and abandon his plans, opportunities that Loki had rejected. But the one-way allegiance his father had suggested was the case did not quite line up with what the term "lackey" called to mind.

"Oh, he's been very involved," Loki said. "He brought his own realm on board first, then provided the arguments they could use to convince the rest of you to join the alliance against Asgard. Brokk is quite skilled at manipulation. At intuiting what you want, and what you fear. He had to have known that you desired a greater role in the Nine Realms. Just how great a role, I'm not sure he realized. That was something you envisaged yourself, wasn't it? All this, to regain ascendency over Svartalfheim. Triumph over them all to triumph over the one, without making any of them feel defeated...well, with the exception of Asgard, of course. I do understand how another realm can leave a noxious taste in your mouth, but please, take it out on that realm and not Asgard, hm?"

"What you're doing, Loki, is called 'projecting.' Of course there's history between Alfheim and Svartalfheim, and not always a friendly one. But this image you have painted of me, bowing to these outside masters in some mad pursuit of even more than that which I already have…it is dramatic but fundamentally misguided. But it is precisely what I would expect you to invent. 'Projection,' you see, of your own desires onto me."

Loki took care not to react, while quickly reviewing everything he'd said, everything Nadrith had said. Nadrith was standing his ground. But Loki was right. He had to be. Even Thor had come to the same conclusion. With that thought came the doubt. Thor was quick to jump to conclusions, to take appearances as truth. Why exactly had he paid any attention to what Thor thought? What if I've gone about this all wrong? And then came the panic. He was desperate. He knew he was desperate. He was off his game. He was pushing in the wrong places, at the wrong times. However much confidence he'd projected, his confidence was in truth badly shaken. And he was thoroughly unprepared for this sudden return to Asgard, strolling about as though nothing had changed, stepping – if only temporarily – back into a life he'd thought gone forever. This is their world, Thor's and Nadrith's, both of them kings exactly as they were always meant to be. And I am pretender. Who am I to lecture? Who am I to presume that I can do anything to change his mind? A Frost Giant underneath this false face.

"Don't talk about my friend like that," Loki heard Jane saying. Frost Giant. Well, he supposed, Frost Giant or no, it's just as Odin said – I, too, was born to be a king. Loki Odinson no more, Loki Laufeyson never, Loki… Loki of Asgard, he'd introduced himself on Midgard. And why not? A thousand years and change on this realm, was it not still his more than any other? He'd even ruled it for a handful of days. It was his. Who am I? I am Loki of Asgard. Whether they like it or not.

Loki amused himself a bit – and bought more time – by animating the illusion of Brokk that he'd let fall dormant, making him look down at Nadrith smugly and give a silent laugh. Nadrith was angling for more power. That much was obvious, no matter how consistently he denied it. Loki thought back on his and Jane's ill-fated journey to Alfheim's past, then, and wondered if Nadrith could not be both right and wrong, both honest and dishonest. He sought more power, yes. Greater status, a bigger role for himself. But perhaps it wasn't because he was salivating for it, purely out of vanity and ego. Perhaps he thought he needed it. For self-preservation. "You have always been well-regarded on Alfheim, haven't you? But not quite by everyone. There are in fact not only those who wish you would take a harder line than your father; there are those who wish to relieve you of your throne over it. How many assassination attempts have you survived, Nadrith?"

Thor looked at Loki with naked surprise, before realizing that perhaps he was meant to be playing along and so tried to match Loki's haughty expression. But he had never heard of any assassination attempts against Nadrith. Against Nadrith's father, yes, he knew of two, including one that had seriously injured him.

Nadrith's expression, meanwhile, had turned icy. "If there were any such attempts, the only people who would know about them would be those who prevented them, and those behind them. Which are you suggesting you are?"

"Neither, of course. I have been travelling, and I have been listening. Not all lips are as tight as you must think. You have an infant son, do you not?"

"Do not drag my son into this. He is not yet two years old. He has nothing to do with it."

"But that's not true. He has much to do with it. Having a child…it changes you, doesn't it? Changes your priorities. You would do anything to protect your son." Loki swallowed. It wasn't always true, of course. Laufey had done nothing to protect him, and Odin…his protection had limits, beyond which it evaporated. But he'd gone to the ceremony celebrating the birth of Nadrith's son, the Ljosalf equivalent of the Aesir Welcoming, and he remembered the tears Nadrith had blinked away, and he thought it might be true of Nadrith. "You don't want him left without his father, and you don't want him facing assassination attempts himself. It's all for him, isn't it?" Not just power for power's sake. Whether or not it was "all" for his son, Loki hoped Nadrith would find it easier to admit he'd made a foolish mistake for his child than for his own ego.

"Look at the lines you've crossed for it, though," Loki continued. "Look at the position you've put yourself in. A lackey's lackey's lackey." He waved Brokk away, and then brought him back a bit further away, in front of the door, along with Thanos and The Other.

"You keep saying that. But I have acted in my own best interests. In Alfheim's best interests. Not Brokk's. Not this…'other's.' Not Thanos's. I can't speak for what you have done, but I am no one's lackey."

Loki smiled thinly. "I have acted in my own best interests." That sounded uncomfortably familiar. "And that is what I mean when I say you have been deceived. Of course you didn't know you were being made a lackey. Do you know what Brokk wants?"

"I assume he'll be rewarded for his role assisting with the war effort. Wealth, power, influence, the usual."

"Those he's already gained. I think it's something else. Knowledge. Especially of dark magic. Knowledge of things that would make him a great danger to anyone he opposed. And he already has no care at all for who he hurts along the way. I know Thor told you about Vigdis, not even of age. She may never fully recover from what Brokk did to her." Loki had no idea if that was true or not, but it sounded good, he thought.

"That is regrettable. When the war is over, I will be happy to apologize for the wrong done to her, and to offer any assistance that Alfheim can provide. But it was not my doing; it was Brokk's. Svartalfheim's. Do you see? Not a lackey."

"No, not really of Brokk's. Lackey's lackey's lackey, remember?"

Nadrith rolled his eyes and stood up. "Thor, I've had quite enough of this, and isn't there somewhere else you're needed? I don't know, perhaps the battlefield, or the throne room? This surely can't be worth so much of your time."

Thor stayed where he was. "Sit. My brother isn't finished yet."

Nadrith sighed as though the weight of nine realms rested on his shoulders, but he sat back down.

"Back to Brokk. How does Brokk expect to get what he really wants? From The Other, perhaps ultimately from Thanos. I tried to warn him to reconsider that bargain, but he was too foolish to listen."

"You've spoken with Brokk."

"I have. Spoken, fought, stabbed. He is wily, and incredibly untrustworthy." Loki wondered why exactly he'd once considered that a rather endearing trait.

"I don't doubt it. But I have made no bargain with Brokk, nor with The Other or Thanos. Again, I think you have confused the two of us."

"You are right in that I did make a bargain. I was given something I wanted, and a task…perhaps a task that was in no one's best interest. Including my own," Loki said, steadfastly ignoring Thor's stare. "I failed. And now I'm a bargaining piece in a war between eight realms. The Frost Giants never demanded my head until the Svartalf delegation visited. Who spoke to the Svartalf delegation first? Brokk. Who did Brokk speak to before that? The Other. What does The Other want? Who knows. Perhaps he doesn't even have a will apart from Thanos's. What does Thanos want? For starters, he wants to make me suffer for failing to uphold my part of our little pact. But even more than that, what he wants is offerings to Death. I'm sure he's just ecstatic over the casualty numbers Brokk is surely relaying. Wars are really nothing so special, though, not even wars as terrible as this one. And Thanos…I suspect he prefers to be the direct cause of death, rather than the indirect cause. And for that, do you know what he really wants? What he needs?"

"The Tesseract."

Loki and Nadrith as one turned to Thor; Loki fixed him with a furious glare. I wasn't asking you, you idiot, he thought at Thor. He turned back to Nadrith, who was now looking at the three illusions. "And you have demanded the Tesseract be removed from the most secure vault in all the Nine Realms. Are you still so certain you aren't a lackey, Nadrith?"

At that, Nadrith's expression turned angry, and Thor had to clench his jaw to remain silent. The whole war – the real reason for it and the plan for what would follow it – made sense to him now, as it must already have to Loki. But now, he was one step ahead of Loki, and if Nadrith didn't tell him then Thor was going to have to do so.

"The Tesseract will be well secured once it's retrieved from Asgard," Nadrith said, voice lacking in animation.

Tell him, Thor silently urged. He'd spent enough time with an imprisoned Nadrith to recognize that Nadrith had realized the flaw in the plan. Now it was just a question of whether or not he believed Loki's tale of Thanos and a being so subservient that he lacked even his own name.

"As well as it is in Asgard's Weapons Vault?"

Nadrith hesitated; Loki noticed. "Yes."

"Who exactly will be controlling it, Nadrith?" Thor prompted.

"It will be an interrealm effort, so that all our strengths are combined. It will be held on Vanaheim, but no one realm will control it. No one person."

"Who?" Thor repeated.

"A warrior and a magic-wielder from each realm. For Alfheim, Randesh will be the primary guard; you both know him. Martif will be the primary magic-wielder."

Loki's eyes fluttered closed on a heavy exhale. He didn't need to ask. He already knew. Nadrith knew. Even Thor knew. Perhaps everyone had known. But no one had known the significance of it. "Let me guess. Brokk will be Svartalfheim's primary magic-wielder in charge of 'protecting' the Tesseract. You have not only been made party to making the Tesseract less secure by removing it from Asgard, you've been made party to placing its security in the hands of the one who will without question steal it for Thanos, who will in turn most likely use it to obliterate the entire Nine Realms. That would include Alfheim, Nadrith, in case you've lost track. Brilliant. That's just brilliant. Quite the legacy you will have made for yourself. By the time Thanos uses the Tesseract against Yggdrasil, you'll have solidified your position as leader of the Nine. You will have already conveniently wiped out the Nine's best line of defense in your destruction of Asgard. You'll preside over nine wastelands. If your son manages to survive in the first place, what will be left for him to inherit?"

"Nadrith," Thor said, sliding forward in his chair and leaning in toward his fellow king. "I asked you once if you knew who was behind this war. I didn't know then, but I suspected it was someone manipulating us from beyond the Nine. You told me you didn't care. Perhaps it's time to start caring."

Nadrith looked away from the apparitions. "Why should I believe any of this? You'd say anything to save your own skin."

"Of course I would," Loki agreed. "Wouldn't you?" He gave a short laugh. "But were I making it up, I'd tell a much simpler tale. One lackey fewer, probably." He made a quick pulling motion with his hand and The Other disappeared. "I loathe him. Well, I loathe them all. But two of them have at least heard of a toothbrush." A flick of his hand and The Other reappeared.

"I need to think. You've said more than-"

"You don't need to think. You already know it's true. You have been duped, Nadrith, and if you don't lead your people out of what you led them into, you'll bring ruin to us all."

Nadrith stood again, this time squeezing past Thor and moving behind the sofa.

Loki, too, stood. "Putting barriers between you and them doesn't change anything. You, you and each of the other rulers in this alliance, you are the fourth link in this chain," he said, gesturing toward the three illusions, "which ends with the annihilation of the Nine Realms, and you seek to lead them all to their doom."

"You have no proof. You have no evidence of any this. It's just a theory!" Nadrith said, voice rising.

"The evidence has been there all along, in the things you willfully turned a blind eye to. Why would Svartalfheim mastermind an interrealm war against Asgard? Who was really behind it? Why was the only demand of any real significance to anyone other than Jotunheim the removal of the Tesseract from the safest place in the Nine Realms?! Why is Brokk so involved in the war and also set to 'protect' the Tesseract once it's removed? But if you want the sort of physical evidence that you can see and touch and smell, then do nothing and wait for Brokk to steal the Tesseract and deliver it to The Other who will deliver to Thanos who will use it to exterminate one realm's population after the other to please his imaginary lover. You can see and touch and smell all the dead bodies you like, for evidence, if you happen to be among those not yet sacrificed."

"Shut up! Shut up, Loki. That's enough," Nadrith said, closing his eyes before ducking his head and wrapping a hand around the back of his neck, alternately rubbing and squeezing, after a few seconds pacing over to the narrow window at the back of the chamber.

Loki turned his attention to Thor, who was perched on the edge of his chair, looking as though he wanted to say something but was trying not to. Now was the time, though, that Thor might be of more use than Loki. Loki, it was absolutely true, would say whatever he needed to say to convince Nadrith to end the war. Thor, Nadrith had to know, was unlikely to sully his honor with untrue tales of intergalactic intrigue, and had little talent for spinning such grandiose lies in the first place. Where Loki's words may be ever judged with lingering suspicion, Thor's would be more trusted, and as such bear more weight. It was a dynamic Loki was not unfamiliar with. He signaled Thor to go to Nadrith and do as he wished.

Thor nodded and stood, following Nadrith, who was looking out the window now. There was nothing to see. It had grown dark outside and a city-wide blackout had been ordered at night once the other realms had managed to breach the shield for the first time, and the angle wasn't right for good views of the sky. Nadrith was surely looking inside himself, rather than at whatever lay in the direction of his gaze. "It isn't easy to learn you've been tricked. Lied to about something so important," Thor said. He glanced back at Loki, thinking briefly of the lies that had come between him and Loki. "It's a painful blow," he added, turning back to the window and watching Nadrith out of the corner of his eye.

Another minute passed. Loki wasn't saying anything or moving to approach them, and Thor knew of nothing more to say. Nor did he think he should say more. Loki may have urged Nadrith not to think, but Thor understood the weight on Nadrith's shoulders, the consequences to so many others of whatever he decided here. Thor figured he could allow Nadrith a few minutes of peace to ponder them.

Finally, Nadrith spoke, voice quiet. "If I have been tricked…then what would you have me do about it?"

Thor felt as though his heart stopped beating for a moment. "You know what you must do about it, Nadrith. You must end this."

Silence followed again…but not as long this time. Appearing calm and collected again, Nadrith put his back to the window, facing the interior of the room again; Thor saw Loki watching them, but he did not approach. "If I have been tricked," he repeated at normal volume, "then I have been tricked by a Dark Elf. In theory…I can work with that. My people have long experience with Svartalf trickery. But I cannot walk away from this on my own. You say I seek a position of leadership over the other realms – even if you are correct, I do not have such a position yet."

Thor and Loki both remained where they were, Loki by the sofa and Thor nearer the window, waiting, as Nadrith began to pace between them.

"This war has taken on a moral thread, one which I encouraged. Alfheim, as you know, has always had one of the better relationships with Jotunheim. My people view the Jotuns as victims of Asgard's injustice and oppression, prevented from re-engaging with the other realms and improving their lives."

"You may have encouraged it, but it wasn't your idea, was it?" Loki asked. He'd already surmised this while still at the Pole, that the concessions to Jotunheim were probably included to make everyone feel good about themselves in launching a war.

"It originated with Svartalfheim."

"It originated with Brokk, I'm certain. A moral thread makes war so much more palatable, doesn't it? We are not at all envious of Asgard's power, no, we are merely standing up for the poor, downtrodden Jotuns." Never mind that they'd had over a thousand years to effect repairs and didn't seem to have bothered to lift a single ice-spewing finger.

"It is of course true that the Jotuns have never recovered from the Ice War as you call it, and that you have withheld from them the one thing that would heal their realm."

"We withhold it because they use it to make war," Thor said.

"And a few strong backs would also provide healing, or at least a few buildings that don't lie in ruins," Loki added.

"They say they need the Ice Casket. Regardless, callous as you put it, yes, a moral thread makes war more palatable. And it makes it incredibly unpalatable to walk away from it without having accomplished your compassionate objectives."

"More unpalatable than enabling the Tesseract to be used to destroy all of us?" Thor asked.

"If it was so simple as Door One and Door Two, of course not. But it isn't that simple, is it? You ask me to walk away from this war despite the immediate consequences to me and in turn to my people upon my return to Alfheim, to avoid the possible theft of the Tesseract at some unknown future point, and it being used against us also at some unknown future point beyond that. I cannot. I must have something to walk away with. Jotunheim is not the only problem. You must be so weakened by now that Vanaheim alone could defeat you, it might just take them a little longer without our participation. No, I must have something in hand. It would be a red mark against me on Alfheim to back out after having brought my people into this. But if I can be seen as the one who is strong and honorable enough to admit to having fallen prey to deception and to promptly call my people home, while casting the true blame on Svartalfheim as well as Vanaheim where it rightfully lies…I can recover. My people can recover. But I tell you, I cannot do this alone."

"We will help in any way we can," Thor assured him.

Nadrith stopped his pacing, looked at Thor, and laughed darkly. "Of course you will help in any way you can, the both of you. No one has more motivation."

"I cannot deny that," Thor said. "What do you need?"

"Something more on Vanaheim. Proof of Gullveig's foul actions, or perhaps of his collusion with the Dark Elves."

"You are all in collusion with the Dark Elves," Loki said testily, anxious to hear what Nadrith wanted, uninterested in any further word games now that Nadrith understood his mistake.

"Separate collusion. If it exists. Perhaps there was some additional bargain between Gullveig and the Quartet that resulted in the Tesseract being stored on Vanaheim instead of Svartalfheim. Hm. Or perhaps not. I would have never agreed to anything so powerful going to Svartalfheim for safekeeping. Perhaps Vanaheim was nominated simply as a realm we could all agree to. If you have no such further evidence against him, then perhaps you can present him the same story you did to me, and he will himself choose to withdraw. I'm skeptical of that, though. I think he has even more vested in this than I do."

"We have some evidence; I will see that it's gathered for you," Thor said.

"Good, but 'some evidence' is not enough. I will need incontrovertible evidence. And that is not all."

"What else?" Thor asked with a sharp nod. If Nadrith needed it to end this war, he would find a way to get it.

"The Jotuns must agree of their own accord to drop out. Remove Jotunheim from the war, get me a little help on Vanaheim, and I will immediately withdraw my warriors and convince the other realms to do the same."

/


I'm a bit behind on responding to PMs and reviews, so if you haven't heard back from me you will soon. I appreciate each and every review. To guest reviewers from last chapter (I respond here sometimes but not on every chapter, depends on available time and chapter length): Guest (Nov. 7) - Glad you enjoyed Eir! I usually really enjoy writing her, and weirdly enough think of her as a canon character even though I was writing her before she appeared briefly in TDW. AvengersLoki - Ha, I hope it was interesting! Guest (Nov. 8) - A Thor and Loki "reunion" has been a long time coming, and there's more still to come. Prodigium - Thanks! And, another reader introduced me to the concept of the "Chekhov's Gun" way back in the early chapters of this story; it refers to some object introduced in a story (specifically to a gun in a work by Chekhov), and the fact that having been introduced, storytelling convention requires it to be used. Now, I do enjoy subverting storytelling convention at times. But, Loki does have the journal now, so that's something. I prefer to avoid public spoilers though. If you get an account and can then do PMs, I don't mind answering more directly that way. Ladymouse2 - Ah, okay, good! Keep an eye out on Thor (AKA me). The Baldur issue is a tough one. In terms of our history, it took place in the very early Middle Ages, so an incredibly long time ago. But, yes, it's not like people completely forgot. It's not like you learn something about someone and can then just order yourself to never take it into account when forming opinions about that person, the brain doesn't work like that. Baldur will come up again. And re Frigga's devotion yes yes yes. (Have you been reading my Word docs?) And that's true, Loki had very little opportunity for mourning Baldur in any normal sense, another aspect of the tragedy of that whole episode. Karen J - These were, mostly, the Polies who knew Loki/Lucas best, who are better able to have those insights. They were, probably, the "best case scenario" for Jane and for Loki.

Previews for Ch. 159: Um, no. But you are welcome to speculate!

Excerpt:

Jotunheim. He had to deal with Jotunheim. Vanaheim wouldn't be so much of a problem; Asgard already had evidence, they simply needed more. After all this time, after everything he'd done, it all came down to Jotunheim.